LeGrand L. Baker

Please remember, as with everything I write, this is my personal opinion.

45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him
48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen (Moroni 7:45-48).

This is the last of my seven-part discussion of Mormon’s sermon in Moroni 7. During the sermon Mormon moved from premises to conclusions, then used those conclusions as new premises on which to build new conclusions. So the rationale for this final conclusion that charity as our only portal into the presence of God is established by those earlier premises. Similarly, my discussion of charity will make a lot more sense if you have read the previous six short essays.

Mormon completed his discussion of hope with this warning:

43 And again, behold I say unto you that he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart.
44 If so, his faith and hope is vain, for none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.

These references to the Savior’s Beatitudes are very telling. As I pointed out last time, meekness is keeping the covenants we made at the Council in Heaven. Lowly of heart (“poor in spirit”) is keeping the covenants we make while in this world. What Mormon says is that if we do not keep those covenants our “faith and hope is vain.” Vanity, like pride, is an illusion, actually a self-delusion, a puff of smoke, a fiction without substance — a nothingness.

Book of Mormon theology is simpler than ours in one regard. We teach of three degrees of glory and one hell. The Book of Mormon prophets did not make those distinctions. In their view there were only two options. Either we were going to be with God or we were going to be somewhere else. I suspect if Alma had written a commentary on D&C 76, he would probably have said there will be one degree of glory and three degrees of something much less than that. Consistent with that simpler version of the hereafter, Mormon teaches that we must have charity or we become nothing. Since only charity can bring us into the presence of God, anything less than that, in Mormon’s view, is only a “nothingness.”

Nephi explained that in terms of the realities of this world.

30 … the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have charity, which charity is love. And except they should have charity they were nothing. Wherefore, if they should have charity they would not suffer the laborer in Zion to perish (2 Nephi 26:30).

My good friend, Chauncey Riddle explained further:

The crown of morality is charity, the pure love of Christ. Those who love Christ reflect his love to others who are less fortunate than they. Whereas people of the world concern themselves with those who have more wealth, talent, prestige, or athletic ability, true servants of Christ care about those who have less. When the covenant servants of the Lord do not care for the poor, the Lord punishes and chastises them as when he allowed the members of the Church to be driven out of Jackson County, Missouri, in 1833. One of the glories of Zion is that therein love has triumphed over natural differences. All who are Zion become equal in earthly things and then become one in the Savior because of their love for him. {1}

The equality of the people of Zion is a product of their living the Law of Consecration. When charity is what we ARE, living the Law of Consecration is what we DO. {2} They are two sides of the same coin. Mormon described how that worked in Alma’s church.

26 And when the priests left their labor to impart the word of God unto the people, the people also left their labors to hear the word of God. And when the priest had imparted unto them the word of God they all returned again diligently unto their labors; and the priest, not esteeming himself above his hearers, for the preacher was no better than the hearer, neither was the teacher any better than the learner; and thus they were all equal, and they did all labor, every man according to his strength.
27 And they did impart of their substance, every man according to that which he had, to the poor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; and they did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely.
28 And thus they did establish the affairs of the church; and thus they began to have continual peace again, notwithstanding all their persecutions (Alma 2:26-28).

Honest esteem for others is another expression of charity.

“Zion” describes individual persons who exude love, who esteem others, who have peace within themselves and radiate that peace to those around them. “Zion” also describes a community of such people. {3}

All of these — being Zion, living the Law of Consecration, having an honest esteem of others — are the outward expressions of charity.

I wish to address the question, What is charity on the inside? And why is it the final, and therefore the definitive quality that enables one to belong to an eternal Celestial society? Like Nephi, I will call it “love.” I will not discuss love as an emotion, but rather as the not-quite-intangible manifestation of the inmost part of our eternal being. To recognize charity/love as the “definitive quality” that leads to eternal life presupposes, as Mormon does, that it is a gift of the Spirit and is only taught by the Holy Ghost to those who have accepted, and are fulfilling, their premortal and earthly covenants.

I have written elsewhere that truth, light, and love are different names we have to describe the same thing and that their product is peace and joy. The rationale behind their sameness is quite simple:

Truth is information. It is knowledge of reality in sacred time— past, present, and future. Truth shines, but as raw information it does not shine. When truth becomes knowledge, the entity who knows shines with “light and truth.” The Savior shines with an enormous light (shechinah) that fills the immensity of space. {4} The revelations say:

11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings.
12 Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—
13 The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things (D&C 88:11-13).

10 The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and OF him (D&C 93:10). {5}

Of course, all things were not made of the Savior’s person, but of that light that surrounds and defines him, and fills “the immensity of space.”

There is nothing at all farfetched about the idea that all things are made of the light that radiates from the Savior’s person. That revelation is essentially substantiated by modern science. In theoretical physics, matter is energy. Whether we use Einstein’s famous formula that showed mass-energy equivalence, or the string theory that holds that all matter is made of little wiggles of energy. Energy is light and scientists have shown that matter can actually be “created” from light. {6}

The Savior acquired that light in the only way one can: by assimilating truth. He testifies,

26 The Spirit of truth is of God. I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying: He received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth (D&C 93:26).

If the Savior’s light fills “the immensity of space” so does his truth. So does his love. His love is also in all things and sustains all things. His truth/light/love “giveth life to all things”

The Savior’s truth, light, and love either occupy the same space at the same time, or they are equivalents. The latter is true. The words are simply different ways we have of describing the same thing. As we begin to understand this eternal triumvirate of truth/light/love, we begin to know something of the eternal majesty of Christ and his Father. However, it is also true that as we learn about that triumvirate, we learn more about our own eternal Self, and the path we must follow to become like them. {7}

In our primal state, as intelligences, we are “the light of truth.”

29 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be (D&C 93:29).

An intelligence is an entity that assimilates truth and shines. The more truth it assimilates into it’s Self, the greater its light. That process most assuridly continues throughout our existence unless we choose to curtail it. As humans, that truth/light/love expands or contracts depending on how we use our agency. President McKay described it as the “radiation” that is the defining part of one’s Self.

Every man and every person who lives in this world wields an influence, whether for good or for evil. It is not what he says alone; it is not alone what he does. It is what he is. Every man, every person radiates what he or she really is. Every person is a recipient of radiation. The Saviour was conscious of that. Whenever He came into the presence of an individual, He sensed that radiation — whether it was the woman of Samaria with her past life: whether it was the woman who was to be stoned, or the men who were to stone her; whether it was the statesman, Nicodemus, or one of the lepers. He was conscious of the radiation from the individual. And to a degree so are you. and so am I. It is what we are and what we radiate that affects the people around us. {8}

When we meet a friend, and perceive the light that is in him, we love him. The lights merge and the love is reciprocated. For both persons, the products of truth/light/love are joy and peace, which are the essence of a full life. There can be no fullness of joy if we are alone. In the Celestial Kingdom people are sealed together in an eternal bond, and therefore, in the Celestial Kingdom their joy is complete. The Prophet Joseph explained,

1 When the Savior shall appear we shall see him as he is. We shall see that he is a man like ourselves.
2 And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy (D&C 130:1-2).

Little wonder he also said,

Friendship is the grand fundamental principle of Mormonism, to revolution civilize the world—pour forth love. {9}

It is impossible to distinguish between the quality of the light we radiate from the quality of the love we radiate.

A beautiful description of the attraction such people have for each other was written by Apostle Parley P. Pratt as part of his explanation about the cleansing power of the Holy Ghost.

In the presence of such persons, the light of their countenances, as the genial rays of a sunbeam. Their very atmosphere diffuses a thrill, a warm glow of pure gladness and sympathy, to the heart and nerves of others who have kindred feelings, or sympathy of spirit.{10}

We are most comfortable among people who are like ourselves. The Lord put that fact in an eternal perspective when he said,

40 For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things (D&C 88:40).

We all radiate something, but not everyone radiates truth/light/love. Some people ooze contempt and darkness. {11} The Savior explained:

34 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of li ght; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
35 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
36 If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light (Luke 11:34-36).

Another equivalence of the Savior’s light is his law. In a description of the expansive power and extent of his light, he included this observation:

13 The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God (D&C 88:13).

A little further on in that revelation he explained that the law of our own beings is the criteria that will determine our resurrected glory. The quality of our spirit — the truth/light/love/joy/peace that defines each person and radiates from us — also defines our eternal nature, and will ultimately determine the quality of our resurrected body. I understand this next scripture to say that just as earthly matter can be created from light, so pure truth/light/love becomes the stuff our resurrected body will be made of. Therefore, the quality of one’s truth/light/love is the defining characteristic of one’s eternal resurrected Self.

28 They who are of a celestial spirit shall receive the same body which was a natural body; even ye shall receive your bodies, and your glory shall be that glory by which your bodies are quickened.
29 Ye who are quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
30 And they who are quickened by a portion of the terrestrial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
31 And also they who are quickened by a portion of the telestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
32 And they who remain shall also be quickened; nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received (D&C 88:27-29).

What I am suggesting is that charity is not simply an emotion, or an attitude of empathy, but it is a state of being, and that humans exude its warmth in a form of light/love that is perceptible, if not actually visible and tangible in the same way that light may be tangible. It is, in fact, the essence of one’s mortal and eternal being.

Mormon began his sermon by identifying his audience as peacemakers. He commended them with these words:

3 Wherefore, I would speak unto you that are of the church, that are the peaceable followers of Christ, and that have obtained a sufficient hope by which ye can enter into the rest of the Lord, from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven.
4 And now my brethren, I judge these things of you because of your peaceable walk with the children of men (Moroni 7:3-4).

A peacemaker is one who loves others and therefore knows his place in the cosmos; he is comfortable with who he is, and spreads that comfort to those around him so they may feel at peace also. Mormon taught that the personal and extended power of that peace is magnified as charity is perfected. He explained,

45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things (Moroni 7:45).

Paul also understood charity to be “the greatest of all” human attributes.

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity (1 Corinthians 13:4-13).

Like Paul who wrote “the greatest of these is charity,” Mormon also taught that charity was the ultimate reach of personal human perfection, so also of personal priesthood power. Remember, this was a priesthood meeting, so priesthood responsibility is the unspoken thread that ties all of the ideas together. Mormon said,

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him (Moroni 7:46-47).

When his son Moroni closed the Book of Mormon, it was with that same admonition, except he used different words: “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him …. and love God with all your might, mind and strength …. that ye become holy, without spot (Moroni 10:32-33).”

When one’s person is “holy, without spot,” he is “quickened by a portion of the celestial glory.” Only such persons can receive a celestial body.

I believe love is also the ultimate sealing power. The priesthood ordinances are absolutely necessary to preserve order, justice, and continuity, and to validate the covenants, but without charity those ordinances and covenants have little meaning. Without charity we are sealed to neither family nor friends. In that aloneness we become, in terms of Mormon’s understanding, simply a “nothing.”

Mormon words, “But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him,” introduces us to the conclusion of his sermon. That conclusion, like his beginning, is the same as the Savior’s Beatitude:

9 And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called [that is, given a new covenant/royal name] the children of God (3 Nephi 12:9).

Mormon brings his sermon to a crescendo with that same new covenant king-name, but rather than citing it as a name, he makes it a reality.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen (Moroni 7:48).

Section 76 explains what that means:

92 And thus we saw the glory of the celestial, which excels in all things—where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever and ever;
93 Before whose throne all things bow in humble reverence, and give him glory forever and ever.
94 They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace;
95 And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.
96 And the glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun is one (D&C 76:92-96).

Charity (the truth/light/love/joy/peace we radiate) is the supreme self-power that can prepare a person to live in such an environment.
——————

FOOTNOTES

{1} Chauncey C. Riddle,“A BYU for Zion,” BYU Studies, vol. 16 (1975-1976), Number 4 – Summer 1976, 491. Chauncey’s other writings can be found on his website: “Chauncey Riddle, The Life’s work of a Latter-day Philosopher,” address: chaunceyriddle.com

{2} See our discussion of the Law of Consecration in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, 252-53; paperback edition, 180.

{3}Mormon shows the importance of peace at the very beginning of this sermon and as the Savior did in the Beatitudes. The Savior said,

8 And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God (3 Nephi 12:8-9).

Elsewhere he adds,

Therefore, verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion—THE PURE IN HEART; therefore, let Zion rejoice, while all the wicked shall mourn (D&C 97:21).

In this sequence, as in Moroni 7:2-4, peacemakers are those who have been redeemed and therefore are the personification of both charity and peace.

{4} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, 1034-41; paperback edition, 716-21. Some parts of this essay are lifted from those pages.

{5} In Joseph Smith’s poem A Vision, he wrote:

And I heard a great voice bearing record from heav’n,
He’s the Saviour and only begotten of God;
By him, of him, and through him, the worlds were all made,
Even all that careen in the heavens so broad.

Whose inhabitants, too, from the first to the last,
Are sav’d by the very same Saviour of ours;
And, of course, are begotten God’s daughters and sons
By the very same truths and the very same powers.

The poem was published in the Times and Seasons, February 1, 1843.

{6} For an interesting read, Google: “making matter from light” and read articles about how scientists can “create” matter from light.

{7} We explained more fully the eternal grandeur of the triumvirate of truth/light/love in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, 1034-37; paperback edition, 716-18. Some evidence that truth, light, love. and life are the same things are in D&C 88:4-7,11-13; D&C 93:8-10, 24-28; D&C 84:45; JST John 1:1-21.

D&C 88:4-7,11-13
4 This Comforter is the promise which I give unto you of eternal life, even the glory of the celestial kingdom;
5 Which glory is that of the church of the Firstborn, even of God, the holiest of all, through Jesus Christ his Son—
6 He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth;
7 Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. …
11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;
12 Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—
13 The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God.

D&C 93:8-10, 24-28.
8 Therefore, in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvation—
9 The light and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men.
10 The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him. …

24 And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;
25 And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning.
26 The Spirit of truth is of God. I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying: He received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth;
27 And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments.
28 He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.

{8}President David O. McKay, “Radiation of the Individual,” The Instructor, October, 1964, p. 373-374.

{9} Joseph Smith, The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph, compiled and edited by Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook (Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1980), 234.

{10} Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology/A Voice of Warning (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1965), 101 – 102.)

In its context, that statement reads:

The gift of the Holy Spirit adapts itself to all these organs or attributes. It quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands and purifies all the natural passions and affections; and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use. It inspires, develops, cultivates and matures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings and affections of our nature. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness and charity. It develops beauty of person, form and features. It tends to health, vigor, animation and social feeling. It develops and invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. It strengthens, invigorates, and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being.

In the presence of such persons, the light of their countenances, as the genial rays of a sunbeam. Their very atmosphere diffuses a thrill, a warm glow of pure gladness and sympathy, to the heart and nerves of others who have kindred feelings, or sympathy of spirit. No matter if the parties are strangers, entirely unknown to each other in person or character; no matter if they have never spoken to each other, each will be apt to remark in his own mind, and perhaps exclaim, when referring to the interview—”O what an atmosphere encircles that stranger! How my heart thrilled with pure and holy feelings in his presence! What confidence and sympathy he inspired! his countenance and spirit gave me more assurance, than a thousand written recommendations, or introductory letters.” Such is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and such are its operations, when received through the lawful channel—the divine, eternal Priesthood.

{11} In theory, charity means loving everyone. In practice the definition of love has to be qualified to make the theory workable. We cannot learn to love everyone until after we learn to love just the one. The guy who said, “I love mankind, its people I can’t stand,” got it all wrong. But I think J. Golden Kimball got it right when he said, “The Lord said we should love everyone, and I do, but I love some a damnsight more than I love others.” His point is, I think, that there is a difference between loving someone and liking them. So how do you love someone you don’t even like. On its fringes, love also includes empathy, kindness, and even service. We can feel that kind of love toward people we may not feel comfortable being around, the kind of people we would not take into our confidence and certainly would not want to be our bosom friends. We can share a much richer love with people we actually like, and more especially with people we trust. That richer love includes devotion, loyalty, affection, and intimacy. With very special people that includes physical intimacy, however, with other friends it would include emotional, spiritual, and even academic intimacy.

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When I showed this to a friend he mused, “By reading faith as pistis/covenant, you have taken out all of the nice uncertainties and turned Mormon’s sermon into a Supreme Court case.” My response was, “We are talking about how to prepare for the final judgement, nice uncertainties just don’t cut it.” Please understand that what I have written is only my opinion. I am fully aware that these verses can be read very differently, but I believe it may be instructive to know they can also be read this way.

Moroni 7:19-27
19 Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.
20 And now, my brethren, how is it possible that ye can lay hold upon every good thing?
21 And now I come to that faith, of which I said I would speak; and I will tell you the way whereby ye may lay hold on every good thing.
22 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.
23 And God also declared unto prophets, by his own mouth, that Christ should come.
24 And behold, there were divers ways that he did manifest things unto the children of men, which were good; and all things which are good cometh of Christ; otherwise men were fallen, and there could no good thing come unto them.
25 Wherefore, by the ministering of angels, and by every word which proceeded forth out of the mouth of God, men began to exercise faith in Christ; and thus by faith, they did lay hold upon every good thing; and thus it was until the coming of Christ.
26 And after that he came men also were saved by faith in his name; and by faith, they become the sons of God. And as surely as Christ liveth he spake these words unto our fathers, saying: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you.
27 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men?
28 For he hath answered the ends of the law, and he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men; and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens.
29 And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men.
30 For behold, they are subject unto him, to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness.
31 And the office of their ministry is to call men unto repentance, and to fulfil and to do the work of the covenants of the Father, which he hath made unto the children of men, to prepare the way among the children of men, by declaring the word of Christ unto the chosen vessels of the Lord, that they may bear testimony of him.
32 And by so doing, the Lord God prepareth the way that the residue of men may have faith in Christ, that the Holy Ghost may have place in their hearts, according to the power thereof; and after this manner bringeth to pass the Father, the covenants which he hath made unto the children of men.
33 And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.
34 And he hath said: Repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and have faith in me, that ye may be saved.
35 And now, my beloved brethren, if this be the case that these things are true which I have spoken unto you, and God will show unto you, with power and great glory at the last day, that they are true, and if they are true has the day of miracles ceased?
36 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?
37 Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain.
38 For no man can be saved, according to the words of Christ, save they shall have faith in his name; wherefore, if these things have ceased, then has faith ceased also; and awful is the state of man, for they are as though there had been no redemption made.
39 But behold, my beloved brethren, I judge better things of you, for I judge that ye have faith in Christ because of your meekness; for if ye have not faith in him then ye are not fit to be numbered among the people of his church.

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In modern-day English, “faith” is a word of a thousand facets.

Its range of meanings goes in a continuum from trust based on a legally binding contract, to trusting in a friend; to wishing really hard but without any evidence to justify the wish. Faith in God can mean a prophet’s following revealed instructions; or people trying to convince God to do things the way they want them done. Prayer in faith can mean listening to the Spirit and praying for what one is instructed to pray for (listen and repeat); to worshiping a super hero “vending machine” where we pick out what we want and then pay our nickle by grunt wishing-hard to convince God to give it to us. That kind of faith lets us, not God, take on the role of the supreme instigator. I apologize if that sounds cynical, but sometimes that’s the way it is.

The fact is that within limits, faith in all forms can be effectual. So can prayer. When I was a student I would pray earnestly for help on tests. And after I had studied all I could, when the test was over I knew I had received the help I needed. But I think that falls more closely into the category of “trusting a friend,” rather than putting a nickle into a ‘vending machine.’

Sometimes a synonym for faith is belief. So then faith is about whatever one believes in. But since the variety of things one can believe in approaches the infinite, so does the meanings of faith. In other words, “faith” can have such a broad spectrum of meanings, that it virtually has no meaning at all.

However, that is not so in the scriptures. In the New Testament “faith” is translated from the Greek word pistis. The nearest modern English equivalent is covenant or contract. The Book of Mormon uses faith the same way. In the scriptures faith does not mean wishing hard, it means acting with integrity to accept and fulfill the terms of the covenant.

In his sermon, Mormon used faith to represent that same covenant relationship. {1} Here, I have equated “faith” in the New Testament with “faith” in the Book of Mormon, even though we can be quite sure that the Greek word pistis was not the word Mormon used. Indeed, we cannot know what Nephite word Mormon used, but we can observe that in his sermon, and elsewhere in the Book of Mormon, the word translated as “faith” has the same covenant meaning as pistis in the New Testament. Sufficient evidence is found within the text of his sermon to know that Mormon was referring to sacred covenants when he used whatever Nephite word was equivalent to pistis and translated as “faith.” For that reason I am using the Greek pistis to stress the point, even though I know it is not technically correct.

Simply stated, there are five parts of faith/pistis just as there are five parts of any contract.

1. Define the object of the contract — I get house and you get the money.
2. Agree on the terms — How and when I pay you the money so I get house.
3. There must be binding “evidence” — A signature that validates the agreement and guarantees the fulfillment of the covenant. Between friends the evidence may be just a handshake or even a smile, but it has to be something that is real. In a gospel context, the ordinances are the evidences that we accept the covenants.
4. The next is what Paul and Mormon called “hope”(Hebrews 11:1) — Living as though the covenant were already fulfilled. That is, I get to live in the house and care for it as though it were mine as long as I keep up the payments .
5. Finally, the fulfillment of the terms when the house is paid for — You have all your money and I get the deed to the house.

Pistis always implies such a covenant and covenantal process—whether formal and explicit like an agreement with the bank, or informal and implicit like an agreement between friends.

“Faith in Christ” as Mormon uses it here has two intertwined meanings for us. They are accepting the terms of the Father’s covenant, and living according to those terms.

The Savior is the personification of his Father’s covenant. On his part, his Atonement authenticates its terms making our salvation possible. On our part, the ordinances and covenants we make in righteousness evince that we accept those terms. His Holy Spirit cleanses us and teaches us how to live in order to enable those terms to be operative in our lives. His name justifies our laying claim to blessings when we pray. And his resurrection and redemption brings us back to his and Heavenly Father’s presence. All of that ties us together and with them in a very beautiful hesed relationship of mutual love and eternal togetherness.

As I observed last time, Mormon’s sermon can be divided into three parts. Verse 19 is the transition between the second and third sections. It seems to be a remembrance of the event in the Nephite temple drama where a person (the king in ancient Israel) approached the veil while the congregation sang the 21st psalm. {2}

The great veil of Solomon’s temple represented the shechinah, the veil of light that separates man from God. {3} Since the Nephite temples were patterned after Solomon’s, that would also be true of the veil in Nephite temples. {4} Mormon says:

19 Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ [shechinah] that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold [grasp] upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ [Psalm 2].{5}

20 And now, my brethren, how is it possible that ye can lay hold upon every good thing?
21 And now I come to that faith [the exercise of the covenants – pistis], of which I said I would speak; and I will tell you the way whereby ye may lay hold on every good thing.

What I understand Mormon is saying is that the only real way one “may lay hold upon every good thing” is by faith/pistis — that is, by fulfilling our part of the covenants.

Mormon introduces his discussion by showing how God has kept, and continues to keep his part of the covenants. God did that by teaching people about the Savior and the Atonement.

22 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.
23 And God also declared unto prophets, by his own mouth, that Christ should come.
24 And behold, there were divers ways that he did manifest things unto the children of men, which were good; and all things which are good cometh of Christ; otherwise men were fallen, and there could no good thing come unto them.

Not only by God’s own testimony did he teach people about the covenants and the Savior’s atoning sacrifice, but he also employed angels to teach and testify.

25 Wherefore, by the ministering of angels, and by every word which proceeded forth out of the mouth of God, men began to exercise faith in Christ [implemented the terms of the covenants]; and thus by faith [pistis], they did lay hold upon every good thing; and thus it was until the coming of Christ.

26 And after that he came men also were saved by faith in his name [In this and other places in the scriptures “name” means the same as “covenant” {6}]; and by faith [pistis – by virtue of the covenants], they become the sons of God.

We should remember that this is the whole point of Mormon’s sermon. He is teaching his “beloved brethren” the path they must take to get from where they are now to becoming “the sons of God.” In order to bring them to that end, Mormon teaches about faith (the terms of the covenants), hope (living as though the covenants were already fulfilled), and charity (the ultimate affirmation and substantiation of the covenants). Throughout his sermon he is building up to a crescendo which will be the last verse in this chapter.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen (Moroni 7:48).

So far, Mormon has introduced his discussion of faith by showing that God and the prophets have taught people the covenants from the beginning. He now concludes that introduction with the assurance that God will answer the prayers of those who keep their part of the covenant.

26 And after that he came men also were saved by faith in his name; and by faith, they become the sons of God. And as surely as Christ liveth he spake these words unto our fathers, saying: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you.

I understand the last part of that verse to be read this way:

26 … And as surely as Christ liveth he spake these words unto our fathers, saying: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name [our using the Savior’s covenant name validates the prayer], which is good [prayer by revelation. The terms and object are given to us by the holy Ghost], in faith [according to the terms of the covenant] believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you. [When all of those things are in place, then the answer to the prayer is a forgone conclusion.]

There are also many kinds of meaningful prayers. Some, like a hymn, are expressions of joy and love. Others may be a request or even a pleading. I believe God hears every prayer and answers them according to his wisdom and according to sincerity and the need of the one who is asking. However, as I understand it, for a prayer to be binding on God, it must be an exercise in pistis. That is, the prayer must be a covenant, following all the forms of the covenant. It must be done in righteousness (zedek), in the name of the Savior. The terms of the prayer must be either accepted or dictated by the Holy Ghost. Otherwise there would be no covenant. Mormon will reiterate that in verse 33 where he says, “And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.”

In the first part of his discussion of faith Mormon has taught that the covenants are binding. Now his object is to show his brethren that not only has God the power to keep his part of the covenants, but that he has the power to help the righteous keep theirs as well.

27 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men?
28 For he hath answered the ends of the law, and he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men; and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens.

Mormon’s words, “and hath sat down on the right hand of God” is a reference to the Savior’s post-resurrection coronation as king of everything. It is easy for us to read lightly over that because we live in a republic and do not understand kingship the way people did in ancient times.

Mormon is describing the Father’s conferring upon the Savior all of the rights of his royal birthright. It is a one-sentence description of a coronation ceremony. Mormon places his observation in the context of the Savior’s increased power after his resurrection. Paul does the same, but from him we get a greater sense of the power, grandeur, and majesty of the event.

19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his [God’s] power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his [God’s] mighty power,
20 Which he [God] wrought in Christ, when he [God] raised him [Christ] from the dead, and set him [Christ] at his [God’s] own right hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
22 And hath put all things under his [Christ’s] feet, and gave him [Christ] to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his [Christ’s] body, the fulness of him [Christ] that filleth all in all (Ephesians 1:19-23).

Unlike Paul, whose emphasis is on power of dominion, Mormon focuses on the Savior’s power to bless, “to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men.” In a revelation to the Prophet Joseph, the Savior stressed that same thing.

3 Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—
4 Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;
5 Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life (D&C 45:3-5).

Again, Mormon focuses our attention on the legal aspects of the Savior’s Atonement.

28 For he hath answered the ends of the law,

He may be talking about the Law of Moses, but probably not, because that law is only a simpler form of a much greater eternal law which Mormon calls “the covenant of the Father.” In D&C 132:1-14 it is called the “new and everlasting covenant.” A proper covenant is a legal contract and its terms must be met or the contract is void. The Savior’s Atonement answered the terms of the “covenant of the Father.” The legal implications of that covenant stretch to the ends of eternity in both directions. Alma gave his son one of the best explanations of that legality.

22 But there is a law given, and a punishment affixed, and a repentance granted; which repentance, mercy claimeth; otherwise, justice claimeth the creature and executeth the law, and the law inflicteth the punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be destroyed, and God would cease to be God.
23 But God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the atonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men into the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence, to be judged according to their works, according to the law and justice.
24 For behold, justice exerciseth all his demands, and also mercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are saved.
25 What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God.
26 And thus God bringeth about his great and eternal purposes, which were prepared from the foundation of the world. And thus cometh about the salvation and the redemption of men, and also their destruction and misery.
27 Therefore, O my son, whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to come; but in the last day it shall be restored unto him according to his deeds (Alma 42:22-27).

In another place Alma explained,

13 Therefore, it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice, and then shall there be, or it is expedient there should be, a stop to the shedding of blood; then shall the law of Moses be fulfilled; yea, it shall be all fulfilled, every jot and tittle, and none shall have passed away (Alma 34:13).

In Mormon’s sermon, he is speaking to his priesthood brethren who understand all of that, so he can simply say it without filling in the details.

28 … and he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men; and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens.

The logical structure of that statement is beautiful:

and he claimeth [acknowledges as his own]
all those who have faith in him [who have made covenants with validating ordinances];
and they who have faith in him [who keep their covenants]
will cleave unto every good thing;
wherefore [for those reasons he is justified in being their advocate]
he advocateth the cause of the children of men;
and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens. [as King of Kings, “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion,” ad infinitum.

Mormon’s sermon is structured like a long legal argument, with premises and conclusions built upon other premises and conclusions. His question in verse 17 was “ have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven.” His argument is that they have not because, having accomplished the Atonement, Christ’s power to save us is infinite. Now using that as his new premise, he answers his original question.

29 And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men.
30 For behold, they are subject unto him, to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness.
31 And the office of their ministry is to call men unto repentance, and to fulfil and to do the work of the covenants of the Father, {7} which he hath made unto the children of men, to prepare the way among the children of men, by declaring the word of Christ unto the chosen vessels of the Lord, that they may bear testimony of him.
32 And by so doing, the Lord God prepareth the way that the residue of men may have faith in Christ, that the Holy Ghost may have place in their hearts, according to the power thereof; and after this manner bringeth to pass the Father, the covenants which he hath made unto the children of men.

That is probably the most definitive statement in the scriptures about the responsibility of angels, their purposes, and perhaps most relevant to us, about who the angels might visit.

The angel’s responsibilities are “to call men unto repentance, and to fulfil and to do the work of the covenants of the Father.” But the angels do not call everyone to repentance. That is not their job. They teach only those “of strong faith [pistis – those who keep the terms of the covenant] and a firm mind.” Angels do not appear to kooks who are a little bit crazy, or to people who do not have a legitimate right to see them. That is, at least in part, because the testimony of the people to whom they do appear must be rational and believable so that “the residue of men may have faith in Christ, that the Holy Ghost may have place in their hearts.”

In the scriptures, there are many examples of angels visiting strong-willed people. One of the most interesting is this explanation by the Prophet Joseph about a passage in the Book of Revelation.

11 Q. What are we to understand by sealing the one hundred and forty-four thousand, out of all the tribes of Israel—twelve thousand out of every tribe?
A. We are to understand that those who are sealed are high priests, ordained unto the holy order of God, to administer the everlasting gospel; for they are they who are ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given power over the nat ions of the earth, to bring as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn (D&C 77:11).

It is in this context—the promise that people will be taught the covenants of the Father either by angels or by those to whom angels have given authority—that Mormon remembers this promise:

33 And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.
34 And he hath said: Repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and have faith in me, that ye may be saved.

Now Mormon has laid down all the premises— one must repent, do the ordinances, and keep the covenants, then one may be saved. He once again makes his remarks personal by addressing “my beloved brethren,” before moving on to the final principles of hope and charity. He assures them that the Holy Ghost will help them in their determined quest to keep their covenants.

35 And now, my beloved brethren, if this be the case that these things are true which I have spoken unto you, and God will show unto you, with power and great glory at the last day, that they are true, and if they are true has the day of miracles ceased?
36 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?
37 Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain.
38 For no man can be saved, according to the words of Christ, save they shall have faith in his name; wherefore, if these things have ceased, then has faith ceased also; and awful is the state of man, for they are as though there had been no redemption made.
39 But behold, my beloved brethren, I judge better things of you, for I judge that ye have faith in Christ because of your meekness; for if ye have not faith in him then ye are not fit to be numbered among the people of his church.

By using “meekness” the way it is used in the psalms and in the Beatitudes, Mormon again calls their attention to the fact that the covenants are not just for and about life in this world. But they are eternal in their scope. Psalm 25 explicitly defines the meek as those who keep the covenants they made at the Council in Heaven, and promises that not just they, but also their children will inherit the celestial earth. {8}

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FOOTNOTES

{1} I have discussed pistis many times. You can find them by using the search engine on this website. However, the best is in chapter, “Meaning of ‘Faith’ – pistis,” in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, pages 1007-25 in the first edition; pages 697-710 in the paperback edition, which is the one on this website.

{2} For a discussion of Psalm 21 see the chapters, “The King at the Veil of Solomon’s Temple” and “The Veil Ceremony in Psalm 21” in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, pages 543-57 in the first edition; pages 390-400 in the paperback edition, which is the one on this website.

{3}See “ Moroni 7:16-21 – Standing in the Light of Christ – LeGrand Baker” in this website.

{4} 2 Nephi 5:16
16 And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon’s temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.

{5} For a discussion of the royal new name in Psalm 21 see the chapter, “Psalm 2, The Ancient Israelite Royal King-name” in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, pages 499-517 in the first edition; pages 360-73 in the paperback edition.

{6} There is always a new name given as evidence or validation of a new covenant. The Savior has many such names. That being so, the word “name” is often used as code for “covenant.” In those places “covenant” can be replaced by “name” without changing the meaning of the statement.

For a discussion of the royal new name in the king’s coronation ceremony see the chapters in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord,“called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified” and “Psalm 2, The Ancient Israelite Royal King-name” pages 495-517 in the first edition; pages 358-73 in the paperback edition.

{7} Moroni 10:32-33

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his [God’s] grace sufficient for you, that by his [God’s] grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

In Ephesians 1, Paul gives us a detailed description of a ceremony where he tells us a great deal about our relationship with our Heavenly Father and about the covenants we made with him. You can find my updated analysis of that chapter in the paperback edition of Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, 546-554, and also in the scriptures section of this website.

{8} D&C 88 paraphrases the Beatitudes verses 3 and 4 where he says the celestial world will be inherited by the poor and the meek.

17 And the redemption of the soul is through him that quickeneth all things, in whose bosom it is decreed that the poor and the meek of the earth shall inherit it.
18 Therefore, it must needs be sanctified from all unrighteousness, that it may be prepared for the celestial glory (D&C 88:17-18).

For a discussion of the meaning of “meek” see the chapters in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord,“Meaning of ‘Meek’ in Psalm 25: Keeping One’s Eternal Covenants” and “The Meek in Psalm 25” and “3 Nephi 12:5 – Meek” on pages 931-96 and 945-49 in the first edition; pages 378-390 and 659-61 in the paperback edition.

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16 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.
17 But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.
18 And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged.
19 Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.
20 And now, my brethren, how is it possible that ye can lay hold upon every good thing?
21 And now I come to that faith, of which I said I would speak; and I will tell you the way whereby ye may lay hold on every good thing (Moroni 7:16-21).

Mormon’s priesthood sermon in Moroni 7 falls automatically into three sections. The first is his greeting. He acknowledges the remarkable qualifications of the men in his congregation. He addresses them as his “beloved brethren. In verse 3 he says why they are a select group, and it is probably not wrong to read into what he says that they are there by invitation.

3 Wherefore, I would speak unto you that are of the church, that are the peaceable followers of Christ, and that have obtained a sufficient hope by which ye can enter into the rest of the Lord, from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven (Moroni 7:3).

Verse 3 seems to say that each of these men had already received the Second Comforter (see D&C 88:1-5). If this is true, then they now sit on a precarious precipice: their options are either eternal salvation or becoming sons of perdition (see D&C 76:32-35). Given the apostate environment in which they lived, the latter may have been all to common among others of their associates.

Verses 4 and 5 are the transition into the second section of his sermon. Mormon says:

4 And now my brethren, I judge these things of you because of your peaceable walk with the children of men.
5 For I remember the word of God which saith by their works ye shall know them; for if their works be good, then they are good also (Moroni 7:4-5).

The second part of Mormon’s sermon draws a sharp distinction between the real and the apostate claims to priesthood authority, and personal and group righteousness (zedek). Mormon’s warning to his friends is also a description of our world, just as it was of the growing apostasy in the New Testament church. Similarly, Timothy’s warning was not only applicable to his times, and to our own times, but it is also an apt description of the world in which Mormon and his friends lived.

1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron (1 Timothy 4:1-).

In previous posts I have already discussed sections one and two of Mmormon’s sermon. Now, before we get to part three, we need to consider verses 16-21 which are the transition between the second part where he warns them of the real dangers of that precipice, and the third part where he teaches them the only way the danger can be avoided.

In verse 16 he describes “the Spirit of Christ” as the universal guide by which all people can know good from evil. “The Spirit of Christ” is usually identified by LDS leaders as one’s conscience. We easily understand that, because our experience teaches us that our conscience does, in fact, help us distinguish right from wrong. However, Mormon tells his friends there is also another source of truth to which they must look. The problem with our conscience is that sometimes it can actually get in the way of our knowing truth. That is because our conscience gets its definitions of right and wrong from the teachings of one’s culture, and therefore, usually cannot define right from wrong in an absolute sense. My favorite example to demonstrate this is a story I have heard Hugh Nibley tell several times.

All students who enroll at BYU must take a Book of Mormon class in their freshman year. Nibley spoke Arabic fluently so he was always assigned to teach that class for the students from the middle east. He observed that when a teacher gets to the place where Nephi cuts off Laban’s head, some Christian students say the story cannot be true because God would never ask Nephi to do that. But when middle eastern students get to that place, they say that the story cannot possibly be true because Nephi would not have had problems with his conscience. He would have just cut the head off .

Another example is this: children who grow up in an LDS society where they are taught to live the word of wisdom know that tobacco and alcohol are real sins because their conscience tells them so. Thus, in our sub-culture we can say with conviction that their conscience teaches them right from wrong. In other sub-cultures the argument against tobacco and alcohol is not that they are sin, but that they are harmful and using them is foolish. Those people’s consciences will tell them using the stuff is stupid, but probably not that it is sinful. In other sub-cultures where everyone just does it, their consciences are silent on the question, and will remain so until the person is taught differently.

Probably the best known examples in the scriptures are the invented rules and regulations the Pharisees attached to the Law of Moses. Jesus admonished them, “Judge not according to your traditions, but judge righteous judgment (JST John 7:24).” They, of course, did not listen and eventually executed him—not for committing any real crime—but for breaking their cultural rules.

Here is another example that I mention because it very relevant in our own time: One of the most emotionally charged cultural wars we are fighting withing the United States just now is the question of whether homosexuality is a real sin, or only a sin because culture has defined it that way. One argument is that it is unnatural and therefore a real sin. Since it is unnatural to about 90% of the population, for them that is a sound argument. However, the other 10% insist that it is perfectly natural to themselves, and for them to try to change who and what they are would be a violation of Self. Therefore, they argue, trying to force them to change or imposing a legal inferiority upon them — those are the real sins. The question of gay marriage has turned the question of cultural sin into a legal question of Constitutional proportions. The Supreme Court can settle the legal question, but the moral question will still remain the property of American sub-cultures.

Mormon’s sermon is addressed to his friends whom he trusts really do know the difference between right and wrong. But he does not ask his friends to rely exclusively on their consciences in order to know the ultimate truths that will assure their salvation. For that, he reminds them, they must rely on “the Light of Christ.” (Since he uses that phrase differently from “the Spirit of Christ” it is reasonable to believe that he did not understand them to mean the same thing.)

His reminder to them in verses 18-21 is the introduction that leads to the third section of Mormon’s sermon. He says:

18 And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged.
19 Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.
20 And now, my brethren, how is it possible that ye can lay hold upon every good thing?
21 And now I come to that faith, of which I said I would speak; and I will tell you the way whereby ye may lay hold on every good thing (Moroni 7:18-21).

If he is using “light” to actually mean “light” (the shechinah), then he is probably reminding them of their experiences within that light. In that context, Mormon is now going to spell out exactly what they must do to become “the sons of God.”

A corollary to his sermon is the letter Peter wrote to the temple-worshiping Saints of his own time. Our looking at the sequence in Peter’s letter is not really a diversion from discussing Mormon’s sermon because it is the same sequence as Mormon’s. It also begins with pistis and ends with charity, but it places them in a fuller context. In his letter, Peter outlined eight steps his readers must follow in order to make their “calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:1-10).

In the first 4 verses Peter uses faith — the Greek word is pistis and means the covenants {1} — to represent their temple service and describes the purpose of that service in words that are poetically beautiful. Then he lays out the 8 steps:

1 (is something one is given) faith (pistis) — the covenants of the early Christian temple service.
2 (something one is) “virtue” — the word actually means “manliness” — strength, intelligence, integrity.
3 (something one is) knowledge — I read that as truth in D&C 93:24. Knowledge of reality in sacred time.
4 (something one is) temperance — self control.

5 (our attitude toward others) patience — We must be patient with ourselves and God as well as with other people.
6 (an attitude toward others) “godliness” — the word actually means reverence. One can never hurt anyone or anything that one revers.
7 (an attitude toward others) brotherly kindness — the word is philadelphia and means fraternal love. Elsewhere in the New Testament it is translated as “brotherly love.” It is focused love (hesed).
8 (an attitude toward others) charity — this is universal love. One cannot love everyone (charity) unless he can love them individually (philadelphia) (2 Peter 1:5-7).

The first four qualities in Peter’s sequence are the personal characteristics one must have. The second four are the attitudes and actions one must have toward others. Peter concludes this sequence with a warning that is very like Mormon’s:

8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (2 Peter 1:8-10).

The point is, one can know lots of stuff, but that knowledge is “barren and unfruitful” if one does not crown it with brotherly love and charity.

The Savior says essentially the same thing to Nicodemus:

21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God (John 3:21).

He did not say one must know truth, rather “he that doeth truth cometh to the light.” That brings us back to where we were in Mormon’s sermon. He says

18 And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged.

If the light Mormon is describing is the shechinah, {2} that adds a whole new dimension to the meaning of his entire sermon.

The shechinah is the first thing a prophet sees and usually the first thing he mentions when reporting that he saw the Savior. Joseph Smith described it this way:

16 … I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! (Joseph Smith-History:16-17)

It is the cloud of light through which the Lord put his finger while speaking with the brother of Jared. It is the veil that separates man from God and was represented in Solomon’s Temple by the beautifully embroidered veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. {3} During the Israelite Feast of Tabernacles temple drama, Psalm 21 was sung as the king approached that veil, then as he symbolically both heard and saw God. {4}

Moroni alludes to that same ceremony in his brief recount of the Nephite temple service when he says,

30 And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing (Moroni 10:30).

In Mormon’s transitional statement between the second and third portions of his sermon, he also alludes to many parts of that same ceremony when he instructs his “beloved brethren,”

19 Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ [shechinah] that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold [with the hand] upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ [Psalm 2].
20 And now, my brethren, how is it possible that ye can lay hold upon every good thing?
21 And now I come to that faith [pistis], of which I said I would speak; and I will tell you the way whereby ye may lay hold on every good thing.

What Mormon is saying is that the only real way one “may lay hold upon every good thing” is by the power of the covenants which brings one to charity.
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FOOTNOTES
{1} I will discuss pistis as we continue through Moroni 7. However, in the meantime you can also find it in chapter, “Meaning of ‘Faith’ – pistis,” in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, 697-710, in the paperback edition, which is the one in this website.

{2} See shechinah in the LDS Bible Dictionary. The shechinah is discussed in several places in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord. You will find it as the light of Christ, as the veil, and as a cloud of light on pages 98, 102 & n, 140, 249, 263, 270, 373, 392, 468.

{3} For a discussion of the veil see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, chapters “The King at the Veil of Solomon’s Temple,” 390-397.

{4} This is discussed in three chapters of Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, “The King at the Veil of Solomon’s Temple”, 390-97; “The Veil Ceremony in Psalm 21,” 397-400; “Act 2, Scene 11: The King Enters the Holy of Holies of Solomon’s Temple,” 400-03.

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Moroni 7:12-17

12 Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually.
13 But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.
14 Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil.
15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.
16 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.
17 But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.

I would like to approach these verses differently from the previous ones. In our discussions of verses 1-11, I first asked how this applies to high school seminary students, then asked how it applied to Mormon’s mature priesthood audience. I would like to reverse that and begin by discussing how it might have been understood by Mormon’s “beloved brethren.”

Remembering that Mormon and his friends were surrounded by an intense and violent apostasy, and that Mormon’s subject so far in this sermon had been about priesthood legitimacy, it is easy to see that when speaking of that apostasy and those apostates, Mormon was completely accurate in ascribing to the devil the origin and success of those damnable doctrines. (No “woops,” that’s an appropriate word here!)

However, these verses are not so easily applied to the everyday lives of high school seminary students because “all things” in verse 12 seems to be too inclusive to fit comfortably into their complex world. “All things” leaves no place for shades of grey, even though the teen age world is mostly grey. There is little question about right and wrong when they understand what the Church says they should do and not do. But the church does not address “all things” and the young people are bombarded with multiple teachers who give multiple options to multiple unanswerable questions.

Paul’s warning is very apt:

8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?
9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air (1 Corinthians 14:8-9).

While some teachers may speak with clarion tones, others, including their teenage contemporaries, speak with muddled discourse. That is equally true with adults. King Benjamin was not talking to just the teenagers when he said,

29 And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them (Mosiah 4:29).

Most teenagers live in world of grey, but I suppose most adults do also. As an example, I recall back in the early 1970’s when I attended General Priesthood Conference in a stake house. Several speakers “addressed the youth,” and focused on keeping the word of wisdom and avoiding petting in order to also avoid premarital sex. After the meeting was over I happened to walk out behind a group of boys who looked to be about 16 or 18. One of them said, loud enough that the others could hear, “What a stupid meeting. None of us do those kinds of things, but it almost felt like some of those guys were accusing us. We came to be ‘uplifted’ and we didn’t need to hear that stuff again.” Another boy replied, “Yea, why do they always talk about young men’s sins? Why don’t they ever talk about old men’s sins instead?”

That gave me pause. His question was legitimate, and at least part of the answer is not hard to come by. The young men’s sins the speakers emphasized are easy to catalogue and define. But not so with the old men’s sins: avarice; manipulative dishonesty in business affairs; infidelity; a studied desire to avenge; unfair competitiveness in climbing the social, corporate, or academic ladders of power and prestige. Those sins are so well shrouded in various shades of grey that they give the sinner all the wiggle room he needs for self justification. Such sins are not easily definable until they become unlawful.

In the world, different human cultures and subcultures have their own definitions of what is right and wrong. Each one has its own standards and its own rules about how far people can deviate from those standards without being punished. The upshot is that in a country as large and diverse as the United States there is no universal moral standard of excellence. Some subcultures encourage moral and decent people, but for others the standard is “whatever floats your boat,” or “its OK as long as you don’t get caught.”

In all cultures, there are two kinds of sins. There are the real ones that violate our eternal Self and damage the soul. (Gospel principles and commandments are a sure way of identifying what those are.) And there are cultural sins that are defined by what some people think other people should be and do. In many cases, one is more apt to be socially ostracized or even punished for committing cultural sins than from committing real ones. {1}

All sins, whether the real or cultural, originate in one’s brain (the ancient scriptures would have said “in his heart”). Some stay there. The real ones that do stay in the heart act like a canker to corrode and then destroy one’s Self. Those that become the motives for actions, become more dangerous when they move from the heart to the tongue or to the hands. There, they impact the well-being of others. That is when the culturally unacceptable ones become unlawful.

Even though Mormon was talking to his “beloved brethren” about the differences between their own priesthood authority and the pretended authority of the apostates, his words can apply to our everyday world as well. There is a solution for us, of course, and that solution is the same as it was for them: Listen to the prophet and obey the prompting of the Holy Ghost. A major function of the Holy Ghost is to help us define the real sins, to teach us how to avoid them, and to help us have the strength to live pure lives.
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FOOTNOTE

{1} Two places where I have discussed the nature of evil and the difference between real and cultural sins are:
In this website, “3 Nephi 12:10-12 — persecution and persecuted,”
In Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, chapter “Alma 14: The Origins of Good and Evil”

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Moroni 7:8-11

8 For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God.
9 And likewise also is it counted evil unto a man, if he shall pray and not with real intent of heart; yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such.
10 Wherefore, a man being evil cannot do that which is good; neither will he give a good gift.
11 For behold, a bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water; neither can a good fountain bring forth bitter water; wherefore, a man being a servant of the devil cannot follow Christ; and if he follow Christ he cannot be a servant of the devil.

This statement is still in the context of Mormon’s discourse about the validity of priesthood ordinances and covenants. As with the previous verses, these words are applicable on one level to the high school seminary student and, in a different way, to the mature priesthood congregation to whom Mormon was speaking.

Not just the seminary student, but each of us who live in this fallen world is forever encountering someone who wants to give us something that entices. Evil gifts are like a succulent worm attached to a hook, attached to a line, attached to a rod, attached to the arm of a hungry man who will consume the fish that expected to eat rather than to be eaten. Our world is full of such hungry men and women who hide hooks within pleasurable barbs. “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts” is a warning that has been echoed by wise men for more than 2,000 years. The generosity of an enemy is a dangerous thing. As recently as 500 years ago Ophelia returned Hamlet’s gifts with this timeless lament, “to the noble mind, rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind. {1} In a somewhat different context Hamlet described his most bitter enemy in these vivid terms, “O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain! … one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.” {2}

Even prophets have a long history of being offered gifts by their enemies. Alma and Peter were offered money; Mormon was offered a military command; many have been threatened with imprisonment or offered freedom if they will only abandon their integrity. Their enemies seem to judge the prophet’s integrity by their own lack of it.

It is a simple truth that one cannot bribe someone by offering what the person does not value, nor can one bully someone by threatening to take away what does not matter.

One is not permitted to help a prophet who does not have the prophet’s best interests at heart. That is true of prophets but is equally true of everyone who is wise.

Those are principles that apply to just living in this world, but Mormon was talking to his “beloved brethren” about Melchizedek Priesthood covenants and ordinances. In that context, Mormon’s observations are especially accurate. In terms of priesthood gifts, whether it is a blessing, an ordinance, or a prophecy, an evil man cannot give a good gift. The LDS Church policy is that if a man is later found to have been unworthy, the ordinances he performed prior to that finding are still valid and do not have to be repeated. However, in Mormon’s world, he is talking about apostates who claim to have authority they do not have, “and did administer that which was sacred unto him to whom it had been forbidden because of unworthiness (4 Nephi 1:27).”

Mormon also observes that an evil man cannot even pray effectually. That is because his prayer cannot be directed by the Holy Ghost, and therefore cannot be binding upon the Lord.

In terms of priesthood covenants, good gifts are given according to one’s ability to give and according to the recipient’s needs. That is equally true with material gifts as it is with spiritual blessings. For one who has charity and lives the law of consecration, giving in is as natural as breathing. Receiving such gifts with thanks and appreciation should be equally natural when one is aware that love rather than some hidden hook is the motive behind the gift.

But if the gift is a hook, hidden within the pretense of charity, the giver is evil and so is his gift. As Mormon warned, “Wherefore, a man being evil cannot do that which is good; neither will he give a good gift.”

One of my favorite stories in church history is about how Martin Harris’s wife Lucy tried to bribe young Joseph Smith into letting her see the plates, apparently so she could invest in them and get a share of whatever the gold was worth. Her’s is the perfect example of what happens when someone tries to bribe a prophet. The story, as it is told in a chapter of my book called Joseph and Moroni, is as follows: {3}

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Trouble with Lucy Harris

Mrs. Harris is an important part of the story of the relationship between Joseph and the angel Moroni for three reasons. First, she was the cause of much of the friction between the Prophet and the angel. Second, her being an obstacle to Joseph’s work contributed to a number of important events relating to the translation of the Book of Mormon. And third, because she created such trauma for Joseph and for his family and friends (and perhaps for Moroni too, if angels can experience trauma), it is instructive to see how Joseph and the angel dealt with her.

At the time when Joseph and Emma were getting ready to move to Pennsylvania, Joseph owed debts totaling about $50. He did not have the money but did not want the people he owed to think he was leaving town to avoid paying them. He decided he would try to borrow that amount from a friend and then use it to pay everyone else. With this in mind, Joseph asked his mother to ask Martin if he would lend him the money.

When Mother Smith arrived at the Harris farm, she asked Mrs. Harris if she could talk with Mr. Harris. Mrs. Harris wanted to know all the reasons for the visit, so Lucy Smith told Lucy Harris why she had come. To Mother Smith’s surprise, Lucy Harris declared that she would give Joseph the money. When Joseph’s mother declined the offer, Mrs. Harris announced, “I am coming to your place to see him, too, and I will be there on Tuesday afternoon, and will stop over night.”

When Tuesday came, so did Mrs. Harris. Joseph’s mother told the story of her visit in some detail, and in doing so, made no attempt to disguise her disdain for the visitor. Mother Smith recounted that after Mrs. Harris was “well seated,” she began to quiz Joseph about the plates. She said if he was telling the truth about having them, he must show them to her; then, she said, “she was determined to help him publish them.”

He explained he could not show them to anyone. Relative to her offer of assistance, he told her he would prefer to deal with her husband.

That was not the response Mrs. Harris wanted, for, as Mother Smith observed, “she considered herself altogether superior to her husband,” and she continued to tease Joseph about seeing the plates.

“Now, Joseph, are you not telling me a lie? Can you look full in my eye and say before God that you have in reality found a record, as you pretend?”

To this Joseph replied, rather indifferently, “Why, yes, Mrs. Harris, I would as soon look you in the face and say so as not, if that will be any gratification to you.”

Then said she, “Joseph, I will tell you what I will do, if I can get a witness that you speak the truth, I will believe all you say about the matter and I shall want to do something about the translation—I mean to help you any way.”{A}

With this statement about her wanting a “witness” the conversation ended for the evening.

The next morning, Mrs. Harris reported she had received her witness. She said she had a dream in which “a personage appeared to her” and told her that her attitude toward Joseph and her insistence upon seeing the plates were “not right in the sight of God.” The personage then showed her the plates of the Book of Mormon and said to her, “Behold, here are the plates, look upon them and believe.” The dream was so vivid to her that she was able to describe the plates “very minutely” to the Smiths.{B}

The dream had satisfied Mrs. Harris’s curiosity but not her determination to control this young man and his gold. She did not trouble Joseph about seeing the plates any more that day, but in all other respects she acted just as she had the night before. She would invest in Joseph’s treasure whether Joseph wanted a partner or not. He finally gave in, but recognizing that she was not as willing to be useful as she was determined to dominate, he refused to accept her money as a gift. He would not be indebted to her in any way that could not be readily defined and entirely repaid. He agreed to accept $28 from her—but only as a loan.

Joseph realized that if he was to remain free to obey God he could not accept constraining help from anyone. He understood, though Mrs. Harris did not, that one may assist a prophet only if one does not use that assistance as a lever with which to try to control the prophet.

A short time later, Martin Harris insisted on giving $50 to Joseph. In contrast to Joseph’s determination to not accept help from Mrs. Harris, he accepted the gift from Martin. He understood it to be an expression of love from Martin, and Joseph’s willingness to receive it is evidence that he trusted his friend. Joseph promptly used Martin’s money to pay his debts, and he returned the $28 to Mrs. Harris. {C}{4}

Later Martin had served as scribe while Joseph translated the plates. Martin was so convinced by what Joseph was doing that he believed if he could show the translation to his wife, she would lso believe. Martin borrowed 116 manuscript pages that Joseph had already translated and took them home to show Mrs. Harris. Joseph never saw those pages again. Joseph’s mother registered her belief that Lucy Harris had stolen them, intending to use them to embarrass Martin and Joseph. {5}

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FOOTNOTES FOR ESSAY

{1} William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1.

{2} William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5.

{3} Joseph and Moroni, The 7 Principles Moroni taught Joseph Smith is one of the books in this website under “published books.”

{4} LeGrand L. Baker, Joseph and Moroni, The 7 Principles Moroni taught Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City, Eborn Books, 2006), pages 54-57

{5} Lucy Smith, History, 131-32.  This story is told in Joseph and Moroni, chapters “The Loss of the 116 Pages” and “What Happened to the 116 Pages?,” 62-68.

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FOOTNOTES FROM JOSEPH AND MORONI

{A} This story is reported in Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother (Salt Lake City, Bookcraft, 1954), 114-117.

{B} Lucy Smith, History, 117.

{C} Lucy Smith, History, 117-18. Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 1:19.

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