Alma 1-2
Reading Assignment for class on Tuesday, Dec. 19: Alma 1-2
Learning Activity:
Alma 1:4
“Satan is the great deceiver, the father of lies (see John 8:44). This is not because Satan tells only lies. His most effective lies are half-truths or lies accompanied by the truth” (Dallin H. Oaks, “Reading Church History” [address to Church Educational System religious educators, Aug. 16, 1985], 3).
Alma 1:3–4. Courage to choose the right
Nehor used flattery to attract followers, and he used false doctrine to attack the Church of God. His teachings were popular because they excused sin in the name of religion. He encouraged wickedness, saying that “in the end, all men should have eternal life,” regardless of their behavior (Alma 1:4).
Elder L. Tom Perry (1922–2015) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles urged us to have the courage to reject modern-day Nehors and their messages:
“Nehor’s words appealed to the people, but his doctrine, while popular to many, was incorrect. As we face the many decisions in life, the easy and popular messages of the world will not usually be the right ones to choose, and it will take much courage to choose the right” (L. Tom Perry, “Choose the Right,” Ensign, Nov. 1993, 67).
Alma 2:4. “Amlici … would deprive them of their rights and privileges of the church”
Before Mosiah died, he established laws that granted liberty and rights to his people, including religious freedom (see Mosiah 29:32; Alma 1:1, 17). Amlici planned to “deprive [the people] of their rights and privileges of the church” (Alma 2:4) or, in other words, extinguish the religious freedom Mosiah had established through law.
Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles emphasized the importance of exercising and protecting religious freedom in our day and explained how to do so:
“As we walk the path of spiritual liberty in these last days, we must understand that the faithful use of our agency depends upon our having religious freedom. We already know that Satan does not want this freedom to be ours. He attempted to destroy moral agency in heaven, and now on earth he is fiercely undermining, opposing, and spreading confusion about religious freedom—what it is and why it is essential to our spiritual life and our very salvation. …“Brothers and sisters, we are responsible to safeguard these sacred freedoms and rights for ourselves and our posterity” (Robert D. Hales, “Preserving Agency, Protecting Religious Freedom,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 111–12, 113).
Additional information about religious freedom is available on the Church’s website dedicated to religious freedom: LDS.org/religious-freedom
Alma 1:14–15. Capital punishment
As students read about Alma sentencing Nehor to death, they might have questions about the Church’s view of capital punishment.
The Church published the following official statement on capital punishment: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regards the question of whether and in what circumstances the state should impose capital punishment as a matter to be decided solely by the prescribed processes of civil law. We neither promote nor oppose capital punishment” (“Capital Punishment,” mormonnewsroom.org/official-statement/capital-punishment).
Alma 1:19–20, 25. Enduring persecution
President Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that persecution can motivate us to be more courageous:
“Difficult days are ahead. Rarely in the future will it be easy or popular to be a faithful Latter-day Saint. Each of us will be tested. The Apostle Paul warned that in the latter days, those who diligently follow the Lord ‘shall suffer persecution’ [2 Timothy 3:12]. That very persecution can either crush you into silent weakness or motivate you to be more exemplary and courageous in your daily lives” (Russell M. Nelson, “Face the Future with Faith,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2011, 35–36).
