Tag: Mosiah

This is twice in two chapters that the Nephites have been spared because the Lamanites had compassion on them. This should show us that there Lamanites were generally decent people even if they had some sort broken parts in the culture and traditions.

I get the impression that the Lamanites came with the intent to slaughter the Nephites. Perhaps they had concluded that they were too much trouble to let them posses the land – at least until they looked on the daughters and decided not to kill them. Another possibility is that they were angry with Noah…

Why did Alma teach privately while Abinadi taught publicly? Certainly they had different missions but with the people so publicly against Abinadi it sometimes surprised me that Alma found hundreds of people to teach privately. I wonder how Alma knew who to start with our who to avoid.

Noah feared when Abinadi warned that killing him would be killing an innocent man. I wonder if his fear increased with the specific prophecies that Abinadi agreed as he was put to death.

Abinadi’s sermon to the protests can be summed up as: Abinadi: “What do you teach the people?” Priests: “We teach the law of Moses.” Abinadi: “If you teach the law of Moses why don’t you keep it? And, if you teach the law of Moses you should also teach that it is a shadow of…

Leaving in the phrase in Isaiah about publishing peace and the beauty of those who do so is like hanging on the idea that Christ was merciful and loving. The statements are true on the surface but without context can be used to lead the believer astray. I believe that Abinadi’s closing caught Alma’s attention…

The priest asked about the words of Isaiah – likely in an attempt to trip Abinadi up – and Abinadi proved his own position using the words of Isaiah. They must have had access to very similar scriptural records.

I have often thought of Alma as young and misguided when he served as a priest for king Noah – ripe to learn when he asked Abinadi his question. What if, instead, Alma was cunning and manipulative, like Zeezrom when he questioned Amulek? Perhaps his heart only softened after he realized that Abinadi’s answer actually…

I wonder where Abinadi was during his two years in exile. Did he stay near and observe the people? Did he live as a hermit? Did he find another people until he returned?

We tend to think of harlots as women who sell sex but it struck me that the word applies more broadly to anyone who will abandon their self respect to gain whatever it is they are after. In our society that includes those who will do anything to curry favor with people in power or…