Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Abinadi as Alma-1's doctrinal mentor

I noticed a subtle example of internal consistency today, in the form of doctrinal mentors in the Book of Mormon.

The most compelling examples for me are the ones that draw no attention to themselves.

It is clear from the narrative account that Alma-1 was heavily influenced by the words of Abinadi.  Although he was a wicked priest of King Noah, the words of Abinadi caused him to stand up to the king and eventually flee and live in seclusion for some time, secretly building up a small group of believers.

As I read the very familiar baptismal covenant passage in Mosiah 18:8-10, a few words from verse 9 stood out to me:
...to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life...
I don't know that I've ever noticed that specific mention of the first resurrection.  As it turns out, there are not many mentions of the first resurrection in the Book of Mormon.  Perhaps not surprisingly, the first mention is in the words of Abinadi in Mosiah 15:
21 And there cometh a resurrection, even a first resurrection; yea, even a resurrection of those that have been, and who are, and who shall be, even until the resurrection of Christ—for so shall he be called.
22 And now, the resurrection of all the prophets, and all those that have believed in their words, or all those that have kept the commandments of God, shall come forth in the first resurrection; therefore, they are the first resurrection.
Outside of these two chapters, the only other reference to the "first resurrection" that I can find in the entire book is found in Alma 40:15-17.  This is not surprising since we know Alma-2 was heavily influenced by the words of his father.

To summarize, Abinadi influenced Alma-1, who influenced Alma-2.  Those three are the only ones who mention the "first resurrection" in the entire Book of Mormon.

Just one more example of how complicated the Book of Mosiah is.