The Alma Family (A Book of Mormon Sketch) (1 March 1880)

THE ALMA FAMILY.

(A Book of Mormon Sketch).

BY ELDER GEO. REYNOLDS.

[Continued from page 117.]

SHIBLON, THE SON OF ALMA.

Shiblon “was a just man, and he did walk uprightly before God, and he did observe to do good continually, to keep the commandments of the Lord his God.” Such is the high encomium passed upon the character of this son of Alma by the sacred historian of the Book of Mormon.

Shiblon, like his brother Heleman and Corianton, is first mentioned in the sacred pages in connection with the Zoramite mission. Of his birth and childhood we know nothing, but he was yet in his youth when his father called him to be one of the missionaries to the land of Antionum (B.C. 75). Like the rest of his fellowservants of the Lord, he received the Holy Spirit under the hands of his father, and then went forth in the spirit and might of his calling to proclaim the Gospel to the misguided and stiff-necked Zoramites. He labored in their midst with energy, faith and patience, much to the joy of Alma, who, in the commandments he afterwards gave to his sons, commends Shiblon’s course in the following language: “I say unto you, my son, that I have had great joy in thee already, because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence and thy patience, and thy long-suffering among the people of the Zoramites. For I know that thou wast in bonds; yea, and I also know that thou wast stoned for the word’s sake; and thou didst bear all these things in patience, because the Lord was with thee; and now thou knowest that the Lord did deliver thee.” These words of Alma are the only intimation that we have of the persecutions and sufferings endured by Shiblon at the hands of the followers of Zoram.

The life of Shiblon appears to have been almost constantly occupied with the duties of his priesthood. We do not read of him acting in any secular capacity, though it is presumable that, like his father and the rest of his brethren, he labored with his hands to sustain himself during the short periods that intervened between his numerous missions. After the death of his father, he was intimately associated with his elder brother Heleman, and appears to have stood next to him in authority in the Church. We have no account of him taking part as a military officer (as did Heleman,) in the long-continued war that succeeded the apostacy of Amelekiah, but after the war was ended (B.C. 60), he ably seconded Heleman’s efforts to re-establish the Church and set it in order.

At Heleman’s death, Shiblon took possession of the “sacred things” (B.C. 57). These he held until his death, which happened four years afterwards (B.C. 53), shortly before which event he conferred them upon his nephew, Heleman, the son of his elder brother.

The four years preceding Shiblon’s death are principally noteworthy for the commencement of Nephite emigration to the northern continent. It was during this period that Hagoth established his ship-building yards on the borders of the land Bountiful. It is probable that ships were built by the Nephites before Hagoth’s time, but he being an exceedingly expert mechanic, constructed much larger ones than had hitherto been built, and thus inaugurated a new feature in Nephite colonization. In the year that Shiblon died the Lamanites made another incursion into the lands of the Nephites, but were quickly driven back to their own country after suffering great loss.

The closing words of Alma’s exhortation to Shiblon are applicable to all men. Shiblon appears to have graved them on the tablets of his heart, and made them the guides and monitors of his life ever after. They are:

“And now, my son, * * there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness.

“And now, as ye have begun to teach his word, even so I would that ye should continue to teach; and I would that ye would be diligent and temperate in all things.

“See that ye are not lifted up unto pride; yea, see that ye do not boast in your own wisdom, nor of your much strength; use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love; see that ye refrain from idleness;

“Do not pray as the Zoramites do, for ye have seen that they do pray to be heard of men, and to be praised for their wisdom.

“Do not say, O God, I thank thee that we are better than our brethren; but rather say, O Lord, forgive my unworthiness, and remember my brethren in mercy; yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times.”1

Shiblon must have died a comparatively young man. He was styled a youth when he went with his father to labor amongst the Zoramites, and died twenty-two years after. Supposing him to have been twenty-five years of age when he accompanied Alma on that mission, he then would have been but forty-seven at the time of his death.

CORIANTON, THE SON OF ALMA.

Of Corianton’s birth and death we have no record. With his brothers he is first mentioned in the Book of Mormon at the time of the Zoramite apostacy, when, though young and inexperienced, his father took him on the mission to that people. At this period of his life, Corianton appears to have been afflicted with a disease common to youth—an inordinate estimation of his own strength and wisdom, and an inclination to scepticism, if not to infidelity. He was a doubter of everything except his own supposedly transcendent abilities. He marveled that the assurance of the coming of the Messiah should be given to men so long before His advent. His mind was worried concerning the resurrection of the dead, the restoration of all things, the eternal punishment of the sinner, and other points of doctrine. He denied the justice of God in the condemnation of the evil-doer, and sought to justify himself in sinning, on the plea of God’s mercy. Possessed of such a frame of mind as this, no wonder that he sinned. Notwithstanding that Alma had imparted the Holy Spirit to him, like unto the rest of the brethren, when they started out to reclaim the Zoramites from their sin-satisfying apostacy, he deserted his field of labor, and went over to the borders of the Lamanites to enjoy the sinful embraces of Isabel of Siron, (the land of the dissenters,) a harlot whose meretricious charms had led away many from the paths of virtue. As might reasonably be expected, this iniquitous conduct of Corianton placed a stumbling-block in the way of his fellow-laborers, and caused many of the Zoramites to reject the light of the Gospel. Alma, in his “commandments” to Corianton, severely chides him for his sinful conduct, points out the awful criminality of nis course, and enters into a lengthy explanation of the doctrines Corianton doubted or denied. These expositions are replete with plain and lucid instructions on Gospel truths, and close with Alma’s exhortation to his wayward son to a life of better things. His closing words are:

“And now, O my son, ye are called of God to preach the word unto this people. And now, my son, go thy way, declare the word of truth and soberness, that thou mayest bring souls unto repentance, that the great plan of mercy may nave claim upon them. And may God grant unto you even according to my words. Amen.” From the tenor of Corianton’s after life, we judge that he sincerely repented of his youthful follies and unbelief. We find that during his father’s lifetime he accompanied him on his missionary travels, and after Alma’s death he labored under the direction of his brother Heleman, He survived both his elder brothers, and at the time of Shiblon’s death (B.C. 53) was in North America, whither he had gone in a ship to carry provisions to the settlers. This is the last time his name is mentioned in the sacred pages.

We infer from the manner in which the statement is made,2 that if Corianton had been in Zarahemla at the time of Shiblon’s death, the latter would have transferred the records and other sacred things to his charge, instead of to their nephew, Heleman; if this be so, it is evident that by his later life he had proved himself worthy of such a high honor.