Book of Alma

The Book of Alma (/ˈæl.mə/) is one of the books that make up the Book of Mormon. The full title is The Book of Alma: The Son of Alma. The title refers to Alma the Younger, a prophet and "chief judge" of the Nephites.

Content

Historical outline

The Book of Alma is the longest of all the books of the Book of Mormon, consisting of 63 chapters. The book records the first 39 years of what the Nephites termed "the reign of the judges", a period in which the Nephite nation adopted a constitutional theocratic government in which the judicial and executive branches of the government were combined.

The history of the book is outlined as follows:

Challenges to the beginning of the republic

The first four chapters, describe the rebellions of followers of Nehor and Amlici. Contrary to the dominant lay ministry that existed in the Nephite culture, Nehor established a church in which priests were given a separate social status and were paid for their ministry. After killing a religious leader during a theological argument, Nehor was tried and executed for his crimes. The followers of Amlici resented the dominant political and religious parties and sought to reestablish the monarchy that the reign of the judges replaced. Alma, who was chief judge, governor, and high priest over the people of Nephi, led an army against Amlici and his followers and drove the rebellion out of the land.