Alma's Theory of Knowledge

Once the decision was made to serve the mission, I took my preparation terribly seriously. I completed 4 years of seminary, read the Bible, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and inspired by President Benson’s counsel regarding its centrality to the LDS faith, I focused in particularly on the Book of Mormon[i]. To ensure I had the most adequate understanding of the Book of Mormon that I possibly could, I read it multiple times, sometimes focusing on the theology, sometimes the history, sometimes on the message/prophecy for our present times, etc.

A fascinating Institute class that I took in the months prior to checking into the MTC suggested an entirely different approach to studying the Book of Mormon. The Book, we were told, was not just a book, it was a tool of personal revelation, and if we read closely and carefully, in its pages we would discover the keys to unlock mysteries and truths available only through direct revelation.

One of the central keys to this approach to studying the Book of Mormon was found in Alma 32—Alma’s sermon on faith to the outcasts of the Zoramites.

Zeus’s Thunderbolt, Euthyphro’s Dilemma, and the Eliminative Reduction of Sin

Sin is to morality as Zeus’s thunderbolt is to weather.[i]

That is, Zeus’s thunderbolts do not exist and therefore contribute nothing to our understanding of weather phenomenon. The thesis I’m defending here is that an analogous statement can be made with regards to sin: that is, sin does not exist and contributes nothing to our understanding of morality.

To state it as plainly as possible, even if God exists, there is no such thing as sin.