Say More: At Last She Writes It

No. 32 | February 2025

Lehi Left the Church and So Have I

by Catherine Flores

My studies of the Book of Mormon this year changed my

life in ways I was not prepared for.

I have always been taught that Lehi and Nephi and all those who followed them were the epitome of valiance and faithfulness. This year, as I have brought Bible scholars and wisdom teachers into my study of their story, I have started to understand that we may have been wrong about the truth I was always told they were being faithful to.

In my studies, I have learned that journeying into the wilderness was viewed symbolically as a journey away from God. I have learned that their hunting practices (illustrated by the broken bow story) were deviating from the religiously prescribed method of slaughtering animals in preparation of eating.

I have learned that by leaving Jerusalem, Lehi's family was leaving the center of their religious practice, along with those who had the authorized priesthood required for sacred ordinances. I have learned that the tree at the center of Lehi's vision, to many, likely represented Asherah, who through recent reforms in the temple had been deemed an idyllic god who should not be worshipped.

Even their worship of Jesus was radically out of line with traditional teachings of the time.

So much of what Lehi taught went against traditional Jewish practices.

He took his family out of Jerusalem and abandoned so much of what made up their worship of God. Yet we use their story as an example of being faithful to organized religion (our organized religion of course). Their story is not about adhering to strict, orthodox dogma. It is about following God and seeking truth even if it means leaving behind everything you have been taught was right and true.