Most of the Nephite wars were over spiritual issues, not temporal concerns. William Hamblin observed: “Religion and warfare were closely connected in the Book of Mormon. Certain elements of the Israelite patterns of ‘holy war’ were continued in the Book of Mormon, such as the important ancient idea that success in war was due fundamentally to the will of God and the righteousness of the people (Alma 2:28; 44:4–5; 50:21; 56:47; 57:36; 58:33; Mormon 2:26)” (Ludlow, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1:163).