General Comments on Alma 40-42 These chapters share a common theme of Resurrection and Judgement, which appear to have been doctrinal points Corianton had some problems understanding. Chapter 40 makes it clear the spirit's departure from the physical body is not what the Scriptures refer to when they speak of resurrection. Chapter 41 then explains the Doctrine of Restoration, meaning whatever a person was in life is what they are in death and in the resurrection as well. And ch. 42 closes the address with Alma discussing the interplay of Mercy and Justice when it comes to Judgement. Whether Corianton just didn't understand these doctrines or if he didn't want to understand them isn't entirely clear. Alma's closing comments in 42:29-30 and his characterization of Corianton's position in 41:9 and 42:1 certainly suggest the latter, even if Alma never states it outright. Comments on Alma 40 v1-5 Alma states that none will be resurrected until Christ is resurrected (v. 2-3), and that eventually all people will be resurrected whether it is at the same time or not (v. 3-5). Alma's concern, and apparently Corianton's as well, at the present isn't the when of the resurrection, but the fact all people are resurrected. Perhaps Corianton's worry (v. 1) was over whether the resurrection was universal to mankind or if it was only for the righteous. v6-14 Here Alma comments on what happens to the spirits of the deceased when they die. Since spirits aren't resurrected as soon as they die there must be some time in between these two events (v. 6-7). Furthermore, not everyone dies at the same time (v. 8), so there has to be a time between death and resurrection (v. 9). When this time of resurrection is nobody really knows, but they will know when they are resurrected, and then they will know all of God's designs as well (v. 10). What happens to the spirits after mortal death is they all go back into the presence of God (v. 11) with the righteous enjoying peace and rest (v. 12) while the wicked are racked by guilt and fear of Judgment (v. 13-14). v8 "all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men", I would take this to mean God is eternal and men are temporal, so to God it is not relevant when a man dies because His interests are in eternal things like Judgement, Justice, Mercy, and so on. Taking this to mean God doesn't perceive or experience time in a linear fashion as we do simply doesn't fit the context. Alma is discussing the irrelevancy of when a person dies. He isn't presenting a treatise on the nature of God and eternity. Alma's point of view in v. 8 is that the time of resurrection is irrelevant because not everyone dies at the same time, so there must be a waiting period between death and resurrection. v11 "behold it has been made known unto me by an angel", this is all we hear of this angelic visitation, as there is no other record available to us mentioning or discussing it. "the spirits of all men...are taken home to that God who gave them life", where exactly this "home" is located isn't clear. Alma may simply be referring to the spirit world, or he may be referring to the Celestial Kingdom. It is plain from D&C 137:5-6 the unresurrected spirits of postmortals who qualify for Celestial Glory enjoy being in that kingdom prior to resurrection. Joseph Smith stated: There has been much said about the word hell, and the sectarian world have preached much about it, describing it to be a burning lake of fire and brimstone. But what is hell? It is another modern term, and is taken from hades.... Hades, the Greek, or Sheol, the Hebrew, these two significations mean a world of spirits. Hades, Sheol, paradise, spirits in prison, are all one: it is a world of spirits. The righteous and the wicked all go to the same world of spirits until the resurrection. "I do not think so," says one. If you will go to my house any time, I will take my lexicon and prove it to you. The great misery of departed spirits in the world of spirits, where they go after death, is to know that they come short of the glory that others enjoy and that they might have enjoyed themselves, and they are their own accusers. (TPJS, p. 310) This "world of spirits" obviously has some division in it as to where the righteous are and where the wicked are, cf. v. 12-14. As for it being a "world", which we might interpret to be a discreet geographic entity such as a planet, both Alma and Smith probably mean something more along the lines of passing out of the earthly condition where we mortals cannot perceive spirits into a spiritual condition where spirits are discerned. This stands to reason as a fleshed spirit cannot perceive other spirits particularly well, but once the spirit is released from the flesh then it would be free to perceive other spirits. v15-18 Alma now addresses the issue of misinterpreting what the resurrection, more specifically the first resurrection, really is. He notes the release of the spirit from the mortal body could be considered a sort of resurrection (v. 15), and there has been mention of a "first resurrection" which covers those from Adam to Christ (v. 16), but this release of the spirit from the body is not what the Scriptures are talking about when they speak of resurrection (v. 17-18). These verses shed some light on what Corianton's misunderstanding might have been. If he had thought the "first resurrection" was the release of the spirit from the flesh and returning to the "world of spirits", as mentioned in v. 15-16, then he would not have seen any need for spirits to go anywhere between mortal death and Christ's resurrection. And, he might have concluded the "first resurrection" did not deal with obtaining a perfected physical body, as v. 19-26 discuss. v18 Compare D&C 133:52-56. v19-26 Alma restates and distills the subject of v. 2-14 (v. 19- 21, 25-26) and equates it with Scriptural sources commenting on the subject (v. 22-24). He says that whether the wicked and righteous all get resurrected at the same time, it doesn't matter because they all will be resurrected (v. 19). And while he supposes the righteous will be resurrected at the same time Christ is (v. 20), what he is certain of is the condition of the spirit between death and resurrection, and that resurrection brings about the Judgement (v. 21). This is the restoration spoken of by the Prophets (v. 22, 24), that the spirit and physical bodies will be reunited in perfection (v. 23). Then Judgement will cause the righteous to shine with glory (v. 25) and the wicked to cast away from God and suffer for their deeds (v. 26). v24 Isaiah 26:14-19 speak of the dead who do not rise with the Lord (cf. Isa. 26:14) and the dead who do rise with the Lord (cf. Isa. 26:19) in the day of Israel's redemption. Hosea 13:14 says the Lord will redeem Israel from hell and death. In 1 Sam. 2:6 Hannah the mother of Samuel prays and pronounces the Lord as One who takes life and gives it and places people in the grave and lifts them out of it again. Of course Ezekiel also spoke of the resurrection (cf. Ezek. 37), but that would have post-dated Lehi's departure from Jerusalem. None of the OT Prophets available to us at present use "restore" or "restoration" in reference to anything akin to resurrection (when searching the KJV English). Alma could be making reference to Abinadi's speech concerning the First Resurrection (cf. Mosiah 15:24), or perhaps some OT era prophet documented on the Brass Plates but not available to us today. Copyright © 2001 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.