TYLER - When Mormon abridged the Nephite records, he said in 3NE 5:8 "And there had many things transpired which, in the eyes of some, would be great and marvelous; nevertheless, they cannot all be written in this book; yea, this book cannot contain even a hundredth part of what was done among so many people" He also went on to say in MOR 8:35 "Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing" After reading just these two verses, one could assume that Mormon was pretty picky when selecting which stories/doctrine he would need to include to help us since he "knew our doing".
So my question is this. If everything in the Book of Mormon is for us and to help us in our doing...what purpose does Alma 40:20 serve? Alma is teaching doctrine about the resurrection to Corianton and then he adds in his opinion about the resurrection concerning the time when some people would be resurrected. What benefits does the Lord want us to have by reading the opinion of a man? I thought I've read or heard that a prophet is only a prophet when acting or teaching in the name of the Lord, other wise he is only a man like you and me. So if he is only giving his opinion and not teaching it...why is it important?

JOEL - Here's the scripture:

"Now, my son, I do not say that their resurrection cometh at the resurrection of Christ; but behold, I give it as my opinion, that the souls and the bodies are reunited, of the righteous, at the resurrection of Christ, and his ascension into heaven." (Alma 40:20)

Alma is of course talking to his son here rather than to a future audience; but I think Mormon, being a prophet, knew that Alma's "opinion" was correct and so decided to include this in the Book of Mormon for our benefit. He would not have put it in there if it were not true. Truth is truth whether it comes from God, the scriptures, or the opinion of man.
Our scriptures tell us:

"And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation." (D&C 68: 4)

How do we know that Alma was not moved upon by the Holy Ghost as he expressed his opinion?
In addition, Alma's "opinion" is supported by other scriptures that he didn't even know about, so even though to him it is just his opinion, to us it is as good as scripture.
I am willing to listen to President Hinckley's opinion on anything any day, even if he is speaking as a man; it would no doubt be helpful to me.
Also remember this was a translation of an ancient language, reformed Egyptian, to English, so don't get too hung up on a single word that may have meant something different then than it does to us now. And of course, this is all just my opinion :-)

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