This expression, "they had viewed themselves", is found in Mosiah 4:2. It's an interesting and unique expression in the scriptures and causes me to pause and reflect. Am I able to view myself and what do I see? It reminds my of a great talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf from the October 2014 general conference titled, "Lord, is it I?". It is based on the Lord's disciples introspectively asking this question at the last supper instead of pointing their finger at others. Some excerpts from the talk:
In these simple words, “Lord, is it I?” lies the beginning of wisdom and the pathway to personal conversion and lasting change...
“Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? …
“… First cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”
This
business of beams and motes seems to be closely related to our
inability to see ourselves clearly. I’m not sure why we are able to
diagnose and recommend remedies for other people’s ills so well, while
we often have difficulty seeing our own...
many of us have a difficult time seeing ourselves as we truly are, and
even successful people overestimate their own contribution and
underestimate the contributions that others make.
when we start believing that our contributions at home, at work, and at
church are greater than they actually are, we blind ourselves to
blessings and opportunities to improve ourselves in significant and
profound ways.
How did King Benjamin's people get to the point where they could view themselves "in their own carnal state"? They had heard and believed and the Spirit had testified to them what King Benjamin had said in Mosiah 2 and 3: That they owed everything to God, that they are completely dependent on Christ who should come to save them and that the natural man is an enemy to God. The resulting humility brought them to this point. They "had fallen to the earth" (Mosiah 4:1). But because of that, they could enter into a covenant and become "children of Christ" (Mosiah 5:7). He could seal them his and bring them to heaven (Mosiah 5:15), far above the earth they had fallen to.