At the very beginning of the reign of the judges comes an important case. Where King Mosiah had separated government from church, the two functions had been reunited in the person of Alma the younger as both leader of the church and the chief judge. This particular case covers both the religious and the political issues. The religious issues are the first to be described.
There are two critical aspects to his teaching. The first is that he encourages social stratification. This happens first by creating a position where religious officiators are set apart by being paid for their labors, rather than laboring with their own hands. This separation had, in the past, and now in the present case, led to being “lifted up on the pride of his heart, and to wear very costly apparel.” The appearance of costly apparel in the Nephite record is a harbinger of apostasy. This is not due to the apparel, but the social division that creates a situation where one might have costly apparel and another may not be able to have anything similar.
The second problem is even more critical. This man denies the need for the atoning mission of the Messiah. This was the message of Abinadi, which was brought to Zarahemla and reinforced in the creation of churches by Alma the elder. This was also divisive to the point where there was a competing church founded. Where Alma the elder brought a church based on Abinadi, this man appears to bring a church based on the beliefs of the priests of Noah, as will be noted later.