Mosiah 27:10-20. Alma’s Conversion
The story of Alma’s conversion when the angel appeared to stop him from persecuting the church (Mosiah 27:10-20) seems to be Joseph Smith’s reworking of the story of Paul’s conversion in Acts 9:1-22, when Christ appeared to stop him from persecuting the Christians.
The similarity of the stories, rather than implying that the Book of Mormon borrowed from the Bible, shows that God works in the same way in different places and at different times. In fact, two Old Testament stories bear similarities to those of Paul and Alma. The prophet Balaam, en route to pronounce a curse against Israel, was stopped by an angel (Numbers 22:21-35). Moses, on his way to Egypt, was likewise stopped by the Lord, who threatened to kill him until Zipporah circumcised their son (Exodus 4:20-27).