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Martin Harris acted as Joseph Smith's scribe from 12 April to 14 June 1828, and at the end of this period they had written out 116 pages. But, when Joseph gave Martin permission to take the pages home, the manuscript disappeared. Joseph found another scribe in the person of Oliver Cowdery, who arrived in April 1829. In May 1829, Joseph received a revelation, which warned that wicked men had obtained the manuscript and had altered the words. Joseph was instructed to substitute the small plates of Nephi for the lost portion, which was called the Book of Lehi. Mormon states in the Words of Mormon that he found the small plates when he was searching through the other plates that he was abridging, and since he liked them so much, he decided to include them with his abridgment. The small plates contained Nephi's abridgment of the Book of Lehi and some greatly abbreviated records kept by various prophets. The missing manuscript had gone as far as the reign of king Benjamin, and the small plates also conveniently stop at this point. With the substitution of the small plates, Joseph did not have to produce an exact duplicate of the original manuscript.

However, this substitution of material is only one of many indications that the Book of Mormon has been altered. The text is filled with inconsistencies and lacunae; essential information is missing at every turn, and there are long historical gaps. For example, we do not know the history of Laban or exactly what position he held in Jewish society. We are told that his fathers kept the brass plates, but we do not know how they obtained them or what the origin of the plates was.

Since Lehi and his sons lived in Jerusalem, they could not have been entirely ignorant of the lands surrounding Palestine, and yet Nephi does not give us any place names which we can identify. He speaks of the valley of Lemuel, the river Laman, Shazer, Nahom, Bountiful, and the Irreantum Sea, but we are left to guess where these sites were.

The description of Lehi's journey through the wilderness is obviously greatly abbreviated. The account suggests that Lehi's group traveled in a fairly straight line, first southeast and then east. But two other passages in the Book of Mormon indicate that their course was not so direct. King Benjamin gave the "ball or director," which guided Lehi's group, to Mosiah II and stated: "Therefore, as they were unfaithful they did not prosper nor progress in their journey, but were driven back, and incurred the displeasure of God upon them; and therefore they were smitten with famine and sore afflictions" (Mosiah 1:17). The text does describe an incident in which Nephi was unable to obtain food, because he had broken his bow, but it does not state that the group was driven back. In fact, Nephi says that they "did again take our journey, traveling nearly the same course as in the beginning" (1 Nephi 16:33). In another passage Alma also delivers the Liahona to his son and again states concerning Lehi's group: "They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey; therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did not travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions" (Alma 37:41-42). But the Book of Mormon does not describe the winding course indicated by Benjamin and Alma.

When Lehi and his family landed in the New World, Nephi reported finding cows, oxen, asses, horses, and goats in the forests. If we knew at this point in the story that the Jaredites, who preceded Lehi by hundreds of years, had brought animals with them to the New World, we would be able to account for these domesticated animals. But neither we nor Nephi know of the Jaredites; nonetheless, Nephi expresses no surprise at finding such animals, nor does he speculate that their presence might be a sign of an already existing civilization.

Joseph, the son of Lehi, received a greater blessing than his brothers. In 2 Nephi 3, Lehi relates prophecies made by Joseph of Egypt which promised that young Joseph's seed would not be destroyed and that a "choice seer" would be produced from his progeny. This seer would restore a book written by Joseph's descendants. Joseph and his brother Jacob were later consecrated by Nephi as priests and teachers. But following this, Joseph completely disappears from the Book of Mormon. Although there are a few references to Josephites, no figure in the Book of Mormon claims to be a descendant of Joseph.

There are indications that the blessing which Lehi gave to Joseph really belonged to Nephi. The people who were blessed by Lehi are listed in the text in the following order: Laman, Lemuel, Sam, the sons of Ishmael, Zoram, Jacob, Joseph, the children of Laman, the sons and daughters of Lemuel, all the household of Ishmael, and Sam. The one person who is conspicuously absent from this list is Nephi, although Lehi mentions Nephi in connection with the blessings which he gave to Laman, Lemuel, Sam, Zoram, and Jacob. And although the children of Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael received blessings, the children of Nephi are not mentioned. The omission of Nephi leads us to suspect that Joseph was not really Lehi's son and that Joseph's blessing should have been conferred upon Nephi and his posterity.

Furthermore, Nephi says, "the Lord God promised unto me that these things which I write shall be kept and preserved, and handed down unto my seed, from generation to generation, that the promise may be fulfilled unto Joseph, that his seed should never perish as long as the earth should stand. Wherefore, these things shall go from generation to generation as long as the earth shall stand" (2 Nephi 25:21-22). Nephi seems to link himself directly with the promise which the Lord gave to the biblical Joseph. Therefore, it should be his seed which would be preserved forever and his seed which would accept the book, as was promised to Joseph, the son of Lehi. This seems to be stated in these words which the Lord addressed to Nephi: "And also, that I may remember the promises which I have made unto thee, Nephi, and also unto thy father, that I would remember your seed; and that the words of your seed should proceed forth out of my mouth unto your seed . . . ." (2 Nephi 29:2). This appears to assert that Nephi had been promised that his seed would receive the book, which is precisely the promise that was given to Joseph.

Nephi's brother Sam is another curiosity. Like Joseph, he too disappears from the Book of Mormon, and there are never any references to his posterity. It is also odd that the name Samuel would be shortened to Sam. It may be significant that Joseph Smith had a brother named Samuel.

Jacob tells us that Nephi anointed "a man" to be king, but he never tells us who this man was. And although Jacob says that there were a number of kings who succeeded Nephi, the Book of Mormon never mentions them. It is also peculiar that Jacob lived long enough to see more than one successor to Nephi.

Jacob 3:14 says: "And I make an end of speaking these words." However, Jacob continues his writings for three more chapters, at the end of which he says, "Finally, I bid you farewell, until I shall meet you before the pleasing bar of God, which bar striketh the wicked with awful dread and fear. Amen" (Jacob 6:13). But this is still not the last that we hear from Jacob. The following chapter tells of a confrontation between Jacob and an unbeliever named Sherem, which occurred "after some years had passed away" (Jacob 7:1). Finally, Jacob "began to be old" and passed the plates on to his son Enos. But first Jacob wrote, "and to the reader I bid farewell, hoping that many of my brethren may read my words. Brethren, adieu" (Jacob 7:27). The comic quality of these passages is heightened by the nineteenth century language placed in the mouth of a sixth century B.C. Nephite. The text also suggests that the editor of Jacob's records could not decide where he wanted to stop and kept adding material without revising what he had already done.

After the Book of Jacob, the writings of the prophets become ever more brief and the chronology ever more obscure. Enos, the son of Jacob, says that he saw wars between the Lamanites and Nephites, but he gives us no details. His history ends at about the 179th year after the departure from Jerusalem, 124 years after the death of Nephi.

Jarom's record says that the Nephites remained righteous, swept the Lamanites out of the land, fortified their cities, spread upon the face of the land, and became very prosperous. Jarom was the son of Enos, and his history ends after 238 years had passed away. The record of Omni, the son of Jarom, fills only three verses, but extends to the 282nd year. He says merely that there were periods of peace and periods of war. Omni's son Amaron adds another five verses, in which he states rather matter-of-factly, "Behold, it came to pass that three hundred and twenty years had passed away, and the more wicked part of the Nephites were destroyed" (Omni 1:5). It seems that such a calamity would deserve more than a few passing remarks. Amaron gave the plates to his brother Chemish, who writes one verse, in which he really says nothing at all. Abinadom, the son of Chemish, states that he saw and participated in "much war"; his record consists of two verses.

Finally, Amaleki, the son of Abinadom, gives us a smattering of information about Mosiah. The Lord warned Mosiah to flee out of the land of Nephi, but Amaleki does not tell us why, nor does he describe the fate of those Nephites who were left behind. We know nothing about Mosiah's background, nor, for that matter, do we know much about Amaleki. Amaleki gives us little information about the people of Zarahemla. We never learn what route these people traveled from Jerusalem to reach the New World, or what kind of ship conveyed them there.

Amaleki gives part of the history of King Benjamin, stating that Benjamin drove the Lamanites out of the land. He also describes a group of people who set out for the land of Nephi to regain the land of their inheritance, but he does not name the leader of the colony.

The Words of Mormon follow, in which Mormon again describes a great battle between the Nephites and Lamanites, which seems to be essentially the same information which Amaleki had already given us. However, Mormon does not mention the expedition which set out for the land of Nephi.

The Book of Mosiah begins by restating that there was peace in the land. Waxing old, Benjamin then conferred the kingdom on his son Mosiah. Again no mention is made of the expedition to the land of Nephi. However, after Mosiah had reigned for three years, he sent out another group under the leadership of Ammon to locate the colony in the land of Nephi. Ammon found king Limhi reigning in Lehi-Nephi. Limhi was the son of Noah, who was the son of Zeniff, the leader of the colony. Amaleki's history seems to indicate that Zeniff set out after the great battle between the Nephites and Lamanites during the reign of king Benjamin. This would be during the period of peace described by both Mormon and the Book of Mosiah, and this would seem to be a logical time for such an expedition into Lamanite territory.

The record of Zeniff gives us some clues as to the length of his reign in Lehi-Nephi. He says that in the thirteenth year of his reign, there was a battle between his people and the Lamanites, and the Lamanites were driven out (Mosiah 9:14). There then followed a period of twenty-two years of continual peace (Mosiah 10:3, 5). Following this, there was another battle with the Lamanites. By this time, Zeniff was "in my old age" (Mosiah 10:10). After the Lamanites were driven out, Zeniff conferred the kingdom on his son Noah. Sometime after Noah became king, a man named Abinadi began to prophesy among Noah's people and continued to do so two years later (Mosiah 12:1). After Noah put Abinadi to death, his kingdom was invaded by the Lamanites. Noah was killed by his own people, and Limhi, his son, became king.

The editors of the Book of Mormon have tried to supply dates for major events wherever they are missing from the record, and they have suggested the following chronology:

200 B.C. . . . . . Zeniff begins his reign in Lehi-Nephi
160 B.C. . . . . . Noah becomes king
148 B.C. . . . . . Abinadi is put to death
145 B.C. . . . . . Noah is killed; Limhi becomes king
130 B.C. . . . . . King Benjamin educates his three sons
124 B.C. . . . . . Mosiah II is consecrated as king
121 B.C. . . . . . Benjamin dies; Mosiah sends Ammon to find the Zeniff colony

The dates for Mosiah II are among the best documented in the Book of Mormon (see Mosiah 6:4; 29:46; and 3 Nephi 2:4-6) We know that Mosiah was born in 154 B.C. and that he became king in 124 B.C., when he was thirty years old. Benjamin lived only three years longer and died in 121 B.C. The Book of Mormon does not provide any dates for Mosiah I, and the editors do not suggest any.

The editors' chronology suggests 148 B.C. as the date for the death of Abinadi. The text does not indicate how long after the death of Abinadi Noah was killed and Limhi became king, but the editors allow three years. Therefore, when Ammon traveled to Lehi-Nephi in 121 B.C., Mosiah was thirty-three, and Limhi would have been reigning as king for at least twenty-four years. But if Limhi and Mosiah were approximately the same age, as we would expect, Limhi would have become king at about the age of nine. However, we know that Limhi was an adult, because the text refers to him at the time of Noah's death as "a just man" (Mosiah 19:17).

During the period of peace in the land of Zarahemla, Benjamin educated his three sons. The editors suggest a date of 130 B.C., but this would have been only nine years before Benjamin died, and Mosiah would have been twenty-four years old. Why would Benjamin have waited so long to educate his sons?

We must certainly marvel at the great many events which transpired between the reigns of Benjamin and Mosiah. Zeniff reigned in Lehi-Nephi for about forty years. After Noah became king, Abinadi prophesied for two years and was put to death. Alma went to the waters of Mormon, where he gathered a number of followers, and then journeyed to Helam, where his followers built a city and multiplied. In the meantime, Noah was killed, his priests escaped and kidnapped some Lamanite women, and then traveled to Amulon, where they established a colony. Limhi became king and reigned for twenty-one years before Mosiah was consecrated by Benjamin.

There are further problems with the chronology involving Amulon and the other priests of Noah. After king Noah was killed and the priests escaped, "king Limhi did have continual peace in his kingdom for the space of two years" (Mosiah 19:29). Then after losing a series of battles with the Lamanites, Limhi "caused that his people should watch the land round about, that by some means they might take those priests that fled into the wilderness, who had stolen the daughters of the Lamanites, and that had caused such a great destruction to come upon them. . . . for they had come into the land of Nephi by night, and carried off their grain and many of their precious things; therefore they laid wait for them" (Mosiah 21:20-21). Thus the priests were still close enough to Lehi-Nephi to make nighttime raids on the supplies of the people of Limhi, and this was more than two years later. The text then says that "there was no more disturbance between the Lamanites and the people of Limhi, even until the time that Ammon and his brethren came into the land" (Mosiah 21:22). Since Ammon arrived in 121 B.C., it appears that Limhi enjoyed peace for about twenty-two years. Limhi and Ammon almost immediately began laying plans for their escape from the Lamanites. A Lamanite army pursued them, but became lost in the wilderness and stumbled upon Amulon, where Noah's priests were living with their Lamanite wives. But the last indication in the text was that the priests were still in the vicinity of Lehi-Nephi and that Limhi was trying to capture them. In fact, when Ammon came to Lehi-Nephi, Limhi "discovered Ammon and his brethren; and supposing them to be priests of Noah therefore he caused that they should be taken" (Mosiah 21:23). If the priests had been living in Amulon for twenty-two years, why would Limhi still be looking for them, and why would he mistakenly suppose that Ammon and his brethren were the priests?

Another part of the narrative suggests that not many years had passed by: "Yet Ammon and his brethren were filled with sorrow because so many of their brethren had been slain . . . and they also did mourn for the death of Abinadi; and also for the departure of Alma and the people that went with him" (Mosiah 21:29-30). If Limhi's people had been at peace for twenty-two years, why would Ammon lament for those who had been slain? And if it had been twenty-seven years since the death of Abinadi, why would Ammon mourn for Abinadi and for the departure of Alma's people?

It appears from all of these inconsistencies that the Book of Mormon has been altered without regard to maintaining a proper chronology. Furthermore, there seems to be some confusion concerning Benjamin and Mosiah in the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon. Mosiah 21:28 originally read: "And now Limhi was again filled with joy on learning from the mouth of Ammon that king Benjamin had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings." "King Benjamin" was changed to read "king Mosiah." Similarly, Ether 4:1 originally read "king Benjamin" where it now reads "king Mosiah." Ether says that the visions of the brother of Jared were not to be made public until after the death of Christ, "and for this cause did king Benjamin keep them." These passages in the first edition of the Book of Mormon suggest that it was actually Benjamin who was king in the time of Limhi and that he possessed the record of the Jaredites, which was discovered by Limhi's men. If the Book of Mormon was rewritten, making Mosiah the contemporary of Limhi, these two passages were apparently overlooked. This type of restructuring of the Book of Mormon would also explain the many chronological inconsistencies in the record of Benjamin and Mosiah.

The Book of Mormon gives the impression that the groups led by Limhi and Alma both arrived in Zarahemla at about the same time, but they must have been separated by a fairly lengthy period. The Lamanite army which pursued Limhi's group became lost in the wilderness. After many days they found Amulon, where the priests of Noah had already established a colony. Later, both the Lamanites and the Amulonites set out in search of the land of Nephi, but discovered the city of Helam, built by Alma's group. The Lamanites would not leave Helam, but actually imported other colonists. The Lamanite king appointed Amulon to be the king over Helam, and the Lamanites became prosperous traders. Alma's group did not attempt to escape until after Amulon began to place heavy burdens upon them. Thus between the arrival in Zarahemla of the two groups led by Limhi and Alma, there was sufficient time for the Lamanites to discover both Amulon and Helam and to establish themselves as wealthy traders under the kingship of Amulon. This must have required a number of years; however, the editors of the Book of Mormon suggest that Alma arrived in Zarahemla in 120 B.C.

Abinadi had predicted that unless Noah's people repented, they would be brought into bondage. He also prophesied that the people would be smitten with famine, hail, wind, insects, and a great pestilence. The Lord then said, "And it shall come to pass that except they repent I will utterly destroy them from off the face of the earth; yet they shall leave a record behind them, and I will preserve them for other nations which shall possess the land; yea, even this will I do that I may discover the abominations of this people to other nations" (Mosiah 12:8). Very little of Abinadi's prophecy came true, however. Although Noah was killed and his people were brought into bondage, they actually prospered; they were not afflicted by famine, hail, wind, insects, and a great pestilence.

Abinadi spoke as if he fully expected that Noah's people would be utterly destroyed, and that other people would come in to possess the land. His reference to a record which they would leave behind, which the Lord would preserve for other nations, is also very odd. Limhi actually carried the record of the Zeniff colony back to Zarahemla and gave it to Mosiah II. However, some of Limhi's men had discovered the record of the Jaredites, somewhere north of Zarahemla, which was carried back to Lehi-Nephi and was later given to Mosiah to translate. When Alma transferred the record and the interpreters to Helaman, he quoted the Lord's warning against the Jaredites, in words very similar to those of Abinadi: "I will bring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations; and except they repent I will destroy them from off the face of the earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land" (Alma 37:25). The Jaredites were destroyed from off the face of the earth because of their abominations, but Limhi's people were not. They actually escaped and journeyed to the land of Zarahemla with Ammon.

Part of Abinadi's prophecy was not fulfilled until the mission of Ammon II in the land of Nephi. The priests of Noah put Abinadi to death by fire, but before he died, he said, "Behold, even as ye have done unto me, so shall it come to pass that thy seed shall cause that many shall suffer the pains that I do suffer, even the pains of death by fire; and this because they believe in the salvation of the Lord their God" (Mosiah 17:15). It is related in Alma 25 that "almost all the seed of Amulon and his brethren, who were the priests of Noah" were slain by the Nephites, after the destruction of Ammonihah, except for some who fled into the east wilderness. These few survivors caused some Lamanite converts to be put to death, because of their beliefs. This angered the Lamanites, who started to hunt down the seed of Amulon and his brethren. The text claims this as a fulfillment of the words of Abinadi: "And he said unto the priests of Noah that their seed should cause many to be put to death, in the like manner as he was, and that they should be scattered abroad and slain . . . and now behold, these words were verified, for they were driven by the Lamanites, and they were hunted, and they were smitten" (Alma 25:12). However, this is extremely confusing, because Mosiah 25:12 states that "the children of Amulon and his brethren" went with Alma to Zarahemla and became Nephites. Who then were this seed of Amulon and his brethren, who were being killed by the Nephites and Lamanites? Furthermore, Abinadi addressed some of his words directly to the priests: "And it will come to pass that ye shall be afflicted with all manner of diseases because of your iniquities. Yea, and ye shall be smitten on every hand, and shall be driven and scattered to and fro . . . . And in that day ye shall be hunted, and ye shall be taken by the hand of your enemies, and then ye shall suffer, as I suffer, the pains of death by fire" (Mosiah 17:16-18). However, the priests of Noah were not afflicted by disease, they were not smitten, driven, and hunted, and they did not suffer death by fire. They escaped from the Lamanites and started a colony in Amulon. Later Amulon was made king over Helam by the king of the Lamanites and was given authority to appoint teachers throughout the land. The Lamanites became wealthy traders, and the Amulonites became allied with the Amalekites.

In a later passage Mormon associates the prophecies of Abinadi with the conditions which preceded the destruction of the Nephites: "there were sorceries, and witchcrafts, and magics; and the power of the evil one was wrought upon all the face of the land, even unto the fulfilling of all the words of Abinadi, and also Samuel the Lamanite" (Mormon 1:19). Although Samuel's prophecies applied to the Nephites, Abinadi supposedly predicted the destruction of Noah's people, who lived hundreds of years earlier. Since there are so many problems with Abinadi's prophecies, it is evident that the text has been altered.

There is some question about how the term "Nephites" was being used up to the time of Mosiah II. After Nephi and his followers separated from Laman and Lemuel and settled in the city of Nephi, they called themselves "the people of Nephi" (2 Nephi 5:9). The first appearance of the term "Nephites" occurs in the Book of Jacob, after the death of Nephi. Jacob states that Nephi's successors were also called Nephi, and says further, "Now the people which were not Lamanites were Nephites; nevertheless, they were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites. But I, Jacob, shall not hereafter distinguish them by these names, but I shall call them Lamanites that seek to destroy the people of Nephi, and those who are friendly to Nephi I shall call Nephites, or the people of Nephi, according to the reigns of the kings" (Jacob 1:13-14). Thus according to Jacob, "Nephites" had been used as the name of a particular tribe until the death of Nephi, at which time it was used as a general term to designate "those who are friendly to Nephi," and the kings who reigned were called Nephi. Applying the name "Nephites" to the people and "Nephi" to the kings seem to go hand-in-hand.

However, after explaining his definition of "Nephites," Jacob never again uses the term, although he does use the phrase "people of Nephi." On the other hand, the name Nephites is used by Enos, Jarom, Omni, Amaron, and Abinadom. But Amaleki does not use the term in connection with Mosiah I. The text says that Mosiah taught the people of Zarahemla "in his language," when we would expect it to read "in the language of Nephi." And although the people of Zarahemla received Mosiah as their king, Amaleki does not say that they took upon themselves the name of Nephites. He does however use the term when describing a battle during the days of Benjamin. But Benjamin never uses the name Nephites in the Book of Mosiah; he commands Mosiah to "make a proclamation throughout all this land among all this people, or the people of Zarahemla, and the people of Mosiah who dwell in the land" (Mosiah 1:10).

The first occurrence of "Nephites" in the Book of Mosiah is in chapter 7. Despite the fact that Ammon had pointedly introduced himself to Limhi as a descendant of Zarahemla, Limhi hopefully suggested that his brethren in the land of Zarahemla might free his people, and then said, "it is better that we be slaves to the Nephites than to pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites" (Mosiah 7:15). It is not clear why Limhi thought that his people might be enslaved by the Nephites, if they were all brethren. Another King expressed a similar fear to Ammon II, but in his case the fear was justified, since his people were Lamanites. The term "Nephites" does not occur again in the Book of Mosiah until chapter 21, and again it is used in association with Limhi, but this time it refers to Limhi's own people (Mosiah 21:2, 5). This seems rather strange, since Limhi used the term only to refer to Nephites in the land of Zarahemla.

The group which was led to Zarahemla by Alma included those people who had gathered at the waters of Mormon, "in the borders of the land." In Helam they were joined by Lamanites and the priests of Noah, who came from Amulon. The text does not say that the priests had any children when they journeyed to Helam, but by the time Alma escaped, the priests not only had children, but they were apparently mature enough to decide that they wanted to join Alma's group in fleeing to Zarahemla:

those who were the children of Amulon and his brethren, who had taken to wife the daughters of the Lamanites, were displeased with the conduct of their fathers, and they would no longer be called by the names of their fathers, therefore they took upon themselves the name of Nephi, that they might be called the children of Nephi and be numbered among those who were called Nephites. And now all the people of Zarahemla were numbered with the Nephites, and this because the kingdom had been conferred upon none but those who were descendants of Nephi. (Mosiah 25:12-13)

The Book of Mormon states that after Alma's group arrived in Zarahemla, Mosiah called all of the people together, and he "read the records of the people of Zeniff, from the time they left the land of Zarahemla until they returned again. And he also read the account of Alma and his brethren, and all their afflictions, from the time they left the land of Zarahemla until the time they returned again" (Mosiah 25:5-6). This seems to indicate that Alma and a number of other people left Zarahemla and then returned. But according to the text, Alma was a young priest in the reign of Noah, at least 52 years after Zeniff left Zarahemla (Mosiah 17:2). Therefore, Alma should have been born in the land of Lehi-Nephi. If Alma arrived in Lehi-Nephi after Noah became king, the Book of Mormon gives us no account of this.

The text says that "there were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of king Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe the tradition of their fathers" (Mosiah 26:1). This must refer to Benjamin's speech in 124 B.C., when he consecrated Mosiah II as king. Concerning these dissenters, the text states further: "and they were a separate people as to their faith, and remained so ever after . . . . And now in the reign of Mosiah they were not half so numerous as the people of God; but because of the dissensions among the brethren they became more numerous. For it came to pass that they did deceive many with their flattering words" (Mosiah 26:4-6). Apparently then the children who had listened to Benjamin's speech had become adults, since they chose their own religious beliefs and were regarded as a separate people. Furthermore, they persecuted the church so severely that Mosiah had to issue a proclamation forbidding their activities against believers.

The text continues: "And there began to be much peace again in the land; and the people began to be very numerous, and began to scatter abroad upon the face of the earth, yea, on the north and on the south, on the east and on the west, building large cities and villages in all quarters of the land" (Mosiah 27:6). This suggests that a very long time intervened. But the text then states: "Now the sons of Mosiah were numbered among the unbelievers; and also one of the sons of Alma was numbered among them, he being called Alma, after his father; nevertheless, he became a very wicked and an idolatrous man" (Mosiah 27:8). This is the same Alma who became the first chief judge in 91 B.C.

Thus the period between Benjamin's speech and Alma's appointment as chief judge consisted of only thirty-three years. But during this time, the children who had listened to Benjamin grew up and became a fairly large group of dissenters. Following the religious persecutions, there was a period of peace and prosperity, in which the people spread out over the land and built large cities. By this time the sons of Mosiah and Alma had become young men and were trying to destroy the church. However, it appears from the record that the sons of Mosiah and Alma should have reached manhood much earlier. Since Mosiah was thirty years old when he became king, his sons would have been among "the rising generation" who became dissenters, but they began their persecution of the church following the period of expansion. In addition, Alma was nineteen years older than Mosiah and had lived in Helam for some time. When he left Helam, he was joined by the children of the Amulonite priests, who were already adults. If these children had time to grow up before leaving Helam, so did the children of Alma.

Mosiah II had four sons, who went on a mission to the land of Nephi. Ammon traveled to the land of Ishmael, where king Lamoni ruled. There are a number of peculiarities about Lamoni and his people. When Ammon arrived, they were in a state of great spiritual ignorance. The text says, "Now this was the tradition of Lamoni, which he had received from his father, that there was a Great Spirit" (Alma 18:5). But when Ammon asked Lamoni if he believed in the existence of God, Lamoni replied that he did not know what 'God' meant. Ammon then rehearsed the scriptural accounts, followed by an account of Lehi's journey through the wilderness and the rebellions of Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael. And all of this was necessary despite the fact that Lamoni was a descendant of Ishmael. Similarly, when Aaron took his mission to Nephi, he taught the father of Lamoni, who asked, "Is God that Great Spirit that brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem?" (Alma 22:9). This question at least indicates that he remembered something about his history, but Aaron also had to expound the scriptures.

The abysmal ignorance of Lamoni and his father, king of the land of Nephi (who is never named), is not consistent with other facts related in the text. For example, the king admits, "I know that the Amalekites say that there is a God, and I have granted unto them that they should build sanctuaries, that they may assemble themselves together to worship him" (Alma 22:7). In fact, before Aaron arrived in the city of Nephi, he had stopped at Jerusalem, a city which had been built by the Amalekites and the Amulonites: "and he began to preach to them in their synagogues, for they had built synagogues after the order of the Nehors; for many of the Amalekites and the Amulonites were after the order of the Nehors" (Alma 21:4). While Aaron was preaching in one of the synagogues, an Amalekite disputed some of the things that he was saying, and we learn a little about the beliefs of the Amalekites. The man stated, "We do believe that God will save all men" (Alma 21:6). He also said that the Amalekites did not believe in "these foolish traditions" about the Son of God, who would come to redeem mankind: "neither do we believe that thy fathers and also that our fathers did know concerning the things which they spake, of that which is to come" (Alma 21:8). Obviously, the Amalekites knew who God was and even had a concept of the universal salvation of mankind. They also knew of the traditions concerning Christ, even if they did not believe in them. It is difficult to believe, therefore, that the Amalekites were living and worshipping in the midst of the Lamanites, but Lamoni and his father did not know anything about God, the creation of the world, the plan of salvation, Christ, or their own history.

After king Lamoni was converted by Ammon, "he caused that there should be synagogues built in the land of Ishmael" (Alma 21:20), which implies that the Lamanites did not have synagogues of their own before this time. However, after Aaron taught the king of the land of Nephi, the king issued a proclamation which instructed his people that they should not interfere with the missionaries, "nor cast them out of their synagogues . . . but that they should have free access to their houses, and also their temples, and their sanctuaries" (Alma 23:2). Following this the missionaries had great success and converted thousands throughout the land of Nephi. The synagogues, temples, and sanctuaries must have belonged to the Lamanites, because the text says that all of those who were converted were Lamanites and not one was an Amalekite or Amulonite (Alma 23:13; 24:29). But this is inconsistent with the spiritual ignorance of Lamoni and his father. The king said that he allowed the Amalekites to build sanctuaries to worship in, but he did not mention that his own people had numerous buildings for religious purposes.

The state of spiritual darkness in which the Lamanites were living seems to be more appropriate to the condition of the people of Zarahemla, when they were discovered by Mosiah I. Amaleki states that "they had brought no records with them; and they denied the being of their Creator" (Omni 1:17). The Lamanites also had no records, but had an oral tradition about the "Great Spirit," which they apparently did not identify with God. This seems to imply that they had lived in virtual isolation for a long time.

The Lamanites completely overran the land of Nephi after the departure of Mosiah I, and it is curious that they never changed the name of the land. The Lamanites hated the Nephites in general and the memory of Nephi in particular. Zeniff explained that Lamanite tradition claimed that Nephi had wronged his brothers Laman and Lemuel, had taken from them the right to rule, and had robbed them of the brass plates (Mosiah 10:12-17). Similarly, the father of king Lamoni referred to Ammon and his brothers as "these Nephites, who are sons of a liar. Behold, he robbed our fathers" (Alma 20:13). And yet, when the Lamanites gained control, they did not change the name of the land of Nephi or the names of the cities of Nephi and Lehi-Nephi. Why would they retain Nephi's name, if they had such great hatred for him?

We learn that the Amalekites were a group of dissident Nephites (Alma 43:13), but we are never told how they broke away from the Nephites, or how they arrived in the land of Nephi and became associated with the Amulonites.

The Amulonites, the descendants of the priests of Noah, were granted power to appoint teachers in the land of Nephi: "and thus the language of Nephi began to be taught among all the people of the Lamanites. . . . nevertheless they knew not God; neither did the brethren of Amulon teach them anything concerning the Lord their God, neither the law of Moses; nor did they teach them the words of Abinadi; but they taught them that they should keep their record, and that they might write one to another" (Mosiah 24:4-6). This was the state of the Amulonites in the time of Alma I. However, the Amulonites must have later embraced the beliefs of the order of Nehor, for they already belonged to this order when Aaron arrived in the city of Jerusalem. And here we have reached another difficulty, because the sons of Mosiah II set out on their mission to the land of Nephi in 91 B.C., the same year in which Alma II became the first chief judge. And it was in the first year of Alma's reign that Nehor appeared in the land of Zarahemla, declaring that priests and teachers should be supported by the people and that all mankind would be saved. Nehor gained many followers and established a church, but after slaying a man named Gideon, he was condemned to death by Alma. When Aaron reached Jerusalem, he found that the Amalekites and Amulonites already belonged to the order of Nehor and had built synagogues after the manner of the order. But Ammon and his brothers had left Zarahemla before Alma became chief judge and before Nehor started preaching in Zarahemla. The text says only that Ammon and his brothers "journeyed many days in the wilderness" from Zarahemla to the borders of the land of the Lamanites (Alma 17:9). But between their departure and Aaron's arrival in Jerusalem the following events would have to occur: Nehor would establish a church in Zarahemla and would then be put to death, his teachings would spread all the way to the land of Nephi, the Amalekites and Amulonites would be converted to the order of Nehor and would construct synagogues. This is obviously an impossible sequence of events.

There is the possibility that Nehor could have come to Zarahemla from the land of Nephi and that he had already preached and set up synagogues among the Amalekites in Jerusalem. The text does not indicate what the origins of Nehor were. However, if Nehor already had many followers among the Amalekites and Amulonites, we would not expect him to travel alone to preach in Zarahemla, as the text seems to suggest. Furthermore, the narrative states that after Nehor gained many converts in Zarahemla, who gave him money for his support, "he began to be lifted up in the pride of his heart, and to wear very costly apparel, yea, and even began to establish a church after the manner of his preaching" (Alma 1:6). But if Nehor had already established a church in the land of Nephi and had many followers who gave him money, he would have already been a very proud man, who wore costly apparel.

Other information presented in the Book of Mormon fails to provide us with a link between the order of Nehor and the Amalekites and Amulonites. After Nehor was executed, his teachings continued to spread throughout the land of Zarahemla, and his followers began to persecute those who belonged to the church of God. In the fifth year of Alma's reign, a man named Amlici, who belonged to the order of Nehor, gained a number of followers and tried to establish himself as king, but the Amlicites were defeated in battle and driven into the wilderness of Hermounts, where many of them died. We next encounter the order of Nehor in the tenth year of the reign of the judges. Alma and Amulek went on a mission to the city of Ammonihah, where many lawyers, judges, priests and teachers belonged to the order of Nehor. In the eleventh year, the city of Ammonihah was destroyed by the Lamanites, and for many years thereafter it was referred to as the Desolation of Nehors. This is all of the information that we have. There is no explanation of how, when, or why the Amulonites and Amalekites embraced the order of Nehor.

There are reasons to believe that the Book of Mormon does not give us the true doctrines of the order of Nehor. When Alma and Amulek went on a mission to Ammonihah, they were confronted by a lawyer named Zeezrom. It is reasonable to suppose that Zeezrom belonged to the order of Nehor, because as we have already noted, many lawyers and judges in Ammonihah were members of the order. It seems, however, that Zeezrom held some views which differed greatly from the teachings of Nehor and the Amalekites in Jerusalem. Zeezrom offered to give Amulek a quantity of silver, if he would "deny the existence of a Supreme Being" (Alma 11:22). After Amulek rebuked him, Zeezrom asked if there was more than one god, to which Amulek replied, no. Zeezrom then pointed out that Amulek believed in the Son of God and asked if the Son was the Eternal Father, to which Amulek answered, yes. Thus Zeezrom appears to have denied the existence of a Supreme Being, but he might also have believed in a plurality of gods. The order of Nehor, however, supposedly taught that there was one God, who would save all men. Therefore, if Zeezrom did belong to the order of Nehor, there is a problem in explaining his religious views.

However, Zeezrom is not the only one who expresses strange opinions. Another man named Antionah, who was a chief ruler in Ammonihah, apparently did not believe in either the resurrection or the immortality of the soul, for he said to Alma, "What is this that thou hast said, that man should rise from the dead and be changed from this mortal to an immortal state, that the soul can never die?" He also argued that since Adam and Eve did not partake of the fruit of the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, "there was no possible chance that they should live forever" (Alma 12:20-21). In addition, the people of Ammonihah bound Alma and Amulek and took them before the chief judge, who "was after the order and faith of Nehor" (Alma 14:16). They testified against Alma and Amulek, complaining that they had preached "that there was but one God" (Alma 14:5). This again seems to imply that the people of Ammonihah believed in a plurality of gods. Therefore, the order of Nehor appears to have denied monotheism, the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection. Consequently, Nehor could not have taught that God would save all men.

Another passage seems to imply a contradiction in the teachings of Nehor. The text says that the people of Ammonihah "repented not of their sins, ascribing all the power of Alma and Amulek to the devil; for they were of the profession of Nehor, and did not believe in the repentance of their sins" (Alma 15:15). Rejecting repentance for sins would be consistent with a belief in universal salvation, since repentance would be unnecessary. However, the corollary would be to reject the existence of the devil, which the people of Ammonihah clearly did not do. Furthermore, if they believed that Alma and Amulek derived their power from the devil, they must also have believed either that salvation is not universal, since Alma and Amulek would surely be damned, or that repentance is necessary.

There is an obvious break in the narrative at Alma 25. In chapter 24 the Amalekites and Amulonites had begun to destroy the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. These people were those Lamanites who had been converted by Ammon and his brothers. They had buried their weapons and refused to fight, and many of them were slaughtered. But chapter 25 begins with this perplexing sentence: "And behold, now it came to pass that those Lamanites were more angry because they had slain their brethren; therefore they swore vengeance upon the Nephites; and they did no more attempt to slay the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi at that time" (Alma 25:1). This must refer to the Amalekites and Amulonites, and it suggests that many of them were slain by Nephites who came to the defense of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. However, the text gives no other indication that this occurred. Nonetheless, to take revenge upon the Nephites, "those Lamanites" crossed over into the land of Zarahemla and destroyed Ammonihah. This must refer to the destruction of Ammonihah in the eleventh year of the reign of the judges, described in chapter 16. The account there gives no reason for the attack on Ammonihah; there had been "much peace . . . for a certain number of years" (Alma 16:1). What is even more perplexing is the fact that the Amalekites and Amulonites, who belonged to the order of Nehor, would select Ammonihah as a target for revenge, since many important people in that city also belonged to the order of Nehor.

Furthermore, Alma 25 states that after Ammonihah was destroyed, there were many battles between the Lamanites and Nephites, and almost all of the seed of Amulon were killed. The remainder fled into the east wilderness, where they were apparently unmolested by the Nephites. After a time the Lamanites returned to the land of Nephi. However, chapter 16 gives a completely different version. According to this account, the Lamanites continued on to the city of Noah, after destroying Ammonihah, and took captives. They then proceeded south, crossing the river Sidon in the south wilderness beyond the borders of Manti, where they were met by a Nephite army led by Zoram, which freed the captives and drove out the Lamanites.

Those Amulonites who fled into the east wilderness were hunted down by the Lamanites. The text says: "And behold they are hunted at this day by the Lamanites" (Alma 25:9). What can be the meaning of this statement? Who wrote it and what period of time is it referring to?

There also is a lack of agreement between the end of chapter 25 and the beginning of chapter 27. Chapter 25 says that the Lamanites returned to their own land, joined themselves to the Anti-Nephi-Lehies, buried their weapons, and became a righteous people. But Alma 27 says that the Lamanites returned to the land of Nephi, stirred up the people against the Anti-Nephi-Lehies, and began to destroy them again. If these accounts refer to different periods of time, this is not indicated in the text. Chapter 26, which intervenes, is merely Ammon's speech to his brethren, in which he rejoices over the success which they have had in their missionary labors.

The Zoramites, a group of dissident Nephites living in Antionum, turned against the people of Ammon. The text says that in the seventeenth year, the Zoramites began to mix with the Lamanites, and by the following year they had actually become Lamanites (Alma 35:10; 43:4). The Zoramites seem to have been grouped especially with the Amalekites, and together they served as chief captains of the Lamanite armies (Alma 43:6, 13, 20, 44). This is rather unusual, because the Zoramites had built their own synagogues and had peculiar religious beliefs which differed from those of the Amalekites. The Zoramites believed in the doctrine of election. A Zoramite prayer declared that God "hast elected us that we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell" (Alma 31:17). The Amalekites, however, believed that God would save all men. It seems unlikely, therefore, that the Zoramites and Amalekites, who were opposed in their religious beliefs, would become allies. Furthermore, it seems that the Amalekites would have resented the encroaching influence of the Zoramites over the Lamanites, especially since the Zoramites considered themselves to be a chosen people.

Again, there is evidence that the Zoramites held beliefs different from those which the text ascribes to them. Alma 31:1 says that Alma had "received tidings that the Zoramites were perverting the ways of the Lord, and that Zoram, who was their leader, was leading the hearts of the people to bow down to dumb idols." This statement is later contradicted by a description of the Zoramite form of worship. They gathered on one day of the week to their synagogues. In the center of the synagogue was a holy stand, called Rameumptom, and the Zoramites would go one by one to the top of the stand to pray to God. The rest of the week the Zoramites never spoke of God. This is all that constituted their worship. Furthermore, when the Zoramites prayed to God, they stated, "we believe that thou art holy, and that thou wast a spirit, and that thou art a spirit, and that thou wilt be a spirit forever" (Alma 31:15). There does not seem to be anything in the Zoramite worship which suggests any form of idolatry.