Only two chapters this week!
For those of us who sometimes struggle to keep up with the reading and supplementary studying for Come, Follow Me each week, it’s a bit of a relief to see that there are only two chapters for this week’s reading. They are important chapters to be sure, but only two of them is a little more manageable. And there isn’t much history to be covered. It could easily be summarized in a paragraph or two.
Never-the-less, these two chapters are important, not for history, but for doctrine. However, they teach doctrine in a different way. Instead of directly declaring true doctrine like King Benjamin’s sermon or Alma and Amulek teaching the people of Ammonihah, they teach true doctrine by giving two powerful examples of false doctrine – the beliefs and teachings of Korihor, an anti-Christ, and the beliefs and manner of worship of the proud and wicked people of Antionum, the Zoramites. Both are “good” bad examples to teach the truth by demonstrating the opposite.
This principle is demonstrated by Tyler Griffin in his YouTube lesson and podcast with Taylor Halverson this week with his “this is zot; this is not zot” example. He was just making marks on a white board, but it was virtually impossible to understand what “zot” is (marks that don’t touch the margin of the board) until he demonstrated what “zot” is not (marks that do touch the margin of the board.) The point is that the negative can often help us better understand the positive. Without Laman and Lemuel for contrast, we don’t full appreciate the obedience and goodness of Nephi and Sam. Without king Noah, we don’t fully appreciate king Benjamin or king Mosiah. You get the idea. Joseph Smith taught, by proving contraries, truth is made manifest. (HC 6:248) These two chapters give excellent, though unfortunate, examples of “contraries.”
Tyler and Taylor
The Griffin and Halverson YouTube/podcast, “Come Follow Me Insights”, is especially good this week. As much as I enjoy Tyler and appreciate his humble, straight-forward, clear manner of teaching, I’m always hungry for more of Taylor and his insights and knowledge. They start this week with Taylor giving some interesting insights into the derivation of the words exalt and exaltation. I was delighted to learn that one of my favorite places on earth, Alta, is named after a word that means “high” or “tall” and, according to Taylor, is related to the word “exaltation” or “out of this world.” I always knew that Alta was celestial! (For those of you who aren’t familiar with the mountains of Utah, Alta is a world-class ski resort about a 30-minute drive from our home in Holladay which gives to Utah the reputation for the “Greatest Snow on Earth.”[1]) I learned to ski at Alta over 60 years ago when the Collins lift was a single chair and day passes were $2.50! I’ve been skiing there ever since. My goal is to keep skiing there until I’m 80 years old when a season pass at that age will be free (except for a small Forest Service fee.) If President Nelson could ski into his 90s (and he did!), I can ski into my 80s – I hope!
Each week when I listen Tyler and Taylor, I ask myself, “Why do I think I have anything to add to what they are teaching?” They are a great find in my Book of Mormon study this year. I hope you feel the same. If you are ever faced with the dilemma because of being short on time between reading what I write and listening to them, choose to listen to them! Here is the YouTube link for this week: https://youtu.be/njRlNnt1LkU. You can also find their podcasts, if you prefer to listen on a device, by searching for “Come Follow Me Insights.”
Alma chapter 30
Peace among the Nephites
As I’ve mentioned before, Mormon seems to feel it is important for him to dutifully account for virtually every year in Nephite history from the beginning of the reign of the judges, (91 BC) until the coming of the Messiah. You will see this pattern all through the books of Alma and Helaman. His “time stamps” are sort of like a count down clock to the central events in the Book of Mormon (and of all history) - the birth, life, atoning sacrifice, resurrection and post-resurrection ministry of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Don’t you wish we had that kind of a “time stamp” now? What if we knew that this year, 2020 AD, was actually 2, 20 or 200 BSC (Before Second Coming)? Would we be living our lives any differently if we knew when He will come? I hope not. But it is an interesting question for us to ponder!
Anyhow, the 16th year of the reign of the judges was peaceful.[2] The people of Ammon were established in the land of Jershon … and the Lamanites were driven out of the land. It was a season of fasting, and mourning, and prayer. The people were also obedient. Instead of rejecting the Lord in their grief, they turned to Him and were humble and obedient, an appropriate response to sorrow and loss. The peace lasted into the first part of the 17th year.
Alma chapter 30 is in the middle of the Book of Alma and of the Book of Mormon. This brief season of peace, like the eye of a hurricane, comes after a season of wars and before a long season of wars. Mormon seems to feel that we will learn more in our day from the seasons of conflict than from the seasons of peace and joy, so he spends a lot more time writing about wars, contentions, dissensions, etc. than peace, harmony and joy. For example, the first half of the book of 4th Nephi is only 20 verses long but covers about 160 years of post-Christ Nephite history, a mini-Millennium, without contention or conflict. It’s a little like riding a bike in the canyons and the mountains – it’s the long, grinding way to the top of the hill that builds muscle and endurance and a brief but exhilarating ride back to the bottom. We get stronger from the times of opposition but need a season of peace and joy now and then to renew our spirits and give us hope for the future.
In his Notes for this week’s chapters, John Welch asks the question if this was a Jubilee year.
There appears to have been a special recognition of a great season of peace at this time among the Nephites. Before King Mosiah died, he had reigned for thirty-three years after the time of King Benjamin’s speech. Now in Alma 30, it was the sixteenth and then seventeenth years of the reign of the judges, totaling forty-nine and fifty years since King Benjamin’s speech. Dates are often given to us in the Book of Mormon for some kind of meaning, and thus it is possible that this moment may have been recognized as a type of jubilee season, although we cannot be sure what that observance or celebration in Zarahemla might have looked like.
Remember that in ancient Israel, the 50th year was a “Jubilee Year” (7x7+1=50), a year for celebration, renewal, repentance, forgiveness of debts and grievances, etc. A similar spirit prevails at the dedication of a temple. (I just finished reading (actually listening to) Saints: No Unhallowed Hand, Volume 2 in the new four-volume history of the Church. It is really good! I enjoyed it and learned a lot. I recommend it to all of you.) I learned that members of the Church were asked to forgive debts and differences, give up bad habits, repent, mend relationships and otherwise prepare themselves for the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple in 1893. Many of them asked to be rebaptized as a witness of their desire to start over and be better. This led to a marvelous outpouring of the Spirit at the time of the temple dedication. Perhaps that is the spirit of the people in the land of Zarahemla at this time of peace and joy.
Enter Korihor
Unfortunately, the season of peace wasn’t to last. In the latter end of the seventeenth year, there came a man into the land of Zarahemla, and he was Anti-Christ. … And this Anti-Christ, whose name was Korihor, … began to preach unto the people that there should be no Christ.
Before I say more about Korihor, I need to share with you something pretty unique and special. A faithful brother in our stake, James M. (Mel) Hardman, with a great reading and acting voice and a love for the Book of Mormon approached me a few years ago for advice about a project he wanted to undertake – to provide a narration of the Book of Mormon for his family. Without going into all the details, I’m happy to say that Mel completed the project. Like this blog, it turned out to be a considerably bigger project than he expected (such things usually are!), but he recorded the entire Book of Mormon in his deep, rich voice for his posterity. Well, Deseret Book somehow found out about it and has now made it available on DVD and USB for the small price of $4.99 or to subscribers of the Deseret Bookshelf Library to download for free. Mel also created a 30-minute illustrated introduction to the Book of Mormon and how it came into being which is also very good. You won’t get that in just the audio file, but the price of the DVD/USB set is worth it if only for the “Overview and Narrator’s Comments.”
The reason I’m telling you all this is because Mel has shared with me a YouTube link of his reading of Alma chapter 30 and said I could share it with you. You can listen to him as he uses his voice-acting skills in dramatizing the confrontation between Korihor and Alma. It’s worth listening to! The chapter is introduced by another good friend, Karen Coulam. Here is the YouTube link: https://youtu.be/a7dtvqfARQc
Where did Korihor come from? We don’t know. All we know is that “a man came into the land of Zarahemla.” Was he a Nephite? Lamanite? Zoramite? Or from an entirely other group of people? We don’t know. What we learn about him later is that 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.
I tell you that about Korihor now (not that you didn’t know it before) so, as you read the words of Korihor, you will realize that you are reading the words of Satan, the father of all lies. (2 Nephi 2:18) The Lord said in D&C 1:38, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same. If that’s true for the Lord and His servants, and it is, then the same can be said of Satan and his servants, whether by his voice or by his servants (Korihor, Nehor, Sherem, etc.), it is the same. Anti-Christs are in the Book of Mormon not only as contrasts to Christlike figures like Nephi, Jacob, Benjamin and Alma, but to expose Satan and his lies.[3]
In his book A Witness and a Warning, President Benson wrote,
The Book of Mormon brings men to Christ through two basic means. First, it tells in a plain manner of Christ and His gospel. It testifies of His divinity and of the necessity for a Redeemer and the need of our putting trust in Him. It bears witness of the Fall and the Atonement and the first principles of the gospel, including our need of a broken heart and a contrite spirit and a spiritual rebirth. It proclaims we must endure to the end in righteousness and live the moral life of a Saint.
Second, the Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention. (See 2 Nephi 3:12.) It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon is similar to the type we have today. God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time.”
A Witness and a Warning, p. 3
Knowing that Satan appeared personally to Korihor[4] and taught him what to say, we are taught by Korihor a lot about Satan. Tyler Griffin says it’s like getting a look at Satan’s playbook. If we know his “plays”, i.e. his lies and deceptions, we are better prepared to detect and counter his diabolical antics.
Doctrines of Satan
Korihor was anti-Christ. As we will see, he not only didn’t believe in God, but he didn’t believe in Christ, atonement, hope, resurrection, forgiveness of sins, prophets, prophecy or morality.
There are three main anti-Christs in the Book of Mormon – Sherem (Jacob 7), Nehor (Alma 1) and Korihor (Alma 30). Did they all believe and teach the same things? Interestingly, no, they didn’t. You’d think, if they were all on the same team, the Satan squad, they would be teaching the same false doctrines. But that’s not how Satan works. There is only one true doctrine of Christ but there are innumerable doctrines of devils. Satan doesn’t care what we believe, as long as we don’t believe the doctrine of Christ. He and his servants will throw all kinds of mud at us and see if any of it “sticks” on us.
Sherem believed in God but taught that the Law of Moses was sufficient to save so there was no need for a Christ. Nehor never mentioned Christ but taught that all men are saved, so why would we need a Savior? Korihor is all over the map – no God, no Christ, no atonement, no resurrection, no sin, no crime, no morality, no hope. So even though these three, who are each anti-Christ, don’t agree with each other, that doesn’t matter to Satan. If he can get us to believe anything that any of them teaches and turn us from the one true doctrine of Christ, then he wins. You’ve heard the saying, “All roads lead to Rome.” Well, when it comes to the doctrines of devils, all roads, except the true doctrine of Christ, lead to Satan and hell.
Just to be clear, what is the doctrine of Christ? It is faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. (Preach My Gospel, pg. 1)
So what does Korihor teach, or better, what does Satan teach through his servant, Korihor? Let’s look at his “Korihorisms .”
The most important Korihorism, the biggest lie, the most damning doctrine he teaches is that there is and will be no Christ.
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.
Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ.
Many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men.
I like Tyler Griffin’s analogy this week to the game of dominos. Building faith is like carefully stacking dominos in a line. It takes time and careful effort to do so. But knocking them down, like destroying faith, is easy and can happen in one brief stroke – just knock down the first one in the line and others will fall in turn. And the first one in the line is the doctrine of Christ, that He is our Savior and the Atonement and Resurrection are real. Knock down that domino and a lot more fall with it.
Secular doctrines of Korihor
I’m no authority on philosophical ideas, but I find it fascinating that Korihor kind of “covers the waterfront” of secular doctrines about man, life, right and wrong, and other such philosophical issues. There is a comprehensive list of “Korihorisms” as taught in Alma chapter 30 in John Welch’s Notes for this week. Here is the list of modern philosophies and the “Korihorism” counterparts from Brother Welch. I share this with you so we’ll learn to watch for these “doctrines of devils” and recognize them in their modern form. (I hope the tabs will work out in the format you are viewing this blog post or email.)
Modern Korihorism Verse
Counterpart
Anti-Christian “there should be no Christ” 12
Negativism “bound down under a foolish and vain hope” 13
Agnosticism “no man can know of anything which is to come” 13
Empiricism “ye cannot know of things which ye do not see” 15
Psychological “it is the effect of a frenzied mind” 16
explanation
Positivism “a belief in things which are not so” 16
Sophism “every man fares in this life according to the 17
management of the creature”
Naturalism “every man prospers according to his genius” 17
Egoism “every man conquers according to his strength” 17
Relativism “whatsoever a man does is no crime” 17
Hedonism “lift up their heads in wickedness” 18
Nihilism “when a man dies, that is the end thereof” 18
Anti-religion “priests usurp power and authority over the people” 23
Skepticism “ye do not know that they are true” 24
Atheism “a being who never has been seen or known, 28
who never was nor ever will be.”
See Welch and Welch, Charting the Book of Mormon, chart no 78.
As Brother Welch puts it, His litany is essentially a standard road map to modern secularism.
Sliding toward a cliff I didn’t want to go over
The secular philosophies and lies of Korihor persist today. Many have fallen into Korihorism traps. There are many good members of our Church who have honest questions which can sometimes lead to doubts. The past ten years or so have been a difficult season for Latter-day Saints in the approximately 25 to 45-year age group (give or take ten years or so). There are many challenges to faith and belief for those in this age group which are due primarily to a flood of information and opinions on the Internet on such LDS issues as Church history, especially the practice of pleural marriage and the Priesthood/Temple ban on African Blacks; Church policy, especially regarding same-sex marriage and children being raised in those marriages; Church doctrine, especially regarding relative roles of men and women beginning with Adam and Eve, some of the teachings of Brigham Young, as well as priesthood practices and temple ordinances; and Church culture, especially the financial affairs of the Church, the leading roles of primarily older white American men in Church governance, the challenges of single members, residual vestiges of racism among some members, cultural male dominance in some areas, the ongoing challenge of spouse and child abuse among some member families and cases of abuse and other inappropriate behavior by priesthood leaders and others in positions of trust, some of which have not always been dealt with in the best way possible. Have I hit most of the hot buttons?
Obviously, it’s beyond the scope of this blog to address all of those issues, but they are all pertinent and each of them has the potential to be a “deal breaker” for some otherwise loyal young member trying to find her or his way through life and sort out their questions and their faith. Korihor, or those who have in modern days bought into any number of his lies, are alive and prevalent in our world, both outside and, even more destructively, within the boundaries of our faith. It is possible that someone reading this now or in the future, maybe even one of my posterity, will be experiencing a crisis in their faith. Some of you reading this now may have experienced a crisis of faith in the past decade due to one of these or some other difficult issue. Most, if not all, of the rest of you certainly know someone who has. For some of those we loveor even ourselves, such a crisis may be looming over the horizon.
We have eight adult children. Each is precious to us as parents. We love each one and their spouses. Each is an upstanding member of their community, both secular and church, and is currently (as well as we can tell as parents) walking the covenant path. We are so grateful they are! We hardly dare say or write it because there are so many good parents who have children who are struggling with their faith or have left, at least for a season, the covenant path as we would define it.
One of our daughters, Eliza, went through a period of trial of her faith a little more than five years ago, when she was in her young 30s. I was somewhat aware that she was asking some difficult questions and struggling with the answers, not surprisingly because she is an exceptionally bright young woman. But I was not aware of the degree to which she was struggling with her faith. We did some things as a family to try to create a safe environment in which to discuss difficult questions and air ideas, but I was busy at work and in Church service and was not as close to her situation as I wish I had been. Her bishop, gratefully, was aware of her struggles and how she had begun to resolve them, so he asked her to speak in sacrament meeting on the topic of “Why I Believe.” She invited her mother and me to come hear.
In that talk, Eliza described some of the challenges she was experiencing with some questions and challenges to her faith and said that she felt like she was sliding toward a cliff, a cliff I didn’t want to go over, and I couldn’t find a hand or foot-hold to stop my slide. It was as if the ground were sloughing off from below my feet. It was scary and disturbing. She went on to talk about how she found some footholds and how she resolved some issues. It came down to a decision to choose to believe. She explained,
I was thinking about faith wrong. It is not a matter of knowledge at all. There is evidence to persuade us to believe or not to believe. We must choose what we believe. This realization for me, that faith is a choice (not a conclusion) was liberating. Suddenly it was not a matter of gathering enough evidence, gaining enough knowledge, or garnering proof of my position … my testimony was simply a choice. No longer could someone say to me that, if I had read what they had read, experienced what they had experienced, or knew what they knew, then I would doubt the veracity of the church or prophet like they did. I have made my choice given my experiences in my life. This new paradigm of understanding of faith helped me answer many questions.
One of the things Eliza spoke about in her talk is especially pertinent to Korihor’s arguments, though she didn’t mention him. It is called “negativity bias.”
We as humans are usually more forcefully influenced by negative, critical or disturbing experiences and information than by positive or happy information. That’s why bad news sells newspapers. Along with that, humans generally interpret criticism to sound more intelligent than praise. Or those who take a critical approach, as opposed to agreeing with an argument, generally sound more intelligent. … Those that criticize tend to seem educated, well-read, and “free-thinking.” Those who defend the Church tend to sound less so.
Korihor played on a strong negativity bias in the things he taught to sound intelligent, free and wise. Many modern critics of the Church and the Gospel do the same.[5]
With her permission, I will attach a .pdf of the talk Eliza gave that Sunday in 2015 in sacrament meeting in her home ward to this post/email. I invite you to read the whole talk. If you are struggling with faith, I hope it will help you. If you know someone who is, feel free to share it with them. She has actually been quite helpful to many others who have struggled as she did.
Two other sources for those struggling with Korihorisms and other challenges to faith
Perhaps the most important contribution by John Welch this week in his Notes to my better understanding of the issues raised by Korihor (and those like him) actually comes from two references from the 1970s by two classic LDS gospel teachers which he provided.
C. Terry Warner is an accomplished LDS author, BYU professor of Philosophy and noted researcher in the field of human emotions, behaviors and self-deception. His landmark text Bonds that Make us Free: Healing our Relationships, Coming to Ourselves is a classic in the field of human behavior. (Lori and I read it together and highly recommend it.) He was central to the organization of the Arbinger Institute.
In 1971, the year Lori and I were married, Brother Warner wrote An Open Letter to Students: On Having Faith and Thinking for Yourself. It is a classic, an absolute treasure, especially for young people as they seek to reconcile secular learning with gospel understanding. It was published in The New Era and is still available in the Gospel Library app. Here is the reference: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/1971/11/an-open-letter-to-students-on-having-faith-and-thinking-for-yourself
It is so good that I’m going to attach a .pdf copy of his “letter” to this post/email so you’ll have it to refer to. He writes about the Alma-Korihor exchange in this letter. It is very good!
Six years later, the Ensign published “Korihor: The Arguments of Apostasy” by Chauncey C. Riddle. Brother Riddle was also a professor at BYU. In fact, he was on the faculty for 40 years and was considered “one of the three greatest teachers to grace the halls of BYU in his generation.” His article on the apostasy represented by the teachings of Korihor is also a classic. He addresses naturalistic empiricism, humanism and relativism. His comments on the latter (relativism) are especially timely for today. If nothing else, at least read that section of his article. Here is the reference: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1977/09/korihor-the-arguments-of-apostasy
As with Warner’s letter, I will attach a .pdf copy of Riddle’s article to this post/email.
If you or someone you love is struggling with faith, please take time to read these three attachments, even if you read no further in this blog post. What our daughter Eliza, Terry Warner and Chauncey Riddle have written far eclipses anything else I will say in this blog post!
Korihor vs Alma
Let’s get back to Korihor. After peddling his lies in Zarahemla, he tried preaching to the people of Ammon in Jershon and got nowhere. They were more wise than many of the Nephites. That’s how we need to be when confronted with the Korihors of the world and their lies. So he went to the land of Gideon, but made no progress there either. After a confrontation with the high priest, 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.
There is another theme being played out here. I’m not going to spend much time with it, but you can get a lot more from John Welch’s Notes for this week. When Korihor is initially introduced it is with the caveat that there was no law against a man’s belief. So why is Korihor being “bound” and delivered both to the high priest and to the chief judge? He didn’t kill anyone, like Nehor did. What has he done wrong? He is accused of blasphemy and reviling against the priests and teachers. Brother Welch gives a lot of good information about this arrest and how this was a legal trial.
Korihor, like his predecessor Sherem coming before “Brother Jacob”, has met his match! His great swelling words won’t get him anywhere with Alma. There is a really interesting dialogue between Alma and Korihor. Alma goes on the offensive and puts the burden of proof on Korihor, which is where it must be with agnostics and atheists. Alma gives his personal witness that I know there is a God, and also that Christ shall come. He goes on further, what evidence have ye that there is no God, or that Christ cometh not? I say unto you that ye have none, save it be your word only. But, behold, I have all things as a testimony that these things are true; and ye also have all things as a testimony unto you that they are true.
Korihor can’t argue with Alma’s personal witness, so he takes a different tact. He asks for a sign. Korihor doesn’t want a sign. That’s the last thing he wants. He’s banking on the fact that Alma won’t be able to produce a sign and that will be vindication that he, Korihor, is right. Not smart, Korihor! You know what happened to Sherem when he asked for a sign.
Alma responds again with conviction and testimony. Thou hast had signs enough! … 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. (By the way, Alma’s response reflects a remarkably accurate understanding of the solar system, something that the “modern world” didn’t discover until Galileo.) So Alma tells him that, if he denies once more, he will get his sign. Thou shalt become dumb, that thou shalt never open thy mouth any more, that thou shalt not deceive this people any more.
Watch Korihor’s pivot at this point. He goes immediately from atheist, speaking of God as a being who never has been seen or known, who never was nor ever will be to essentially saying, “Well, actually, I didn’t really mean there is no God. I just meant that” I do not deny the existence of a God. But his pride gets the best of him and he continues with, but I do not believe that there is a God; and I say also, that ye do not know that there is a God; and except ye show me a sign, I will not believe.
Those were the last words to ever come out of his mouth. He was struck dumb and, appears, like Zacharias at the temple, was also struck deaf, because they both communicated in writing after becoming deaf and dumb. Brother Welch makes a good point that Korihor’s punishment was appropriate. In an “eye for an eye” Law of Moses world, his punishment was to his offending part, his tongue. He could never use it again to blaspheme and preach his Satanic doctrines.
Korihor confesses that 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.
Immediately he wants Alma to reverse the sign, but Alma knows better. Just as sign seekers are like adulterers (and often actually are), they want what they want now and without commitment or sacrifice, Korihor wanted to have his curse removed now without remorse, repentance or faith, but it wasn’t to be. The last we hear of Korihor is that he met his death among the Zoramites in Antionum. Mormon concludes the Korihor saga with two sobering “thus we see” statements:
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.[6]
Alma Chapter 31
The manner of worship of the Zoramites
The last few verses of chapter 30 introduce us to the Zoramites, a people who had separated themselves from the Nephites and called themselves Zoramites, being led by a man whose name was Zoram. As we begin chapter 31, Alma learns that the Zoramites were perverting the ways of the Lord, and that Zoram, who was their leader, was leading the hearts of the people to bow down to dumb idols. Alma’s heart is sick because of the iniquity of the people. Knowing that preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.[7]
Alma gathers what Tyler Griffin calls “the Dream Team” to go with him to preach to the Zoramites. He takes three of the sons of Mosiah, two of his own sons as well as Amulek and Zeezrom (good for Zeezrom!). What they find when they get to Antionum is sickening to them all. The Zoramites had fallen into great errors and … did pervert the ways of the Lord in very many instances.
There is a Book of Mormon video for Alma 31-34. It’s worth watching at least the first few minutes this week to see what Zoramite worship was like. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2020-03-0710-alma-and-his-brethren-preach-the-word-of-god-among-the-zoramites-alma-31-32?lang=eng
You know the drill – go to the synagogue once a week, take your turn on the top of the Rameumptom, the holy stand, recite a heartless apostate prayer to a non-existent God witnessing that there will be no Christ and that no one else will be saved. Then go home and never speak or think of God again until the next week. In the video, some big dude (Zoram himself?), obviously a bully, butts in line ahead of those who have been waiting, goes up on the Rameumptom and does his weekly prayer. He seems neither worshipful, humble, penitent nor Christian. What a great religion!
Our personal Rameumptom
But before we get too critical of the Zoramites, maybe we ought to ask ourselves, “Do I ever get on my own personal Rameumptom, climbing up, as it were, so I can look down on others and think that I am better than they are?” Maybe you don’t, but I know I do. The modern-day equivalent in our Church of the Rameumptom is pride among the members, myself included. Pres. Benson recognized the pernicious sin of pride and gave a landmark address to the Saints in 1989 warning us about pride. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1986/05/cleansing-the-inner-vessel Pride is the gateway sin to all of the other sins of our generation. We are often judgmental and critical of others, not knowing the context of their journey or the depth of their personal challenges. Maybe we shouldn’t be so critical of the Zoramites before we take a good look at ourselves and ask if we aren’t more like they are than we recognize and care to admit to ourselves. I know I spend too much time on my personal Rameumptom judging others. I personally need to come down and quit judging others, fall meekly and humbly at the feet of the Savior, confessing my sins and pleading for His atoning blood in my behalf.
Alma’s response to the Zoramites
When Alma saw this his heart was grieved. He lifts up his voice to heaven and cries, O, how long, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that thy servants shall dwell here below in the flesh, to behold such gross wickedness among the children of men?
In a heartfelt but majestic prayer characterized by ten parallel pleas to God - Behold, O my God … he concludes with a missionary’s greatest desire,
O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ. Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee.
His heart and his prayer are much like the heart and prayer of Ammon as he and his brethren departed from each other to preach to the Lamanites over 17 years earlier. (See Alma 17). As their priesthood leader, Alma clapped his hands upon all them who were with him. And … they were filled with the Holy Spirit. After doing so, they separated in different directions and the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith.
Conclusion
What a great example Alma is to each of us! Stopped in his tracks by an angel as a wicked young man and called to repentance, his life is changed and remarkable from then on. The parallels of the life of Alma the Younger with that of Saul of Tarsus and his transformation to Paul the apostle are too obvious to miss. Alma is the Paul of the Book of Mormon.
Mormon has told us the stories of two examples of apostasy and wickedness – Korihor and the Zoramites. He will now contrast those examples with the sublime teachings of Alma and Amulek to the outcast poor of the Zoramites in Alma chapters 32-34. These are some of the best teachings on faith, atonement and prayer in the Book of Mormon, in fact, in all of scripture. I look forward to exploring them with you next week.
The Book of Mormon is so true and so relevant for our times![8] I’m grateful for this marvelous book of scripture prepared under the guidance of the Lord for our day by Mormon and translated from the ancient record by Joseph Smith. I am so grateful to both these great prophets for their contributions to the scriptural canon of this dispensation. Praise to the man, both of them!
Thanks for reading!
Richard
Attachments (3)
(Note: for those who access this post on the Blogger website, the documents are found on the Boyer Family Book of Mormon Study Class FaceBook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/722078864986795/files
For those who read the post by email, the three documents will be attached to the email.)
Endnotes
For those of you in England or Wales who were aware when we arrived there over two years ago in the Chester Ward and Chester Stake that we were two months later than planned because Sister Boyer had a little accident and had broken her clavicle skiing the week before we were supposed to enter the MTC and had to have an operation to repair the fracture, you might be interested to know that, sure enough, we were skiing at Alta when she fell. We were on a ski run named “Corkscrew”, which we have skied literally hundreds of times. I think the Lord wanted us to be in Chester Ward and Stake during the months of July and August 2019 because of the remarkable outpouring of miracles we saw in the last two months of our mission. We wouldn’t have been there without her sacrifice at Alta. It was worth the delay! (That’s easy for me to say – it wasn’t my clavicle!)
Whenever a people live the gospel, whenever they live in harmony with the statutes and ordinances God has given them, whenever they follow the light of their consciences and subscribe to the rules and standards established for those of the household of faith, they come to know the peace of the Spirit. Keeping the commandments brings the quiet assurance that one’s course in life is pleasing in the sight of God, a consciousness of victory over self which we know as spirituality. “Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me” (D&C 19:23).
Millet & McConkie, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon
Here we find an interesting definition of an anti-Christ: one who defies and denies the prophecies concerning the coming of Christ. This definition would, of course, pertain primarily to those who lived before the meridian of time. In our day we would speak of an anti-Christ as one who denies the divine birth of Jesus; who downplays the significance of his teachings; who claims that Jesus’ sufferings, death, and resurrection have no significance for mankind. Many in this dispensation have been seduced into the damnable heresy that Jesus was merely a good man, a brilliant speaker, and a loving and tender example of mercy and forgiveness—these things alone. The restored gospel—especially as made known through the Book of Mormon—testifies that Jesus Christ was and is divine, that he is God.
Millet & McConkie, Commentary
Lucifer does not come personally to every false prophet, as he did to Korihor, any more than the Lord comes personally to every true prophet, as he did to Joseph Smith. Such an appearance—either of God on the one hand or of Satan on the other—is, however, the end result of full devotion to the respective causes involved. In each instance an earthly representative, by obedience to the laws that are ordained, may see the face of the master he serves.”
Bruce R. McConkie, Millennial Messiah, p. 72.
Korihor seeks to make the believers self-conscious for holding forth a belief in that which is to come, in the unseen, in that which mortal ear has not heard. He plays upon their sense of security by suggesting that they are bound down, yoked, by their acceptance of specific religious beliefs and practices. Few things are more threatening to a people than to suggest that they are blindly obedient or, worse yet, that they are slaves to their religious way of life. The natural man is prone to lash out with: “No. I am not a slave. I can do as I please. Just watch this . . .” Korihor, like his modern counterparts, offers to liberate us from what he thinks of as our naive worldview, to set us free from ourselves.
On the other hand, the wisest among us—those who find satisfaction in serving God, in keeping his commandments, those whose system of values and feelings of personal worth derive from sources vertical rather than horizontal—say: “I obey because I choose to do so. I do these things because they are what I truly want to do. I am free to choose, and this is what I choose to do.”
Millet & McConkie, Commentary
The lesson of Korihor is important, not because it is typical of what happens in this life to all anti-Christs but because it illustrates what happens eventually to all such persons. In hell, after death, as well as in eternity, they are silenced as regards dragging others down by the declaration of degrading doctrine. And, like salt that has lost its savor, they are forever cast out of the divine presence.
One who in Faustian fashion sells his soul to Satan need not expect in times of difficulty any sense of fraternal or familial attachment, any type of protection or support from the arch-deceiver. He who knows no love knows no family. He who was willing to promise salvation before the world was made will have no power to raise his own out of perdition. He is not one to be trusted. Indeed, he “rewardeth [his subjects] no good thing” (Alma 34:39).
Millet & McConkie, Commentary
[7]Preaching of the word
Who can measure the power of the word of God as delivered directly by him, as declared by angels, as contained in scriptures, or as spoken by the power of the Holy Ghost? Here Alma declares that the word is the most powerful instrument for change known to mortal man—stronger than intellectual persuasion or military might. … “True doctrine, understood,” Elder Boyd K. Packer has taught, “changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.” (CR, October 1986, p. 20.)
Millet & McConkie, Commentary
The Book of Mormon is everlastingly relevant. It is at once timeless and timely. President Ezra Taft Benson has taught us repeatedly that the Book of Mormon was written for our day. He writes: “The Nephites never had the book; neither did the Lamanites of ancient times. It was meant for us. Mormon wrote near the end of the Nephite civilization. Under the inspiration of God, who sees all things from the beginning, he abridged centuries of records, choosing the stories, speeches, and events that would be most helpful to us. Each of the major writers of the Book of Mormon testified that he wrote for future generations. If they saw our day, and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constantly ask ourselves, ‘Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?’” (A Witness and a Warning, pp. 19–20.)
Millet & McConkie, Commentary
Thank you for this thoughtful, honest collection of resources, particularly, Eliza’s faith journey.
ReplyDeleteI’m still processing many of the powerful truths you highlighted. One thought that occurred to me regarding Mormon’s time stamps is that he had the blessing and challenge of abridging the records at the very end of his civilization. All of his dates and commentary are from the summit of hindsight.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we knew how many miles we had left in our race? We could adjust our pace. Perhaps a critical element of our trial of faith is that none of us have the calendar of our mortal lives. I just read Elder Maxwell’s 2003 talk, “Care for the Life of the Soul” and it filled me courage for our current moment.
“Truly converted disciples, though still imperfect, will pursue “the life of the soul” on any day, in any decade, amid any decadence and destruction. This process constitutes being about our “Father’s business” (Luke 2:49; see also Moses 1:39).“
Certainly Mormon and Moroni pursued the life of the soul, regardless of their circumstances.
In fact, over the years, I have felt humbled by Mormon’s role as the sole compiler of the records. It must have been a heavy and lonely burden to carry. His hope and love of Christ must have sustained his efforts and his relentless faith was centered in the covenants God made to preserve these records for us and his posterity so we could come to Christ.
Many thanks for the many hours you ponder and pen to help so many come unto Christ.