Circle Squared
A Textual Analysis of the Book of Mormon
Chapter 15: "Wild Grapes Can't Be Broken"
Chapter Summary:
The Lord’s vineyard (Israel) will become desolate, and His people will be scattered--Woes will come upon them in their apostate and scattered state--The Lord will lift an ensign and gather Israel--Compare Isaiah 5. About 559–545 B.C.
Parables often relate common practices of a culture. Isaiah's culture valued certain types of agriculture (deserts being the unforgiving jerk-faces that they are). In particular, vineyards were especially valuable. Grapes are able flourish in harsh environments where many fruits fail. This offered ancient Jews nutritious food, and wine which was often cleaner than water and was less likely to make you sick. During the Bronze Age, these traits were invaluable.
Isaiah shares a lengthy parable of a vineyard, variations of which appear in the Book of Mormon several times. The vines struggle to bring forth good fruit, and Isaiah compares this to the stubbornness and wickedness of Israel (as if grape vines have any say whatsoever in the fruit they produce).
Right away, I see a glaring problem with the proposed application of the parable to the Jews. The "lord of the vineyard", which clearly is analogous to an omnipotent and omniscient god, does not share those same traits. He toils and struggles with his vineyard, and despite doing everything right, still the fruit fails. This is not how omnipotence operates. Nothing which happens could possibly go against the will of an omnipotent god--ever.
A more accurate analogy would be that the "lord of the vineyard" designed the fruit to fail and then became upset that the fruit did exactly what he had created them to do. These are the strangling confines of Christian theology.
Not that this is a strong point against Mormonism, but I always find it curious that stone-sober Mormons cling to this analogy, while simultaneously condemning one of the main byproducts of a vineyard--wine. Never mind that Jesus drank wine. Nor give heed to the fact that just a day or two before Joseph Smith was murdered he drank wine with his brother, Hyrum. The church currently condemns alcohol; therefore, the only appropriate use of wine is in parables about an incompetent god.
Isaiah describes a conundrum for the "lord of the vineyard": despite all the preparation and care-taking, the vines produce wild grapes. So, what would a farmer typically do in this situation? From what I know about the process, they would prune and trim and water and fertilize and so on. You know, farming stuff. What does the personification of an all-powerful god do in Isaiah's parable? He refuses to prune and trim and water and fertilize and so on, to teach those unruly grapes a lesson:
"6 And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sure seems that the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the universe doesn't know much about tending a vineyard.
What is it about wild grapes that god finds so distasteful? Well, the taste. Wild grapes are not as sweet as grapes which have been put through agricultural breeding processes. This is the case for many fruits, in fact, such as apples, oranges and bananas. The process to get the vines to produce more flavorful fruit can be long, but neglect will certainly not help things.
What does the taste represent? To the ex-Mormon in me, it sounds like compliance to god's commandments or will, in order to be more appealing to god. This is why Mormons like this parable. It gives a reason to follow god.
The problem, though, is that while it is a nice metaphor, it still does nothing to demonstrate god's existence. If you can't even do this, how can you possibly speculate about how to get on god's good side? I could just as easily say the "lord of the vineyard" is a metaphor for Bigfoot. Does this prove Bigfoot's existence? How much meaning could a parable about the will of Bigfoot have if the existence of Bigfoot is still an open question?
Isaiah continues with a long list of bad attributes which will lead a person to hell: "honorable men", "he that rejoiceth [in pomp and glory]", the mean man", "the mighty man", "the lofty", "them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope". Isaiah carries on like this, and I'm sure you get the idea.
Going back to the parable of the vineyard, Isaiah describes what god will do to those distasteful wild grapes: they will be burned like stubble and chaff. Again, this will not make grapes sweeter.
Isaiah closes with a vague description of a group of righteous people who will "roar like young lions" as they fearlessly proclaim god's word to the wicked. To a Mormon, this is a spot-on prediction of young Mormon missionaries going out to the whole world to preach Mormonism. To me, this is superstitious and self-aggrandizing wishful thinking.