Alma 40 All

The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 40

Questions

Verse 1

• Why might Corianton be "worried concerning the resurrection of the dead"? How did Alma "perceive" this worry?

Verse 2

• Why could there be no resurrection "until after the coming of Christ"?
• What does it mean for "corruption" to "put on incorruption"?

Verse 3

• What does it mean that Christ "bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead"?
• What does Alma mean by "mystery"? Does that just mean something lie things "which are kept, that no one knoweth them save God himself"? Or is something else meant here?
• Why might Alma have "inquired diligently of God" to know "concerning the resurrection"? Why would this have been of special interest to Alma? Was it just because of Corianton's concern, or for some other reason?

Verse 4

• What does it mean to "come forth from the dead"?
• Alma teaches that "all shall come forth". Why is that significant?

Verse 5

• Why doesn't Alma know how many times the resurrection will happen?
• What does it mean that "there is a time appointed" for the resurrection?

Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 40

Questions

Verse 6

• What is meant by a "space" betwixt the time of death and the time of resurrection?

Verse 7

• Why shift from talking about the resurrection itself to the space between death and resurrection?

Verse 8

• What might it mean that "time only is measured unto men"? Does this have anything to do with D&C 130:7, where in contrast to mortality, all things past, present, and future are present before God?

Verse 9

• Why has Alma been asking the Lord about the time between death and resurrection? What does it mean that Alma had "inquired diligently of the Lord to know" about these things? How does one inquire diligently?
• Why would the Lord bother to answer Alma's questions about the afterlife? Is this just for Alma's edification, or was the revelation to him given mostly for the benefit of Corianton or others?

Verse 10

• What does it mean that "God knoweth all the times which are appointed unto man"? What is this and why would it be important?

Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 40

Questions

Verse 11

• Why does Alma get answers to his prayers delivered by angels?
• What does it mean for spirits to be "taken home to that God who gave them life"? How does this happen for both good and evil people?

Verse 12

• Why is this "state of happiness" called paradise?
• What does it mean for paradise to be a "state of rest, a state of peace, where they...rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow"? How does this compare to the view of the spirit world received by modern prophets, who indicate that priesthood holders are very busy there to teach the gospel to departed spirits?

Verse 13

• What does it mean to "have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord"? Does that mean that if we have even a tiny portion, we aren't evil?
• What does it mean to choose "evil works rather than good"? What is the definition of evil here?
• How literally should we take this teaching of the devil taking "possession of their house"? What does this mean?
• What is this "outer darkness"? How does it relate to our teaching of spirit prison?
• Why does this verse include the word "wailing" in between the words "weeping" and "gnashing," unlike this verse from the New Testament: "shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt 8:12)?
• What does it mean to be "led captive by the will of the devil"? Is everyone who doesn't accept the gospel being led by the devil? How many modern church members are being led captive? What does that mean, how does it happen, and how can we avoid it?
• Do we see ourselves or our neighbors being "led captive by the will of the devil"? Why or why not? How does this relate to the feelings of the sons of Mosiah about their neighbors (Mosiah 28:3)?

Verse 14

• What does it mean for the souls of the wicked to be in "darkness"?
• What does it mean to be in "a state of awful, fearful looking"?
• What is the "fiery indignation of the wrath of God"?

Verse 15

• How can the initial judgment and consignation to different places in the spirit world be termed a resurrection?
• What does Alma mean by "resurrection"?
• What is this "consignation to happiness or misery" that Alma speaks of? How is this accomplished?
• What are the "words which have been spoken" that Alma refers to?

Lexical notes

• Consignation. In Webster's 1828 dictionary, consignation is defined as n. The act of consigning; the act of delivering or committing to another person, place or state. In LDS scriptures, this word and its root "consign" or "consigned" only occurs twelve times in the Book of Mormon.

Exegesis

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Related links

• Entries on afterlife, spirit prison, and the spirit world in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism.

The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 40

Questions

Verse 16

• How does this teaching square with our current teachings about "the morning of the first resurrection"?

Verse 17

• What is the difference in being happy or being miserable when you are a disembodied spirit? How do you feel emotion without brain chemicals?

Verse 18

• Alma seems to be using the word "soul" as an equivalent of what we mean when we say "spirit". How is this different from how we normally think of "soul"? Is there a difference between Alma's conception of the soul and our conception of the spirit?

Verse 19

• Alma teaches that everyone who lives before Christ is resurrected will be resurrected before anyone who dies after that. How does that square with our current teachings about this? If we believe that Moroni has been resurrected, for Alma to be correct here, would that mean that everyone who has lived before Christ has already been resurrected? Could Alma be mistaken here? Or is there another way to read this verse?

Verse 20

• Why would Alma offer an opinion about the timing of the resurrection? Why is Alma careful to label this part of his teaching an opinion? Does this also apply to his teaching about the timing of the resurrection of those who die before the resurrection of Christ (v.19)?

Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Verse 16

• Referring to Abinadi's teaching? See this comment for an argument that Alma is referring to Abinadi's teaching here.

The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 40

Questions

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Related links

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