Racer wrote:1. Dude is ****faced and passed out. If you have ever dealt with anyone as inebriated as Laban was described in the Book of Mormon, you would know that it wouldn't take too much effort or protest to disrobe Laban. No murder necessary.
Laban would most definately realize that the plates were gone, and go after the ones who were asking for it.
2. Which of the following scenerios is less likely to trigger an all out manhunt for Nephi and his brothers in the morning?
A. Laban wakes up naked with a hangover and chalks it up to a night of hard partying.
B. Laban's guards discover their master's naked, headless corpse in the street in a pool of blood and gore. The blood trail leads straight to the vault. "Hey, weren't Lehi's sons here last
night causing a commotion about wanting Laban's plates?" The alarm is sounded, and its all hands on deck to apprehend these violent criminals.
Hangover or not, Laban would know the plates were gone.
Furthermore, you assume his servants/guards knew that Lehi's sons wanted the plates. The Book of Mormon suggests private meetings with Laban, and the guards were chasing out 'robbers'...they were clueless. Were the son's of Lehi the only people to visit Laban? Laban seemed to have been an important man. There wouldn't be a blood trail leading to the vault, unless you think Nephi dragged Laban's head with him...I think Zoram would have seen that though.
3. If Nephi had to kill Laban, why not just strangle or smother him? He was incapacitated, so it would be simple. The human body contains 6 qts of blood. That is one hell of a mess. Are you telling me none of that blood sprayed all over Nephi or soaked Laban's clothes? So, Nephi put on those disgusting bloody clothes and Zoram didn't even flinch when what he thought was his boss approaching him with an ass load of congealed blood all over his body? Zoram: "Let me lead you to the vaults sir, nothing seems out of the ordinary here."
Using the sword was quick and easy.
As for the blood, it was night, and he wore the armor (which he could have wiped off) over the garments (which most likey were a dark shade of wool).
4. Nephi was commanded to kill Laban because according to God it is better to let one man perish than let a nation dwindle and perish in unbelief (1Nephi 4:13). If this was the case, why didn't God command Nephi to kill Laman and Lemuel? Because of the Lamanites, didn't the Nephites get wiped out and a whole nation perished and dwindled in unbelief? So, in the end killing Laban didn't prevent a nation from perishing and dwindling in unbelief. Didn't God forsee this? Oops, so much for omnipotence.
If Nephi hadn't gotten the plates, six hundred years worth of people would have been without the Law. The Nephites didn't dwindle and perish in unbelief because of the Lamanites...they did so themselves. The Lamanites were just there to fulfill the Lord's promise.