Rhetorical: It is interesting that two occasions on which there are theological arguments being presented on the basis of argumentation are both related to the order of Nehors. We have seen this questioning method with Zeezrom, a lawyer of Ammonihah. We understand that Ammonihah is principally of the order of Nehor because a judge is directly identified as being after the order of Nehor (Alma 14:16), and Zeezrom’s arguments reflect that philosophy. Here we an Amalekite offering the same questioning method, and the same types of arguments. It is possible that this mode of argumentation was a cultural trait associated with this type of order. The use of argumentation and logic may also help explain why the order of the Nehors could hold such sway among Nephites with a long traditional belief in the gospel.
In the then modern world, the wonders of the world were presenting different options and possibilities to the people, and the examples of the more wealthy cities would have been Nephite at this point in time. A religion that logically found ways to mix the Nephite with the Lamanite might have been particularly attractive as a way to retain some of the old while embracing the more tempting new. Certainly our modern world sees much of the same, where the powerful influence of the philosophies of men have had a marked impact on the teaching of the gospel since the time when they were instrumental in triggering the great apostasy.