Ancient Democracy Verses Modern Republic
This work consists of two major parts, one regarding types of governments within Nephite society and a juxtaposition of ancient American democracy and modern American republicanism. Noel B Reynolds of BYU stated in his work entitled Government and Legal History in the Book of Mormon, that
The Nephites were ruled by hereditary kings from 550 to 91 B.C., when the rule changed to a reign of judges. After the coming of Christ, two centuries of peace under the government of his Church were followed by a breakdown of society into tribal units and finally by the destruction of the Nephites. Full Article Here
Where Reynolds conducted an academic study of the types of governments for the entire record of the
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One followed the divine appointment of Nephi as the designated patriarch of the Lehites and the other followed the hereditary custom of first born succession of patriarchal power. Nephi became the protector of his people following a series of events that effectively ended the possibility of him being an operative patriarch. His group of Lehites fled away from Laman and his Lehites taking with them the sacred records and items associated with the patriarchal ruler of the clan. This caused a blood feud permanently separating the groups for centuries. Nephi’s protectorate formed a nation of Nephites beholden to his leadership and authority because the people viewed him as the rightful heir and as a prophet of God. He refused to take on the position of a King as the new Nephite citizens desired, and therefore, became a theocratic leader. Theocratic protectorate defined here consists of a state or nation under the protection of God with a representative. Nephi, being the prophet of this group and its leader civilly appeared to be a governor or …show more content…
It was the will of the people to have a king though Nephi thought it better that they should have no king, which is why he declined the title. For his service to them, the people titled their Kings Nephi I, Nephi II and so forth, which prevailed for several hundred years before a political reformation occurred under the last king, King Mosiah who gave the people a voice in the direction of their government.
Nephi appears to have had no sons to inherit a leadership role, unless he purposely never mentioned any in his record. Subsequently, consecrating a monarch for his people, Nephi separated the function of high priest or prophet from the monarchy and abdicated ecclesiastical responsibility to his brother Jacob creating a separation of religion and state. A monarchy consists of the ruling of a nation by one family usually by hereditary decreed. Traditionally, monarchies have great civic authority and provide identity for the nation.
The most revered monarch of the Nephites was King Mosiah, the last king because he granted the Nephites equal status as citizens and a ruling class instead of a single monarch to guide the government. The people elected to continue with the monarchy with the desire to compel one of the sons of Mosiah to be the next king, though all declined. This provided Mosiah the opportunity to change the nature of Nephite
The surrounding nations had an influence on the people of Israel and this was not pleasing to God. They wanted a king. They wanted to be like other nations and have a leaded. A king they could see.
In this case, there were four key factors of government. The first was the Council of Elders, which was made up of about thirty men that came from a great lineage, had to be at least sixty years in age, and they were chosen by the people for life. The second component was the rule of two kings. To be a king a person had to be born into it, as the position was only inherited. These two kings were also a part of the council of elders. The third and most powerful part were the ephors, which translates to overseers. The ephors were five men who were elected annually and were usually elderly. The last component of the government was the assembly, which was open to all adult male citizens. The thing about the assembly was that they were not allowed to debate or propose anything at meetings. They only had power to approve or deny proposal that were drawn up by the council of elders. They showed their approval by
Of all things that may have influenced future western governments, Athenian Democracy and Rome’s Republic had the greater impact. However, Athenian Democracy and Rome’s Republic share all male citizenship participation and a voice in government, they differed in the ways that they voted and how their citizens were elected.
In accordance with Sparta, it had two Kings from diverse people. So these Monarchs are patterned by the Ephors who are chosen by the popular assembly.
James I argued that monarchs, or kings, take charge over the land, appealing to the authority of God (DR, p. 1). Despite his argument that earthly authority does not apply to the king, I have to disagree with his argument.
his righteous turn to rule the kingdom since he is the oldest of the four sons of
Now I’m going to talk about what Nebuchadnezzar did in wars. When he was king In 601 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar attempted to attack the land of Egypt but was punished with a big lose. So Judah rebelled but Jerusalem fell in March 597 B.C and
The king was had more power than the President today but he also had a “Senate and congress”. He had many advisers and people under him helping with other problems. He ultimately had control but also was advised and helped. In today's government we have a president who has people under him just like Babylonian kings. The government in Babylonia influenced ours today and helped shape and model our government structure.
I Kings 11: 9-11 the lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this matter, that he should not follow other gods, but he did not observe what the Lord commanded. Therefore the lord said to Solomon, since this has been your mind and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. The Deuteronomistic History talks about the kingship of David, Saul and Solomon but portrays the monarchy as corrupt, improper and always bringing calamity to the people.
Both Greek Democracy and the Roman Republic contributed greatly to the development of the modern world, bringing into it the notions of democracy and republic. The evolution of these concepts took them to a level much higher than one present in Ancient Greece and Rome respectively. However, modern society continues to draw on somewhat idealized accounts of the ancient world for inspiration in improving today’s governing procedures.
King David, a member of the tribe of Judah was chosen by God to lead his people. As everyone knows, he proved by his wise choices to be a very effective leader. As a great military strategist David united the tribes and extended the national boundaries so that in his time Israel enjoyed a greater fraction of
The nation of Israel was set apart as holy to the LORD. But they When the children of Israel demanded a king, they did so to be like the other nations. The first three kings were Saul, (outwardly tall, handsome and strong—a seemingly good choice for a king, but inwardly arrogant, proud and unrepentant—not God’s choice), David (a man after God’s own heart who repented of his sins and as such was God’s choice), and Solomon (the wisest man who ever lived, but because of covenant disobedience became the catalyst for the division and ultimate exile of Israel.
The choice of Snefru as the fictional king is significant because Snefru was generally viewed as a good and wise king who brought stability and prosperity to Egypt. According to a translation by Hans Goedicke, the name “Snefru” means “the one who makes proper.” He also describes Snefru as “as a ruler whose concern for the country does not end with his official obligations: he is shown as trying to expand his understanding of the problems facing the country and contribute to their solution” (Goedicke, 15). This characterization supports the interpretation of The Prophecy of Neferti as a plea for King Amenemhat I to take action in the Eastern border regions. Neferti harkens back to the time of King Snefru in order to inspire Amenemhat to also understand the problems facing the country and contribute to their solution. In The Protocol of Neferyt, Hans Goedicke theorizes that, “At the time of his presentation Neferti could not have been sure of the reaction he might encounter. The romantic disguise modified the possibilities of adverse reaction” (Goedicke,12). This would explain Neferti’s use of the Fourth Dynasty as the setting for the
Moses makes it clear that the lord they were to set over themselves was to be a ruler that they browse among their own particular individuals. They were not to set a nonnative over themselves, but rather a king from among their own particular brethren. Indeed, even concerning a ruler, they were still to remain God's picked and separate individuals. In contrast to Herod the Great, he does not fit this qualification. In fact, Herod the Great is not even of Judea, and was not chosen by the people, but by the Roman
The year of approximately 1051 B.C. of the United Kingdom Period of Israel was a significant year in that it was marked by a shift in the Hebrew view of God and his position over their nation (Hindson and Yates, 2010). For centuries prior to this date, the Hebrew people not only dwelled under the theocratic institutes of Yahweh, but for a time, also viewed him as their supreme leader and judge (Johnson, 2012). By around 1051 B.C., however, the Hebrew mindset had altered, and desiring to imitate the surrounding nations, the Hebrews demanded that a monarchy be established over them (Hindson and Yates, 2010). The ultimate result was the founding of the Hebraic monarchy under the first three kings of Israel: Saul, David, and Solomon. Tragically,