“And I did cry unto God that he would preserve the records.”

Less than a generation after Sariah and Lehi arrive in the promised land, their family fractures in two. The books of Enos, Jarom, and Omni feature seven authors recounting five generations of fallout from this division. Whether the people and their records will be preserved is in constant doubt. Yet, the authors continue writing in order to keep hope alive despite civil wars and precarious political reorganizations.

In this brief theological introduction, literary scholar and theologian Sharon J. Harris investigates this messy middle era between the genesis of the Nephite people and their reorganization under King Benjamin. What keeps things—relatively—together?

Harris uncovers the personalities, concerns, and patterns of righteousness and wickedness that are often overlooked in these short books. She illustrates how Latter-day Saints today might learn to better keep covenants and pass a promising inheritance to those who come after.

mi.byu.edu/brief