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 Although Abinidi was apparently
preaching to the population at large, the significant part of Abinidi's mission (at least based on the results)
was the appearance in the court of King Noah. When Abinidi preached before the court he had a rather lengthy message
to deliver. Why did he deliver that specific message? The evidence based on the results of the sermon is that God knew that Alma would be touched. Since the sermon was before Noah, it is highly unlikely that there was a very large audience for Abinidi. Hence the preaching was to the Priests of Noah (it was explicitly directed to them) and probably directly aimed at Alma. Why did it effect him? A significant portion of Abinidi's sermon focuses on the teaching of the Law of Moses, and the way Abinidi perceived that the Priests had perverted the correct practice of it. Alma, as one of the priests, had to see himself in the allegations. The second major facet of Abinidi's sermon focuses on Christ. If the message was simply repentance for incorrectly preaching the Law of Moses, it would be unclear why the additional discussion of the mission of Christ was required. I hypothesize that it was for the benefit of Alma, who not only saw the error of the current preaching, but was clearly touched by the sermon. Alma's subsequent actions (initiating baptism and instituting *church* in Zarahemla) would indicate that the message of Christ was the most important to him. I suspect that familiarity of the priests of Noah with the scriptures suggest that the Zeniffites carried with them some type of copy of the Brass Plates, particularly Isaiah. I also suggest that they took with them at least some of the Christ-related prophecies contained on the Large (perhaps Small???) plates. The reason for this supposition is that the nature of Abinidi's message is clearly in the form of a reminder, rather than preaching something new. Therefore, the message of Christ's mission had to have been part of Noah's Priest's learning, but a part equally altered from its true meaning. The next interesting question is the point of the Lord sending Abinidi. Perhaps Abinidi prepared some of the people who later flocked to Alma, but clearly the conversion of Alma is the most dramatic result of Abinidi's message. Why was the Lord so interested in Alma? I propose that Alma the Elder is arguably the most significant and influential character in the Book of Mormon. Even more than Lehi or Nephi? Hard to say, but perhaps. Lehi got them to the New World, and Nephi began their culture. Alma significantly molded Nephite history for ever after, however. I will have to go dig up the references, but it is Alma who creates the concept of church and a church organization in Zarahemla. There is no indication of church prior to Alma - religion yes, but church no. There is another clue that I have found that suggests that Alma is behind the shift from King to Judges. Thus you have a single man who creates a major religious and political reform in a nation who didn't even know he existed until he showed up on their doorstep with his converts. |
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| by Brant Gardner. Copyright 1998 |
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