Nephi's ship

Let’s talk about ships. That is right ships. Nephi’s ship to be exact. There is not much on it in 1 Nephi 18: 2 he says “Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the ship after the manner of men; but I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men.” He then goes on a little to talk about how he prayed often to be inspired to know how to build the ship. The next few verses mention how even Laman and Lamuel thought that when it was finished it looked good. That is about all we get about the ship.
Yah want to know what intrigues me the most is how much an educated scholar can get out of just those few lines of the scriptures. I am not even going to try and impose by saying I am that scholar. The information that I am going to relay to you is mostly me mimicking the scholars from the movie in my Book of Mormon class. They noted that in Nephi’s’ time ships were built with the timbers laying parallel, and it was not until Columbus’s time that the ships started to be built looking like a ribcage. It was this difference in construction that made it possible for New World exploration because the ships could cross wider stretches of ocean. There was an in-depth analysis in the movie about the subject, and I watched in aw. What is that… one, two, three lines from The Book of Mormon and hours of research latter we have a better understanding of Nephi and the will of God.
It was undeniable that the facts of the ship were interesting to listen to, but more importantly it made me realize almost every line of The Book of Mormon has that potential. Because I understood what the ship was like I knew that Nephi was obedient. Nephi would have had to know a little bit about ship building in order to understand that God did not want him to build a normal ship. Imagine if God told you that you had to go and build an airplane… don’t worry I don’t know were to start either. Nephi did know were to start though, and God used his previous knowledge to progresses the eternal plan of salvation.
My professor wanted me to talk about how I felt about the movie. Specifically the aspects that “prove” The Book of Mormon historically. It led back to the idea that a boy with a minimal education logistically had no clue that in Nephi’s time the modern ships could not cross the Pacific ocean. I am eighteen and currently receiving one of the best secondary educations in the world, and I just found out that 600 BC ships were built differently than Columbus’s ships. The Professor wanted me to answer if information like this built my testimony? I say yes.
For all we know God taught Nephi how to build a flying saucer that looked enough like a ship that to Nephi it was the only proper word to describe “God‘s ship.” The important aspect that I took away though was that I should study the scriptures; a single line could hold a key building principle to my testimony. All knowledge is truth and applying secular knowledge to the scriptures is not like pouring oil into water. It is more like adding light on light, because they are both truth. The point that the scholars were trying to make was not to shove The Book of Mormon in someone’s face and scream “eat it.” No I think that they were really trying to understand the verses better. That is what I should do more in my personal scripture study, research.
Facts like how Nephi built his ship can not be the core center of a strong testimony. A testimony is going to have to with stand the temptations of the Devil, and he can knock something as weak as that over really quickly. I am merely saying that it adds to a testimony. We pray for truth. We fast for truth. We ponder truth. We listen to Book of Mormon videos in Seminary for truth. We ponder it out in our own minds so we can have a better understanding of truth. The base is the same we are seeking truth. All of the facts the graphs, the charts they had in the movie pointed to one idea for me-- seeking truth, and that is what builds my testimony.