Mormon: The man and his thought

Assignment 1981-03-03 for a Book or Mormon religion class (Rel A 122) taught by Dr. Jack Welch

The first two pages of Mormon’s brief autobiography are both informative and tantalizing. The most accessible facts are given: Mormon, a descendant of Nephi,1 is appointed the keeper of the sacred Nephite records when he is but ten years old.2 In the next year, he moves with his father to the land of Zarahemla; at the same time, a great war started between his people and the Lamanites.3 Mormon says that he was “a sober child, and … quick to observe”4; indeed, he was interested enough in the “learning of [his] people” to know that the earth’s rotation, not the movement of the sun, was responsible for the sun’s daily variation.5 He tells the reader of the iniquity of the two peoples, which was so great that “the power of the evil one was wrought upon all the face of the land.”6 Then, at the age of fifteen (although he was young, he was “large in stature”), he was commissioned by his people to be their commander-in-chief.7

Reading even this far, however, raises a forest of question marks: how spiritual was Mormon? how was his life affected by the continual wickedness around him? what did he think about war? how did he feel towards the people he battled almost all his life? What all these questions really mean to say is this: who is Mormon, the man, and what did he think? Although a full answer to this question is beyond the scope of this paper, a careful examination of inportant passages from Mormon’s direct statements and commentaries will answer many questions about his life.

From the first chapters of Mormon, it is apparent that in many ways Mormon must have been lonely: for example, he was described as a “sober” child when all about him was a continual scene of wickedness.8 Mormon’s reliance on the gospel for support is evident. Thus the best way to find out about Mormon’s entire life might be to examine his religious beliefs. For obvious reasons, Mormon has a special love for the scriptures. His love for the scriptures is shown not only in his work of abridgment but in direct statements such as:

these plates … are choice unto me; and I know they will be choice unto my brethren.9

He continually calls the records “sacred” and carefully guards then.10 He knows the ancient records well, for he knows the prophecies not only of Abinadi and Samuel the Lamanite,11 but also those of Zenos and Zenock and Jacob.12 A knowledge of and respect for the scriptures is always a mark of a spiritual man.

Mormon’s spiritual nature is manifested to the reader from the beginning of the autobiography:

And I, being fifteen years of age and being somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus.13 Mormon continued to receive revelation in directing all his affairs. For example, when he was about to record the names of the three Nephite disciples who were to remain on the earth, he was receptive to the Lord’s command to not include them.14 When the people asked Mormon to lead them in a war of vengeance, he obeyed the Lord’s command to refuse their offer.15 When told of an argument among the church members, he turned to the Lord for guidance.16 And his definite denial that miracles had ceased,17 together with a record of visits from the three Nephite disciples,18 fairly convince the reader that Mormon knew of miracles firsthand.

It is probable that Mormon deserved these revelations and miracles by virtue of his position as a leader of the few repaining church members. Although he did not state explicitly that he held this position, he introduced his talk “in the synagogue”19 by saying:

… and it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and his holy will, because of the gift of his calling unto me, that I am permitted to speak unto you at this time. (Emphasis added.)20 The office of keeper of the records usually carried with it ecclesiastical responsibility,21 and Mormon’s calling was probably no different. In a comment in 3 Nephi 5:13, Mormon refers to hinself as “a disciple of Jesus Christ” and tells us that he had been “called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.” And declare the word he did.

Beginning with Mormon’s statement that when he was fifteen he “did endeavor to preach unto this people,”22 references to Mormon’s activity as a preacher abound. As on this first occasion, the Lord at other times forbade him to preach to the wicked Nephites. However, Mormon– who was anything but a recalcitrant missionary–had many opportunities to preach. When he was in his: forties, there was a decade of relative peace in the land, and the Lord again conmanded him to preach to the Nephites, but his preaching was in vain.23 His son Moroni recorded one of Mormon’s sermons and an epistle sinilar in intent to those Paul wrote to the young churches in the other hemisphere.24 In fact, Mormon’s missionary zeal is perhaps most strongly felt in a letter to his son, wherein he describes his preaching to the wicked Nephites:

Behold, I am laboring with them continually; and when I speak the word of God with sharpness they tremble and anger against me; and when I use no sharpness they harden their hearts against it; wherefore, I fear lest the Spirit of the Lord hath ceased striving with them. … And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.25 Furthermore, he never forgot that he was writing to an audience of future Lamanites and Gentiles: several sermons to those future readers are included in the Book of Mormon.26

His messages in those sermons and in his editorial comments center on a few recurring themes, and a look at those themes may tell much about his character. Although Mormon treats many topics, I shall discuss only a handful of them. One of Mormon’s favorite subjects is repentance. Given the spiritual condition of the people around hin, the thene is very appropriate. This topic is almost always accompanied by comments on wickedness and a reminder of the inevitable last judgment. For an example, in Mormon’s first message to future readers in the autobiography itself, his message is adequately summarized by his last sentence:

And I would that I could persuade all ye ends of the earth to repent and prepare to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.27 Again, when he leads the Nephite armies for the second time, he records his thoughts:

But behold, I was without hope, for I knew the judgments of the Lord which should come upon them; for they repented not of their iniquities, but did struggle for thely lives without calling upon that Being who created them.28

Many times his call to repentance takes the form of a lament, as when he cries for his people, who have almost all been killed by the Lamanites:

And the day soon cometh that your mortal must put on immortality, and these bodies which are now moldering in corruption must soon become incorruptible bodies; and then ye must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ to be judged according to your works; and if it so be that ye are righteous, then are ye blessed with your fathers who have gone before you. O that ye had repented before this great destruction had come upon you. But behold, ye are gone, and the Father, yea, the Eternal Father of heaven, knoweth your state, and he doeth with you according to his justice and mercy.29

The concern and love for his people that Mormon shows here is shown over and over again in other parts of his writings. When he refuses the captaincy of their armies, Mormon explains why he had led the people before:

Behold, I had led them, notwithstanding their wickedness I had led them many times to battle, and had loved them, according to the love of God which was in me, with all my heart; and my soul had been poured out in prayer unto my God all the day long for them. …30

This “love of God” that Mormon talks about in this passage is another of the recurrent themes in his writings. His sermon on faith, hope, and charity, recorded in Moroni 7, is a masterpiece of exhortation to love. A natural question is whether Mormon practiced what he preached. Although in many places he makes his love for his people obvious,31 one wonders how he could love the Lamanites, the people whom he had fought from his youth.

The answer is that he did love the Lamanites. Although he was sensible enough to realize their wickedness, he was not so blinded by prejudice that he failed to notice the great wickedness of his own people.32 He knows that the Lamanites will receive his words, and he tells them several times the truths he knows they would need. His message to them in Mormon 7:2-10 is marvelous:

For behold, this is written for the intent that ye may believe that [the Bible]; and if ye believe that ye will believe this also; and if ye believe this ye will know concerning your fathers, and also the marvelous works which were wrought by the power of God among then. … and if if so be that ye believe in Christ, and are baptized, … it shall be well with you in the day of judgment.33

His records are to help them, and he compiles and adds to those records willingly–even gladly.

Mormon’s opinion of war is harder to unravel. On the one hand, Mormon gives this advice to the Lamanites of today:

Know that ye must lay down your weapons of war, and delight no more in the shedding of blood, and take them not again, save it be that God shall command you.34

On the other hand, he named his son after a military man, he spent most of his life in battle, and he displaces much possible information for a record of the wars of an earlier day, in the end of his abridgment of Alma. The answer to this seeming paradox lies in the varied aspect of war itself. Mormon’s hate for “blood and carnage” is represented many times in his writings,35 but his admiration of courage and skill and stratagem can also be easily seen.36

So who is Mormon? A spiritual leader, an intelligent, “sober” man, a great warrior, and a man with a “perfect love”37 for all men. His example is one of the greatest for people who live surrounded by men with different beliefs–or none at all–who wish to be strong in what they know is true.

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1

Morm. 1:5 (3 Ne. 5:20, Moro. 8:13)

2

Morm. 1:2-4

3

Morm. 1:6,8

4

Morm. 1:2

5

Hel. 12:15

6

Morm. 1:19

7

Morm. 2:1-2

8

Morm. 1:2,13

9

W. of M. 6

10

Morm. 6:6, 4:23, Moro. 9:24

11

Morm. 1:19

12

3 Ne. 10:16

13

Morm. 1:15

14

3 Ne. 28:25

15

Morm. 3:16

16

Moro. 8:7

17

Moro. 7:27-29

18

e.g. Morm.8:11

19

Moro. 7:1

20

Moro. 7:2

21

e.g. Jacob and Alma

22

Morm. 1:16

23

Morm. 3:2

24

Moro., chs. 7,8

25

Moro. 9:4,6

26

e.g. Morm. 3:17-22, 7:2-10

27

Morm. 3:22

28

Morm. 5:2

29

Morm. 6:21-22

30

Morm. 3:12

31

W. of M. 8; Morm. 2:12-13, 15; 3:21, 3:12; 6:16-22; Moro. 8:27, 9:11-13, 21 ,25-26, 8:16-17

32

Morm. 2:8, Moro. 9:9

33

Morm. 7:9,10

34

Morm. 7:4

35

Morm. 4:11; also 4:9, 3:18, 15, 1:11, 5:8, 6:10-16, 7:4

36

Moro. 8:16, Morm. 2:3, 23-25 and Alma chapter 43 to the end

37

Moro. 8:16,17