BOOK OF MORMON
Critique of Alma Chapter 38
Setting: Alma gives commandments to his son Shiblon in 73 BCE America.
Verse 1: MY son, give ear to my words, for I say unto you, even as I said unto Helaman, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence.
Note: Prayers with animal sacrifice was the O.T. method of reconciliation with God.
2 Samuel 24:25 And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.
Verse 2: And now, my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, even so I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments; for blessed is he that endureth to the end.
Note: The BOM author plagiarized the New Testament.
Matthew 24:13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
Verses 3-4: I say unto you, my son, that I have had great joy in thee already, because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence, and thy patience and thy long-suffering among the people of the Zoramites. For I know that thou wast in bonds; yea, and I also know that thou wast stoned for the word's sake; and thou didst bear all these things with patience because the Lord was with thee; and now thou knowest that the Lord did deliver thee.
Note: Stoning was not a American Indian form of warfare or punishment.
The bow and arrow was probably the most common Indian weapon throughout North and South America. Some South American tribes put poison on their arrowheads. Many Indians fought with spears and war clubs. The Indians of eastern North America developed a special type of club known as the tomahawk. A weapon of the Aztec consisted of pieces of obsidian (volcanic glass) stuck into a wooden club. South American Indians used blowguns and slings. World Book Encyclopedia.
Verse 5: And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day.
Note: American Indians were polytheistic pagans in their view of deity.
The peoples of Middle America and the Andes had whole families of gods. The Aztec, for example, worshiped hundreds of gods. The Inca believed that their ruler was also a god and they worshiped him along with their other gods. World Book Encyclopedia.
Verse 6: Now, my son, I would not that ye should think that I know these things of myself, but it is the Spirit of God which is in me which maketh these things known unto me; for if I had not been born of God I should not have known these things.
Note: Christians will know God and His love and love one another if they are born of God.
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
Verse 7: But behold, the Lord in his great mercy sent his angel to declare unto me that I must stop the work of destruction among his people; yea, and I have seen an angel face to face, and he spake with me, and his voice was as thunder, and it shook the whole earth.
Note: Why didn't Alma fall to the ground?
Acts 22:7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’
Verse 8: And it came to pass that I was three days and three nights in the most bitter pain and anguish of soul; and never, until I did cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, did I receive a remission of my sins. But behold, I did cry unto him and I did find peace to my soul.
Note: The name and title "Jesus Christ" was strictly New Testament.
Webster's Dictionary: Jesus, from the Latin Iesus; from the Greek Iesous.
Webster's Dictionary; Christ, from Middle English Crist, from the Greek Christos.
Verse 9: And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness.
Note: Mormons believe that you are saved by being a member of their church.
This is not a church established by some man, by man's wisdom-it is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Herein is the truth, and the light, and the way-a perfect law of liberty and of righteousness. This is God's Church; this is The Church-the only Church that He acknowledges in the earth as having His Priesthood-the only one in all the world. We challenge the attention of the world on that proposition. It is guided by Him. I know as I live that this is the Church of God, that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith is His prophet, sent of God to establish the Church whose law is a perfect law of liberty to all mankind. Apostles, Testimonies of the Divinity of the Church 1830 - 1930 (S. Bennion), President Charles W. Nibley
Verses 10-12: And now, as ye have begun to teach the word even so I would that ye should continue to teach; and I would that ye would be diligent and temperate in all things. See that ye are not lifted up unto pride; yea, see that ye do not boast in your own wisdom, nor of your much strength. Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love; see that ye refrain from idleness.
Note: Christians will not have to deliver a sales pitch for their testimony of God.
Mark 13:11 But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, £or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
Verses 13-14: Do not pray as the Zoramites do, for ye have seen that they pray to be heard of men, and to be praised for their wisdom. Do not say: O God, I thank thee that we are better than our brethren; but rather say: O Lord, forgive my unworthiness, and remember my brethren in mercy--yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times.
Note: The BOM author plagiarized the New Testament.
Matthew 18:10-13 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’"
Verse 15: And may the Lord bless your soul, and receive you at the last day into his kingdom, to sit down in peace. Now go, my son, and teach the word unto this people. Be sober. My son, farewell.
Note: American Indians did not have any Christian understanding of life after death.
The Indians in some areas greatly feared the ghosts of the dead. But few Indians gave much thought to life after death or the idea of a heaven. World Book Encyclopedia.