CHAPTER FOUR

Seven Interpretive Keys

<Chapter 4 in PDF>

With the understanding that the Book of Mormon contains intentional parallels with valuable instruction sealed therein, we need next to consider some interpretive keys that can aid us in unearthing the treasures therein. We have already discussed the most important keys. They are as follows:

1 The Holy Spirit must be sought as a guide. To find, we must ask; to have mysteries opened unto us, we must knock.

2 We need to always remember that the focus of the parallels is on salvation through Jesus Christ. The temporal and spiritual parallels point to Him as the only means by which salvation can come.

3 We must be faithful to that which we already have received, realizing that the Lord can reveal things to us only to the extent that we align our lives with His teachings.

4 Inasmuch as some parallels bear a heavy message of doom, we need to maintain hope in the ultimate redemption to which they point. On the political level, the Lord's covenants to the house of Israel will be fulfilled. On the religious level, the way of salvation is prepared for all individuals who will repent.

5 We should realize that an underlying theme of the parallels is that the kingdom of God is both religious and political. If an event from one history parallels an occurrence from another, then there may well be a parallel to the individual level -- if that event is of great eternal significance. The corollary of this is that important steps of personal progression will find manifestations in the progression of nations.

6 In the process of piecing together parallels from various sources, we should remember that there is one overreaching progressional pattern into which each piece will blend --all pieces that are valid will fit into the Lord's whole pattern somewhere. The specific duration of events is usually not important in parallels, except in a few isolated cases.

7 When we see two, separate scriptural passages use similar or identical wording, then we can be reasonable sure there is an intended link between the two. The more correlations that exist between passages, the stronger the link is that binds them together. The more significant passages contain tens or even hundreds of links to other passages of scripture. No single prophecy was intended to stand alone -- to be understood without further witness.

Of all the keys, the seventh would probably qualify as more of a tool, falling strongly into the "how to" category. Literary structure -- the organization and usage of word passages -- which in the scriptures is very deliberate, is not a style of writing the modern world is accustomed to. Thus we generally do not look for it when we read unless we have been trained otherwise. This is not the case with the prophets of God and those familiar with the language of the scriptures since Adam. This talent goes beyond inspired mortal capabilities -- though it is apparent that some prophets had a keen gift with the language of scripture. Some correlations could not have been brought about without God having been the source from whence the words came to the prophet-authors. Prophets of God, separated by oceans of water or rivers of time, could not have guessed how another was going to word a particular phrase. Direct revelation from an all-knowing God is the only explanation for the exactness of some of the correlations found throughout the scriptures.

LinkExchange contents not necessarily endorsed by Greater Things