Day 6: Book of Mormon, Alma 1-32
There is a whole lotta stuff happening in the Book of Alma. This is the longest book in the Book of Mormon, so I split it into two parts. Today’s reading was the first 32 chapters. Even with that, there’s some recurring themes that keep this book moving along at a fast pace.
The major pattern that I notice here is this: Unrighteousness –> Conversion –> Penance. The Book of Alma starts out with the story of Nehor, who was an unrighteous man preaching against the gospel. He gets in a fight and kills someone. He’s eventually detained and Alma, as judge, says there’s nothing more he can do than fulfill the laws of the land, which means Nehor must be executed.
Follow this up stories where the same pattern repeats: The Amlicties are soundly defeated. The teaching in Ammonihah ends with the repentance of a man named Zeezrom. There’s an interlude where a bundle of severed arms are brought to convince a doubting king. A man similar to Nehor named Korihor is rendered mute…and eventually trampled to death (after repenting).
It’s quite a lot. Each time it involves someone preaching the gospel, being doubted, the doubters changing their minds and/or the doubters being killed/defeated. What’s interesting to me in this first half of the book is the story of Korihor. Here was a man that changed his heart but God left him mute. He spent the rest of his days begging for food only to be trampled by wild animals. Does this fall into the Book of Mormon’s understanding of forgiveness? Later on in chapter 32 we get the answer. It’s not true faith if you believe after seeing “signs.” True faith is believing in the unseen. Ahh, so it’s clear. Korihor’s change of heart was too late. He was already judged unworthy in this story.
This section ends with another story similar to the rest, that of the people known as the Zoramites. The image below shows them worshipping in their synagogue. Yes, they don’t have churches. Their wicked corrupt religion took place in a synagogue. That’s troubling. Their other sin was worshipping a spiritual God and not a physical God. I enjoyed the imagery of the Zoramites, but not really the borderline anti-semitic renderings of them.
Onward to part two of this lengthy book…
Things I Noticed in the Text
- Alma 1:15-16, First of Many Executions. Nehor is executed for preaching falsehoods and killing a man. Do Latter-day Saints oppose the death penalty? Just curious. As an aside, I’m well aware the Bible has plenty of executions.
- Alma 10-16, Zeezrom. The redemptive story of Zeezrom was an enjoyable read. On his deathbed he is baptized and it’s interesting to see a man described as wicked turn into a champion for our hero, Alma.
- Alma 17:39, Severed Arms. I’m not kidding. A bundle of severed arms are taken to a king:”…and then went in unto the king, bearing the arms which had been smitten off by the sword of Ammon…”
- Alma 30:56,59, Poor Korihor. He repented. Only to be mute and trampled.
This post is part of a larger series where I read the entirety of Latter-day Saint scripture in 15 days. Take a look at the original post for more info, as well as links to other reflections on this journey.