Alma faced a fifth crisis in his early years as High Priest. Intense difficulty arose from people defecting and "many withdrew" from the church because of their iniquity. During this precarious time, Alma’s attitude reflected in this record was exemplary. Instead of focusing on the negative, Alma chose to count his blessings, noting that "those that did stand fast in the faith … were steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of God," quoting Lehi’s words in 1 Nephi 2:10. He also expressed gratitude that the people who remained in the church "bore with patience the persecution which was heaped upon them" (Alma 1:25), as Alma will later commend his own son Shiblon for enduring with patience being placed in bonds and being stoned for the word’s sake (Alma 38:3–4). But the land of Zarahemla became more secular, and things began to fall apart. Prior to Mosiah’s reforms and before the people of Zarahemla were given freedom of belief and accountability for their sins, the long list of vices found in verse 32 had not been so prevalent in Alma’s world. People don’t always make appropriate choices when given freedom. Alma responded with appropriate law enforcement. If someone broke the law, then the law was enforced. Lists of laws appear on several occasions in the Book of Mormon (Figure 1). This list in Alma 1:32 and the similar list in Helaman 4:12 are the longest. Interestingly, these lists compare fairly closely with the provisions set forth in the Code of the Covenant in Exodus 21–22, showing another way in which Nephite law was consistently grounded in the basics of the Law of Moses.
Figure 1 John W. Welch and Greg Welch, "A Comparison of Nephite Law Lists," in Charting the Book of Mormon, chart 127.
Rex C. Reeve, Jr., "Dealing with Opposition to the Church," in Alma, The Testimony of the Word, Book of Mormon Symposium Series, Volume 6, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 15–25.