A Frenzied Mind

When Korihor was speaking to the Nephites, he said this: “Behold, these things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers. Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ. Ye look forward and say that ye see a remission of your sins. But behold, it is the effect of a frenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which are not so” (Alma 30:14-16). In other words, he suggested that the words of holy prophets in the scriptures caused them to have a frenzied and deranged mind. The 1828 Webster dictionary defines frenzied as “affected with madness” and derangement as “disorder of the intellect or reason; delirium; insanity.” In fact, this lie of Satan through Korihor was exactly opposite of the truth—it is the scriptures that keeps our minds calm and thinking properly, protecting us from madness and disorder. I remember one young man we taught on my mission who had a difficult life as a foreigner in France working outside in the hot sun. He was working construction on a tall building, and he told us how he was one day feeling depressed and at one point he was really tempted to jump off the building. But he resisted this insane thought and instead went down and read in his Book of Mormon that we had given him. His mind was put at ease and the temptation passed. It is the adversary who wants to derange our minds; the scriptures will bring us clarity and calm in a world of trouble.

               The Lord spoke of this to our generation in an 1832 revelation. He said, “And your minds in times past have been darkened.” This sounds like the frenzy and derangement that Korihor spoke of, but here we learn where this darkness of mind really comes from. The Lord continued, “Because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all. And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:54-57). Their minds were darkened because of unbelief and because they had treated the scriptures lightly. More specifically, these early Saints had not remembered the Book of Mormon as much as they should have, and their minds were clouded because of it. This confirms that what will take our minds out of darkness is the scriptures, specifically the Book of Mormon. The Prophet Joseph Smith said this: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” President Benson commented on this statement in these words: “[The Book of Mormon] helps us draw nearer to God. Is there not something deep in our hearts that longs to draw nearer to God, to be more like Him in our daily walk, to feel His presence with us constantly? If so, then the Book of Mormon will help us do so more than any other book.” He continued, “There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called ‘the words of life’ (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.” Those promises are the opposite of what Korihor described—the power of the Book of Mormon will combat the frenzy and derangement that the world seeks to stir up in our minds.

               The Lord gave these words to Joshua of old: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:8-9). Surely that promise is still valid for us in our dispensation: as we seek to meditate upon the words of the scriptures each day, then will our way be made prosperous and we shall have success. If our minds feel frenzied and our life out of order, perhaps what we need most is more time in the word of God, especially the Book of Mormon, so we can find the stability and abundance that we seek.