? Regarding Alma Jr.'s Turn Around Experience

[Duncan]

in Mosiah 27 and Alma 36 Alma Jr. talks about his spiritual turn around experience, but does so in 2 ways. In Mosiah 27:11-16 the Angel does all the talking then in verse 17 it reads, "And now it came to pass that these were the last words which the angel spake unto Alma, and he departed.". In Alma 36 he again relates this experience but says in verse 11. "And the angel spake more things unto me, which were heard by my brethren, but I did not hear them; for when I heard the words—If thou wilt be destroyed of thyself, seek no more to destroy the church of God—I was struck with such great fear and amazement lest perhaps I should be destroyed, that I fell to the earth and I did hear no more."

 

My question is why in Mosiah does he say that the angel said all those things and then he departed (and then he passed out or fell to the ground again)  but in Alma  it says that the Angel kept speaking after he passed out and it sounds like his cohorts also fell to the earth. The sequence of events is a tad fuzzy. Any ideas?

[CV75]

in Mosiah 27 and Alma 36 Alma Jr. talks about his spiritual turn around experience, but does so in 2 ways. In Mosiah 27:11-16 the Angel does all the talking then in verse 17 it reads, "And now it came to pass that these were the last words which the angel spake unto Alma, and he departed.". In Alma 36 he again relates this experience but says in verse 11. "And the angel spake more things unto me, which were heard by my brethren, but I did not hear them; for when I heard the words—If thou wilt be destroyed of thyself, seek no more to destroy the church of God—I was struck with such great fear and amazement lest perhaps I should be destroyed, that I fell to the earth and I did hear no more."

 

My question is why in Mosiah does he say that the angel said all those things and then he departed (and then he passed out or fell to the ground again)  but in Alma  it says that the Angel kept speaking after he passed out and it sounds like his cohorts also fell to the earth. The sequence of events is a tad fuzzy. Any ideas?

The first quote is about Alma (Mormon's abridged version of the record), and the second is a direct quote by Alma, which Mormon apparently copied directly from the records. So Mormon seems to have been taking a shortcut in telling the story the first time, and then decided to copy the actual words Alma later gave to his sons.

[Palerider]

I think this is just a slip up by the author, or an opportunity to grow the story a little more, similar to what happened with the different versions of the "First Vision".

 

If you think about it, it actually makes no sense that the angel would continue to give information to an individual who is incapable of receiving it. I'm sure he would have had the capacity to determine whether someone was paying attention or not.

 

"Alma, are you listening to me.....? Alma? Alma! 

[teddyaware]

I think this is just a slip up by the author, or an opportunity to grow the story a little more, similar to what happened with the different versions of the "First Vision".

 

If you think about it, it actually makes no sense that the angel would continue to give information to an individual who is incapable of receiving it. I'm sure he would have had the capacity to determine whether someone was paying attention or not.

 

"Alma, are you listening to me.....? Alma? Alma!

Another respectful and informative response from the always reliable Palerider...

The angel who was sent to Alma, in answer to the prayers of Alma senior, had a predetermined message to delver personally to Alma. When Alma lost consciousness to his surroundings, the Sons of Mosiah were there to hear what the angel had to say to their friend (they surely needed to hear the message as well) and the angel knew they would most assuredly report the complete message he was commanded to deliver to Alma after Alma awoke from his personal journey into hell and back.

11 And the angel spake more things unto me, which were heard by my brethren, but I did not hear them... (Alma 37)

 

[Coreyb]

I think Alma is just being dramatic. He could still hear, he just stopped paying attention because he got scared about his guilty standing before God.

[ERayR]

I think this is just a slip up by the author, or an opportunity to grow the story a little more, similar to what happened with the different versions of the "First Vision".

 

If you think about it, it actually makes no sense that the angel would continue to give information to an individual who is incapable of receiving it. I'm sure he would have had the capacity to determine whether someone was paying attention or not.

 

"Alma, are you listening to me.....? Alma? Alma! 

 

But Alma was not the only one the experience was for.  What we have is Alma's version as it was his record it was being copied from.  The sons of Mosiah were also the target(recipients).

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

I think this is just a slip up by the author, or an opportunity to grow the story a little more, similar to what happened with the different versions of the "First Vision".

 

If you think about it, it actually makes no sense that the angel would continue to give information to an individual who is incapable of receiving it. I'm sure he would have had the capacity to determine whether someone was paying attention or not.

 

"Alma, are you listening to me.....? Alma? Alma!

One thing that impresses about the BoM, are the errors that are answered later in the text...as Nephi would put it;s "the difficultly of writing on gold plates". Also in the "Title Page"...Nephi points out "...if there are any errors they are the errors of men".