“Korihor Began to Preach Unto the People That There Should Be No Christ”

Bryan Richards

The arguments of Satan, though pleasing to the carnal mind, are inconsistent at best. His logic has so many holes in it that the truth leaks out like water through a sieve. Korihor’s claim that there should be no Christ is typical. This claim is in direct conflict with one of his later arguments—that no man can know of anything which is to come (v. 13). If no man can know the future, then Korihor can’t know that Christ will not come (see v. 30). If he knows that Christ will not come, then he has claimed to know the future. Both arguments can’t be true simultaneously. In effect, he can’t have it both ways. See also Jacob 7:2-9.

“This Anti-Christ Korihor Began to Preach”

The Book of Mormon has introduced us to some other anti-Christs. Sherem from Jacob 7 and Nehor from Alma 1 are examples. Now we meet the last named anti-Christ in the Book of Mormon—Korihor. The teachings of Korihor will provide us with a framework to discuss the many arguments used by Satan in our day. His doctrines have been repeated a thousand different times in a hundred different forms.

“We did not borrow the Book of Mormon from the ancients; they wrote it to us. We are the audience Mormon ad Moroni addressed as they chose what was to be included in this scriptural record. They told us the story of Korihor because they knew that we would have our Korihors. The Korihor of the Book of Mormon story is but the prototype of our modern anti-Christs. As the modern man of faith is in the image and likeness of his ancient counterpart, believing and testifying of those truths of which the ancients believed and testified, so the modern anti-Christ but echoes the arguments and sophistry used to beguile the souls of men anciently. Invariably, Korihors are articulate and carry with them an air of sophistication. They thrive on controversy, debate, and contention, yet inevitably their popularity rests in their appeal to the carnal nature of man.” (Millet & McConkie, Sustaining and Defending the Faith, p. 96)

Ezra Taft Benson

“…the Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention. (See 2 Nephi 3:12.) It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon is similar to the type we have today. God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time.” (Conference Report, Apr. 1975, pp. 94-95)

GospelDoctrine.Com

References