Scripture Journal

9/22/15
Alma 30
v. 2: The order in which the Nephites mentioned their coping was first fasting, then
mourning and finally prayer. Before giving in to the natural man by mourning, they
still managed to put God first by fasting and what was the result? there began to
be continual peace throughout all the land.
v. 7: Not only did the Nephites understands Gods command regarding the freedom
of religion but they knew that it was contrary Gods plans to have any law which
should bring men to unequal grounds. They were being prepared for the higher law.
v. 13: Korihor was a very smart and witty man. He took the principle of a yoke and
turned it around into an increase of burden instead of a decrease. The adversary will
always find some bit of truth and pervert it to try to make your faith falter.
v. 16: Continuing to recognize the psychological genius that is Korihor, he was not
attacking the Nephites directly, but he put the blame on their fathers (another
principle that is common in the scriptures). By doing so, he was able to discredit
their beliefs without necessarily offending them. If they were faltering, they would
jump on the opportunity to push the blame onto someone other than themselves
and give up the practice.
v. 24, 26: To avoid a fallacy or inconsistency, Korihor didnt claim to know that the
Nephites beliefs were not true but he simply claimed that they did not know that
they are true because there is no empirical way to know those things.
v. 29: How humble they must be to be in such positions of power and still be like
Nope. This guy is too far gone for us to help. We gotta call in the big dog; ship this
guy out to Alma.
v. 32-35: Alma brings up a great point in these verses ending with a doozy, that
being the fact that even if it were all some huge deception, it is causing joy in the
peoples lives. Im not saying that all people who leave the church are miserable;
they may go on to lead a very happy life. However, I have never seen as much joy
as that which is shown by followers of Christ.
v. 40: The simplicity of turning Korihors question around would not be impressive
except for all of the questions that follow that.
v. 44: This verse seems to imply that the Nephites had at least a basic knowledge of
astronomy which seems to be consistent with our understanding of the teachings of
Abraham to the Egyptians and with our understanding of the beliefs of Ancient
American civilizations.
v. 51: Why did he write it instead of speak it? Was that just kind of a slap in the face
to Korihor? If so, kudos to Alma!

v. 55: Alma doesnt even need to pray to know whether or not to lift the curse, for
his will is perfectly aligned with the Lords.
v. 60: How quick the adversary is to leave us after we are no longer of any use to
him. To Satan, we are all means to an end.

Alma 31
v. 5: You cannot force another or yourself to change. It is a gradual process that is
started by and continues to require the faith to seek out the word of God.
v. 10: The way the dissention begins is when someone stops praying and asking for
Gods help, just like the pride cycle.
v. 15 18: So. Much. Pride. I wonder in this situation if God still appreciates the
attempt to contact Him, even if they are waaaaay off?
v. 23: This is a very common practice in this day and age (being a Sunday
Christian.)
v. 27: Much like faith, prayer without works is dead. You cant pray just for the sake
of praying because you will receive nothing out of it and therefore it is good for
nothing. God wants us to pray so that we can grow closer to Him and so He can help
us, not just so he can hear our idle voices.
v. 30 34: Example of what it means to supplicate.
v. 38: This is what happens when you turn to the Lord in supplication, the reason
that we all ought to do it.