Korihor’s doctrine appears to be a form of social Darwinism, long before that concept was ever presented. Not only do we not need to look forward to an Atoning Messiah, but the very idea that we must be saved from our sins is a subject of derision. For Korihor, man cannot sin, since there is no valid religious rule against which we might be judged. We are not beholding to a God, but rather only to our selves.
[..every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature…] This phrase is somewhat difficult to parse. The difficult phrase is “according to the management of the creature.” This indicates that we are responsible only to ourselves. We are “the creature.” It would appear that the use of the rather animalistic term “creature” may be to further remove us from a creator God, and make us simply biology. Korihor here long predates the modern scientific-atheistic approach to mankind.
[…everyman prospered according to his genius…] Man becomes what he makes of himself. His destiny is not tied to the divine, but solely to his own efforts.
[…every man conquered according to his strength…] Korihor is stating a form of “might makes right.” As in social Darwinism, Korihor is announcing a social survival of the fittest.
[…whatsoever a man did was no crime.] The interpretation of this phrase depends upon whether we read “crime” as an element of a civil law, or as a reference to sin (and thus to a godly law). If Korihor is really announcing that man’s efforts may never be defined as crime, then he declares himself a social anarchist. If he is referring rather to sin, then this is simply a continuation of his attack on the foolishness of the fathers. As there is no sin, man cannot be culpable of sin according to his actions. While the first interpretation is certainly possible, and a tighter reading of the precise term, nevertheless I would prefer the second reading as more consistent with what appears to be the specific nature of Korihor’s discourse. He is not attaching the civil law, but rather the unique Nephite religious law. In that context, and his explicitly declared proposition that there is no sin from which we would need to be saved, I see the best reading of this particular text.