KnoWhy #142 - Why Must There be an Infinite and Eternal Sacrifice? (Alma 34:12)

When preaching to the Zoramites, Amulek stressed the importance of “a great and last sacrifice,” which would not be “a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice.” This clarification likely reflects specific ways in which the Zoramites had “pervert[ed] the ways of the Lord.” Both the Israelites and Nephites lived among cultures that performed vicarious sacrifices for the sins of individuals and communities, yet Israelite law insisted that “every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” As Tad R. Callister explains, “the Atonement is ‘infinite’ because its source is ‘infinite’.”