“…that such things should be done away”

When the Savior visited the Nephites in the New World, he taught them the Gospel as he had in the Old World. One thing that He taught the Nephites that isn’t explicitly taught in the Bible is the subject of contentions and disputations. After teaching the Nephites the true order of baptism, He then cautioned:

“And according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize. And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been. For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.” (3 Nephi 11:28-30)

The Savior taught that contentions and disputations were of the devil and (obviously) not of Him and that not only should there be no contentions, but if such existed, they “should be done away” or put to an end. This is an interesting teaching, and a theme, coincidentally, that is prevalent in the Book of Mormon. Many of the Nephite leaders were already aware of this and practicing and teaching the concept as the examples below will show.

Lehi (588-570 BC)
The prophet Lehi, just before his death, spoke with each of his sons, giving advice, counsel and warnings. To his last-born son Joseph, Lehi taught him about the prophecies of his ancestor, Joseph who was sold into Egypt. Among the prophecies he taught, was this one about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon; “Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.” (2 Nephi 3:12)


Alma (148-145 BC)
Alma was at one time a wicked priest under King Noah, until he heard the prophet Abinadi teach the Gospel. Alma then fled the King’s rule and took some believers with him. Among the things he taught them, was to avoid contention; “And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.” (Mosiah 18:21)

Alma reinforced this teaching later during his ministry; Alma’s people wanted him to be a king among them. Alma, reminding the people of the iniquity of King Noah, and of their current liberated condition, stated that “I desire that ye should stand fast in this liberty wherewith ye have been made free, and that ye trust no man to be a king over you. And also trust no one to be your teacher nor your minister, except he be a man of God, walking in his ways and keeping his commandments. Thus did Alma teach his people, that every man should love his neighbor as himself, that there should be no contention among them.“ (Mosiah 23:15).

Alma the Younger & Korihor (74 BC)
Alma’s son, Alma, had a confrontation with an anti-Christ named Korihor. Korihor taught that that there was no God, no fall of man, no penalty for sin, and no Christ, and “lead away the hearts of many”. Korihor was finally brought before Alma and after some initial debate, Korihor demanded a sign to prove the existence of God and was struck dumb. The record then states “And it came to pass that they were all convinced of the wickedness of Korihor; therefore they were all converted again unto the Lord; and this put an end to the iniquity after the manner of Korihor.” (Alma 30:58)


Moroni (67 BC)
Moroni was a Nephite captain; during this time, a group of Nephites, who referred to themselves as king-men – because they wanted to be ruled by a king – refused to take up arms against the Lamanites who were coming down to battle. Moroni was “exceedingly wroth; his soul was filled with anger against them” and consequently (and legally) he established and sent a petition, which he had confirmed “by the voice of the people”, to the governor of the land, desiring that he (the governor) would give Moroni the “power to compel those dissenters to defend their country or to put them to death.” And here is the key verse: “For it was his first care to put an end to such contentions and dissensions among the people; for behold, this had been hitherto a cause of all their destruction. And it came to pass that it was granted according to the voice of the people.” Moroni and his army then went to battle with these king-men and more than 4,000 were slain, the leaders were put into prison (for there was no time for their trials at this period) and the remainder, “rather than be smitten down to the earth by the sword, yielded to the standard of liberty, and were compelled to hoist the title of liberty upon their towers, and in their cities, and to take up arms in defence of their country. And thus Moroni put an end to those king-men, that there were not any known by the appellation of king-men; and thus he put an end to the stubbornness and the pride of those people who professed the blood of nobility; but they were brought down to humble themselves like unto their brethren, and to fight valiantly for their freedom from bondage.” (Alma 51:21)

Nephi & Lehi (20-7 BC)
Nephi & Lehi were Nephite brothers who were given the names of their “first parents” so that “when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were good.” During this time, there was peace in the land, “save it were a few contentions concerning the points of doctrine which had been laid down by the prophets. And in the seventy and ninth year there began to be much strife. But it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi, and many of their brethren who knew concerning the true points of doctrine, having many revelations daily, therefore they did preach unto the people, insomuch that they did put an end to their strife in that same year.” (Helaman 11:23)

Nephites (21-26 AD)
There were many signs in the New World of the coming of the Son of God into the world. And after these signs, many Nephites “they knew that it must be expedient that Christ had come.” The entire Nephite nation believe in the signs and “Therefore they did forsake all their sins, and their abominations, and their whoredoms, and did serve God with all diligence day and night.” Apart from personal righteousness, they also refused to tolerate any wickedness among them, and the robbers and prisoners who refused to repent were cast into prison and they “did cause the word of God to be preached unto them.” Those who would not enter into a covenant “and who did still continue to have those secret murders in their hearts” were punished according to their law. “And thus they did put an end to all those wicked, and secret, and abominable combinations, in the which there was so much wickedness, and so many murders committed.” (3 Nephi 5:6)

After the Savior visited the Nephites and taught the Gospel, the people dwelt in peace for more than 100 years. “And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people. And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God. There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God. And how blessed were they! For the Lord did bless them in all their doings; yea, even they were blessed and prospered until an hundred and ten years had passed away; and the first generation from Christ had passed away, and there was no contention in all the land.” (4 Nephi 1:15-18)