Rhetoric: Given Alma’s immediate context, this question about their continued commitment to the gospel continues to probe their souls. Even those who had been truly converted may have since fallen. When he asks “can ye feel so now?” Alma is asking every person in the congregation to examine themselves and their actions.
Scripture: We need not assume that he is still speaking to those who have sinned gravely. Perhaps the deeply converted who had once sung “the song of redeeming love” may have become complacent, their passion for the gospel cooling. Alma is not only commanding introspection but encouraging us that it is possible to continue such an intensity of feeling toward God by obedience to his commandments.
Translation: Joseph Smith used the vocabulary of his day to express the concepts that Alma is describing. Such phrases as the “mighty change” and the “song of redeeming love” were common at the religious revivals with which Joseph was familiar. Mark D. Thomas, a literary critic of the Book of Mormon, notes: “The Book of Mormon contains revivalistic words and phrases that are not Hebraic.” This observation corroborates my hypothesis that Joseph Smith’s vocabulary strongly influenced the English text of the Book of Mormon. Thomas further notes: “In expressing the ideas contained in the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith used the most formal and understandable language at his disposal. The two main sources for this language were the King James Bible and evangelical religion. But because the prophet was on the border of revivalism, the revival language itself was prophetically and creatively used.” I believe Thomas has accurately captured the Prophet’s interaction with both the King James Bible and revivalist vocabulary. They provided the models and forms, but the Book of Mormon plate text required them to be recontextualized to represent the more ancient concepts. Thomas suggests: “With ‘the day of grace’ and other phrases in this paper, we have been interpreting the Book of Mormon by referring to the historical setting of early nineteenth-century evangelical religion. This historical meaning of the text is an essential starting point for correct interpretation. But it is only a starting point. The final interpretive step is to discover the inner reality of the Book of Mormon wrapped in its nineteenth century theology and language. For the Book of Mormon is much more than a question and answer book for nineteenth century theology.”