What Can We Learn from the Book of Moroni?

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

What Can We Learn from the Book of Moroni? What can we learn from Moroni 1–6 NOVEMBER 30–DECEMBER 6 the book of Moroni? oroni lived in “I write a few more things” turbulent times. (Moroni 1:4) He witnessed During this time, Moroni thought Mthe final destruction of the his writing on the plates was fin- Nephites, his father died in ished, but it was the will of the battle (see Mormon 8:3), Lord that he “write a few more and Nephites who refused things, that perhaps they may be to deny Jesus Christ were of worth unto my brethren . in killed (see Moroni 1:2). some future day” (Moroni 1:4). Moroni also refused to “deny the Christ” (Moroni 1:3). He fled for safety and lived in hiding for many years. Why did he write it? Knowing the divine purposes of the Book of Mormon, Moroni had to carefully choose what he wrote. After reading the book of Moroni, consider asking why Moroni chose to record what he did. What did he feel was essential? How does Moroni’s final testimony influence your feelings about the Book of Mormon? What did he write? Moroni added chapters 8 and 9 to the book of Mormon, included his abridgement of the book of Ether, and added his own book (the book of Moroni) to the plates of Mormon. Moroni’s writing contains many things of worth for us. He wrote about the work of the Church (see Moroni 1–6), included teachings from his father, Mormon (see Moroni 7–9), and recorded his final testimony (see Moroni 10). ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANDREW BOSLEY ILLUSTRATIONS 40 Ensign.
Recommended publications
  • The Mormon Culture of Community and Recruitment
    The Mormon Culture of Community and Recruitment Source:http://www.allaboutmormons.com/IMG/MormonImages/mormon-scriptures/book-of-mormon-many-languages.jpg Thesis by Tofani Grava Wheaton College, Department of Anthropology Spring, 2011 1 Table of Contents Page Chapter I: Introduction 4 Chapter II: Methodology 8 1. Research Phases 8 2. My Informants and Fieldsites 11 3. Ethical Considerations 12 4. Challenges Encountered 13 Chapter III: Literature Review 15 I. Historical Framework 15 II. Theoretical Framework 17 A. Metatheoretical Framework 17 1. Theories of religion and community 17 2. Religious rituals and rites of passage 19 3. Millenarian movements 21 4. Fundamentalism 22 5. Charisma 24 B. The logic of Faith in Christianity in 21st Century America 25 1. The function of American Churches in contemporary 25 American society 28 2. Modern Techniques of membership recruitment 29 3. Religious conversion III. Analyses of Mormonism 31 A. Processes of socialization and the Mormon subculture 31 1. A Family-oriented theology 31 2. Official Mormon religious rhetoric 32 3. The prophetic figure 34 B. Mormon Conversion 35 1. Missionary work and volunteer labor force 35 2. Mormonism as millenarian 37 IV. Online Communities: Theoretical Overview 38 A. Virtual Culture 38 1. The Interaction logic of virtual communities 38 2. The Virtual Self 40 3. The Interpenetration of public and private spheres 42 4. Virtual Communities as instruments for change 43 43 2 Page B. Religion and Technology in Modern America 46 1. A New Religious Landscape 46 2. Religious representation online 49 3. Praising Technology 51 IV. Twenty-First Century Mormonism and the Internet 54 A.
    [Show full text]
  • How Important Was It to Moroni That
    KnoWhy #356 August 23, 2017 Book of Mormon Stillife via Book of Mormon Central How Important Was It to Moroni that We Pray about the Book of Mormon? “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. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” Moroni 10:4–5 space to write “but few things” at the end of his father’s Context and Content record (Mormon 8:1–5). He exhorts those who do not After his father’s death, Moroni wandered alone for believe in Christ to not deny the revelations and mir- sixteen years (385–401 AD) before beginning to finish acles of God (Mormon 9:1–20). He declares that God Mormon’s record (Mormon 8:6). By the time the final has given a promise “unto all” that those who believe in statements of Moroni 10 were written, Moroni had been 1 Christ can ask the Father about these things, or about wandering for thirty-six years (385–421 AD). During anything, and “it shall be granted him” (Mormon 9:21). this time, we may suppose, Moroni had the opportunity to learn to hear the voice of the Spirit and develop his Perhaps because he lived longer than he expected, Mo- relationship with God.
    [Show full text]
  • A Third Jaredite Record: the Sealed Portion of the Gold Plates
    Journal of Book of Mormon Studies Volume 11 Number 1 Article 10 7-31-2002 A Third Jaredite Record: The Sealed Portion of the Gold Plates Valentin Arts Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Arts, Valentin (2002) "A Third Jaredite Record: The Sealed Portion of the Gold Plates," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: Vol. 11 : No. 1 , Article 10. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol11/iss1/10 This Feature Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Title A Third Jaredite Record: The Sealed Portion of the Gold Plates Author(s) Valentin Arts Reference Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 11/1 (2002): 50–59, 110–11. ISSN 1065-9366 (print), 2168-3158 (online) Abstract In the Book of Mormon, two records (a large engraved stone and twenty-four gold plates) contain the story of an ancient civilization known as the Jaredites. There appears to be evidence of an unpublished third record that provides more information on this people and on the history of the world. When the brother of Jared received a vision of Jesus Christ, he was taught many things but was instructed not to share them with the world until the time of his death. The author proposes that the brother of Jared did, in fact, write those things down shortly before his death and then buried them, along with the interpreting stones, to be revealed to the world according to the timing of the Lord.
    [Show full text]
  • The Book of Mormon to Be the Word of God.” THEBOOK of MORMON
    THEBOOK OF MORMON An Account of Its Origin, With Evidences of Its Genuineness and Authenticity TWOLECTURES BY DR. JAMES E. TALMAGE Prepared by Appointment, and Published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Deseret News Press Salt Lake City, Utah 1 Printed in U&A. COPYRIGHTED As Chapters 14 and 16, in “The Articles of Faith” published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. PREFATORY The matter presented in the following pages is published as Chap- ters 14 and 16, in the series entitled “The Articles of Faith,” dealing with the principal doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, prepared and delivered by Dr. James E. Tnlmage. The two lectures are presented in this separate form for the use and benefit of investigators and students who desire to learn somethinn of the most noted and characteristic volume among the standard works of the Church. From the Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Article S-“We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.” THEBOOK OF MORMON LECTURE 1 Description and Origin What is the Book of Mormon?-The Book of Mormon is a divinely inspired record, made by the prophets of the ancient peoples who inhabited the American continent for centuries before and after the time of Christ, which record has been translated in the present generation through the gift of God and by His special appointment.
    [Show full text]
  • Charting the Book of Mormon, © 1999 Welch, Welch, FARMS Book of Mormon Plates and Records
    Section 2 The Structure of the Book of Mormon Charts 13–25 Structure Chart 13 Book of Mormon Plates and Records Key Scripture Words of Mormon 1:3–11 Explanation Many ancient documents such as King Benjamin’s speech or the plates of brass were quoted or abridged by the ancient authors who compiled the books found on the small and large plates of Nephi. The abridgments, quotations, and original writings of those Book of Mormon historians are displayed on the left-hand and middle columns of this chart and are then shown in relation to the new set of plates produced by Mormon and Moroni that was delivered to Joseph Smith by the angel Moroni. Joseph dictated the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon from the plates of Mormon. Copying that original manuscript, parts of which survive today, Oliver Cowdery prepared a printer’s manuscript (owned by the RLDS Church). The first edition of the Book of Mormon was typeset from that printer’s manuscript. Source Grant R. Hardy and Robert E. Parsons, “Book of Mormon Plates and Records,” in Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 5 vols. (1992), 1:196. Charting the Book of Mormon, © 1999 Welch, Welch, FARMS Book of Mormon Plates and Records Quotation Abridgment Record of Lehi Small Plates of Nephi Plates 1 & 2 Nephi, Jacob, of Brass Enos, Jarom, Omni Benjamin’s Words of Speech Mormon Book of Lehi Record (lost 116 pages) of Zeniff Large Plates of Nephi Records Lehi, Mosiah, Alma, of Alma Helaman, 3 & 4 Nephi Plates of Records of Sons Mormon Mormon of Mosiah Sealed Plates Epistles of (not translated) Helaman, Pahoran, Moroni Ether Records of Nephi3 Records of Moroni the Jaredites Documents Title Page from Mormon The Book Printer’s Original of Mormon Manuscript Manuscript 1830 1829–30 1829 Charting the Book of Mormon, © 1999 Welch, Welch, FARMS Chart 13 Structure Chart 14 Contents of the Plates of Brass Key Scripture 1 Nephi 5:11–14 Explanation The plates of brass contained a copy of the Law (five books of Moses), a history of the Jews, Lehi’s genealogy, and the writings of many prophets.
    [Show full text]
  • Book of Mormon Gospel Doctrine Teacher's Manual
    Book of Mormon Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual Book of Mormon Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Salt Lake City, Utah Comments and Suggestions Your comments and suggestions about this manual would be appreciated. Please submit them to: Curriculum Planning 50 E. North Temple St., Rm. 2420 Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3220 USA E-mail: [email protected] Please list your name, address, ward, and stake. Be sure to give the title of the manual. Then offer your comments and suggestions about the manual’s strengths and areas of potential improvement. Cover: Christ with Three Nephite Disciples, by Gary L. Kapp © 1999 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved Updated 2003 Printed in the United States of America English approval: 4/03 Contents Lesson Number and Title Page Helps for the Teacher v 1 “The Keystone of Our Religion” 1 2 “All Things According to His Will” (1 Nephi 1–7) 6 3 The Vision of the Tree of Life (1 Nephi 8–11; 12:16–18; 15) 11 4 “The Things Which I Saw While I Was Carried Away in the Spirit” (1 Nephi 12–14) 16 5 “Hearken to the Truth, and Give Heed unto It” (1 Nephi 16–22) 20 6 “Free to Choose Liberty and Eternal Life” (2 Nephi 1–2) 25 7 “I Know in Whom I Have Trusted” (2 Nephi 3–5) 29 8 “O How Great the Goodness of Our God” (2 Nephi 6–10) 33 9 “My Soul Delighteth in the Words of Isaiah” (2 Nephi 11–25) 37 10 “He Inviteth All to Come unto Him” (2 Nephi 26–30) 42 11 “Press Forward with a Steadfastness in Christ” (2 Nephi 31–33) 47 12 “Seek Ye for the Kingdom of God” (Jacob 1–4) 51 13 The Allegory of the Olive Trees (Jacob 5–7) 56 14 “For a Wise Purpose” (Enos, Jarom, Omni, Words of Mormon) 61 15 “Eternally Indebted to Your Heavenly Father” (Mosiah 1–3) 66 16 “Ye Shall Be Called the Children of Christ” (Mosiah 4–6) 71 17 “A Seer .
    [Show full text]
  • General Conference Addresses
    THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS • NOVEMBER 2012 General Conference Addresses Age Requirements Lowered for Full-Time Missionaries Two New Temples Announced New Youth Curriculum Introduced © WALTER RANE, MAY NOT BE COPIED RANE, MAY © WALTER They Were All Filled, by Walter Rane “And when [ Jesus] had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. “And they did all eat, and were filled” (Mark 6:41–42). “And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children” (Matthew 14:21). Contents November 2012 Volume 36 • Number 11 SATURDAY MORNING SESSION SUNDAY MORNING SESSION GENERAL RELIEF SOCIETY MEETING 4 Welcome to Conference 72 Where Is the Pavilion? 111 Is Faith in the Atonement of Jesus u President Thomas S. Monson u President Henry B. Eyring Christ Written in Our Hearts? 6 Can Ye Feel So Now? 75 The Atonement Linda K. Burton Elder Quentin L. Cook President Boyd K. Packer 115 Wide Awake to Our Duties 10 I Know It. I Live It. I Love It. 78 First Observe, Then Serve Carole M. Stephens Ann M. Dibb Linda K. Burton 118 The Lord Has Not Forgotten You 12 An Unspeakable Gift from God 81 Learning with Our Hearts Linda S. Reeves Elder Craig C. Christensen Elder Walter F. González 121 The Caregiver 15 “Because I Live, Ye Shall Live Also” 83 The First Great Commandment u President Henry B.
    [Show full text]
  • An Outline of the Textual Structure of the Book of Mormon by J
    An Outline of the Textual Structure of The Book of Mormon by J. Max Wilson [email protected] Explanation I compiled the following outline as a way to help me understand the Book of Mormon better by identifying some of the organizational boundaries, voices, and structure of the text. The chapter boundaries of the original 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon were different than our modern version and it was not divided into verses. Apostle Orson Pratt divided the book into new chapters and added the verse divisions in the 1838 Liverpool edition of the book. One objective of the outline was to easily see the different boundaries between the chapters both in the original translation and our modern version. The Book of Mormon itself is translated from multiple different sets of records which create natural boundaries in the structure between source materials and authors. Some of these divisions and groups are identified by headings in the original text itself, which I have colored blue. The original translation did not identify the range of chapters over which the headings extended, but in the 1920 edition of the Book of Mormon, text was added to identify which chapters comprised each section identified by the headings. In addition to the headings from the original record, based on my own reading I have added my own sections with their own headings and boundaries, colored green, whenever possible using words from the actual text. Many of the boundaries I have made organize chapters of the text where the primary voice changes from the principal author or editor of the plates (Nephi, Mormon, Moroni) to one of their sources for an extensive section, or when the editors (Mormon for the Large Plates of Nephi and Moroni for the Plates of Ether) interrupt their narrative to offer extensive editorial commentary.
    [Show full text]
  • Charting the Book of Mormon: Visual Aids for Personal Study and Teaching John W
    Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Maxwell Institute Publications 1999 Charting the Book of Mormon: Visual Aids for Personal Study and Teaching John W. Welch J. Gregory Welch Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/mi Part of the Religious Education Commons Recommended Citation Welch, John W. and Welch, J. Gregory, "Charting the Book of Mormon: Visual Aids for Personal Study and Teaching" (1999). Maxwell Institute Publications. 20. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/mi/20 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Maxwell Institute Publications by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Charting the Book of Mormon FARMS Publications Teachings of the Book of Mormon Copublished with Deseret Book Company The Geography of Book of Mormon Events: A Source Book An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon Text Reformatted according to Warfare in the Book of Mormon Parallelistic Patterns By Study and Also by Faith: Essays in Honor of Hugh Eldin Ricks’s Thorough Concordance of the LDS W. Nibley Standard Works The Sermon at the Temple and the Sermon on the A Guide to Publications on the Book of Mormon: A Mount Selected Annotated Bibliography Rediscovering the Book of Mormon Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence Reexploring the Book of Mormon for Ancient Origins Of All Things! Classic Quotations from Hugh
    [Show full text]
  • Mormonism's Basic Teaching & Heresy
    AN EXPOSÉ OF MORMONISM’S BASIC TEACHING & HERESY A major heresy of Mormonism is summed up in its central theological axiom, the doctrine of the law of eternal progression. To believe in and teach this doctrine is to be so separated from Christian orthodoxy that the unrepentant adherent is consigned to a Christless eternity. It is stated as follows: As man is, God once was, and as God is, man may become. Upon this axiom from Mormon “prophet” Lorenzo Snow is based the entire theology of Mormonism: from the temple rituals for the living to those for their dead; from the teaching that families are forever – to the pressure on parents to send their youth to the mission fields across the world. The Mormon people are committed to a controlled program that maps out their entire lives as they seek their own exaltation1 to godhood, along with their own planet to rule and reign over. Mormonism teaches that trillions of planets scattered throughout the cosmos are ruled by countless exalted men-gods who once were human like us.2 They say that long ago on one of these planets, to an unidentified god and one of his goddess wives, a spirit child named Elohim was conceived. This spirit child was later born to human parents who gave him a physical body. Through obedience to what later came to be known as “Mormon teaching”, death, and resurrection, he proved himself worthy and was elevated to godhood as had his father before him. Mormons believe that Elohim is their heavenly Father, that he has a physical body and lives with his many wives on a planet near a mysterious star called Kolob.
    [Show full text]
  • Moroni 9-10: Remember How Merciful the Lord Hath Been
    Moroni 9-10: Remember How Merciful The Lord Hath Been Bruce Satterfield Brigham Young University - Idaho [Published in The Book of Mormon: Fourth Nephi Through Moroni, From Zion to Destruction. Ed. By Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, BYU, 1995), pp. 277-288.] President Ezra Taft Benson declared, “The Book of Mormon brings men to Christ.” (Benson “The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants” 83) In this declaration, he reaffirmed the fundamental importance of the Book of Mormon in the salvation of men. From its beginning to its conclusion, the Book of Mormon bears witness of Christ and teaches of his atonement that makes possible “the plan of mercy” (Alma 42:15,23). Through this plan men can be delivered from the power of Satan and their own imperfection. Throughout the Book of Mormon, the prophets urge all men to come unto Christ (see 1 Nephi 6:4; 13:40; 2 Nephi 9:45,51; 26:33; Jacob 1:7; 6:5; Omni 1:26; Alma 5:34,35; 3 Nephi 12:20; Mormon 9:27; 29:2). The last prophet to make this plea was Moroni. In the final chapter of the Book of Mormon before he sealed up the plates from which it was translated, Moroni invited “all the ends of the earth . [to] come unto Christ, and be perfected in him” (Moroni 10:24,32). This is found in the last chapter of the Book of Mormon, Moroni 10. However, Moroni 10 is more than just an invitation. Through a series of exhortations Moroni teaches how to come unto Christ, and, he also gives insight into the power of God that perfects and sanctifies those who have come unto him.
    [Show full text]
  • Mormonism Mormonism
    07.04.2013 INTRODUCTION TO MORMONISM Hans Gerald Hödl, University of Vienna First lecture: Overview Mormonism What is Mormonism? • A Christian Religion • An inaccurate term to refer to religious traditions that trace themselves back to revelations given to Joseph Smith (1805-1844) • A nickname for those groups, that believe in the Book of Mormon Mormonism What is Mormonism? • A sect of polygamists? • A religion whose adherents live mostly in Utah? • The fastest growing Religion in the entire world? • The next „World-Religion“ ? • A New Religious Movement? 1 07.04.2013 Mormonism History • 23. 12. 1805: Joseph Smith is born in Sharon, Vermont • Rather poor family, renting farms, changing places; Christians, but not adherents of one single church • 1820: Palmyra, New York: first vision • Church minister tells him, that there are no more revelations • Second Vision in 1823, September 22 : Moroni, gold plates Mormonism History • Tries to get hold of the gold-plates, without success • His father , a visionary & treasure -hunter, believes him • Seeks for treasures, using „magical“ techniques • In 1827 receives gold-plates & the Urim and Thummim (Ex. 28, 30 on Aarons breastplate). • Dictates book of Mormon, using the U & T to interpret the scripture • Later uses seer-stone of his father. 2 07.04.2013 Mormonism History • 1828 JS begins to translate (different scribes) in Harmony, PA • 1829: Oliver Cowdery proves to be an effective scribe • 1830: BoM published, Church established • JS gives back the plates to Moroni • 11 witnesses have seen the plates • Other revelations to Joseph Smith have also been written down, later compiled in D&C • In LDS-belief, revelation still goes on Mormonism History • First Visions in 1829: • John the Baptist: transfers „ Aaronic“ priesthood on Smith & Cowdery – all male members hold that priesthood – baptism • The apostles Peter, James & John give „Melchizedek“ priesthood to Smith & Cowdery.
    [Show full text]