The “Marvelous Light of God”
Alma 26:1–4
1 And now, these are the words of Ammon to his brethren, which say thus: My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we started from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?
2 And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?
3 Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how many of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.
4 Behold, thousands of them do rejoice, and have been brought into the fold of God.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote:
“Whenever the gospel is on earth, it is the true light (1 John 2:8). Those who accept the gospel of Christ are thus called ‘out of darkness into his marvellous light’ (1 Pet. 2:9; Alma 26:3, 15). Paul was sent to the Gentiles ‘to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light’ (Acts 26:18), ‘the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, . . . the light of the knowledge of the glory of God’ (2 Cor. 4:4–6). Those who accept the gospel have their souls ‘illuminated by the light of the everlasting word’ (Alma 5:7). Our Lord ‘brought life and immortality to light through the gospel’ (2 Tim. 1:10).”
(Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 444–45.)
