More Antichrist Philosophies - Nehor

James Fullmer's painting of Nehor

Nehor was the middle antichrist in the Book of Mormon trio, consisting of: Sherem, Nehor, and Korihor.  I spoke of Korihor in my last post.  Now, I'd like to include some unique ideas as proposed by Nehor.

According to the Book of Alma in the Book of Mormon, Nehor was a tall and handsome man with a great deal of what we would call today, charisma.  People flocked to him.  His ideas sounded so optimistic and positive that they were very appealing to the masses.  He promised an easy, counterfeit salvation.  For those who understand Lucifer's proposal during the Grand Council in Heaven - I will save every soul - will recognize this part of Nehor's theories.  

Nehor's insidious ideas poisoned the Nephites for generations. Like Korihor, he cast doubts about a Savior because he taught that all men should be saved, no matter what they chose to do in life. This was very popular amongst the people, just as such universal salvation ideas are popular, even today.

This idea of Universal Salvation began in England in the 17th Century and was quite popular on the United States  frontier in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. This teaching was grounded in the idea - what I believe to be mistaken - that because Jesus Christ created all men and is a God of love, He will save everyone.  Of course, Christ does offer salvation to everyone He created.  However, this does not mean that men can make choices without consequences. Jesus does not cut them off; they do that to themselves.  I believe that is not the number of sins we commit or the number of good deeds we do; it is a matter of how we take upon ourselves the name and character traits of Jesus Christ.  It's not what we do so much as who we are becoming.  We can only become true disciples of Christ through His example and atonement.   Even in mainstream Christianity today, there are many who believe they can do what they want and, just by claiming Jesus, be saved. 

Another of Nehor's teaching was that clergy should be paid and paid well.  They should be popular, almost celebrities.  Up until that time, the priests and teachers of the Church had, like the Apostle Paul, supported themselves by the work of their own hands.  In that way, they could teach pure doctrine without being put in the position of teaching what the people wanted to hear, right or wrong, because they were afraid of losing their income. Nehor and his false priests became wealthy and Nehor himself was caught up in pride and the wearing of expensive and elaborate clothing.  Nehor became so full of his own celebrity, that he felt that no one had the right to disagree with him. 

One day he was preaching in a city street. In the crowd that had come to listen to him was an old man by the name of Gideon. Gideon was a believer and a righteous man.  He had lived under the reign of the wicked King Noah and had seen the destruction of a people in apostasy.  He could not be swayed by fancy clothes and persuasive arguments.  He challenged Nehor and bore pure testimony. Nehor was furious!

He pulled his sword and smote Gideon multiple times with the flat of his sword.  I doubt that his intention was to murder Gideon or he would have run him through, but because Gideon was such an old man, he died of his wounds.

Nehor was taken before the chief judge, a man named Alma.  Nehor would preach whatever he wanted so long as he truly believed it, but when he killed Gideon, he was held accountable before the law. Alma found him guilty of murder.  He also chastised him for introducing priestcraft among the nation.  Priesthood is where a man serves God.  Priestcraft is where a man assumes a false sense of righteousness, but serves only himself.  Nehor was sentenced to death. Just before he was executed, he admitted before God and the world that the things he had been teaching were false and contrary to the word of God. (See the story in the Book of Alma, chapter one, in the Book of Mormon.)

The damage was done.  Because Nehor made salvation seem easy, his philosophies lived on long after his death.  There are Nehors among us today, in both religion and politics.  They teach that there are no absolutes or universal values and whatever a person did, he had no need to fear punishment.  Nehor (and the Nehors today) may have persuasive arguments, but when one starts with a false premise, you will always come to the wrong conculsion, no matter how attractive and convincing the arguments may appear.

In other words, just because you read it on Facebook doesn't mean it is true.  How many people just parrot such sound bytes when in reality they do not know whereof they speak?  We need to seek accurate knowledge by both study and faith (Doctrine and Covenants 109: 7) so that we will not be led astray by the antichrists among us today.

© Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson, December 20, 2019