Rhetorical: Alma begins with a series or phrases that begin with “I trust:”
These phrases must be seen in the context of his introductory sentence from the last verse:
Most important is the nature of Alma’s use of the phrase “I trust.” Standard modern English uses this formulation as a very weak affirmative: “I trust you are well…I trust you had a good night’s sleep…” It is a polite way of asking the question while assuming the response.
Alma’s usage is quite different. Note that his first “trust” comes “according to the Spirit of God.” Now, that kind of trust has a much stronger and sure base. When Alma “trusts” that he will have joy in the inhabitants of Gideon, he does so because he has already had confirmation of that future fact from the Spirit. It is in that connection that we must understand his catalog of parallel “trusts” in this verse. Alma is not hoping, he knows through the spirit that these things are true.
Social: The particular catalog of things that Alma chooses to highlight that the people of Gideon are not doing is fascinating. Any negative list requires some understanding of the nature of the list, since the possibilities of what the people of Gideon were not doing is endless. For instance, none of them were riding bicycles. None of them were fueling their lawnmowers nor painting their picket fences. Since there were an infinite number of things that they were not doing, why does Alma select these particular items?
“I trust that ye are not in a state of so much unbelief as were your brethren. . :” This statement is the key to the rest of the list. The people of Gideon are not in the same state of unbelief as were those of Zarahemla. What will follow are the most egregious aspects of the Zarahemlaite mini-apostasy.
“I trust that ye are not lifted up in the pride of your hearts…:” Clearly pride was a problem for the Nephites, but what constituted that pride? Were they abnormally proud of their children? Were they abnormally proud of their crops? Such things are unlikely, for even were there a few who might be seen to be in such a category, it is hardly the kind of thing for which a people is universally condemned.
In the case of the Nephites, the “pride of [their] hearts” always appears to be related to an acceptance of outside definitions of who they should be and how they should act. Rather than adhere to the principles of the gospel, they looked to themselves and their own desires to find something that they wanted more. That something is further defined in the next two statements.
“I trust that ye have not set your hearts upon riches and the vain things of the world…:” Here is the “pride of [their] hearts” defined. They look upon “riches and the vain things of the world.” Modern readers will certainly see in this a reference to our modern consumer society, and the comparisons are not without their merit, and the cautions apply to we moderns as well as the ancient Nephites. However, the particulars of their “riches and the vain things of the world” were quite different.
To properly understand what Alma is talking about, we must remember that Nephite society was based on agriculture and trade. Those commodities, in surplus, could be exchanged for other goods. One is “rich” if one can accumulate goods that other people also desire, and have less of. The final key to the puzzle is that Nephite culture was based on barter, not money.
This final aspect is essential, because we must remember that the Nephites would still be making most of their necessities. They would grow their own food, they would make their own clothes, they would build their own homes. In such circumstances, how can one set their hearts upon “riches”?
The key is not in the word “riches” nor in “vain things,” but rather “of the world.” Let us take a simple case where a farmer has a surplus of corn. This farmer has a bumper crop, and his fields perform so much better than those of his neighbors that he has many times the amount of corn that they do. He clearly has more than he needs. Is he rich?
He cannot be rich simply for a surplus in corn, particularly if everyone else has enough, but not an abundance. What can he do with this surplus of corn? He can trade it for something else. If he trades it for a surplus of beans, is he rich? He is no richer than he was with the corn.
He becomes rich if and only if he can trade his surplus corn for something that other people recognize is valuable, but they cannot obtain because they don’t have the surplus of corn. This almost necessitates trade outside of the community. When a Nephite traded outside of the community, he is in contact with another community and perhaps another culture. From that foreign, and therefore exotic, land he can obtain items that others might recognize as valuable, but which are clearly not easily available to them. In this way, the barter of the corn can make the man “rich” in things that other people cannot easily obtain.
Alma is clearly indicating to the people of Gideon that it is this desire for the things of the world that is the danger. The Book of Mormon allows for riches when all share their prosperity. The pride of the heart comes in segregating oneself from others through possessions, and in the case of the Nephites, this appears to have always carried with it the danger of adopting the religion (and politics) of that foreign land.
“I trust that you do not worship idols…:” Alma concludes with the logical end of embracing the “things of the world.” Those who embraced the material goods too often embraced the economic/political/religious system that generated the goods. For Alma, the logical progression of the pride of the hearts was ultimately the worship of idols, the complete abandonment of their Nephite religions.