David Journal

Tag: Alma

  • Tempted by abundance

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    David
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    The people of the church began to wax proud, because of their exceeding riches … which they had obtained by their industry. Alma 4:6 It is inevitable that people will be tempted towards pride when they labor abundantly, either pride in their effort or pride in resulting abundance if not both. I would love to…

  • Priestcraft requires relativism

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    David
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    I get thinking about what Nehor was trying to accomplish in selling his social and theological ideas and some things stand out. He wanted priests to be supported by the people (a change in their society) but that has the effect of encouraging doctrine that is pleasing to the people (the more people like what…

  • A time of transition

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    David
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    The records went through the hands of two record keepers in the span of less than 10 years. During that same time several groups left the Nephites and settled in other places where they arrived by ship. That could be further north in the Americas or it could be out on isles of the sea…

  • Fight or die

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    David
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    The solution to the problem of king-men was to give them a binary choice: they could either join the military to defend their country or they could die. Manny died fighting Moroni and Pahoran but those who didn’t die in that fight were forced to join the army or be executed. Undoubtedly, those who joined…

  • Free to make mischief

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    David
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    I never considered before that the king-men were enabled to set at defiance Pahoran and the free men because so many who were committed to the cause of liberty had been diverted to fighting the Lamanites. The question in my mind is whether there was any way to fight that war (on both fronts) and…

  • Misguided Moroni

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    David
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    I chuckled at Moroni’s flawed but understandable assumption that there were “thousands of those, yea, and tens of thousands, {sitting} in idleness.” I’m sure Pahoran read that and wished that thousands or tens of thousands of king-men would have sat in idleness rather than taking up arms to oust him so that the thousands or…

  • Ripple effects

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    David
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    I never considered before that the city of Nephihah fell because of the success of Helaman. When helaman regained possession of all the cities in his part of the land the Lamanites in that region fled which provided greater strength in other regions—in this case the region around Nephihah. This doesn’t necessarily mean that helaman…

  • Bold —bordering on reckless

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    David
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    The actions of Helaman in taking the city of Manti could hardly be classified as prudent. These were the actions of a man with severely minutes resources who felt that he could lose everything by getting cautious. The one thing he has in his favor was that he and his men had faith in good…

  • Firm and undaunted

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    David
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    Helaman described his young soldiers as “firm and undaunted” and it occurs to me that especially in challenging circumstances the best thing we can hope to be is firm and undaunted in the cause of righteousness.

  • Worthy to be called sons

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    David
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    What qualifies a person as worthy to be called a son? I’m not sure if there are other traits to consider.