Throughout these periods of work in higher education I spent a great deal of time working with some of the brightest people on the face of the earth. In universities, life revolves around questions. Questions are at the heart of learning, whether you are a brand new freshman taking your first class in physical sciences, history, music, or economics, or you are a Nobel Laureate seeking to answer some of the hardest questions facing mankind. In secular matters the quality of one’s learning is a function of the questions we are willing to ask and answer. I am finding the same is true in spiritual matters.
During this university life I learned that I could quickly identify the best learners by the questions they would ask. The more insightful, honest, and relevant the question, the more likely they were to prove to be a great learner. It was simply exhilarating to watch learners begin to ask great questions that would ignite sincere inquiry and a passion for learning. At the same time it was humbling to watch great and seasoned scholars identify and wrestle with great and challenging questions. It was disappointing, and sometimes aggravating, to watch any learner stifle their own learning by resisting the asking of important questions of themselves or others. I have seen these same behaviors in the lives of new and seasoned disciples. Their progress is a function of their willingness to ask great questions of themselves, others, and most importantly, God. The Book of Mormon is a marvelous guide for any disciple, newly on the covenant path or long-seasoned, to learn how to ask great questions and thereby move themselves along the covenant path.
The Book of Mormon provides a marvelous illustration of this principle of questions being an indication of the sincerity of the disciple in the interaction between Alma, Amulek, and Zeezrom. Alma had been sent to Ammonihah to call the people to repentance. Amulek had provided a second witness to Alma’s and in the process Zeezrom had attempted to “catch them in their words, that they might find witness against them, that they might deliver them to their judges that they might be judged according to the law, and that they might be slain or cast into prison, according to the crime which they could make appear or witness against them.” Soon, Alma saw “that the words of Amulek had silenced Zeezrom, for he [Zeezrom] beheld that Amulek had caught him [Zeezrom] in his lying and deceiving to destroy him [Amulek], and seeing that he [Zeezrom] began to tremble under a consciousness of his guilt" Alma began to speak.
Alma then explicitly exposed Zeezrom’s intent and plans. As a result, “when Alma had spoken these words, Zeezrom began to tremble more exceedingly, for he was convinced more and more of the power of God” and that God had shared with Alma and Amulek the thoughts and intents of Zeezrom. At this point a great pivot is manifest. “Zeezrom began to inquire of them diligently, that he might know more concerning the kingdom of God.” To his credit, Zeezrom accepted the call to repentance, even though it resulted in a very “sore repentance” (Alma 10-12, 15.)
I am finding the same is true in modern discipleship. The quality of our discipleship is often a function of the insight, honesty, and relevance of our questions. The more important and honest the question, the greater the depth and durability of our discipleship. The more trivial and insincere the questions, the less depth and durability of our discipleship. This principle has proven true in my own discipleship. The more sincerely I ask myself, others, and particularly God, important questions, the greater my progress along the covenant path leading to God. Often the answers to these questions result in my needing to make significant changes in my desires, thoughts, actions, and words. Whenever I have done so I have found myself drawing closer to God and experiencing greater peace and joy.
The great latter-day example of the importance of asking important and honest questions is the Prophet Joseph. He was spurred by a scripture that emphasizes the importance of asking great questions:
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed (James 1:5-6.)
Acting in faith, Joseph asked God his questions. As a result, Joseph became an instrument in the hands of God to usher in the last dispensation and is the example of learning to asking important and honest questions. Such is the promise to any of us, if we will ask important and honest questions.
No book has been more valuable to me as a disciple of Christ than the Book of Mormon in getting nearer to God in large part because of the questions it contains. They have served as a bit of a primer from which I continue to learn. As with parables, the more sincere and determined my study of questions, the greater the insight into how I can align my desires, thoughts, actions, and words with God, and thereby "get nearer to God."
As a result, I feel it important to focus significant attention on the questions of the Book of Mormon. My purpose is not to attempt to answer the questions, but to hopefully help the sincere disciple see the importance of asking oneself, others, and God great questions. The real and most important answers will come directly to the individual disciple through sincere study and faith (D&C 88:118.)
The questions found in the Book of Mormon range from the first question, asked by angel of the abusive and myopic Laman and Lemuel, “Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod?” followed immediately by “Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities?” (1 Nephi 3:29), to the universal, penetrating, and concluding question Moroni prophesied will be asked of every Book of Mormon reader by the Lord himself at the judgment day, “Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man, like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust?” (Moroni 10:27.) From these book end questions alone we immediately see the intensely personal nature of the questions found in the Book of Mormon. The many other questions found between these bookend questions are equally personal and intense. My experience is if we allow these questions to “work in [us]” (Alma 32:27), and on us, they will help strengthen our desire to give place for a portion of God’s words.
Sometimes the questions of The Book of Mormon are far and few between, as during the accounts of the many wars of the Nephites during the latter half of the book of Alma, or Ether’s account of the destruction of the Jaredites. In contrast, we have question packed Alma 5 which serves as one of the most soul stirring and stretching chapters in all of holy writ because of the rapid fire and intensely personal nature of the questions. My experience is it is impossible to hide the heart when such questions are sincerely asked of oneself.
Most of the remaining entries in this blog will explore the context, nature, purpose, and applicability of the questions found throughout the Book of Mormon that expose both the depth of discipleship or rebelliousness of God’s children. Each question has the potential to stir our souls to act, and not be acted upon (2 Nephi 2:26). Hopefully, these writings to follow about questions will serve to emphasize how “a man would get nearer to God by abiding by [The Book of Mormon’s] precepts, than by any other book.”
