One of the peculiarities of the Book of Mormon text is that it’s disjointed and redundant. This is certainly ironic since the task of inscribing characters on metal plates was such a tedious undertaking. Jacob admitted that he “cannot write but a little of (his) words, because of the difficulty of engraving (their) words upon plates…” (Jacob 4:1). Indeed, it was so laborious that the Nephites chose to write in a more efficient language, Reformed Egyptian. With that in mind, it’s astonishing that passages exist like the ones that follow:

“I would that ye should remember that the Lord God ordained priests, after his holy order, which was after the order of his Son… And those priests were ordained after the order of his Son, in a manner that thereby the people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption. And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of are called with a holy calling… And thus they have been called to this holy foundation of the world for such as would not harden their hearts, being in and through the atonement of the Only Begotten Son, who was prepared— And thus being called by this holy calling, and ordained unto the high priesthood of the holy order of God, to teach his commandments unto the children of men…This high priesthood being after the order of his Son, which order was from the foundation of the world; or in other words, being without beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from eternity to all eternity… Now they were ordained after this manner—being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the high priesthood of the holy order, which calling, and ordinance, and high priesthood, is without beginning or end— Thus they become high priests forever, after the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of grace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen. Now, as I said concerning the holy order, or this high priesthood, there were many who were ordained and became high priests of God; and it was on account of their exceeding faith and repentance…” (selected verses from Alma 13)

“And thus did the thirty and eighth year pass away, and also the thirty and ninth, and forty and first, and the forty and second, yea, even until forty and nine years had passed away, and also the fifty and first, and the fifty and second; yea, and even until fifty and nine years had passed away.” (4 Nephi 1:6) Could Mormon not have simply informed us that fifty-nine years had passed away?

“Now there was no law against a man’s belief; for it was strictly contrary to the commands of God that there should be a law which should bring men on to unequal grounds… if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve him; but if he did not believe in him there was no law to punish him… For there was a law that men should be judged according to their crimes. Nevertheless, there was no law against a man’s belief; therefore, a man was punished only for the crimes which he had done; therefore all men were on equal grounds. And this Anti-Christ, whose name was Korihor, (and the law could have no hold upon him)…” (selected verses from Alma 30)