Mormon 7-9 Quotes and Notes

Mormon 7-9 Show Notes

Mormon 7

Mormon 7.1 – Mormon speaks to a “remnant” of “this people”… reminiscent of Isaiah’s words that “a remnant shall return…” (Isaiah 10.21)

Know that ye are of the House of Israel (2)

Lay down your weapons of war (4)… it is literally as if he is circulating this among the descendants of both the Nephites and the Lamanites in a last ditch hope…

All will stand (6) before the judgment seat of Christ

Mormon testifies of the Holy Bible that will also come forth (8) from the Gentiles

This (the BOM) is written that ye might believe that (The Holy Bible) – v. 9

Ye are the people of the “first covenant” (10)

Mormon 8

Moroni is now writing (1) but a “few things”…

The escaped Nephites are hunted down (2)

Moroni relates that his father is killed by the Lamanites (3), and relates how he doesn’t know what his fate will be.

Moroni relates that the plates are full and he doesn’t have ore to make more (5), and yet later (Moroni 1.1-4), he relates that he thought he would not write more, but he is still alive and so he continues the production of scripture! Clearly Moroni acquires ore to eventually create more scripture.₁

The Lamanites have hunted down the Nephites from city to city and from place to place (7)

Everything breaks down, it is one continual round of murder and bloodshed (8)… this seems to indicate both war “bloodshed,” and human sacrifice “murder.”

Moroni tells us that he has seen the 3 Nephites and that they have ministered to him (10-11), as well as that these 3 are the only ones who know the true God.

Don’t condemn this work because of its imperfections (12), and if you accept this for what it is you “shall know of greater things than these”… the claim that Moroni is making at the end of this verse is one that should be pondered… What does he mean that “if it were possible, I would make all things known unto you.”? To me, this indicates that Moroni has had panoramic visions of the eventual triumph of Jesus, his kingdom, the Millennial peace, and all thing visions that both John and the Brother of Jared have experienced.

The motives for bringing this “to light” are discussed: an eye single, not to get gain, etc. (14-16)

Moroni asks us to not condemn the text for any faults (17)

AS the Lord liveth he will remember the covenant he made with “them.” (23)

It shall come in a day when:

• The blood of the saints cries out (27)
• Secret works of darkness exist (27)
• The power of God is denied (28)
• Churches become defiled (28)
• Churches are defiled by their leaders and teachers (28)
• Fires, tempests, vapors of smoke (29)
• Wars, earthquakes (30)
• Great pollutions upon the face of the earth (31)
• Murders, robbing, lying, whoredoms (31)
• Forgiveness can come with monetary donations (32) – I do not equate this verse with the historical sale of indulgences that existed in Europe before the Restoration (see History of the Sale of Indulgences below).

Moroni tells us that he sees our day when he says, “I speak unto you as if ye are present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.” (Mormon 8.35)

In this podcast, Bryce and I break down how the Book of Mormon is relevant to our day on several levels from a large scale all the way down to the level of the individual.

Some examples included:

• The Vision of the Tree of Life in 1 Nephi 8 and 11. This vision is an overlay for the entire text of the Book of Mormon. Look for the imitation as well: seeing the imitation (the building) will help modern readers to see how these imitations are so relevant today.
• Jacob’s discussion of wealth and class distinctions (Jacob 2). The Nephite egalitarian ideal₃ is something that is brought up so many times through the text and has relevance today. Brigham Young said this about the Saints and wealth, “The worst fear that I have about [members of this Church] is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and his people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth; and yet they have to be tried with riches.”₄
• Governmental implications. The Book of Mormon actually emphasizes that a monarchy is the best kind of governmental system, provided the king is righteous (see Mosiah 29.13). Since it is the natural disposition for men to seek power in an unrighteous way, a system of separation of powers is established with higher and lower judges (Mosiah 29.29). Both King Noah and Benjamin are examples of how kings can either be a curse or blessing, depending on their behavior. The Book of Mormon is coming to light in a day (1829) when Constitutional republics are coming to be, something very different than that of the monarchies that existed for most of human history.
• Gadiantonism is discussed as contributing to the disintegration of Nephite culture (Helaman 2.13-14). In our day, millions have died underneath atheist Gadianton-like governments. The parallels between Gadiantonism and Communism are easily to identifiable. Dinesh D’Souza argues against atheistic communism as a viable alternative to Christian giving and acts of Christlike care for our fellow man. He argues against Christianity’s critics when he says: In his bestseller “The God Delusion,” Richard Dawkins contends that most of the world’s recent conflicts – in the Middle East, in the Balkans, in Northern Ireland, in Kashmir, and in Sri Lanka – show the vitality of religion’s murderous impulse. The problem with this critique is that it exaggerates the crimes attributed to religion, while ignoring the greater crimes of secular fanaticism. The best example of religious persecution in America is the Salem witch trials. How many people were killed in those trials? Thousands? Hundreds? Actually, fewer than 25. Yet the event still haunts the liberal imagination. It is strange to witness the passion with which some secular figures rail against the misdeeds of the Crusaders and Inquisitors more than 500 years ago. The number sentenced to death by the Spanish Inquisition appears to be about 10,000. Some historians contend that an additional 100,000 died in jail due to malnutrition or illness. These figures are tragic, and of course population levels were much lower at the time. But even so, they are minuscule compared with the death tolls produced by the atheist despotisms of the 20th century. In the name of creating their version of a religion-free utopia, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong produced the kind of mass slaughter that no Inquisitor could possibly match. Collectively these atheist tyrants murdered more than 100 million people.₅
• The theme of happiness is a vital thread in the text of the Book of Mormon, and the prophets tell us how to get there. In three significant texts, readers are told that the Nephites had acquired a state of happiness. It is significant that in 2 of the 3 times, they were also living in a period of war. See: Alma 50.23 (under Moroni’s leadership), 2 Nephi 5.27 (under Nephi₁), and 4 Nephi 1.16 (during the 200 year period of a Zion society). In each of these cases the Nephites 1) worked together, 2) were led by a prophet, and 3) strived to live the principles of Zion.
• The Book of Mormon shows how to deal with the various anti-Christs that we encounter in our day.
• The Book of Mormon is a harrowing reminder of mankind’s ability to completely destroy each other through violence (see Mormon 6). Never before in the history of the world has this message been more relevant!

Moroni decries our latter-day pride:

“None save a few only do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts.” (36)

He begs us to take care of our poor (38-39) and in the spirit of other Old Testament prophets, speaks out against the injustice of economic inequality.

Widows and Orphans

Yahweh is the God of widows and orphans (40) the “father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows” (Psalm 68.5). When the text says “judge” it is using the word dayan, דַיַּן (H1781) which is a defender or an advocate. Many Old Testament texts testify of Jehovah’s care for the widows and orphans (see Deuteronomy 10.18, 16.11, 24.17, 24.20, 26.12, 27.19, Psalm 146.9, Isaiah 1.17, 9.17, Jeremiah 7.6, Zechariah 7.10, Malachi 3.5).

He cries out for the “blood of the saints” and warns that the “sword of justice” hangs over his audience.

Mormon 9

Moroni says that there will be a day, a future day of apocalyptic proportions (1) – cross reference this with 1 Peter 3.10-12.

Because of this, he begs his audience to “turn ye unto the Lord” (6) so that we can be found “spotless, pure, fair, and white”…

If we deny the justice of God he informs us that we either haven’t read the scriptures, or if we have, then we do not understand them (8)

This brings us to the invitation to teach our children “to understand” (D&C 68.25). Parents are not simply to teach, rather, they are to teach their children to “understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ,” etc.₂

The Miraculous Promise of Moroni – You Can Ask God for Miracles

Moroni’s message about his belief in a God of miracles (9-21)… this is an important message to Moroni, and it has to be related to the time period that he is living in, as well as our secular age that he has seen through the Spirit. His promise in verse 21 is telling: “whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth.”

Moroni qualifies this promise informing his readers:

• Believe in the name of God (25)
• Do not doubt (25, 27) “doubting nothing”
• Be wise in the days of your probation (28)
• Ask not that you may consume it upon your lusts (28)
• But ask with a firmness unshaken (28)
• To the intent that  “ye will serve the true and living God” (28)

Learn to be “more wise than we have been” (31)… this is a powerful message about how we are to approach scriptural texts.

Moroni expounds on the textual production

Moroni tells us he has used “reformed Egyptian” (32) being “handed down and altered by us, according to our speech.”

The plates were not large enough for his “altered Hebrew” to have been used (33).

No other people “knoweth our language” (34).

I like these verses as an example of how we can do all we can to maximize the gifts and opportunities that we have been given. Both Mormon and Moroni did not have ideal opportunities for scripture production, nevertheless, they did the best with what they had available. This is a lesson that can apply in our lives in a variety of circumstances!

“These things” (words and things are the same word in Hebrew davar) are written that we may:

• Rid our garments of the blood of our brethren.
• To restore the true knowledge of Christ.
• To answer the prayers of the saints in the land (35-36).

Moroni’s prayer – that God will remember the covenant he made with the House of Israel (37).

Interpreting Mormon 8.32

From my reading of Moroni’s explanation of the time period from when the text of the Book of Mormon comes forth, and from my understanding of Christianity’s relationship with indulgences, I think there are a couple of ways that we could interpret this text. One option is that we approach Mormon 8.32 as talking about something other than indulgences. In Mormon 8.32 we read the following:

“…It shall come in a day when there shall be churches built up that shall say: Come unto me, and for your money you shall be forgiven of your sins.”

How can this be something other than indulgences? One way is that this is Moroni’s explanation that power, wealth, and prestige has the ability to purchase forgiveness in the day the book comes forth. Clearly there were dynamics of power utilizing religious influence in the 1800’s. This is a possible explanation. In the section on the history of indulgences (see below), we can see that the sale of indulgences officially ended centuries before the text of the Book of Mormon was published to the world (1567 AD, see below). I would assume that Joseph Smith knew this, and I would add that if he wrote the book (as enemies have claimed), he certainly would not have written Mormon 8.32 to read the way that it does.

Another interpretation of this verse is that the Book of Mormon has come in a time period when these ideas happened, but not necessarily in the exact day that these things were historically taking place. In other words, we need to relax our historical eyes, so to speak, and see that Moroni is talking in generalities. He is talking about “the day” of a time which existed much later than “his day,” which from his perspective would be considered the “last days,” and yet Mormon states it comes at a day “when these things shall come forth among you” (Mormon 8.34).

Indulgences – A brief history

From the early church onward, bishops could reduce or dispense with the rigours of penances, but indulgences emerged in only the 11th and 12th centuries when the idea of purgatory took widespread hold and when the popes became the activist leaders of the reforming church. In their zeal, they promoted the militant reclamation of once-Christian lands—first of Iberia in the Reconquista, then of the Holy Land in the Crusades—offering “full remission of sins,” the first indulgences, as inducements to participation. (Britannica.com)

Papal pronouncements, oral and written, were often vague, however, and raised many questions among the pious. To clarify all these issues, the Scholastic theologians of the 12th and 13th centuries worked out a fully articulated theory of penance. It consisted of three parts: contrition, confession, and satisfaction. The debt of forgiven sin could be reduced through the performance of good works in this life (pilgrimages, charitable acts, and the like) or through suffering in purgatory. Indulgences could be granted only by popes or, to a lesser extent, archbishops and bishops as ways of helping ordinary people measure and amortize their remaining debt. “Plenary,” or full, indulgences cancelled all the existing obligation, while “partial” indulgences remitted only a portion of it. People naturally wanted to know how much debt was forgiven (just as modern students want to know exactly what they need to study for examinations), so set periods of days, months, and years came gradually to be attached to different kinds of partial indulgences.

One did not, however, have to do it all by oneself. Medieval Christianity was a vast community of mutual help through prayer and good works, uniting the living and the dead in the Church Militant on earth, the Church Suffering in purgatory, and the Church Triumphant in heaven. The good works of Jesus Christ, the saints, and others could be drawn upon to liberate souls from purgatory. In 1343 Pope Clement VI decreed that all these good works were in the Treasury of Merit, over which the pope had control.

This highly complicated theological system, which was framed as a means to help people achieve their eternal salvation, easily lent itself to misunderstanding and abuse as early as the 13th century, much sooner than is usually thought. A principal contributing factor was money. Paralleling the rise of indulgences, the Crusades, and the reforming papacy was the economic resurgence of Europe that began in the 11th century. Part of this tremendous upsurge was the phenomenon of commutation, through which any services, obligations, or goods could be converted into a corresponding monetary payment. Those eager to gain plenary indulgences, but unable to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, wondered whether they might perform an alternative good work or make an equivalent offering to a charitable enterprise—for example, the building of a leprosarium or a cathedral. Churchmen allowed such commutation, and the popes even encouraged it, especially Innocent III (reigned 1198–1216) in his various Crusading projects. From the 12th century onward the process of salvation was therefore increasingly bound up with money. Reformers of the 14th and 15th centuries frequently complained about the “sale” of indulgences by pardoners. And as the papacy weakened in this period, secular governments increasingly allowed the granting of indulgences only in return for a substantial share of the yield, often as much as two-thirds. The princes got most of the money, and the popes got most of the blame.

People also wondered whether they could gain an indulgence for someone who had died and was presumed to be in purgatory. If so, in acting out of charity for someone else, were they then obliged to confess their own sins, as they would if they sought to obtain an indulgence for themselves? Although these concerns were surfacing as early as the 13th century, it was only in 1476 that Pope Sixtus IV declared that one could indeed gain an indulgence for someone in purgatory. Sixtus, however, left unanswered the problem of the necessity of personal confession. This profound uncertainty surrounding penance threatened to sever completely the nexus between the confession of sin and the achievement of salvation.

That is precisely what happened in the early 16th century. In northern Germany a Dominican friar, Johann Tetzel, was credited with hawking indulgences for the dead by saying, “When a penny in the coffer rings, / A soul from Purgatory springs.” The system was finally killed by a young Augustinian friar in a neighbouring territory, Martin Luther. He was not (as is widely thought) moved originally to a critique of the system by these abuses but rather by his own terrible spiritual suffering. In any case, he drew up a devastating document, the Ninety-five Theses of October 1517. In number 82 he blew the lid off the system. Cleverly reporting the “keen criticisms of the laity,” he vitiated papal control of the Treasury of Merit by writing that the laity:

ask, for example: Why does not the pope liberate everyone from Purgatory for the sake of love (a most holy thing) and because of the supreme necessity of their souls? This would be morally the best of reasons. Meanwhile he redeems innumerable souls for money, a most perishable thing, with which to build St. Peter’s church, a very minor purpose.

With this blast, Luther began to knock down the house of cards, and by 1520 he came to the full realization of his immensely liberating theological message: salvation is free, and one does not have to do anything, much less pay anything, to obtain it. Virtually all forms of Protestantism would reject all or most of the penitential system, including indulgences.

The Roman Catholic Church conceded very few points to Luther or the other reformers. One of the points was justification by faith (but not by faith “alone,” as Luther insisted in his rendering of Paul), and another was the fateful connection between money and indulgences. While reasserting the place of indulgences in the salvific process, the Council of Trent condemned “all base gain for securing indulgences” in 1563, and Pope Pius V abolished the sale of indulgences in 1567. The system and its underlying theology otherwise remained intact. Exactly 400 years later, in 1967, Pope Paul VI modified it by shifting the stress away from the satisfaction of punishment to the inducement of good works, greatly reducing the number of plenary indulgences and eliminating the numerical system associated for so long with partial indulgences.₆

The Fate of Moroni

At a meeting at Spanish Fork, Utah Co., in the winter of 1896, Brother Higginson stated in my presence that Thomas B. Marsh told him that the Prophet Joseph Smith told him (Thomas B. Marsh, he being then President of the Twelve), that he became very anxious to know something of the fate of Moroni, and in answer to prayer the Lord gave Joseph a vision, in which appeared a wild country and on the scene was Moroni after whom were six Indians in pursuit; he stopped and one of the Indians stepped forward and measured swords with him. Moroni smote him and he fell dead; another Indian advanced and contended with him; this Indian also fell by his sword; a third Indian then stepped forth and met the same fate; a fourth afterwards contended with him, but in the struggle with the fourth, Moroni, being exhausted, was killed. Thus ended the life of Moroni.₇ 

Notes

1. BMC’s article here is useful. They write: It seems that during the period of peace between the Nephites and the Lamanites, Moroni may have been an apprentice to his father, helping him with the research and record-keeping responsibilities of composing the Book of Mormon. In this process, Moroni likely would have learned the metallurgical skills necessary to create his own plates. Moreover, the fact that he mentioned a lack of ore in the first place implies that if he had ore, he could make use of it. For a discussion of what may have transpired during the ten years of peace, see Book of Mormon Central, “Why Is the 10-Year Peace Treaty Important? (Mormon 3:1),” KnoWhy 228 (November 10, 2016).
2. Elder Bednar put it this way: I want to link together a series of verses that we all know and are familiar with. Perhaps we have not examined carefully the word understand in these verses. Brace yourself, because I am about to preach a hard doctrine. And again, inasmuch as parents have children of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents. For this shall be a law unto the inhabitants of Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized. (D&C 68:25-26, emphasis added) Here is the hard doctrine. It does not say to teach our children. Teaching is an activity. It says that we should teach them to understand. Understanding is an outcome; it is a result. It is easy for us to say, “I teach my children in the home.” That is not the job we have been assigned. That is not the admonition. It says that we are to teach them to understand. Here is the question that follows this hard doctrine. “Can any parent ever ensure or guarantee that a child will understand?” The answer is, “No.” Let’s go back to Section 50 and continue with what we have read about the process of learning by the Spirit. We have already read verses 13 and 14. This entire section describes the process whereby he that preacheth and he that receiveth, when they do so under the influence of the Holy Ghost, are edified and rejoice together. There is one other important outcome. Can you guess what it is? They understand each other. Let’s go to verse 17 in Section 50: Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? And if it be by some other way it is not of God. Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the Spirt of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth? Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together. (D&C 50:17-18, 21-22, emphasis added) I believe, brothers and sisters, that Section 68 verses 25-26 are an admonition for parents to create a home that is a house of learning wherein the Spirit of the Holy Ghost can reside. In such a home the Holy Ghost can teach the children to understand. It is not the parents who do the teaching. The parents have a role; they create, invite, and facilitate. But who ultimately is the teacher? The Spirit of the Holy Ghost. And it is teaching by the Spirit that produces understanding. (Elder David A. Bednar, Teach them to understand, Ricks College Devotional, June 4, 1998)
3. Brant Gardner has opened up this term to my mind. He writes, “In contrast, unrighteous kings led their people away from correct beliefs and practices. The story of King Noah is the earliest manifestation of this particular type of apostasy in the Book of Mormon. Noah became a king who was very clearly contrary to the egalitarian ideals King Benjamin had espoused and modeled (Mosiah 2:14).” See: The Cultural Context of Nephite Apostasy, Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 1 (2012): 25-55.
4. Quoted in Preston Nibley, Brigham Young: The Man and His Work [1936], 128. See also: Is it morally wrong to be rich in a world where so many are poor? Liahona, April 2002.
5. Dinesh D’Souza, Atheism, not religion, is the real force behind the mass murders of history, November 21, 2006.
6. britannica.com – Indulgence, Roman Catholicism, written by Lawrence G. Duggan, professor of History, University of Delaware, Newark. Author of Bishop and Chapter: The Governance of the Bishopric of Speyer to 1552.
7. Charles D. Evans, LDS Church Archives, as quoted in H. Donl Peterson, Moroni: Ancient Prophet, Modern Messenger, p. 77. See also: Evans, Charles David. “The Fate of Moroni, 1897.” Archives Division, Church Historical Department, Salt Lake City, UT. See also: The Book of Mormon: Fourth Nephi through Moroni, From Zion to Destruction, “Moroni, the Last of the Nephite Prophets,” by H. Donl Peterson.