I Was Taught

1 Nephi 1: 1

"I Nephi having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father;..."

Why, in a book where every word was chosen carefully by the command of God and where scribing the account must have been difficult, wouldn't Nephi merely refer to goodly parentage and continue on?

Why did he include in the narrative, as relating to having been born of goodly parents, the assertion that he was taught somewhat in all the learning of his father?

From the very beginning we see that our first parents taught their children.


"And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters." (Moses 5: 12)


"And a book of remembrance was kept, in the which was recorded, in the language of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration;  And by them their children were taught to read and write, having a language which was pure and undefiled." (Moses 6:5-6)


What would have been included in this book of remembrance used to teach children to read and write?


"And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good.  And it is given to them to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto themselves, and I have given you another law and commandment. Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in no wise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence; for in the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name, and the name  of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who shall come in the meridian of time.  Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these things freely unto your children, saying: That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory" (Moses 6:55 - 59)

"Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah, who were all high priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into the valley of Adam-Ondi-Ahman, and there bestowed upon them his last blessing. And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the prince, the archangel. And the Lord administered comfort to Adam, and said unto him: I have set they to be at the head; a multitude of nations shall come of thee, and thou art a prince over them forever.  And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation; and, notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being filled with the Holy Ghost, predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation. These things were all written in the book of Enoch, and are to be testified of in due time."(D&C 107: 53-57)

"But the records of the fathers, even the patriarchs, concerning the right of Priesthood,  the Lord my God preserved in mine own hands; therefore a knowledge of the beginning of the creation, and also of the planets, and of the stars, as they were made known unto the fathers,..." (Abraham 1:31)

Is it possible that the above items were included in that book?  What a primmer eh?

When Moses was giving his final charge to the children of Israel before they crossed the Jordan river he declared to them,


"Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord god of your fathers giveth you...Behold I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it...Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;..."(Deuteronomy 4: 1-9)

"Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:  And thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they might. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." (Deuteronomy 6: 4-7)


So we see again the emphasis the Lord put on parents teaching their children concerning the things of God; His statutes and His judgments.

Can we assume that Lehi was a devout man?

If he was then wouldn't part of his learning include the scriptures containing the statutes and judgments delivered to the children of Israel by Moses?  

We see from the record that Lehi believed the words of the many prophets who came to Jerusalem crying repentance because he found himself praying, "unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people."(1 Nephi 1: 5)

So the words of the prophets who were sent by God to Jerusalem would also be part of his learning.

The Book of Mormon details the appearance of the Lord to Lehi and also Lehi's ascent to the throne of God the Father.  Lehi was shown many things which made him exclaim,


"Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty!  Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and, because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish!" (1 Nephi 1: 14)


What Lehi received from this experience would also be part of his learning.

Following Lehi's ascent to the throne of God Nephi records this about his father.


"And now I, Nephi, do not make a full account of the things which my father hath written, for he hath written many things which he saw in visions and dreams;..."(1 Nephi 1: 16)

The many things Lehi received in his visions and dreams would also be included in his learning.

Following the pattern that the Lord had established from the beginning Lehi and Sariah would have made all things known unto their sons and their daughters.

Nephi says that this is the case.


"...and he also hath written many things which he prophesied and spake unto his children,..."(1 Nephi 1: 16)


Is it safe to consider that although the record mentions Nephi's father as having received the visions that because Nephi stated that he was born of goodly parents, not just a goodly father, that Sariah was also involved very closely in the teaching of the children?  That has been the pattern established from the beginning for a righteous set of parents.  They both together make all things known unto their children.

Nephi would have been taught as much as is lawful for mortal parents to teach to mortal children.  Therefore he would receive somewhat of all of the learning, mentioned above, that Lehi received.


"But great and marvelous are the works of the Lord, and the mysteries of his kingdom which he showed unto us, which surpass all understanding in glory, and in might, and in dominion;  Which he commanded us we should not write while we were yet in the Spirit, and are not lawful for man to utter;  Neither is man capable to make them known, for they are only to be seen and understood by the power of the Holy Spirit, which God bestows on those who love him, and purify themselves before him;"(D&C 76: 114-116)


As we will see later, what Lehi and Sariah taught their children equipped Nephi to go and obtain those things that his parents were unable to teach because it was not lawful for them to do so.

Why is this statement of Nephi about goodly parents teaching their children so absolutely critical that it would be mentioned as one of the first items in the Book of Mormon?  

It has been pointed out that if the next generation is not able to learn and continue their parents' faith, every achievement can be lost.

Do we have an example of this? There are lots but we can look at one that is very apparent.

When King Benjamin spoke to his people one of the things he declared was, "O, all ye old men, and also ye young men, and you little children who can understand my words..."(Mosiah 2: 40)

There were in the congregation of those who heard King Benjamin speak and who experienced a mighty change of heart, little children who could not understand King Benjamin's words.  These little children, being the next generation, affected the whole nation when they grew up.


"Now it came to pass that there were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of King Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people;  and they did not believe the tradition of their fathers.  They did not believe what had been said concerning the resurrection of the dead, neither did they believe concerning the coming of Christ. And now because of their unbelief they could not understand the word of God; and their hearts were hardened."(Mosiah 26: 1-3)


Consider what a devastating loss that was from one generation to the next for the children of those who had experienced that wonderful covenant through King Benjamin to fail to comprehend what had been given.

It has also been pointed out that all intelligence, talent and skill is perishable.  Unless studied, knowledge can be forfeit.

When Nephi was retrieving the plates of brass one of the things Nephi remembered was, "...the words of the Lord which he spake unto me in the wilderness, saying that; Inasmuch as thy seed shall keep my commandments, they shall prosper in the land of promise.  Yea and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses, save they should have the law.  And I also knew that the law was engraven upon the plates of brass."(1 Nephi 4: 14-16)

Just as in the beginning, where the children of the righteous were taught to read and write from scriptures, Nephite children were also taught to read and write from scriptures following the same divine pattern.

When the Mulekites were discovered, their language had become totally corrupted and they denied the existence of their creator because they lacked the scriptures so necessary to use in teaching their children. 

The Book of Mormon is full of examples of righteous parents teaching their children somewhat in all of their own learning.

These teachings inspired the children many times to seek out a fullness for themselves which perpetuated and preserved the faith and achievements of their fathers.

This explanation of thoughts concerning the importance of parents teaching their children is woefully incomplete.  There are so many examples that could be shared that have not been.  But I believe it is impossible in a blog to adequately cover any subject of discussion.

This does however show the direction of what we as a group believe is proper teaching and hopefully it will inspire others to continue on to search out all the other examples and principles that can be found that relate to the command the Lord has given for parents to teach their children.  

Hopefully we can all become goodly parents.  We ought to seek to become such.