BYU (Brigham Young University) is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often mistakenly called the “Mormon Church.” BYU students take nearly a semester of spiritually uplifting, stimulating religion classes.
In this series (see below), students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the Book of Mormon in the form of letters to someone they know. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures.
In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to speak to all of us of the relevance, power and beauty of the Book of Mormon, a second witness of Jesus Christ and complement to the Bible. The Book of Mormon includes the religious history of a group of Israelites who settled in ancient America. (The names they use are those of prophets who taught the Book of Mormon peoples to look forward to the coming of Christ—Nephi, Lehi, Alma, Helaman, and other unfamiliar names. We hope those names will become more familiar to you as you read their inspiring words and feel the relevance and divinity of their messages through these letters.)
Let us know if you’d like to receive your own digital copy of the Book of Mormon, and/or if these messages encourage and assist you spiritually as well.
Shiblon of the Book of Mormon
This past week in my Book of Mormon class, we covered a few chapters (Alma 36-42) that were based around the Prophet Alma giving advice to his sons before he dies. I want to focus on the chapter devoted to his son Shiblon. He is the middle son and, while very righteous, does not go on to become the next prophet as his older brother Helaman. Nor does he abandon his mission for a while to go sin like his brother Corianton. Shiblon is just an overall good guy.
The main message that Shiblon gets from Alma is to “be diligent and temperate in all things” (Alma 38:10). This is saying to first be diligent. This is important for us all today because too many people stop when it gets too hard or are only half-committed. Temperate and mild aren’t usually paired with diligent; however, this is not saying that Shiblon should be half-committed. Rather, it is telling him that it’s OK to be the guy in the background. He doesn’t have to be the prophet, he just needs to be a good, diligent member of the Church.
A phrase that causes some discomfort when reading this chapter is “bridle all your passions” (Alma 38:12). This causes confusion because people tend to think of a bridle as a tool of captivity. In this context, it means to control. It is NOT saying get rid of your passions (referring to all passions, not just those of a physical nature). No, this verse is telling Shiblon to not let his passions get out of hand and control him. Instead he needs to use them, as a horse, to get where he wants to go. It is saying to not let your passions go and have them run away with you down a road that you don’t want to go. I have seen both happen, and the person who had control was much more successful and happier to boot.
In short, be diligent, work hard and be firm in your convictions. It’s OK if you aren’t center stage, the Church needs people backstage too. And don’t let your passions control you; they are YOURS after all, you are not theirs.
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