Korihor was an anti-Christ who came into the land of Zarahemla around 74 B.C. and preached that there would be no Christ. He told the people that the prophecies of Christ were foolish traditions of their fathers, that no one could know of things to come or things they could not see, and that the expectation of a remission of sins was the effect of a frenzied mind (Alma 30:12-18). He taught that no atonement could be made for sin, that every man prospered according to his own genius and conquered according to his own strength, and that “whatsoever a man did was no crime”; when a man was dead, that was the end (Alma 30:17). He led away many, including women and men whom he drew into whoredoms.
Korihor went to the land of Jershon to preach among the people of Ammon, former Lamanites, but they bound him and carried him before Ammon, their high priest, who had him taken out of the land. He then went to the land of Gideon, where the high priest Giddonah and the chief judge questioned him; he answered by accusing the priests of binding the people in ignorance to glut themselves on their labors, and denied that anyone could know Christ would come (Alma 30:19-21). Because of the hardness of his heart and his reviling against God, the authorities in Gideon bound him and sent him to Zarahemla to be brought before Alma the high priest and the chief judge (Alma 30:22-29).
Before Alma, Korihor again accused the priests of preaching for gain. Alma answered that he had labored with his own hands and never received payment for his ministry, and asked whether Korihor believed in God; Korihor said he did not. Alma told him he was possessed of a lying spirit and that he had “put off the Spirit of God that it may have no place in you,” so that the devil had power over him (Alma 30:42). Korihor demanded a sign; Alma replied that he had signs enough in the scriptures, the earth, and the motion of the planets, and warned that if Korihor denied God again he would be struck dumb. When Korihor again refused to believe without a sign, Alma declared that he would be struck dumb, and Korihor lost the power of speech (Alma 30:30-50). Writing his answers, Korihor admitted he had always known there was a God, and that the devil had deceived him by appearing as an angel and teaching him to say there was no God. He taught those words because they pleased the carnal mind, until he believed them himself (Alma 30:52-53). His later confession — that he “always knew” there was a God yet suppressed that witness until he came to believe his own lies — illustrates that his unbelief began as a willed act, not passive victimization.
Korihor asked Alma to pray that the curse be removed, but Alma said that if it were lifted he would again lead the people away, and left the matter to God. The curse remained; Korihor was cast out and went from house to house begging for food. After a proclamation of what had happened to him, those who had believed his words were converted again to the Lord. He went among the Zoramites, a people who had separated from the Nephites under a leader named Zoram, and there he was run upon and trodden down until he was dead (Alma 30:54-59). The record closes that the devil will not support his children at the last day, but drags them down to hell (Alma 30:60).