The women in the Book of Mormon were active participants in living the gospel, with unwavering faith and wisdom, say BYUH religion professors
Three BYU–Hawaii religion professors described the women in the Book of Mormon as women of faith, holding a lasting influence and active participants in living the gospel. Though a lot of these women are unnamed, the professors said as people study every chapter of the Book of Mormon, they shouldn’t overlook the legacy of faith and significant roles these women hold in their families and communities.
Po Nien (Felipe) Chou, a professor from the faculty of religious education, said the Book of Mormon is a word of God and its stories are preserved so people can learn from them. He said these stories of faith come from both men and women. “If we only focus on the prophets and the story of the men, we miss half of the story. We need to make sure we also study the other half.”
He said people were given two eyes to look into the scriptures. “We need to have an eye that looks towards the prophets and the eye that looks for the women of faith,” he said. Together, Chou said, people can see the entire picture.
Understanding why women are scarcely mentioned
In a chart entitled “Women in the Book of Mormon” published by John W. Welch and Greg Welch, the abstract says, “Although women do not receive prominent attention in all parts of the Book of Mormon, they are referred to more often than most readers realize.”
Uploaded in the Scripture Central website, the chart states six women that are mentioned by name (Eve, Sarah, Mary, Sariah, Isabel, Abish); others are known by title such as Ishmael’s daughters and King Lamoni’s wife, and many women are recognized collectively as mothers, daughters and widows.
Jennifer Lane, professor emerita at BYUH, said in the ancient world, women typically didn’t have a public role. “The fact that we know any names of women or that they are mentioned at all is fortunate, because that is not common in ancient texts,” she said.
Chou shared the main reason why the Book of Mormon are mainly stories of men and prophets is because they are the ones assigned to keep the records. Due to this prophetic responsibility, he said, “they tend to write more from their perspective which is a men’s perspective.”
Rebekah Kay Strain, professor from the Faculty of Religious Education, also noted the importance of understanding the context of Nephite culture. “It was heavily patriarchal,” she said. “This happens in a lot of histories wherein we look to the political leaders such as the heads of the state. A lot of these stories are centered around men and their experiences like the war,” she explained.
Lane said it is important to remember the often-repeated principle that “the past is a foreign country. They do things differently there.” She said being upset that there is not equal representation or more information about women is expecting another society and culture to be like the culture now. She said focusing on that is not helpful.
“The spiritual truths of the Book of Mormon are for everyone and what we learn from both the women and men in the Book of Mormon is for everyone,” said Lane. “It helps to accept texts from the past on their own terms and to appreciate what we do get,” she said.
Strain encouraged people “to hear the stories of women, look at their experiences as different from men’s and see what they can teach us.”
Seeing women as central figures
As in other parts of history, people often see women in the Book of Mormon as objects to be acted on or sideshows, said Strain. “We need to see women as central figures in the story – in performing miracles and in living the gospel,” she said.
She said the Lamanite servant woman, Abish, is a powerful woman figure to her. “Abish is one of the few women that were named [in the Book of Mormon],” she said. The story of Abish started when Ammon, the Nephite son of King Mosiah, visited the Lamanite people in the land of Ishmael, as seen in Alma 17. However, Abish had already “been converted unto the Lord for many years, on account of a remarkable vision of her father” (Alma 19:16), long before the missionary Ammon arrived.
Lane noted Abish’s desire to share her knowledge of God with others after her conversion. When Abish saw the king, Lane said queen, and Ammon “[laying] prostrate upon the earth … she ran forth from house to house, making it known unto people” because “she knew it was the power of God,” (Alma 19:17).
Strain said although Abish was a servant, she had the faith to take the queen by hand and raise her up from her symbolic death state. That same faith, she said, was also seen when the queen, after being raised, was also able to raise her husband, King Lamoni.
“We have heard stories where miracles are performed by men and they are doing the blessing,” said Strain. “However, in these instances, two women were the ones pulling and [raising] somebody else from a death-like state,” she said.
In these events, Strain said she learned from Abish and King Lamoni’s queen what it was like to be an active participant in living the gospel. “They had the faith to lift and perform miracles,” she said. “This isn’t a situation where women just sit back and watch what men do. They were also able to perform miracles,” said Strain. “From that, I learned that I can have visions and revelations too. I can perform miracles and I can lift people,” she said.
Women’s lasting influence as wives and mothers
Chou said there are a lot of nameless women in the Book of Mormon but their influences are powerful. “This influence manifests into their spouses who are prophet, and it also manifests to their children and their society,” he said.
Sariah, Nephi’s wife, Ishmael’s wife, King Lamoni’s queen, Chou said, “all these spouses are significant and instrumental in helping and preparing their husbands.” He said, “these women held onto their faith. It’ll be rare for a prophet to be able to do what he does without the help of his wife.”
Strain said Nephi’s wife only had a few parts, but she demonstrates the quality of patience. “She deals with a lot – with her brother-in-laws and with her husband, Nephi, too,” she said. Nephi’s wife went into the wilderness with her family based on faith, had difficult experiences, had children in nonideal circumstances, took off and separated with her family when their lives were in danger because of Nephi’s brethren, said Strain. “The fact that she is still there by Nephi’s side; that is a lot of patience and devotion,” she said.
Lane also shared how the story of the mothers of the stripling warriors displays what a difference it can make in other people’s lives when one helps them have faith. She said, “These young men had strength from the witness of their mothers and their lives of faithfulness.” As recorded in Alma 56, “...they had been taught by their mothers that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed the words of their mothers, saying: ‘We do not doubt our mothers knew it.’”
Chou also highlighted the sacrifice of the mothers sending out their sons to battle. “Some of those mothers might have been widows,” he said. “What kind of faith does it take for them to send their children off to war not knowing if they would come back?,” he added. Chou said the mother’s willingness to let their sons go resulted in a miracle – the stripling warriors were wounded but not one lost their life.
Strain noted the mothers of the stripling warriors have gone through a lot of pain but their story demonstrates endurance and perseverance in difficult situations. “These mothers are Lamanites and are widowed. They’ve also been marginalized by their Lamanite community as they have come in with the Nephites,” she explained.
“In the Church, we always emphasize the nuclear family as the ideal, but we realize it was not always an option,” said Strain. She said this story is a great inspiration about single mothers and their powerful influences on their children.
She added the fact that the first sentence in the Book of Mormon states that Nephi was “born of goodly parents” says something about how Nephi acknowledges both her father and mother as a source of who he is. When understanding women in the Book of Mormon, Strain said, “We need to read between the lines a lot.”
She said, “Sariah has been a big factor in Nephi’s life.” She said she used to think, “Oh Sariah! You need more faith. You are doubting,” when reading the part where Sariah murmurs to her husband, Lehi, about their sons going back to Jerusalem for the brass plates. “I have come to reread that and learned to admire Sariah,” she said.
“I see it now as positive. She is taking an active parental role of care, love, trust, nurture and safety,” expressed Strain. She said she now sees it as Sariah being heavily invested in her children, really cared for her children, and was comfortable openly talking about her frustrations and concerns to her husband. “She was not a silent wife that just passively goes along but she was an active vocal participant as they journey through the promised land,” she said.