The Doctrine of Nehor

When Nehor came among the Nephite, “He also 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.” That sounds like a very inclusive doctrine: everyone will be saved no matter what they do. But it soon became clear that in practice Nehor and those who followed him were anything but inclusive and accepting of others. We see this first in how Nehor treated Gideon: “Now, because Gideon withstood him with the words of God he was wroth with Gideon, and drew his sword and began to smite him. Now Gideon being stricken with many years, therefore he was not able to withstand his blows, therefore he was slain by the sword” (Alma 1:4,9). Gideon had disagreed with Nehor’s teachings, and so Nehor attacked the elderly Nephite and killed him. It was evidence that the doctrine of Nehor was not really inclusive, for it would turn out that anyone who disagreed with those who followed after Nehor risked the same fate as Gideon.

                Several others who believed in the same way as Nehor similarly showed that they were willing to go as far as murder those who disagreed with them. The first of these was Amlici who, Mormon recorded, was “after the order of the man that slew Gideon by the sword.” When he didn’t become king like he wanted, he resorted to similar methods as Nehor but on a much grander scale. “He commanded [his followers] that they should take up arms against their brethren; and this he did that he might subject them to him.” This man who supposedly believed that all people should rejoice because they would all be saved was willing to go to war with those who disagreed with him. There were “six thousand five hundred sixty and two souls” who were killed among the Nephites because they stood against his army (Alma 2:1,10,19). In a similar manner, the people of Ammonihah who “were of the profession of Nehor” proved to be extremely intolerant of those who believed differently than them (Alma 16:11). The believers in the words of Alma and Amulek received this treatment at the hands of the wicked people of Ammonihah: “And they brought their wives and children together, and whosoever believed or had been taught to believe in the word of God they caused that they should be cast into the fire; and they also brought forth their records which contained the holy scriptures, and cast them into the fire also, that they might be burned and destroyed by fire” (Alma 14:8). Once again, the followers of Nehor were willing to commit murder to punish those who did not believe as they did. We see something similar in the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies who were converted by the preaching of Ammon and Aaron and their brethren. The “Amalekites and Amulonites, the greatest number of whom were after the order of the Nehors,” came after the converted Lamanites and, unopposed, killed over one thousand of them. Thus the followers of Nehor were very consistent: any time they met a group of people who opposed their ideas, they killed them.

               The awful story of the followers of Nehor, who eventually were destroyed themselves, surely should stand as a warning to us today. There are groups who vehemently push for their own beliefs on moral and other issues, suggesting that they are inclusive—an anything goes type of attitude—and, similar to Nehor, that no matter what one does “all men should have eternal life.” And yet those who disagree with their teachings are often vilified, canceled, and persecuted. The Book of Mormon and its stories of the followers of Nehor very much helps us see what is happening in our day, and we must be wary of the doctrines of men which claim an inclusive acceptance of sin while at the same time punishing any who reject their notions.