The Zoramites have separated themselves from Nephite culture
and religion. Their religion is as different from the Nephites as it could be
made.
When Alma and his party arrived, they saw, in the middle of
their synagogue, a stand[1],
higher than a person, and large enough for only one person.
A person would climb to the top of the stand, raise their
hands high toward heaven and offered a rote prayer.[2]
Mormon devotes considerable space
to a negative description of the Zoramites’ unique form of worship at a stand
known as the Rameumptom.7 He records that the top of the stand would admit only
one person at a time (Alma 31:13) and that the participants who came to pray
would offer exactly the same prayer, with uplifted hands stretched forth to the
heavens.[3]
This was their prayer.
Holy, holy God; we believe that
thou art God, and we believe that thou art holy, and that thou wast a spirit[4],
and that thou art a spirit, and that thou wilt be a spirit forever. 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[5]
us to be thy holy[6]
children; and also thou hast made it known unto us that there[7]
shall be no Christ[8].
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. And again
we thank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen. (Alma
31:15-18)
More than words of praising God,
these are anti-Nephite sentiments uttered in the form of a prayer. The
expressions center on the “foolish” Nephites and claim that the Nephite
traditions are corrupt, that the Nephite beliefs are childish, that the
Zoramites rather than the Nephites are the chosen people, and that the Nephites
will be cast down to hell. The people then thank their god for electing them
over the Nephites.[9]
[T]he Zoramites deluded themselves,
thanking God that they and not others were the chosen and holy ones, and with
that philosophy they justified the exclusion of the poorer class from
worshipping in the very synagogues that the poor had helped build (see Alma
31:17–18; 32:5).[10]
“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).
Everyone who climbed Rameumptom recited that same prayer.[11]
After completing their religious obligations one day a week,
they went and that was that. They gave no thought about their religion,
obligations, etc. It was simply a one-day-a-week thing, and nothing more than
reciting a few words in a so-called prayer. James warned against this type of
worship. “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness [GR overabundance of malice,
trouble, evil] and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the
engrafted [GR implanted, ingrafted] word, which is able to save your souls. But
be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For
if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding
his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and
straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the
perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein,
he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be
blessed in his deed” (James 1:21-25).
There is a particularly
reprehensible moment in the Book of Mormon in which a group of vain and
unchristian Zoramites, after climbing atop their Rameumptom and declaring
their special standing before God, immediately proceed to cast the poor from
their synagogues, synagogues these needy had labored with their own hands to
build. They were cast out, the revelation says, simply because of their
poverty. In a penetrating scriptural line that forever speaks to the real
plight and true pain of the impoverished, the Book of Mormon says, “They were
poor as to things of the world; and also they were poor in heart.”
Indeed they were “poor in heart, because of their poverty as to the
things of the world” (Alma
32:3–4; emphasis added).[12]
Since Mormon’s account of the
Zoramites focuses on a report of their religious deviance, it may at first seem
that the Zoramites separated for religious reasons. In this case we would
expect religious ideas to permeate the culture and the newly established
society to be grounded in and centered on regular if not daily religious
practices and ideals. This is not the case. The Zoramites met once a week,
offered up a rote prayer, and then “returned to their homes, never speaking of
their God again until they had assembled themselves together again to the holy
stand” (Alma 31:23). In addition, Alma saw that the hearts of the Zoramites
were “set upon gold, and upon silver, and upon all manner of fine goods” (Alma
31:24). Yet most dissenting religious groups eschew materialism. This fact,
combined with the Zoramites’ limited religious life, suggests that religion was
not the main motivation for the Zoramite separation.[13]
Alma and his party were astonished at this form of religious
worship.
This perversion of religion saddened Alma[14].
Religion met nothing to them; what mattered was gold, silver, and fancy
clothing.[15]
They had one bad case of the Nephite disease, pride.[16]
Pride is the great sin of
self-elevation. It is for so many a personal Rameumptom, a holy stand that
justifies envy, greed, and vanity. In a sense, pride is
the original sin, for before the foundations of this earth, pride felled
Lucifer, a son of the morning “who was in authority in the presence of God.” If
pride can corrupt one as capable and promising as this, should we not examine
our own souls as well?[17]
“And he lifted up his voice to
heaven, and cried, saying:
“O, how long, O Lord, wilt thou
suffer that thy servants shall dwell here below in the flesh, to behold such
gross wickedness among the children of men? Behold, O God, they cry[18]
unto thee, and yet their hearts are swallowed up in their pride. Behold, O God,
they cry unto thee with their mouths, while they are puffed up, even to
greatness, with the vain things of the world. Behold, O my God, their costly
apparel, and their ringlets, and their bracelets[19],
and their ornaments of gold, and all their precious things which they are
ornamented with; and behold, their hearts are set upon them, and yet they cry
unto thee and say—We thank thee, O God, for we are a chosen people unto thee, while
others shall perish. Yea, and they say that thou hast made it known unto them
that there shall be no Christ. O Lord God, how long wilt thou suffer that such
wickedness and infidelity shall be among this people? O Lord, wilt thou give me
strength, that I may bear with mine infirmities. For I am infirm, and such
wickedness among this people doth pain my soul. O Lord, my heart is exceedingly
sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ.[20]
O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer
with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the
iniquity of this people. O Lord, wilt thou comfort my soul, and give unto me
success, and also my fellow laborers who are with me—yea, Ammon, and Aaron, and
Omner, and also Amulek and Zeezrom and also my two sons—yea, even all these
wilt thou comfort, O Lord. Yea, wilt thou comfort their souls in Christ. Wilt
thou grant unto them that they may have strength, that they may bear[21]
their afflictions which shall come upon them because of the iniquities of this
people. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto[22]
us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ. Behold,
O Lord, their souls are precious,[23]
and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and
wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee” (Alma 31:26-35).
After praying, Alma clapped his hands on each member of his
party.[24]
When he did this, they were filled with
the Holy Spirit. “The result of the gesture in Alma 31:36 is that the addressees
are ‘filled with the Holy Ghost,’ which suggests that this could be related to ‘laying
the hands upon (a person)’ to give him/her the Holy Ghost” (Moroni 2:2).[25]
They separated and went their way. They followed the counsel
the Savior would give his disciples. “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought
[GR anxious concern] for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink;
nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat,
and the body than raiment?” (Matthew 6:25).[26]
Mormon tells us the Lord took care of the needs. Any
afflictions[27]
they suffered “were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according
to the prayer of Alma, and because he prayed in faith” (Alma 31:38).[28]
[1]
“[C]alled by them Rameumptom, which, being interpreted, is the holy stand”
(Alma 31:21).
[2] “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” (Matthew 6:5).
[3] The
Zoramites and Costly Apparel: Symbolism and Irony, Parrish Brady and Shon
Hopkin, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 22/1
(2013): 42.
[4] “And
now, when the king heard these words, he said unto them: Now I know that it is
the Great Spirit; and he has come down at this time to preserve your lives,
that I might not slay you as I did your brethren. Now this is the Great Spirit
of whom our fathers have spoken. Now this was the tradition of Lamoni, which he
had received from his father, that there was a Great Spirit. Notwithstanding
they believed in a Great Spirit they supposed that whatsoever they did was
right; nevertheless, Lamoni began to fear exceedingly, with fear lest he had
done wrong in slaying his servants” (Alma 18:4-5).
[5] “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” (Luke 18:11).
[6] “Which
say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that
burneth all the day” (Isaiah 65:5).
[7] “And
we have beheld that the great question which is in your minds is whether the
word be in the Son of God, or whether there shall be no Christ” (Alma 34:5).
[8] “And
it came to pass that [Sherem] began to preach among the people, and to declare
unto them that there should be no Christ. And he preached many things which
were flattering unto the people; and this he did that he might overthrow the
doctrine of Christ” (Jacob 7:2).
------------
“And this Anti–Christ, whose name was Korihor, (and
the law could have no hold upon him) began to preach unto the people that there
should be no Christ…” (Alma 30:12).
[9] The
Zoramite Separation: A Sociological Perspective, Sherrie Mills; Johnson
Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14/1 (2005): 81.
[10] The
Savior and the Children in 3 Nephi, M. Gawain Wells, Journal of Book of
Mormon Studies 14/1 (2005): 71.
[11] “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 6:7).
[12] A
Handful of Meal and a Little Oil, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, April 1996
General Conference.
[13] The
Zoramite Separation: A Sociological Perspective, Sherrie Mills; Johnson
Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14/1 (2005): 78.
[14] “And
GOD saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually. And it repented[14]
the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart”
(Genesis 6:5-6).
------------------
“But, behold, Laman and Lemuel would not hearken unto
my words; and being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts I cried
unto the Lord for them” (1 Nephi 2:18).
[15] “And
the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have
obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly
than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and
wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and
persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they” (Jacob
2:13).
[16] “For
those who did not belong to their church did indulge themselves in sorceries,
and in idolatry or idleness, and in babblings, and in envyings and strife;
wearing costly apparel; being lifted up in the pride of their own eyes;
persecuting, lying, thieving, robbing, committing whoredoms, and murdering, and
all manner of wickedness; nevertheless, the law was put in force upon all those
who did transgress it, inasmuch as it was possible” (Alma 1:32).
[17] Pride
and the Priesthood, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, October 2010 General Conference.
[18] “Wherefore
the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have
removed their heart far from me, and their fear [OR regard, reverence for me]
toward me is taught by the precept of men”
(Isaiah 29:13).
[19] “Moreover
the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with
stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing [IE walking with
short, rapid steps in an affected manner] as
they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of
the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover [HEB expose; idiom
meaning "put them to shame."] their secret parts. In that day the
Lord will take away the bravery of their
tinkling ornaments about their feet,
and their cauls [Possibly hairnets.
Authorities do not always agree on the nature of the female ornaments listed in
vv. 18–23], and their round [IE
ornaments shaped like a crescent moon] tires like the moon, The chains, and the
bracelets, and the mufflers [HEB veils], The bonnets, and the ornaments of the
legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, The rings, and nose
jewels, The changeable [HEB resplendent garments] suits of apparel, and the
mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, The glasses [OR transparent
garments], and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. And it shall come to
pass, that instead of sweet smell
there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle aa rent [HEB rags]; and instead of well set hair
baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty [OR a
robe]” (Isaiah 3:16 - 24).
[20] “These
things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye
shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John
16:33).
[21] “We
then that are strong ought to bear [GR remove, endure, bear with] the infirmities
of the weak, and not to please ourselves” (Romans 15:1).
[22] “For
none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good
among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the
children of men; and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his
goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and
free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto
God, both Jew and Gentile” (2 Nephi 26:33).
[23] “Remember
the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; For, behold, the Lord your
Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all
men, that all men might repent and come unto him” (D&C 18:10-11).
[24] “And
it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of these sayings, he touched
with his hand the Disciples whom he had chosen, one by one, even until he had
touched them all, and spake unto them as he touched them. And the multitude
heard not the words which he spake, therefore they did not bear record; but the
Disciples bare record that he gave them power to give the Holy Ghost. And I
will show unto you hereafter that this record is true” (3 Nephi 18:36-37).
[25] “Stretch
Forth Thy Hand and Prophesy”: Hand Gestures in the Book of Mormon, David
Calabro, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 21/1
(2012): 59.
[26] And, again, I say unto you, go ye into the
world, and care not for the world; for the world will hate you, and will
persecute you, and will turn you out of their synagogues. Nevertheless, ye
shall go forth from house to house, teaching the people; and I will go before
you. And your heavenly Father will provide for you, whatsoever things ye need
for food, what ye shall eat; and for raiment, what ye shall wear or put on”
(Joseph Smith Translation, Matthew 6:25-27).
[27] “Blessed
are they which are persecuted for righteousness'
[GR Righteous One’s] sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye,
when men shall revile you, and
persecute you, and shall say all
manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake [GR on account of me]. Rejoice,
and be exceeding glad: for great is
your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before
you” (Matthew 5:10-12).
[28]“And
now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren
were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up
their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to
all the will of the Lord” (Mosiah 24:15).
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