Consider the following questions as you study this chapter.
- Why do you think Jesus was born when he was? How many answers to this question might there be? How was the timing of the birth of the Messiah understood as being foretold in the book of Daniel and in the 600-year prophecy in the Book of Mormon?
- How critical to the success of the missions of Jesus and Joseph was the precise timing of their births?
- Was it "reasonable" for people to threaten to put to death anyone who continued to believe in the words of Samuel the Lamanite if his prophecies had not been fulfilled? In your heart of hearts, how do you think you would have acted if you had been among those who believed in the words of Samuel the prophet?
- What reasons might people have given arguing that they could stop living the law of Moses as soon as the sign of Christ’s birth was given? Why would they have been eager to stop keeping the law of Moses? (3 Nephi 1:21).
Further Reading
John W. Welch, “Early Mormonism and Early Christianity: Some Providential Similarities,” in Window of Faith: Latter-day Saint Perspectives on World History, ed. Roy A. Prete (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2005), 17–38.
