Another Witness that Jesus is the Christ
Most people around the world do not know how to use the word Mormon correctly. That usage has become a nickname and not an authorized title for a divinely restored world religion.
As President Russell M. Nelson recently explained at General Conference: “For much of the world, the Lord’s Church is presently disguised as the ‘Mormon Church.’ But we as members of the Lord’s Church know who stands at its head: Jesus Christ Himself. Unfortunately, many who hear the term Mormon may think that we worship Mormon. Not so! We honor and respect that great ancient American prophet. But we are not Mormon’s disciples. We are the Lord’s disciples” (October 2018 General Conference).
The correct and full name of the restored Church of Jesus Christ was received in a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith on April 26, 1838: “For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (D&C 115:4).
The name Mormon more accurately refers to a prophet who lived from about A. D. 311 to around A. D. 385. For most of his life, Mormon served as a military leader who witnessed the extermination of his race. He also acted as the chief editor of sacred texts that Moroni (his son) named in honor of his father—the Book of Mormon.
A Young Prophet and Military Leader
At the age of ten, Mormon received a prophetic directive because he was “learned somewhat after the manner of the learning of my people” and viewed as “a sober child, and art quick to observe” (Mormon 1:2). The Prophet Ammaron commanded Mormon to take possession of “the sacred engravings concerning this people” when he was at least “twenty and four years old” (Mormon 1:3). As a young boy, Mormon must have demonstrated an incredible spiritual aptitude as well as advanced language arts skills.
When he was eleven years old, Mormon’s father moved his son to the land of Zarahemla where a war began (Mormon 1:6-8). At the age of fifteen, Mormon’s prophetic calling was spiritually confirmed when he was “visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus” (Mormon 1:15). He was, however, “forbidden to preach unto [his people]” (Mormon 1:17). Nevertheless, because he was “large in stature” and a gifted soldier, the people appointed him to be their military leader (Mormon 2:1). For many years, the tradition among the Nephites had been “to appoint for their chief captains …some one that had the spirit of revelation and also prophecy” (3 Nephi 3:19). Although Mormon was living in a time of apostasy, the people seemed to have recognized that he possessed advanced physical and intellectual strengths.
Mormon served as their military general for the next 19 years. When he was 34 years old, he collected the sacred plates. At this time, he began making his own “record according to the words of Ammaron,” writing “a full account of all the wickedness and abominations” (Mormon 2:17-18). This is the first indication of Mormon having the time and opportunity to author his own detailed historical record.
In the course of the next five years, the people of Nephi were attacked and fled north, but Mormon energetically rallied his people to defeat a much larger Lamanite army. At the age of 39, Mormon negotiated a treaty with the Lamanite king that was to last for ten years. During this time of peace, he employed his people to prepare “their lands and their arms against a time of battle” (Mormon 3:1). Mormon was also commanded to preach the gospel of repentance, yet his people “did harden their hearts against the Lord their God” (Mormon 3:3). Their denial of the power and authority of God caused Mormon to fear that “they must perish soon” (Moroni 8:29).
A Temporary Resignation
After a decade of peace, the king of the Lamanites sent Mormon a letter letting him “know that they were preparing to come again to battle against us” (Mormon 3:4). At the age of 50 and 51, Mormon successfully led his people in repelling two major Lamanite attacks. These victories prompted his people “to boast in their own strength” and vow vengeance (Mormon 3:9). Their prideful reactions caused Mormon to resign from being “a commander and leader of this people” (Mormon 3:11). Instead, Mormon explained, “I did stand as an idle witness to manifest unto the world the things which I saw and heard” (Mormon 3:16). During his thirteen years of retirement, it is likely that Mormon authored a detailed account of the frequent scenes of blood, wickedness, and defeats that he observed: “I have made my record of these things according to the record of Nephi, which was engraven on the plates which were called the plates of Nephi” (3 Nephi 5:10). It may have been during this time that Mormon also prepared plates, “which I have made with my own hands” (3 Nephi 5:11): see “Plates of Mormon” in A Brief Explanation About The Book Of Mormon.
At the age of 64, Mormon made two radical decisions. Because he saw the Lamanites overtaking the cities and lands of the Nephites, he “did take up all the records that Ammaron had hid up unto the Lord” (Mormon 4:23). Next, he “did go forth among the Nephites, and did repent of the oath which I had made that I would no more assist them” (Mormon 5:1). In again becoming their military commander, he knew that there was no hope of saving his people. For the next ten years, the Nephites were continually fleeing the Lamanite armies. During this desperate time, Mormon wrote a letter to the king of the Lamanites suggesting that “we might gather together our people unto the land of Cumorah, …and there we could give them battle” (Mormon 6:2).
As he prepared for his last military combat, Mormon admitted, “he began to be old” (Mormon 6:6). The size of the Lamanite armies was so vast that “every soul was filled with terror because of the greatness of their numbers” (Mormon 6:8). The Nephite fatalities at the final battle were devastating: over 230,000 of Mormon’s armies were killed (Mormon 6:10-15). It is not clear how many people in addition to Mormon’s warriors were slaughtered, but when women and children were captured, the Lamanites “did offer them up as sacrifices unto their idols and gods” (Mormon 4:14, 21). Very few were spared. The loss of human life that Mormon witnessed during his lifetime would likely be well over a million people.
Mormon survived the battle at Cumorah because, “I fell wounded in the midst; and they passed by me that they did not put an end to my life” (Mormon 6:10). He was aware of only twenty-four of his soldiers who survived, including his son, Moroni (Mormon 6:11). Mormon noted that “a few had escaped into the south countries, and a few had deserted over to the Lamanites,” but otherwise “their flesh, and bones, and blood lay upon the face of the earth, being left by the hands of those who slew them to molder upon the land, and to crumble and to return to their mother earth” (Mormon 6:15). After witnessing such horrors of war, Mormon’s “soul was rent with anguish” (Mormon 6:16). He lamented that his people had rejected Jesus, “who stood with open arms to receive you” (Mormon 6:17).
After such traumatic war experiences, many individuals would have given up in despair. Yet Mormon still had a great work to do. At the age of 74, he began putting together the culminating masterwork of his life. This marvelous account will be the topic covered by the next article in this series: “Mormon—The Chief Editor of the Book of Mormon.”