Ammon’s Teachings

Now Ammon being wise, yet harmless, he said unto Lamoni:

“Wilt thou hearken unto my words,
if I tell thee by what power I do these things?
and this is the thing that I desire of thee.”

And the king answered him, and said:

“Yea, I will believe all thy words.”

And thus he was caught with guile.

And Ammon began to speak unto him with boldness, and said unto him:

“Believest thou that there is a God?”

And he answered, and said unto him:

“I do not know what that meaneth.”

And then Ammon said:

“Believest thou that there is a Great Spirit?”

And he said,

“Yea.”

And Ammon said:

“This is God.”

And Ammon said unto him again:

“Believest thou that this Great Spirit,
who is God, created all things
which are in heaven and in the earth?”

And he said:

“Yea, I believe that he created
all things which are in the earth;
but I do not know the Heavens.”

And Ammon said unto him:

“The heavens is a place
where God dwells
and all his holy angels. ”

And king Lamoni said:

“Is it above the earth?”

And Ammon said:

“Yea, and he looketh down upon all the children of men; and he knows all the thoughts and intents of the heart; for by his hand were they all created from the beginning.”

And king Lamoni said:

“I believe all these things
which thou hast spoken.

“Art thou sent from God?”

Ammon said unto him:

“I am a man; and man in the beginning was created after the image of God, and I am called by his Holy Spirit to teach these things unto this people, that they may be brought to a knowledge of that which is just and true;

“And a portion of that Spirit dwelleth in me, which giveth me knowledge, and also power according to my faith and desires which are in God.”

Now when Ammon had said these words, he began at the creation of the world, and also the creation of Adam, and told him all the things concerning the fall of man, and rehearsed and laid before him the records and the holy scriptures of the people, which had been spoken by the prophets, even down to the time that their father, Lehi, left Jerusalem.

And he also rehearsed unto them (for it was unto the king and to his servants) all the journeyings of their fathers in the wilderness, and all their sufferings with hunger and thirst, and their travail, and so forth.

And he also rehearsed unto them concerning the rebellions of Laman and Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, yea, all their rebellions did he relate unto them; and he expounded unto them all the records and scriptures from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem down to the present time.

But this is not all; for he expounded unto them the plan of redemption, which was prepared from the foundation of the world; and he also made known unto them concerning the coming of Christ, and all the works of the Lord did he make known unto them.