🙅♂️ Korihor¶
Estimated time to read: 36 minutes
Antichrist¶
To my modern English sensibilities, "anti" seems to mean "in opposition to." Folks who understand other languages better than I do have made a compelling argument that the ancient Greek root "Ἀντί" means not only anti in the sense of "against" and "opposite of", but also "in place of". I suppose a simpler compound word for that sentiment would be "false Christ." J-town himself warned specifically against this scenario in Matthew 24 and in Mark 13. In LDS scriptural canon, we've got a Bible Dictionary definition:
A word used by John to describe one who would assume the guise of Christ but in reality would be opposed to Christ. In a broader sense it is anyone or anything that counterfeits the true gospel or plan of salvation and that openly or secretly is set up in opposition to Christ. The great antichrist is Lucifer, but he has many assistants both as spirit beings and as mortals.
— Antichrist, Bible Dictionary; see also Guide to the Scriptures
In the early days of the internet, I recall seeing some arguments presented in the form of pentagrams drawn over the face of [current standing US president] as irrefutable proof of "the Antichrist" here to destroy America. I can't really explain it. To me, the term seems more of a stand-in for someone who holds a different ideology, thus invoking an emotional reaction. Depending on how you spin English grammar rules, this could either mean "one who works against the teachings of Christ," or simply anyone who is not Jesus.
In the Book of Mormon: Korihor¶
We find three accounts of individuals described as Antichrist in this book of scripture: Sherem, Nehor, and Korihor. I might spend time examining the first two out of three, but for now, I've got some thoughts to share on Korihor, who "ridiculed Christ, the Atonement, and the spirit of prophecy" by the account from the Guide to the Scriptures.
I'll present verses of Alma 30, along with some commentary.
The Buildup¶
6 But it came to pass in the latter end of the seventeenth year, there came a man into the land of Zarahemla, and he was Anti-Christ, for he began to preach unto the people against the prophecies which had been spoken by the prophets, concerning the coming of Christ.
What I see immediately, before we even get this guy's name, is poisoning the well. We're presenting bias to lead to a determined conclusion without enough information. This verse describes three things (again, before we even see a name):
- He came into Zerahemla
- He's bad and evil
- He preached against the prophecies about Christ
Remember that, now. I'll be returning to this point later on.
7 Now there was no law against a man’s belief; for it was strictly contrary to the commands of God that there should be a law which should bring men on to unequal grounds.
8 For thus saith the scripture: Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve.
You can believe whatever you like, as we've already separated church and state. No law saying you have to believe this thing or that... because of this Bible passage. This will also become relevant later.
Verse 9 describes belief in God as a privilege. I find that to be a curious choice of words, as a privilege suggests (to me) that it can be revoked. I wonder if other religious teachings are presented as being a privilege?
Verses 10 & 11 are a short tangent describing how laws exist, and breaking laws results in punishments in case that wasn't self-evident. Don't forget that this record is an abridgement etched by hand onto metal plates, and only the most critical factors have been distilled into this text we read today. It's vital that you understand that this civilization doesn't like murder or robbery. That's what really sets it apart from contemporary cultures.
12 And this Anti-Christ, whose name was Korihor, (and the law could have no hold upon him) began to preach unto the people that there should be no Christ. And after this manner did he preach, saying...
In case you forgot from the brief tangent explaining natural law, we'll now remind you for a second time that this man is Antichrist. After this second reminder, we finally get his name. Have we made it evident yet that he's bad and evil? Before sharing any direct quotes, topics, or summaries, you need to understand that he is bad.
We've also reminded you once again that the law has nothing against Korihor teaching his perspective. That must be an important detail.
13 O ye that are bound down under a foolish and a vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things? Why do ye look for a Christ? For no man can know of anything which is to come.
14 Behold, these things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers.
15 How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ.
Let's take a moment to zoom out— we're reading Alma chapter 30. Any Mormon who had been paying attention in Seminary could remind you that only two chapters later, Alma the Younger advises us that faith is not knowledge (1, 2, 3).
That said, what I understand Korihor to be saying here is "there isn't tangible evidence of Christ. You don't know He's coming. This is a tradition that you should give critical evaluation to."
Assuming that assessment is correct, tell me what Korihor is saying wrong? Is he lying? Is he misleading people? It sure sounds to me like he's challenging claims of knowledge, as these people in Zerahemla seem to have conflated belief with knowledge. He's saying "you don't know this." Two chapters later, Alma agrees by very clearly differentiating faith from knowledge, and Korihor's audience has faith in Christ.
17 And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime.
Examining one's worldview from an outside perspective is a good way to evaluate them— at minimum, it can help you practice how to articulate or defend your beliefs. Ideally, it would grant you some empathy for an outsider and their confusion over your dogma.
Think of this theology from the perspective of an outsider like Korihor. "You believe that sins a) exist, b) will cause you to suffer for all eternity after you die, unless c) must be atoned for by someone who isn't born yet. Not one of these things can be demonstrably proven. You don't know any of this to be true, it sure sounds like a foolish tradition passed down by your ancestors."
Faring by consequence of self-management & prospering according to ones genius seems reasonable. Those things are more tangible. Life isn't always so simple, but we could forgive an entry-level philosophy student for landing on that conclusion.
"Whatsoever a man did was no crime" at face value sounds like it's in opposition to the earlier verses outlining laws and punishments. Looking a bit deeper might mean that on a grander scale, actions that we mortals take in our day-to-day lives will have no impact on the world, galaxy, universe, not tomorrow nor a thousand years from now. It sounds like nihilistic fatalism.
18 And thus he did preach unto them, leading away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness, yea, leading away many women, and also men, to commit whoredoms—telling them that when a man was dead, that was the end thereof.
Oh, no, not whoredoms!
So... We've pretty well established that there is no law against having a belief outside of the culturally prevalent church, but dammit if we're not going to call anything in opposition "wickedness."
The Inciting Incident¶
I'll share links to the pertinent verses, along with a short paraphrasing; not so many quotes for this segment. The chapter I'm reading from is 60 verses long, you can read the original text if you choose to.
19-20: Korihor goes to Jershon, the home of former Lamanites who made a pact of pacifism. Korihor's preaching is met by tying him up, and taking him to the high priest named Ammon. These people "were more wise than many of the Nephites."
"See, the smart people tied up Korihor and took him to the high priest. That was the wise thing to do about a guy who isn't breaking any laws concerning beliefs. They're smarter than the Nephites in Zerahemla."
right okay
21: Jershon's residents send Korihor away, so he tries again in a place called Gideon. Korihor is met with the same treatment— rejection, and being arrested and taken to the high priest.
Remember when we established that "the law could have no hold on him?" Or that there was "no law against a man’s belief"? I honestly don't know how to settle that idea with the fact that the chief judge can banish someone from the land after people tied up Korihor to force him to face judgment. I really don't. Judgment for what? It must not have been for preaching a different belief, we've established twice that this wasn't against any laws!
22-23: The high priest Giddonah begins examining Korihor. Korihor's explanation for his arrest is "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."
Korihor continues in the next few verses, quoted here:
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[.]
Text doesn't communicate tone very well. You could read this as a sniveling, sneering villain, accusing God's infallible ideology of being nonsensical, or you could read this as an explanation. Imagine Giddonah asking "Why are you here? What did you do to upset people?" "I'm here because I don't believe the things you do, and I think your following is conflating belief with knowledge."
Korihor is not even rejecting or denying the existing cultural teachings. Re-read verse 24— he isn't saying "your prophecies are false," he's saying "you do not know that they are true."
When Korihor makes his case, count how many times "because" appears in his explanation— for it is exactly that, an explanation. Korihor's words are inflammatory, yes, but I should hope that the chief judge and high priest Giddonah could see it objectively and not take personal offense. "Your people tied me up and brought me to you for judgment when I've not broken any laws. Here's what I told them." He's probably a bit grumpy about it. I would be.
Let's not stray too far from verse 25 before emphasizing the central point inside. Korihor is saying that people shouldn't be punished for their parents' transgressions. Where have I heard that idea before? That's one of the articles of faith, written by our founding prophet Joseph Smith. Is Korihor wrong to point out accountability as taught by God's true church?
28: Korihor observes that Nephites could "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." I suppose this is the moment where Korihor is getting too fired up about being tied down and brought to a chief judge over a law he didn't break, explaining to a high priest his beliefs counter to the common religion.
29 Now when the high priest and the chief judge saw the hardness of his heart, yea, when they saw that he would revile even against God, they would not make any reply to his words; but they caused that he should be bound; and they delivered him up into the hands of the officers, and sent him to the land of Zarahemla, that he might be brought before Alma, and the chief judge who was governor over all the land.
Well what the fuck.
Silent treatment, getting bound up again and escalated to the governor over all the land. By the way, there is no law against a man's belief.
30 And it came to pass that when he was brought before Alma and the chief judge, he did go on in the same manner as he did in the land of Gideon; yea, he went on to blaspheme.
31 And he did rise up in great swelling words before Alma, and did revile against the priests and teachers, accusing them of leading away the people after the silly traditions of their fathers, for the sake of glutting on the labors of the people.
Yeah I bet Korihor is getting quite impatient. He's observing that this group of people has conflated belief with knowledge, and has been met with getting arrested and forcibly brought before law enforcement for the third time now.
Quick side note: Verse 30 says Korihor is blaspheming.
[Blasphemy] generally denotes contemptuous speech concerning God or concerning something that stands in a sacred relation toward God, such as His temple, His law, or His prophet.
...
The punishment for willful and intentional blasphemy was death by stoning. Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which is willfully denying Christ after having received a perfect knowledge of Him from the Holy Ghost, is the unforgivable sin.
— Blasphemy, Bible Dictionary; see also Guide to the Scriptures
Boy, good thing these Nephites in the 🦅 land of the free 🎆 and 🍔 home of the brave 🇺🇸 don't have these kinds of laws, or Korihor's tale would have ended by now. Instead, he's just saying something contemptuous (disrespectful) about a state religion.
"You've said something disrespectful of an intangible being whom we have no laws concerning, and who cannot be demonstrably proven to exist? HOW DARE YOU we're taking you to the judges for not breaking the law we have in place to protect you from this exact scenario"
Verses 32 - 34 contain Alma's rebuttal, defending himself that Alma doesn't get paid for this clerical work. Note that in 31, Korihor spoke before Alma, "[reviling] against the priests and teachers," and Alma takes it personally. It doesn't sound to me like it was directed at Alma specifically, but okay. Korihor has said that priests broadly are "glutting on the labors of the people." I might take that to mean that the church demands a lot of unpaid volunteer labor of the people? Good thing there aren't any parallels between that accusation and the modern LDS church.
The Debate¶
Acknowledging again that this book is an abridgment, I'm going to paraphrase the next several verses (35 - 50). I've put in a link to the verses I'm summarizing, aggregated by speaker if you'd like to compare to the original text and read along.
Alma: I'm not getting paid! I mean, I'm wealthy not because I'm the high priest, it's because I'm in the position of most power in a theocratic government— that's totally different. Why are you accusing me of getting paid and also of lying? Do you think we're deceiving people into being joyous and happy?
Korihor: Yes. Misrepresenting truth doesn't always result in people being sad and miserable, you can lie to keep someone complacent.
A: Do you believe God exists?
K: No. I believe in no God. There is no law against a man’s belief, but here I am getting tied up and brought to the chief judges.
A: You're denying God exists? I know God exists, and that Christ will come. What evidence do you have that there is no God? You've got nothing but your words! I, on the other hand, have everything as a testimony that God exists, and I think you do believe, but you're just lying about it. You can't prove there is no God. Checkmate, nerd!
K: That's my point— you don't know, you believe it. You just told me that I believe, in contrast to your knowing. Tell you what— you show me a sign, some demonstration of God's power, and then I'll believe your words.
A: How about this: You have the words of your peers, and also words of prophets in a religion you aren't part of. They've even written things down in scripture. And get this— ✨𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓮𝓽𝓼✨. Just look around you at things generally, you know, it all clearly shows God is real. Yet here you are, saying that isn't solid proof?
K: ... Yes. That's a stupid argument. You're right that all I have are words, and your refutation is that you also have words from prophets— with the observation that we're on a planet. What the fuck are you saying? Do you hear yourself? Yes, I'm sticking with my belief, and I'm denying those "signs" because they don't prove anything. I do not bear the burden of proof, here. I want you to back up your claims.
A: YOU'RE MAKING ME SAD WHY ARE YOU BEING SO UNREASONABLE. How about this for an ultimatum: I, being the high priest of a church you aren't a part of, and chief judge in a theocratic government, will invoke the power of my church's God to strike you mute, so you can't lead people away from my beliefs anymore. How about that? 😤
K: Look, take a deep breath and think for a moment. I'm not telling you that your God does not exist, I'm saying that I do not believe that there is a God. Don't take this so personally. I'm asking if you can demonstrate that your God exists, since all we have up to this point are words of people who I don't know or trust. If I have something more compelling than someone else's verbal testimony, and the recognition that we're on a planet, then I could evaluate that proof and change my beliefs accordingly.
A: SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU CAN'T TALK ANYMORE
(Brief reminder: there is no law against a man’s belief)
The Aftermath¶
51 And now when the chief judge saw this, he put forth his hand and wrote unto Korihor, saying: Art thou convinced of the power of God? In whom did ye desire that Alma should show forth his sign? Would ye that he should afflict others, to show unto thee a sign? Behold, he has showed unto you a sign; and now will ye dispute more?
Now wait just a goddamned minute, Korihor can still hear can't he? Korihor is mute, he should be the one using a sign to silently reply to the verbal prompts, right?
"You got anything smart to say now? Huh? I'll do it again, you want me to do it again? I'll curse your whole family next, and that guy over there, too, and it'll all be your fault! You like your sign, you bitch? You want more? Still think god isn't real? Do you?"
alma relax, you're sounding like a junior high bully
52 And Korihor put forth his hand and wrote, saying: I know that I am dumb, for I cannot speak; and I know that nothing save it were the power of God could bring this upon me; yea, and I always knew that there was a God.
"Right, okay. What you've done, Alma, is beyond my ability to explain or rationalize, so I guess I'll take this as a sign that God is real and has power."
Though his next idea seems strange to me; having always known (after Korihor's central point was delineating belief vs knowledge) could be a duress response, being scared into compliance by force? Either that, or maybe the whole time he was just joshin' around lmao
53 But behold, the devil hath deceived me; for he appeared unto me in the form of an angel, and said unto me: Go and reclaim this people, for they have all gone astray after an unknown God. And he said unto me: There is no God; yea, and he taught me that which I should say. And I have taught his words; and I taught them because they were pleasing unto the carnal mind; and I taught them, even until I had much success, insomuch that I verily believed that they were true; and for this cause I withstood the truth, even until I have brought this great curse upon me.
I don't know how to interpret an angel of God denying God, unless there's some other subtext here. Is the perception that this otherworldly messenger telling Korihor to leave a false God, and return to a true God? That would make more sense. Korihor's perspective would then be "I have seen (what I believe to be) an angel of God, who has charged me to preach in your land. I opted to do this by observing that you Nephites have conflated belief and knowledge, thereby I intend to inspire critical thinking to change your misplaced beliefs."
Irrespective of my extrapolated assumption, an angel appearing is a very compelling defense. An angel appeared to Alma several chapters back, and Alma took that angel's words at face value. Korihor did the same thing, and gets shit on for believing an angel! Who are the good guys in this story?
In today's LDS church, we have modern revelation about "the devil [appearing] as an angel of light." If I am to believe that the modern LDS church is a restoration of God's one true church, and that this is the same church that Korihor is criticizing and that Alma is defending, I should expect that same doctrine of an unchanging, eternal God would be present in Alma's time. Alma advises Korihor about the words of prophets written on scriptural records. I should hope that they have the awareness of the same doctrines that Joseph Smith had when D&C 129 was recorded. The section heading doesn't state that this is revelation from the Lord, but it is in a book of scripture nonetheless.
4 When a messenger comes saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand and request him to shake hands with you.
5 If he be an angel he will do so, and you will feel his hand.
6 If he be the spirit of a just man made perfect he will come in his glory; for that is the only way he can appear—
7 Ask him to shake hands with you, but he will not move, because it is contrary to the order of heaven for a just man to deceive; but he will still deliver his message.
8 If it be the devil as an angel of light, when you ask him to shake hands he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything; you may therefore detect him.
But for whatever reason, Korihor did not extend his hand to the angel. Because he's not part of the church? Though he did recognize the angel for being a representative of a divine ruler. When Alma presented scriptures as a convincing testimony of God to Korihor, was this the first Korihor had encountered scriptures? If so, Korihor was completely blindsided by this angel, not being aware of God, nor that an angel could be a disguised devil, making Korihor all the more deserving of forgiveness. Could Korihor's experience be compared, even tangentially, to Joseph's First Vision? He had heavenly messengers appear. That doesn't happen to anyone, and would explain his conviction.
He must have been aware of scriptures. If Korihor saw an angel purporting to represent God, that wouldn't mean much if Korihor wasn't aware of God— not to mention Korihor later stating that "I always knew."
54 Now when he had said this, he besought that Alma should pray unto God, that the curse might be taken from him.
55 But Alma said unto him: If this curse should be taken from thee thou wouldst again lead away the hearts of this people; therefore, it shall be unto thee even as the Lord will.
K, in writing: Straight up, I cannot verbally pray. You seem pretty qualified to do that. Will you pray to God to lift this curse? If it means anything to you, I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't think it would work. I'm feeling pretty confident that this is something that only God could do.
A: lol. lmao. You want forgiveness? That's not how we do things in the theology centered around Jesus Christ's return to atone for sins and grant forgiveness. If I forgave you, you'd just go back to being a lying little shit-ass. I do not believe that you, Korihor, have the capacity to learn from mistakes and grow as a person. Also, don't ask anyone about my conversion story, how I was forgiven for doing exactly what you are doing right now. Get out of my office.
56 And it came to pass that the curse was not taken off of Korihor; but he was cast out, and went about from house to house begging for his food.
so... what the fuck.
This is Alma the Younger. You know, the one who had a notorious conversion story, going from actively seeking to destroy the church of God to having an angel deliver a verbal smackdown and straighten him out? The same Alma who was struck dumb by the power of God for stealing away the hearts of the people, causing much dissention? That guy?
Of any person for Korihor to interact with, I would hope that Alma, of all people, would be empathetic and compassionate, seeing how Korihor is doing the exact same fucking thing that Alma did, continuing up until divine intervention shook him into sobriety. What am I supposed to learn from this story?
Shifting our focus away from Alma being a real bitch-and-a-half about all of this, Korihor is now destitute, starving and begging for food. Presumably homeless, seeing how he entered Zerahemla from somewhere outside of its borders. Jesus Christ had some select words for those who refused to help the impoverished, the hungry, the destitute. That was kind of His whole deal in the New Testament. Jesus had gained quite a reputation for caring about poor people (1, 2, 3). This is a golden opportunity for the followers of Jesus Christ's teachings to take in Korihor and show him charity and compassion. Do any of Christ's followers do that here?
57 Now the knowledge of what had happened unto Korihor was immediately published throughout all the land; yea, the proclamation was sent forth by the chief judge to all the people in the land, declaring unto those who had believed in the words of Korihor that they must speedily repent, lest the same judgments would come unto them.
Alma: YEAH I'LL DO IT TO YOU ALL TOO UNLESS YOU GET IN LINE. by the way there is no law against a man’s belief 😇
58 And it came to pass that they were all convinced of the wickedness of Korihor; therefore they were all converted again unto the Lord; and this put an end to the iniquity after the manner of Korihor. And Korihor did go about from house to house, begging food for his support.
Everyone else who Korihor talked to gets forgiven for believing Korihor's words. Korihor, on the other hand, believed an angel, gets fucked over sideways, and is not forgiven even after committing to change? Very cool, very Christlike. 👍
59 And it came to pass that as he went forth among the people, yea, among a people who had separated themselves from the Nephites and called themselves Zoramites, being led by a man whose name was Zoram—and as he went forth amongst them, behold, he was run upon and trodden down, even until he was dead.
What the fuck
The Moral of the Story¶
60 And thus we see the end of him who perverteth the ways of the Lord; and thus we see that the devil will not support his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to hell.
The... The devil?? Bitch, how many prophets has God let die? Which party in this dualistic universe refused to save Abinadi from being burned alive? Which side was unwilling to give Korihor shelter and sustenance? The group of unembodied evil spirits, or those with physical forms who could provide food but were told not to because Alma got his feelings hurt? This verse does not describe the Lord God I had been taught about in my time as a practicing Mormon!
Alma and Amulek were forced to witness the converts from their missionary efforts get burned alive right before their eyes back in chapter 14. Were they perverting the ways of the Lord? Doesn't seem like God protected them! Later on in 3 Nephi we've got "many" unnamed martyrs, killed for testifying of Christ. Don't "thus we see" me about the devil not protecting denizens, God isn't doing a very good job at this either!
There exist other cases of martyrdom in contrast to this "thus we see" lesson to be learned from believing an angel when it appears to you. Rather than copy a list here, I'll point you to the LDS scriptural topical guide entry, outlining martyrdom in the Book of Mormon, the index of the triple combination on martyrdom, and the guide to the scriptures references. The translator of this record, Joseph Smith himself, gets martyred, and... well, whether Joseph was perverting the ways of the Lord is an issue too big to tackle here. Thus we see that Korihor is the exception here. The moral of this story is that you're going to get screwed over by a divine power, irrespective of which one you follow. Thus we see Alma being a dickwad and refusing to forgive someone who did exactly what he did years prior. Thus we see the prophet denying someone salvation because his feelings got hurt, because he was accused of getting rich, and because Korihor delineated faith vs knowledge.
Thus we see that you don't dare question authority.
Tie up loose ends¶
If you'd read this entire page of notes, you might recall way at the beginning of Korihor's introduction the example of poisoning the well, where before we even know who he is, we're told he's an antichrist, and is not to be trusted. We're told that not once, but twice, verses 6 and 12.
Since the brief tangent describing laws and respective punishments include "wicked" things like adultery or murder, and Korihor wasn't arrested for breaking laws, is it safe to assume he wasn't doing anything wicked? Was he wicked? We can demonstrate that Alma was wicked at one point.
Stay with me, now— I've got a challenge for you to try on your own time.
Re-read this chapter, but skip verses 6, 12, and 60. Doing that will remove the passages calling Korihor an Antichrist, and doesn't wrap it all up with the moral lesson at the end. Because without those verses, this is a story of a missionary who is teaching in earnest, in response to what he perceives as a divine calling. He gets rejected, persecuted for his beliefs, bound and brought before law enforcement, eventually cursed by the god of these people, and he gets trampled to death for it all. If we don't frame it in the context of "this guy is a Snidely Whiplash-style cartoonish villain," this is a tragic story of someone who is just trying their best to follow their religious convictions. Korihor is met with heavy resistance, and Alma the Younger, who I will iterate again is the very antithesis of Christlike compassion, even with empathy for Korihor's experience, curses him and leaves him to die alone and hungry.
Who is the antichrist here? Is it Korihor who is just trying his best with limited information, or is it Alma who threw out everything Christ taught in order to make a point? Straight up, I'm siding with Korihor here. If I was part of a church professing of Christ, and saw the leadership do what Alma does in this chapter, I'd be out. I would leave.
In General Conference¶
As we diligently focus on the Savior and then follow His pattern of focusing on joy, we need to avoid those things that can interrupt our joy. Remember Korihor, the anti-Christ? Spewing falsehoods about the Savior, Korihor went from place to place until he was brought before a high priest...
Anything that opposes Christ or His doctrine will interrupt our joy. That includes the philosophies of men, so abundant online and in the blogosphere, which do exactly what Korihor did.
— Joy and Spiritual Survival, President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, General Conference October 2016
Therefore, let us beware of false prophets and false teachers, both men and women, who are self-appointed declarers of the doctrines of the Church and who seek to spread their false gospel and attract followers by sponsoring symposia, books, and journals whose contents challenge fundamental doctrines of the Church. Beware of those who speak and publish in opposition to God’s true prophets and who actively proselyte others with reckless disregard for the eternal well-being of those whom they seduce. Like Nehor and Korihor in the Book of Mormon, they rely on sophistry to deceive and entice others to their views. They “set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion” (2 Ne. 26:29).
— Beware of False Prophets and False Teachers, Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, General Conference October 1999
Don't worry about folks misrepresenting God, or Christ's teachings— here we're specifically warned against books that "challenge fundamental doctrines of the Church." Anything in opposition to "God's true prophets." 🤔
I guess that's what Korihor did? Challenged the status quo, as it was manifest in an earthly organization? Fortunately for all of us, acknowledging that leaders aren't perfect is a counter-argument against any of those accusations.
In real repentance, there is the actual forsaking of sinning. “Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.” (Ezek. 18:30.) A suffering Korihor confessed, “I always knew that there was a God,” but his turning was still incomplete (Alma 30:52); hence, “Alma said unto him: If this curse should be taken from thee thou wouldst again lead away the hearts of this people.” (Alma 30:55.)
— Repentance, Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, General Conference October 1991
That is a bold claim, that Korihor was unrepentant and wouldn't have changed his ways. I guess we can't question Alma's authoritative assessment, though.
An excerpt from Finding Safety in Counsel, Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, General Conference April 1997 is too lengthy for me to comfortably place here; across three paragraphs, Eyring demonstrates that a high word count can spin Korihor's demise as faith-promoting. I'd summarize the thesis of this excerpt as "Prophetic counsel makes sense if you have faith. Does it not make sense to you? You don't have enough faith. That's your fault, not a fault of prophets."
Next set of quotes are from Robert D Hales; I'll have the citation at the end of this segment.
If we do not yield to the gentle influence of the Holy Ghost, we stand in jeopardy of becoming like Korihor, an anti-Christ in the Book of Mormon. Not only did Korihor disbelieve in God, but he also ridiculed the Savior, the Atonement, and the spirit of prophecy, falsely teaching that there is no God and no Christ.
Yes, he taught that under the pretense of a lack of evidence. There is no tangible foundation for those beliefs, by Korihor's perspective. Flip the script; knowing what you know now, if you happened upon a culture or religion that insisted a divinely appointed savior would be born in 75 years? To put that in perspective, that is basing a religion on something that would happen by year 2100. Hasn't happened yet, but generations of tradition insists that it's coming some time in the non-specific future. From Korihor's perspective, that sounds preposterous, and he points out the lack of basis for those beliefs, which are not knowledge. I guess that makes him an Antichrist.
Korihor was not content merely to reject God and quietly go his own way. He mocked the believers and demanded that the prophet Alma convince him with a sign of God’s existence and power. Alma’s response is as meaningful today as it was then: “Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.”
🧐 Meaningful now as it was then? The same argument could be made for some other deific manifestation to happen in year 2100, citing existing records and culture that it's totally going to happen. Did we mention ✨𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓮𝓽𝓼✨ as proof that something will happen in 75 years? What does any of that prove?
Eventually Korihor was given a sign. He was struck dumb. “And Korihor put forth his hand and wrote, saying: … I know that nothing save it were the power of God could bring this upon me; yea, and I always knew that there was a God.”
— Seeking to Know God, Our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, General Conference October 2009
How would you respond to getting tied up and taken before high priests of another religion for speaking out, and ultimately cursed to be unable to communicate? Did you expect him to be grateful and happy about it?