Alma 32:26-30
From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.
The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 32
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Questions
Verse 30
- Strengthen your faith. How should strengthened faith be understood? Is it dormant in the sense of verse 34, or is it still growing in the sense of verses 36ff? How is strengthened faith related to the seemingly two different kinds of perfect knowledge described in verses 34 and 36, and the notions of enlightened understanding and expanded mind in verse 34?
Lexical notes
Verse 27
- Particle. Webster's 1828 definition for particle is, first, "A minute part or portion of matter; as a particle of sand, of lime or of light." It may be that the faith required to "give place for aportion of [Alma's] words" is small relative to the faith required to "nourish the word" as described in verse 41. Also, it may be that the subsequent discussion using the metaphor of a seed should be viewed as an elaboration of this initial idea of "a particle of faith." In particular, it seems that the description of initially planting the seed in verse 28 may be analagous to exercising a particle of faith.
Verse 28
- Acrostic. Verse 28 uses an acrostic: In the English translation, Alma is speaking about a seed, and then spells out "seed" by using the verbs "swell," "enlarge," "enlighten" and "delicious." There is no way to know, of course, whether the acrostic was present in the original, although there are some examples of acrostic poetry in the Psalms.
- The word. For an explanation of what the word is see Alma 33:22-23.
Exegesis
Verse 27
Relation to v. 21 (hoping for what is true). The "particle of faith" mentioned in this verse seems to be equated to a "desire to believe" which results in giving a "place for a portion of [Alma's] words." This description is very interesting since it seems to be describing the beginnings of faith. A question that the modern reader may be tempted to ask, prompted particularly by verse 21, is a chicken-or-egg type problem: how does one begin to exercise faith if faith requires that one already know what is true, and yet faith is required to learn if something is true or not? This verse seems to introduce a way to answer this question. (Although this does not seem to be a focus of Alma's sermon, the following discussion may be of interest to the modern reader wondering whether Alma's sermon relies on circular logic.)
One approach to this question is to view it in probabilistic terms. If I don't know whether X is true or not, I could be described as granting the possiblity (a probability) that X is true. Granting this possibility/probability may be a way to interpret Alma's phrase "give place for a portion of my words." However, this view seems to make the phrase "desire to believe" a tad awkward. On this probabilistic view, it would seem more natural to describe the desire as wanting to find out whether or not something is true, not desiring to believe (that something is true, presumably).
Another approach, one that seems closer to the context of the sermon, is to interpret "true" in terms of what is described in the subsequent portion of the sermon. In this latter portion of Alma's sermon, he describes what seems to be two processes: first is the process of learning whether the seed is good (vv. 26-35), second is the process of attaining (unqualified) perfect knowledge (vv. 35-43). It may be that the first process is effectively describing how to learn whether something is true or not, and the second process is describing how to excercise faith in something that is already known to be true. On this view, it may be that the initial "particle of faith" is simply a desire to believe that something is true, and one does not know whether faith is actually being excercised until after it is learned that the word is true (i.e. that the seed is good).
"Even if ye can no more than." The first three verbal clauses in this verse seem to describe a rather active process that is required of faith: "awake and arouse your faculties"; "experiment upon my words"; "exercise a particle of faith." In comparison, the three remaining verbal clauses seem somewhat weaker in terms of what is required of the listener: "desire to believe"; "give place for a portion of my words"; "let this desire work in you." Separating these stronger and weaker verbal clauses is the conjoining phrase "even if ye can no more than . . . " which seems to emphasize this contrast. That this contrast immediately precedes an extended metaphor about the word as a seed suggests a framework for interpreting the purpose of the metaphor. In particular, it seems that Alma is trying to get his listeners either to believe that they are capable of developing genuine faith that will eventually grow into perfect knowledge, or to realize that the first step of faith does not require something extraordinary.
Verse 28
The word as a seed. In launching into this extended comparison with a seed, Alma interstingly says twice in this verse "the word" not "my words," even though he has said "my words" in verses 26-27. It may be that Alma is simply switching back to the singular form for word because it makes for a better comparison (seed instead of seeds). On the other hand, Alma may be subtly making a point that it is not his words that will grow, but the word that will grow if nourished by faith. Notice that in verse 1 the phrase "the word of God" is first used in this chapter, and then, presumably, referred to simply as "the word" subsequently (cf. vv. 6, 14, 16).
"If it be a true seed." The conditional clause here suggests the possibility of a seed not being true. The word true first appears in this sermon in verse 21 in describing faith as a hope "for things which are not seen which are true." It seems the second usage of this term here can be taken as an explanation-by-comparison of how truth can be determined. If the word-as-seed is not true, it will not swell, enlarge the soul, enlighten the soul, or become delicious. The description of what constitutes a true seed seems key to understanding the process being described from this verse until verse 35, coming to know that the seed (word) is good (true).
Unbelief. In terms of coming to know whether the seed (word) is good (true), un/belief seems to play a critical role. In verse 16, Alma mentions belief in the word of God in elaborating on what it means to humble oneself without being compelled. Here, in verse 28, Alma connects unbelief with resisting the Spirit. The implication seems to be that resisting the Spirit is closely connected to not being humble, and that in such an environment, the truth of the word of God will not be able to be known.
Verse 18 also discusses belief and contrasts it with knowledge. In terms of the truth-discovery process that Alma is describing, this implies that belief does not entail knowledge about whether something is true or not. This seems to complement the idea expressed about belief in verse 27, that the important role for belief to play in developing faith is to actively grant the possibility that the word is true (perhaps; this assumes a rather modern reading of the phrase "give place for a portion of my words"). On this view, it is also interesting that verse 22 says that "God is merciful unto all who believe on his name." What is described as commendable both here and there is belief. Although faith and baptism and other acts are discussed in connection with belief, it is belief itself that seems to be urged most directly, and belief does not presume any sort of knowledge, but rather a failure to resist the Spirit, a humbling of oneself sufficiently to simply grant the possibility (albeit in what seems a rather active sense—metaphorically nourishing the seed) that the word of God is true.
Verse 29
Faith and the seed. This verse seems peculiar in that it talks about faith a manner that seems somewhat analogous to a seed, even though it is "the word" that is compared to a seed in verse 28. Although this kind of shift in comparison does not seem particularly unusual in, for example, the Old Testament [examples or citation needed here], the discussion of faith in terms that one might expect Alma to use to describe the word, according to the comparison he begins in verse 28, is intriguing, particularly to the contemporary reader who is aware of the comparison of Christ to the Word in John 1:1.
Relation to 12:10. Alma's statement here about faith's possibiliy to "increase" and be "grown up" suggests an aspect of faith reminiscent somewhat of Alma 12:10 where Alma says "he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full." In both passages, Alma is describing a process that increases up until a certain point. If this comparison is taken further, it seems that not hardening one's heart is analogous to giving a place for a portion of Alma's words and not casting the seed out with unbelief or resistance to the Spirit.
Related links
Experiment on the word (vv. 27-43)
- See "On Alma 32" by Clark at his Mormon Metaphysics blog.
- User:Travis Justin Kamper comments on these verses here.
Verses 27-28
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Power of a Personal Testimony," Ensign, Nov 2006, pp. 37–39. Elder Uchtdorf outlines the pattern for receiving a testimony: desire to believe; search the scriptures; keep the commandments; ponder, fast, and pray.
- See related quotes by Henry B. Eyring and Joseph B. Wirthlin here.
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