10 And the man who slew him was taken by the people of the
church, and was brought before Alma, to be judged according to the crimes which
he had committed.
11 And it came to pass that he stood before Alma and pleaded
for himself with much boldness.
12 But Alma said unto him: Behold, this is the first time
that priestcraft has been introduced among this people. And behold, thou art not only guilty of
priestcraft, but hast endeavored to enforce it by the sword; and were priestcraft
to be enforced among this people it would prove their entire destruction.
13 And thou hast shed the blood of a righteous man, yea, a
man who has done much good among this people; and were we to spare thee his
blood would come upon us for vengeance.
14 Therefore thou art condemned to die, according to the law
which has been given us by Mosiah, our last king; and it has been acknowledged
by this people; therefore this people must abide by the law.
15 And it came to pass that they took him; and his name was Nehor;
and they carried him upon the top of the hill Manti, and there he was caused,
or rather did acknowledge, between the heavens and the earth, that what he had
taught to the people was contrary to the word of God; and there he suffered an
ignominious death.
16 Nevertheless, this did not put an end to the spreading of
priestcraft through the land; for there were many who loved the vain things of
the world, and they went forth preaching false doctrines; and this they did for
the sake of riches and honor.
17 Nevertheless, they durst not lie, if it were known, for
fear of the law, for liars were punished; therefore they pretended to preach
according to their belief; and now the law could have no power on any man for his
belief.
18 And they durst not steal, for fear of the law, for such
were punished; neither durst they rob, nor murder, for he that murdered was
punished unto death.
19 But it came to pass that whosoever did not belong to the
church of God began to persecute those that did belong to the church of God,
and had taken upon them the name of Christ.
20 Yea, they did persecute them, and afflict them with all
manner of words, and this because of their humility; because they were not
proud in their own eyes, and because they did impart the word of God, one with
another, without money and without price.
21 Now there was a strict law among the people of the
church, that there should not any man, belonging to the church, arise and
persecute those that did not belong to the church, and that there should be no
persecution among themselves.
22 Nevertheless, there were many among them who began to be
proud, and began to contend warmly with their adversaries, even unto blows;
yea, they would smite one another with their fists.
Alma 1:10-22
Nehor was taken by a group of people and brought to Alma,
the chief judge.[1] He
stood before Alma, “and pleaded for himself
with much boldness.”
The burden of proof quickly shifted
to the accused, who needed to produce evidence in his own behalf; if a strong
defense was forthcoming, the burden would shift back to the accuser, requiring
him to strengthen his original allegations. An accused was not presumed
innocent until proven guilty. Thus defendants such as Jeremiah, Abinadi, and
Nehor all found it necessary to argue and "plead" (Alma 1:11)
vigorously for themselves.[2]
While we do not know what arguments
Nehor may or may not have raised in his own defense, we can well imagine that
the record is correct when it states that he pleaded for himself "with
much boldness" (Alma 1:11). Nehor made arguments of some kind, and it appears
that they had some substance behind them, as the foregoing possibilities
suggest. With these types of legal arguments in mind, we can easily appreciate
the challenge that Alma was up against in judging this formidable case.[3]
After Nehor had plead his case, Alma responded.
For the first time, priestcraft has been introduced among
the Nephites. According to the Online
Etymology Dictionary, priestcraft comes from the late 15th
century. It is described as the "business
of being a priest," from priest + craft (n.). After rise of Protestantism
and the Enlightenment, it acquired a pejorative sense of "arts and devices
of ambitious priests for attaining and holding temporal power and social
control" (1680s).[4]
Thomas Valletta gives us further information.
His movement fits well within the
broader rubric of priestcraft, which Nephi defined as "men preach[ing] and
set[ting] themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and
praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion" (2 Nephi
26:29). Priestcraft, a word not in most modern dictionaries,
is defined by the 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language by
Noah Webster as "the stratagems and frauds of priests; fraud or imposition
in religious concerns; management of selfish and ambitious priests to gain
wealth and power, or to impose on the credulity of others."36 [5]
He is guilty of priestcraft; he is also guilty of enforcing
priestcraft by the sword. It’s interesting
to note Nehor is not found guilty of murder. It makes one wonder what defense Nehor
provided that led to no finding of guilt for murder.
Were priestcraft come among the Nephites permanently, they
would be destroyed. “[W]ere we to spare
thee [Gideon’s] blood would come upon us for vengeance.”
Nehor is condemned to die.
Alma makes the point his punishment is well within the law. He was condemned according to “the law which has been given us by Mosiah …
and it has been acknowledged by the people.”
As a result, he was condemned to
die according to the law set forth by King Mosiah (see Alma 1:13–14). The
description of his execution suggests a ceremonial invoking of a covenantal
cursing, and, as has been suggested by Nibley, may hark back to an ancient
tradition of the fallen angel Shamhozai, who "repented, and by way of
penance hung himself up between heaven and earth."[6]
Alma went on, however, to state
that the newly adopted law of Mosiah "has been acknowledged by this
people; therefore this people must abide by the law" (Alma 1:14). One may
wonder why Alma appended this additional justification for the sentence he
imposed. Alma's reminder may have been designed to quell the protests from
Nehor's followers that surely were to follow. Alma's resort to popular
authority may also have served to reinforce the power of the newly arranged
system of judges to impose the death penalty.[7]
He was taken to the top of a hill called Manti. He was “caused,
or rather did acknowledge” his teachings were contrary to the word of
God. There is some question as to
whether Nehor willingly confessed or if it was a forced confession. He then suffered “an ignominious death.”
“Some have wondered if Nehor may have been hanged, since Alma
1:15 speaks of him acknowledging his faults ‘between the heavens and the
earth.’ However, this may have reference to the fact that he had been taken ‘upon
the top of the hill Manti.’ In any event, we are merely told that ‘he suffered
an ignominious death.’”[8]
The execution of Nehor did not stop the spread of
priestcraft. Many loved the things of
the world and the riches priestcraft could bring. They went around preaching all manner of
false doctrine. “[T]he inauguration of priestcraft threatened the fledgling
reign of the judges so deeply, Alma was all the more justified in taking
drastic action against Nehor in an albeit unsuccessful effort to prevent ‘the
spreading of priestcraft through the land’ (Alma 1:16), which indeed threatened
the very establishment of this new system of justice among the Nephites.”[9]
Nephite law allowed freedom of belief. “Now
there was no law against a man's belief; for it was strictly contrary to the
commands of God that there should be a law which should bring men on to unequal
grounds” (Alma 30:7). Joseph Smith
also endorsed this in the 11th Article of Faith. “We
claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our
own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how,
where, or what they may.”
Since freedom of belief was protected, many proclaimed the
actually believed what they preach. They
were aware of the laws. They couldn’t
steal, rob, nor murder. Their false
religion protected them. “But if he murdered
he was punished unto death; and if he robbed he was also punished; and if he
stole he was also punished; and if he committed adultery he was also punished;
yea, for all this wickedness they were punished” (Alma 30:10)
Persecution of church members followed. They persecuted them with their words.
[I]n persecuting those who had
taken upon themselves the name of Christ, Nehor and Amlici were challenging the
very foundations of Nephite society (Alma 1:19). This was far deeper than an
attack upon the church or the institution of judgeship. The order of Nehor
posed a direct threat to the tradition that defined the Nephite identity and
kept their society intact in the face of external military and cultural
encroachment.[10]
Church members were humble and avoided pride. They willingly shared the gospel, free of
charge. They supported the poor and
shared as needed. In every sense, they
obeyed the laws of the gospel.
The church led by Alma, however,
continued to distinguish itself by serving and supporting one another
specifically "without money" (Alma 1:20). Preserving the tradition
instituted by Alma the Elder at the Waters of Mormon, these covenant people
supported one another by sharing their goods, "impart[ing] of their
substance, every one according to that which he had" (Mosiah 18:27).[11]
Members of the church were prevent by church law to
persecute those who weren’t members.
They were also forbidden from persecuting each other. This didn’t always happen. “For
they saw and beheld with great sorrow that the people of the church began to be
lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and to set their hearts upon riches and
upon the vain things of the world, that they began to be scornful, one towards
another, and they began to persecute those that did not believe according to
their own will and pleasure” (Alma 4:8).
Many members became proud and contended with their
adversaries. It was not unusual they
would come to blow.
Although Alma stresses the legal
nature of [the execution of Nehor] ... this event may have appeared to
nonbelievers as an attempt to consolidate and institutionalize the church’s
newly established political influence at the expense of other religious
traditions. Certainly, the fact that Nehor was taken not by individuals
representing the civic leadership but by “people of the church” and judged by
the high priest of the church, regardless of his protestations of legal
precept, would have been troubling to those of other belief systems. In any
case, the antipathy between those inside and outside the church, the latter
perhaps feeling sympathetic to the case of Nehor’s followers, generally
resulted in verbal and physical confrontation (see Alma 1:22).[12]
[1] A group
of people took Abinadi before King Noah (see Mosiah 12:9-16).
[2] The
Legal Cases in the Book of Mormon – Judicial Procedures in Biblical Times, Maxwell
Institute, accessed January 10, 2015.
[3] The
Legal Cases in the Book of Mormon – The Trial of Nehor, Maxwell Institute,
accessed January 10, 2015.
[4] Online
Etymology Dictionary, accessed January 10, 2015.
[5] The
Temple in Time and Eternity – Conflicting Orders: Alma and Amulek in Ammonihah,
Thomas R. Valletta, Maxwell Institute, accessed January 10, 2015.
[7] The
Legal Cases in the Book of Mormon – The Trial of Nehor, Maxwell Institute,
accessed January 10, 2015.
[8] Insights:
An Ancient Window, John Tvedtnes, Maxwell Institute, accessed January 10,
2015.
[9] The
Legal Cases in the Book of Mormon – The Ideal of Righteous Judgment,
Maxwell Institute, accessed January 10, 2015.
[10] The
Book of Mosiah: Thoughts about Its Structure, Purposes, Themes, and Authorship,
Gary L. Sturgess, Maxwell Institute, accessed January 10, 2015.
[11] Weighing
and Measuring in the Worlds of the Book of Mormon, John W. Welch, Maxwell
Institute, accessed January 10, 2015.
[12] The
Sociopolitical Events in the Book of Mormon Leading to the Eighteenth Year of
the Reign of the Judges, Dan
Belnap, Maxwell Institute, accessed January 10, 2015.
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