PROVO, Utah — A group of scholars recently focused their attention on one of the most beloved chapters of the Book of Mormon: Alma 32. On Friday, six of the online participants of the Mormon Theology Seminar gathered at Brigham Young University to present papers that came from about four months of intensive give-and-take on www.mormontheologyseminar.org.
The presentations continued the collaborative nature of the group as question and answer periods were often longer than the presentations of the papers.
The story surrounding Alma 32 is familiar to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Korihor went among the Nephites and preached against Christ. The Nephite prophet Alma organized a mission to an apostate people called the Zoramites. Alma and his partner Amulek found success among the Zoramite poor. Alma's parable about the word of God being like a seed is the highlight of Alma 32.
Seminar member Julie M. Smith, who teaches Institute classes in Austin, Texas and has a degree in Biblical Studies from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., discussed similar themes in Alma and in Isaiah.
"Every verse in Isaiah 54 through 56, in some way, related to what was going on in Alma," Smith said.
Smith's paper showed how Alma 32 relies on Isaiah to develop its key themes. "We frequently talk about how the Book of Mormon can help us understand better what is in Isaiah, and so I thought it was interesting that here was an opportunity for Isaiah to help us better understand what is in the Book of Mormon," Smith said.
"The biggest irony in Alma 30 through 35 is . . . that Alma decides to preach to the Zoramites specifically for the reason that they will not enter into a league with the Lamanites and therefore threaten the peace of the Nephites. (Alma 31:1-5) Of course, that is exactly what happens as a direct result of his mission. (Alma 35:8-10)," Smith said.
Smith compared the situation to Isaiah 55:11 that says that God's words shall accomplish "that which I please," and not necessarily what we please. "Alma's preaching was for God's purposes, which may have been larger than Alma's," Smith said.
James E. Faulconer, a professor in BYU's department of philosophy, emphasized that Alma's sermon is not just in chapter 32, but in chapter 33 as well. He also noted that Amulek's sermon in chapter 34 begins with an explanatory summary of what Alma had taught. "Much of what we say about Alma 32 . . . might be changed if we were to understand how Amulek understood the sermon," Faulconer said.
In the first edition of the Book of Mormon, Alma 31 through Alma 35:16 comprised one chapter; one distinct unit. "This suggests to me that the story of Korihor and the story of Alma's mission among the Zoramites are . . . one story rather than two," Faulconer said.
Reading the original long chapter as one story shows that Korihor is not really refuted by his confrontation with Alma. It is the preaching of Alma to the Zoramites that is the true refutation, not only of the corrupt worship of the Zoramites, but of the apostate teachings of Korihor.
"The sermons teach us . . . the wisdom of humility rather than genius, and weakness rather than strength," Faulconer said.
Adam S. Miller, a professor of philosophy at Collin College in McKinney, Texas, discussed the relationship between humility, faith and knowledge. For him, knowledge of our inadequacies and insufficiencies is obvious.
Pride is an attempt to cover up this knowledge because we have judged our humility to be bad. Faith, on the other hand, is an affirmation that our humility is good. Faith is, according to Miller, humility without compulsion.
Faith is what rescues us from the "stifling weight" of the knowledge we already have. Faith is not a perfect knowledge. Faith is what perfects knowledge.
"When faith arrives, our knowledge becomes perfect in that thing," Miller said.
Jenny Webb, who received her MA in Comparative Literature from BYU, recognized themes in Alma 32 that related to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. She said the themes help us to see the text as a presentation of the plan of salvation.
"I think any time that the gospel is shared you're going to go into those fundamental themes of creation and fall and atonement and passing through the veil to see God," Webb said.
For Webb, the Zoramite poor saw themselves as having been cast out, similar to Adam and Even being cast out of the Garden of Eden. Both expulsions ended up, ultimately, as blessings.
"Their consciousness has been sufficiently jarred by Alma's unexpected joy at their situation to begin to see that there may be other ways of looking at it," Webb said.
Other presenters at the conference were Joseph M. Spencer and Robert Couch. The discussions that took place online before the conference and audio recordings of the conference will be made available in at www.mormontheologyseminar.org. Web camera videos of the conference will be available on YouTube.com via links at www.templestudy.com.
The conference was sponsored by the Richard L. Evans Chair of Religious Understanding at BYU and the Mormon Theology Seminar.
E-mail: mdegroote@desnews.com