Article Title

Better That One Man Perish

Authors

John W. Welch
Heidi H. Parker

Keywords

Nephi, Laban, Alma, Korihor, modern liberal jurisprudence, biblical law

Abstract

When constraining Nephi to slay Laban, the Spirit gave the sober justification that "it is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief" (1 Nephi 4:13). Alma invoked this same justification when reluctantly subjecting Korihor to divine punishment (see Alma 30:47). This principle runs sharply contrary to modern liberal jurisprudence, but a different view prevailed in certain cases under biblical law.

Recommended Citation

Welch, John W. and Parker, Heidi H. (1998) "Better That One Man Perish," Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship: Vol. 18: No. 3, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/insights/vol18/iss3/3