Misunderstanding the Scriptural Record Leads to Errors

Milton R. Hunter, of the First Council of the Seventy, in his book, “Archaeology and the Book of Mormon,” writes in “Modern Revelation Declaring Nephites Still Live,” claims that two scriptures, one in the Doctrine and Covenants, and one in 2nd Nephi, shows that Nephites would survive the annihilation of that Nation. The two scriptures are quoted below:

“Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written. For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written. For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto all nations of the earth and they shall write it. And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the lost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews. And it shall come to pass that my people, which are of the house of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions; and my word also shall be gathered in one. And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against my people, who are of the house of Israel, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham that I would remember his seed forever” (2 Nephi 29:10-14).

In this scripture, Nephi is being shown in a vision that in the latter days, the writings of the Jews (Bible) and the Nephites (Book of Mormon) and the Lost Ten Tribes (Unknwon at this time) will all be had by one another. This, of course, has nothing to do with the Nephites surviving the annihilation of their nation. As for the Nephites having the words of the Jews, they had this from 600 B.C. to 385 A.D. in the form of the brass plates that Nephi obtained from Laban’s treasury (1 Nephi 4:24; 5:10). Later, the Lamanites obtained the record of the Nephites and the Jews through missionary work done throughout the Americas, beginning in 1830. The Jews now have access not only to the Bible, but also the Book of Mormon as of 1829. What the Lost Ten Tribes now have is unknbown, and where their writings are, is also unknown—though we are told that when they emerge in the last days, they will have their own scriptures. The other scripture quotes is:

“Nevertheless, my work shall go forth, for inasmuch as the knowledge of a Savior has come unto the world, through the testimony of the Jews, even so shall the knowledge of a Savior come unto my people—And to the "Nephites, and the Jacobites, and the Josephites, and the Zoramites, through the testimony of their fathers—And this testimony shall come to the knowledge of the "Lamanites, and the Lemuelites, and the Ishmaelites, who dwindled in unbelief because of the iniquity of their fathers, whom the Lord has suffered to 'destroy their brethren the Nephites, because of their iniquities and their abominations. And for this very purpose are these plates preserved, which contain these records—that the promises of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he made to his people” (D&C 3:16-10).

The knowledge of the Savior to the Jews was had from the beginning through the original Twevle Apostles, and was recorded on the plates of brass. The Nephites first became aware of the Savior of mankind in both Lehi’s and Nephi’s visions (1 Nephi 13:40;21:26), and also from their reading on the plates of brass (1 Nephi 22:12). This knowledge was preached among the Nephites after they established the city of Nephi in the Land of Nephi (2 Nephi 6:18). The knowledge of the Savior therefore was had among the Nephites, the Jacobites, the Josephites, and the Zoramites, through the testimony of their fathers—Lehi and Nephi for the Nephites, Jacob for the Jacobites, Joseph for the Josephites, and Zoram for the Zoramites. At a much later time, this “shall come to the knowledge of the "Lamanites, and the Lemuelites, and the Ishmaelites, who dwindled in unbelief because of the iniquity of their fathers, whom the Lord has suffered to destroy their brethren the Nephites, because of their iniquities and their abominations.” This is actually taking place now, through the Book of Mormon, which “it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites -- Written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile,” as the frontpiece of the Book of Mormon proclaims.

Obviouswly, neither of these scriptures say anything about the future of the Nephites, or that they survived their annihilation, or that any exist anywhere today. When Wilford Woodruff fulfilled his mission to the Zunis Indians in Arizona and New Mexico, wrote to the First Presidency on September 15, 1879, “I view my visit among the Nephites one of the most interesting missions of my life, although short. I say Nephites because if there are any Nephites on the continent we have found them among the Zunis, Lagumas and Isletas.”

Elder Woodruff at the time found a group of Indians above the caliber of most other tribes, but his key words are these—“if there are any Nephites on this continent,” suggesting this information is merely his opinion at the time, and is not an indication that any Nephites survived the annihilation of their nation as Milton R. Hunter claimed.

Yet, such loose interpretations, meant to be support of the scriptural record, tend to cause others to accept at face value and, like Hugh Nibley and John L. Sorenson, argue for Nephite survivors where there were none according to the writings of these ancient prophets.