Sunday, March 22, 2020

Alma 37:18 and Prophecies Being a Promise of a Demonstration of God's Power and Abilities


In Alma 37:18, as part of a discussion of God's promise to preserve the brass plates (cf. Does 1 Nephi 5:18-19 contain a false prophecy?), we read the following:

For he promised unto them that he would preserve these things for a wise purpose in him, that he might show forth his power unto future generations.

This is important as it shows that, at least in certain instances, prophecies are not declarations of God's knowledge of the future, per se, but instead, promises of how God will interact with history to bring out his promises to "show forth his power." This could also shed light on "difficult" texts for the Open Theistic view, such as 2 Nephi 3 (see Open Theism and 2 Nephi 3:15).