CONCLUSION

It seems unlikely that Jesus would have been so well received by his Jewish disciples had he not conformed to their concept of the Messiah. Some of the recently-released Dead Sea Scrolls show that at least some Jews of that time expected a Messiah who would be a divine savior, performing many miracles and bringing the resurrection. In this context, the pre-Christian teachings of a Messiah found in the Book of Mormon are perfectly reasonable. We can agree with Alma's words addressed to his son Corianton, whose faith was weakening: "is it not as easy as this time for the Lord to send his angel to declare these glad tidings unto us as unto our children, or as after the time of his coming?" (Alma 39:19)