Following are the quotes and the link for the recording from class on Tuesday, April 21.
We did not get through all of the material on Tuesday, so we will finish up chapter 7 next week.
READING ASSIGNMENT FOR APRIL 28
Moroni 7: 40 - Moroni 10
RECORDING LINK
https://zoom.us/rec/share/-d5INZLiqFJJG4ns5xnuX6MmBp_7eaa813Qf-PFenhpYnSAMS-O04vZ2uf2Vxam5?startTime=1587486666000
MORONI
“The moral of the story comes through loud and painfully clear:‘Give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than that which we have been.’ Just maybe the cataclysms that erase nations and encroach on our own soil are not inevitable. Just maybe we are given reason here for hope.
This is itself an amazing dimension of the Book of Mormon, given its apocalyptic perspective, stark deathbed scenes, dark focus on the gloomy end of all things: the hope that shines through it. I am sometimes given to gloominess and to the pervasive pessimism of my own time, so I harbor a deep respect for hope. If ever hope were earned, it is this optimism pervading the Book of Mormon narrative, even in the face of the end of all things. ... Seeing what he has seen, that Moroni is able to still promote the idea of being ‘holy without spot’ inclines me to think it may be possible.”
Steve Walker,
https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/sites/default/files/archive-files/pdf/walker/ 2016-02-04/07_steve_walker_last_words_readers_book_of_mormon_2008.pdf
THE SACRAMENT PRAYERS
“The sacrament prayers used in the time of Moroni were closely based on the very words that Christ Himself spoke when He visited the Book of Mormon peoples.The words of Christ were likely used to replace the language of an already rich history of covenant making rituals among the Nephites, but the replacement still preserved some of the verbiage from their traditional covenant renewal ceremony.As BYU Professor JohnW. Welch has noted, 'It seems that Nephite texts and traditions have combined and coalesced beautifully into the final sacrament prayers in Moroni 4–5.’”
“One particularly noteworthy phrase appears in the prayers as found in Moroni 4–5 that was not included in the recorded words of Christ in 3 Nephi 18 — “that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son” (Moroni 4:3).As shown in the above table, that phrase parallels King Benjamin’s words as he put his people under covenant to take upon themselves the name of Christ (Mosiah 5:8) about 150 years before the appearance of Christ at the temple in Bountiful.”
“Readers may note that the prayers used by the modern Church today, as found in Doctrine and Covenants 20:76–79, are almost exactly the same words recorded in Moroni 4–5. It is significant that these words are essentially the words that Christ spoke (and perhaps what He would speak if present) when He introduced the ordinance Himself in 3 Nephi 18.The prayers recorded by Moroni demonstrate an effort to keep the prayers as close to Jesus’ own words as possible.
Moroni was careful to record these precious sacrament prayers precisely, because they were sacred, were based on the actual words of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, and conveyed through the sacramental ordinance the powers of the sacrificed body and atoning blood of Christ. In addition, those words also communicated the power of the Holy Ghost and aligned the will of the Father with ordinary men and women who seek to keep his commandment.To serve these holy purposes, Moroni was careful to convey the words of these prayers with solemn exactness.”
https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/where-did-moroni-get-the-sacramental-prayers-from
THE LIGHT OF CHRIST
“The light of Christ is just what the words imply: enlightenment, knowledge, and an uplifting, enabling, persevering influence that comes upon mankind because of Jesus Christ. The light of Christ fills the ‘immensity of space’ and is the means by which Christ is able to be ‘in all things, and is through all things, and is round all things.’
The light of Christ should not be confused with the personage of the Holy Ghost, for the light of Christ is not a personage at all. Its influence is preliminary to and preparatory to one’s receiving the Holy Ghost.”
Bible Dictionary, Gospel Library,“Light of Christ”
“The light of Christ is the means by which members of the Godhead are omnipresent, and also the means through which the Holy Ghost communicates gifts and blessings to all mankind.”
Joseph Fielding Smith, 1:40, 54
