Alma apparently had the full attention of the Zoramites in his initial speech, but they were still confused about God and how to worship him (v. 1). From their questions he seems to have assumed they knew more than they did and thus turned their attention to what the scriptures teach. His supposition about their knowledge of the sacred records (v. 2) reminds us of Moroni addressing the people of the latter days to whom the record of the Book of Mormon was to come (see Mormon 8:34). Speaking to those who deny the revelations of God, he declared: “he has not read the scriptures, if so he does not understand them” (Mormon 9:8). As stated above, in our comparison to the scientific method, Alma is rechecking the data.