An easy comment to miss is Mormon’s statement that “now in the reign of Mosiah they were not half so numerous.” Certainly, we read that they “were not half so numerous,” but the ominous part is that this might only be true in the reign of Mosiah. Mormon is foreshadowing changes, and he already knows that these dissentions will increase. Therefore, he tells us that it begins smaller, but hints that things will continue to decline.
The beginning of the internal conflict comes first because there is a specific division between church and non-church. That creates the condition that there would be those who did not believe as those in the church did, that they would attempt to convince those of the church that the ideas of the non-church believers were correct. They have success. Mormon indicates that their “flattering words” caused church members to “commit many sins.” These were sins because they were drawing them away from their faithfulness to Jehovah’s revealed covenant. It is also quite likely, because it is the essential definition of Nephite apostasy, that the departure from the covenant and church included a desire for social stratification, a desire to raise themselves above others.
There was now a new situation created by the concept of the church. What happens when someone in the church changes and comes into conflict with the teachings and practices of the church? When there was no church, that was purely a social issue. It is now complicated by the new layer of organization. The next story is about the resolution. As the leader of the church, the dissenters are brought before Alma, the high priest.