The story of Alma versus
Korihor is a well-known one, but there are some things I noticed recently that
seemed to stick out. Mostly I want
to look at the final part of the confrontation. Alma says,
47
But behold, it is better that thy soul should be lost than that thou shouldst
be the means of bringing many souls down to destruction, by thy lying and by
thy flattering words; therefore if thou shalt deny again, behold God shall
smite thee, that thou shalt become dumb, that thou shalt never open thy mouth
any more, that thou shalt not deceive this people any more.
48
Now Korihor said unto him: I do not deny the existence of a God, 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.
49
Now Alma said unto him: This will I give unto thee for a sign, that thou shalt
be struck dumb, according to my words; and I say, that in the name of God, ye
shall be struck dumb, that ye shall no more have utterance. (D&C 30:47-49)
Alma warns Korihor that if
he denies again, God would smite him.
In response to this, Korihor seems to waffle, “I do not deny the
existence of a God” and then in the very next breath, he says, “but I do not believe
that there is a God.” It is as if
he thinks that denying God and expressing disbelief in God are two different
things. Really, he is trying to
nuance his position away from that word “deny” because that implies to him that
the argument is being framed around the assumption that God exists and he wants
it framed around the assumption that God doesn’t exist.
Yet even though he says that
he doesn’t deny God, his disbelief is
a denial. (With “affirmers” like
Korihor, who needs atheists?) Alma
takes that disbelief as the same thing as denial, and judging by the curse that
falls on Korihor, so does God.
This shows us it is possible to create distinctions and shades of
meaning that have no reflection in reality, and God can see through any
artificial nuances of rhetoric and cut through it.
Korihor says another odd
thing: “I say also, that ye do not know that there is a God; and except ye show
me a sign, I will not believe.” Korihor
flat-out denies Alma’s testimony.
There’s a strategic element to it in which we can see Korihor’s carnal
security. Korihor may have
reasoned that if Alma does not know God exists he wouldn’t be able to summon
the moral and divine authority sufficient to pronounce a sign from God. Korihor may also have reasoned
mistakenly that even if Alma knew there was a God, Alma couldn’t be sure of
being united with God’s will enough to induce God to act miraculously to give a
sign. On top of this, Korihor knew
the sign he required must be indisputable. Korihor probably thought he could blaspheme with impunity as
he considered the difficulties he was making for Alma.
So then Alma says, “This
will I give unto thee for a sign, that thou shalt be struck dumb, according to
my words; and I say, that in the name of God, ye shall be struck dumb, that ye
shall no more have utterance.”
Somehow when I read this recently it seemed like the punctuation was
stuck in oddly, almost as if the power of the statement was diluted. I remembered that the Book of Mormon
was punctuated by the printer, not by Joseph Smith as he was translating. (1) So I tried punctuating it
differently. Here’s my unofficial
version:
This will I give unto thee
for a sign,
that thou shalt be struck
dumb according to my words,
and I say that in the name
of God.
Ye shall be struck dumb,
that ye shall no more have
utterance.
This seems to me to be a
much stronger version, because it reveals that Alma uses his priesthood. It becomes clear that the Spirit is
upon him and that he is no longer speaking on his own authority, but speaking
expressly for God. We can
also see Alma’s words as a chiasmus with his invocation of the name of God as the
point of greatest emphasis.
This will I give unto thee
for a sign,
>that thou shalt be
struck dumb according to my words,
>>and I say that in
the name of God.
>Ye shall be struck dumb,
>that ye shall no more have utterance.
Also, the three repetitions
of the idea that Korihor would be dumb indicate superlative emphasis upon the
sign that he would be given.
It also seems to me that the
sign makes obvious a number of truths that in that day were points of faith:
1) God exists
2) God gives power to man
3) Alma had authority from
God to speak in His name
4) God judged Korihor
through Alma.
In Korihor’s distress at his
loss of speech, finally the truth comes out as he writes his story:
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.
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. (Alma 30:52-53)
One of the things that got
Korihor in trouble at the first was that he listened when the devil told him
the people had ALL gone astray and he should reclaim them. His problem at first sight doesn’t seem
to be disbelief in God, but belief in a false revelation. I suppose this is what led him to look
critically at the practices and institutions and methods of the church in his
day. If everyone else were wrong,
he must find fault with everyone else in order to support his own
position. Indeed, once you have
the ego-stroking idea that you are right and all others are wrong, it is hard
to know how far their wrongness extends and everything
must be questioned. For Korihor, with
each question, the carnal security of “I’m right” beckoned and he gradually
silenced any nagging warning “I might be wrong.” He had to find fault with belief in Christ, with the
traditions of prophecy and revelation, with declarations of repentance. He had to dismiss testimonies of
receiving forgiveness as the effect of a frenzied mind and mental
derangement. He had to accuse
priests of overstepping authority and requiring too much and criticize the people
for being deceived. He had to deny
the fall of Adam, the need for the Atonement, and scorn the idea of a future
judgment or resurrection, since he must necessarily be right and all others
wrong.
Another thing that made me
wonder was Korihor’s assertion that the devil came to him in the form of an
angel. I used to think that
Korihor was lying, but now I think that he was telling the truth. His experience marks him not just as an
anti-Christ, but as a recipient of a counterfeit “miracle conversion” meant to
oppose the divine angelic visitation to Alma the younger and the four sons of
Mosiah.
I wonder why Korihor didn’t
smell a rat though when the “angel” appearing to him told him that there was no
God. It doesn’t seem logically
consistent. If there is no God,
wouldn’t that mean angels wouldn’t exist?
Or if there was no God, and angels existed, then angels would be God…
but then there would still be a God.
According to religious logic, the “angel’s” message contradicted its
appearance. But I suppose that the
carnally pleasing everyone-is-wrong-and-you’re-right message stroked Korihor’s
ego to the extent that he didn’t think too hard about the inconsistencies.
It is interesting that
Korihor says, “I taught [his words], even until I had much success, insomuch
that I verily believed they were true.”
Korihor seems to have not even believed the false message the devil gave
him to preach, but he preached anyway.
His persistence and the carnality of the doctrine attracted more people
than he expected until he fell into the trap of assuming that his success
proved he was right. Trouble is,
truth is not proved by the number of people who subscribe to it. Large groups and small groups who
believe (or disbelieve) something can be equally wrong. Rather, the Holy Ghost testifies to the
truth, and we seek and learn and experiment and practice to seek that
confirming witness.
I used to think Alma was
unmerciful for not complying with Korihor’s request to pray for the curse to be
removed, especially considering Alma’s own conversion experience with the angel
and whatnot. Recently I realized
that Alma must have used his own experience to discern Korihor wasn’t
repentant. Korihor admitted how he
got into his predicament, but he did not acknowledge the atonement Christ had made
for him. He only wanted the curse
removed and made no statement that indicated any realization of the depth and
breadth and seriousness of his sins and leading people away. He considered himself cursed, but he
never registered that his soul is lost, even though Alma gave the same kind of
warning to him as the angel had once given to Alma (“it is better that thy soul
should be lost than that thou shouldst be the means of bringing many souls down
to destruction”). Because Korihor
didn’t acknowledge the magnitude of his sins, Alma knew Korihor was not repentant. Alma had been harrowed
up with his sins, so he knew what repentance was required. Curses can’t be lifted without
repentance.
How does this story help me
in my life? It shows me that I
should resist any suggestion that the whole church is gone astray and I need to
reclaim them. The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints is on the right track and is the only true and
living church upon the face of the whole earth with which the Lord is well
pleased, speaking to the church collectively and not individually (see D&C
1:30). There have been times when
I have looked down on other members and mistakenly considered myself better and
more knowledgeable, and this has opened me up to the temptation to think I am
right and they are wrong. In
direct contrast, it is much more wonderful to meet members and remind myself
that they must have unplumbed depths of insight and experience that is perhaps
too sacred to share in Sunday school, that each person knows pains and joys and
truths too real for words.
This story also is a grim
reminder that not only does God give revelation, but the devil does too. Joseph Smith said something like there
is nothing more injurious to the saints than to think they are under the
influence of the Spirit when it is really the influence of the devil. That is really true; the devil can make
his arguments seem so rational and urgent. He can make it seem like squelching his suggestions is
failing God somehow. He can hit
you with feelings of failure and depression. He will take every opportunity to buffet you with guilt,
even if it is undeserved. We must
never give in, but pray to be delivered from Satan.
Another way this story helps
me is that it shows me the danger of doctrine that pleases the carnal
mind. Let’s compare divine
doctrine to Korihor’s carnal doctrine.
|
Divine Doctrine
|
Korihor’s carnal doctrine
|
|
Man is fallen and must
repent
|
Man is just fine; no need
to repent; there is no crime
|
|
God will judge our works
|
No judgment, so do what
you want
|
|
We can’t save ourselves;
we need a Savior
|
No one needs saving; there
is no Savior
|
|
We must sacrifice to God;
we are commanded
|
Sacrifice is pointless and
is oppressive
|
|
There is life after life
and a resurrection
|
This life is all there, so
take advantage of very moment
|
|
Prosperity is a blessing
from God for keeping the commandments but also for industry
|
Prosperity is just a
function of good management
|
I have been pondering how
Korihor was deceived by the “angelic” visitation from the devil and how he fell
for the message of “there is no god.”
It seems to me that he wouldn’t have been susceptible unless he had
already been entertaining doubts about it. His experience makes me think of stories I’ve heard of
people who have tried to force revelation and visions of angels. But why would he have troubles with
believing in the existence of God?
He had many witnesses. Even
Alma points out that Korihor had heard witnesses of the brethren and all the
holy prophets from the scriptures. The whole point of witnesses and testimony in the church is
to tell the truth about God and the gospel and our experience and be believed.
Perhaps Korihor began doubting
all of those and wondered how anyone could tell whether they had been telling
the truth. I think he had to have
experienced the witness of the Holy Ghost and decided he didn’t want to be
moved by it. Perhaps he was
alarmed by how Holy Ghost made him want to do things that he couldn’t
understand or how it seemed to require improvement or service from him, so he
worked hard to ignore it, deciding he was being worked up into a frenzy. But ignoring the Spirit brought
uncertainty, which built a need to feel divine approbation or support, so perhaps
he decided that unless he could get his own visitation, then there must be no God.
I can imagine Korihor threatening
the Lord in prayer, “Unless you show yourself, I’m not going to believe in
you.” Yet God isn’t held hostage
to threats. We can’t dictate the
means of revelation;
What do we learn from
this story?
·
Man can speak
for God. Man can also speak for
the devil. You have to choose who
you believe.
·
The devil uses
lying wonders to try to de-convert people from the truth.
·
Teach something
you know is wrong enough times, and you may eventually deceive yourself too.
·
Repetition tends
to convince people over time, even if the repeated idea is false.
·
The numbers of
people subscribing to a belief (or disbelief) does not prove anything about the
rightness or wrongness of it.
·
Disbelief in God
is the same as denial of God.
·
Pressing for a
sign brings signs of condemnation (curses).
·
There’s a
difference between being horrified by your sins and being horrified by the effects of your sins. One leads to repentance, the other
leads to attempts to manipulate the consequences.
·
And probably the
most important lesson—don’t put off or quench
the Holy Ghost. Any member of the church can become a Korihor if they persistently put off the Holy Ghost.
For other articles on
Korihor, see
Notes
