Jacob 7:2, 4

[pam]

Jacob Chapter 7Â*

2 And it came to pass that he began to preach among the people, and to declare unto them that there should be no Christ. And he preached many things which were flattering unto the people; and this he did that he might overthrow the doctrine of Christ.

4 And he was learned, that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people; wherefore, he could use much flattery, and much power of speech, according to the power of the devil.

Quotes for Discussion

Flattery

Flattery: To soothe or satisfy, to make people feel comfortable. To whisper in ear that all is well. To raise false hopes of an anticipated reward or acquisition.

Webster Dictionary

When the Devil cannot overcome an individual through temptation to commit wickedness, …he will adopt a course of flattery.

When a man is proud and arrogant, flattery fills him with vanity.

Brigham Young, Discourses, 81, 228

Anti-Christs are usually glib of tongue and nimble of speech. They are sinister students of human behavior, knowing how to persuade and to dissuade; how to attract attention and create a following; and how to make their listeners feel secure and at ease in their carnality. An anti-Christ is ostensibly refined, schooled in rhetoric, and polished in homiletics. He is a peerless preacher of perversion. In Faustian fashion the anti-Christ has sold his soul to the devil: his power is not his own; he is but the pawn of him who in the end does not support his own (see Alma 30:60).

Robert L. Millet, “Sherem the Anti-Christ,” The Book of Mormon: To Learn with Joy, Religious Studies Center, BYU Vol. 4, p. 177