Alma’s next topic on the list of Corianton’s concerns (meaning topics on which his son had accepted apostate interpretations), is punishment. Because Nehorism presumed universal salvation (Alma 1:4), it would necessarily presume an absence of punishment. Nephi had prophesied that human beings would downplay the eternal consequences of their actions:
Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.
And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God. (2 Ne. 28:7-8)
Alma helps Corianton understand the relationship between our earthly actions and the heavenly consequences. The question about Yahweh’s judgment takes on a legal/philosophical dimension, since the issue is not simply the fact of punishment, but its justice.
Corianton had apparently believed that it would be unjust to consign a sinner to hell, or a “state of misery.” This false doctrine not only downplayed the penalties of wrong action but expanded the doctrine of universal salvation because it would be unjust of Yahweh to deny salvation to anyone and particularly unjust to consign them to misery instead of happiness.