Click to Listen: Episode 30: Mosiah 28-Alma 1
King Mosiah’s boys decide to go preach to the Lamanites again, but now there’s no one left to turn the kingdom over to. So, Mosiah gets rid of kings altogether and it doesn’t take long before those stubborn Nephites go back to their wicked ways. But, at least we’re finally done the Book of Mosiah! Book of Alma, bring it on!
“Drink” Count – 43
A little over 7 Beers!
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My Book of Mormon 
August 11, 2014 at 7:11 am
“And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land.” Mosiah 29:27
That’s actually a pretty popular verse among Mormons in the United States, though for some reason you tend to hear it quoted in church more often during Democrat presidencies than Republican presidencies. Go figure. 🙂
Oh, and “priestcraft” was defined by Nephi back in 2 Nephi 26:29, “…priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion.” So… Gosh darn those full-time salaried priests, and to heck with them! I guess.
Pronunciation notes: You got Nehor right: “Knee-whore” is how I like to show it. But the hill Manti is “Man-tie”. Remember, every name has that long i (“eye”) sound when it ends in -i. Manti will come up again several times as a place name, the city and land of Manti. Funny enough, one of the most prominent pioneer-era Mormon temples in Utah was built on a hill in a city named Manti, after the Book of Mormon name. And in this episode, the hill Manti was associated with the site where capital punishment was administered. Fascinating.
I have one small chronological critique with these chapters. It certainly isn’t impossible for Alma and Mosiah to die in the same year right after the new government was set up, and right when they had no further part to play in the narrative, but it’s kind of convenient.
August 11, 2014 at 8:23 am
You shouldn’t have a king, because constitutionally bound monarchies cannot exist.
August 11, 2014 at 5:52 pm
I find it interesting that Mosiah advocated a system of judges/democracy only AFTER his son refused the kingship. He even says that no one else should be king because Aaron (son) might turn back to his wicked ways.
But if having a wicked king is so bad, why were you willing to let Aaron be crowned in the first place, especially since you’re worried about him turning wicked?
We’re going to see some serious conflict with the High Priest of the Church also being the Chief Judge of the government. Mosiah’s “Warred a good warfare” is suspiciously similar to Paul’s (New Testament) “Fought a good fight.”
Odd how Nehor’s church being established and his wealth is told to us before they say he is brought to be judged. By framing the story this way, it makes Nehor look guilty because he set up a rival church. You point that out well, David.
That church didn’t have ANYTHING to do with Nehor’s execution. Nehor was A MURDERER, but the Book of Mormon equates this with his disagreement of “the church.” This point is driven further home with this statement before his execution.
For the rest of the book, anyone who disagrees with the prophets is said to be “after the order or Nehor.” And apparently advocating for a paid clergy is something one can be guilty of; Alma says it’s a crime.
We’ll run into two more main “anti-prophet” characters: one who literally speaks to Satan and another who, after admitting he is wrong, is driven to poverty and trampled to death. The portrayal of anyone who advocates opposing views is kind of over the top.
From here on out, the main narrative actually gets much easier to keep track off, even though Alma is about twice as long as Mosiah.
November 19, 2014 at 9:16 pm
Wouldn’t all this infectious “priestcraft” and “costly apparel” be a Mormon jab at the “great and abominable church” described in 1 Nephi?
December 19, 2014 at 7:11 am
David, you’ve essentially questioned whether the text discusses facts that could be interpreted that God delivered the people of Limhi and the people of Alma from their captivity. You’ve noted that they just walked away. It was just their legs. I think there are a couple things you can point to in the text to suggest God played a role in their deliverance in their stories.
For the people of Limhi, “they could find no way to deliver themselves out of bondage, except it were to take their women and children, and their flocks, and their herds, and their tents, and depart into the wilderness.” (Mosiah 22:2) So they decided to get their Lamanite guards drunk and escape by night. (Mosiah 22:7-8) That’s what they did. (Mosiah 7 & 10-11)
God’s miracle is that the people of Limhi escaped with “their flocks and their herds” (Mosiah 22:11) and yet the Lamanites, who were not burdened with bringing flocks and herds, never caught up with people of Limhi. And within 2 days the Lamanites couldn’t find any tracks. The people of Limhi are leaving with herds, presumably very slow farm animals, and the Lamanites couldn’t track them down?!!? That miracle is so amazing you’d think someone just made this story up! (ahem)
As for the people of Alma, the miracle is that “the Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon the Lamanites, yea, and all their task-masters were in a profound sleep” which gave the people of Alma a great head start in their escape. (Mosiah 24:19) So here the text asserts direct intervention.