The Book of Mormon as Codex/Confessional Allegory

[Limnor]

On another thread, Alma 32 was presented as a sort of proof text regarding Book of Mormon veracity. I’d like to present some thoughts following some research, and demonstrate how Alma 32 fits into my understanding of the Book of Mormon as allegorical reframing of true events in Joseph Smith’s life.

The sources I’ll refer to are secondary and were intended to describe “First Vision” anomalies, but the primary sources reveal interesting parallels to Smith’s life.

My initial thoughts were, “what “faith” is Alma talking about in Alma 32? Faith in God?” The people he was talking to already believed in God. The poor people Alma talks to just want a place to worship God.

So, for context, Alma and the boys are in Antionum when Alma gives this insight. He is talking to the monetarily poor who are not accepted in the synagogues (hmm synagogues in ancient America). The Zoramites - named after Zoram their leader - are apparently Calvinist of some sort, who speak of being elected - a very Calvinist thing.

So Alma goes on to explain that if they just have faith in God and are baptized they will be satisfied.

My understanding from the current missionary perspective is this refers to baptism into the LDS Church? Or maybe just have faith that the Book of Mormon is true? It isn’t really clear to me, to be honest.

Ironically, to achieve exaltation to the highest levels in the LDS Church today you have to have access to a building….

I wonder what Alma would say today. Maybe something like “that’s just the first step” or something. Given that I think Alma is actually Pratt, that response would fit.

Alma’s words reflect Wesleyan Methodist thought - “taste and see, “heart religion,” and “experimental religion.”

So how does this aline to the book as allegory?

Sidney Rigdon was a minister of the Regular Baptist Church, which held to Calvinist theology, particularly with regard to predestination, election, and being “chosen.”

Therefore, I submit that Rigdon is Zoram and his church in Ohio were Zoramites.

At around the same time frame, Joseph Smith Jr’s religious experiences indicate he was leaning toward Methodist teachings. Additionally, some of his family were leaning Presbyterian - a group also categorized within the Calvinist “chosen” people.

Here is where it gets interesting to me - Pratt had been among Rigdon’s flock prior to the publishing of the Book of Mormon.

I submit that Pratt is Alma, who had taken with him Joseph/Ammon, Aaron/Oliver and a few others who I haven’t settled on their identity.

(Oliver as Aaron is derived from the casting of him by Joseph as a type of Aaron. Joseph as Ammon is derived from his time in Harmony, but that’s another part of the book).

https://rsc.BYU.edu/joseph-smith-his-fi ... t-religion

https://rsc.BYU.edu/exploring-first-vis ... mp-meeting

Some interesting notes from the links

- This 1818 entry includes raw statistics, recorded in the journal of Aurora Seager, a newly ordained circuit rider who died a year and a half after outlining this Palmyra meeting in his daily record.

- Aurora wrote that his “inability and unfitness for the work caused me to weep and pray for the promised blessing” of Christ’s companionship in his ministry

- In the next year, Aurora changed location but not his preaching pattern, as he spoke at a camp meeting at Palmyra, New York, where twelve-year-old Joseph Smith likely heard Aurora and others like him declare that God had answered their prayers.

- Mother Smith and three siblings settled on Presbyterianism in New York, as Joseph explains (see v. 7). This denomination inherited Calvinism as held by New England Congregationalists on both sides of the family. Yet Joseph Smith took another way after Palmyra’s “unusual excitement.” [23] In his history, Joseph essentially said he was first shaken by a local Methodist revival, after which he developed some degree of affiliation with them.

- Joseph shared with Alexander Neibaur in Nauvoo: “The first call he had a Revival meeting his mother & Br & Sist got Religion, he wanted to get Religion too wanted to feel & shout like the Rest but could feel nothing.”

- In addition to the Turner and Neibaur accounts of Joseph’s near-conversion at an outdoor Methodist revival, the Seager journal notes an important Methodist camp meeting near Palmyra in June 1818 with forty converts.

- Like Joseph Smith and others of the period, he later wrote about adolescent doubts and the power of prayer.

[Limnor]

By way of intro, my name is Curtis. Husband of over 38 years, father to three mid-30s “children,” and grandfather of five adorable grandchildren.

Retired Naval Officer of 24 years, mostly intelligence, including a heavy dose of targeting intelligence and analytical responsibilities.

Currently working for the Department of Defense (Department of War now, but that’s going to be hard to get used to).

Two and a half years from second retirement (woot!).

The Limnor name is dumb but it reflects my understanding of characters in the Book of Mormon.

Any mod could doxx me now because I used my home email address, and consequently check my LinkedIn page to verify all of this. I’m just losing interest in all of the anonymity.

[Limnor]

Parting thought on Alma. Let’s say for discussion he was an ancient person.

What he says in his own opinion and interpretation of Christian thought. Of no more value than anyone else’s, including Pratt, in my opinion. And frankly, so similar to Methodist thought that it really is nothing new.

[Kishkumen]

I don’t know if anyone has used AI to map out the ideas of Vogel, Marquadt, Walters and others.

I’ve mapped out a reimagining of the book using AI to aid with describing what I see as foundational ideas, starting with Ether and the Book of Zeniff.

From there, the story of the sons of Mosiah, who I see as Rigdon/Mosiah, as the intended “interpreter” are spread beginning with Mosiah and through Alma, Helaman and etc before returning to a Rigdon source text at 3 Nephi, Mosiah. The sons of Mosiah saw an angel - or, translated, Parley P Pratt, Joseph, Hyrum, and Oliver claimed they saw an angel - and wrote down the responses from people they talked to over time.

After Alvin died, Joseph went on a journey to find the original sources, reflected in Mosiah and Alma. I see Parley P Pratt as the Alma figure and go between from Rigdon to Alvin, originally, and then Joseph. There seem to be multiple characters assigned to single individuals.

Joseph hacked out the original 116 pages that had been produced by Rigdon and pointing to him as the interpreter. I think the 116 pages were “lost on purpose” so Joseph could usurp and insert himself.

Please see the AI thread for an AI-aided codex/confessional allegory, rewritten and reimagined.

Interesting stuff, Limnor. Have you invested time in mapping out the dictation timeline and how that correlates with what you are proposing?

[Limnor]

Interesting stuff, Limnor. Have you invested time in mapping out the dictation timeline and how that correlates with what you are proposing?

I have. It needs work and doesn’t line up with the accepted timeline because I propose the book to have been recorded over an approximate nine year timeline and “translated” in the short burst as traditionally understood.

1820 – Ether (Origins and Hidden Records)

- Symbolic: The Book of Ether represents the primordial record—the “brother of Jared” story (Alvin) as the first to glimpse God’s purposes.
- Historical Parallel: Revival era in Palmyra (1820); Alvin and Joseph early stirrings. In allegory, Ether occurs in real life, parallel to Alvin being provided the seed record Rigdon intends to adapt, symbolizing ancient migration and hidden writings.

1823 – Alvin as Abinadi and the Brother of Jared (Joseph is Jared)

- Event: Alvin dies (Nov 1823), recast in allegory as Abinadi’s martyrdom.
- Symbolic Meaning: Alvin/Abinadi bears testimony, refuses complicity in the fabrication, and is symbolically “slain” by the project itself.
- Parallel: Like Abinadi confronting King Noah, Alvin resists the theological construct, leaving Joseph (Nephi) to step into the prophetic role.

1824–1827 – Sons of Mosiah Era (Expansion and Travels)
- Figures: Sidney Rigdon (Mosiah), Oliver Cowdery (Aaron), Parley P. Pratt (Alma), Joseph as Ammon in Harmony, others (sons of Mosiah, Helaman, Nephi the 3rd/4th).
- Symbolic Meaning: Missionary zeal, itinerant preaching, searching for records, spreading word of visions. The companions venture forth to legitimize the emerging movement.
- Parallel: Actual revivals, early preaching in Ohio and western New York, Rigdon’s Campbellite ministry. These years in allegory encode the “bridge” between Alvin’s death and Joseph’s leadership.

1828 – 116 Pages (Book of Lehi)

- Event: The first manuscript - the original Book that Alvin was supposed to find and Rigdon translate - is lost. Recall Rigdon saying he had never seen the book in the form it was now in when he first “saw” it via Pratt et al. Recall Joseph’s (what I believe is feigned) “All is lost, all is lost!”
- Symbolic: A broken covenant—Joseph/Nephi seizes the record (Laban slaying allegory), but the narrative collapses. The “lost pages” represent Alvin’s suppressed or overwritten testimony.
- Parallel: Historical reality of Harris borrowing and losing the manuscript. In allegory, it is the usurpation of authority.

1829 – The Burst of Translation

Year of completion, codification, and betrayal/atonement:

- Editor role—Sidney Rigdon/Moroni guiding the shaping of the text, having been usurped and now dependent on Joseph to get the book published. Rigdon is the “Zoram” figure, implicated in death of Alvin along with others. Rigdon needed to retrieve the seed book from Alvin who had refused to continue the deed.

- In allegory: Mormon = Joseph, Rigdon/Mosiah = the architect, framing the narrative to conceal and reframe Alvin’s testimony.

Nephi 1–2 (1829, small plates):

- Joseph takes the role of Nephi, seizing the plates, justifying Laban’s death (Alvin’s silence), and asserting divine election.
- Symbolic climax: Joseph inserts himself as Nephi, “first prophet” of the new dispensation.

Moroni (1829, closing sections):

- The voice of farewell. Allegorically: Rigdon writing as Moroni, sealing the record and preparing it for public presentation.

Abridgements:

- Editing, overwriting, and sealing, Rigdon/Moroni and Joseph/Mormon

1830 – Publication

- Event: Printing of 5,000 copies at Grandin’s press.

- Symbolic Meaning: The public unveiling—Joseph fully assumes the Nephi/Mosiah/Moroni persona. Alvin/Abinadi’s true witness lies buried beneath the codified allegory.

[Limnor]

I’m not sure this explanation is unique, rather it continues Vogel, Metcalfe, Walters, and others concept of Joseph being written into the book. I’ve just added the other players.

Lastly - I’ll offer up the books from Nephi to Omni reflect the 8 witnesses, but I am still fleshing this out:

Jacob (brother of Nephi) = Oliver Cowdery
- Jacob is entrusted by Nephi with the record, much like Oliver becomes the faithful witness and first preserver of Joseph’s translation.
- Jacob’s sermons (anti-pride, anti-polygamy, anti-riches) resonate with Oliver’s moral witness.

Enos = Martin Harris?

Jarom = David Whitmer
- Provides a shorter, bridging record; preserves continuity but does not innovate.
- Whitmer plays a similar role—linked to testimony but not driving doctrine.

Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom = other Whitmers

Amaleki = Sidney Rigdon
- Amaleki closes the small plates with a theological flourish, handing them over.
- Rigdon, likewise, adds structure and theological richness, ultimately blending his voice into Joseph’s project.

Omni = all the rest (naturally)

[malkie]

I’m not sure this explanation is unique, rather it continues Vogel, Metcalfe, Walters, and others concept of Joseph being written into the book. I’ve just added the other players.

Lastly - I’ll offer up the books from Nephi to Omni reflect the 8 witnesses, but I am still fleshing this out:

Jacob (brother of Nephi) = Oliver Cowdery
- Jacob is entrusted by Nephi with the record, much like Oliver becomes the faithful witness and first preserver of Joseph’s translation.
- Jacob’s sermons (anti-pride, anti-polygamy, anti-riches) resonate with Oliver’s moral witness.

Enos = Martin Harris?

Jarom = David Whitmer
- Provides a shorter, bridging record; preserves continuity but does not innovate.
- Whitmer plays a similar role—linked to testimony but not driving doctrine.

Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom = other Whitmers

Amaleki = Sidney Rigdon
- Amaleki closes the small plates with a theological flourish, handing them over.
- Rigdon, likewise, adds structure and theological richness, ultimately blending his voice into Joseph’s project.

Omni = all the rest (naturally)

Hey, Limnor, I owe you an apology. Earlier I said I would have a look at your work, and see if I could contribute some thoughts. However, I see from the comments made here and on the Artificial Intelligence megathread by other board members that I'm completely out of my depth, and have nothing helpful to say at all.

Sorry! But I'm happy to see that the discussion is going well, and that there appears to be a lot of productive back-and-forth.

[Limnor]

Hey, Limnor, I owe you an apology. Earlier I said I would have a look at your work, and see if I could contribute some thoughts. However, I see from the comments made here and on the Artificial Intelligence megathread by other board members that I'm completely out of my depth, and have nothing helpful to say at all.

Sorry! But I'm happy to see that the discussion is going well, and that there appears to be a lot of productive back-and-forth.

No worries! My interest is in whether this explanation is even worth continued pursuit. If it is unique and intriguing enough to readers, I’ll keep it up. If not, I just bought a model three-masted ship that needs constructing and will serve as a rewarding hobby haha

Next step for the allegory would be a line by line historical accounting of parallels begins with Ether and following the outline above.

[Kishkumen]

I’m not sure this explanation is unique, rather it continues Vogel, Metcalfe, Walters, and others concept of Joseph being written into the book. I’ve just added the other players.

Lastly - I’ll offer up the books from Nephi to Omni reflect the 8 witnesses, but I am still fleshing this out:

Jacob (brother of Nephi) = Oliver Cowdery
- Jacob is entrusted by Nephi with the record, much like Oliver becomes the faithful witness and first preserver of Joseph’s translation.
- Jacob’s sermons (anti-pride, anti-polygamy, anti-riches) resonate with Oliver’s moral witness.

Enos = Martin Harris?

Jarom = David Whitmer
- Provides a shorter, bridging record; preserves continuity but does not innovate.
- Whitmer plays a similar role—linked to testimony but not driving doctrine.

Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom = other Whitmers

Amaleki = Sidney Rigdon
- Amaleki closes the small plates with a theological flourish, handing them over.
- Rigdon, likewise, adds structure and theological richness, ultimately blending his voice into Joseph’s project.

Omni = all the rest (naturally)

Is it possible that the string of short records actually reflects real attempts at translation by people other than Joseph?

[Limnor]

Is it possible that the string of short records actually reflects real attempts at translation by people other than Joseph?

Yes, though “translation” is a word that could be explored in this context.

I see the “short bursts” as fulfilling two goals - fill in the time from departure from Jerusalem to the time of Benjamin, and also to “seal” the witnesses to the book.

Some of his companions had their own stones as you are probably aware, Page and Whitmer at least (I think all 8 of them had stones, per Ether handing out 16 stones - two for each of the 8 witnesses) and Oliver had the rod and was spoken of as having “translated” briefly.

By “translation” I don’t mean they had a real ancient record. Rather, they “translated” themselves into an ancient setting.

Thank you for considering my explanation.