The Inquisitive Christian

1 Nephi Chapter 1

Nephi begins the record of his people– Lehi sees in a vision a pillar of fire and reads from a book of prophecy– He praises God, foretells the coming of the Messiah, and prophecies the destruction of Jerusalem– He is persecuted by the Jews. About 600 B.C. 

2: “Yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians.”

This does not make sense. They would have spoken and written in Hebrew. This book is purported to have been written in 600 B.C. The Israelites are traditionally believed to have left Egypt in 1446 B.C. There is no reason why a Hebrew would be recording anything in Egyptian after hundreds of years of being out of Egypt. Along this same vein, “Nephi” is not a Hebrew name. It’s commonly believed to be derived from the Egyptian language. Why would a Hebrew family give their son an Egyptian name?

3: “And I know that the record which I make is true; and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it according to my knowledge.”

This is an odd verse. Why write that something is true? Simply write what you were going to write. There are no verses like this in the Bible because it is assumed that whoever is reading it already knows it to be true.