My last few posts (here and here) have covered interesting ideas from a recent Interpreter paper authored by Val Larsen about cultural decline in the Book of Mormon from a prophetic worldview (the mantic) to an intellectual/materialist worldview (the sophic). It's obvious that the Book of Mormon endorses the mantic perspective, yet over and over again we see the pattern of a mantic restoration followed by a decline to the sophic.
This post will discuss parallel themes in two well-known Book of Mormon stories: Sherem and Abinadi. Larsen lays out in specific detail how these two stories parallel each other. Both stories take place in the context of a once-righteous people falling into wickedness involving sexual sin and material excess.
In the case of Sherem, he is the intellectual Deuteronomist challenging the prophetic tradition of the high priest (Jacob). He visits the Nephites, the spiritual survivors of the escape from wicked Jerusalem who heeded the prophetic words of Lehi (a mantic restorer).
In the case of Abinadi, he is the prophet challenging the sophic tradition of the high priest (Amulon) of Noah, who is the king of a group of people who removed themselves from the leadership of Mosiah-1 (a different mantic restorer) and returned to the land of Nephi, which they had narrowly escaped with their lives. They reversed course after following a prophet, and it led them back into captivity and later wickedness.
Here is a table from his paper outlining the main elements of each story:
In both cases, the interloper delivers his message and then dies, but the people eventually embrace that message.
Larsen believes it can be implied from the text of Jacob 7 that Sherem was specifically permitted by Nephi's successor to challenge Jacob. Jacob, after all, does not mention the king by name and specifically condemns the actions of the people under his reign. He also bases some of his contrast on the assumption that the descendants of Nephi gradually embraced the sophic worldview and rejected the Christ. I'm not sure I accept either of these conclusions uncritically, but they are interesting and both idea have some supporting evidence. Regardless of how tenuous you might consider these two premises, the parallels between Sherem and Abinadi are undeniable. Here is another similarity -- Abinadi is specifically put to death for claiming that Christ will come down (the core tenet of the mantic worldview):
7 And he said unto him: Abinadi, we have found an accusation against thee, and thou art worthy of death.
8 For thou hast said that God himself should come down among the children of men; and now, for this cause thou shalt be put to death unless thou wilt recall all the words which thou hast spoken evil concerning me and my people. (Mosiah 17)
Sherem, on the other hand, is struck down by the power of God after demanding to see a sign (signs and wonders are another core tenet of the mantic worldview):
13 And it came to pass that he said unto me: Show me a sign by this power of the Holy Ghost, in the which ye know so much.
...
15 And it came to pass that when I, Jacob, had spoken these words, the power of the Lord came upon him, insomuch that he fell to the earth. And it came to pass that he was nourished for the space of many days. (Jacob 7)
