A few thoughts on faith and reason

As I have reflected on this topic lately, I came to think of all the heart and mind passages in the Book of Mormon. I thought it was significant that heart (faith and desire) always was mentioned before mind (our intellect). But as I studied it further, I realized that it is all about our faith and desire. I created a post about this when I realized that the original word for "mind" in the Book of Mormon probably has little to do with our intellect.

I have had my share of discussion with former believers or non-believers. I think I understand where they are coming from. When you don't believe in God, the highest intelligence in the universe that you are aware of is that of man. In our time, using logic and reason and the principles of the scientific approach is not only the best approach to discovering and verifying truth, it is the only approach. To the non-believers, religion and faith, like any other topic, must be approached this way. "To a man with the hammer, everything looks like a nail". The scientific approach is the hammer and religion is just another nail.

For a believer like me, matters of faith differ significantly from matters of quantum physics, biochemistry or even social sciences. If there really exists

1. a supreme intelligence (God)
2. revelation

it goes without saying that I should "despise not the revelations of God" (Jacob 4:8) and that whatever enables me to receive revelation is the best approach to eternal truth. This is not a viable option for atheists. They will not accept revelation as a possible approach to learn truth before they accept the existence of God, and they cannot verify the existence of God with the only approach they know. They will pound away on that screw with the hammer without getting the desired result and quickly conclude that the screw is useless.

Don't get me wrong. I think that science is a great tool for its purpose. It is also hard to draw clear lines between all the different fields or subjects and in some cases they overlap. For instance, there are church historians who obviously use common approaches within the field of history to learn about the past of the church. But I think that the successes of science in the last century or two has caused it to sometimes overstep its bounds. One example is when some atheists try to convince themselves and others that science has disproved God. In other words, they are using a tool that is only capable of investigating the observable to disprove something unobservable.

Since this is a Book of Mormon blog, I will get to what I have learned from it about this subject. Science was obviously not a familiar concept to Book of Mormon authors, at least not the same way as today. But logic and reason or "wisdom of men", is mentioned several times, and it is usually connected to wickedness and disbelief. A great illustration of this is found in Helaman 16

15 Nevertheless, the people began to harden their hearts, all save it were the most believing part of them, both of the Nephites and also of the Lamanites, and began to depend upon their own strength and upon their own wisdom, saying:
16 Some things they may have guessed right, among so many; but behold, we know that all these great and marvelous works cannot come to pass, of which has been spoken.
17 And they began to reason and to contend among themselves, saying:
18 That it is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come; if so, and he be the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, as it has been spoken, why will he not show himself unto us as well as unto them who shall be at Jerusalem?

We have repeated several times on this blog that the Book of Mormon plainly teaches that a hard heart leads to lack of understanding. When depending on their own limited wisdom the coming of Christ was not "reasonable". Interestingly, their argument is based on a wrong assumption. This is basically the reaction of the people after Samuel's speech in Zarahemla. He only talked about Christ's birth and death in Jerusalem without mentioning that he would appear to the Nephites after his resurrection. The people assumed that Christ would only show himself to those at Jerusalem and not to them. 

Their hard hearts prevented the "greater portion of the word" (Alma 12:10) and they were left with "their own wisdom". Because of those limitations, they were missing vital understanding and it led them to the conclusion that the prophecies they had heard were "not reasonable". 

I think the same thing is happening a lot today, sometimes with believers like me as well. We apply logic and reason to "make sense" of the gospel and eternal truths. Sometimes it doesn't, but that is probably because we are concluding based on limited information, often as a consequence of hardened hearts. We tend to be unwilling to admit that the error is on our part. Some other ways the Book of Mormon teaches us about this topic:

But behold, the devil hath deceived me; for he appeared unto me in the form of an angel, and said unto me: Go and reclaim this people, for they have all gone astray after an unknown God. And he said unto me: There is no God; yea, and he taught me that which I should say. And I have taught his words; and I taught them because they were pleasing unto the carnal mind; and I taught them, even until I had much success (Alma 30:53)

The teaching that there is no God was pleasing unto the carnal mind. Interesting. Another well-known scripture:

28 O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish...
42 And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them. (2 Nephi 9)

Does this mean that logic and reason has no place in religion at all? Of course not. What the Book of Mormon warns against is depending solely on the wisdom of man. Wisdom of man is simply inadequate to know the things of God

How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him (Jacob 4:8)

Faith must come first

God is merciful unto all who believe on his name; therefore he desireth, in the first place, that ye should believe, yea, even on his word. (Alma 32:22)

Then a heart that is soft enough to enable the planting of a seed. Speaking of Alma 32, I find it quite interesting that the best description that I know in the Book of Mormon of developing faith and learning eternal truth, uses the term, "experiment".

But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith (Alma 32:27)

Can this be compared to a scientific experiment? Yes and no. Faith, diligence and patience is also necessary in the process of developing scientific proof, just like Alma describes the planting and growing of the tree. I mentioned that faith must come first. Actually, it is the same in science. First you postulate a theory or hypothesis before you do the experiment and get proof. That is also an expression of belief. The major difference is this: Whereas a person or group of scientists do the work, once the proof is there it's available to everybody else not requiring their individual effort. The tree in Alma 32, however, is personal. I can't eat of anybody else's fruit. Each one of us need to put in the effort to grow the tree. Just as importantly, each one of us can.  

And even all this can you do if you will (Alma 33:23)

That is the final point I would like to make: If logic and reason is God's way of approaching Him, that means he favors people with the highest cognitive abilities and deductive reasoning skills. That does not sound fair to me. "The way" is prepared for every single one of his children and he favors noone. Some might say that the faith/revelation approach favors people with the highest capacity of faith. But Alma assures us that we don't need anything more than a desire for a start. It is not about our skills or capabilities, it is simply about our will. This is the true meaning of "heart and mind".

Fasting in the Book of Mormon -- Part 1

Reading a passage in the Book of Mormon about fasting, I had this idea to explore further how fasting was practiced among the Nephites and how it might compare with the Old Testament. That led me to this article that has explored the subject in the Old Testament. The article is rather long and I didn't even read all of it. But it lists five reasons for fasting in the Old Testament and provides some examples for each. I thought it could be interesting to find the Book of Mormon passages mentioning fasting and compare with these reasons and examples from the Old Testament.

Here they are

1. Fasting as a sign of grief or mourning, 
2. as a sign of repentance and seeking forgiveness for sin,
3. as an aid in prayer,
4. as an experience of the presence of God that results in the endorsement of his messenger, and
5. as an act of ceremonial public worship.

I will make a five-part series and kick this off with "fasting as a sign of grief and mourning". As for this aspect, the linked article states

When tragic events struck in ancient biblical communities, fasting was often an expected response. When the Israelites lost a battle to the Philistines, “all the people went up and came to Bethel and wept; thus they remained there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening” (Judg 20:26, NASB). When David and his men heard of the death of Saul and the loss of the battle, they tore their clothes, “They lamented and wept and fasted until evening because Saul, his son Jonathan, the Lord’s people, and the house of Israel had fallen by the sword.” (2 Sam 1:12)

It doesn't necessarily have to be death. Sorrow and suffering, drought and locust plagues are also mentioned. But it is particularly for these two examples in the above quote that we find parallels in the Book of Mormon.

Alma 28:5-6

5 Yea, the cry of widows mourning for their husbands, and also of fathers mourning for their sons, and the daughter for the brother, yea, the brother for the father; and thus the cry of mourning was heard among all of them, mourning for their kindred who had been slain.

6 And now surely this was a sorrowful day; yea, a time of solemnity, and a time of much fasting and prayer.

This is after a major battle with many losses resulting in fasting, similar to the example with the Israelites and the Philistines. After these verses, Mormon interrupts the narrative with some "thus we see" statements and Alma's expressed desire to be an angel. When he returns to the narrative in chapter 30, the fasting is brought up again

Now their dead were not numbered because of the greatness of their numbers; neither were the dead of the Nephites numbered—but it came to pass after they had buried their dead, and also after the days of fasting, and mourning, and prayer, (and it was in the sixteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi) there began to be continual peace throughout all the land.

I find the expression, "the days of fasting and mourning" particularly interesting. According to Jewish custom, there is a specific mourning period, or rather periods, that last for a given number of days. The shiva that lasts for 7 days, the sheloshim that lasts for 30 days and the aveilut that lasts for 11 months, each with certain restrictions and obligations.

Another example is Helaman 9:10

And it came to pass that on the morrow the people did assemble themselves together to mourn and to fast, at the burial of the great chief judge who had been slain.

Again we see similarities to one of the Old Testament examples quoted above. Just as the people mourned Saul's death and fasted, so the Book of Mormon people mourned and fasted when the chief judge had died.

Alma-2 references the Book of Moses?

I noticed a connection between this verse from the Book of Moses:

63 And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me. (Moses 6)

...and the words of Alma the Younger to Korihor when he asks for a sign:

44 But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator. (Alma 30)

It's certainly not word for word, but given the other examples of connections between the Book of Moses and Book of Mormon, this one makes me wonder.

Repetitive Resumption in the Book of Mormon

Suppose you are writing an ancient manuscript and you really want to insert a parenthetical comment, but parenthesis won't be inverted for hundreds of years?  What do you do?

Repetitive resumption is one way for an ancient scribe to bracket a narrative aside. Here is a description from the article linked in the previous sentence:

How is the reader going to be able to jump back into the main story line once this is done? How does the scribe keep the reader from getting lost? Enter the ancient scribal technique of Weideraufnahme, also called a resumptive repetition or epanalepsis.
Simply put, after including the note, parenthetical remark or supplementary source, the ancient scribe would restate or paraphrase the last point in the narrative before the extra piece was added.

An example of this technique from the Old Testament can be found in Genesis 37:28, 36 and Genesis 39:1. These verses contain the same information about Joseph being sold to Potiphar. The verses bracket chapter 38, which tells a different story related to Judah.

The author of this article points out that this technique, which was probably very useful to an ancient reader, can be quite confusing to a modern reader.

Mormon uses this technique as well.  Here is an example, with the repeated information in yellow and the side comment in red:

6 So that when he had finished his work at Melek he departed thence, and traveled three days’ journey on the north of the land of Melek; and he came to a city which was called Ammonihah.
7 Now it was the custom of the people of Nephi to call their lands, and their cities, and their villages, yea, even all their small villages, after the name of him who first possessed them; and thus it was with the land of Ammonihah.
8 And it came to pass that when Alma had come to the city of Ammonihah he began to preach the word of God unto them. (Alma 8)

Here are two additional examples from the story of Korihor:

6 But it came to pass in the latter end of the seventeenth year, there came a man into the land of Zarahemla, and he was Anti-Christ, for he began to preach unto the people against the prophecies which had been spoken by the prophets, concerning the coming of Christ.
7 Now there was no law against a man’s belief; for it was strictly contrary to the commands of God that there should be a law which should bring men on to unequal grounds.
8 For thus saith the scripture: Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve.
9 Now if a man desired to serve God, it was his privilege; or rather, if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve him; but if he did not believe in him there was no law to punish him.
10 But if he murdered he was punished unto death; and if he robbed he was also punished; and if he stole he was also punished; and if he committed adultery he was also punished; yea, for all this wickedness they were punished.
11 For there was a law that men should be judged according to their crimes. Nevertheless, there was no law against a man’s belief; therefore, a man was punished only for the crimes which he had done; therefore all men were on equal grounds.
12 And this Anti-Christ, whose name was Korihor, (and the law could have no hold upon him) began to preach unto the people that there should be no Christ. (Alma 30)

And another at the end of the story:

56 And it came to pass that the curse was not taken off of Korihor; but he was cast out, and went about from house to house begging for his food.
57 Now the knowledge of what had happened unto Korihor was immediately published throughout all the land; yea, the proclamation was sent forth by the chief judge to all the people in the land, declaring unto those who had believed in the words of Korihor that they must speedily repent, lest the same judgments would come unto them.
58 And it came to pass that they were all convinced of the wickedness of Korihor; therefore they were all converted again unto the Lord; and this put an end to the iniquity after the manner of Korihor. And Korihor did go about from house to house, begging food for his support. (Alma 30)

For more examples and additional information, this link is useful.

Hat Tip: Brant Gardner

Alma's experience with Korihor

We are familiar with Alma 32:17

Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe.

A couple of chapters earlier, Alma encountered someone with that attitude.

Alma 30:43

And now Korihor said unto Alma: If thou wilt show me a sign, that I may be convinced that there is a God, yea, show unto me that he hath power, and then will I be convinced of the truth of thy words.

Alma probably had this experience in mind when he gave the sermon on faith to the Zoramites

"Anti-Christs" in the Book of Mormon

We read about many people in the BoM who denied Christ, but there are three persons who stand out as "anti-Christs", who go around among the people and actively preach against His coming. Here's a short summary/analysis:

Sherem (Jacob 7) is preaching that a belief in Christ is distracting the people from keeping the Law of Moses and that "no man knoweth of such things; for he cannot tell of things to come". Ironically, the Law of Moses was "a shadow of those things which are to come" (Mosiah 16:14).

Nehor (Alma 1) is preaching that priests and teachers should become popular and that "all mankind should be saved at the last day". It doesn't explicitly say in Alma 1 that he denied the coming of Christ, but it becomes clear as we read about other people later who practice his religion. See for instance Alma 21:4-8. In verse 8, we read: "We do not believe that thou knowest of things to come".

Korihor (Alma 30) is preaching that there should be no Christ, "for no man can know of anything which is to come" and "that when a man was dead, that was the end thereof". He even says there is no God.

Observations:

• All three deny the coming of Christ, arguing that it's impossible to know anything about the future.
• There is a progression from religiosity to atheism: Sherem wanted the people to get back on track, the Law of Moses being the "right way". Nehor believes that everyone will be saved anyway, so we are not responsible to God for our actions. Korihor denies the very existence of a God.
• Perhaps Satan does not worry too much about what people believe as long as they don't believe in Christ? Except for denying the coming of Christ, Sherem, Nehor and Korihor all gave different messages, perhaps what the people around them at the time were the most likely to receive. It didn't really matter as long as it led them away from Christ.

Devilish Details in the Book of Mormon -- Part 2

The devil is a very common topic in the Book of Mormon.  In yesterday's post, we looked at names for the devil used in the Book of Mormon.  Today's list contains words that describe Satan's tactics.

Part 2
Description of the devil's ways:



lie -- 41, 7

42 Behold, I know that thou believest, but thou art possessed with a lying spirit, and ye have put off the Spirit of God that it may have no place in you; but the devil has power over you, and he doth carry you about, working devices that he may destroy the children of God. (Alma 30)

subtle -- 3, 1

4 And thou seest that we know that thy plan was a very subtle plan, as to the subtlety of the devil, for to lie and to deceive this people that thou mightest set them against us, to revile us and to cast us out-- (Alma 12)

cunning -- 22, 2

29 Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—
30 And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out. (Helaman 3)

10 But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil. (3 Nephi 21)

deceive -- 14, 1

18 And he spake plainly unto them, that he had been deceived by the power of the devil. And he spake of hell, and of eternity, and of eternal punishment. (Jacob 7)

flattery* -- 21, 2

22 And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance. (2 Nephi 28)

device* -- 4, 2

42 Behold, I know that thou believest, but thou art possessed with a lying spirit, and ye have put off the Spirit of God that it may have no place in you; but the devil has power over you, and he doth carry you about, working devices that he may destroy the children of God. (Alma 30)

snare* -- 12, 1

13 And thus we see how great the inequality of man is because of sin and transgression, and the power of the devil, which comes by the cunning plans which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men. (Alma 28)

"Heart" and "Soul" poetry in the Book of Mormon

I wondered after making this post how often "heart" and "soul" show up together in other parts of the Book of Mormon, so I looked and found ten other examples:

Alma 12:36

36 And now, my brethren, behold I say unto you, that if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord; therefore your iniquity provoketh him that he sendeth down his wrath upon you as in the first provocation, yea, according to his word in the last provocation as well as the first, to the everlasting destruction of your souls; therefore, according to his word, unto the last death, as well as the first.

Alma 30:46

46 And now it came to pass that Alma said unto him: Behold, I am grieved because of the hardness of your heart, yea, that ye will still resist the spirit of the truth, that thy soul may be destroyed.

Alma 31:31

31 O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people.

Alma 32:28

28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

Alma 37:34

34 Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls.

Helaman 7:8

6 Now this great iniquity had come upon the Nephites, in the space of not many years; and when Nephi saw it, his heart was swollen with sorrow within his breast; and he did exclaim in the agony of his soul:

3 Nephi 17:16

17 And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.

Mormon 3:12

12 Behold, I had led them, notwithstanding their wickedness I had led them many times to battle, and had loved them, according to the love of God which was in me, with all my heart; and my soul had been poured out in prayer unto my God all the day long for them; nevertheless, it was without faith, because of the hardness of their hearts.

2 Nephi 1:21-22

21 And now that my soul might have joy in you, and that my heart might leave this world with gladness because of you, that I might not be brought down with grief and sorrow to the grave, arise from the dust, my sons, and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity;
22 That ye may not be cursed with a sore cursing; and also, that ye may not incur the displeasure of a just God upon you, unto the destruction, yea, the eternal destruction of both soul and body.

Jacob 2:16

16 O that he would rid you from this iniquity and abomination. And, O that ye would listen unto the word of his commands, and let not this pride of your hearts destroy your souls!

Many of these do not seem significant.  I'd like to focus on the examples which seem to be poetic.

In 2 Nephi 1 21-22, Lehi starts the phrase with a parallel usage of "heart" and "soul" to ask his sons to behave in a way that will bring him joy and gladness:

"...soul...joy...you...heart...gladness...you..."

In Helaman 7:8, Mormon sets up Nephi-2's lament about not living in an earlier age with this poetic construct:

"...heart...sorrow...agony...soul..."

Jacob 2:16 also seems to use an intentional construct:

"pride...hearts...destroy...souls"

Gideon, another example of internal consistency (and possibly Hebrew wordplay) in the Book of Mormon

If we simply compare all the mentions of the name Gideon in the Book of Mormon, we quickly discover that the name can either refer to a place or a person.  In this post, we'll compare these references to see if they are internally consistent. We'll also explore the meaning of the name, since it seems that Mormon enjoyed inserting Hebrew wordplay into the text of the Book of Mormon, particularly when first mentioning a new figure.

Gideon the Man

We first notice this name in the context of the wicked king Noah in the land of Nephi, in Mosiah 19:

4 And now there was a man among them whose name was Gideon, and he being a strong man and an enemy to the king, therefore he drew his sword, and swore in his wrath that he would slay the king.

It is remarkable to me that the first mention of the name Gideon introduces him in a way that fits the meaning of his name so well--Gideon means "hewer, feller, he that cuts down."

Gideon is instrumental in helping the Nephites who follow King Limhi escape from bondage. That plan is introduced by Gideon in Mosiah 22:3-9. They trick their guards into getting drunk and then sneak away in the night.

We don't encounter the name again for awhile, after that group has escaped bondage and returned to the land of Zarahemla. This time, he is older and is a teacher for the newly established church of God, but still bold and aggressive (from Alma 1):

7 And it came to pass as he was going, to preach to those who believed on his word, he met a man who belonged to the church of God, yea, even one of their teachers; and he began to contend with him sharply, that he might lead away the people of the church; but the man withstood him, admonishing him with the words of God.
8 Now the name of the man was Gideon; and it was he who was an instrument in the hands of God in delivering the people of Limhi out of bondage.
9 Now, because Gideon withstood him with the words of God he was wroth with Gideon, and drew his sword and began to smite him. Now Gideon being stricken with many years, therefore he was not able to withstand his blows, therefore he was slain by the sword.

Live by the sword die by the sword, I guess.  Gideon as hewer and hewee?

Gideon the Place

In Alma 2:20, we first encounter Gideon as a place-name:

20 And it came to pass that when Alma could pursue the Amlicites no longer he caused that his people should pitch their tents in the valley of Gideon, the valley being called after that Gideon who was slain by the hand of Nehor with the sword; and in this valley the Nephites did pitch their tents for the night.

We learn in verse 17 that these battles are taking place on a hill east of the river Sidon. Keep that in mind.

Alma-2's highly successful mission to Gideon

Four chapters (and four years) later, Alma-2 has given up the judgment seat and devoted his time to the ministry.  He gives a masterful sermon (found in Alma chapter 5) to the people of Zarahemla, and then (in Alma 6) he continues his travels:

7 And now it came to pass that when Alma had made these regulations he departed from them, yea, from the church which was in the city of Zarahemla, and went over upon the east of the river Sidon, into the valley of Gideon, there having been a city built, which was called the city of Gideon, which was in the valley that was called Gideon, being called after the man who was slain by the hand of Nehor with the sword.

So by this time there is a city called Gideon in the valley called Gideon, and it is still east of the river Sidon. Of note, Alma establishes an "order of the church" for the people there (see Alma 8:1) and blesses them for their righteous choices (see Alma 7).

Korihor's highly unsuccessful mission to Gideon

The next significant mention of Gideon comes about 6 years later when we read about the anti-Christ preacher named Korihor (Alma 30).  He gets expelled out of the land of the people of Ammon and decides to try his luck in Gideon (from verse 21):

And he came over into the land of Gideon, and began to preach unto them also; and here he did not have much success, for he was taken and bound and carried before the high priest, and also the chief judge over the land.

He blasphemes in front of Giddonah, who delivers him to Zarahemla to meet with Alma.  It is worth noting that Zarahemla and Gideon are like twin cities, frequently mentioned in close proximity to each other.

Gideon in the war chapters

More than a decade (and 30 chapters) later, in the midst of a brutal war with the Lamanites, the chief judge Pahoran is ousted from Zarahemla by those Nephites who have allied with the Lamanites and re-established a king. (See this post for more details about that.) Where did Pahoran manage to flee?  Gideon. (See Alma 61:5.)

Moroni comes to the rescue in Alma 62. It is interesting to note that he is coming from the battle zones in the east and unites his armies with those of Pahoran in the valley of Gideon. Then the powerful combined army marches to Zarahemla and reclaims it. This fits the geography previously described--Gideon lies to the east of the river Sidon.

So what can we learn from all of this?  I see a few points worth mentioning.

1. The text of the Book of Mormon is complicated, intricate, and internally consistent. 
2. The author must have had notes. I do not believe the author of this text could have tracked all of these details across thousands of words and hundreds of unrelated names and details without notes.  There is no claim by witness to the translation process (friend or foe) that Joseph dictated from notes, made revisions to the text, or even had details read back to him.
3. Mormon was a fan of Hebrew wordplay.
4. Gideon was a real man and is presented in the text as faithful but aggressive/hot-tempered.
5. The valley named after him became an important city in the Nephite lands, and the text describes it consistently.