Alma 17:1-19:36
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Contents
Summary
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Relationship to Chapters 17-29. The relationship of Chapters 17-19 to the rest of Chapters 17-29 Alma is discussed at Chapters 17-29.
Story. Chapters 17-19 consists of ____ major sections:
Message. Themes, symbols, and doctrinal points emphasized in Chapters 17-19 include:
Discussion
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Unanswered questions
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Prompts for life application
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Prompts for further study
This section is for prompts that invite us to think about a passage more deeply or in a new way. These are not necessarily questions that beg for answers, but rather prompts along the lines of "Have you ever thought about ..." Prompts are most helpful when they are developed individually, thoughtfully, and with enough background information to clearly indicate a particular direction for further study or thought. Click the link above and to the right to edit or add content to this heading. →
Verse 17:2
- Why is it referred to as the "first" appearance of "the" angel? Was it the same angel that appeared to Alma every time? If so, what does that teach us about how angels operate?
- What does it mean that the sons of Mosiah "waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth"?
- What does it mean to have a sound understanding?
- What does searching the scriptures diligently entail? What is the difference between reading and searching diligently? What were they searching for?
- What is the word of God? What does it mean to "know" the word of God? Does that mean to just memorize scriptures, or to be able to find scriptures you are looking for? Or is there something else involved in the idea of "knowing" here?
Verse 3
- What might qualify as "much" prayer and fasting? Is it just once a month fasting? How much fasting and prayer is necessary to obtain the "spirit of prophecy"?
- What is the "spirit of prophecy" and "spirit of revelation"? How does fasting and prayer bring that spirit? How does that spirit impute power and authority to gospel teachings? How is obtaining this spirit related to searching the scriptures (vs. 2)? Is scripture study a prerequisite for obtaining the spirit of prophecy and revelation, or does that come more from prayer and fasting?
- What does it mean to teach "with power and authority of God"?
Verse 4
- Why did the Sons of Mosiah stay with the Lamanites for 14 years?
- What constituted success for the Sons of Mosiah?
- What does it mean to bring souls "to the knowledge of the truth"?
- Does it matter that the Sons of Mosiah helped convert "many" souls? What if they had only been able to help a few? How does their helping large numbers of people influence how we think about their missions?
- What does it mean to bring people "before the altar of God"? Is this a real altar, or just a way of speaking?
- Why are people calling on God's name and confessing their sins before an altar?
- How did the "power of their words" bring people to repentance? How was this power manifest? What made their words powerful?
- How can we follow the example of the Sons of Mosiah? How do our own missionary and member missionary efforts compare or contrast with those of the Sons of Mosiah? Do their missions provide a model for us to follow, or different missions so unique that we shouldn't see their missionary efforts as something to try to follow?
Verse 5
- What is the relationship between the suffering and the success of the Sons of Mosiah?
- What does it mean that they experienced "much labor in the spirit"?
Resources
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Verse 17:2
- Thomas S. Monson, "How Firm a Foundation," Ensign, Nov 2006, pp. 67–68. Elder Monson states: "Spending time each day in scripture study will, without doubt, strengthen our foundations of faith and our testimonies of truth." He also recommends prayer and service to "effectively gain and maintain the foundation needed to survive spiritually in the world in which we live."
Notes
Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves (such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word). In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources (such as Strong's Bible Concordance or the Joseph Smith Papers) are preferable to footnotes.
