Seminary
Doctrinal Mastery: Alma 41:10—“Wickedness Never Was Happiness”

“Doctrinal Mastery: Alma 41:10—‘Wickedness Never Was Happiness,’” Book of Mormon Student Manual (2024)

“Doctrinal Mastery: Alma 41:10,” Book of Mormon Student Manual

Doctrinal Mastery: Alma 41:10

“Wickedness Never Was Happiness”

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In Alma 41:10, you learned that “wickedness never was happiness.” This lesson can help you memorize the doctrinal mastery passage and key scripture phrase for Alma 41:10, explain the doctrine, and practice applying the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge in real-life situations.

Memorize and explain

To help you memorize, repeat the doctrinal mastery key phrase and reference several times, “Alma 41:10 ‘Wickedness never was happiness.’” Try to look less at it each time you repeat it. If you would like an additional challenge, try to memorize the entire passage. It might be helpful to use the Doctrinal Mastery app.

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  1. Complete the following activity:

    Think of a situation where it would be helpful for someone to know the doctrine taught in Alma 41:10. Then explain how the doctrine could help in the situation.

Practice application

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  1. Complete the following matching activity:

    Review each of the following three principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document (2023). Then match statements A–F to the appropriate principle. Each principle has two statements that relate to it.

    1. “Act in Faith”

    2. “Examine Concepts and Questions with an Eternal Perspective”

    3. “Seek Further Understanding through Divinely Appointed Sources”

    1. “The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—the Lord’s prophets upon the earth today—are a vital source of truth.”

    2. “As we seek to develop our understanding and to resolve concerns, it is important that we rely on the testimony that we already have of Jesus Christ.”

    3. “We consider [questions] in the context of the plan of salvation and the teachings of the Savior.”

    4. “Learning to recognize and avoid unreliable sources can protect us from misinformation and from those who seek to destroy faith.”

    5. “We seek the help of the Holy Ghost in order to see things as the Lord sees them.”

    6. “As we continue to seek for answers, we must live by faith—trusting that we will eventually receive the answers we seek.”

The answers can be found at the end of this lesson.

Read the following scenario:

Carlos, a member of the Church, is struggling to see the importance of keeping God’s commandments. He recently said to you, “I know a lot of people who break the commandments and seem to have great lives. How can you say that you have to keep the commandments to be happy?” You can see the sincerity of Carlos’s question but feel you need some time to get all of your thoughts together to respond. The two of you agree to talk more about his question the next day.

Use what you have learned and felt while studying Alma 41:10 and the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to prepare to discuss Carlos’s question.

Seek further understanding through divinely appointed sources

  1. The scriptures are divinely appointed sources that can help us answer our questions. Read Alma 41:10 and find at least one other doctrinal mastery passage that could help you respond.

  2. Think about some sources you would invite Carlos to review for additional information. You could even explain what makes a source reliable regarding spiritual matters.

Examine concepts or questions with an eternal perspective

The following questions can help you identify the assumptions Carlos is making:

  • What assumptions might he have about commandments or happiness?

  • What gospel teachings relate to or provide answers to his question?

  • What do you think Carlos needs to know about Heavenly Father, His plan, and how He deals with His children?

Act in faith

Carlos can act in faith by seeking to better understand Heavenly Father’s commandments. Choosing to keep the commandments as he seeks greater understanding about their importance would also be acting in faith. Pick at least two commandments and identify how keeping them could help Carlos experience happiness or how breaking them could lead to misery. You could also share how keeping these commandments has brought you happiness.

  1. Write a response to Carlos. Explain how he could follow each of the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge and the doctrine taught in Alma 41:10 to find answers to his question.

The answers to the matching activity are (1) B, F; (2) C, E; and (3) A, D.