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Source:Rediscovering the Book of Mormon:Ch:22:2:Warfare in Book of Mormon:Differences from Joseph's era
Ancient aspects of Book of Mormon warfare: Joseph's era versus Book of Mormon
Ancient aspects of Book of Mormon warfare: Joseph's era versus Book of Mormon
Of course, many features of premodern warfare were still present in Joseph Smith's day. But there were vital differences. A basic change in the nature of war occurred when gunpowder weapons became effective beginning in the fourteenth century. Joseph Smith published the Book of Mormon after the rise of gunpowder weapons and after the war tactics devised by Napoleon. Joseph Smith thus lived in an age when the practice of warfare differed from that in pregunpowder times. If he had written the Book of Mormon himself, what he would have said about battles would be quite different than what was the practice centuries earlier. I will examine six subjects having to do with war where the Book of Mormon reports warfare in ways typical of the ancient Near East and, in many cases, Mesoamerica.[1]
Notes
- ↑ William J. Hamblin, "Warfare in the Book of Mormon," in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon, edited by John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Co.; Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), Chapter 22.