Difference between revisions of "Alma 31:16-20"
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== Questions == | == Questions == | ||
* How could these people have been so deceived as to believe that God had manifested unto them that there should be no Christ? | * How could these people have been so deceived as to believe that God had manifested unto them that there should be no Christ? | ||
| + | * What do the Zoramites mean when they claim that the tradition of their brethren "was handed down to them by the childishness of their fathers"? Why the term "childishness"? | ||
== Lexical notes == | == Lexical notes == | ||
Revision as of 08:37, 21 July 2008
The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 31
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Questions
- How could these people have been so deceived as to believe that God had manifested unto them that there should be no Christ?
- What do the Zoramites mean when they claim that the tradition of their brethren "was handed down to them by the childishness of their fathers"? Why the term "childishness"?
Lexical notes
Verse 16
- "Elected." Interestingly, this is the only passage in the Book of Mormon that uses any form of the word elect. The word chosen is used many times in the Book of Mormon in a way that seems very similar to the meaning of the word elected (cf. bachiyr in Hebrew and eklectos in Greek). The reason this word is used here, and only here in the Book of Mormon, might be related to the theological connotations the word had to Joseph Smith's ears at the time of translation when, for example, a Pauline doctrine of election might have been heavily discussed, though more research on this would have to be done to give this idea anything more than a purely speculative basis.
Exegesis
Verse 17
"The same yesterday, today, and forever." It seems this is a true teaching that the Zoramites were familiar with (cf. 1 Ne 10:18; 2 Ne 2:4; 2 Ne 27:23), but had perhaps twisted to mean that, strictly and technically speaking, if God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, then he would remain without a physical, bodily presence in this world. So this phrase seems to more closelyl lnk the idea in verse 15 that God is a spirit, and "wilt be forever," to their conclusion that there would be no Christ. However, this seems a bit inconsistent with the idea that God electing the Zoramaties: if God is literally and technically taken to be the same yesterday, today, and forever, how can God elect a people who were split off from the Nephites? Is this election of a new people a new action on the part of God?
Related links
- Click the edit link above and to the right to add related links
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