The Collected Works. Joseph Smith Jr.
11 For there was a law that men should be judged according to
their crimes. Nevertheless, there was no law against a man's
belief; therefore, a man was punished only for the crimes which
he had done; therefore all men were on equal grounds.
Alma 30:12
12 And this Anti-Christ, whose name was Korihor, (and the law
could have no hold upon him) began to preach unto the people that
there should be no Christ. And after this manner did he preach,
saying:
Alma 30:13
13 O ye that are bound down under a foolish and a vain hope, why
do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things? Why do ye look
for a Christ? For no man can know of anything which is to come.
Alma 30:14
14 Behold, these things which ye call prophecies, which ye say
are handed down by holy prophets, behold, they are foolish
traditions of your fathers.
Alma 30:15
15 How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of
things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there
shall be a Christ.
Alma 30:16
16 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.
Alma 30:17
17 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 30:18
18 And thus he did preach unto them, leading away the hearts of
many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness,
yea, leading away many women, and also men, to commit
whoredoms—telling them that when a man was dead, that was the
end thereof.
Alma 30:19
19 Now this man went over to the land of Jershon also, to preach
these things among the people of Ammon, who were once the people
of the Lamanites.
Alma 30:20
20 But behold they were more wise than many of the Nephites; for
they took him, and bound him, and carried him before Ammon, who
was a high priest over that people.
Alma 30:21
21 And it came to pass that he caused that he should be carried
out of the land. And he came over into the land of Gideon, and
began to preach unto them also; and here he did not have much
success, for he was taken and bound and carried before the high
priest, and also the chief judge over the land.
Alma 30:22
22 And it came to pass that the high priest said unto him: Why
do ye go about perverting the ways of the Lord? Why do ye teach
this people that there shall be no Christ, to interrupt their
rejoicings? Why do ye speak against all the prophecies of the
holy prophets?
Alma 30:23
23 Now the high priest's name was Giddonah. And Korihor said
unto him: Because I do not teach the foolish traditions of your
fathers, and because I do not teach this people to bind
themselves down under the foolish ordinances and performances
which are laid down by ancient priests, to usurp power and
authority over them, to keep them in ignorance, that they may not
lift up their heads, but be brought down according to thy words.
Alma 30:24
24 Ye say that this people is a free people. Behold, I say they
are in bondage. Ye say that those ancient prophecies are true.
Behold, I say that ye do not know that they are true.
Alma 30:25
25 Ye say that this people is a guilty and a fallen people,
because of the transgression of a parent. Behold, I say that a
child is not guilty because of its parents.
Alma 30:26
26 And ye also say that Christ shall come. But behold, I say
that ye do not know that there shall be a Christ. And ye say
also that he shall be slain for the sins of the world—
Alma 30:27
27 And thus ye lead away this people after the foolish
traditions of your fathers, and according to your own desires;
and ye keep them down, even as it were in bondage, that ye may
glut yourselves with the labors of their hands, that they durst
not look up with boldness, and that they durst not enjoy their
rights and privileges.
Alma 30:28
28 Yea, they durst not make use of that which is their own lest
they should offend their priests, who do yoke them according to
their desires, and have brought them to believe, by their
traditions and their dreams and their whims and their visions and
their pretended mysteries, that they should, if they did not do
according to their words, offend some unknown being, who they say
is God—a being who never has been seen or known, who never was
nor ever will be.
Alma 30:29
29 Now when the high priest and the chief judge saw the hardness
of his heart, yea, when they saw that he would revile even
against God, they would not make any reply to his words; but they
caused that he should be bound; and they delivered him up into
the hands of the officers, and sent him to the land of Zarahemla,
that he might be brought before Alma, and the chief judge who was
governor over all the land.
Alma 30:30
30 And it came to pass that when he was brought before Alma and
the chief judge, he did go on in the same manner as he did in the
land of Gideon; yea, he went on to blaspheme.
Alma