Sunday School Lesson 47

Lesson 47: Moroni 1-6

Chapter 1

Verse 4: Moroni intended to end the Book of Mormon with his abridgment of Ether. Why do you
think he intended that? What would have made Ether an appropriate end to the record that
Moroni is making?

Chapter 2

Verses 1-3: Why weren’t these words part of the public record of Christ’s visit? Why does
Moroni include them in the Book of Mormon? These verses suggest that the authority to give the
gift of the Holy Ghost was the most important aspect of the disciples’ ordination. Why might that
be?

Chapter 3

Verses 1-3: Was the ordination of priests and teachers among the Nephites accomplished by
means of a set prayer that we find here? If so, what does it mean to us that we no longer use a set
prayer for those ordinations? If not, what makes you think that it wasn’t?

Verse 3: What does “the endurance of faith” mean? Does it mean that faith produces endurance?
If so, how might that be so? (Ether 12 may be relevant.)

Chapter 4

Verse 3: What does it mean to say that the bread will be blessed and sanctified (made holy) to the
souls of those who eat it? Why must we remember Christ’s body, and then his blood? What does
the word “may” suggest in the places where it appears in the prayer? To whom does “his Spirit,”
meaning “Christ’s Spirit” refer? If the Holy Ghost, how is that a proper name for him? If it is not
the Holy Ghost, what does that phrase mean?

Here is one diagram of the Sacrament prayer over the bread:

According to this diagram, the priest asks the Father to bless and sanctify the bread for three
reasons: so that those who eat may eat in remembrance, so that those who eat may become
witnesses, and so that those who eat may have “his Spirit” to be with them. Those who partake
become witnesses of three things: that they are willing to take the name of the Son on
themselves, that they are willing to remember him, and that they are willing to keep his
commandments.

Are there other ways to diagram the prayer, ways that yield different understandings of the
prayer? For example, is there another way to understand how the last clause fits with the rest of
the prayer? In the diagram, it is one of the things that the priest prays for, but it might also be
understood as being the result of keeping the commandments. In other words, in the last clause,
does “that they may always have his Spirit” mean “we ask thee to bless and sanctify this bread so
that they may always have his Spirit” (as this diagram assumes) or does it mean “they keep his
commandments so that they may always have his Spirit”? How do you decide between these two
possibilities?

Chapter 5

At the end of the prayer over the bread, the priest prays that those who drink the wine/water “do
always remember him.” In the prayer over the bread, he prays that they may remember. Is this
difference significant? If so, what does it signify? If not, why is the wording different?

Chapter 6

Verse 1: What fruits show that one is worthy of baptism?

Verse 2: Does this verse answer the question about verse one, or does it add additional
qualifications? Does the word “neither” at the beginning of the verse suggest an answer to that
question?

Verse 3: Are taking the name of Christ on oneself and having a determination to serve him to the
end the same thing or two different things? What does it mean, literally, to take Christ’s name on
oneself?

Verse 4: Is this wording significant: “received unto baptism”? Why does Moroni say that to be
numbered among the members of the church, one must have been “wrought upon and cleansed
by the power of the Holy Ghost”? Has everyone who has been given the gift of the Holy Ghost
been so wrought upon and cleansed? Why does Moroni think it was it important to keep the
names of those who joined the people of the church? How do we nourish members “by the good
word of God”? How do we keep each other “in the right way”? What does it mean to be
continually watchful unto prayer”? How do we keep each other “continually watchful unto
prayer”? The last part of this verse sounds very Protestant: “relying only on the merits of Christ,
who was the author and the finisher of their faith.” What does it mean to rely only on the merits
of Christ (and, therefore, not on our own merits)? What does it mean to say that Christ is the
author—the creator—of our faith? What does it mean to say that he is its finisher?

Verses 5-6, 9: How does it appear that the meetings of the Nephite Saints might have been
different than ours? How similar?

Verses 7-8: Why does Moroni insert this remark about how to deal with transgressors in the
middle of his description of how the Nephites of his time worshipped?