LDS:Abinadi(Mos. 17)was accused of lying to the King, and false prophecy.The 1rst political;the 2nd religous.?

So why did he not have two trials, for if he had, though he was condemned by the King, maybe the preists would have pardoned him.Has anyone got thoughts on this?LDS:Abinadi(Mos. 17)was accused of lying to the King, and false prophecy.The 1rst political;the 2nd religous.?
Interesting question. Ideally, a king--any king--knows that he's only a servant of the people, and that he's still subject to God's laws. This implies that while he is still the ultimate civil authority in a land, he still works under the guidance of the religious leader (in Noah's case, the priests). At the very least, he's spiritually obligated to at least listen to the advice of the priests or prophet. In this ideal situation, a man might very well be tried on both a civil and a religious trial, though one would hope that the king's judgment would already be tempered by spiritual understanding and so only one trial would be needed in the first place.





However, Noah's situation was far from ideal. For one thing, the man was certainly not concerning himself with spiritual matters. He was worldly in the worst sense of the word, using his authority as king to justify some very grave sins against God. As bad as this was, however, Noah still had to contend with the priests. His father had been a good man who'd placed great value on the advice of his spiritual leaders, and no matter what Noah himself thought of God, he knew better than to do away with the priests after his father died. The people, who would become little better than Noah himself, would probably have objected or at least questioned such an action, so Noah instead chose to do something that actually gave him even more power: he got the priests on his side. He either seduced the priests away from God or simply replaced them with ones who would give him ';permission'; to do whatever he wanted. He found men who would claim to know God's mind and then use their supposed spiritual authority to justify any sin Noah wanted to commit. And with God and the law supposedly both backing him up, Noah convinced the people that evil was good and that committing sin was somehow obedience to God.





And all of this just means that not only would the priests not have challenged the king, but they probably encouraged him to condemn Abinadi. They wouldn't have gone against the king because the king was the one giving them their own power--God obviously had not given them any, and they probably knew that--and Noah wouldn't have argued with the priests since they were the ones providing the justification for his own sins. One trial, then, was all that was needed, because both the secular and religious authorities of the land, no matter how false both were, acted as one when they condemned Abinadi and later ordered his execution. Although of course God could have stopped it all, Abinadi never really had a chance.





...and he knew that going into this situation, because of course Abinadi had at least spent a great deal of time in the area and knew exactly what was going on in that city. He'd have known about the political factors, as well as knowing about the false priests, but he went anyway. He knew he'd be killed, and he probably knew his death would not be an easy one. Still, the gospel and his obedience to God meant more to him than his life or a painless death, which is precisely why we admire him so. He truly was a great man.





Still, isn't it ironic that one of those same priests eventually turned everything around and ultimately created the ideal situation that I'd mentioned earlier? Alma's relationship with King Mosiah was exactly what it should have been, which is probably why the people flourished so much under their joint care. Makes one wonder what the world would be like if our own leaders listened to the advice of the prophets, doesn't it?LDS:Abinadi(Mos. 17)was accused of lying to the King, and false prophecy.The 1rst political;the 2nd religous.?
Under the Mosiac Law, both causes would subject the guilty to death. Why there wasn't two trials...I'm not sure, but it was a scenario where they put him between a rock and a hard place.





Earlier in the Book of Mormon, Jacob was subject to similar claims made by Sherem. In this case, Jacob was legally bound to justify his case and he did so with such cause that the role was reversed and Sherem was the one to be found guilty under the Mosiac Law. Sherem was struck down and God fulfilled the law upon that man.
King Noah was angry because Abinadi was condemning their actions.





He wanted to kill him no matter what.





Mosiah 11:29


29 Now the eyes of the people were blinded; therefore they hardened their hearts against the words of Abinadi, and they sought from that time forward to take him. And king Noah hardened his heart against the word of the Lord, and he did not repent of his evil doings








You might want to look at the background of the story, too.


The king and the priests had become very prideful because of their recent victories and here comes this guy telling them they better knock it off or else.





Mosiah 11:18-21


18 And it came to pass that king Noah sent his armies against them, and they were driven back, or they drove them back for a time; therefore, they returned rejoicing in their spoil.


19 And now, because of this great victory they were lifted up in the pride of their hearts; they did boast in their own strength, saying that their fifty could stand against thousands of the Lamanites; and thus they did boast, and did delight in blood, and the shedding of the blood of their brethren, and this because of the wickedness of their king and priests.


20 And it came to pass that there was a man among them whose name was Abinadi; *and he went forth among them, and began to prophesy, saying: Behold, thus saith the Lord, and thus hath he commanded me, saying, Go forth, and say unto this people, thus saith the Lord鈥擶o be unto this people, for I have seen their abominations, and their wickedness, and their whoredoms; and except they repent I will visit them in mine anger.


21 And except they repent and turn to the Lord their God, behold, I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies; yea, and they shall be brought into bondage; and they shall be afflicted by the hand of their enemies.








edit


the priests had become wicked, too


Remember the King told the priests to put Abinadi to death and that is when Alma, who believed Abinadi, asks the king not to do this and then the King tries to kill him.
Most ancient cultures did not separate church and state. That is a modern invention.