Textual: A legitimate criticism that might be leveled against the text of the Book of Mormon is that Abinadi speaks as if Christ had already come, when his birth lies in Abinadi's future. Here Abinadi explains that he is "speaking of things to come as though they had already come." He does this both because of his intimate knowledge of the prophecies makes the event seem real and accomplished, as well as that his argument requires the accomplishment of the atonement. The situations that Abinadi explains require the completion of the atonement, and so he speaks of it as completed because that is how these situations will come to pass - and because the God-promise of the future accomplishment is sufficient to supply the benefits in Abinadi's present. Neither Abinadi nor any man on earth had to wait for the accomplishment of the atonement to be able to repent. The very promise was sufficient to extend its benefits prior to its physical accomplishment.