The Appeal of Nehor

In Alma there are two different individuals who came among the Nephites and tried to lead them away from what they believed. The first was Nehor, and he “testified unto the people that all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should have eternal life” (Alma 1:4). Later the people of the land of Ammonihah were described this way: “They were of the profession of Nehor, and did not believe in the repentance of their sins” (Alma 15:15). Thus the essence of Nehor’s doctrine seems to have been that repentance was not needed—the Lord would save us all no matter what we did. The second false teacher was Korihor, and he similarly suggested that no repentance of sins is needed. He said, “Ye look forward and say that ye see a remission of your sins. But behold, it is the effect of a frenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which are not so.” Mormon further summarized, “And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime” (Alma 30:16-17). So, like Nehor, Korihor sought to convince the people that they did not need to worry about sin—that didn’t matter. Unlike Nehor, Korihor denied even the existence of God and this was his justification for not needing to repent. There would be no life after death, so he sought to convince them that they didn’t need to concern themselves with their actions in this life. Nehor taught that God existed, and that there would be life after death, but that because God would save everyone our sins didn’t matter in this life. Through different arguments both sought to convince the people that their actions in this life needed no repentance.

                The first words said by the Savior as He started His ministry (after His baptism and temptation), as recorded by Matthew, are these: “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Repentance was a key message that He continually gave throughout His ministry as He inspired people to be better. He said on another occasion, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17). His mission was to help sinners repent. When He sent His twelve to preach to the people, “They went out, and preached that men should repent” (Mark 6:12). After telling of some who had suffered and died, Jesus said, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). He also told the people, “I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:10). Given that repentance was central to His message in mortality and is a fundamental part of His gospel, it is no wonder that when the adversary sent false teachers to the Nephites, their message would be: you do not need to repent.

                Despite their similarities, the teachings of Nehor seemed to have had much more influence in Nephite and Lamanite society than Korihor’s. Korihor came and went in Alma 30, and he was never heard of again. Nehor, on the other hand, influenced many groups. The Amlicites had an enormous following and their leader, Amlici, was “after the order of [Nehor]” (Alma 2:1). Aaron found that in the land of Jerusalem where they “had built synagogues after the order of the Nehors; for many of the Amalekites and the Amulonites were after the order of the Nehors” (Alma 21:4). The leaders of the people of Ammonihah, who brutally murdered the faithful believers of the words of Alma and Amulek, “were of the profession of Nehor” (Alma 14:18). So why did his message have so much broader appeal than Korihor’s if both preached the same thing in terms of our actions (i.e. that we could do no wrong and needed no repentance)? Perhaps the reason is that most of us really want to believe in God and in the reality of life after death—the light of Christ inside of us helps us to feel that we have a Father in Heaven and that our existence will not suddenly cease when we die. Interestingly enough, one author and atheist I listened to recently, Jonathan Haidt, suggested that “there is a God-shaped hole in everyone’s heart.” What he meant was that we all seek for a higher purpose and meaning, we seek to fill our lives with something that transcends the ordinary and mundane. For him he suggested that this can be found in the beauties of nature. I believe that we do indeed have such a hole because God is our Father and we all inherently want to believe in Him and His plan for us. So it may be that preserving that truth about God helped Nehor’s ideas to spread like wildfire as people sought what they thought was best of both worlds: to have a deep connection with God and commit whatever sins they wanted to in this life. Unfortunately, as Samuel the Lamanite would put it, that is impossible: “Ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head” (Helaman 13:38). We must reject the message of Nehor and seek to connect with God not only in His creations but also by doing that which He commands.