Moroni’s commentary on the Jaredites & the Nephites

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

by Mike Parker

(Mike Parker is a long-time FAIR member who has graciously allowed us to use materials he originally prepared for the Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class. The scripture passages covered in his lessons don’t conform exactly to the Come, Follow Me reading schedule, so they will be shared here where they fit best.)

Class Notes

Additional Reading

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  Sidney B. Sperry, professor of religion at BYU (1932–1971), conjectured 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.

  
  


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  Moroni₂ informed us that the script he and other Nephite writers used was called, by them, “the reformed Egyptian” (Mormon 9:32). There are numerous examples of Egyptian writing being modified and used by other cultures; see William J. Hamblin, “Reformed Egyptian,” FARMS Review 19, no. 1 (2007): 31–35.

  
  


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  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 nineteenth century, but slowly fell into disuse in the early twentieth 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.

  
  

Mike Parker is a business and marketing analyst with over twenty years’ experience in the financial services and cellular telephone industries. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Management Information Systems from Dixie State University (now Utah Tech University) of St George, Utah. He also has eight years’ experience in corporate training and currently teaches an adult religion class in southern Utah. Mike and his wife, Denise, have three children.

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