TG Mortality 21 - Moroni 6:21

Mormon's echo of Paul's phrase ("mortal must now put on immortality") is, like it's other occurrences in the Book of Mormon, centered on the judgment. 

"They day soon cometh that your mortal must put on immortality, and these bodies which are now moldering in corruption must soon become incorruptible bodies; and then ye must stand before the judgment seat of Christ, to be judged according to your works;" (v. 21)

Mormon's use of the phrase is the more poignant because he is literally surrounded by a scene of flesh returning to corruption

"their flesh, and bones, and blood lay upon the face of the earth, being left by the hands of those who slew them to molder upon the land, and to crumble and to return to their mother earth." (v. 15)

 He has just witnessed the near total destruction of his people, men, women and children.  And for very few of them can he hope that the judgment will be joyful.  For a few perhaps - "if it so be that ye are righteous, then are ye blessed with your fathers who have gone before you."  For the majority though, the lament is this:  "oh that ye had repented before this great destruction had come upon you." (v. 22)

Interesting that of the four Book of Mormon references we have found that echo this Pauline phrase, three of them are integrally embedded in a concern with "the fathers." Whether Enos' testimony that begins with "the words which I had heard my father speak concerning eternal life, or the joy of the saints," or Alma's evocation of the deliverance, first temporal and then eternal, of his audience's "fathers," or Mormon's phrase "blessed with your fathers."  In 1st Corinthians 15 itself, Paul's treatise on the resurrection has the mysterious reference to baptism for the dead in verse 29. 

Might it be fruitful to search for the antecedents to Paul's phrasing?  What text or tradition underlies both Paul's use of these phrase and the Book of Mormon prophet's use of it.  Is there in the possible sources a juxtaposition of the resurrection/judgment and a concern with our fathers?

TG Dreams 10 - Judges 7:13

This is a classic type three dream, heavily symbolic and the interpretation provided by an inspired outside source.  The ironic thing is that the inspired interpreter is one of the enemy host and he thinks he is interpreting for his companion but is in fact interpreting for Gideon who was hidden or disguised nearby.  The Lord delivers his interpretations in the way of his choosing - often unexpected and unlikely.

TG Mortality 20b - Alma 5 continued

So, if you haven't come unto Christ (v. 34), the concept of the resurrection and the judgment that accompanies it functions as a litmus test that enables you to do a "thought experiment" (one of Einstein's "gedanken's") that will, if you do it honestly, help reveal your need for the atonement.  If you HAVE come unto Christ, experienced a mighty change of heart, received his image in your countenance, and been spiritually born of God, then the same thought experiment - picturing yourself at the resurrection, before the judgment seat of God - enables you to tell if you have continued in Christ, connected to the Vine or not.

"if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask can ye feel so now?" (v. 26).  The litmus test here involves

          Retaining/renewing a remission of your sins
                 "keeping yourselves blameless before God"
                 "garments...cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ"
          Avoiding a sense of self sufficiency and superiority that is a common trap for the redeemed
                 "have you been sufficiently humble?"
                 "are ye stripped of pride?"
                 "are ye stripped of envy?"
                 do you "make a mock" of your brother?
                 heap "upon him persecutions?'

your answers to these questions reveal whether you, just like those who have never yet know the Savior "have gone astray, as sheep having no Shepherd." 

The continuing presence of the atonement in our lives IS after all the continuing presence and influence and direction of the Shepherd, which we gain and retain in the same way - by listening to and accepting his invitations and hearing and following ("hearkening unto") his voice. (v.33-35, 37-38,

TG Dreams 9 - Deuteronomy 13:1

The Ancient Greeks spoke of dreams that came from Zeus through the "Gate of Horn" (true dreams) and those that came through the "Gate of Ivory" (false, deceptive dreams).  In Mormonism we recognize that all modes of revelation (dreams included) have a potential of arising from one of three spiritual sources -

     The influence of God
     The human mind of the man himself
     The influence of Satan

Note that in Deuteronomy 13, that safety and the correct path cannot necessarily be found by trusting the gift of dreams or prophecy but in loving the Lord with all your heart and soul, walking after him, keeping his commandments, obeying his voice, serving him and cleaving unto him (v. 3, 4).  Revelations can be counterfeit.  Safety lies in a correct RELATIONSHIP with the Lord, not just by attempts to open up a channel of communication with him.  We will see this theme reiterated in future references.

TG Mortality 20a - Alma 5 continued

Alma also talks about how (in the light of a coming judgment at the resurrection) to escape our mortal condition:  First, Faith, believing in the words of God (v. 11,12), putting your trust in him (v. 13); Second, Repent (v. 33); Third, come unto him and bring forth works of righteousness (v. 33 - 35). 


This is accompanied by a promise that the Lord will then deliver us from our hell and our bondage (v. 6,7, 9), awaken us to himself from our deep slumber (v. 7),  replace our darkness with light (v. 7), cause our souls to expand (v. 9), create a mighty change in our hearts (v. 12, 13, 14), fill us with his love (v. 9).  These changes are so profound we can be said to have "received his image in [our] countenance" (v. 14).

TG Dreams 8 - Numbers 12:6

Although they are an important method of divine revelation, scripture makes clear that neither the vision nor the dream is the pinnacle of divine communication.  In Numbers 12 the Lord parallels dreams and visions by which the Lord certainly "speaks" and "makes known."  He also contrasts them with the kind of direct visitation that Moses sometimes enjoyed.

Moses saw "the similitude of the Lord" (a phrase that brings to mind Ether 3:16-17) and he spoke with him "mouth to mouth."  Aaron and Miriam had indeed enjoyed some of the gift of prophecy - dreams, visions and "dark sayings" - and could claim with some justice that the Lord had "spoken by us."  The Lord rebukes their attempt to put themselves thus on an equal footing with his anointed by first reminding them of the clarity Moses had been given (qualitatively superior to their own) and by giving Miriam a week of being a leper.  The experience is a sobering reminder that revelation (like most gifts) is a "limited good," subject to misuse and abuse, and must be accompanied by Charity (see I Corinthians 13) if it is not to lead to pride.

TG Mortality 20 - Alma 5

Alma also uses language that echoes Paul's - "this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption..." (v. 15).  As in the previous two Book of Mormon uses, the context is the association of the resurrection with the judgment - "...to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body."

In this classic sermon Alma uses that judgment as a horizon against which to measure what happens in mortality.  Are we going to be prepared to face it?  Should it not motivate us to be constantly evaluating ourselves and our readiness?  If we would let it, wouldn't its reality be prompting a series of deep personal questions that would impel us to use the atonement in a more immediate and powerful way? 

First of all, doesn't the reality of the judgment that accompanies resurrection force us to acknowledge our basic fallen, mortal state?

Until we come unto Christ and put our faith in Him, Alma reminds us, all of us are in the same condition as King Noah's people before the preaching of Abinidi and Alma.  We are in a "deep sleep," "in the midst of darkness," "encircled about by the bands of death and the chains of hell" (v. 7).  We yield ourselves "to become subjects to the devil" (v. 20).  Our destination is a meeting with God where our souls are "filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all [our] guilt, yea a perfect remembrance of all [our] wickedness, yea a remembrance that [we] have set at defiance the commandments of God" (v. 18).  The path we are on leads to hell (v. 6) and an everlasting destruction (v. 7).