Saturday, October 26, 2019

Distinct BoM voices - "Born again"

There are many examples of distinct voices in the Book of Mormon. After all, the different authors had different personalities and different approaches to the gospel. One that I just noticed is the concept of being "born again" or "born of God." We tend to associate this with many of our Christian friends in other denominations, but it is an important part of our doctrine and a more common expression in the Book of Mormon than in the Bible.

It is interesting to see where they are coming from. Of the 12 occurences in the Book of Mormon, 11 come from Alma-2. We know Alma's story and his dramatic conversion. With such an experience, the concept of being "born again" is probably more prevalent for him compared to someone who experiences this more gradually like many of the other Book of Mormon voices (presumably), Nephi, Jacob, Mormon and Moroni. Right after his experience with the angel, Alma says in Mosiah 27:25:
And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters
This becomes a common theme in his preaching: Alma 36:5, Alma 5:14, Alma 5:49, Alma 7:14 and Alma 38:6 are examples.

So what about the one use of the phrase "born again" or "born of God" that does not come from Alma? It's found in Alma 22:15 when the Lamanite king asks: "What shall I do that I may be born of God?". This concept has clearly been taught to him by Aaron. The voices of the sons of Mosiah are quite limited in the Book of Mormon, but we know they were together with Alma-2 when they were visited by the angel and converted. Consequently, they too had been "born again" in quite dramatic fashion and this probably became an important topic for them.

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