Alma 30

Peace in the Land

After the people of Ammon moved into the land of Jershon, the Lamanites were driven out of the land. The people buried the dead from the battle. There were too many dead to count on both sides. After they buried their dead, they had days of fasting, sadness, and prayer. This was in the 16th year the judges ruled over the Nephites. Then peace came to all the land. The people obeyed the Lord’s commands. They carefully followed God’s laws and the law of Moses. They were taught to keep the law of Moses until it would be finished. So the people had no trouble during the whole 16th year the judges ruled over the Nephites. In the 17th year the judges ruled, there was continued peace.

Korihor the Anti-Christ

But near the end of the 17th year, a man came into the land of Zarahemla. He was anti-Christ. He started teaching the people against what the prophets had said about Christ coming.

Religious Freedom

There was no law against what a person believed. It was against God’s commands to have a law that treated people differently. The scriptures say: Choose today who you will serve. If someone wanted to serve God, that was their right. If they believed in God, they could serve him. But if they didn’t believe in him, there was no law to punish them. But if someone murdered, they were punished with death. If they robbed, they were punished. If they stole, they were punished. If they did wrong sexual things, they were punished. For all these bad things, they were punished. There was a law that people should be judged for their crimes. But there was no law against what a person believed. So people were only punished for crimes they did. Everyone was treated the same.

Korihor’s False Teachings

This anti-Christ’s name was Korihor. The law couldn’t stop him. He started teaching people that there would be no Christ. This is how he taught, saying: You are trapped by a foolish hope. Why do you hold on to such foolish things? Why do you look for a Christ? No one can know what will happen in the future. These things you call prophecies that you say were handed down by holy prophets are just foolish traditions from your fathers. How do you know they’re true? You can’t know about things you can’t see. So you can’t know there will be a Christ. You say you see your sins being forgiven. But that’s the result of a crazy mind. Your confused minds come from your fathers’ traditions. These traditions lead you to believe in things that aren’t real. He said many more things like this. He told them there could be no payment for people’s sins. He said everyone’s life in this world depended on how they handled things. Every person did well based on their smarts. Every person won based on their strength. Whatever a person did was not a crime. This is what he taught them. He led many people’s hearts away. He made them feel proud of their bad behavior. He led many women and men to do wrong sexual things. He told them that when a person died, that was the end.

Korihor Is Sent Away

This man also went to the land of Jershon. He taught these things to the people of Ammon, who used to be Lamanites. But they were wiser than many of the Nephites. They grabbed him and tied him up. They brought him to Ammon, who was a high priest over those people. Ammon made them carry him out of the land. Then Korihor came to the land of Gideon. He started teaching there too. But he didn’t have much success. He was grabbed and tied up. They brought him to the high priest and the chief judge over the land.

Korihor Speaks to Giddonah

The high priest said to him: Why do you go around twisting the Lord’s ways? Why do you teach these people there will be no Christ and stop their happiness? Why do you speak against all the prophecies of the holy prophets?

The high priest’s name was Giddonah. Korihor said to him: Because I don’t teach the foolish traditions of your fathers. I don’t teach these people to follow foolish laws and practices that ancient priests made up to take power over them. Those priests want to keep them ignorant and keep them down, just like you do with your words. You say these people are free. I say they are trapped. You say those ancient prophecies are true. I say you don’t know if they’re true. You say these people are guilty and fallen because of what a parent did. I say a child is not guilty because of their parents. You also say Christ will come. But I say you don’t know there will be a Christ. You also say he will be killed for the sins of the world. You lead these people away following the foolish traditions of your fathers and your own wants. You keep them down, like they’re trapped. You take the work of their hands for yourself. They don’t dare to look up with confidence. They don’t dare to enjoy their rights and freedoms. They don’t dare use what is theirs. They’re afraid to upset their priests, who control them however they want. You’ve made them believe through your traditions, dreams, strange ideas, visions, and made-up mysteries. You tell them if they don’t do what you say, they’ll upset some unknown being you call God. A being that has never been seen or known. A being that never was and never will be.

Korihor Faces Alma

When the high priest and chief judge saw how hard his heart was, they saw he would even say bad things about God. They didn’t answer his words. They had him tied up. They handed him over to officers and sent him to the land of Zarahemla. He would be brought before Alma and the chief judge, who was governor over all the land. When he was brought before Alma and the chief judge, he acted the same way he did in the land of Gideon. He kept saying bad things about God. He stood up with proud words before Alma. He said bad things about the priests and teachers. He blamed them for leading the people away after the silly traditions of their fathers so they could take what the people worked for.

Alma said to him: You know we don’t take what the people work for. I have worked with my own hands to support myself from the time the judges started ruling until now. This is true even though I’ve traveled around the land a lot to teach God’s word to my people. Even with all the work I’ve done in the church, I have never gotten even one senine for my work. Neither have any of my brothers, except when working as judges. Then we only got paid according to the law for our time. If we don’t get anything for our work in the church, what good is it to work in the church? The only reason is to teach the truth so we can share in our brothers’ happiness. Why do you say we teach these people to get money when you yourself know we don’t get any money? Do you believe we trick these people, which brings such happiness to their hearts?

Korihor answered him: Yes.

Questions About God

Then Alma said to him: Do you believe there is a God? He answered: No.

Alma said to him: If you say again there is no God and no Christ, remember this: I know there is a God and that Christ will come. What proof do you have that there is no God or that Christ won’t come? I say you have no proof except your words. But I have everything as proof that these things are true. You also have everything as proof that they are true. Will you deny them? Do you believe these things are true? I know you believe, but a lying spirit controls you. You have pushed away God’s Spirit so it can’t be in you. But the Devil has power over you. He carries you around, making plans to destroy God’s children.

Korihor Asks for a Sign

Korihor said to Alma: If you will show me a sign so I can be convinced there is a God, show me he has power. Then I will be convinced your words are true.

But Alma said to him: You’ve had enough signs. Will you test your God? Will you say show me a sign when you have the testimony of all these brothers and all the holy prophets? The scriptures are in front of you. Everything shows there is a God. The earth and everything on it. The way it moves. All the planets that move in their regular paths show there is a Supreme Creator. Yet you go around leading these people’s hearts away. You tell them there is no God. Will you deny all these witnesses? He said: Yes, I will deny unless you show me a sign.

Alma said to him: I am sad because your heart is so hard. You still fight against the Spirit of truth so your soul will be destroyed. But it’s better that you lose your soul than cause many other souls to be destroyed by your lies and smooth words. If you deny again, God will strike you. You will become unable to speak. You will never open your mouth again. You won’t trick these people anymore.

Korihor said to him: I do not deny God exists, but I do not believe there is a God. I say you don’t know there is a God. Unless you show me a sign, I won’t believe.

Alma said to him: This is the sign I will give you. You will be struck unable to speak, just like I said. I say in God’s name that you will be struck unable to speak. You will not be able to talk anymore.

The Sign Is Given

When Alma said these words, Korihor was struck unable to speak. He could not talk, just like Alma said.

When the chief judge saw this, he wrote to Korihor: Are you now convinced of God’s power? Who did you want Alma to show his sign to? Did you want him to hurt others to show you a sign? He has shown you a sign. Will you argue more?

Korihor wrote back: I know I am unable to speak because I can’t talk. I know only God’s power could do this to me. I also knew there was a God.

Korihor’s Confession

But the Devil tricked me. He appeared to me looking like an angel. He said to me: Go and bring these people back, because they have all gone after an unknown God. He told me: There is no God. He taught me what to say. I taught his words. I taught them because they made sense to the sinful mind. I taught them until I had a lot of success. I believed they were true. Because of this, I fought against the truth until I brought this great curse on myself.

After he said this, he begged Alma to pray to God to take away the curse.

But Alma said to him: If this curse was taken from you, you would lead these people’s hearts away again. So it will be just like the Lord wants.

Korihor’s End

The curse was not taken from Korihor. He was kicked out. He went from house to house begging for food. The news about what happened to Korihor was quickly told throughout all the land. The chief judge sent out a message to all the people in the land. He told those who had believed Korihor’s words that they must quickly repent or the same judgment would come to them. They all became convinced of Korihor’s evil. So they all turned back to the Lord. This ended the evil that was like Korihor’s. Korihor went from house to house begging for food.

As he went around among the people of a group that had separated from the Nephites and called themselves Zoramites (led by a man named Zoram), he was run over and stepped on until he died. This shows what happens to someone who twists the Lord’s ways. This shows the Devil won’t support his children at the end. Instead, he quickly drags them down to hell.