Difference between revisions of "Alma 14:11-15"

Revision as of 03:30, 25 June 2011

The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 14

Questions

Verse 11

• Alma declares that the people being burned are received “unto himself [God], in glory.” The footnote for glory in your scriptures leads you to the topical guide heading for “exaltation.” Is this verse declaring that martyrdom equals exaltation? If not, what does “in glory” mean? If so, does all martyrdom equal exaltation or does glory refer only to this specific case?

Verse 12

• Could you read this as Amulek actually hoping to die also, since members of his own family were likely consumed in the flames before his eyes? In other words, is it possible to read verse 12 as a sort of death wish on Amulek's part?

Lexical notes

• Verse 2: Webster's 1828 dictonary "Constrain" is to exert moral or physical force in either urging to action or restraining it. However according to Webster's 1828 dictonary "Constrain" can also have a stronger meaning, to force or imprison.

Exegesis

Martyrdom of the Believers

Verse 8 told us that the wives and children of those men who had been cast out because of their belief plus anyone else who believed was burned. Verse 14 suggests that part of the motivation for choosing this way to kill them was to make a point in contrast to Alma's prophecy in 12:17. There Alma had prophesied that if the people didn't repent they would ultimately be cast into a lake of fire and brimstone. So then, when the wicked cast the believers into a lake of fire, it seems the point is something like "we are the one's with the power to cast people into the fire. Don't be afraid of God's punishment be afraid of ours."

Elder Maxwell said, "Touting our own “hand” makes it doubly hard to confess God’s hand in all things," and he cites v. 11 as an example of Alma refusing to tout his own hand.

Alma says in v11 that "the Spirit constraineth me" not to act to prevent these deaths. Other uses of this word in scripture include Paul's discussion of the moment of judgment before God ("for the love of Christ constraineth us" 2 Corinthians 5:14) and Job's refusal to speak ("for I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me" Job 32:18).

Power Structures

In these verses, the question of power as such explicitly comes to the fore. Interestingly, it is Amulek who raises the question, perhaps as part of his growing understanding of what it means to be called of God: "Let us stretch forth our hands and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames."

In verse 15, the chief judge again raises the issue: "ye see that ye had not power to save those who had been cast into the fire; neither has God saved them." Not only is Alma and Amulek's power brought into question, but the clout of God himself is challenged!

It is striking, then, that sandwiched between these first two mentions of power, the legal overtones of the chapter reach their most significant peak: God has permitted the believers to be burned in order that "the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness." Situated in the center of two questions, one about how one ought to exercise God's power (v.10), and the other about how that power manifests itself in the eyes of others (v.15), is a manifestation of God's exercise of that power as He is seated in righteous judgment. God is judging the people's actions, and their assertion of hierarchy and a power structure over and against his own excites "his [just] wrath."

Elements Prefiguring Christ

The contents of this section have been moved by mjberkey to the discussion page for possible revision.

Related links

• Jacob Baker's article - http://mormonphilosophyandtheology.com/2010/09/24/alma-14-and-the-problem-of-evil-part-i-an-analytic-philosophical-analysis-in-the-presence-of-burning-children/

• http://bycommonconsent.com/2007/09/14/your-friday-firestorm-12/

• http://lds.org/ensign/2009/08/the-path-to-martyrdom-the-ultimate-witness?lang=eng&query=%22Alma+14%22

• http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/22053/Alma-Amulek-showed-true-commitment.html