In the first year the judges ruled over the Nephites, King Mosiah died. He had fought well for God and lived the right way. He left no one to be king after him. But he made laws that the people agreed to follow. So they had to obey the laws he made.
Nehor Teaches False Ideas
In the first year Alma was the chief judge, a man was brought to him. This man was big and very strong. He had gone around teaching people what he called God’s word. But he spoke against the church. He told people that all priests and teachers should be popular. He said they should not work with their hands. Instead, the people should pay them. He also told people that everyone would be saved in the end. He said they did not need to be scared or worried. Instead, they could be happy. He said the Lord made everyone and saved everyone. In the end, everyone would live forever. He taught these things so much that many people believed him. Many people gave him money. He became proud. He wore fancy clothes. He even started his own church based on what he taught.
Nehor Kills Gideon
One day he was going to teach his followers. He met a man from God’s church. This man was one of their teachers. He argued hard with this man. He wanted to take people away from the church. But the man stood up to him with God’s words. The man’s name was Gideon. God had used him to save the people of Limhi from slavery. Because Gideon stood up to him with God’s words, he got angry. He pulled out his sword and started hitting him. Gideon was very old. He could not block the hits. So he was killed with the sword. The people from the church caught the man who killed him. They brought him to Alma to be judged for what he did.
Nehor Is Judged
He stood before Alma and spoke boldly for himself. But Alma said to him: This is the first time priestcraft has come among our people. You are guilty of priestcraft. You also tried to force it on others with a sword. If priestcraft is forced on our people, it would destroy them completely. You killed a good man who did many good things for our people. If we let you live, his blood would cry out for revenge against us. So you must die. This is the law that Mosiah, our last king, gave us. The people agreed to this law. So we must follow it. They took him away. His name was Nehor. They took him to the top of the hill Manti. There he admitted that what he taught was against God’s word. There he died a shameful death.
Priestcraft Spreads
But this did not stop priestcraft from spreading. Many people loved the things of the world. They went around teaching false things. They did this to get rich and famous. But they did not lie openly because they were afraid of the law. Liars were punished. So they pretended to teach what they believed. The law could not punish people for what they believed. They did not steal because they were afraid of the law. People who stole were punished. They did not rob or murder either. Anyone who murdered was killed.
The Church Is Treated Badly
But people who did not belong to God’s church started to treat badly those who did belong to God’s church and had taken Christ’s name. They treated them badly and said mean things to them. This was because church members were humble. They were not proud. They shared God’s word with each other without asking for money.
The church had a strict rule. No church member could treat badly those who were not in the church. And church members should not treat each other badly. But many church members became proud. They argued angrily with their enemies. They even got into fistfights. This happened in the second year Alma was chief judge. It caused big problems for the church. Many people’s hearts became hard. Their names were erased. They were no longer remembered among God’s people. Many also left the church. This was a hard test for those who stayed strong in their faith. But they kept obeying God’s commandments. They were patient when people treated them badly.
The Church Does Well
When the priests stopped working to teach God’s word, the people also stopped working to listen. After the priest taught them, everyone went back to work. The priest did not think he was better than the people. The preacher was not better than the one who listened. The teacher was not better than the one who learned. So they were all equal. Everyone worked as hard as they could. They shared what they had with the poor, the needy, the sick, and those having hard times. Everyone gave what they could. They did not wear fancy clothes. But they were clean and looked nice. This is how they ran the church. They began to have peace again, even though people still treated them badly.
Because the church stayed strong, they became rich. They had everything they needed. They had many animals of all kinds. They had lots of grain, gold, silver, and valuable things. They had lots of silk, fine cloth, and good homemade cloth. Even though they did well, they did not turn away anyone who had no clothes or was hungry or thirsty or sick or needed food. They did not care about riches. They were kind to everyone. It did not matter if they were old or young, slave or free, male or female, in the church or out of the church. They helped anyone who needed it. So they did well and became much richer than people outside their church. People outside their church did many wrong things. They did witchcraft and worshiped idols. They were lazy. They gossiped. They were jealous and fought with others. They wore fancy clothes. They were proud. They lied, stole, robbed, had sex outside marriage, and murdered. They did all kinds of bad things. But the law punished everyone who broke it when it was possible. Because they used the law this way and everyone was punished for what they did, people became quieter. They did not dare do bad things if someone might find out. So there was much peace among the Nephites until the fifth year the judges ruled.