Book of Mormon

Week 28: Moroni₂ comments on the Jaredites and Nephites

Mormon 8–9, Ether 4–5 & 12, Moroni 1–6

19 May 2016

• The late Sidney B. Sperry, religion professor at BYU (1932–1971), theorized that Moroni₂ wrote his material in the Book of Mormon in several stages, composing the Title Page in between. See “Moroni the Lonely: The Story of the Writing of the Title-Page to the Book of Mormon,” Improvement Era 47, no. 2 (February 1944): 83, 116, 118.
• Moroni₂ informs us that the script he and other Nephite writers used was called, by them, “reformed Egyptian” (Mormon 9:32). There are numerous examples of Egyptian writing being modified and used by other cultures; see “The Book of Mormon and ‘reformed Egyptian’,” FairMormon Answers.
• Both Moroni 4:2 and D&C 20:76 instruct the entire congregation to kneel when the sacrament prayers are offered. This practice was observed in the restored Church during the 19th century, but slowly fell into disuse in the early 20th century. In 1902 Church President Joseph F. Smith wrote an editorial instructing that this practice “may be regulated by the presiding authority, according to local surroundings, circumstances, and conditions.” Joseph F. Smith, “Questions and Answers: On Administering the Sacrament,” Improvement Era 5, no. 6 (April 1902): 473–74.