12 And this Anti–Christ,
whose name was Korihor, (and the law could have no hold upon him) began to
preach unto the people that there should be no Christ. And after this manner did he preach, saying:
13 O ye that are bound
down under a foolish and a vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such
foolish things? Why do ye look for a
Christ? For no man can know of anything
which is to come.
14 Behold, these
things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets,
behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers.
15 How do ye know of
their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of
things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a
Christ.
16 Ye look forward and
say that ye see a remission of your sins.
But behold, it is the effect of a frenzied mind; and this derangement of
your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away
into a belief of things which are not so.
17 And many more such
things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made
for the sins of men, but every man fared in this life according to the
management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his
genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever
a man did was no crime.
18 And thus he did
preach unto them, leading away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up
their heads in their wickedness, yea, leading away many women, and also men, to
commit whoredoms—telling them that when a man was dead, that was the end
thereof.
19 Now this man went
over to the land of Jershon also, to preach these things among the people of
Ammon, who were once the people of the Lamanites.
20 But behold they
were more wise than many of the Nephites; for they took him, and bound him, and
carried him before Ammon, who was a high priest over that people.
21 And it came to pass
that he caused that he should be carried out of the land. And he came over into the land of Gideon, and
began to preach unto them also; and here he did not have much success, for he
was taken and bound and carried before the high priest, and also the chief
judge over the land.
22 And it came to pass
that the high priest said unto him: Why do ye go about perverting the ways of
the Lord? Why do ye teach this people
that there shall be no Christ, to interrupt their rejoicings? Why do ye speak against all the prophecies of
the holy prophets?
23 Now the high
priest's name was Giddonah. And Korihor
said unto him: Because I do not teach the foolish traditions of your fathers,
and because I do not teach this people to bind themselves down under the
foolish ordinances and performances which are laid down by ancient priests, to
usurp power and authority over them, to keep them in ignorance, that they may
not lift up their heads, but be brought down according to thy words.
24 Ye say that this
people is a free people. Behold, I say
they are in bondage. Ye say that those
ancient prophecies are true. Behold, I
say that ye do not know that they are true.
25 Ye say that this
people is a guilty and a fallen people, because of the transgression of a
parent. Behold, I say that a child is
not guilty because of its parents.
26 And ye also say
that Christ shall come. But behold, I
say that ye do not know that there shall be a Christ. And ye say also that he shall be slain for
the sins of the world—
27 And thus ye lead
away this people after the foolish traditions of your fathers, and according to
your own desires; and ye keep them down, even as it were in bondage, that ye
may glut yourselves with the labors of their hands, that they durst not look up
with boldness, and that they durst not enjoy their rights and privileges.
Alma 30:12-27
Korihor, the Anti-Christ, began teaching the Nephites there
would be no Christ.[1] They were following a foolish and vain
hope. No one can know that which is to
come.[2]
The Book of Mormon preserves
statements from three apostates—Sherem, an Amalekite follower of Nehor, and
Korihor—who denied the revelations foretelling the coming of Christ because
they did not believe that people could know of future events (see Jacob 7:7;
Alma 21:8; 30:15). Through much of his dialogue with Alma, Korihor played the
role of an agnostic, or one who does not deny the existence of God but believes
it is not possible to come to an ultimate certainty about him.26 He argued that
since the future is outside the realm of human experience, it is unknowable,
and to believe in something that cannot be tested empirically is to embrace a
vain and foolish hope (see Alma 30:13).[3]
He tells the Nephites, those prophecies they believe come
from their prophets? They are nothing
more than a foolish tradition!
Korihor gives a standard argument against religion in
general – You can’t know anything unless
you can see it.[4] I’ve never understood this argument. As a science teacher, I teach my students
about protons, neutrons, electrons, and atoms. I teach them about gravitational
force. Yet, I have never seen a proton,
neutron, electron, nor atom; I’ve never seen gravitational forces.[5]
By that logic, they don’t exist, yet
they do. The same thing is true of
prophesy, God, Christ, etc.
Korihor accused them of having a deranged mind for seeing a
remission of their sins.[6] It’s caused by that annoying tradition of
their fathers.
Among the other things he taught was there could be no
atonement for sins, because all men fared according to their abilities. Nephi foresaw and responded to this
philosophy.
“And they deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel; and
they say unto the people: Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept; for behold
there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he
hath given his power unto men; Behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they
shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not;
for this day he is not a God of miracles; he hath done his work. Yea, and there
shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die;
and it shall be well with us. And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat,
drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a
little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words,
dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things,
for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with
a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Yea, and
there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish
doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide
their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark” (2 Nephi 28:5-9).
Whatever people did was no sin.[7]
The Nephites, being the Nephites, saw many believe on his
words. They left the church and began
living however they wanted. Whenever we
died, our existence ceased.
As in the days of Nehor and
Korihor, we live in a time not long before the advent of Jesus Christ—in our
case, the time of preparation for His Second Coming. And similarly, the message
of repentance is often not welcomed. Some profess that if there is a God, He
makes no real demands upon us (see Alma 18:5). Others maintain that a
loving God forgives all sin based on simple confession, or if there actually is
a punishment for sin, “God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we
shall be saved in the kingdom of God” (2 Nephi 28:8). Others, with Korihor,
deny the very existence of Christ and any such thing as sin. Their doctrine is
that values, standards, and even truth are all relative. Thus, whatever one
feels is right for him or her cannot be judged by others to be wrong or sinful.
On the surface such philosophies
seem appealing because they give us license to indulge any appetite or desire
without concern for consequences. By using the teachings of Nehor and Korihor,
we can rationalize and justify anything. When prophets come crying repentance,
it “throws cold water on the party.” But in reality the prophetic call should
be received with joy. Without repentance, there is no real progress or
improvement in life. Pretending there is no sin does not lessen its burden and
pain. Suffering for sin does not by itself change anything for the better. Only
repentance leads to the sunlit uplands of a better life. And, of course, only
through repentance do we gain access to the atoning grace of Jesus Christ and
salvation. Repentance is a divine gift, and there should be a smile on our
faces when we speak of it. It points us to freedom, confidence, and peace.
Rather than interrupting the celebration, the gift of repentance is the cause
for true celebration.[8]
After his success among the Nephites, he began preaching to
the Ammonites. Unlike the Nephites, the
Ammonites were committed to Christ and knew His gospel. They bound him and carried him before their
high priest, Ammon. “In later periods,
possibly owing to the sheer size of the church and to difficulties of
communication and centralization, there seem to have been regional high priests
in Jershon and in Gideon (Alma 30:20–21), and very likely elsewhere—perhaps
subordinated to the overall high priest, in this case Alma2, resident in the capital
city of Zarahemla (Alma 30:29; cf. Alma 46:6, 38; Helaman 3:25; 3 Nephi
6:21–22, 27).”[9]
[1] “And
it came to pass that [Sherem] began to preach among the people, and to declare
unto them that there should be no Christ.
And he preached many things which were flattering unto the people; and
this he did that he might overthrow the doctrine of Christ. And he labored
diligently that he might lead away the hearts of the people, insomuch that he
did lead away many hearts; and he knowing that I, Jacob, had faith in Christ
who should come, he sought much opportunity that he might come unto me” (Jacob 7:2-3).
[2] “And
ye have led away much of this people that they pervert the right way of God,
and keep not the law of Moses which is the right way; and convert the law of
Moses into the worship of a being which ye say shall come many hundred years
hence. And now behold, I, Sherem,
declare unto you that this is blasphemy; for no man knoweth of such things; for
he cannot tell of things to come. And
after this manner did Sherem contend against me” (Jacob 7:7).
[3] Painting
Out the Messiah: The Theologies of Dissidents, John L. Clark, Journal of
Book of Mormon Studies 11/1 (2002): 23.
[4] “That
it is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come; if so, and he be
the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, as it has been spoken, why
will he not show himself unto us as well as unto them who shall be at
Jerusalem? Yea, why will he not show himself in this land as well as in the
land of Jerusalem? But behold, we know that this is a wicked tradition, which
has been handed down unto us by our fathers, to cause us that we should believe
in some great and marvelous thing which should come to pass, but not among us,
but in a land which is far distant, a land which we know not; therefore they
can keep us in ignorance, for we cannot witness with our own eyes that they are
true” (Helaman 16:18-20).
[5] I’ve
seen (and felt!) the results of gravitational force, however.
[6] “And
as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art
beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad” (Acts 26:24).
[7] “Now
this was the tradition of Lamoni, which he had received from his father, that
there was a Great Spirit.
Notwithstanding they believed in a Great Spirit they supposed that whatsoever
they did was right…” (Alma 18:5);
“And [Nehor] also testified unto the people that all
mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor
tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created
all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should have
eternal life” (Alma 1:4);
“Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great
pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and
lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when
there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not,
for the Lord will uphold such at the last day.
But wo unto such, for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds
of iniquity” (Mormon 8:31).
[8] The
Divine Gift of Repentance, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, October 2011
General Conference, accessed July 5, 2015.
[9] Authority
in the Book of Mosiah, Daniel C. Peterson, FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 159.
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