Mormon (prophet)

Mormon (IPAEng|ˈmɔrmən) is a prophet in "The Book of Mormon" after whom the book is named. According to the sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=Introduction and the [http://scriptures.lds.org/bm/jsphsmth account] of Joseph Smith, Jr., Mormon was the prophet-historian who engraved an abridgement of his people's history on Golden Plates. Latter Day Saints believe Mormon was a Nephite prophet who lived in the Americas during the 4th century AD.

The "Book of Mormon" reports that Mormon was instructed by the prophet Ammaron where to find the records that had been passed down from their ancestors. It also claims that Mormon later abridged the near-millennium-long history of his ancestors, a more ancient people, and additional revelations into the "Book of Mormon". The divisions of "Mormon" attributed to the prophet are the "Words of Mormon" and the first seven chapters of the larger book. Mormon eventually passed all of the records on to his son Moroni.

Life history

According to Mormon's record in the "Book of Mormon", [cite book|title=The Book of Mormon|chapter="The Book of Mormon,"|location=Salt Lake City|publisher=Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|date=1985|pages=469-87] he was born in about A.D. 311 and was named after his father. About at the age of ten, he was visited by Ammaron and given instructions on where to find the sacred engravings of the Nephite prophets and on what to engrave upon them. [sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=Mormon|chapter=1|verse=2|range=5, Ibid.] At the age of eleven, Mormon was taken to the land of Zarahemla by his father. [sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=Mormon|chapter=1|verse=6, Ibid.]

Mormon writes that at age fifteen he was visited by Jesus Christ. [sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=Mormon|chapter=1|verse=15, Ibid.]

At age sixteen, Mormon became the leader of the Nephite armies, [sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=Mormon|chapter=2|verse=1|range=-2, Ibid.] and fought against the Lamanites in many battles thereafter.

Mormon went to the hill (called Shim) at the age of 24, as instructed by Ammaron, to take and abridge the Nephite records. [sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=Mormon|chapter=2|verse=17|range=-18, Ibid.]

In A.D. 362, Mormon writes that he "utterly refuse [d] ...to be a commander and a leader" to the Nephites "because of their wickedness and abomination." [sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=Mormon|chapter=3|verse=11, Ibid.] However, about thirteen years later, Mormon decided to return as commander of the Nephite armies as they were being badly beaten by the Lamanites. [sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=Mormon|chapter=5|verse=1|range=2, Ibid.]

Upon returning, Mormon again led them in battle against the Lamanites until the entire destruction of the Nephite nation, which took place as a result of a huge battle fought between the two groups in 385. [sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=Mormon|chapter=8, Ibid.] The prophet Moroni, Mormon's son to whom he delivered the Golden Plates, records that Mormon was killed by the Lamanites (presumably in A.D. 385 or shortly thereafter). As the last prophet and keeper of the record, Moroni is said to have become the angel or messenger who revealed the location of the Golden Plates to Joseph Smith in 1823. [sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=Mormon|chapter=8|verse=3, Ibid.] [Joseph Smith—History 1:27-54]

Notes

ee also

*The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
*Book of Mormon prophets

External links

* [http://www.lds.org The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]
* [http://www.mormon.org Official information about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]
* [http://scriptures.lds.org Official Scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]
* [http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/book_of_mormon/people/mormon_eom.htm Mormon] by Phyllis Ann Roundy