ALL THINGS DENOTE THERE IS A GOD
Gospel Doctrine Book of Mormon Lesson 27

INTRODUCTION
➤ Anti-Christ, Korihor
➤ Greek definition of ‘anti’
➤ Instead of
➤ Face-to-face, mirror image
➤ Bible Dictionary: Anti-Christ is anyone
or anything that counterfeits the true
gospel plan of salvation and that openly
or secretly is a set up in opposition to
Christ.
➤ ATOT: Doing Gospel Doctrine research online
➤ My computer’s filter for corrupt fonts and
downloads. I wish it offered the same
warnings for ‘counterfeit’ doctrine.
➤ Our best defense is to learn from the
Book of Mormon and watch for similar
arguments/tactics.

KORIHOR LEADS AWAY THE HEARTS OF MANY IN ZARAHEMLA
➤ After the big wars with the Lamanites, the people of Ammon (anti-nephi-lehites) live peaceful for
two years
➤ Alma 30:6-7, An outsider, Korihor, comes to town to lead peaceful people astray
➤ Why did he do it? We need to fast-forward to the end. Spoiler-alert, he’s a fraud
➤ 30:53, He had a testimony and abandoned it. Why?
➤ I taught [these things] because they were pleasing to the carnal mind.
➤ I had much success . . .(people followed him)
➤ Because of my success, I verily believed that they were true . . .
➤ For this cause I withstood the truth . . .
➤ ATOT: My boss’s fad diets. She knew that only exercise and good diet will actually yield long-term
results. She tried crazy things. When they were successful she would preach them to others. When others
followed she believed them even more.
➤ Can we relate to Korihor’s slide?
➤ He likely didn’t start as an Anti-Christ
➤ He was a believer with doubts first, then he served the wrong master

KORIHOR’S TACTICS (SATAN’S STRATEGIES TO WEAKEN FAITH)
➤ Korihor’s arguments in Zarahemla (all revolve around pleasing the
carnal mind)
➤ 30:12, No Christ will come (scriptures are fake)
➤ 30:13, Faith yokes you, gives you false hope (commandments
constrain).
➤ No man can know of things to come (no gift of prophesy)
➤ This obviously contradicts his first argument that he knows Christ will not
come
➤ 30:16, No remission of sins (frenzied mind, why does this sting us?)
➤ 30:17, No judgement, everyman creates his own success
➤ 30:18, No shame in sin (why is this so appealing?), no resurrection

KORIHOR TEACHES IN JERSHON
➤ He pulls many away in Zarahemla (Nephites). Why does he
leave? Why couldn’t he stay and build up a following?
➤ He’s selling snake oil. Successful frauds never stick around
to see the results. He knows it won't lead to happiness.
➤ How do the Anti-Nephi-Lehites in Jershon handle him?
➤ 30:20-21, They bind him up and take him to court. Ammon
kicks him out (his beliefs aren’t the problem, it’s his
divisive preaching)
➤ ATOT: Nay sayers on temple square. I rush my kids past them.
Do I do the same with family/friends who teach incorrect
principles?

KORIHOR TEACHES IN GIDEON
➤ He gets the same treatment in Gideon.
➤ The high priest (Giddonah)gets an earful.
➤ 30:23-27, have class summarize some of Korihor’s claims
➤ 30:28, traditions, whims, dreams, visions, pretend mysteries
… why does he use these words?
➤ What’s his goal? To please the carnal mind
➤ 30:29, How does the high priest handle it?
➤ ’They would not make a reply’. I bet that was tough
➤ Sometimes it’s better to walk away
➤ He’s taken back to Zarahemla to see Alma (the Chief Judge)

KORIHOR IS TAKEN TO ALMA, THE CHIEF JUDGE
➤ 30:31, What does ‘glut’ imply? Not just gain but selfish, wasteful gain.
➤ 30:34-35, Alma’s response
➤ Fast forward again: Alma 30:42, What does Alma know about Korihor? Why
does he bother with this battle?
➤ He probably sees a little of his younger self in Korihor (its never too late)
➤ He’s not just answering Korihor, he’s teaching the shaken testimonies
around him (like Ammon did).
➤ He’s reminding them that the gospel brings joy
➤ 30:37-39, Alma testifies of what he knows. This is a court, he is a witness
for the gospel.
➤ Many had heard his testimony by then (in their own homes). Maybe he’s
reminding them of his personal witness.

ALMA ASKS QUESTIONS
➤ 30:40-41, Alma shifts the burden
of proof. Why is this fair?
➤ Korihor has no proof of what
he ‘knows’, he is acting on
‘faith’ in his own belief
➤ Korihor’s paradox: For
Korihor to ‘know’ there is no
God he would have to see all
the universe simultaneously.
To do that, he would need to
be a God.
➤ ATOT: My kids tattling on
each other about open eyes in
the prayer

“
It [The story of Korihor] teaches a great lesson for our day. No
matter how clever, how sophisticated the philosophies of an
anti-Christ may seem, they are not true. They are riddled with
contradictions, errors, and false assumptions. The gospel, on
the other hand, is truth—truth that has stood the test of
centuries, truth that can withstand rational examination, truth
that is pragmatic and practical, truth that can be confirmed
through personal experience. A believer need not apologize for
his or her beliefs, for these beliefs withstand every scrutiny
much more efficiently than do the doctrines of Satan.”
N. Gerald Lund
Ensign, July 1992, p. 16

“
We accept the feelings of the Spirit or we reject them, but we
do not argue them. The Sadducees and Pharisees taunted Jesus
for proof, yet when it was presented in overwhelming
abundance they continued to disbelieve. Be assured that when
such people seek proof, that proof is the last thing in the world
that they really want. As to the Korihors, we need not assume
the burden of proof that is rightly theirs. If they assert we are
without a God, without prophets, and without revelation, it is
for them to prove it. We await that proof as have the Saints of
God from the days of Adam.”
Millet & McConkie,
Sustaining and Defending the Faith, pp.92-3

KORIHOR DEMANDS A SIGN
➤ 30:42-43, What is the difference between being ‘carried about working devices
of destruction’ and being ‘an instrument in the Hands of God’
➤ Why does Korihor ask for a sign? The Holy Ghost is no longer with him. He
can’t ‘feel’ truth so he wants to ‘see’ it.
➤ He’s probably banking on the knowledge that God doesn’t generally show
signs to unbelievers. Alma is a strong exception to that standard.
➤ 30:44, ‘Thou hast had signs enough’. I wonder if he was surprised at that.
➤ ATOT: Asking for some miraculous to happen at the temple. I had heard dramatic
stories, I wanted them for myself so I could have a better testimony of the temple. I’m
guessing Alma would tell me I have had signs enough!
➤ Where does Alma tell us to look? Leaders, prophets, scriptures, nature, the
universe.
➤ How often do we discount small witnesses? We push aside promptings
and ignore urgings to improve.

ALMA GIVES HIM ONE MORE CHANCE
➤ 30:47, Korihor is warned, similar to the
warning from the angel to Alma (Alma
36:9)
➤ Korihor is struck dumb (possibly deaf
too since the judge has to write things
down as well)
➤ 30:51-53, He received his sign and
testifies of truth
➤ He begs for healing
➤ 30:55-56, He wasn’t racked with guilt
like Alma was. He just wanted out.
➤ He’s killed in the street
➤ 30:60, Mormon’s teaching to us to
compare these two men and pay
attention to their outcomes.
➤ Neal A. Maxwell quote (next slide)

“The greatest cause of unhappiness
and failure in this life is the trading
what we want most for what we
want at the moment.”
-Neal A. Maxwell

ALMA LEADS A MISSION TO RECLAIM THE APOSTATE ZORAMITES
➤ They take care of Korihor and get things back on track and then hear of
troubles with the Zoramites
➤ ATOT: Motherhood is like playing whack-a-mole. Alma probably felt similar.
➤ Alma assembles a dream team to help the idol worshipping Zoramites.
➤ They were close to the Lamanites so they were worried about an
alliance.
➤ 31:5, What’s his strategy?
➤ Boyd K. Packer: “True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and
behavior.”
➤ Do we actually buy it? What other sources do we turn to to change
behavior? How can we use this principle better?
➤ Ezra T. Benson Quote (next slide)

“
Often we spend great effort in trying to increase the activity
levels in our stakes. We work diligently to raise the percentages
of those attending sacrament meetings. We labor to get a higher
percentage of our young men on missions. We strive to improve
the numbers of those marrying in the temple. All of these are
commendable efforts and important to the growth of the
kingdom. But when individual members and families immerse
themselves in the scriptures regularly and consistently, these
other areas of activity will automatically come. Testimonies will
increase. Commitment will be strengthened.”
-Ezra Taft Benson

STRUGGLES OF THE APOSTATE ZORAMITES
➤ 31:1-2, The dream team goes to Antionum and are sickened by
what they see (Rameumptom)
➤ This is the opposite of a hard hard. Leaders love, which
makes them vulnerable to disappointment and sadness
➤ Zoramites had fallen into ‘great errors’
➤ 1. Idol worship (1)
➤ 2. Worshipping selectively (9,10,12,23)
➤ 3. Pride, Elitism (15,16,18,25)
➤ 4. Rejection of Christ (16,17)
➤ 5. Hearts set on riches (24,28)

ALMA TEACHES PRAYER
➤ 31:26-29 (summarize his prayer)
➤ We picture him yelling it for
all to hear. I wonder if it was a
quiet storm that drew people
in.
➤ 31:30-31, what is Alma
struggling with?
➤ He doesn’t ask for healing, he
asks for strength
➤ 31:34-35, what is he teaching?
➤ The missionary’s are blessed
with an extra measure of the
Spirit and they split up

ALMA TEACHES OF THE JOY OF CHRIST
➤ 31:38, how are afflictions swallowed up in the joy of Christ?
➤ Neal A. Maxwell
➤ “Whether the afflictions are self-induced, as most of them are, or whether they
are of the divine-tutorial type, it matters not. Either way,the Lord can help us
so that our afflictions, said Alma, can be “swallowed up in the joy of
Christ” (Alma31:38). Thus, afflictions are endured and are overcome by joy.
The sour notes are lost amid a symphonyof salvational sounds. Our afflictions,
brothers and sisters, may not be extinguished. Instead, they can bedwarfed and
swallowed up in the joy of Christ. This is how we overcome most of the time –
not theelimination of affliction, but the placing of these in that larger
context.” (BYU Fireside, 2 Dec 1984)
➤ ATOT: Crossing the finish line of the marathon. All my pain and fear was swallowed up in the
joy of accomplishing my goal.
➤ D&C 58:3-4

CONCLUSION
➤ Satan’s purposes are real.
➤ How can we know when what
we are reading or hearing is
true?
➤ We have no ‘counterfeit
sharpie’ that we can use to
test.
➤ Moroni gave us a better tool
➤ Moroni 7:16