Grant H. Palmer argues that Alma the Younger is based on the Apostle Paul; Alma 12 borrows from Hebrews 3.

Date
2003
Type
Book
Source
Grant H. Palmer
LDS
Disaffected
Hearsay
Direct
Reference

Grant H. Palmer, An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2003), 50–51

Scribe/Publisher
Signature Books
People
Grant H. Palmer
Audience
Reading Public
PDF
Transcription

The story of Alma the younger seems to draw from the New Testament story of the apostle Paul as a model. Consider the following comparisons:

1. Both men were wicked before their dramatic conversion (Mosiah 27:8; 1 Tim. 1:12-13).

2. Both travelled about preaching and seeking to destroy the church of God (Alma 36:6, 14; 1 Cor. 15:9; Acts 22:4).

3. Both were persecuting the church when they saw a heavenly vision (Mosiah 27:10-11; Acts 26:11-13).

4. Their companions fell to the earth and were unable to understand the voice that spoke (Mosiah 27:12; Acts 22:9; 26:14).

5. Both were asked in vision why they persecuted the Lord (Mosiah 27:13; Acts 9:4; 22:7).

6. Both were struck dumb/blind, became helpless, and were assisted by their companions. They went without food before converting (Mosiah 27:19, 23-24 Acts 9:8-9, 18).

7. Both preached the gospel and both performed the same miracle (Mosiah 27:32; Alma 15:11; Acts 9:20; 14:10).

8. While preaching, they supported themselves by their own labors (Alma 30;32; 1 Cor. 4:12).

9. They were put in prison. After they prayed, an earthquake resulted in their bands being loosed (Alma 14:22, 26-28; 16:23, 25-26).

10. Both used the same phrases in their preaching.

To expand on point number ten, much of the language of Alma the younger’s speech in Alma 12-13 is reminiscent of Hebrews 3-4, as the following comparisons demonstrate:

Hebrews 3:7-13

The Holy Ghost saith, . . . To day if ye will hear his voice, (7) Harden not your hearts as in the provocation (8) . . . so I swear in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest. (11) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief . . . But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened (12-13) . . .

Alma 12:33-36

But God did call on men, . . . saying: If ye will repent and harden not your hearts, (33) . . . behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest (35). And now, my brethren, . . . if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord; therefore your iniquity provoketh him that he sendeth down his wrath upon you as in the first provocation (36) . . .

In the next verse, the same point-for-point sequence is again repeated:

Hebrews 3:15-18

To day if will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard, did provoke (15-16) . . . that they should not enter into his rest (18)

Alma 12:37

And now, my brethren, . . . let us . . . harden not our hearts, that we provoke not the Lord our God to pull down his wrath upon us; . . . but let us enter into the rest of God (37) . . .

These motifs are present elsewhere in Hebrews 3-4 and Alma 12-13. They seem to indicate some borrowing from Paul’s discourse.

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