{"id":47359,"date":"2024-06-09T06:09:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-09T12:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=47359"},"modified":"2024-06-05T13:14:53","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T19:14:53","slug":"theology-in-alma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2024\/06\/theology-in-alma\/","title":{"rendered":"Theology in Alma"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Just in time for us to study Alma in \u201cCome, Follow Me,\u201d the Latter-day Saint history blog <em>From the Desk<\/em> published an interview with Kylie Nielson Turley about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fromthedesk.org\/alma-theological-introduction-maxwell-institute\/\">theology in Alma<\/a>. Kylie Nielson Turley wrote the Maxwell Institute\u2019s brief theological introduction to the first half of the Book of Alma and has a lot of insights to share from her time researching and studying about Alma. What follows here is a copost to the full interview (a shorter post with excerpts and some discussion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>There were a lot of important insights about Alma<sub>2<\/sub> and his context in particular. One thought that struck me was that prior to his conversion, he and the other unbelievers may have been participating in a competing religious movement rather than just opposing the church that his father led:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Unlike people throughout the Book of Mormon who dwindle in unbelief\u2014seemingly for personal reasons or for shared reasons but from a personal standpoint\u2014these unbelievers are united by common beliefs, shared practices, and group identification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They are not simply dwindling into apostasy as individuals. They are organized; they have standard beliefs; and they can vocalize their message. They are persuasive, and they are trying to recruit others; they work to persuade members to leave the Church of God and join them. Notably, the unbelievers are \u201cnot half so numerous as the people of God; but because of the dissensions among the brethren, they became more numerous\u201d (Mosiah 26:6).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The unbelievers seem to have been a movement in their own right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Along those lines, Alma<sub>2<\/sub> may not have been as young as his usual moniker of \u201cAlma the Younger\u201d would imply:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>There are many reasons to think that Alma? was much older than the teenager than we often imagine him to be. He could easily be in his 30s, almost as easily in his 40s, and conceivably in his 50s when he is converted. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mosiah? dies at age 63 in the 1 RJ (first year of the reign of the judges), and he spent 30 years as king. Those who were \u201clittle children\u201d at the time of his coronation, including his own sons apparently are the foundation of the Unbeliever movement (Mosiah 26:1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How old is a \u201clittle child\u201d who is unable to comprehend the message and intent of King Benjamin\u2019s speech? If we simply guess, we might suggest a range, perhaps 3 \u2013 10 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If put in an equation, it would look like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The age of the Unbelievers = 3\u201310 years old (age at King Benjamin\u2019s sermon) + 30 years (Mosiah\u2019s reign) \u2013 1\u20139 years (the number of years between Alma\u2019s conversion and 1 RJ, according to the estimates of scholars).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>With these very rough estimates, the little children would be anywhere from 24-39 years old when Alma was converted. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we use the same 1-9 years before 1 RJ to help us estimate Alma?\u2019s age, then the date we should notice is that Alma\u2019s father (Alma?) dies. In 1 RJ Alma\u2019s father, Alma, dies at 82 years old (Mosiah 29:45).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is the question to consider: how old is the son when an angel appears, if his father is between 72-81 years old?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a lot of evidence that Alma<sub>2<\/sub> was among the vilest of sinners for a longer period of his life than we often assume (which, in turn, highlights the redemption and change he underwent even more).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another area that Turley was able to highlight is the impact that the experiences of Ammonihah had on Alma:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>That Alma might be stunned into silence is understandable. The judge and the people of Ammonihah guarantee that Alma sees friends die. They guarantee that Amulek, the man an angel promised would be blessed by Alma\u2019s presence, is beside Alma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bound with strong cords and brought to the fire while the flames are blazing, Alma and Amulek are forced to witness women and children\u2014most likely including Amulek\u2019s family\u2014be burned to death. Still not content, the chief judge ensures that Alma understands the brutal irony at the heart of this horror: Alma\u2019s unfortunate gospel metaphor about a lake of fire and brimstone prompts the literal lake of fire and brimstone that burns before his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The violence revolves around words, ideas, and metaphor in ways that are vicious, deliberate, and personal. Alma preached of fiery punishment (Alma 12:17), was forced to watch his words become horrifyingly real (Alma 14:8\u201311), and then is told that he is to blame for the deaths he witnesses\u2014or, at least, that his words sparked the idea (Alma 14:14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ammonihah\u2019s citizens aim to torture Alma in horrifyingly inhumane ways, and the final twist is telling him that his rhetoric\u2014his hallmark skill\u2014is the cause. Events much less dramatic, much less pointed, and much less personal than Ammonihah can haunt someone, even traumatize.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Alma never used that metaphor again in the Book of Mormon and went silent for an extended period within the text afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Asides from Alma<sub>2<\/sub>, Turley provided insights into other individuals in the Book of Alma, including Abish. One of these insights had to do with the ways in which Abish was a Christ-figure in her story:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>This narrative depicts a fall in a rather original way: people are literally falling to the earth and appearing to be dead repeatedly. Oddly, when they arise, they do not speak nor act as if they have all suffered a physical fall, but, rather, a spiritual fall. The king arises and joyfully tells his wife that he has \u201cseen [his] Redeemer\u201d and that the Redeemer \u201cshall come forth, and be born of a woman and he shall redeem all mankind\u201d (Alma 19:13). While some may view Ammon as a Christ figure, it seems to me that Ammon is more of an Adam figure. Ammon\u2019s actions and words bring the \u201cfall\u201d of everyone in King Lamoni\u2019s household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Abish is different. Regardless of whether these people need redemption from a literal fall or a metaphorical fall, Abish brings life. In a surprisingly descriptive sequence, Abish \u201ctook the queen by the hand that perhaps she might raise her from the ground\u201d (Alma 19:29), and \u201cas soon as she touched\u201d the queen, the queen \u201carose and stood upon her feet.\u201d Clearly Abish brings physical healing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>It was something that I never had thought about before and I found the insight fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fromthedesk.org\/alma-theological-introduction-maxwell-institute\/\">theology in Alma<\/a>, head on over to read the full interview with Kylie Nielson Turley at the Latter-day Saint history blog <em>From the Desk<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just in time for us to study Alma in \u201cCome, Follow Me,\u201d the Latter-day Saint history blog From the Desk published an interview with Kylie Nielson Turley about theology in Alma. Kylie Nielson Turley wrote the Maxwell Institute\u2019s brief theological introduction to the first half of the Book of Alma and has a lot of insights to share from her time researching and studying about Alma. What follows here is a copost to the full interview (a shorter post with excerpts and some discussion).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10397,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,2890],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-of-mormon","category-from-the-desk"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10397"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47359"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47360,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47359\/revisions\/47360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}