Peace in the Land
After the people of Ammon settled safely in the land of Jershon, and after the Lamanites had been driven out, the people of the land buried their dead. There were too many bodies to count—both Lamanite and Nephite. After they had buried their dead and observed days of fasting, mourning, and prayer—this was in the sixteenth year of the judges’ reign—a lasting peace settled over the land. The people carefully kept the Lord’s commandments. They strictly observed God’s ordinances according to the law of Moses, because they had been taught to follow that law until it was fulfilled. So there was no trouble anywhere in the land during the entire sixteenth year of the judges’ reign. In the seventeenth year, the peace continued.
Korihor the Anti-Christ
But toward the end of that seventeenth year, a man came into Zarahemla. He was an anti-Christ—he began preaching against the prophecies about Christ’s coming.
Now there was no law against what a person believed. It went against God’s commands to create laws that put people on unequal footing. The scriptures say: “Choose this day whom you will serve.” If someone wanted to serve God, that was their choice. If they believed in God, they had the privilege to serve him. But if they didn’t believe, there was no law to punish them. But if someone murdered, they were punished with death. If they robbed or stole or committed adultery, they were punished for all these evils. There were laws to judge people according to their crimes. But there was no law against what someone believed. So people were punished only for the crimes they committed. Everyone stood on equal ground.
Korihor’s Preaching
This anti-Christ’s name was Korihor, and the law couldn’t touch him. He started preaching to the people that there would be no Christ. This is how he preached:
“You’re trapped by a foolish, empty hope. Why would you chain yourselves to such nonsense? Why are you waiting for a Christ? No one can know what’s coming. These things you call prophecies—these stories you say were handed down by holy prophets—they’re just foolish traditions from your ancestors. How do you know they’re true? You can’t know things you haven’t seen. So you can’t know there will be a Christ. You look ahead and claim you see forgiveness for your sins. But that’s just the effect of a frenzied mind. This confusion comes from your ancestors’ traditions, which lead you to believe in things that aren’t real.” He told them many more things like this—that there could be no atonement for sin, that everyone’s fate in life depended on their own management. People prospered according to their intelligence, conquered according to their strength. Whatever anyone did wasn’t a crime. This is how he preached, leading many people astray, making them proud in their wickedness. He led many women and men into sexual sin, telling them that when you die, it’s all over.
Rejected by the Wise
This man also went to Jershon to preach these things among the people of Ammon, who had once been Lamanites. But they were wiser than many Nephites. They grabbed him, tied him up, and brought him before Ammon, the high priest over that people. Ammon had him thrown out of the land. Korihor then crossed into the land of Gideon and started preaching there. But he didn’t have much success—they arrested him and brought him before the high priest and chief judge.
Confronted in Gideon
The high priest said to him, “Why are you going around twisting the Lord’s ways? Why do you teach people there will be no Christ, disrupting their joy? Why do you speak against the prophecies of the holy prophets?”
The high priest’s name was Giddonah. Korihor answered him, “Because I don’t teach the foolish traditions of your ancestors. I don’t teach people to bind themselves down under foolish ordinances and rituals that ancient priests created to grab power and authority—to keep people ignorant and beaten down by your words. You say these people are free. I say they’re in bondage. You say those ancient prophecies are true. I say you don’t know that. You say people are guilty and fallen because of what their ancestor did. I say a child isn’t guilty for what their parents did. You also say Christ will come. But I say you don’t know that. And you say he’ll be killed for the sins of the world. That’s how you lead people astray—following the foolish traditions of your ancestors and your own desires. You keep them down in bondage so you can get rich off their hard work. They don’t dare look up with confidence or enjoy their rights and freedoms. They don’t even dare use what belongs to them, afraid they’ll offend their priests. You’ve yoked them according to your desires, made them believe through your traditions, dreams, whims, visions, and phony mysteries that if they don’t do what you say, they’ll offend some unknown being you call God—a being no one has ever seen or known, who never existed and never will.”
When the high priest and chief judge saw how hard his heart was—when they saw he would mock even God—they didn’t bother responding to his words. They had him tied up, handed over to officers, and sent to Zarahemla to be brought before Alma and the chief judge who governed the whole land.
Before Alma
When he was brought before Alma and the chief judge, he went on just like he had in Gideon—mocking and insulting. He stood up with grand, arrogant words before Alma and attacked the priests and teachers, accusing them of leading people astray with their ancestors’ silly traditions just to get rich off the people’s labor.
Alma said to him, “You know we don’t get rich off these people’s labor. I’ve worked with my own hands for my living from the beginning of the judges’ reign until now, despite my many travels across the land declaring God’s word to my people. Despite all my work in the church, I’ve never received even a single coin for it. Neither have any of my brothers, except when serving as judges—and then we only received what the law allowed for our time. If we don’t receive anything for our work in the church, what’s the point of doing it except to declare the truth, so we can share in the joy of our brothers and sisters? So why do you say we preach to get rich when you know we receive nothing? Do you think we’re deceiving these people and causing false joy in their hearts?”
Korihor answered, “Yes.”
The Question of Belief
Then Alma said to him, “Do you believe there is a God?” He answered, “No.” Alma said, “Will you deny again that there is a God, and also deny Christ? Because I tell you—I know there is a God, and I know Christ will come. What evidence do you have that there is no God or that Christ won’t come? You have nothing but your own word. But I have everything as proof that these things are true. And you also have everything as proof. Will you deny it? Do you believe these things are true? I know you believe, but you’re possessed by a lying spirit. You’ve pushed away God’s Spirit so it has no place in you. The devil has power over you and carries you around, using you to destroy God’s children.”
Demanding a Sign
Korihor said to Alma, “If you show me a sign, I’ll be convinced there’s a God. Show me he has power, and then I’ll believe your words.” But Alma said, “You’ve had enough signs. Will you test your God? Will you demand a sign when you have the testimony of all your brothers and all the holy prophets? The scriptures are right in front of you. Everything points to God—the earth and everything on it, its motion, and all the planets moving in their regular patterns. They all witness that there is a Supreme Creator. Yet you go around leading people’s hearts astray, telling them there’s no God. Will you deny all these witnesses?” He said, “Yes, I’ll deny it unless you show me a sign.”
Alma said, “I’m grieved by how hard your heart is—that you still resist the Spirit of truth, heading toward your own destruction. But it’s better for you to be lost than to drag many souls down to destruction with your lies and flattering words. So if you deny again, God will strike you. You’ll become unable to speak, never opening your mouth again to deceive these people.” Korihor said, “I don’t deny God exists, but I don’t believe in God. And I say you don’t know there’s a God either. Unless you show me a sign, I won’t believe.” Alma said, “I’ll give you this sign: you’ll be struck unable to speak, just as I’ve said. In God’s name, you will lose your ability to speak.”
Struck Silent
When Alma said this, Korihor was struck unable to speak, exactly as Alma had said.
When the chief judge saw this, he reached out and wrote to Korihor: “Are you convinced of God’s power now? Who did you want Alma to show a sign to? Did you want him to hurt others to prove it to you? Look—he’s shown you a sign. Will you still argue?”
Korihor reached out and wrote: “I know I can’t speak. I know that nothing but God’s power could have done this to me. And I also knew there was a God.”
Korihor’s Confession
“But the devil deceived me. He appeared to me as an angel and told me: ‘Go and win back these people—they’ve all gone astray after an unknown God.’ He told me there is no God and taught me what to say. I taught his words because they appealed to people’s natural desires. I taught them so successfully that I started believing they were true myself. That’s why I fought against the truth, until I brought this terrible curse on myself.”
After saying this, he begged Alma to pray to God to remove the curse. But Alma said, “If this curse were removed, you’d just lead people’s hearts astray again. So it will be with you as the Lord decides.”
A Tragic End
The curse wasn’t removed. Korihor was thrown out and went from house to house begging for food. News of what happened to Korihor spread quickly across the land. The chief judge sent out a proclamation to everyone, warning those who had believed Korihor’s words to repent quickly, or the same judgment would come to them. Everyone became convinced of Korihor’s wickedness. They all turned back to the Lord. This ended the wickedness Korihor had started. And Korihor continued going from house to house, begging for food.
As he wandered among the people—a group that had separated from the Nephites and called themselves Zoramites, led by a man named Zoram—he was run over and trampled to death. So we see what happens to those who twist the Lord’s ways. We see that the devil won’t support his followers in the end, but quickly drags them down to hell.