Alma 12
Alma really knew how to speak to Zeezrom because he had once been such an ardent and effective opponent of the church. I love how he tells Zeezrom that “this subtle plan” was “a plan of thine adversary.” Despite how hard Zeezrom has been fighting him, Alma does not suggest that Satan is a friend to Zeezrom. After Zeezrom begins to inquire earnestly Alma tells him that he may come to know the mysteries of God if he will not harden his heart. When the unrepentant people in Ammonihah decided to torture Alma and Amulek they remembered the word of Alma about fire and brimstone and decided to kill the righteous by fire in front of Alma and Amulek. They thought that they were so clever to think of this – the correct word is “depraved.”
The fruit of the tree of knowledge was obtained by breaking the commandments of God, until Adam partook of that fruit he only had the instrucitons of God, and no personal knowledge to guide his decisions, like a child obeying a parent without understanding. When Alma says that they became as Gods it is that they had personal knowledge of sin and the consequences of sin which personal knowledge gave them the opportunity to act for themselves independent of the counsels of their Father.