You know, Mormon is such a great narrator! His voice in the Book of Mormon is so easily overlooked—and I’m not just talking about things he says in the form of words on a page. I’m also talking about his craft. Being an instrument in God’s hands, he masterfully weaves concepts and ideas into the backdrop of the book’s narrative, and that is such a beautiful thing to me—both the being and the weaving.
Mormon starts the book of Alma by telling us about Nehor, a man whose works in mortality take up less than a chapter in the entire Book of Mormon, but whose works end up affecting the rest of Nephite and Lamanite history.
His story comes on the heels of Mormon’s account of the establishment of God’s church in the land, the establishment of a system of laws and judges instead of kings, and the appointment of Alma the Younger as both high priest and chief judge. Nehor’s arrival in the narrative is not surprising in the least. It follows a pattern, actually. Tares are necessarily sown around the time that wheat is sown in order for the two to grow up indistinguishable from one another, and there is no time wasted in the attempt to plant, in the minds of the Nephites, the concept of priestcraft and the flattering ideologies that come with it. The idea 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” is a very tempting one to believe (Alma 1:4), and it’s no wonder that the people, according to Nehor’s teaching, began to “believe on his words, even so many that they began to support him and give him money.” (v. 5) Nehor himself “becomes popular” in the eyes of the people (v. 3) and begins “to be lifted up in the pride of his heart, and to wear very costly apparel, yea, and even [begins] to establish a church after the manner of his preaching.” (v. 6)
Alma is very aware of the perniciousness of the practice of priestcraft. After defending the practice by bloodshed, Nehor is brought before Alma to be judged according to his crime, and Alma tells Nehor that “thou art not only guilty of priestcraft, but hast endeavored to enforce it by the sword; and were priestcraft to be enforced among this people it would prove their entire destruction.” (v. 12) He quickly sentences Nehor to death for slaying Gideon, but Nehor’s ideas had already taken hold in the hearts of many of the people:
Nevertheless, this did not put an end to the spreading of priestcraft through the land; for there were many who loved the vain things of the world, and they went forth preaching false doctrines; and this they did for the sake of riches and honor. (Alma 1:16)
Persecutions and contentions arise, and notable distinctions become apparent between those who were numbered among the people of God and those who were not (see verses 16-33).
In chapter 2 of Alma, we learn that Nehor’s corruption of religious practices spreads, like a cancer, to the political scene. Verse one of that chapter informs us that Amlici is “…after the order of the man that slew Gideon by the sword…”—an order that not only creates immediate political upheaval, but also later plays a part in the wickedness and destruction of the people in Ammonihah (see Alma 14-16). Amlici also creates an alliance with the Lamanites, leading those who follow him to separate themselves from the Nephites and “to set a mark upon themselves” signifying that separation. We are also later told that “many of the Amalekites and the Amulonites were after the order of the Nehors” (Alma 21:4), their hearts being so hardened that Mormon makes particular mention of the fact that, when Mosiah’s sons preach God’s word both to them and to the Lamanites, only one of the Amalekites is converted, none of the Amulonites are converted, and they harden the hearts of many of the Lamanites as well (see Alma 23:14).
It is in trying to recover from the immediate religious and political fallout of Nehor’s teachings that Alma the Younger makes the decision to relinquish the position of chief judge and to devote himself, whole-heartedly, to the preaching of the word of God (see Alma 3-4).
And thus in the commencement of the ninth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, Alma delivered up the judgment-seat to Nephihah, and confined himself wholly to the high priesthood of the holy order of God, to the testimony of the word, according to the spirit of revelation and prophecy. (Alma 4:20)