ALMA 30
AntiChrists and How to Defeat Them
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
~ Sun Tzu
Who are the most iconic movie villains of the last 20 years?
So among these three, who is the most evil? Who wins a battle between Thanos and Sauron? Sauron and Voldemort?
Korihor is the ultimate bad guy in the Book of Mormon. He is the king of the anti-christs.
What is an Anti-Christ? Someone who tries to take you away from Christ. Another way of looking at these people are Faith Shakers. Korihor is an expert Faith Shaker.
Why target Jesus?
Korihor, anti-Christ from the start…in what way is Jesus standing in his way? It’s one thing for the church, prophets to be an obstacle. Why is Jesus keeping him from it?
You might want to consider why they are asking the question. They have a philosophy that is counter to the church, why do you prefer this prophecy to the doctrine of Christ.
Are there any ulterior motives. What is the personal motivation.
v.17 – There could be no atonement made for the sins of men: He’s not just anti christ he’s anti atonement. why is he anti atonement?
The conclusion: Whatsoever a man did was no crime.
His ultimate goal is to eliminate the possibility of sin. If there is no law telling you that you are doing something wrong, then you can do what you want. How does Jesus get in the way of that? It’s the mercy of Christ that he is opposed to. He didn’t want any consequences. The fact that we need a Savior, means there is something that we need saving from. From Korihor’s perspective, he wants people to do whatever they want to do.
He’s taking Nehor (every one is saved) and taking it one step further: You can live however you want, in fact, might makes right. Social Darwinism at its finest.
Lucifer: Agency is choice coupled with consequence. Lucifer wanted Choice without consequence. Lucifer is the original anti-Christ because he wanted to be the Christ himself. If there is choice without consequence, then there is no need for an atonement.
v. 18 – as a result behaviorally, they are able to “Lift up your head in wickedness”. They can walk around committing sin keeping their heads up high. There is no shame in sin anymore. He tells them that when a man was dead, that was the end thereof. If there is a resurrection, that is bad news, because then there is a chance that there are consequences to our choices.
How to Shake Faith in Six easy steps:
1) Mock Them
- V. 13, Foolish and Vain Hope, v. 14 – foolish traditions, v. 16 – frenzied minds, v.23 – foolish, v. 27 – foolish, v. 31 – silly traditions
- When someone makes fun of you, how do you feel? Embarrassed, you feel shame.
- A very popular way faith shakers use to tear down faith. The basis of faith is believing things which are not seen, but are true. Faith shakers like to make things we believe in look silly or foolish. Reasonable conversation doesn’t cut it, some of the best faith shakers are really funny people, smart people.
- What was the activity of choice in the great and spacious building? Mocking the righteous….help us feel shame 1 Nephi 8:27-28.
- If I can get you to feel like the dumb one in the room, then all of a sudden I can get you to doubt.
2) Antiquate Them
- V.14, v.16, v.23,v. 24, v.28, 28.
- V.24 – ancient prophecies, v. 23 ancient priests
- Faith shakers like to look progressive, modern, they like to make time honored principles look old fashioned.. they are not with the times.
As the least of those who have been sustained by you to witness the guidance of this Church firsthand, I say with all the fervor of my soul that never in my personal or professional life have I ever associated with any group who are so intouch, who know so profoundly the issues facing us, who look so deeply into the old, stay so open to the new, and weigh so carefully, thoughtfully, and prayerfully everything in between. I testify that the grasp this body of men and women have of moral and societal issues exceeds that of any think tank or brain trust of comparable endeavor of which I know anywhere on the earth. I bear personal witness of how thoroughly good they are, of how hard they work, and how humbly they live. It is no trivial matter for this Church to declare to the world prophecy, seership, and revelation, but we do declare it.
~ Jeffrey R. Holland, Oct 2006
3) Equate obedience with bondage
v. 13 – bound down, v. 23 – bound down, v. 24 – bondage, v. 27 – ye keep them down
- Commandments do restrict the desires and will of the natural man. Live in the moment, do what feels good.
- Korihor is painting himself as a liberator. “I’m going to liberate you from all this. You guys have no freedom. You are bound. You are yoked. I’m going to deliver you from this. You’re not enjkoying your right and priveleges and I’m here to liberate you.
Blessed are those who keep the commandments – talk by Elder keech with the sharks
4) Invent a power struggle
- V. 23 – usurp power and authority over them, v.28 – priests yoke them according to their desires, v. 31 – what’s his argument against the authority of the church?
- Convince people that leaders are motivated by exercising power over them to get personal gain.
5) Slip in a Lie
- V. 27, 31 – Korihor lies about the motives of the church leaders. A lot of faith shakers will lead with a little truth, then slip in a lie. Those who are less informed, they will fall victim to those lies. Satan is the father of lies, he is an expert at deploying them.
6) Undercut their Doctrine
- V. 13 No man can know anything which is to come, v. 15, v. 17, there shall be no atonement, whatsoever a man does, there is no crime, v. 26 – you do not know there shall be a Christ, v. 28 – a being who never has been seen and was never known.
- Enemies of the Gospel don’t often argue against our morals or our actions, they go after our Doctrine. Korihor one by one denies that they are real. You cannot know of things which you cannot see.
- Something can only be true if it is observable. Don’t condemn us for something we are not saying, the language of faith is not the same as the language of science. Korihor says there is no atonement.
- Sherem says we are saved by our works, Nehor says everyone is saved no matter what, Korihor says, saved from what? There is nothing to be saved from. It doesn’t matter what philosophy, as long as it leads you away from Christ.
- Korihor’s alternative to salvation thr9ough Christ? V. 18 – everyman fared in this life according to the management of the creature. Every man conquered according to his strength. Social Darwinism, Survival of the Fittest. Forget fairness and charity, make all your decisions based on how they benfit you.
Have you ever had any experience with these tactics? Satan’s methods haven’t changed much, so let’s be aware of them, and be prepared for them.
How to Defend your Faith in Six Easy Steps
What is the most stable structure that can be built? A pyramid, can withstand an earthquake, erosion by water, they are basically man-made mountains.
The six steps don’t matter if you aren’t doing this one thing (30:3): Keep the Commandments, observe the ordinances
- Why is it so important to keep the commandments?
- Helaman 5:12
- Mosiah 3:19 – yields to the enticings of the Holy Ghost
In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost. My beloved brothers and sisters, I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation. - Russell M. Nelson
1) Just Walk Away
v. 20, 21 – how do the people respond to the attacks on their faith?
- we don’t have to seek out and put up with blatent attacks on what we believe. When we can tell the principle motive is just to tear down what we believe, why seek it out? Maybe we should just cast it out. The purpose of a missionary is not to argue, it’s to invite.
- Should we seek it out online? If we spend out lives in chat rooms, message boards, watching videos on Mormon Stories, or other such sites, isn’t healthy and helping us? No, it isn’t.
2) Declare the Truth
- Correct the truth v. 32 -34 – what does Alma do here? Sets the record straight. Don’t let them get away with lies. To correct them, we have to know the truth ourselves. We have to study, ponder, and pray. Know our doctrine well. Know the facts. Study out in our minds the way we would answer questions about our beliefs.
3) Refuse Manipulation
- v. 35 – Korihor is saying that the people in bondage, that they are so sad, so miserable in their bondage. Alma is saying, hey, these people are happy. Don’t let them tell you how you feel. They want to dicate how you feel about things. Your church makes you pay tithing. You have to go to church on Sunday. Say how you feel. I’m grateful, we get to decide how we feel and we should express that boldly.
4) Bear Testimony
v. 39 – I know there is a God – sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Short true statements of belief are an effective way to thwart attacks.
5) Put them on the defensive
V. 40 – what proof do you have that there is no God. Don’t let them back you into a corner, they don’t have all the answers. It’s mostly their opinion, it’s their belief, they don’t have proof either. They have no valid alternatives, they are just tearing you down, what are they going to build in its place. It’s a lot of arguments, opinions, theories – But you don’t prove a negative! If you tell me there is Jesus, you have to prove it.
6) Know why you know.
v. 41 – all things are a testimony that they are true. You have all these proofs that they are true. Know why you know. Alma has a pyramid testimony. At the top of our testimony put the words I know. What is it founded on? Is it feelings and emotions? Feelings aren’t always the most stable of things, we know the Spirit communicates through our hearts. But we have to have a stronger foundation than just that:
Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen
Faith is based on substance and evidence (and assurance – added by JST)
Korihor doesn’t want to plant a seed, doesn’t want to do any work.
v. 44 – though has hast signs enough
Michael Wilcox's Pyramid of Truth
1) Evidence of Experience – we have had experiences with divine things. How many people here have had experiences with God? The collective real life experiences of so many is a testimony
2) Authority – Others with authority, whom we trust, have told us so. I believe in those who claim they have. Do you get the sense that the 12 are putting on aires? We all believe in some sort of authority, scientists, politicians, the media, - how often are these guys wrong?
3) Scriptures – The scriptures are their own sort of evidence. They are tangible and real. The bible exists, the Book of Mormon exists, you have to account for that existence somehow. The fact these books exist, and the power they have is evidence and substance for our faith. In our church, we have four of them.
4) The substance and evidence of reason – look around you, look at the planets, and everything around you. Can you believe that you could have all this order, this amazing stuff, and there is nothing behind it. Reason dictates against it. There must be intelligence behind all that beauty and order.
“Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God, But only he who sees takes off his shoes; The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”
~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning
5) Feelings – v. 45-46 – Korihor wasn’t willing to let the heart be a part of his equation, he didn’t want to listen to the feelings of the Spirit, he wanted everything to be empirical. 2 Nephi 33:1
D&C 8:2 – I will tell you in your heart and in your mind.
As people of faith, we have a firm foundation – it is far deeper than feelings alone. When we say that we know, it is important that we express how we know.
Have any of these steps ever helped you to fend off the faith-shakers of your life? How?
What evidence, substance, and assurance has helped you to form the pyramid of your faith?
~ Sun Tzu
Who are the most iconic movie villains of the last 20 years?
So among these three, who is the most evil? Who wins a battle between Thanos and Sauron? Sauron and Voldemort?
Korihor is the ultimate bad guy in the Book of Mormon. He is the king of the anti-christs.
What is an Anti-Christ? Someone who tries to take you away from Christ. Another way of looking at these people are Faith Shakers. Korihor is an expert Faith Shaker.
Why target Jesus?
Korihor, anti-Christ from the start…in what way is Jesus standing in his way? It’s one thing for the church, prophets to be an obstacle. Why is Jesus keeping him from it?
You might want to consider why they are asking the question. They have a philosophy that is counter to the church, why do you prefer this prophecy to the doctrine of Christ.
Are there any ulterior motives. What is the personal motivation.
v.17 – There could be no atonement made for the sins of men: He’s not just anti christ he’s anti atonement. why is he anti atonement?
The conclusion: Whatsoever a man did was no crime.
His ultimate goal is to eliminate the possibility of sin. If there is no law telling you that you are doing something wrong, then you can do what you want. How does Jesus get in the way of that? It’s the mercy of Christ that he is opposed to. He didn’t want any consequences. The fact that we need a Savior, means there is something that we need saving from. From Korihor’s perspective, he wants people to do whatever they want to do.
He’s taking Nehor (every one is saved) and taking it one step further: You can live however you want, in fact, might makes right. Social Darwinism at its finest.
Lucifer: Agency is choice coupled with consequence. Lucifer wanted Choice without consequence. Lucifer is the original anti-Christ because he wanted to be the Christ himself. If there is choice without consequence, then there is no need for an atonement.
v. 18 – as a result behaviorally, they are able to “Lift up your head in wickedness”. They can walk around committing sin keeping their heads up high. There is no shame in sin anymore. He tells them that when a man was dead, that was the end thereof. If there is a resurrection, that is bad news, because then there is a chance that there are consequences to our choices.
How to Shake Faith in Six easy steps:
1) Mock Them
- V. 13, Foolish and Vain Hope, v. 14 – foolish traditions, v. 16 – frenzied minds, v.23 – foolish, v. 27 – foolish, v. 31 – silly traditions
- When someone makes fun of you, how do you feel? Embarrassed, you feel shame.
- A very popular way faith shakers use to tear down faith. The basis of faith is believing things which are not seen, but are true. Faith shakers like to make things we believe in look silly or foolish. Reasonable conversation doesn’t cut it, some of the best faith shakers are really funny people, smart people.
- What was the activity of choice in the great and spacious building? Mocking the righteous….help us feel shame 1 Nephi 8:27-28.
- If I can get you to feel like the dumb one in the room, then all of a sudden I can get you to doubt.
2) Antiquate Them
- V.14, v.16, v.23,v. 24, v.28, 28.
- V.24 – ancient prophecies, v. 23 ancient priests
- Faith shakers like to look progressive, modern, they like to make time honored principles look old fashioned.. they are not with the times.
As the least of those who have been sustained by you to witness the guidance of this Church firsthand, I say with all the fervor of my soul that never in my personal or professional life have I ever associated with any group who are so intouch, who know so profoundly the issues facing us, who look so deeply into the old, stay so open to the new, and weigh so carefully, thoughtfully, and prayerfully everything in between. I testify that the grasp this body of men and women have of moral and societal issues exceeds that of any think tank or brain trust of comparable endeavor of which I know anywhere on the earth. I bear personal witness of how thoroughly good they are, of how hard they work, and how humbly they live. It is no trivial matter for this Church to declare to the world prophecy, seership, and revelation, but we do declare it.
~ Jeffrey R. Holland, Oct 2006
3) Equate obedience with bondage
v. 13 – bound down, v. 23 – bound down, v. 24 – bondage, v. 27 – ye keep them down
- Commandments do restrict the desires and will of the natural man. Live in the moment, do what feels good.
- Korihor is painting himself as a liberator. “I’m going to liberate you from all this. You guys have no freedom. You are bound. You are yoked. I’m going to deliver you from this. You’re not enjkoying your right and priveleges and I’m here to liberate you.
Blessed are those who keep the commandments – talk by Elder keech with the sharks
4) Invent a power struggle
- V. 23 – usurp power and authority over them, v.28 – priests yoke them according to their desires, v. 31 – what’s his argument against the authority of the church?
- Convince people that leaders are motivated by exercising power over them to get personal gain.
5) Slip in a Lie
- V. 27, 31 – Korihor lies about the motives of the church leaders. A lot of faith shakers will lead with a little truth, then slip in a lie. Those who are less informed, they will fall victim to those lies. Satan is the father of lies, he is an expert at deploying them.
6) Undercut their Doctrine
- V. 13 No man can know anything which is to come, v. 15, v. 17, there shall be no atonement, whatsoever a man does, there is no crime, v. 26 – you do not know there shall be a Christ, v. 28 – a being who never has been seen and was never known.
- Enemies of the Gospel don’t often argue against our morals or our actions, they go after our Doctrine. Korihor one by one denies that they are real. You cannot know of things which you cannot see.
- Something can only be true if it is observable. Don’t condemn us for something we are not saying, the language of faith is not the same as the language of science. Korihor says there is no atonement.
- Sherem says we are saved by our works, Nehor says everyone is saved no matter what, Korihor says, saved from what? There is nothing to be saved from. It doesn’t matter what philosophy, as long as it leads you away from Christ.
- Korihor’s alternative to salvation thr9ough Christ? V. 18 – everyman fared in this life according to the management of the creature. Every man conquered according to his strength. Social Darwinism, Survival of the Fittest. Forget fairness and charity, make all your decisions based on how they benfit you.
Have you ever had any experience with these tactics? Satan’s methods haven’t changed much, so let’s be aware of them, and be prepared for them.
How to Defend your Faith in Six Easy Steps
What is the most stable structure that can be built? A pyramid, can withstand an earthquake, erosion by water, they are basically man-made mountains.
The six steps don’t matter if you aren’t doing this one thing (30:3): Keep the Commandments, observe the ordinances
- Why is it so important to keep the commandments?
- Helaman 5:12
- Mosiah 3:19 – yields to the enticings of the Holy Ghost
In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost. My beloved brothers and sisters, I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation. - Russell M. Nelson
1) Just Walk Away
v. 20, 21 – how do the people respond to the attacks on their faith?
- we don’t have to seek out and put up with blatent attacks on what we believe. When we can tell the principle motive is just to tear down what we believe, why seek it out? Maybe we should just cast it out. The purpose of a missionary is not to argue, it’s to invite.
- Should we seek it out online? If we spend out lives in chat rooms, message boards, watching videos on Mormon Stories, or other such sites, isn’t healthy and helping us? No, it isn’t.
2) Declare the Truth
- Correct the truth v. 32 -34 – what does Alma do here? Sets the record straight. Don’t let them get away with lies. To correct them, we have to know the truth ourselves. We have to study, ponder, and pray. Know our doctrine well. Know the facts. Study out in our minds the way we would answer questions about our beliefs.
3) Refuse Manipulation
- v. 35 – Korihor is saying that the people in bondage, that they are so sad, so miserable in their bondage. Alma is saying, hey, these people are happy. Don’t let them tell you how you feel. They want to dicate how you feel about things. Your church makes you pay tithing. You have to go to church on Sunday. Say how you feel. I’m grateful, we get to decide how we feel and we should express that boldly.
4) Bear Testimony
v. 39 – I know there is a God – sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Short true statements of belief are an effective way to thwart attacks.
5) Put them on the defensive
V. 40 – what proof do you have that there is no God. Don’t let them back you into a corner, they don’t have all the answers. It’s mostly their opinion, it’s their belief, they don’t have proof either. They have no valid alternatives, they are just tearing you down, what are they going to build in its place. It’s a lot of arguments, opinions, theories – But you don’t prove a negative! If you tell me there is Jesus, you have to prove it.
6) Know why you know.
v. 41 – all things are a testimony that they are true. You have all these proofs that they are true. Know why you know. Alma has a pyramid testimony. At the top of our testimony put the words I know. What is it founded on? Is it feelings and emotions? Feelings aren’t always the most stable of things, we know the Spirit communicates through our hearts. But we have to have a stronger foundation than just that:
Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen
Faith is based on substance and evidence (and assurance – added by JST)
Korihor doesn’t want to plant a seed, doesn’t want to do any work.
v. 44 – though has hast signs enough
Michael Wilcox's Pyramid of Truth
1) Evidence of Experience – we have had experiences with divine things. How many people here have had experiences with God? The collective real life experiences of so many is a testimony
2) Authority – Others with authority, whom we trust, have told us so. I believe in those who claim they have. Do you get the sense that the 12 are putting on aires? We all believe in some sort of authority, scientists, politicians, the media, - how often are these guys wrong?
3) Scriptures – The scriptures are their own sort of evidence. They are tangible and real. The bible exists, the Book of Mormon exists, you have to account for that existence somehow. The fact these books exist, and the power they have is evidence and substance for our faith. In our church, we have four of them.
4) The substance and evidence of reason – look around you, look at the planets, and everything around you. Can you believe that you could have all this order, this amazing stuff, and there is nothing behind it. Reason dictates against it. There must be intelligence behind all that beauty and order.
“Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God, But only he who sees takes off his shoes; The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”
~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning
5) Feelings – v. 45-46 – Korihor wasn’t willing to let the heart be a part of his equation, he didn’t want to listen to the feelings of the Spirit, he wanted everything to be empirical. 2 Nephi 33:1
D&C 8:2 – I will tell you in your heart and in your mind.
As people of faith, we have a firm foundation – it is far deeper than feelings alone. When we say that we know, it is important that we express how we know.
Have any of these steps ever helped you to fend off the faith-shakers of your life? How?
What evidence, substance, and assurance has helped you to form the pyramid of your faith?