The “Great Spirit,” the Nephite
“God,” and Lamanite cosmology
The political dimensions of the
narrative underscore the religious elements, with the Lamanite understanding of
deity reflecting the realpolitik within the kingdom. This aspect of Lamanite
culture may be seen in Lamoni’s interaction with Ammon, following Ammon2’s
defense of the flocks. According to the text, Ammon2’s miraculous
defense of the king’s flocks at Sebus leads many, including the king, to assume
that Ammon2 is a supernatural entity, even “the Great Spirit” (Alma
18:4, 11). Mormon expands a bit as to what the Great Spirit may have meant to
Lamoni: “Now this was the tradition of Lamoni, which he had received from his
father, that there was a Great Spirit. Notwithstanding they believed in a Great
Spirit, they supposed that whatsoever they did was right” (v. 5).
Though the Lamanite concept of
the Great Spirit is not developed in any great detail in the text, a few things
may be gleaned. First, if Lamoni believes that Ammon2 could be the
Great Spirit, then he understands the Great Spirit to be an entity that could
manifest itself directly and bodily to Lamoni and other Lamanites. This emphasizes
the immanent, numinous cosmology of the Lamanites in which deities and spirits
interacted directly with humanity, as noted in the earlier section on the
warrior ethos. Elsewhere, when Lamoni’s father was conversing with Aaron, Ammon2’s
brother, we learn that at least Lamoni’s father believed the Great Spirit to be
the same deity that brought the Lamanite forefathers out of Jerusalem and that
this being “created all things” (Alma 22:11). Yet even as the deity is
described as a patron deity and a creator deity, Mormon notes that these divine
aspects did not necessarily affect the moral and ethical decisions of the
Lamanite kings. Further insight into the Great Spirit is given in the dialogue
between Ammon2 and Lamoni provided in Alma 18:18-34.
Because of Ammon2’s
actions at the waters of Sebus, when he comes before Lamoni, the astonished
king wonders whether Ammon2 is the Great Spirit “who knows all
things” (v. 18). Ammon2 declares he is not, at which point Lamoni
wants to know how Ammon2 was able to do what he did, perhaps with
the desire to possess this supernatural power himself. Ammon2’s
response, in which he extracts a promise from om Lamoni, suggests that he may
have also understood this to be Lamoni’s desire: “Wilt thou hearken unto my
words, if I tell thee by what power I do these things?” (v. 22). Lamoni’s
affirmative answer then leads Ammon2 to query, “Believest thou that
there is a God?” (v. 24). Intriguingly, it appears that Lamoni does not
recognize that the word God means: “And he answered, and said unto him:
I do not know what that meaneth” (v. 25). The issue appears to be the specific
term God. There is no question that Lamoni understands the concept of
deity or divine beings since he acknowledges belief in a “Great Spirit.”
However, he does not seem to understand the term God, either as a term
for deity in general or as an individualized, specific deity (i.e., a specific
appellation given to refer to what we would understand as God the Father or
Jesus Christ). Ammon2’s question itself suggests that he was using
the term to reference a type of deity: “Believest thou that there is a God?”
(emphasis mine).
Ammon2’s response to
Lamani’s uncertainty further suggests that the conversation is one concerning deity
type, not individual identity: “Believest thou that there is a Great Spirit?”
(Alma 18:26). Like his reference to “a God,” Ammon2’s emphasis on “a
Great Spirit” instead of “the Great Spirit” suggests a type rather than
individual. Lamoni answers in the affirmative, whereupon Ammon2
responds by equating the two: “And Ammon said: This is God” (v. 28). Though
Ammon2 does not define what he means by using the term God,
its ubiquitous Nephite usage throughout the Book of Mormon suggests that he is
equating the Great Spirit with the Nephite conception of “God” as the
universal, sovereign deity. The appellation great implies that the
Lamanite “Great Spirit” held a similar cosmological position with a divine
hierarchy, yet Lamoni’s responses suggest there were important differences.
The association of “Great Spirit”
with “God” is then reinforced by Ammon2, who asks if Lamoni believes
“that this Great Spirit, who is God, created all things which are in heaven and
in the earth” (Alma 18:28). Lamoni then responds: “Yea, I believe that he
created all things which are in the earth; but I do not know the heavens” (v.
29). Even as Ammon2 strengthens the affinity created between the
Lamanite concept of a “Great Spirit” and the Nephite concept of “God,” further
solidifying that both are creator deities. Lamoni’s answer suggests that though
a Lamanite Great Spirit could be understood as the highest deity within a
divine hierarchy, the cosmos that it inhabits is much more localized. He does
not recognize the concept of “heavens,” apparently lacking a theological
construct for “the heavens,” that is, the metaphysical location of sovereign,
universal deity. The dialogue continues: “And Ammon said unto him: The heavens
is a place where God dwells and all his holy angels. And king Lamoni said: Is
it above the earth? And Ammon said: Yea” (vv. 30-32). In this exchange Lamoni
does not appear to recognize that heavens may reference a location above
the earth itself (v. 31), but the question still suggests a physical immanent
place—the sky—rather than a metaphysical transcendent location outside the
physical realm.
As noted earlier, the Lamanite
religious world was most likely a numinous, immanent one in which deities and
supernatural entities were a part of the natural world, surrounding and living
among humanity, a worldview that allowed for Ammon2 to be a “Great
Spirit.” In such a cosmos, the concept of a metaphysical location of deity that
stood apart from the physical world would be a foreign one. This cosmology
would identify the Great Spirit as a powerful, supernatural entity, even one involved
in the creation of the earth. However, that does not necessarily mean
sovereignty over all things, and it does not include a metaphysical reality of
heaven.
This, in the dialogue between
Lamoni and Ammon2 we are confronted with two Nephite theological
terms and attendant concepts that Lamoni is unfamiliar with: God and the
heavens. Both reflect differences in the theological ontology of Lamanite
and Nephite religion. The Nephites believe in a transcendent deity who dwells
in “the heavens,” who is both a creator and an ongoing sovereign over all
creation, omniscient and all-powerful. For the Lamanites, there is evidence that
at least some believed in a Great Spirit that was a chief deity that could be
powerful and all-knowingly and that could be physically immanent, since Ammon2
was initially thought to be an avatar or such physical manifestation of the
deity by Lamoni and Lamoni’s servants. Yet such a deity was also localized, inhabiting
the earth and maybe the sky but not in the metaphysical concept of “heavens.”
One other factor may provide insight into Lamanite religious understanding: the
Great Spirit with which Lamoni is familiar appears to be associated with the
Lamanite ruling dynasty of his father. This it is possible that the Great Spirit
described by Lamoni may be better understood as a patron deity rather than a
cosmological, universal deity. (Daniel L. Belnap, “A Prolegomenon for a
Cultural History of the Lamanites,” in In the Eyes of the Ancients:
Historical Perspectives on the Book of Mormon [Provo, Utah: Religious
Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2026], 49-52)
