Some people claim that the Korihor story is simply an unsophisticated story about why atheism is bad and being religious is good, a hollow and unfair piece of propaganda.

That’s really not the case. There are plenty of purposes for this story’s inclusion, though:

It serves as a transition for how Alma discovered the Zoramites were apostatizing

It serves as a transition for how Alma overcame one of his weaknesses

It serves to show us Alma’s development as a person on multiple levels

It gives us an example of what kinds of apostasy there are

It teaches us about the importance of letting people believe as they wish, from the viewpoint of both temporal and heavenly governments

Not all of these can be explored in one blog post, of course, and as Korihor is still the star of the show (well, maybe it’s Alma, but that’s a story for another time) in this chapter, I’d like to examine the last bullet the most.

Korihor’s issues run deeper than atheism. You can be an atheist and not be like Korihor. In fact, in my experience most atheists really aren’t like Korihor at all. Korihor’s real problem is that he is an Anti-Christ, which doesn’t even require an atheistic claim. Korihor in fact teaches us about one of the 3 types of Anti-Christs found in 2 Ne. 28:20-22.* He is the kind found in 22, the kind that states there is no hell, and the only one of the three who explicitly says there is no God. Sherem denies Christ, but not God, and Nehor denies God’s justice, but not God, or Jesus. The issue here isn’t God. It’s Christ.

People tend to focus on verses 11-16 and 40-50 because they are the easiest to understand and they mimic modern conversations. Taken out of context, those verses admittedly seem like a cut-and-dried rehashing of a very old argument, with the religious side putting up a poor show. Perhaps Mormon made the emphasis because of his seeing the lack of belief in our day.

While that may have been Mormon’s intent, that speaks about Mormon more than it does Korihor or Alma. And verses 17-39 are longer than the beginning and end.

Mormon introduces Korihor as a character similar to Nehor, a character that tests the government’s ability and integrity. Mormon mentions in three different ways in verses 6-12 that Korihor was allowed to believe and preach anything he wanted. One gets the impression that that wasn’t usually the case in Nephite society, and the story of Nehor bears that out. At the time of Korihor’s case the separate governing of church and state, had only split as recently as 15 years ago. 30 chapters in Book of Mormon time does not usually equal that much time, but Mormon has slowed time in this part of his writing considerably.

The chief judge and high priest both do not feel comfortable judging Korihor and so send him to the highest chief judge, where Alma is present. At both this meeting and the next we find that Korihor’s complaints aren’t just about God. Really, his issue is that he distrusts people, authority, and even worse, he distrusts people in authority who want you to trust them. That is, Alma stands as a figure for God, as priests have for ages, and Korihor is suspicious and angry.

Mormon also dedicates a lot of space to this. Look at these comments in verses 23, 27, and 31:

“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, to usurp power and authority over them, to keep them in ignorance, that they may not lift up their heads, but be brought down according to thy words.”

“And thus ye lead away this people after the foolish traditions of your fathers, and according to your own desires; and ye keep them down, even as it were in bondage, that ye may glut yourselves with the labors of their hands, that they durst not look up with boldness, and that they durst not enjoy their rights and privileges.”

“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.”

Alma is incredulous, because after having given up his job as chief judge, he no longer gets paid for his church service. The point of not being paid is to prevent priestcrafts, a subject the BoM touches on repeatedly (see 2 Ne. 26 and 2 Ne. 28 for two great examples). Alma points this out to Korihor, adding “And now, if we do not receive anything for our labors in the church, what doth it profit us to labor in the church save it were to declare the truth, that we may have rejoicings in the joy of our brethren? Then why sayest thou that we preach unto this people to get gain, when thou, of thyself, knowest that we receive no gain? And now, believest thou that we deceive this people, that causes such joy in their hearts? (verses 34-35)?”

Korihor’s curt response in verse 36: “Yea.”

What would possess Korihor to be so angry? And is he even telling the truth when he says that an angel deceived him, or is he trying to appeal to Alma’s past experience with angels, and still so full of anger that he isn’t truly repentant? He seems more like the kind who would curse God and die, the kind who, even were he to see God, would angrily spit in his face. No one is as scary as someone who is scared.

Perhaps it was his belief system. If he didn’t believe in God, what did Korihor believe in? We see those in verse 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.”

Korihor’s beliefs are like that of Raskolnikov before he changes his mind. It is the Nietzschean Ubermensch that he preaches.** We all know that doesn’t work. Nihilism is never happiness. Do we really want to say that there is no such thing as right and wrong and that might makes right, and we should fully enjoy what we can gain by our own cunning, deviousness, and capability?

And of course, a person like this would greatly protest a the concept of a savior, that who allows us to be saved and to be free and to be safe. This is why he protests Jesus more than he does God. It’s not really God he denies–it’s goodness and happiness and hope itself.

No wonder Korihor hated everything so much. With beliefs like that, who needs enemies?

–CiP









*Interestingly enough, the other two Anti-Christs, Sherem (Jacob 7) and Nehor (Alma 1), are in chronological order, with Sherem representing verse 20 and Nehor verse 21. While all three of them are bad, it seems that each stance is progressively worse for the individual based on the resulting end of each character. But notice that the Book of Mormon gets much darker after this point. Curiously, only the second approach seems to have a lasting effect (this supposing Korihor’s legacy is not stronger than Mormon let us know about), as the Order of Nehors never really seem to go away. They are the carnal security / “like dude, everyone is fine” approach, which, tellingly, is the one that advanced societies struggle with the most. Certainly it is the most common problem of the three in the U.S. and for any Mormons that speak English.*

**Fun fact: Nietzsche and Dostoevsky’s writing is after the Book of Mormon, not before. They are simply two of the most influential and memorable writers who touch upon men without God and the dangerous consequences of taking godlessness too far. Still, cool to see that the BoM touched upon some Dostoyevskian themes before Dostoyevsky.