Comments about ‘Defending the Faith: Korihor and 'Social Darwinism'’

Mr. Peterson presents an article that certainly gives much to think about especially during this time of political campaigning and the struggle of political candidates to manage the nation and control citizens lives. How ever, it seems right wing and Mormon politics come down more in favor of Korihor and Social Darwinism than Social Christians. Perhaps with god's help it will evolve more towards the center in time.

I assume that Dr. Peterson references the Korihor story to point out that because it raises issues similar to Social Darwinism, which became popular after the writing of the BoM, and that therefore the BoM is prophetic and true. Surely there are other explanations that can make sense as well.

Thomas Paine's "Age of Reason" was published between 1793 and 1807. In it he expressed his creed and then expanded upon that. His creed, in part, states "I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life. . . . I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church."

Any theologian at the time would see this as an attack against God. Someone creating a tract or new scripture would naturally want to set up the philosophy as a character and destroy it. Oddly enough, Alma never produces an argument to counter Korihor, but relies on a miracle that is never repeated on Darwinian Socialists in our age. That would be impressive.

This example from the Book of Mormon, was pivotal in my change of heart from being ulta-capitalist, to Liberal.

Thank you Peterson - as always your column is an interesting and challanging read.
Korihor's life is a study because there have been many such Korihor charactars in the sad history of this world.
The Korihor in the Book of Mormon gained many adherents by his tremendous ability to orate and expound on his beleifs. He denounced the existence of God; eat, drink and be merry with no consquence; and he accused the religeous leaders of power and gain. Alma did not need to make an argument against Korihor's teachings but he pointedly rejected Korihors insistent demand for a sign in order to believe that there was a God. Alma warned Korihor twice what that sign would be but Korihor pridfully and arrogantly rejected the warning - much to his sorrow.

On the contrary, Alma does counter Korihor's arguments. In verse 40 he points out that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Then in verse 45 he implies that for Korihor to assert knowledge in the absence of empirical evidence is to implicitly accept that there are other types or sources of knowledge ("testify"). In 41-44 he lays a plausible argument that some evidence does exist, whether one interprets it as empirical or otherwise. The miraculous punishment had less to do with Korihor's faulty reasoning than it did with his impure motives, as Alma points out in v. 32, 35. I think many atheists or agnostics today do have sincere and genuine motives, so naturally the Lord is not going to strike them down miraculously.

Great article. It'd be interesting to have a historian research whether this particular brand of Epicureanism had been articulated prior to the Book of Mormon.

RE: Korihor denied both that Christ would come and that there was life after death.
If the dead are not raised, ”Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”(1cor 15:22)

The Book of Mormon's Korihor, a kind of archetypal "Social Darwinist. Charles Darwin's
grandfather Erasmus Darwin and Early 19th-century evolutionists such as Jean Baptiste Lamarck led to Darwinism concepts of survival of the fittest which assumed the evolution of mankind and the universe.

Pantheism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism are essentially based on some form of evolution(exaltation),accepting the space-time cosmos as the ultimate reality and denying any real transcendent Creator of the Cosmos.

Alma of course DID respond to Korihors falacious argument by stating that Korihor was possessed with a lying spirit and that Korihor already knew for a fact that Alma labored with his own hands for his own support and that he (Alma) was serving his fellow man without compensation as the chief Priest.

This article makes it seem like the charcater Korihor had revolutionary ideas that predated Marx, Darwin, etc. In reality, The Book of Mormon's author wasn't very imaginative with the character. His names is a slight variation of Nehor--another villain in the Book of Mormon who opposed the church. The purpose of his character in the story was very simple. His purpose was to be a warning to people not to ask for a sign that there is a God or he will punsih you. When writing a religious text for your religion it is a good idea to put a story in there like this one to discourage people from asking for proof.

It is interesting to note that not only was Korihor unable to speak but that he had lost his ability to hear, therefore Alma had to write a note to him.

When you can't hear, it is problematic negotiating the streets where chariots with thundering hoofs will tread you down if you do not hear them coming.

"There is obvious truth to this. Economic competition in free markets — weeding out noncompetitive firms and unsatisfactory products — has proven astoundingly efficient at allocating resources and producing ever greater levels of general prosperity." There is no economic democracy today thus there can not be economic competition. The lobbyists, the lawyers and GREED have killed any democratic economic competition. Incidentally Korihor is a fictional character invented to scare the sheep.

@iron&clay

It's even more interesting when you realize that those chariots with the thundering hooves had never even been imagined in the Americas prior to the advent of the Spaniards.

@nathan000000

"I think many atheists or agnostics today do have sincere and genuine motives, so naturally the Lord is not going to strike them down miraculously."

How do you define sincere and genuine motives? Korihor sincerely believed that the people were being mislead and following foolish traditions. He genuinely believed the people would be happier if they cast aside their religion. Alma accused him of having a knowledge of God's existence since "all things denote there is a God" but Korihor never validated that claim. He just got the hammer dropped on him. And what if atheists and agnostics today have motives that aren't sincere? What if they're just trying to mean to religious people? You're implying that such people would actually be struck down miraculously by God today, right?

I still have my voice...

Will you accept that as "evidence of the absence of a god?"

@3GrandKeys

Korihor did validate that he had a knowledge of God's existence. At verse 52 he says, "I always knew that there was a God." He even said he'd had some kind of supernatural visitation. It appears from the story that he received such a direct punishment because he was acting contrary to such direct, explicit knowledge. Lesser accountability doesn't bring that kind of response. So no, I doubt that God will miraculously strike down an atheist even if he's just trying to be mean.