Reasoning Away Christ

Helaman Chapter 16 --

After Samuel the Lamanite finished preaching there were some who repented & were baptized, but the more part of the people continued in iniquity.

What I find most interesting is how the wicked were able to reason away the signs of the coming of Christ. They mistook good for evil & evil for good. How did Satan get them so turned around?

Their reasoning was completely focused upon themselves & their circumstances. They couldn't believe because they were worried that the righteous "would work some great mystery which we cannot understand, which will keep us down to be servants to their words, and also servants unto them, for we depend on them to teach us the word; and thus will they keep us in ignorance if we will yield ourselves unto them, all the days of our lives."

What?!? Their reasoning is just the opposite of reality. If they had taken the time to repent & return unto the Lord they could have had greater understanding & greater knowledge. They thought they had to to depend upon their leaders to teach them the word, when in reality they could have prayed & figured it out themselves.