The dramatic change in topic from the end of Chapter 25 to the beginning of Chapter 26 makes it quite understandable why Orson Pratt created a chapter break at this point. It seems so logical that it seems to require explanation as to why Mormon didn’t break the chapter here. The original Chapter XI comprises all of our Chapters 23 to 27. That chapter begins in the land of Nephi, but moves to the land of Zarahemla. Mormon’s intent was to provide the information that will explain the events in the land of Zarahemla, and this chapter begins to lay out the critical information that there were undercurrents in Zarahemla society that would result in massive changes.
The first change was the establishment of churches. However, lest Mormon’s readers assume that the establishment of churches solved problems, he moves now to issues that continued in Zarahemla society. These verses serve as a contrast to the creation of the churches. While there are righteous believers in Zarahemla, there are also unbelievers.
Mormon begins by explaining how it happened that the people who were united under his father, King Benjamin, could be now disunified. Mormon indicates that there were those who were too young to have made the covenant. What he doesn’t explain is how they came to see the option to disbelieve in the coming Messiah. There were, perhaps, external influences that led some who had not made the covenant to begin to move away from the belief in a coming Messiah. There were, perhaps, some of the previous generation who had not believed before, and whose conversion might not have been firm.
However, the ideas began, they began to flourish. Even though churches had been established, they did not cover all in the society. There were those who would not be baptized. The establishment of churches allowed for a division in the society, and more than allowing a division, the establishment appears to have fostered it. There becomes a distinction between those who believe and those who do not.