In the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude ...

, the Zoramites () were one of three major

Nephite According to the Book of Mormon, the Nephites () are one of four groups (along with the Lamanites, Jaredites, and Mulekites) to have settled in the ancient Americas. The term is used throughout the Book of Mormon to describe the religious, p ...

sects, existing during the administration of

Alma the Younger According to the Book of Mormon, Alma, the son of Alma () was a Nephite prophet often referred to as Alma the Younger to distinguish him from his father, who is often referred to as Alma the Elder. These appellations, "the Younger" and "the Elde ...

as the High Priest over the Church of God ().

Zoram Zoram (), IPA-ified from «zō´rum», is the name of three individuals in the Book of Mormon, indexed in the LDS edition as Zoram1, Zoram2, and Zoram3. Zoram1 Zoram1 was the servant of Laban, a wealthy inhabitant of Jerusalem. According to ...

, the leader of this group, is first mentioned in as being the head of a people who "had separated themselves from the Nephites" and was responsible for the death of

Korihor Korihor () is an anti-christ described in in the Book of Mormon. Life Korihor is directly referred to in the Book of Mormon as Anti-Christ, because he claimed there will be no Christ. Korihor was able to preach his views to the people becaus ...

Zoram

The Book of Mormon describes a time in which the

nation was still recovering from a bloody civil war that had been initiated by the rebellion of

Amlici According to the Book of Mormon, the Amlicites () were a break-off group of Nephites in the Book of Alma, in 87 B.C. Origins After the murder of Gideon mentioned in the book of Alma and the execution of Nehor, the man who introduced priestcraft to ...

, a follower of the

Nehor Nehor ()"Book of Mormon Pronunciation Guide"
Lamanites The Lamanites () are one of the four ancient peoples (along with the Jaredites, the Mulekites, and the Nephites) described as having settled in the ancient Americas in the Book of Mormon, a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement. The Laman ...

, there grew considerable concern that the Zoramites would make a similar pact and bring about another war ().

Alma

Instead of sending armies to destroy the group, Alma attempted to preach to the people to bring them back into the Church of God. Alma's success among a portion of the people, however, sparked the very rebellion that he was seeking to prevent. His converts became refugees in the land of Jershon, where the king of the Ammonites gave them asylum. Because of the Ammonites' refusal to surrender the converts, the Zoramites joined with the Lamanites, and the

Amalekites Amalek (; he, עֲמָלֵק, , ar, عماليق ) was a nation described in the Hebrew Bible as a staunch enemy of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the nation's founder, a grandson of Esau; his descendants, the Amalekites; or th ...

and went to war (, ). The Nephite armies

rout A rout is a panicked, disorderly and undisciplined retreat of troops from a battlefield, following a collapse in a given unit's command authority, unit cohesion and combat morale (''esprit de corps''). History Historically, lightly-e ...

ed the Zoramites, Amalekites and Lamanites into retreat and finally to surrender.

Zoramite religion

The Zoramites were Nephite dissenters. After becoming rebellious and prideful they broke away from the Nephite population and created their own community. Alma, fearing that the Zoramites would join forces with the Lamanites and stir them up into anger against the Nephites, decided to go to them and preach repentance. Alma left the Nephites and traveled to the Zoramite city and was surprised by what he found there. Every week the Zoramites would meet at their synagogue to worship their god. One by one, they would get upon a tower, the Rameumptom (), and say a memorized prayer to God thanking him for making them better than the Nephites and that there was to be no Christ. As they prayed upon the tower, they would hold their hands up toward Heaven. When they finished their prayers, they would continue about their day, not talking about God until they met again the next week. Alma had little success preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ among the Zoramites until he came across a group of poor Zoramites who had been expelled from their synagogues because of their poverty. Alma found that they had been humbled by their brethren and were ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Alma taught them about faith, prayer, the atonement, humility, and Christ. When the poor Zoramites were converted unto the Lord, they were expelled by the Zoramites and fled to Nephite lands. The Zoramites are identified as an apostate sect from the true Church of God. The doctrines and practices of the Zoramites are described by Alma as follows: *The worship of idols (). *The rejection of the Law of Moses (). *The rejection of church sacraments and daily prayer (). *The building of Synagogues for worship once a week on the day of the Lord (). *The use of a raised platform for individuals to offer public prayer on the day of the Lord (, ). *The rejection of Christ (, ). *The belief that the Zoramites are the chosen people of God (). *Worship may occur only in a synagogue, and the poor are not allowed to enter (, ). *The church is combined with the state and has rulers, priests, and teachers ().

References

{{reflist Book of Mormon peoples Book of Mormon words and phrases