Saturday, January 31, 2015

Alma 13 and the Coming of Christ

In a page entitled, "Book of Mormon Questions," Al Case, a former member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, under the section, "Book of Mormon Style and Inconsistencies," posed the following criticism:

Why did Alma not know when Christ was coming (Alma 13:21-26) even though he possessed plates and Lehi and Nephi had written precisely when he would arrive?

The pericope reads as follows (emphasis added):

And now it came to pass that when Alma had said these words unto them, he stretched forth his hand unto them and cried with a mighty voice saying, Now is the time to repent for the day of salvation draweth nigh; yea, and the voice of the Lord, by the mouth of angels, doth declare it unto all nations; yea, doth declare it, that they may have glad tidings of great joy; yea, and he doth sound these glad tidings among all his people, yea, even to them that are scattered abroad upon the face of the earth; wherefore they have come unto us. And they are made known unto us in plain terms, that we may understand, that we cannot err; and  this because of our being wanderers in a strange land; therefore we are thus highly favoured, for we have these glad tidings declared unto us in all parts of our vineyard. For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land, and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory. And now we only want to hear the joyful news declared unto us by the mouth of angels of his coming for the time cometh, we know not how soon. Would to God that it might be in my days; but let it be sooner or later, in it I will rejoice.

Alma is speaking of Jesus’ “coming in glory,” that is, the “Second Coming” or parousia; not his birth. The Book of Mormon, when referencing the Second Advent of Christ speaks of it, not his birth, as His coming in glory:

And behold, according to the words of the prophets , the Messiah will set himself again the second time to recover them; wherefore, he will manifest himself unto them in power and great glory unto the destruction of their enemies , when that day cometh when they shall believe in him, and none will he destroy that believe in him. (2 Nephi 6:14)

And now many days hence the Son of God will come in his glory, and his glory shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth, all of patience, mercy, and long suffering full of grace, equity, and truth, full of patience, mercy, and long-suffering, quick to hear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers. (Alma 9:26)

And many of the people did inquire concerning the place where the son of God should come, and they were taught that he would appear unto them after his resurrection; and this the people did hear with great joy and gladness. (Alma 16:20)

And he did expound all things even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his glory—yea, even all things which should come upon the face of the earth, even until the elements should melt with fervent heat, and the earth should be wept together as a scroll, and the heavens and the earth should pass away. (3 Nephi 26:3)

Therefore, more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the Father, when I shall come in my glory with the powers of heaven. (3 Nephi 28:7)

Would may object that Alma’s use of the phrase, “would to God that it might be in my days” as evidence Alma expected the event to happen in his lifetime. However, as John Tvedtnes has noted:

[T]he opposite is true. There are two Hebrew expressions that the King James translators rendered "would [to] God that" or "would that."[24] In all but one case that I found in the Bible (Genesis 30:34),[25] the situation being described is clearly one that is impossible of fulfillment. Note the following:

"Would to God we had died" (Exodus 16:3); "would God that we had died" (Numbers 14:2 [twice]; 20:3); "would God I had died for thee" (2 Samuel 18:33); the speakers obviously hadn't died.
"Would to God that all the Lord's people were prophets" (Numbers 11:29); unfortunately, they were not.
"Would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan" (Joshua 7:7); they had, however, crossed the river.
"Would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech" (Judges 9:29); the speaker did not govern the people.
"I would there were a sword in mine hand" (Numbers 22:29); there wasn't.
In addition to Alma 13:25, the Book of Mormon uses the expression "would to God" in two other passages, both of which reflect an impossibility of fulfillment:

"Would to God that we could persuade all men not to rebel against God" (Jacob 1:8); they couldn't.
"I would to God that ye had not been guilty of so great a crime" (Alma 39:7); the crime had already been committed.

Notes for the Above:

24. Neither Hebrew idiom mentions God. The King James translators similarly added the divine title in another Hebrew expression, changing "may the king live" to "God save the king," to correspond to the formula used in the British coronation ceremony (1 Samuel 10:24; 2 Samuel 16:16; 2 Kings 11:12; 2 Chronicles 23:11).


25. Even this may have been intended by Laban as an expression of impossibility.