How to Use the Book of Mormon<\/a>.” Though I am not the author, I’ll attempt to answer the point.<\/p>\nIn 1 Nephi 8, Lehi has a vision which is recorded in detail. “And as I cast my eyes round about, that perhaps I might discover my family also, I beheld a river of water; and it ran along, and it was near the tree of which I was partaking the fruit. And I looked to behold from whence it came; and I saw the head thereof a little way off; and at the head thereof I beheld your mother, Sariah and Sam, and Nephi; and they stood as if they knew not whither they should go. … And it came to pass that I was desirous that Laman and Lemuel should come and partake of the fruit also; wherefore , I cast mine eyes towards the head of the river, that perhaps I might see them. And it came to pass that I saw them, but they would not come unto me and partake of the fruit.” (verses 13-14, 16-17).<\/p>\n
The vision is explained in chapter 11 by Lehi’s son, Nephi. “And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw? And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things. … And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.” (verses 21-22, 25)<\/p>\n
In chapter 12, Nephi has a vision that returns to his father’s vision, but the interpretation has changed. “And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the fountain of filthy water which thy father saw; yea, even the river of which he spake; and the depths thereof are the depths of hell.” (verse 16)<\/p>\n
In chapter 15, the topic comes up again. “And they said unto me: What meaneth the river of water which our father saw? And I said unto them that the water which my father saw was filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water.” (verses 26-27).<\/p>\n
So the vision is of a tree with a river flowing by it, whose headwaters is a fountain nearby. In the first explanation, both the tree and the river are said to represent the love of God. But later, in explaining why the people couldn’t cross, we are told that the water was filthy and represents the depths of hell. When asked later why Nephi didn’t mention the water being filthy, well, that was because he was too caught up in the vision to notice.<\/p>\n
But the point remains. At one point the water is referred to as the love of God and at another, it is the filthy depths of hell. Your explanation that the tree of life and the living waters in chapter 11 are the same thing does not match what is said. I know you desire it to be consistent, to the point that you are willing to bend the words of your own book, but it remains that it isn’t what was said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: You had some problems with Lehi and Nephi’s visions of the Tree of Life. If you would like to truly understand what they are talking about, you ought to try and draw a picture of the vision. I have a friend who did just that and for the first time was able to really…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[687],"class_list":["post-8299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-mormons"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53942,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-meant-by-ruling-with-a-rod-of-iron\/","url_meta":{"origin":8299,"position":0},"title":"What is meant by ruling with a rod of iron?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What did the Apostle John mean, when he wrote that Christ, the child, \"was to rule all nations with a rod of iron\" in Revelation 12:5? Answer: We are given an image of the kingdom, the universal church, coming into being after Jesus was resurrected and went back up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1880,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-childs-pants-be-taken-down-for-a-spanking\/","url_meta":{"origin":8299,"position":1},"title":"Should a child’s pants be taken down for a spanking?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I want to ask, please, if it's good to take down the pants of a seven-year-old child for a spanking. Answer: When disciplining a child, spanking is not the only option available to a parent. Often, when parenting is done well, spankings will only be needed infrequently. Raising a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Parenting"","block_context":{"text":"Parenting","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34737,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-have-a-seventh-day-adventist-claiming-that-daniels-vision-of-the-statue-is-still-being-fulfilled\/","url_meta":{"origin":8299,"position":2},"title":"I have a Seventh Day Adventist claiming that Daniel’s vision of the statue is still being fulfilled","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello Jeffrey, I hope all is well with you and your family. As always I find your responses very insightful and logical. I have another question based on the book of Daniel. I know there are many who claim to understand the meaning and try to interpret what it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33278,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-significance-of-aarons-rod-that-budded\/","url_meta":{"origin":8299,"position":3},"title":"What is the significance of Aaron’s rod that budded?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is the significance of Aaron's rod that budded? Answer: To understand the significance, you first need to know that neither Moses nor Aaron had an easy time being accepted by the Israelites as their leaders. People had the mistaken notion that they made themselves leaders. After Korah failed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/image_13-1-300x203.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":92853,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/to-spank-or-not-to-spank\/","url_meta":{"origin":8299,"position":4},"title":"To Spank or Not to Spank","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeff Archer via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 2, February 2015 A friend of mine was called to the elementary school where his son was attending. The teacher was seeking help with his son's misbehavior. When he arrived in the classroom, he pulled his son aside and reprimanded him for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21114,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-moses-strike-the-rock-twice-and-what-was-aarons-participation\/","url_meta":{"origin":8299,"position":5},"title":"Why did Moses strike the rock twice and what was Aaron’s participation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did Moses strike the rock twice and what was Aaron's participation? Answer: \"So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them. Then the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8299\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}