Alma 1-29: A Brief Theological Introduction

The Book of Mormon: Brief Theological Introductions, Book 6

By: Kylie Nielson Turley

Narrated by: Kylie Nielson, Bruce Lindsay

"...that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the Earth."

Alma is an idolatrous man until an angel's rebuke leads to repentance and two decades of righteous service in realms both political and religious. But Alma's past haunts him. He abdicates political power in order to focus more fully on his ministry. When war against Nephite dissenters shatters the community, he laments.

In this brief theological introduction to the first 29 chapters of the "Book of Alma", literary scholar Kylie Nielson Turley considers how Alma's profound transformation from anti-Christ to high priest of the church of God can deepen our understanding of Christ's mercy. What if God forgives and forgets but humans do not? Does following God ensure a less painful life? Is it faithless to mourn, question, or cry out when beset by sin, violence, or death?

Turley foregrounds Alma as a man who sinned grievously and who was grievously sinned against, a man who found hope and healing in the darkest abyss, a man whose words offer hope and healing to a burdened world.

©2020 The Neal A Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship (P)2020 The Neal A Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

One of the best

I picked up a paper copy of this book while in Provo, UT, over Thanksgiving and read it quickly. I was floored by the insights. So when it came available on Audible, I downloaded it and listened to it. I loved the author's reading of her own work. She read with tenderness and love and I could feel her deep passion for the subject. In a couple of places, her reading brought me to tears. Not all authors make good readers of their own works, but Turley succeeds admirably.

Some of the many things I learned:
Alma the "younger" was not a young man when he went about seeking to destroy the church.
Repunctuating Alma 36:9 and 11 so they make sense.
Alma's five years of silence after Ammonihah and his resulting trauma.
Is Alma 29 a great missionary anthem, or something else entirely? Turley suggests it is a psalm of lament and provides evidence to back up her assertion.

In addition to being an astute theologian, Turley is an excellent writer, which makes the book so much more powerful. You get to see people you thought you knew (Alma, Abbish) in new and different lights. The very best of books make me see things I've never seen before and think about things I've never thought about before. This book did both. This little book is up there with 1 Nephi (Joseph Spencer) and Moroni (David Holland) as the best three books in this series.

Highly recommended for serious students of the Book of Mormon.