KnoWhy #398 - How a Tangent About Foreordination Helps Explain Repentance (Alma 13:3)

When Alma, son of Alma, was speaking to the people in Ammonihah, he taught them about the premortal existence. Yet the rest of Alma’s address is about repentance. This poses the question: Why would Alma interrupt a sermon about repentance with a discussion about the pre-mortal life? A careful reading of Alma’s speech shows that he may actually have brought this up as part of his effort to get them to repent. Alma clarifies that it is faith and repentance in this life that qualify people for the priesthood, even if people are foreordained in the premortal life.