THE BIG PICTURE

Why do so many of the Book of Mormon prophets teach the fall when they teach the atonement and resurrection? I think it may be because people who have never heard of Heavenly Father's Plan for His children need to see these four pillars of the plan from the cosmic view of the big picture.  Those who have heard it and have chosen not to believe it and, instead, have rebelled against God, need to it even more.

Without the spiritual death brought on by the fall, there would have been no need for the atonement.  Without the physical death consequence of the fall, there could have been no resurrection. I have noticed this pattern throughout the Book of Mormon, but there is an especially clear explanation of the interconnect nature of the Father's plan in Alma, chapter 42. He is responding to Corianton's unspoken questions about mercy and justice.  Remember, he had been exposed to Nehor's philosophy. 

Let's review what Nehor taught and you can see how each misconception leads Alma to the lessons of God's plan to help counter the falsehoods to which his son had been exposed:

• Priests and teachers ought to be popular, and supported by the people
• All men will be saved at the end because God redeems everyone he creates.
• Whatever a man does is not a sin or a crime.
• There will be no punishment
• Therefore, there is no need for and atonement
• Therefore, there will be no Christ

Why should men be punished for their sins if there is no sin but, rather, universal mercy? Verses 2 through 14 discusses the fall; what happened? What were the consequences of what happened?  In these verses, Alma points out the role of justice. If men were to stay in that state, the entire plan would fail and men would be subject to the devil. Through the Fall, men were separated from God both spiritually and physically, subject to sin and death. The Zoramites believed the preaching of Nehor, which taught there is no sin. Alma knew from personal experience that there is sin and it takes a painful toll unless we repent.

Alma, after talking about the fall tells his son:

Now, how could a man repent except he should sin? How could he sin if there was no law? How could there be a law save their was a punishment. . . . if a man murdered [if there were not punishment attached] would he be afraid he would die if he should murder? . . . And if there was no law given, if men sinned what could justice do or mercy either, for they would have no claim upon the creature. (Alma 42:17, 19, 21)

But there are laws, irrevocably decreed in heaven.  When they are broken, the sinner is at the mercy of pure justice, unless he repents.

But what about mercy?  Isn't Christ merciful?  Yes He is, but even He cannot - and will not - rob justice. In answer to the demands of justice, Christ paid the price for us.  He paid a debt which He did not owe because we had a debt we could not pay.  He told the Prophet Joseph Smith, 

For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; but if they would not repent, they must suffer even as I; which suffering cause myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain and to bleed at every pore (Doctrine and Covenants 19: 17,18)       

                                                            

The Fall explains why we need an Advocate who can redeem us from ourselves, as it were. It explains why we needed someone to atone for our sins.  If one does not understand the role of sin and of justice, one cannot understand the need for atonement and mercy.  Alma himself didn't know why he needed Christ until he found himself in the gall of bitterness, harrowed up by the memory of his sins.  But his father had taught him about Jesus Christ and His role as redeemer of the world, so in the midst of his despair, Alma called out O, Jesus.  

That was the turning point in Alma's life.  In the New Testament, the word repent comes from the Greek metanoia, a change of mind.  In the Old Testament, we don't find the word repent.  Instead we find the words return, turn back, turn again to God.  We do need a change of mind, but we need a change of behavior even more.  Alma remembered and in loving counsel helped his son turn back to God and become a powerful missionary for the good.

I can count many such turning points in my own life.  Each one has given me, not just a change of heart, but rather a new heart.  Each one came after a painful trial.  Each one came to relieve the pain of sin.  I bear testimony of the Atonement and cannot express by gratitude to my Savior.  Amen

© Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson July 2020

WANT IMPROVED BEHAVIOR? TEACH THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST WITH LOVE

The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior. 

This oft' quoted line was given by Elder Boyd K. Packer in General Conference thirty-four years ago.  It is true and, I believe, always has been. Eternal truths usually are timeless.

When the four sons of Mosiah went into the mission field with the Lamanites, they understood this.  Fighting the Lamanites was fruitless and bloody.  But in teaching them the doctrines of Christ, the Gospel, they changed their behavior to such a degree that they who were converted never fell away.  

Whenever missionary in the Book of Mormon teaches a people who have fallen away into misbehavior, he always begins by teaching pure doctrine. They usually begin with Adam and Eve, the Creation and the Fall.  That is why we need the gift of a probationary time to repent.  Then they teach about Jesus Christ and His Atonement, the only way we can return to our Heavenly home. They often recount Israel's history and examples from the past of God blessing His children for obedience.  They give an account of the dire consequences of sin and the need for a Savior.

Nephi taught his brothers.  Abinadi taught the apostate court of King Noah. King Benjamin taught his people. Alma taught slipping and apostate Nephites. Ammon and Aaron taught the Lamanites.  

Alma taught his sons. The son who got the lion's share of his father's words was his young son, Corianton, who indulged in sin, in part, because he didn't understand true doctrine.  In going after a harlot, he was exposed to the antichrist philosophies of Nehor and the Zoramites.  Alma, through the Spirit, perceived those things with which his son struggled.  He corrected his son's behavior by correcting his son's perceptions through false doctrine.

Key points of doctrine that were not understood by Corianton included:

• The Resurrection and all points relating to it.  Remember, the Nehor followers didn't believe in a resurrection or in Christ, but taught that once a person is dead, he ceases to exist. He taught that, through Christ, all souls will be resurrected to stand before God for judgement.  The righteous will be resurrected to a state of happiness and joy.  The wicked, to a state of misery.

• Restitution of all things. Men will be restored to whatever level they have reached during their lives.  The righteous will be restored in righteousness.  The wicked will be restored to a keen memory of their wickedness and a life of sorrow.  The Zoramites believed Nehor that there was no sin or crime and that whatever a man got in life was by his own doing.  Somehow Corianton had come to believe that he could do whatever he wanted and then be restored to a state of happiness.  Through his father's loving words, he came to realize that Wickedness never was happiness. (Alma 41: 10)

Even Plato understood
the need for chastisement
in human healing.

• Punishment of the Wicked. If there was no right or wrong, then their should be no punishment for whatever a man did, right? Not so! Alma taught his son about Adam and the fall and how the natural man became carnal (meaning of the flesh.) Adam was removed from the Garden so that he might not partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life and live forever in his sins.  A loving God gave to Adam and his posterity a probationary time in which a man could repent and prepare to meet God.  Whether he chose to do so or not was according to the agency of man.

• Because of the Fall, all mankind was in a state of being subject to the demands of Justice.  Were it not so, God would cease to be God. (Alma 42: 13) Under Justice, none could return to God and would be cut off forever.  Because our Heavenly Father knows His children, he allowed for a state of Mercy to temper Justice.  He provided a Savior, even Jesus Christ, to pay the price of Justice so that we wouldn't have to.  It is a free gift in the sense that we don't have to "earn" it (we couldn't) but it is a gift based on one condition: Repentance. Mercy claimeth the penitent . . . None but the truly penitent are saved.(Alma 42:24)

~ ~ ~

When our young people go astray, there is a tendency for us to nag, lecture, shame, or blame, excusing our behavior as "tough love."  If those four things had any efficacy, the world would have been saved eons ago! While Alma did point out the graveness of his son's sin, he did so within a loving relationship.  There was no nagging or shaming.  Only a description of reality given within the tender and loving relationship between father and son.

Alma, led by the Spirit (Doctrine and Covenants 121: 41-44), set about to correct Corianton's misperceptions that enticed him to sin and with which he rationalized that his sins were of little consequence.  Alma taught true doctrine, his son understood and repented.  He went on to serve an honorable mission and neither his father nor the Lord, ever mentioned it again.

This love, unconditional and unfeigned, is the greatest healing and converting power on earth or in heaven.  Oh, if we could all transcend our own pride and selfishness to share such love with those who mean the most to us!

© Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson July 2020

THE PURE EXPRESSION OF A FATHER'S LOVE (ALMA 39-42)

Are we not all beggars? (Mosiah 4:19)  I certainly am.  I can never do enough to come near balancing the scale with what Christ has done for me.  I am not required to do so.
Are we not all beggars? Elder Holland

Alma the Elder was a beggar until Abinadi reached into his heart with the message of the Savior. He was converted and repented of his sins.  He devoted the rest of his life to Jesus Christ, sharing Abinadi's testimony with his own to hundreds of others.

Alma the Younger was a beggar until an angel thundered and knocked him to the ground.  Is was only after 3 days in a hell in his own mind that he remembered the lessons of his father and reached out for Jesus. The angel got his attention.  Jesus Christ saved him.

In this week's reading,  Alma's son, Corianton, was the beggar, having forsaken his mission and gone after the harlot, Isabel. It was then Alma's opportunity to reach out for his wayward son and bring him back into the fold of God.  Although he was the prophet, he didn't reach out to him as a prophet so much as he reached out to him as a father.  

He holds him accountable and doesn't minimize his sins, but he does so with such incredible love unfeigned that Corianton listened and turned his life around.

~ ~ ~

More tough than love

So often when we hear of wayward children, particularly when addiction is involved, we hear about "tough love."  I have an issue with that term because it is often used to with a lot more "tough" than love. The term became popular in 1969 with the publication of the book by that name written by Bill Milliken.  I have read his book and find that the "tough love" I sometimes see in families testifies to the fact that they have not read it. 


It was written about one man's journey to help others, only to discover that he needed the relevance of Christ's love himself.

If you want to see a perfect example of appropriate "tough love," don't read modern books that attempt to define it: read Alma 39 to 42.  If you have a wayward soul you wish to reach, do it as Alma did, with Christ's love, unconditional and unfeigned.  His is the perfect example.

(In the links below, watch Alma's body language.  It communicates volumes.)

Alma teaches his son why God's commandments are important

Alma teaches his son about resurrection and judgment

Alma teaches his son about justice and mercy

© Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson July 2020

CHIASMUS - THE TURNING POINT

This is a diagram of the Chiasmus found in Alma 36.

I discussed the literary structure of this Hebrew form in a previous post.  Today I want to look at this particular chiasmus chapter because it is one of the most complex and beautiful examples found anywhere in scripture.

The outline was prepared by James Welch, co-founder of Book of Mormon Central.  It was as a young missionary to Germany in the 1960s that a young Elder Welch first identified the chiastic form in the Book of Mormon  Brother Welch went on to make Book of Mormon study a key focus area in his life. 


Here is a link from Book of Mormon Central with Brother Welch describing this form as used in Alma 36.

Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon

In the video, Dr. Welch points out that the key to understanding chiasmus is to look for the turning point. The primary focus of the message is found in the exact center, the point when the first lines are now repeated in opposite order.  On the illustration above, we see the the key point of this message is in lines p and p': Jesus Christ.  It is easy to see in this diagram because it makes an arrow shape with the key point at the exact tip of the arrow.

This turning point is important in our understanding the message the prophet wants to teach.  In the story of Alma's conversion, Jesus Christ is not only the turning point in the chiasmus, He was the turning point in Alma's life.

He was teaching his 3 sons, Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton.  He spent some time with Helaman because that son would one day lead the Church.  He spent less time with Shiblon because Shiblon understood the gospel well and was living it.  He spent the most time with his son Corianton because Corianton, who was with him on the mission to the Zoramites, committed a moral sin, which not only put his own salvation in jeopardy, but set an awful pattern for the Zoramites, who weren't listening to his father and now could use Corianton's behavior as a further excuse.

It was to Helaman that Alma recounted his own conversion story. (Alma 36) He wanted his son to understand that it was through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that Alma was saved. In writing down his words, he helps all of us to know to whom we can turn in our hour of anguish.

When come to the crucial turning points in our lives, remember that it is to Christ that we should call, for it is by His grace that we are saved,  after all that we can do. (2 Nephi 25:23)

© Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson July 2020

BEING STRIPPED OF PRIDE, THE MASTER SIN

When Alma preached in Ammonihah, few believe him.  Those who did were run out of the city with him and their wives and children were put to death by fire. Ammon warned them that if they did this thing, they and their city would be destroyed.  Divine justice prevailed when, just a few month later, part of the Lamanite army attacked the city, slaughtering every Nephite therein and totally destroying the city. (Alma 15)

Destruction of Ammonihah

There was another city near the borders of the Lamanites which was called Antionum.  The people of this city were the followers of antichrist and the philosophies of Nehor and Korihor.  Alma had heard of the blatant idolatry of the city and was concerned about, not only their spiritual welfare but in their apostate condition, they would be easily recruited by the Lamanites.  Alma took two of his sons, Amulek, Zeezrom, and the four sons of Mosiah to preach to the Zoramites. 

When they entered the church building, they were appalled to see the Zoramites, one-by-one, standing on a elevated platform, called the Ramiumptom.  In Hebrew, the word ram meant being lifted up.  God wants to lift us up to exaltation, but the Zoramites were lifting themselves up in pride. They all prayed the same prayer:

Holy, holy God; we believe that thou art God, and we believe that thou art holy, and that thou wast a spirit, and that thou art a spirit, and that thou wilt be a spirit forever. . . we believe that thou hast elected us to be thy holy children and . . . hast made it know unto us that there shall be no Christ. . . . thou has elected us that we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell. . . We thank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and holy people. Amen. (Alma 31:15-18) 

Ramiumpton: Lifted Up in Pride

In their pride and arrogance, they looked down on the poor people or those without much education and would not allow them to worship in the very building their labors had built!

~ ~ ~ 

Pride is an insidious thing.  I never thought of myself as prideful or arrogant, but in retrospect, I have been.  These past four years have humbled me and stripped me of the hidden pride I once had.  I now look at the education I received and the projects I have created and the success I've had as miracles performed by God's hand in all things.  I realize that of myself, I am nothing. 

I am grateful for this horrible affliction and the depression I have suffered these past years.  It took a lot to purge the pride in my soul and bring me to such a state of gratitude for my Savior, who has given me a new heart.  As King Benjamin noted, I, too, am a beggar.  Only the Atonement of Jesus Christ can save me. To paraphrase Paul, 

Therefore being justified by faith, I have peace with God through my Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also I have access by faith into this grace wherein I stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God, and not only so, but I glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hop maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost which is given unto me.  (Romans 5:1-5)

Alma and Amulek on Faith

© Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson July 2020

IF THERE WERE NO CHRIST . . .

I still struggle to post.  My visions has gotten so bad that I get dizzy when I look down at the keyboard, then up at the monitor. I see the neurosurgeon tomorrow and I'm hoping for good news.

I have still been studying my scriptures, even though I don't post.  

Some of the things I've missed posting include Korihor's satanic philosophy in comparison to Alma's Christ centered message. I noted that Korihor's core value statement was "there will be no Christ."  Once Christ is gone, everything else falls like dominos.  There is no atonement because there is no sin.  Hope is a foolish notion. 

Korihor was antichrist.  John tells us an antichrist is anyone who denies Christ.  There were many fighting the Church even in his day.

As I study these chapters, I am always reminded of the antichrist philosophies in our world today.  To me, they seem insane, as do the people who promulgate them.  The attack our sanity, as did Korihor, but refuse to look in the mirror at themselves when they mount vitriolic hatred driven abuse on our current sitting President.

I remember our former president whose inaugural address when he brazenly said, "America is no longer a Christian nation."  He later said that what he meant was that we are also a Jewish nation and an Islamic nation, etc.  I don't that is what he meant because that is not what he said.  In that one statement, he identified himself as antichrist. The damage he did to our nation is unmeasurable!

I wish everyone in America would read the Book of Mormon as a cautionary tale if nothing else.  If we do not learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it.  And we are!

© Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson July 2020

GODWINKS - THE TRUMP OF GOD!

I've been watching Christmas movies on Hallmark TV's Christmas in July. Two of my favorites have the word Godwink in the title. Godwinks are defined as coincidences that are not really coincidence but, rather, God putting answers to prayers in front of our eyes.

I had a Godwink on Sunday relating to a largely unspoken, but heartfelt prayer.  I struggle with depression and it is easy for me to say, like Nephi: o wretched person that I am.  I've experienced miracles even though I am a flawed person. I have felt that too many times to count in the past few years.  Yet, again like Nephi, I acknowledge that I recognize God's hand in my life and the blessings, like Godwinks, continue to come.

As I studied the last lesson for last week's Come Unto Me, I found an article on Book of Mormon Central.  I was not looking for it (which is why it is a Godwink) but it answered in a few words the questioning I've felt for years. It was in an article on the site, written by Steve Mortensen, called The Wish of My Heart, in reference to Alma's O, that I were an angel prayer.  Here's the background of his article:

Alma had unselfishly served the Lord throughout his life.  His prayer was a pleading that he wished he could have an even greater impact on the Nephite people (since so many of them turned blind eyes and deaf ears to his words.)  In his own experience with sin, his life was turned around following an encounter with an angel who spoke with a voice like the trump of God. He was so far gone in sin that he couldn't hear the still, small voice of the spirit.  God had to shout to get his attention and that is what he wished he could do.  But he recognized that his prayer might be sinful and that he should be satisfied with the portion God had given him.  

This is what Brother Mortensen wrote:

However, Alma felt that his desire to have more of an impact in the Lord's service was sinful.  Perhaps in some ways his righteous desires were flawed by mortal weakness, which is often true of all who seek to follow Christ.  Which leads to the questions, does God grant righteous desires that are framed in mortal imperfection.

. . . [at the Los Angeles temple, the Angel Moroni] statue beautifully symbolizes God's respect for the fervent wishes of Alma's heart, regardless of any mortal imperfections that accompanied them.

How those words filled in those tiny cracks between the stones in my jar of happiness!  Even though I am a flawed human being, beset by weaknesses, the Lord has still been able to use me as an instrument in bringing His unconditional love to other people in my life.  In one instance, a priesthood blessing reassured me that what I did for another would have eternal consequences for him and his family.  I was admonished to never stop loving as Christ loves, for He has granted me a portion of His transcendent love unfeigned and I can use that gift to help people feel Jesus' love through my love, flawed though it may be. Like the Nephites, some alienate themselves by turning away from God's love, the greatest healing power on earth, because of their sins.  They can no longer feel the Spirit and, therefore, can no longer feel Christ's love.

The Lute Player 1537
Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio

I am grateful for the sublime gift of Christ-like love, and pray that I might always use it to serve God through serving His children.  In the words of the great Persian poet, Kahlil Gibran, I am a lute, strung with strings, but I am not the lute player.

© Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson, July 2020

GO TO NINEVEH, JONAH

It's been more than a week since I've felt well enough to blog. I doubt I'll be able to regularly post in my blog until after my upcoming surgery.  It makes my head spin.

When Jonah was called to preach repentance in Nineveh, he attempted to run away from God.  Preaching among the Lamanites would be akin to preaching to the Assyrians.  They were a warlike and blood-thirsty people.  Violence was in the warp and woof of their culture, along with a rabid and irrational hatred for Nephites.  Think of how much love it must have taken for those four young men to walk into the lion's den.

When the boys separated in the wilderness by the borders of Lamanite lands, Ammon chose to go to the land of Ishmael. Anyone who has read that part of the Book of Mormon knows of his amazing story.  Ammon served the king with unconditional love unfeigned.  His love was real.  It was the transcendent love of the Savior manifest through Ammon.  It is the greatest healing power on earth.

Lamoni and his people needed to learn the gospel, the fall, and the atonement, but they also needed to be healed.  Violence and bloodshed were a way of life.  They didn't just do it, they delighted in doing it. It might be said that they were addicted to it.  Addicts, no matter how disturbing their behavior, don't need punishment; they need healing.  Only then can they become holy. Only then, through Jesus Christ, can they become new people.  That is what happened to Lamoni and many of his people. Nephi said that We talk of Christ. . . so that our children will know where to turn for a remission of their sin. Ammon talked of Christ.

Lamoni also went forth and talked of Christ; Blessed be the name of God. . . for as sure as thou livest, behold, I have seen my Redeemer; and he shall come forth. . .  and he shall redeem all mankind who believe on his name.  (Alma 19: 12, 13) The Queen also talked of Christ: O blessed Jesus, who has saved me from an awful hell! O blessed God, have mercy on this people! (Alma 19: 29) 

Ammon's brother, Aaron also preached Christ to Lamoni's father.  He also had a great conversion experience.  He prayed: O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee (Alma 22: 18)

And he did. . . 

These experiences were life changing. These Lamanites, once converted, had no more desire to do evil.  Like many addicts, they knew what hell was, for they had lived in it.  For Christ to redeem them from hell, knowing all the evil they had done, was nothing short of a miracle to them.  Their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil. (Alma 19: 33)

In the addiction recovery process of today, once the addict has acknowledged God and reached out to him, he must abstain from the behaviors that kept him chained to sin.  That is what the converted Lamanites did.  Fearful lest they be tempted to lift the sword against another and risk losing their salvation, they buried them deep in the earth. They had apparently cleaned their swords because they were bright. They were a token of their covenant with the Savior, therefore, they were not presented soiled with blood.  In this way, they put a key trigger to violent behavior out of their own sight, buried so deep in the earth that they could never again use them as instruments of death.

~ ~ ~

When we repent of our sins, we must also put away those things that trigger the sinful behavior.  We must repent of the sin, but also of the act of sinning.  We must look deep into out own hearts for any flaws in our character that lead us to sinful behavior.  This is painful, as anyone who has ever done it will tell you, but it is necessary.  Surgery to remove a cancer is painful, but the alternative is worse.  I doubt any of us has committed the sins of these Lamanites, but that doesn't matter.  God cannot look upon any sin with allowance, despite the degree of sin involved. There is a great line in the movie Meet Me in St. Louis where one of the characters refers to a white lie. The wise housekeeper answered A lie is a lie and dressing it in white won't change that.

I don't want to dress any of my sins in white. Only the atonement of Jesus christ can turn my sins to white.  I have been humbled these past few years and stripped of pride.  I don't ever want to go back. Like the Lamanites, I have buried my metaphorical sword and received a new heart.  I praise and thank my Savior, Jesus Christ, every day of my life.  I don't want to return to the behaviors that chained me to hell.  Like Alma and the sons of Mosiah, I know what hell is like for I have lived it. Never again.

©Dr, Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson, July 2020