Moroni Finishes His Record, Part 4

Moroni wrote a "few more things" at the end of his record, after finishing his abridgment of the record of the Jaredites.  The things he wrote were intended to be of worth unto "the Lamanites" in the last days, but are beneficial to us as well (Moro. 1:4).

The first thing about which he wrote was the manner in which Christ gave his disciples power to give the Holy Ghost.  He explains that Christ called them by name and said the following words as he laid hands upon them:

"Ye shall call on the Father in my name, in mighty prayer; and after ye have done this ye shall have power that to him upon whom ye shall lay your hands, ye shall give the Holy Ghost; and in my name shall ye give it, for thus do mine apostles" (Moro. 2:2).

These were instructions specific to the disciples and not heard by the multitude who had gathered to view the Savior.  Before the disciples went about giving the Holy Ghost, they were to call upon the Father in mighty prayer, in order that they may receive "power."  Is "mighty prayer" a part of the receipt of this power in our day?  If not, why does it seem it was of primary importance anciently?  Are we to understand the phrase "for thus do mine apostles" as also applying to our day, or just the ancient apostles?

Moroni then gives the manner in which ordination was performed in that ancient church.  He explained how those disciples, who where called "elders of the church," ordained both priests and teachers.  They first prayed unto the Father in the name of Christ, and laying their hands upon them, said:

"In the name of Jesus Christ I ordain you to be a priest, (or, if he be a teacher) I ordain you to be a teacher, to preach repentance and remission of sins through Jesus Christ, by the endurance of faith on his name to the end.  Amen" (Moro. 3:3).

This was the manner of ordination.  Moroni makes the point that those ordained were done so "according to the gifts and callings of God unto men" (Moro. 3:4).  The offices of priest and teacher were given to men, not according to age or duration of church activity, but according to the gifts and callings of God unto men.  How do you suppose that was determined?

These ordinations were performed by the "power of the Holy Ghost, which was in them" (ibid.).  There is no mention of priesthood here.  Why does Moroni not say instead, that these ordinations were performed "by the power of the priesthood, which was in them"?  Does ordination to church office require priesthood?  Are the offices of priest and teacher offices of the priesthood, or offices in the church?  Is this manner of ordination of priests and teachers consistent with earlier ordinations in the Book of Mormon to those same offices?

Though the reader may assume these priests and teachers were given priesthood before or at the time of their ordination, there is no mention of conferral of priesthood authority prior to their ordination.  They are merely "ordained" to be a priest or teacher.  

Our practice is to first confer the authority of the priesthood, and then ordain to an office therein, the two being connected.  Wholly removed from our tradition is that the offices to which men are ordained are actually offices within the Church, not priesthood offices.  D&C 20 makes the original intent clear, though there is quickly thereafter conflation of church office and priesthood (this also makes me think on the early disputes between Heber J. Grant, Joseph F. Smith, and others about whether or not men needed to have priesthood "conferred" as a part of their ordination to offices.  Once Heber J. Grant became president of the Church he changed the manner of ordination.  That change remained in place for decades before being changed back).  

Here then is the dilemma we find in the text.  If you choose to interpret Moroni's words through the lens of Mormon tradition, and you think you thereby understand what is going on in this ancient church, you of necessity have to choose to ignore the specifics of the verses.  You must look at it as a whole and assume it is all just the same today as it was then, even though the wording and manner are different.  You convince yourself that, "even though the wording is a little strange, I know exactly what was going on back then."  You can take that approach, OR you can read the text exactly as it stands and ask yourself whether or not you're able to discover the truth about how things were done anciently.

We will get a more accurate look into the past taking the text at its word, than by insisting it looks and sounds exactly like modern Mormonism while ignoring the details.  This idea will be continued in the next post.    

Moroni Finishes His Record

"And now I, Moroni, proceed to finish my record concerning the destruction of the people of whom I have been writing" (Ether 13:1).

Moroni has just bid farewell to his latter-day Gentile readers (Ether 12:38).  When Moroni finishes his record "concerning the destruction of the people of whom" he'd been writing, he brings a number of other things to our attention.  He knows his readers well and wrote that which would benefit their souls.  We should not overlook his message.  He does not draw his conclusions for his own sake, but for ours.  

"For behold, they rejected all the words of Ether; for he truly told them of all things, from the beginning of man; and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof;" (Ether 13:2).

Why does Moroni begin with the words "For behold..."?  How do the words "for behold" tie the previous verse to the ideas he's about to put forth?  "For behold," the Jaredites rejected all the words of Ether (Ether 13:2).  Who was Ether (Ether 12:2-5)?  Why is it significant that the people rejected his words?  And what does that have to do with their destruction (Ether 13:1)?  Why does Moroni choose to make this point for our sake?  Have we had someone like Ether among us?  Someone like the brother of Jared?

Joseph Smith's message, which he received from God, was intended to fix the mess the Christian world had gotten itself into over centuries of unbelief.  How different are we from the Christian world today?  Are we the same as other Christians, just as the I'm a Mormon campaign tries to make us out to be?  How are we different?  It's been almost 200 years since this prophet was among us.  How well have we taken to heart his message?  

Are we warned today, as the Jaredites were by this prophet Ether, of the need to repent lest we be destroyed?  By whom?  That appears to be the very reason Moroni has included this warning in the text.  It is for our benefit and warning.  We must believe it was put there to teach us something.  If Moroni chose carefully which texts he would include in the Book of Mormon for our sake, we must ask ourselves what we can learn about ourselves from what he is sharing.  Do we find ourselves in a similar dilemma to what the Jaredites faced? Do we run the risk of rejecting the words of a prophet of God?

The record of the Jaredites begins with two prophet leaders - brothers - and their families; the brother of Jared being the mighty seer.  They both die (Ether 6:29).  Generations pass and the people are in need of repentance.  Some of their kings have been good men, and others not.  The Lord finally sends Ether among them, declaring repentance lest they be destroyed (Ether 12:3).  He "truly told them of all things" (Ether 13:2).  He prophesied unto them many great and marvelous things, but the people did not believe him (Ether 12:5).