Moroni 8
8:1-13 - Chapter 8 is a letter from Mormon to his son Moroni, and I guess I’ve never really read it like a letter, and it takes on an interesting tone when it is read as such. I read this chapter from the point of view of a parent speaking to a beloved child during a time of massacre and destruction. Mormon begins “my beloved son, Moroni, I rejoice exceedingly that your Lord Jesus Christ hath been mindful of you, and hath called you to his ministry, and to his holy work.” It must have been exceptionally gratifying for Mormon, who probably felt, and did, stand alone for righteousness in a time when everything was going downhill fast, to have his son remain righteous and be called to the same work of God that he himself served for his entire life. Verse 3 is heartfelt sentiment from father to son, “I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end.” I wonder if Mormon knew that this note would be published for all the world to see when he wrote it. I wondered what I would say to my child if I was in Mormon’s situation, and really, because Moroni was an adult and apparently on the other side of the country, there wasn’t anything that Mormon could have done for his son except pray for him. I also thought that it was interesting that Mormon didn’t say that he prayed for Moroni’s safety or comfort or protection, nothing physical, but he prayed that Moroni would have been able to remain faithful through the “infinite goodness and grace” of God. If I could wish for one outcome for my children in this life, it wouldn’t be safety, prosperity, or anything physical like that, it would be a steadfastness in faith, and really nothing else matters, there will always be adversity, there will always be tragedy, life always ends in death, there’s no escaping any of that, but the only thing that results in happiness, spiritual rest and safety, is a rock solid commitment to the Savior and His gospel. I just love how it’s illustrated by Mormon that he wishes Moroni “endurance of faith on his name to the end,” as an example of what is truly most important in this life. We now come to the topic of the baptism of children. It’s interesting that this was a problem even in Nephite history, I wonder if it’s one of Satan’s preferred tools, I’m trying to think what purpose it would serve for him to convince people that children need to be baptized. I would cause the sorrow and misery of parents who weren’t able to have their children baptized, but I think that a major “victory” for Satan when he reinstitutes that practice is just the “in your face” aspect of it to Jesus. I’ll have to think about this, what does Satan gain by promoting the practice of infant baptism? The IM teaches, “Moroni 8 contains a letter Moroni received from his father, Mormon, that answers the question of whether little children need baptism. Note that the source for Mormon’s answers on this doctrinal question came to him directly by revelation from the Lord. The ordinance of baptism is ‘for the remission of sins.’ But little children have no sins. In fact, they are not capable of committing sin, nor can Satan tempt them, as the Doctrine and Covenants explains: ‘Little children are redeemed from the foundation of the world through mine Only Begotten; Wherefore, they cannot sin, for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little children, until they begin to become accountable before me.’ The Lord has set the age when accountability begins- at eight years old. Those who baptize infants to remove original sin, or the curse of Adam, as some call it, do so without a correct understanding of God and His plan.” Additionally, the Lord added in that circumcision is “done away” as well. The IM teaches, “God declared to Abraham, ‘And I will establish a covenant of circumcision with thee, and it shall be my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations; that thou mayest know forever that children are not accountable before me until they are eight years old.” The spirit of apostasy, however, led many people in ancient times to believe that circumcision was necessary to make male children holy. The law of circumcision was not intended to last forever. The Savior’s words were revealed to Mormon: ‘The low of circumcision is done away in me.’ The Doctrine and Covenants explains why the law of circumcision was ended.” That’s really interesting that the original version of Genesis states that children are not accountable until they are 8 years old. I always wondered where that number came from, and how people knew that a child was accountable in previous times, I wondered whether or not there was an age set for previous dispensations . I guess I don’t know enough about circumcision to really understand this, I always thought that baby boys were circumcised when they turned 8 days old, if that’s the case, then where does the 8 years come in to play. And now here comes the kicker of the whole thing, Mormon says that baptizing little children is a “solemn mockery before God.” The IM teaches, “Mormon strongly denounced the practice of infant baptism. He declared that it was ‘solemn mockery before God, that ye should baptize little children.’ The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that infant baptism denies the character of God and the saving power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ: ‘The doctrine of baptizing children, or sprinkling them, or they must welter in hell, is a doctrine not true, not supported in Holy Writ, and is not consistent with the character of God. All children are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and the moment that children leave this world, they are taken to the bosom of Abraham.’” Those are some pretty strong words, maybe one of the benefits for Satan from teaching this false doctrine is that people are misdirected as to the true nature of God as a loving Father, because surely any being who damned children who died young, simply for not having the opportunity to be baptized is a monster of a person. I appreciate that Mormon recognizes the vast infant mortality rate and that it equates to probably more than half of the human population ever born into this life. It makes me wonder though, it’s true that most infants who died were not able to have baptism, but that’s also true for most of the adults who lived on the earth, wouldn’t the same also be true for them. Mormon’s point is very raw when he says, “wherefore, if little children could not be saved without baptism, these must have gone to an endless hell.” It’s disgusting to think of children being punished because they died young and without an opportunity to be baptized. I mean, adults, yeah it’s the same argument if they haven’t had the opportunity to be baptized, but we can always fudge a little bit with the adults that they had probably done lots of terrible things and even with the baptism, them going to hell might have been justified, but that’s not the point, the point is, no one wants to see children suffer, and I for one, could not believe in a God that who not only allowed children to experience endless torment, but also perpetrated it. So I guess that that’s one of the huge selling points for Satan is because infant baptism portrays God as a monster, blood thirsty and cruel, it, maybe more than any other facet, turns even the softest of heart against the God who tortures their children. Wow, there’s way more to this than I had previously thought.
8:14-30 - Mormon uses an interesting phrase here that I didn’t understand at first, he says that “he that supposeth that little children need baptism is in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; for he hath neither faith, hope, nor charity.” How does someone who believes in the need for infant baptism lack faith, hope, and charity specifically? It’s one thing to say that the proponents don’t understand the atonement or the plan of salvation, but to say that they lack all three of the components of true spirituality is pretty strong. So let’s think about it, if I believe in infant baptism, how do I lack faith? Well, I wouldn’t believe that God was capable of saving his own children. I wouldn’t believe that God had any kind of power or control if even the precious babies couldn’t be redeemed with baptism. I would have no hope for fairness or equality among people, I wouldn’t have hope that we would all have an equal chance to accept or reject the gospel with total understanding, and I wouldn’t hope for eternal life or the resurrection, that anything could be better than this life. I wouldn’t have the pure love of Christ, because if I did, I would understand that we are all precious and treasured children of God and that we are all going to have the same opportunity as each other to learn, and grow and understand. I wouldn’t be able to understand that there is a plan for all of us, not just those of us lucky enough to be born in a time when we could be baptized, thus Mormon says, “For awful is the wickedness to suppose that God saveth one child because of baptism, and the other must perish because he hath no baptism.” This is really the essence of the whole argument, any God who would pardon or condemn even the babies because of circumstances that he himself controlled, is not to be trusted or worshipped. This is why the end of verse 16 makes sense “for perfect love casteth out all fear.” Even though I don’t think that it was used in this context, an understanding of the perfect love that Christ has for us casts the fear out of our lives. I actually was dealing with this today, I was just worried about different things and the thought came to me, “I love you, trust me.” It was hard, it was/is a struggle but I have to look at my worries or problems from the view point that God loves me, and even though I’m not perfect, I’m trying my best and will therefore be protected or chastened according to that which is most beneficial to me. I’m really going to have to work on that, again going back to the whole, “I don’t doubt God, I doubt my own worthiness,” like “why would God do anything for me, I don’t deserve it yet.” And that’s not a helpful attitude to have and I’m going to have to work on that. Verse 19 brings up the concept of mercy, and that’s probably one of Satan’s most hated of all virtues of God, his merciful nature, and if Satan is going to destroy our understanding of any aspect of the character of God, it would be his mercy, and what better way than to tell us that our children are going to hell, that brings out the mama bear in all of us, there’s nothing most of us wouldn’t do to protect our children form harm or suffering, including turning against the God we believe is perpetuating that underserved punishment. Mormon also seems to recognize the implication that, if children can’t be punished for their lack of opportunity to learn, then neither can adults who “that are without the law. For the power of redemption cometh on all them that have no law; therefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is under no condemnation, cannot repent.” This was my question from the beginning, so I’ glad that it’s being answered. The IM teaches, “Many persons live and die and never know the law of Christ. Such persons will be taught the gospel in the spirit world. There they will have the opportunity to exercise faith and repent of their sins. Living proxies on the earth perform the needed ordinances in their behalf, and the blessings of salvation may be theirs. Those who are not capable of understanding the gospel are not considered accountable. They, like little children, are ‘alive in Christ.’ President Joseph Fielding Smith explained: ‘They are redeemed without baptism and will go to the celestial kingdom of God, there, we believe, to have their faculties and other deficiencies restored according to the Father’s mercy and justice.’” This is really the eternal perspective here. I don’t know why some of us have to live in this mortality and why some don’t. I can only imagine myself in the preexistence saying, “I want to live as long as possible, I want to experience all the hardships and all the suffering.” I just know myself and I know that that’s what I would have said, but now being here, I’m just tired. Some of us need to live here, some of us don’t, but the only way that this works and makes sense is with the perspective of spiritual growth continuing in the next life and into the eternities. Mormon sets out the requirements for repentance, as far as who has the need of it, for “repentance is unto them that are under condemnation and under the curse of a broken law.” To me this means, only those who know about the law can break it, and only those who break a law they know about can repent of it, which I guess raises the question, does that mean all those without the gospel have done nothing wrong? No, I don’t think that that’s what that means at all, because we learned that we all have the light of Christ, the little conscience in our mind telling us what is right and wrong, so as far as we are given that knowledge and understanding, then we are expected to be obedient to that knowledge as we’ve been given it, and as we learn more we are expected to obey more. Like we would never expect anyone to honor temple covenants that they have not made or obey the law of tithing if they have not learned of it. With repentance comes baptism and with baptism comes the remission of sins “and the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall swell with God.” Honestly, there are a lot of words there, and it’s difficult for me to follow the thought process that Mormon is using here, but the IM teaches, “Mormon described a connection between faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and remission of sins. He taught that with remission of sins comes meekness and lowliness of heart, or humility. Elder Francisco J. Vinas of the Seventy described some of the characteristics of someone meek and lowly in heart: ‘The person who obtains meekness and lowliness of heart and who enjoys the company of the Holy Ghost will have no desire to offend or hurt others, nor will he feel affected by any offenses received from others. He will treat his spouse and children with love and respect and will have good relationships with everyone he associates with. In occupying positions of leadership in the Church, he will apply the same principles as he does in the home, showing that there is no difference between the person he is when within the walls of his own home and the person he is in his relationship with the members of the Church.” I love this definition, consistency with actions and treatment of others. Like God is no respecter or persons, so should we be fair with all and merciful too. I liked that it took on both sides of the offending coin, we are not to offend, but we are also not to be offended, good relationships with everyone we know, especially our family. And I really liked that we “have no desire to offend or hurt others.” For me personally, I really have no desire to hurt anyone’s feelings, I truly don’t want anyone to be upset with me or to have unpleasant feelings towards me and I truly don’t want to have those feelings within me for anyone else. But here I am, constantly embattled with some awfulness that I truly don’t want and am trying to get rid of, but I feel so bad when I end up hurting someone’s feelings, which happens more often than you would think, surprise there. But I really don’t like it, I wonder if that’s the beginning of meekness, the desire to not hurt anyone, even though you’re still working on the actual not hurting anyone part. Finally, Mormon finishes his sermon and gives Moroni an update on the state of the people in general. They are prideful, unrepentant, and reject “so great a knowledge,” and because of these things Mormon is afraid “lest the Spirit hath ceased striving with them.” The IM quotes Elder Bruce R. McConkie as teaching, “Many choose to walk in carnal paths and go contrary to the enticings of the Spirit. It is possible to sear one’s conscience to the point that the Spirit will withdraw its influence and men will no longer know or care about anything that is decent and edifying. ‘For my Spirit shall not always strive with man, saith the Lord of Hosts.’” That’s a brutal place to be, where you don’t want or care about the Spirit, to be that far removed from God is a scary thing. I hope and pray that I will always have the Holy Ghost with me and I pray that myself and my children will remain faithful and steadfast in the gospel and in our testimonies of our Savior Jesus Christ.
8:14-30 - Mormon uses an interesting phrase here that I didn’t understand at first, he says that “he that supposeth that little children need baptism is in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; for he hath neither faith, hope, nor charity.” How does someone who believes in the need for infant baptism lack faith, hope, and charity specifically? It’s one thing to say that the proponents don’t understand the atonement or the plan of salvation, but to say that they lack all three of the components of true spirituality is pretty strong. So let’s think about it, if I believe in infant baptism, how do I lack faith? Well, I wouldn’t believe that God was capable of saving his own children. I wouldn’t believe that God had any kind of power or control if even the precious babies couldn’t be redeemed with baptism. I would have no hope for fairness or equality among people, I wouldn’t have hope that we would all have an equal chance to accept or reject the gospel with total understanding, and I wouldn’t hope for eternal life or the resurrection, that anything could be better than this life. I wouldn’t have the pure love of Christ, because if I did, I would understand that we are all precious and treasured children of God and that we are all going to have the same opportunity as each other to learn, and grow and understand. I wouldn’t be able to understand that there is a plan for all of us, not just those of us lucky enough to be born in a time when we could be baptized, thus Mormon says, “For awful is the wickedness to suppose that God saveth one child because of baptism, and the other must perish because he hath no baptism.” This is really the essence of the whole argument, any God who would pardon or condemn even the babies because of circumstances that he himself controlled, is not to be trusted or worshipped. This is why the end of verse 16 makes sense “for perfect love casteth out all fear.” Even though I don’t think that it was used in this context, an understanding of the perfect love that Christ has for us casts the fear out of our lives. I actually was dealing with this today, I was just worried about different things and the thought came to me, “I love you, trust me.” It was hard, it was/is a struggle but I have to look at my worries or problems from the view point that God loves me, and even though I’m not perfect, I’m trying my best and will therefore be protected or chastened according to that which is most beneficial to me. I’m really going to have to work on that, again going back to the whole, “I don’t doubt God, I doubt my own worthiness,” like “why would God do anything for me, I don’t deserve it yet.” And that’s not a helpful attitude to have and I’m going to have to work on that. Verse 19 brings up the concept of mercy, and that’s probably one of Satan’s most hated of all virtues of God, his merciful nature, and if Satan is going to destroy our understanding of any aspect of the character of God, it would be his mercy, and what better way than to tell us that our children are going to hell, that brings out the mama bear in all of us, there’s nothing most of us wouldn’t do to protect our children form harm or suffering, including turning against the God we believe is perpetuating that underserved punishment. Mormon also seems to recognize the implication that, if children can’t be punished for their lack of opportunity to learn, then neither can adults who “that are without the law. For the power of redemption cometh on all them that have no law; therefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is under no condemnation, cannot repent.” This was my question from the beginning, so I’ glad that it’s being answered. The IM teaches, “Many persons live and die and never know the law of Christ. Such persons will be taught the gospel in the spirit world. There they will have the opportunity to exercise faith and repent of their sins. Living proxies on the earth perform the needed ordinances in their behalf, and the blessings of salvation may be theirs. Those who are not capable of understanding the gospel are not considered accountable. They, like little children, are ‘alive in Christ.’ President Joseph Fielding Smith explained: ‘They are redeemed without baptism and will go to the celestial kingdom of God, there, we believe, to have their faculties and other deficiencies restored according to the Father’s mercy and justice.’” This is really the eternal perspective here. I don’t know why some of us have to live in this mortality and why some don’t. I can only imagine myself in the preexistence saying, “I want to live as long as possible, I want to experience all the hardships and all the suffering.” I just know myself and I know that that’s what I would have said, but now being here, I’m just tired. Some of us need to live here, some of us don’t, but the only way that this works and makes sense is with the perspective of spiritual growth continuing in the next life and into the eternities. Mormon sets out the requirements for repentance, as far as who has the need of it, for “repentance is unto them that are under condemnation and under the curse of a broken law.” To me this means, only those who know about the law can break it, and only those who break a law they know about can repent of it, which I guess raises the question, does that mean all those without the gospel have done nothing wrong? No, I don’t think that that’s what that means at all, because we learned that we all have the light of Christ, the little conscience in our mind telling us what is right and wrong, so as far as we are given that knowledge and understanding, then we are expected to be obedient to that knowledge as we’ve been given it, and as we learn more we are expected to obey more. Like we would never expect anyone to honor temple covenants that they have not made or obey the law of tithing if they have not learned of it. With repentance comes baptism and with baptism comes the remission of sins “and the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall swell with God.” Honestly, there are a lot of words there, and it’s difficult for me to follow the thought process that Mormon is using here, but the IM teaches, “Mormon described a connection between faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and remission of sins. He taught that with remission of sins comes meekness and lowliness of heart, or humility. Elder Francisco J. Vinas of the Seventy described some of the characteristics of someone meek and lowly in heart: ‘The person who obtains meekness and lowliness of heart and who enjoys the company of the Holy Ghost will have no desire to offend or hurt others, nor will he feel affected by any offenses received from others. He will treat his spouse and children with love and respect and will have good relationships with everyone he associates with. In occupying positions of leadership in the Church, he will apply the same principles as he does in the home, showing that there is no difference between the person he is when within the walls of his own home and the person he is in his relationship with the members of the Church.” I love this definition, consistency with actions and treatment of others. Like God is no respecter or persons, so should we be fair with all and merciful too. I liked that it took on both sides of the offending coin, we are not to offend, but we are also not to be offended, good relationships with everyone we know, especially our family. And I really liked that we “have no desire to offend or hurt others.” For me personally, I really have no desire to hurt anyone’s feelings, I truly don’t want anyone to be upset with me or to have unpleasant feelings towards me and I truly don’t want to have those feelings within me for anyone else. But here I am, constantly embattled with some awfulness that I truly don’t want and am trying to get rid of, but I feel so bad when I end up hurting someone’s feelings, which happens more often than you would think, surprise there. But I really don’t like it, I wonder if that’s the beginning of meekness, the desire to not hurt anyone, even though you’re still working on the actual not hurting anyone part. Finally, Mormon finishes his sermon and gives Moroni an update on the state of the people in general. They are prideful, unrepentant, and reject “so great a knowledge,” and because of these things Mormon is afraid “lest the Spirit hath ceased striving with them.” The IM quotes Elder Bruce R. McConkie as teaching, “Many choose to walk in carnal paths and go contrary to the enticings of the Spirit. It is possible to sear one’s conscience to the point that the Spirit will withdraw its influence and men will no longer know or care about anything that is decent and edifying. ‘For my Spirit shall not always strive with man, saith the Lord of Hosts.’” That’s a brutal place to be, where you don’t want or care about the Spirit, to be that far removed from God is a scary thing. I hope and pray that I will always have the Holy Ghost with me and I pray that myself and my children will remain faithful and steadfast in the gospel and in our testimonies of our Savior Jesus Christ.
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