Alma 36, Chiasmus and Plan B

Alma 36, Chiasmus and Plan B

Every other week a group of my friends from church get together and engage in a study group. We have covered a wide variety of topics including women and the priesthood and the problem of evil. Our discussions are always lively and fascinating. This past week, one of our group members had her father Charles Inouye who is a professor at Tufts University talk to us about a theme that he has taught in courses repeatedly over the years. He talks about an attitude towards God and the end of the world which he calls ‘Plan B’.  I will give a brief summary though it may not be adequate in any way shape or form.

Inouye defines Plan A as an attitude focused on justice and judgment.  This attitude towards the world is essentially focused on being right and proving others to be wrong. Inouye sees this attitude predominate in nationalism as well as much of modern religion. This competitive attitude is one that, while often predicated on values an attempt to be good, often actually leads to fighting and opposition. To use a biblical metaphor we see the bitter fruit of this attitude when Jonah is upset that the people in Nineveh find salvation and escape judgement.

Yet, as one pursues Justice, Inouye sees that there is a point of turning. One pursuing justice to its end point will inevitably see the bitter pain associated with Justice oriented thinking. He will realize that on a cosmic scale a Plan A perspective will leave nothing. One will ultimately come to fear Justice and desire mercy.

This perspective is what Inouye calls Plan B. He identifies this perspective with Abraham bargaining to save lives in Sodom and Gomorrah or the Nephite prophets praying for the salvation of the wicked. This attitude is characterized by an intense concern for the suffering of even those that hurt and spite us. It is full of compassion rather than self righteousness. Inouye links this idea to the Buddhist conception of a living Buddha. An individual seeks to purify himself and achieve a clear state only to voluntarily return to a world of evil in order to help others progress. This attitude is associated with the condescension and mercy of the Savior.

While I was hearing this, I was struck deeply by the connection of this thought and a particular favorite scripture. The Turning motion was illustrated by a downward curve or upside down U and so I immediately thought of the Chiasmatic structure. I realized how beautifully the redemption of Alma the Younger described in Alma 36 fits this turning motion.

The A half of the grand Chiasmus is completely concerned with Justice.

“The very thought of coming into the presence of my god did rack my soul with inexpressible horror. Oh, thought I…that I might not be brought to stand before the presence of God, to be judged of my deeds.”

Then, there is a point of turning where Alma cries out to the savior

“O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness and am encircled about by everlasting chains of death.”

The B half of the chiasmus turns away from judgment and towards mercy. Alma sees the joyful angels singing and praising God and longs to be there. He is filled with marvelous joy and is no longer pained by the memory of his sins. Yet, from this experience comes a desire to preach to reach out to others not out of fear but out of tenderness and mercy.

“Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

Alma’s soul is turned away from a focus on the judgment and divine justice and towards a great longing and appreciation for divine mercy.

I love how beautifully this concept of a turning is illustrated in scripture and what a beautiful example it sets for our souls. This is one of the most beautiful passages in scripture and it truly does testify of God’s eternal love and compassion for us.

Satan, Moses 1 and temptation to excess

Today in Sunday school, we began study of the Old Testament by reading Moses 1. Aside from the strangeness of starting to study the Old Testament by looking at another scripture, this was a fantastic lesson focused on how we are Children of God and the focus on this universe. While reading the story of Satan’s temptation of Moses, however, I noticed something that I had not seen before.

In verses 10 and 11, the God has withdrawn from the presence of Moses after a grant and personal revelation. Moses is left weakened and fragile. In this state, Moses reflects on the nature of man and emerges with a valuable sense of humility.

“10 And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.

11 But now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him.”

Moses realized that compared to God we are nothing. He has just discovered that God is an infinite being of power whose presence he can but hardly endure.

The realization that I had was how linked this utterance of Moses is to what comes next

“ 12 And it came to pass that when Moses had said these words, behold, Satan came tempting him, saying: Moses, son of man, worship me.”

As soon as Moses makes his statement of humility and realizes his insignificance in comparison to God, Satan comes to appeal to this sense and insignificance and demand worship.  To me, this reveals something pretty striking about the way Satan works. Satan is a being that loves to encourage extremes. Moses has declared that he is nothing, and so Satan comes and calls him Son of Man and demands worship. Moses has come to this profound epiphany and here comes Satan trying to pervert it to his gain.

Satan does not care very much towards what vice he is able to tempt you. You can be sure, that if by contrast Moses had been exalting his stature as a Son of God after his encounter, that Satan would have played off of these feelings encouraging Moses to embrace his own divine nature just as he does when tempting Eve in the Garden of Eden (“ye shall be as gods”; Genesis 3: 5). Satan would have encouraged Moses’s pride and his arrogance just as fully as he presses his subservience and lowliness.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this in regard to how Satan manages to pervert our understanding of the atonement. Satan is a master of encouraging us to take extreme views: Either we do not need the atonement because we can do it on our own, or we cannot accept it because our sins and mistakes are too great. We must learn to find middle ground and to see ourselves as valuable without seeing ourselves as self-sufficient.

Indeed, I am quite convinced that finding this type of balance is one of the most important things we can master on the pathway to becoming like our father in heaven. Jewish thought often conceives of God as being driven by two competing attributes  Justice and Mercy. God cannot let either of these dominate to the exclusion of the other. He must extract justice and yet is also the God that Enoch sees weeping (Moses 7: 28). He has mastered the balancing act between these extremes. We too must come to avoid temptation to excess in our emotions and our attitudes.