Alma's Church: Foundations

It seems that it wasn't uncommon to have a tradition of having all things in common for the people of the Book of Mormon. Alma seems to have made this a main tennant of the church he orgainized. There are two roots in the Book of Mormon to having all things in common that I wish to explore: Jacob 2 and Mosiah 4.

Four hundred and sixty years before Alma organized his church, Jacob rebuked his people with the following in Jacob 2:17-18:

Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you. But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.

Here Jacob exhorts his brethren to be free with their substance so everyone can be rich. Substance mean wealth in any form. "Think of your brethren like unto yourselves". Jacob doesn't want any personal amassing of wealth. He says in verse 19 that if we really have a hope in Christ, we can do nothing but help others with our surplus wealth. But, it appears that our inclination or desire to give away our substance is brought about by whether or not we have sought the kingdom of God. The natual man cannot even comprehend giving freely. He considers it foolishness. And he never will know the blessings and miracles that he might have received if he had faith. And receiving the blessings is proof (in some twisted way) that Jacob's just doesn't work.

In Mosiah 4:22-23, King Benjamin, forty years before the establishment of Alma's church tells his people that one of the results of rebirth in the Christ is use your substance as if it were a gift:

And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done. I say unto you, wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of this world.

King Benjamin is saying that the rich man will perish if he doesn't use his gift of making wealth to help others. You can't even judge the person who you know messed up his temporal situation. It just doesn't matter. Since your substance isn't yours anyways, the Lord's requirement being blessing with this temporal gift is to give it all away. Many get distressed at this idea these days - but to King Benjamin it show true discipleship.

Let's look at verses 17-18:

Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just— But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God. For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?

This earler verse tells us that we are all beggars - or at least people who have had the change of heart. Christ gave you the gift of redeeming love so love others in the small way that you can. Not everyone has the same gift in this life. Some have spiritual gifts and others have temporal gifts. To withhold your temporal gift is like a person with gift of healing to withhold his gift from you when you are sick!

Alma new the doctrine and organized his church of believers according to that doctrine. The members - and the whole nation were blessed because of this order that they followed. They were delivered from the hands of the Lamanites over and over again. They were prospered in all ways. They had the strength of the Lord!