When Alma recounts his conversion story to his son, Helaman, he tells him that while he was “racked with torment,” he recalled that his father had prophesied about the coming of “one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.” (Alma 36:17) Alma speaks of this “one Jesus Christ” as though the atonement were some abstract concept that had faded from his memory. The question is, how could Alma forget? Was he not at one point going about to “destroy the church of God” and to “lead astray the people of the Lord?” (Mosiah 27:10) Was he truly ignorant of the central message of his father’s sermons? It’s absurd to suggest that he could have spent so much time and energy attacking the church without being intimately acquainted with its core belief in Jesus Christ.

It's odd that King Benjamin’s people seem to be hearing about Christ for the first time when he delivered his final address: “And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins…” (Mosiah 4: 1-3) One might argue that this was part of an “ongoing” repentance process, but if that’s the case, why were they given a “new name” (Mosiah 5: 7-12) If Nephi and Jacob had truly testified and written about the Savior, how is it that the people in Zarahemla were just then taking upon them the name of Christ? It would appear that King Benjamin’s subjects were newly converted Christians!

Alma informs Zeezrom that those who harden their hearts are eventually “taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction…” He then explains that “this is what is meant by the chains of hell.” (Alma 12:11) When Alma says this, it is implied that the phrase, “chains of hell,” had been in circulation among the Nephites, but there is no proof of this in the pages of the Book of Mormon. Alma is the only one that uses the expression. There is also no Biblical precedent. It was, however, a phrase uttered by 19th Century circuit preachers (see pages on revival terminology).

King Lamoni looses consciousness, being overwhelmed by the Spirit, and the “people” are summoned to witness the scene: “…one of the Lamanitish women, whose name was Abish… ran forth from house to house, making it known unto the people. And they began to assemble themselves together unto the house of the king. And there came a multitude, and to their astonishment, they beheld the king, and the queen, and their servants prostrate upon the earth…” (Alma 19: 16-18) 

On a separate occasion, his father also faints by the power of the Holy Ghost, and here again, an attempt is made to gather the people: “Now when the queen saw the fear of the servants she also began to fear exceedingly, lest there should some evil come upon her. And she commanded her servants that they should go and call the people, that they might slay Aaron and his brethren.” 

These were both situations occurring in the private residence of a monarch. Where, I wonder, is palace security, the police, or even the military? Who are, and where are “the people?” It would seem that they are a readily accessible, small cluster of able-bodied citizens waiting just outside the royal grounds. It would be hard to imagine the Queen of England dealing with an internal security issue by sending her advisor outside the gates of Buckingham Palace to cry out to “the people” for assistance.