Moroni 10:8-19

Moroni tells us we must not deny the gifts of God. “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water” (John 4:10).

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

“If thou wilt do good, yea, and hold out faithful to the end, thou shalt be saved in the kingdom of God, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God; for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation” (D&C 6:13).

There are different ways the gifts are administered. God is responsible and works all in all. They are given that we might profit by them. “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God” (1 John 4:2).

“Moroni exhorts us that ‘every good gift cometh of Christ’ (Moroni 10:18) … Moroni doubtless had immediate access to the Savior's teachings concerning the gifts of the Spirit and used them in the manner found in Moroni 10:8–17. The critic may admit that our explanation of the appearance of these teachings in this scripture is reasonable and logical enough, looking at it purely from the Book of Mormon standpoint. That is to say, the Book of Mormon is consistent within itself. However, most critics do not agree with the Book of Mormon contention that Christ did appear in person and teach on this continent. What then? We cannot, of course, force men to believe anything, whether fact or fancy. But we can point to the strong possibility that Paul was not the exclusive author of the ideas contained in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 concerning spiritual gifts. Isn't it reasonable to believe that the great apostle adapted an important body of teachings common to the early Christian Church to suit his needs in dealing with the Corinthians? It would seem to me that Jesus was far more likely to have been the original author of the doctrines concerning spiritual gifts than was Paul. According to this view the latter simply drew on the teachings of Jesus in much the same way that Moroni did. Paul and Moroni were expositors and teachers of a gospel common to both. Moroni, like Paul, might well have said, ‘Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ’ (1 Corinthians 11:1).”[1]

Moroni then lists the following gifts (see Moroni 10:9-16).

• ·        Teach the word of wisdom
• ·        Teach the word of knowledge
• ·        Exceedingly great faith
• ·        The gifts of healing
• ·        Work mighty miracles
• ·        Prophesy concerning all things
• ·        Beholding of angels and ministering spirits
• ·        All kinds of tongues
• ·        Interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues

All gifts come through the Spirit of Christ. “[T]hey come unto every man severally, according as he will” (Moroni 10:17).

We are to remember all good gifts come from Christ.  “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

“For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more” (Luke 12:48).

“Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery [GR Elders]” (1 Timothy 4:14).

God is the same, never changing. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). All gifts which are spiritual will never be done away with. The only way they will is through our lack of faith. “Because of your unbelief [GR little faith]: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20).

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[1] Literary Problems in the Book of Mormon involving 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and Other New Testament Books, Sidney B. Sperry, Maxwell Institute website.

Moroni 10:3-7

Moroni challenges the readers of his record, “if it be wisdom in God that [we] them” (Moroni 10:3). He wants us to understand the Lord has been merciful to us from Adam to the time we receive the Book of Mormon records. We are to ponder the Lord’s words as we read them.

“Many church members may not realize that Moroni’s challenge actually begins in the preceding verse: ‘Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall read these things, and ponder it in your hearts’ (Moroni 10:3). The more complete citation suggests that remembering is an essential component of spiritual conversion.”[1]

We come to the two verses that are most likely the most quoted scriptures from the Book of Mormon, Moroni’s challenge.

“Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

“And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost” (Moroni 10:4-5).

“I am grateful for the gift of the Book of Mormon. I know that it is true! It contains the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am unaware of anyone who is diligently reading the Book of Mormon each day with pure intent and with faith in Christ who has lost their testimony and fallen away. Moroni’s prophetic promise carries with it the key to know the truth of all things—including having the ability to discern and avoid the deceptions of the adversary.”[2]

“In the last chapters of the Book of Mormon, the volume’s final contributor, Moroni, copies into the text a sermon delivered by his father, Mormon. In the final chapter of the volume, Moroni adds to his father’s sermonic reflections a few of his own, building on the same themes. On my reading, what is sometimes called ‘Moroni’s challenge,’ to come to know God’s mercy through the witness of scripture (found in Moroni 10:3–5), is like the tip of the iceberg of a greater challenge exposited in Mormon’s sermon and Moroni’s further reflections. That challenge is best captured in Mormon’s question addressed to the disciples of Christ in his own day: ‘How is it possible that ye can lay hold upon every good thing?’ (Moroni 7:20). It is by this process of laying hold on every good thing, Mormon taught, that Christ’s followers are to enter his rest, both in life and beyond the grave. And this is the challenge that concludes the Book of Mormon for every reader.”[3]

Moroni tells us whatever is good is just and true. Nothing that is good denieth Christ. Rather, they confess He is the son of God.

You will receive a testimony of Christ by the power of the Holy Ghost. This is how you will know truth. “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Psalms 19:7).

“And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

“And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona (IE son of Jonah): for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:16-17).

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).

Do not deny the power of God. He works according through our faith.

 “And it came to pass after I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father, concerning the things which he saw in a vision, and also the things which he spake by the power of the Holy Ghost, which power he received by faith on the Son of God—and the Son of God was the Messiah who should come—I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him, as well in times of old as in the time that he should manifest himself unto the children of men.

“For he is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world, if it so be that they repent and come unto him.

“For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round” (1 Nephi 10:17-19).

“Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved” (Moroni 7:36).

God is the same today, tomorrow, and forever.

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[1] Memory and Identity in the Book of Mormon, Steven L. Olsen, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 22/2 (2013): 41.

[2] No Greater Joy Than to Know That They Know, Elder K. Brett Nattress, October 2016 General Conference.

[3] Mormon’s Question, Candice Wendt, Maxwell Institute website.

Moroni 10:1-2

Chapter 10

A testimony of the Book of Mormon comes by the power of the Holy Ghost—The gifts of the Spirit are dispensed to the faithful—Spiritual gifts always accompany faith—Moroni’s words speak from the dust—Come unto Christ, be perfected in Him, and sanctify your souls. About A.D. 421.

Moroni begins to “write somewhat as seemeth me good” (Moroni 10:1). He states he is writing to his brethren, the Lamanites. “Yea, and this was their faith—that my gospel, which I gave unto them that they might preach in their days, might come unto their brethren the Lamanites, and also all that had become Lamanites because of their dissensions” (D&C 10:48).

It says much about Moroni that, after the wars, their committing war crimes (based on today’s standards), he still refers to them as his brethren. Here again is another example the Book of Mormon was written for the Lamanites.

He gives us a timeframe of when he is writing this part of the record – 420 years since the coming of Christ.

“Were we to include Moroni’s epistle to the Lamanites and all the ends of the earth (Moroni 10:1, 24), we might conclude that this letter at least conforms to something like a New Testament catholic (i.e., universal) epistle,15 though it equally well conforms to much older biblical forms in which a prophet of God delivers a strong message of repentance.”[1]

“A correspondence that has always impressed me involves prophecies in 400-year blocks. The Maya were obsessed with time, and they carved precise dates on their stone monuments that began with the count of 400 years, an interval called a baktun. Each baktun was made up of 20 katuns, an extremely important 20-year interval. If you permit me some liberties with the text, Samuel the Lamanite warned the Nephites that one baktun ‘shall not pass away before . . . they [would] be smitten’ (Helaman 13:9). Nephi and Alma uttered the same baktun prophecy, and Moroni recorded its fulfillment. Moroni bids us farewell just after the first katun of this final baktun, or 420 years since the ‘sign was given of the coming of Christ’ (Moroni 10:1). What are the chances of Joseph Smith guessing correctly the vigesimal system of timekeeping and prophesying among the Maya and their neighbors over 50 years before scholars stumbled onto it?”[2]

Moroni is getting ready to seal the records, after sharing a few words with us. “Now these things are written unto the remnant of the house of Jacob; and they are written after this manner, because it is known of God that wickedness will not bring them forth unto them; and they are to be hid up unto the Lord that they may come forth in his own due time” (Mormon 5:12).

“Therefore I will write and hide up the records in the earth; and whither I go it mattereth not…

“Behold, I make an end of speaking concerning this people. I am the son of Mormon, and my father was a descendant of Nephi.

“And I am the same who hideth up this record unto the Lord; the plates thereof are of no worth, because of the commandment of the Lord. For he truly saith that no one shall have them to get gain; but the record thereof is of great worth; and whoso shall bring it to light, him will the Lord bless” (Mormon 8:4, 13-14).

“And it came to pass that when we had gathered in all our people in one to the land of Cumorah, behold I, Mormon, began to be old; and knowing it to be the last struggle of my people, and having been commanded of the Lord that I should not suffer the records which had been handed down by our fathers, which were sacred, to fall into the hands of the Lamanites, (for the Lamanites would destroy them) therefore I made this record out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni” (Mormon 6:6).

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[1] Epistolary Form in the Book of Mormon, Robert F. Smith, FARMS Review 22/2 (2010): 129-130.

[2] Archaeology, Relics, and Book of Mormon Belief, John E. Clark, Maxwell Institute website.

Moroni 9:21-26

After telling Moroni about the depravity of the Nephites, he says he cannot recommend them to God. If he did, he fears He would smite him.

Mormon will recommend his son to God. He trusts in Christ he will be saved. He prays He will spare his life. “And my prayer to God is concerning my brethren, that they may once again come to the knowledge of God, yea, the redemption of Christ; that they may once again be a delightsome people” (Words of Mormon 1:8).

He wants Moroni to either witness the return of his people to the Lord or their destruction if they refuse. “But if ye will repent and return unto the Lord your God I will turn away mine anger, saith the Lord; yea, thus saith the Lord, blessed are they who will repent and turn unto me, but wo unto him that repenteth not” (Helaman 13:11).

If they fail to repent, the will become like the Jaredites who were destroyed because of the desire for blood and revenge.

“And it is impossible for the tongue to describe, or for man to write a perfect description of the horrible scene of the blood and carnage which was among the people, both of the Nephites and of the Lamanites; and every heart was hardened, so that they delighted in the shedding of blood continually.

“And there never had been so great wickedness among all the children of Lehi, nor even among all the house of Israel, according to the words of the Lord, as was among this people” (Mormon 4:11-12).

“[W]hen the inhabitants of the Promised Land seek blood and revenge for whatever reason, they must perish like the Jaredites and Nephites before them (Moroni 9:23). As for the wicked enemy, ‘Behold, the judgments of God will overtake the wicked; and it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished’ (Mormon 4:5).”[1]

Many have deserted to the Lamanites. “But whosoever remaineth, and is not destroyed in that great and dreadful day, shall be numbered among the Lamanites, and shall become like unto them, all, save it be a few who shall be called the disciples of the Lord; and them shall the Lamanites pursue even until they shall become extinct. And now, because of iniquity, this prophecy shall be fulfilled” (Alma 45:15). More will desert.

He writes these words to Moroni. He knows he will die, but he still must deliver sacred records to him. “Behold I, Moroni, do finish the record of my father, Mormon. Behold, I have but few things to write, which things I have been commanded by my father” (Mormon 8:1).

“Although as a nation the Nephites were dissolved in the tragic denouement of the Book of Mormon, individual Nephites, who ‘mixed’ through intermarriage with the Lamanites or ‘dissented’ to them, forfended their total dissolution as a race or ethnic group. Mormon, in a letter to his son Moroni, wrote that ‘if it so be that they perish, we know that many of our brethren have deserted over unto the Lamanites, and many more will also desert over unto them’ (Moroni 9:24).”[2]

25 My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.

Mormon tells his son to be faithful in Christ. He hopes he will not experience the things he did, but instead he hopes he will be lifted up by Christ. “[M]ay his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever” (Moroni 9:25).

“And may the grace of God the Father, whose throne is high in the heavens, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who sitteth on the right hand of his power, until all things shall become subject unto him, be, and abide with you forever” (Moroni 9:26).

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[1] The Uses and Abuses of Patriotism, Hugh Nibley, Maxwell Institute.

[2] “Holy War”: The Sacral Ideology of War in the Book of Mormon and in the Ancient Near East, Stephen D. Ricks, Maxwell Institute website.

Moroni 9:16-20

Many widows and their daughters, Mormon explains, remain in Sherrizah. The Lamanites carried away some provisions, and Zenephi’s army has carried awy much of the rest. They must wander to find food. Many die.

Here again we see the Nephites have turned away from the responsibilities given them by the Lord.

“Now there were a great many widows [among the people of Limhi], and they did cry mightily from day to day, for a great fear of the Lamanites had come upon them.

“Now there was a great number of women, more than there was of men; therefore king Limhi commanded that every man should impart to the support of the widows and their children, that they might not perish with hunger; and this they did because of the greatness of their number that had been slain” (Mosiah 21:10, 17).

This charge remains with us to this day. “And the storehouse shall be kept by the consecrations of the church; and widows and orphans shall be provided for” (D&C 83:6).

Mormon’s army is weak. The Lamanite armies are between him and Sherrizah. Many fled to the army of Aaron[1] and they victims to his army’s brutality.

Mormon is appalled by the Nephite’s depravity. There is no order and mercy. He is only one man and he can no longer enforce the commands he gives his army.

“[The Nephites] ‘began to cry,’ because ‘no man could keep that which was his own, for the thieves, and the robbers, and the murderers, and the magic art, and the witchcraft which was in the land’ (Mormon 2:10). Everyone was robbing everyone else and using the black arts to do it. Indeed, ‘there were sorceries, and witchcrafts, and magics; and the power of the evil one was wrought upon all the face of the land’ (Mormon 1:19).

“During this time, spiritual blindness, atē,[2] deepened, and the people began to ‘boast in their own strength’ (Mormon 3:9). They launched a war of aggression and ‘every heart was hardened, so that they delighted in the shedding of blood continually’ (Mormon 4:11). The people became utterly blind to the destruction which their acts were causing. Their depravity, freed from any restraint of the Spirit, led to the full expression of the power of atē, and the people sank to depths never before found ‘among all the children of Lehi’ or ‘even among all the house of Israel’ (Mormon 4:12).  Mormon recognized that they were ‘without order and without mercy … without principle, and past feeling’ (Moroni 9:18, 20).”[3]

The Nephites have become a brutal people. They spare neither the old nor young. They delight in their evil and depraved actions. While this occurs, the suffering of Nephite women and children exceeds everything, “yea, tongue cannot tell, neither can it be written” (Moroni 9:19).

Mormon will no longer dwell upon the horrible acts of the war. The Nephites are wicked, without principle. They are past feeling. They are far more wicked than the Lamanites. Throughout their history, the Nephites had been warned about the consequences of their wickedness. They sinned knowingly. Their sin was more serious in the eyes of God because they knew better. “And thus we see that the Nephites did begin to dwindle in unbelief, and grow in wickedness and abominations, while the Lamanites began to grow exceedingly in the knowledge of their God; yea, they did begin to keep his statutes and commandments, and to walk in truth and uprightness before him.” (Helaman 6:34).

“[T]he reason the Nephites were allowed to be destroyed was because they had sinned against the knowledge of the gospel while the Lamanites were ignorant of the truth (again because of the ‘traditions of the fathers’) and thus were less culpable and allowed to remain on the land. Nibley has written concerning this situation:

“’Every Latter-day Saint knows that [the Book of Mormon] is a tale of Nephites versus Lamanites, conveniently classified as the Good Guys versus the Bad Guys. In a book called Since Cumorah, I pointed out that a line drawn between the two peoples does not automatically separate the righteous from the wicked at all. Far from it—the Lamanites were often the good guys and the Nephites the bad guys; and they had a way of shifting back and forth from one category to the other with disturbing frequency. In the end, as Mormon sadly observes in letters to his son, it is a toss-up as to which of the two is the worse. Cumorah was no showdown between good and evil; it was not even a contest to pick the winner, for while the Nephites did get wiped out, the Lamanites went right on wiping each other out, “and no one knoweth the end of the war” (Mormon 8:8).’”[4]

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[1] “And now, the Lamanites had a king, and his name was Aaron; and he came against us with an army of forty and four thousand. And behold, I withstood him with forty and two thousand. And it came to pass that I beat him with my army that he fled before me. And behold, all this was done, and three hundred and thirty years had passed away” (Mormon 2:9).

[2] “The word captures the idea that people—due to overweening ambition, the lust for power, and a desire for the praise of the world—could actually suffer delusions, deceptions, and infatuations sent by the gods. These allowed individuals to bring about their own ruin. These individuals were, therefore, actively involved in bringing about their own downfall. Once the gods decreed against a person it was impossible for that person to resist impending doom.” (Draper – see footnote 3)

[3] Hubris and Atē: A Latter-day Warning from the Book of Mormon, Richard D. Draper, Maxwell Institute website.

[4] Review of El Libro de Mormon ante la crítica, Terrence L. Szink, Maxwell Institute website.

Moroni 9:7-15

Mormon begins describing the sufferings of the Nephites. The Lamanites took many prisoners. The prisoners were men, women, and children.

“Towers existed throughout Nephite history. Mormon wrote to his son Moroni in the final years of the Nephite wars about conditions facing their people at ‘the tower of Sherrizah,’ presumably a landmark somewhere in the land northward that needed no further identification (Moroni 9:7; see 9:16–17).”[1]

“After the renewal of war early in the fourth century AD, wholesale destruction, not just conquest and exploitation, became the aim of the Lamanite aggressors. At that point the victims had to either flee or die (see Mormon 2:3–8), whereas a few centuries before they only had to subject themselves to the new rulers to be left relatively undisturbed so long as they paid up. Nearing the final conflict at Cumorah, the wars became even more decimating and merciless (see Moroni 9:7–19). At length, around AD 380, the Nephites as a sociopolitical group were exterminated in one climactic battle wherein hundreds of thousands died in a single day (see Mormon 6:11–15).[2]

The Lamanites killed the husbands and fathers of the women and children. They have become so depraved, they are feeding the women and children the flesh of their husbands and fathers. They also give them very little water.

Mormon compares the depravity of the Lamanites to that of the Nephites. In Moriantum, Nephites raped Lamanite women. After the raped them, “they did murder them in a most cruel manner, torturing their bodies even unto death; and after they have done this, they devour their flesh like unto wild beasts, because of the hardness of their hearts; and they do it for a token of bravery” (Mormon 9:10).

Mormon laments the state of his people.

“O my beloved son, how can a people like this, that are without civilization—

“(And only a few years have passed away, and they were a civil and a delightsome people)

“But O my son, how can a people like this, whose delight is in so much abomination—

“How can we expect that God will stay his hand in judgment against us?

“Behold, my heart cries: Wo unto this people. Come out in judgment, O God, and hide their sins, and wickedness, and abominations from before thy face” (Mormon 9:10-15).

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[1] Mormon’s Map – Civilization, John L. Sorenson, Maxwell Institute website.

[2] Last-Ditch Warfare in Ancient Mesoamerica Recalls the Book of Mormon, John L. Sorenson, Maxwell Institute website.

Moroni 9:1-6

The second epistle of Mormon to his son Moroni.

Chapter 9

Both the Nephites and the Lamanites are depraved and degenerate—They torture and murder each other—Mormon prays that grace and goodness may rest upon Moroni forever. About A.D. 401.

Mormon began by telling Moroni he still lives. But, the subject is grave.

He has been in bitter battle with the Lamanites, but were beaten. He tells Moroni three specific men have died (Archeantus, Luram, and Emron). These were apparently key men in the Nephite army.

Mormon fears defeat because they refuse to repent. Satan stirs up their anger. “He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly” (Proverbs 17:14).

“Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away” (3 Nephi 11:30).

Mormon is laboring among the Nephites. He speaks the word of God with sharpness.

“And ye have murmured because he hath been plain unto you. Ye say that he hath used sharpness; ye say that he hath been angry with you; but behold, his sharpness was the sharpness of the power of the word of God, which was in him; and that which ye call anger was the truth, according to that which is in God, which he could not restrain, manifesting boldly concerning your iniquities.

“And it must needs be that the power of God must be with him, even unto his commanding you that ye must obey. But behold, it was not he, but it was the Spirit of the Lord which was in him, which opened his mouth to utterance that he could not shut it” (2 Nephi 1:26-27).

“For behold, king Benjamin was a holy man, and he did reign over his people in righteousness; and there were many holy men in the land, and they did speak the word of God with power and with authority; and they did use much sharpness because of the stiffneckedness of the people” (Words of Mormon 1:17).

“Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy” (D&C 121:43).

When he does, they tremble and are angry with him. When he does not use sharpness, they don’t listen to him. They harden their hearts against the word of the Lord. “A wicked man hardeneth his face” (Proverbs 21:29).

“[H]e that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief” (Proverbs 28:14).

The Spirit no longer strives with them. “Pray for them, my son, that repentance may come unto them. But behold, I fear lest the Spirit hath ceased striving with them; and in this part of the land they are also seeking to put down all power and authority which cometh from God; and they are denying the Holy Ghost” (Moroni 8:28).

“And he that repents not, from him shall be taken even the light which he has received; for my Spirit shall not always strive with man, saith the Lord of Hosts” (D&C 1:33).

Their anger is so strong, they no longer fear death. They have lost their love for one another and they continually thirst for blood.

“And it is impossible for the tongue to describe, or for man to write a perfect description of the horrible scene of the blood and carnage which was among the people, both of the Nephites and of the Lamanites; and every heart was hardened, so that they delighted in the shedding of blood continually.

“And there never had been so great wickedness among all the children of Lehi, nor even among all the house of Israel, according to the words of the Lord, as was among this people” (Mormon 4:11-12).

In spite of their hardness, Mormon tells Moroni they should continue to labor diligently. “And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day” (Jacob 1:19).

If they cease to labor they will face the condemnation of God. Their labor is to conquer the devil and his work.

Moroni 8:24-30

Mormon reminds Moroni repentance is for those who have broken the law and under the Lord’s condemnation.

The first fruits of repentance are baptism. “For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified” (Moses 6:60). Baptism comes through faith and obeying the commandments. Obeying the commandments brings a remission of our sins. “That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power” (D&C 76:52).

Forgiveness for our sin bring meekness and lowliness of heart. Through this, the Holy Ghost fills us with hope and love.

“And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.

“And he spake unto me, saying: Yea, and the most joyous to the soul.

“And after he had said these words, he said unto me: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Son of God going forth among the children of men; and I saw many fall down at his feet and worship him.

“And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God” (1 Nephi 11:22-25)

This love endures through diligent prayer. “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently” (1 Peter 1:22).

In the end, the saints will dwell with God.

“As Mormon and Moroni both make clear, laying hold of Christ’s gift through faith opens a focused, continuous sequence in which we are to take his name and divine attributes upon ourselves. Our initial faith in Christ leads us to hope for redemption. Hope fills us with ‘great views of that which is to come’ (Mosiah 5:3; see Ether 12:4). Hearts softened by hope in Christ are perceptive and desirous of his gifts. Hope in Christ then leads us to charity. Hope’s vistas and joys lift burdens and bondage, liberating us to focus on loving others (see Moroni 8:26). Hope opens our eyes to better know the worth of souls and to receive Christ’s love for them. In its fullness, charity is to provide strength to bear up the full measure of Christ’s gifts and to abstain from all unclean gifts (see 7:45).”[1]

Mormon writes if he doesn’t have to face the Lamanites soon, he will write to him once again. The pride of the Nephite nation has led to their destruction. “And if ye seek the riches which it is the will of the Father to give unto you, ye shall be the richest of all people, for ye shall have the riches of eternity; and it must needs be that the riches of the earth are mine to give; but beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old” (D&C 38:39).

The only way to avoid this is if they repent.

“[T]he last generations of the Nephite nation are a cautionary tale regarding the destructive effects of the ‘pride of the world,’ which inevitably causes people to fall (1 Nephi 11:36; Mormon 8:7; Moroni 8:27), and regarding falling ‘away into forbidden paths’ until one is ‘lost’ (1 Nephi 8:28; Mormon 6:17–20). Those later generations were cut ‘off from the presence of the Lord’ or ‘cast out’ (Helaman 12:25) and subject to the awful violence that necessarily pervades when the Lord’s Spirit has ‘ceased to strive’ with a people (see Mormon 5:16; Moroni 8:28; 9:4; compare Genesis 6:3, 11; Ether 15:19).”[2]

He asks Moroni to pray the people will repent. He fears the Spirit had stopped striving with them.

“For behold, the Spirit of the Lord hath already ceased to strive with their fathers; and they are without Christ and God in the world; and they are driven about as chaff before the wind” (Moroni 5:16).

“For behold, the Spirit of the Lord hath already ceased to strive with their fathers; and they are without Christ and God in the world; and they are driven about as chaff before the wind” (Moroni 9:4).

Where Mormon is, the people are putting down all power and authority which come from God. They are denying the Holy Ghost. “For behold, if ye deny the Holy Ghost when it once has had place in you, and ye know that ye deny it, behold, this is a sin which is unpardonable; yea, and whosoever murdereth against the light and knowledge of God, it is not easy for him to obtain forgiveness; yea, I say unto you, my son, that it is not easy for him to obtain a forgiveness” (Alma 39:6).

“[T]he Book of Mormon contains numerous accounts of individuals who have denied or are in danger of denying (2 Nephi 28:4, 6; Jacob 6:8; Alma 39:5–6—the most abominable sin; Helaman 4:12, 23; 3 Nephi 29:6; and Moroni 8:28), quenching (Jacob 6:8), hardening their hearts against (2 Nephi 33:2), rejecting (Alma 13:4), putting off (Alma 30:42), resisting (Alma 30:46; 32:28), or contending against (Alma 34:38) the 230 Holy Ghost. Such activities would seem sufficient cause for the Spirit to no longer strive with humanity.”[3]

As they have rejected this great knowledge, they will soon perish, fulfilling the words of the prophets and the Savior himself.

“Farewell, my son, until I shall write unto you, or shall meet you again. Amen” (Moroni 8:30).

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[1] Mormon’s Question, Candice Wendt, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 24 (2015): 252.

[2] “They Came Forth and Fell Down and Partook of the Fruit of the Tree”: Proskynesis in 3 Nephi 11:12–19 and 17:9–10 and Its Significance, Matthew L. Bowen, Maxwell Institute.

[3] Book of Mormon Pneumatology, John Christopher Thomas, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Volume 24, 2015:229-230. 

Moroni 8:17-23

Continuing his writings about the baptism of children, Mormon tells Moroni he is filled with charity (“everlasting love”). All children are like him. He loves with a perfect love and are “partakers of salvation” (Moroni 8:17).

“Our ‘children are an heritage of the Lord’ (Psalm 127:3). He knows and loves each one with perfect love (see Moroni 8:17). What a sacred responsibility Heavenly Father places upon us as parents to partner with Him in helping His choice spirits become what He knows they can become.”[1]

God is neither partial nor changeable. “I perceive that it has been made known unto you, by the testimony of his word, that he cannot walk in crooked paths; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning from the right to the left, or from that which is right to that which is wrong; therefore, his course is one eternal round” (Alma 7:20).

“For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing” (Mormon 9:9).

He remains unchangeable throughout all eternity. “For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting, behold, he sent angels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing” (Moroni 7:22).

Children cannot repent. Mormon calls denying them the mercies of God as “an awful wickedness.” Children are alive in Him through His mercy.

“And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.

“But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

“Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein” (Luke 15:15-17).

Requiring children to be baptized denies Christ’s mercy and causes the atonement and power of His redemption meaningless.

Those who set aside the atonement as meaningless are in danger of death, hell, and endless torment.

“And according to the power of justice, for justice cannot be denied, ye must go away into that lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever, which lake of fire and brimstone is endless torment” (Jacob 6:10).

“For, behold, the mystery of godliness, how great is it! For, behold, I am endless, and the punishment which is given from my hand is endless punishment, for Endless is my name. Wherefore—

“Eternal punishment is God’s punishment.

“Endless punishment is God’s punishment” (D&C 19:10-12).

Mormon speaks boldly because he was commanded to speak this way.

The power of redemption comes to all who have no law. With no law, they are neither condemned nor come under condemnation. They cannot sin and baptism has no benefit for them. Baptism is for those who are capable of sin. All children are alive in Christ and are without the law. “And the times of this ignorance God winked at [OR overlooked, disregarded]; but now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30).

“An often neglected section of Mormon’s letter to Moroni similarly proclaimed that not only are little children alive in Christ, but also those who are ‘without the law. For the power of redemption cometh on all them that have no law; wherefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is under no condemnation, cannot repent; and unto such baptism availeth nothing’ (Moroni 8:22). According to Mormon, baptism is not needed for children and those ignorant of the law. Where no law is given or understood, there is no ability for men to obey or disobey the commands of God. Baptism does not aid those who lack the ability to obey God’s law since these people cannot sin and therefore need no remission of sins.”[2]

Denying the mercies of Christ is a mockery before God. It is putting trust in dead works. “Wherefore, although a man should be baptized an hundred times it availeth him nothing, for you cannot enter in at the strait gate by the law of Moses, neither by your dead works” (D&C 22:2).

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[1] Teaching Our Children to Understand, Sister Cheryl A. Esplin, April 2012 General Conference.

[2] Redeeming the Dead: Tender Mercies, Turning of Hearts, and Restoration of Authority, David L. Paulsen, Kendel J. Christensen, and Martin Pulido, Maxwell Institute website.

Moroni 8:10-16

Mormon makes it clear only those who are accountable are capable of sin need repentance and baptism. As to little children, King Benjamin taught, “And behold, when that time cometh, none shall be found blameless before God, except it be little children, only through repentance and faith on the name of the Lord God Omnipotent” (Mosiah 3:21).

But those who are capable of sin, will be held accountable. “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36).

Little children need no repentance nor baptism. Baptism is for those who repent and receive a remission of sins. “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:4).

“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (1 Nephi 25:26).

Little children are alive in Christ. If this were not true, God is a partial and changeable God. “But behold, I say unto you, that little children are redeemed from the foundation of the world through mine Only Begotten” (D&C 29:46).

He is a respecter of persons. Mormon asks how many little children have died without baptism. “And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him” (Ephesians 6:9).

“Wherefore, if little children could not be saved without baptism, these must have gone to an endless hell” (Moroni 8:13).

Anyone who claim little children need to be baptized “is in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; for he hath neither faith, hope, nor charity; wherefore, should he be cut off while in the thought, he must go down to hell” (Moroni 8:14).

Those who say one child is saved because of baptism and the other is damned because he wasn’t baptized is in a state of awful wickedness.

Those that pervert the ways will perish lest they repent. Mormon makes it clear he speaks with authority from God. He has no fear of man. Perfect love casts out fear. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment [GR correction, punishment]. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).

“Godly fear is loving and trusting in Him. As we fear God more completely, we love Him more perfectly. And “perfect love casteth out all fear” (Moroni 8:16). I promise the bright light of godly fear will chase away the dark shadows of mortal fears (see D&C 50:25) as we look to the Savior, build upon Him as our foundation, and press forward on His covenant path with consecrated commitment.”[1]

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[1] Therefore They Hushed Their Fears, Elder David A. Bednar, April 2015 General Conference

Moroni 8:1-9

Chapter 8

The baptism of little children is an evil abomination—Little children are alive in Christ because of the Atonement—Faith, repentance, meekness and lowliness of heart, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end lead to salvation. About A.D. 401–21.

Moroni shares another epistle written to him by Mormon. “[I]t was written unto me soon after my calling to the ministry” (Moroni 8:1).

Mormon tells Moroni he is always in his prayers. He asked the Lord that “he, through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end.”

“Mormon, who abridged the record, laments when he sees his kinfolk descend into wickedness, because he ‘saw that the day of grace was past with them’ (Mormon 2:15). He seems to imply that there is a window of opportunity wherein one can obtain grace. He tells one audience that he is able to speak to them ‘by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Moroni 7:2), and tells his son, Moroni, that he prays that Jesus, ‘through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you’ (Moroni 8:3).”[1]

Mormon is writing about a dispute occurring concerning the baptism of children. He told him to diligently labor to remove “this gross error.” This is why he wrote this epistle. Mormon inquired of the Lord and received an answer to his prayer.

Mormon was told Christ “came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Moroni 8:8).

“And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?

“When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:16-17).

Children are whole and not capable of committing sin.

“And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.

“But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

“Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

“And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them” (Mark 10:13-16).

 “And even if it were possible that little children could sin they could not be saved; but I say unto you they are blessed; for behold, as in Adam, or by nature, they fall, even so the blood of Christ atoneth for their sins” (Mosiah 3:16).

“But behold, I say unto you, that little children are redeemed from the foundation of the world through mine Only Begotten” (D&C 49:46).

“But little children are holy, being sanctified through the atonement of Jesus Christ; and this is what the scriptures mean” (D&C 74:7).

“[T]he curse of Adam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them” (Mormon 8:8).

Mormon settles the dispute. He called infant baptism a “solemn mockery before God.”

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[1] The Grace of Christ, John Gee, Maxwell Institute website.