Alma 30:19-28

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.

Alma 30:19-21 (Emphasis mine)

After his success among the Nephites, he went to preach to the Ammonites.  They saw through him and his teachings and took him before Ammon, the high priest.  He decided to kick him out of the land of Jershon.

Having failed among the Ammonites, he went to the land of Gideon.  This where Alma(2) had successfully established a church there about ten years earlier.  They were still faithful and committed to the gospel taught them by Alma(2).  They rejected Korihor and took him before the high priest and the chief judge.

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.

28  Yea, they durst not make use of that which is their own lest they should offend their priests, who do yoke them according to their desires, and have brought them to believe, by their traditions and their dreams and their whims and their visions and their pretended mysteries, that they should, if they did not do according to their words, offend some unknown being, who they say is God—a being who never has been seen or known, who never was nor ever will be.

Alma 30:22-28 (Emphasis mine)

The high priest challenges Korihor.  Why are your perverting the ways of the Lord?   Why do you teach there is no Christ?  Why do you speak against the prophets and their prophecies?

Korihor comes up with a laundry list of complaints.

The problem is I don’t teach the foolish traditions of your fathers.

I don’t teach the people to bind themselves under foolish ordinances.

The people are in bondage.

You don’t know the prophecies are true.

You don’t know that there shall be a Christ.

You keep the people down to glut yourselves with their labor.

The people are afraid of offending the priests.

This is quite a list.  And it would mean something if it were true.

Richard Rust puts Korihor’s efforts in proper perspective.

“With ‘great swelling words’ (Alma 30:31), Korihor depends on the power of rhetoric and word choice (diction) to cow the church leaders and win over the people. When Giddonah, the high priest of Gideon, asks him why he speaks ‘against all the prophecies of the holy prophets(Alma 30:22), Korihor says first it is because of what he does not do: ‘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’ (Alma 30:23).

“Then he sets up the argument that it is the priest's word against his word. Sarcastically, he uses loaded language that puts down the position of the priests and makes them seem to be the oppressors of the people.” [1] (Emphasis mine)

Hugh Nibley adds:

“Korihor was out to free the human mind from ‘foolish traditions of your fathers’ and from the ‘foolish ordinances and performances which are laid down by ancient priests, to usurp power and authority over them, to keep them in ignorance’ (Alma 30:23). His method was to subject all the claims of prophetic religion to a rigorous examination based on his own experience of things: ‘I say that ye do not know that there shall be a Christ’ (Alma 30:26). The motive for this rule of ignorance, he says, is to keep people down, so that their leaders ‘may glut yourselves with the labors of [the people's] hands . . . and that they durst not enjoy their rights and privileges. Yea, they durst not make use of that which is their own,’ being kept in line by the priests with ‘their traditions and their dreams and their whims and their visions and their pretended mysteries, that they should, if they did not do according to their words, offend some unknown being . . . a being who never has been seen or known, who never was nor ever will be" (Alma 30:27—28).’ [2] (Emphasis mine)

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[1] "To Show unto the Remnant of the House of Israel" - Narrators and Narratives, Richard Dilworth Rust, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed November 16, 2011.

[2] The Way of the "Intellectuals", Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed November 16, 2011.

Alma 8:11-17

11  Nevertheless, they hardened their hearts, saying unto him: Behold, we know that thou art Alma; and we know that thou art high priest over the church which thou hast established in many parts of the land, according to your tradition; and we are not of thy church, and we do not believe in such foolish traditions.

12  And now we know that because we are not of thy church we know that thou hast no power over us; and thou hast delivered up the judgment–seat unto Nephihah; therefore thou art not the chief judge over us.

13  Now when the people had said this, and withstood all his words, and reviled him, and spit upon him, and caused that he should be cast out of their city, he departed thence and took his journey towards the city which was called Aaron.

Alma 8:11-13 (Emphasis mine)

As Alma(2) preached to them, he got quite a response from the people.  We know you, Alma(2).  We don’t believe in your “foolish traditions.”  Not only that, you’re not the chief judge anymore.  You have no power over us.  We can do whatever we please, within the law.

So, they abused him (both verbally and physically), spit on him, and ran him out of town.  And that was the end of Alma(2)’s work there, or so they thought.

Thomas Valletta describes the people of Ammonihah.

“They were a hard-hearted people who were familiar with Alma and yet rejected his authority as the high priest, believing that he had no power over them (see Alma 8:11–12). Their disagreement with Alma was vehement to the point of bigoted derision and physical abuse (see Alma 8:13).” [1] (Emphasis mine)

Hugh Nibley also discussed the people of Ammonihah.

“No thank you. They were very frank about it—very rude, as a matter of fact. [There is a saying that] nothing is worse than a great man who has lost his clout, and here he had. ‘Thou hast no power over us.’ They leaned over backwards to insult him because they knew he had no power, by the constitution he himself agreed on. He could not use any religious compulsion on anyone. ‘And thou hast delivered up the judgment seat unto Nephihah [and you're not chief of the army anymore]; therefore thou art not the chief judge over us.’ He had lost his clout, and what did they do? They reviled him. They spat on him ‘and caused that he should be cast out of their city.’ They threw him out.” [2]     (Emphasis mine)

12  And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

13  Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

1 Corinthians 4:12-13 (Emphasis mine)

14  And it came to pass that while he was journeying thither, being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul, because of the wickedness of the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to pass while Alma was thus weighed down with sorrow, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying:

15  Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him.  Behold, I am he that delivered it unto you.

16  And behold, I am sent to command thee that thou return to the city of Ammonihah, and preach again unto the people of the city; yea, preach unto them.  Yea, say unto them, except they repent the Lord God will destroy them.

17  For behold, they do study at this time that they may destroy the liberty of thy people, (for thus saith the Lord) which is contrary to the statutes, and judgments, and commandments which he has given unto his people.

Alma 8:14-17 (Emphasis mine)

Alma(2) is really down in the dumps.  Discouragement is a great tool the devil uses to keep us from doing what’s right.  Then, he saw an old friend.

The same angel who had first visited him appeared to him again.  He had cause to rejoice since he had been so faithful.  (This was a much different message then he lasted delivered to Alma(2).) 

Then, he was commanded to return to the city to call them to repentance and warn them that they would be destroyed if they failed to repent.  Why would the Lord destroy them?  How wicked were they?  Verse 17 tells us that “they do study at this time that they may destroy the liberty of thy people.”  The liberties of the people were threatened by those in Ammonihah.

Ryan Davis writes:

“The Book of Mormon is replete with leaders who incite conflicts in which their constituents are made to suffer for their leaders' gain. A mere mention of the names Laman, Amalickiah, Ammoron, Gadianton, Zerahemnah (and, less conspicuously, Giddianhi, Tubaloth, and Amlici) is probably sufficient. Typically leaders have a profound and possibly deterministic effect on society's direction. The judges and lawyers of Ammonihah conspired to roll back the state's democratic institutions and were willing to resort to violence to achieve their goals (see Alma 8:17; 10:27).” [3] (Emphasis mine)

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[1] Conflicting Orders: Alma and Amulek in Ammonihah, Thomas R. Valletta, Maxwell Institute, accessed October 9, 2011.

[2] Lecture 47: Alma 5-10, Hugh W. Nibley, Maxwell Institute, accessed October 9, 2011.

[3] For the Peace of the People: War and Democracy in the Book of Mormon, Ryan W. Davis, Maxwell Institute, accessed October 9, 2011.