Weekly Study Questions
What does this chapter teach me about God's relationship with His children?
What does this chapter teach me about my Savior?
How can I use the principles and examples from this chapter to improve my own relationship with the Savior and my Heavenly Father?
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS TO PONDER
In verses 13 - 17, Korihor lists various criticisms against Christian faith. How do we see these arguments manifested in society today? What is your personal response to these arguments or do you feel somewhat removed from the discussion?
In verse 18, it explains that Korihor's anti-Christ doctrines led people to commit whoredoms. What is the connection between such behavior and a lack of faith in God and Jesus Christ? Could it be said that most negative or unhealthy behaviors could ultimately be led back to similar anti-Christ doctrines or not necessarily?
In verses 40 - 41, Alma asked Korihor if he had evidence that there is no God. In our culture today, it is common to require evidence before accepting something as truth, rather than requiring evidence to prove the lack of something's or someone's existence. Why do you think God asks us to act in faith before receiving hard evidence regarding His existence? Or do we have hard evidence, but just need the eyes to see it? What purpose might faith serve in God's plan? List in your study journal the evidences you see around you or have experienced as a testimony that God exists and that Christ really carried out the Atonement.
In verse 18, it explains that Korihor's anti-Christ doctrines led people to commit whoredoms. What is the connection between such behavior and a lack of faith in God and Jesus Christ? Could it be said that most negative or unhealthy behaviors could ultimately be led back to similar anti-Christ doctrines or not necessarily?
In verses 40 - 41, Alma asked Korihor if he had evidence that there is no God. In our culture today, it is common to require evidence before accepting something as truth, rather than requiring evidence to prove the lack of something's or someone's existence. Why do you think God asks us to act in faith before receiving hard evidence regarding His existence? Or do we have hard evidence, but just need the eyes to see it? What purpose might faith serve in God's plan? List in your study journal the evidences you see around you or have experienced as a testimony that God exists and that Christ really carried out the Atonement.
I feel that the evidence of God's omnipotence is all around us. Nature, the miracle of birth, the human body, the scriptures, and so much more. But when we believe the world that tells us we did everything ourselves, we tend to believe them. I love the scriptures when they say how can the axe say to the axe maker it does its job on its own without help. It is so easy to think we do things on our own because that is what the world teaches us. I think this is one of the most important reasons we pray on our knees is to remember our own "nothingness" compared to God. We start our prayer with all the things we are grateful for so we remember these are gifts of God, not things we have done on our own. One of my favorite latter-day prophets, President Hinckley, said "I never met a grateful person that wasn't happy." When we acknowledge God in our lives, we can be happy even amid turmoil and trials.
ReplyDeleteI love those comments, Karen. I've had a select handful of very distinct and poignant moments in my life when I've felt Heavenly Father very directly communicating with me, in a way that I knew it was not just me or my own feelings, and those testify to me of God's reality and His concern for me. However, it's in the daily miracles that I think His hand is often most powerfully manifested. I think the world around us is brimming with examples of growth and "becoming." Nature is such a testimony of purpose in life. Plants start as little seeds and grow into something entirely different and mammoth compared with their initial state. Even rocks and minerals all move toward an equilibrium, whether prompted by gravity or other elements. We see some elements manipulated by other creatures, which enables another kind of creation - nests built out of twigs, homes built out of wood - Can we not guess that we are designed to become something greater than what we started as? And if it comes so naturally for us to create out of the elements around us ... and if we are placed in the position where it is even essential for us to use the surrounding elements just to survive physically, it is so preposterous to think that we were meant to create and build and develop those natural creative instincts throughout this life and beyond? Ironically, some people in the world would take those same principles to aggrandize man as self-sufficient, without the need for a God, but I think those principles can more readily be used to prove a healthy dependency on a higher power who has designed us for a purpose. If we view our lives as a partnership with the Savior, with Him as our mentor, to fulfill His purpose for our design, we are much more likely to thrive and reach that potential. Then, when the trials come that teach us we really don't have the control we thought we did - that man can't do it alone, we will be able to recognize the purpose in those trials and grow even more because of them.
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