Korihor has been brought
before Alma and the chief judge.[1] He gave the same presentation he did in
Gideon.
He showed his great pride at
standing before Alma and the chief judge.[2] This would tend to reinforce the importance
of someone like Korihor. He has the
attention the two most important people in Nephite society, the chief judge and
high priest (who was the former chief judge).
An arrogant man like Korihor had to be reveling in all this attention.
He repeated many of his accusations. The two Mormon share with us are following
the foolish traditions of their fathers.
He also made a serious accusations.
He accused them of teaching these things so they could live of the
labors of their people, rather than providing for their own needs.[3]
“I have coveted no man's
silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye
yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to
them that were with me. I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye
ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he
said, It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:33-35). “For ye
remember, brethren, our labour and travail [GR toil]: for labouring night and
day, because we would not be chargeable [GR burdensome] unto any of you, we
preached unto you the gospel of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:9).
Why would we serve, Alma
asks, if we receive no money? Does he
believe this deception brings joy in the hearts of the people?[4]
He responded yes, this is
what I believe. Does he believe there is
a God? No, he does not. Alma asks if he will also deny Christ,
reminding him he knows there is a God and Christ will come. What is his evidence? Alma claims it is only his word and nothing
more. “THE fool hath said in his heart, There
is no God. They are corrupt, they
have done abominable works, there is none
that doeth good” (Psalms 14:1).[5]
Alma bears his testimony to
the truthfulness of the things he teaches.
Again, he confronts Korihor with the question, “will ye deny them?”
(Alma 30:41).
Nourishing
the word of God in our hearts, living the commandments, and hearkening to the
precepts revealed by the Holy Ghost provide us with that which is most precious
and sweet, the hope of everlasting life (Alma 30:41–42). We are thus drawn to a
realization of something higher than ourselves, a possibility of living that
cannot be understood within the distinction between the natural or
supernatural. The Book of Mormon continuously presents this contrast between
naturalism and the gospel in order to help us see what the fundamental choices
are—to choose to trust in our own wisdom or to rely on the word of God. There
is no question that its chapters are structured in order to impress upon us the
choice we must make in order to live.[6]
Alma called him a liar. Alma knew he believed but turned away from
the Spirit of God. He has turned his
soul over to the power of devil that he may use his talents and abilities to
destroy the children of God.[7]
Then, Korihor made his fatal
move. He asked for a sign.[8] If he saw a sign of the power of God, he
would accept Alma’s words. Frequently,
those who demand a sign and get one regret it.
They pay a price for their demand.
Korihor will be no different. The Savior also met the same demands. “[The crowd] said therefore unto him, What sign
shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work” (John 6:30).
After demanding a sign, Alma
told him he had received many signs. He
has all these testimonies of the prophets and his brethren. “For behold, did not Moses prophesy unto them
concerning the coming of the Messiah, and that God should redeem his
people? Yea, and even all the prophets
who have prophesied ever since the world began—have they not spoken more or
less concerning these things? Have they not said that God himself should come
down among the children of men, and take upon him the form of man, and go forth
in mighty power upon the face of the earth” (Mosiah 13:33-34).
“[A]ll things denote there is
a good; ye, even the earth and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, in
its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do
witness that there is a Supreme Creator” (Alma 30:44).
In the past, I have seen
critics of the Book of Mormon claim they wouldn’t understand the planets
move. This has never made any sense to
me.
First, just watching the
planets over time would show movement.
Simple observation would establish that.
In 1983, I had the
opportunity to hear Dr. Anthony Aveni speak at the local planetarium. Dr. Aveni is an expert in
archeoastronomy. I had read one of his
books dealing with Mesoamerican astronomy.
During the question and answer session, I asked him about the concept of
planets moving among the Aztecs. He
answered the Aztecs believed all things in the sky moved, including the
Earth. So, the critics have no leg to
stand on.
With all the witnesses give,
does he still deny there is a God?
Korihor responded he denies the truth of all those testimonies and would
continue to do so, unless he was shown a sign.
“The evil one has attempted
on many occasions in all dispensations to put out of existence, if you will,
many of God’s children. Sometimes he, himself, has assumed the deluder’s role.
Other times he has worked through those who have stepped to his side of the
line. For instance, in the Book of Mormon, we read of three anti-Christs. Each
was deceived, each preached against those who believed in Christ, and each
sought openly to destroy the church of God. Their patterns of deceit were
similar. They taught false doctrines, spread lies, referred to prophecies as
foolish traditions, accused Church leaders of perverting the right way of God,
and baited the people by referring to their faith as a foolish and vain hope.
(See Jacob 7; Alma 1; and Alma 30.)
“When we read about the
anti-Christs of former days, we marvel at how perverted their thinking became
and we marvel at how successful they were in deceiving men and women. We also
wonder why some of the people were so gullible—so easily misled. And with all
this marveling and wondering, we tend to niche the anti-Christs in some corner
of ancient history and go about our unguarded ways. This is dangerous. It could
result in loss of faith; and, in a spiritual sense, it could put us out of
existence.”[9]
[1] “Now this man's name was Nephihah, and he was appointed chief judge; and he sat
in the judgment–seat to judge and to govern the people” (Alma 4:17).
[2] “Ye
do not remember the Lord your God in the things with which he hath blessed you,
but ye do always remember your riches, not to thank the Lord your God for them;
yea, your hearts are not drawn out unto the Lord, but they do swell with great
pride, unto boasting, and unto great swelling, envyings, strifes, malice,
persecutions, and murders, and all manner of iniquities” (Helaman 13:22).
[3]
Alma would have found this particularly offensive. It would have reminded him of Noah’s wicked
priests. Remember, they lived off the
wealth of the people (see Mosiah 11:3-4).
[4] “Ye
shall know [recognize, detect] them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of
thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good [The Greek wording
carries the meaning of beautiful, precious fruit without blemish] fruit; but a corrupt
[GR decayed, rotten, stale] tree bringeth forth evil [GR bad, spoiled,
degenerate] fruit. A good tree cannot
bring forth evil fruit, neither can a
corrupt [GR decayed, rotten, stale] tree bring forth good fruit” (Matthew 7:16-18).
[5] “The
fool hath said in his heart, There is no man that hath seen God. Because
he showeth himself not unto us, therefore there is no God. Behold, they are corrupt; they have done
abominable works, and none of them doeth good” (Joseph Smith Translation, Psalms 14:1).
[7] “For
what if some did not believe? shall
their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid [GR May it not
be!]: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou
mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art
judged?” (Romans 3:3-4) & “But, O my people, beware lest there shall arise contentions
among you, and ye list to obey the evil spirit, which was spoken of by my
father Mosiah” (Mosiah 2:32).
[8] “And
it came to pass that [Sherem] said unto me: Show me a sign by this power of the
Holy Ghost, in the which ye know so much.
“And I said unto him: What am I that I should tempt God to show unto
thee a sign in the thing which thou knowest to be true? Yet thou wilt deny it, because thou art of
the devil. Nevertheless, not my will be
done; but if God shall smite thee, let that be a sign unto thee that he has
power, both in heaven and in earth; and also, that Christ shall come. And thy will, O Lord, be done, and not mine” (Jacob
7:13-14).
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