Episode 34: The Anti-Christ (Korihor) comes to town
Alma 28-30
A Tremendous Battle
28 1-2 After Ammon and his people settled in their new land of Jershon, there was a battle between the Lamanites and the people of Nephi. In fact, it was the biggest battle anyone had ever seen since Lehi and his children left Jerusalem. Tens of thousands of Lamanites died. 3 Many Nephites also died, but in the end the Lamanites were driven from the land. 7 This battle occurred in 76 BCE.
O that I were an angel!
29 1 Alma said, “I wish I were an angel, so I could speak with the trump of God, with a voice that shakes the earth, and cries repentance to everyone! 16 But I’ve been successful, so successful that my soul is separated from my body, so great is my joy.”
The Anti-Christ (Korihor) comes to town
30 1-2 After the people of Ammon drove out the Lamanites from the land of Jershon there were too many dead people to count. After the dead were buried, there was peace for a while.
6 But then in 74 BCE, the Anti-Christ came to town. He began to preach against the prophecies about Christ. 7-12 But since there no law against any particular religious belief, the Anti-Christ (whose name was Korihor) continued to preach that Christ wouldn’t be coming.
Here are some of the things that he said: 13 “Why do you think Christ is coming? How can anyone predict the future? 14 The things called prophecies are just the foolish beliefs of your fathers. 18 When you’re dead, you’re dead. There’s no afterlife.”
21 But when Korihor came to preach in the land of Gideon, he was arrested and taken to the high priest, who asked him, 22 “Why do you make people sad by telling them there will be no Christ? Why do you deny the prophecies?”
Korihor answered, 23-24 “You are just trying to keep people ignorant by saying that prophecies are true when you don’t know they are true. 25 You say people are guilty of sin because of something their parents did. But a child is not responsible for what his parents did. 26 You say that Christ will come, but you have no way to know that. 28 You say there is a God, but no one has ever seen God or knows anything about such a being.”
29 The high priest and the chief judge sent Korihor to Zarahemla for Alma, the chief judge of all the land, to deal with. 37 When Korihor arrived, Alma asked him, “Do you believe in God?” 38 Korihor answered, “No.”
40 Alma said, “How do you know this is no God, or that Christ won’t come?”
43 Korihor said, “If you show me a sign, I might believe God exists.”
44 Alma said, “You’ve had enough signs. You have the testimony of other people, prophets, and scriptures. 47 It’s better that your soul be lost than the souls of many others. 49 But here’s a sign for you. God will strike you dumb so you can’t speak.”
50 And Korihor was struck dumb. 52 Then Korihor wrote a note saying, “OK, I believe. I always knew there was a God. 53 But the devil appeared to me in the form of an angel and deceived me. 54 Please pray for me so I can speak again.”
55 But Alma said, “If the curse was taken from you, you’d lead people astray. 56 So Korihor was cast out and had to beg for his food. 57 Alma made a proclamation, threatening Korihor’s followers that God would strike them dumb, too, if they didn't repent. 58 So everyone repented and Korihor continued to beg for food.
59 Eventually, Korihor tried to beg from the Zoramites, where he was trampled to death. 60 (And so we see that the devil won’t support his children but will drag them down to hell.)
