This statement is false. The Third Book of Nephi states that the survivors of the destruction were already expressing regret for their wickedness before they heard a voice explaining why the destructions came. The voice did not rejoice or brag about the destruction, but pleaded for the survivors to repent and return to faith in Christ. What is wrong with that?
- - - - -
YOU HAVE TO BE JOKING!! The staement is as true as the day is long. 3 Nephi 9 - count the ‘I’s. The voice is bragging that He cause it because of their wickedness.
What is wrong with that??
First, it is made up. The BoM is a lie (except for the plagiarized verses from the REAL Bible).
Second, Christ was just crucified in Jerusalem, and instead of destroying the people THERE because of their wickedness (they crucified the Son of God), there are mass resurrections!
Third, the people of America had never KNOWN Christ, yet they are killed. While those who knew Christ, saw the miracles first hand and were guilty of rejecting Him are spared!
Fourth, it goes completely against the NATURE of Christ’s sacrifice. He came to earth and gave His life to SAVE people, not kill them.
But 3 Nephi is wonderful proof that the Jesus in the Book of Mormon IS NOT IN ANY WAY the Jesus of the Bible.
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/3_ne/9
3 Nephi 9 - 2 Wo, wo, wo unto this people; wo unto the inhabitants of the whole earth except they shall repent; for the devil laugheth, and his angels rejoice, because of the slain of the fair sons and daughters of my people; and it is because of their iniquity and abominations that they are fallen!
3 Behold, that great city Zarahemla have I aburned with fire, and the inhabitants thereof.
4 And behold, that great city Moroni have I caused to be asunk in the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof to be drowned.
5 And behold, that great city aMoronihah have I covered with earth, and the inhabitants thereof, to hide their iniquities and their abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come any more unto me against them.
6 And behold, the city of Gilgal have I caused to be sunk, and the inhabitants thereof to be buried up in the depths of the earth;
7 Yea, and the city of Onihah and the inhabitants thereof, and the city of Mocum and the inhabitants thereof, and the city of aJerusalem and the inhabitants thereof; and bwaters have I caused to come up in the stead thereof, to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the cblood of the prophets and the saints shall dnot come up any more unto me against them.
8 And behold, the city of Gadiandi, and the city of Gadiomnah, and the city of Jacob, and the city of Gimgimno, all these have I caused to be sunk, and made ahills and valleys in the places thereof; and the inhabitants thereof have I bburied up in the depths of the earth, to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints should not come up any more unto me against them.
9 And behold, that great city Jacobugath, which was inhabited by the people of king Jacob, have I caused to be burned with fire because of their sins and their awickedness, which was above all the wickedness of the whole earth, because of their bsecret murders and combinations; for it was they that did cdestroy the peace of my people and the government of the land; therefore I did cause them to be burned, to ddestroy them from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints should not come up unto me any more against them.
10 And behold, the city of Laman, and the city of Josh, and the city of Gad, and the city of Kishkumen, have I caused to be burned with fire, and the inhabitants thereof, because of their wickedness in casting out the prophets, and stoning those whom I did send to declare unto them concerning their wickedness and their abominations.
11 And because they did cast them all out, that there were none righteous among them, I did send down afire and destroy them, that their wickedness and abominations might be hid from before my bface, that the blood of the prophets and the saints whom I sent among them might not cry unto me cfrom the ground against them.
12 And amany great destructions have I caused to come upon this land, and upon this people, because of their wickedness and their abominations.
Well you know what they say, it ain’t bragging if it’s the truth...
Wait a minute...
Um, never mind.
That is your opinion, against which we have the testimonies of three witnesses that it was "translated by the gift and power of God, for His voice hath declared it unto us", and the testimonies of eight witnesses who saw the plates and the engravings thereon, and who handled and hefted the plates. I prefer their real testimonies, which they never denied, to your present opinion, which may have to change in the light of future discoveries.
Second, Christ was just crucified in Jerusalem, and instead of destroying the people THERE because of their wickedness (they crucified the Son of God), there are mass resurrections!
You are the only one here who has been claiming that there were mass resurrections prior to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why? Because those familiar with the New Testament know that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was "the firstfruits of them that slept" (1 Corinthians 15:20). No man was resurrected before Jesus Christ. "And the graves were opened; and many bodeis of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves AFTER HIS RESURRECTION, and went into the holy city, and appeared uto many" (Matthew 27:52-53). Your idea that at the exact same time mass resurrections were happening in the Old World, New World peoples were being destroyed, is completely false, even if one restricts one's scriptures to the Bible!
Third, the people of America had never KNOWN Christ, yet they are killed. While those who knew Christ, saw the miracles first hand and were guilty of rejecting Him are spared!
This is a totally false statement. A few years before the destructions, here is the spiritual state of the people who would be destroyed: "...the people having been delivered up for the space of a long time, to be carried about by the temptations of the devil whithersoever he desired to carry them, and to do whatever iniquity he desired they should -- And thus in the commencement of this, the thirtieth year, they were in a state of awful wickedness; NOW THEY DID NOT SIN IGNORANTLY, FOR THEY KNEW THE WILL OF GOD CONCERNING THEM, FOR IT HAD BEEN TAUGHT UNTO THEM; THEREFORE, THEY DID WILLFULLY REBEL AGAINST GOD" (3 Nephi 3:19-20, Restored Covenant Edition).
Fourth, it goes completely against the NATURE of Christ’s sacrifice. He came to earth and gave His life to SAVE people, not kill them.
That has nothing to do with why the knowingly wicked people in Mesoamerica were destroyed. They were ripe for destruction, and that is when God chose to execute it, just as, through Isaiah 63:1-6, we know in advance that Jesus Christ will choose the time of His second coming to destroy the wicked. Who dares to counsel God on when or even if He should execute His judgments on the wicked? "I [Jesus Christ] will tread them in Mine anger, and trample them in My fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon My garments" (Isaiah 63:3). That is normally against His nature, but Isaiah saw that Christ will, at His second coming, unleash His anger against who are in open rebellion against Him.
But 3 Nephi is wonderful proof that the Jesus in the Book of Mormon IS NOT IN ANY WAY the Jesus of the Bible.
That is your opinion. Millions of people have rejoiced to read 3 Nephi, because of the beautiful glimpse it gives us our Lord and Savior as He fulfilled His promise in John 10:16: "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice." I thank God for the Third Book of Nephi, which shows that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting Himself unto all nations.