12 Now, when they had come into the land, behold, to their astonishment they found that the Zoramites had built synagogues, and that they did gather themselves together on one day of the week, which day they did call the day of the Lord; and they did worship after a manner which Alma and his brethren had never beheld;
13 For they had a place built up in the center of their synagogue, a place for standing, which was high above the head; and the top thereof would only admit one person.
Alma 31:12-13 (Emphasis mine)
Know we know a little about the Zoramites, Mormon now tells us about their form of worship. We begin to see how they perverted the ways of the Lord.
They had built synagogues for their weekly worship. One day of the work, the day of the Lord, the people would meet. In the center of the synagogue was a place where one person would stand. It was a high stand, higher than a person was.
It is what happened at that stand that let Alma(2) know just how perverted their worship was.
14 Therefore, whosoever desired to worship must go forth and stand upon the top thereof, and stretch forth his hands towards heaven, and cry with a loud voice, saying:
15 Holy, holy God; we believe that thou art God, and we believe that thou art holy, and that thou wast a spirit, and that thou art a spirit, and that thou wilt be a spirit forever.
16 Holy God, we believe that thou hast separated us from our brethren; and we do not believe in the tradition of our brethren, which was handed down to them by the childishness of their fathers; but we believe that thou hast elected us to be thy holy children; and also thou hast made it known unto us that there shall be no Christ.
17 But thou art the same yesterday, today, and forever; and thou hast elected us that we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell; for the which holiness, O God, we thank thee; and we also thank thee that thou hast elected us, that we may not be led away after the foolish traditions of our brethren, which doth bind them down to a belief of Christ, which doth lead their hearts to wander far from thee, our God.
18 And again we thank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen.
Alma 31:14-18 (Emphasis mine)
This was quite a rote prayer offered by the people. Let’s break this down and look more closely at the prayer.
- They are praying to their “holy, holy God” who is “holy.”
- God is a spirit, was a spirit, and will always be a spirit.
- God separated them from their brethren.
- They don’t believe in the foolish traditions of the Nephites.
- They were elected to be holy children.
- He had made it known there would be no Christ.
- God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
- They have been elected to be saved.
- All others were elected will be cast down to hell.
- They thank God for his holiness in saving them and sending everyone else to hell.
It’s no wonder that Alma(2) and his group were amazed. They realized they had a challenging ministry ahead.
5 ¶ And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Matthew 6:5–7 (Emphasis mine)
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Luke 18:11-14 (Emphasis mine)
Not only does their prayer rationalize their beliefs, it is an attempt to make these beliefs holy and sacred.
“In the need to rationalize their ways, it is not enough for the guilty to justify their position; it must be sanctified. There is a wonderful account in the Book of Mormon that shows how that is done. It is Alma's report on the Zoramites, which tells us how the vilest people he had ever known managed to project an image of extreme righteousness, loudly proclaiming themselves as ‘a holy people’ (Alma 31:18), while their thoughts ‘were on their riches’ (Alma 31:24—28).” [1] (Emphasis mine)
Their religion helped the dissenters move even further from the Nephties. Sherrie Mills Johnson explains:
“Such points of differentiation within the religion were a way for the Zoramites to distance themselves from the prevailing Nephite religion and culture. This distancing is typical of groups who become disaffected because of marginalization. This being the case, we would expect to find detaching mechanisms evident in many aspects of their culture besides religion. And in fact the Zoramite practice of gathering ‘themselves together on one day of the week, which day they did call the day of the Lord’ (Alma 31:12), is one such detaching mechanism: the restructuring of time. Mormon's wording indicates they had purposely chosen a day for their Sabbath that was different from the Nephite Sabbath (see Alma 31:12).” [2] (Emphasis mine)
19 Now it came to pass that after Alma and his brethren and his sons had heard these prayers, they were astonished beyond all measure.
Alma 31:19 (Emphasis mine)
[1] Last Call: An Apocalyptic Warning from the Book of Mormon, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed November 23, 2011.
[2] The Zoramite Separation: A Sociological Perspective, Sherrie Mills Johnson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed November 23, 2011
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