58 pages • 1 hour read
Transl. Joseph SmithThe Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ
Nonfiction | Scripture | Adult | Published in 1830A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Key Figures
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaBooks 11-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Book 11 Summary: “3 Nephi”
The Book of 3 Nephi is named for Nephi, the son of the Nephi who was featured in the Book of Helaman (thus, a priestly figure in the continuing line of Alma). It records events that occur in the first century CE. The early portions of the book describe events preceding Jesus’s visitation, with the remainder (Chapters 11-30) consisting of Jesus’s actions and teachings after his arrival. The Book of 3 Nephi also includes several portions in which Mormon, the later compiler and redactor of the records, includes his own commentary on the content of the book.
The period of instability in Nephite society that prevailed in the Book of Helaman continues, with the Gadianton robbers continuing to exercise a malignant influence during the events. Even after the Gadiantons are defeated by the Nephite army, Nephite society continues to go astray, led away from religious devotion by its attachment to material wealth. Then, just as Samuel the Lamanite had predicted at the end of the Book of Helaman, the time of Jesus’s death and resurrection in Roman Judaea coincides with several signs of God’s judgment: storms, earthquakes, and darkness. This period sees the destruction of many Nephite and Lamanite cities in the disasters that ensue. Amid the darkness that falls on the land after Jesus Christ’s death, a voice (identified as the voice of Christ) is heard calling out woes and judgments over the people. After three days of darkness, the people who have gathered together see the resurrected Jesus descend from the sky and stand among them at the site of a temple in the land of Bountiful: “And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him” (3 Nephi 11:8).
Over the course of the second half of 3 Nephi, Jesus teaches the people. He confers on Nephi the authority to baptize and conveys the central theological and ethical precepts that will guide the life of both the Nephite church and its later LDS incarnation. Jesus, echoing sections of the biblical Gospels, identifies the Nephites and Lamanites as his “other sheep,” of which he spoke to the Jews in John 10:16. Jesus establishes the continuing rites of the church, both baptism and the sharing of the bread and wine in the ordinance modeled after his Last Supper (called the Sacrament in LDS tradition). Jesus chooses twelve disciples to be the representatives of his ongoing ministry, among whose number Nephi is included. The closing chapters of 3 Nephi include long sections of Jesus’s prophetic teachings, in which he foretells events in the distant future related to the days of the LDS church and of his second coming. Before ascending back to heaven, he tasks his disciples with making his teachings known to the whole world.
Book 12 Summary: “4 Nephi”
The Book of 4 Nephi continues the account with which 3 Nephi ended, taking up the story of the church among the Nephites and Lamanites. The book is named after the same character as 3 Nephi, now serving as one of Jesus’s chosen disciples. It is one of the shortest books in The Book of Mormon, consisting of a single chapter. 4 Nephi records that the Nephites and Lamanites enjoy a period of religious devotion and zeal during the lifetimes of Jesus’s disciples (excepting three which he had chosen out for miraculously long lifespans): “And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people” (4 Nephi 1:15). During this period, until approximately 100 CE, the people obey Jesus’s commands and follow the way of life he laid out for them.
After Nephi’s death, the duty of recording on the plates falls to his son Amos. Unfortunately, the second and third centuries CE become a time of increasing apostasy among the Nephites and Lamanites, falling once again into their repeated patterns of chasing after wealth instead of obeying God’s commands. Even the church itself becomes divided, with some portions persecuting other portions. The Nephites and Lamanites, whose distinction from one another in the church disappeared for a time during the golden era of the ministry of Jesus’s disciples, now are once again divided. First the Nephite group represented those who were faithful to the church and the Lamanite group represented the apostates, but by the end of the period, both groups are indistinguishable in their abandonment of the faith. Eventually, in the early fourth century CE, the sacred records come to a custodian named Ammaron, who hides them away for safekeeping.
Book 13 Summary: “Mormon”
The Book of Mormon is one of the constituent texts of the larger collection of LDS scripture that is also referred to as The Book of Mormon. Both sets of text refer to the same eponymous character, the prophet Mormon of the fourth century CE, who not only is the claimed author of most of the smaller text, but also is presented as a compiler and redactor for much of the larger collection of texts in The Book of Mormon. The smaller text is a relatively short book, totaling nine chapters, of which the first seven are attributed to Mormon’s authorship and the last two to the that of his son, Moroni.
When Mormon is a 10 years old child, Ammaron approaches him and tells him that when he turns 24, he should go and find the sacred records that Ammaron buried for safekeeping. Mormon, a devout young man, accompanies his father on a trip to Zarahemla, where a border war between Lamanites and Nephites is breaking out. The Nephites have become so wicked that Jesus recalls to heaven the three disciples to whom he granted extraordinarily long lifespans for the continuation of their ministry. Mormon tries to encourage the Nephites to return to God’s ways, but with little success, and he is eventually placed in a role of military command as the wars between Lamanites and Nephites continue. Amid those wars, as the Nephites make continued retreats, Mormon retrieves the records Ammaron left. Later, after a great Nephite victory, the Nephites begin to boast in their own strength and refuse to trust in God’s direction, so Mormon foreswears any further service as their leader. This leads to a period in which the Lamanites begin to rout the Nephites again, so eventually Mormon returns to his military leadership, but he is unable to turn to the tide.
Events come to a head in the pivotal battle at Cumorah in 385 CE, where Mormon’s Nephites make their last stand against the Lamanites. Mormon, knowing the end is near, decides to bury the sacred records in the Hill Cumorah: “Behold I, Mormon, began to be old; and knowing it to be the last struggle of my people, and having been commanded of the Lord that I should not suffer the records […] to fall into the hands of the Lamanites […], therefore I made this record out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the hill of Cumorah all the records” (Mormon 6:6). With those buried, he retains only a few plates to pass on to his son, Moroni. The Nephites are then destroyed in battle, and the Lamanites begin to hunt down the remnants of the Nephite people. In the remaining chapters of the book, Mormon and Moroni describe the complete destruction of the Nephites and record their prophecies of warning and repentance for future readers. Finally, in the early fifth century, Moroni buries the last of the records.
Books 11-13 Analysis
This section represents both the climax and the completion of the main historical arc of The Book of Mormon. Throughout the previous books, the attention of the reader was always being drawn forward toward the future coming of Jesus, and in this section of texts, that long-awaited event finally occurs. The book 3 Nephi thus stands as the climax of the story of the whole The Book of Mormon, describing as it does the visitation of the resurrected Jesus Christ to the Jewish descendants living in the Americas. The moment of Jesus’s arrival is a climactic point in The Progression of History Along God’s Plan of Salvation: “And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying: Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world” (3 Nephi 11:10). Jesus’s first words upon his arrival in the Americas emphasize the fulfillment of a long-ago prophetic promise. This climax is followed shortly thereafter by the conclusion: After Jesus’s visitation, Nephite history resumes its prior patterns, as shown in 4 Nephi and Mormon, and the pendulum continues to swing further and further toward Nephite apostasy. Ultimately, all the threats of judgment against the Nephites for their spiritual waywardness are brought to bear, and the Nephites perish at the hands of the Lamanites. Although two more books still remain in The Book of Mormon, this is essentially the end of the central narrative arc, and the remaining books are either disconnected from that narrative (the Book of Ether) or are simply a literary epilogue (the Book of Moroni).
Much as the Book of 1 Nephi mirrored content from the Bible, 3 Nephi does the same. In particular, it echoes a significant portion of the biblical Gospels, perhaps most prominently Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew 5-7. Jesus’s teachings to the Nephites in 3 Nephi concern administrative, doctrinal, and ethical content, and in the case of the ethical content, it appears to be a reworking of the material taken directly from the Sermon on the Mount. Other direct references to the Gospels occur, as when Jesus specifically mentions the “other sheep” passage of John 10:16 (see 3 Nephi 15:21). Not only Jesus’s words, but also his actions, have biblical antecedents, as in his selection of twelve men to serve as his disciples and to carry on the work of ministry after his ascension back into heaven.
The motifs of sacred records and of warfare are prominently visible in this section, perhaps more so than in any other part of The Book of Mormon. While the motif of sacred records recurs throughout the entire collection and forms a major narrative piece in such texts as 1 Nephi, it is only in this section that we encounter the story of the man who is largely responsible for the form in which those records come down to the reader: the prophet Mormon. His ministry as custodian of the sacred records is as important to the narrative, if not more so, than his military leadership and prophetic ministry. From his childhood to the end of his life, the sacred records dominate his contribution to the story, because he is the one who pieces the collection together, abridges the Large Plates, interprets the overarching meaning of the Nephite histories told therein, and secures the plates’ ultimate resting-place in the Hill Cumorah.
The motif of warfare is likewise important, and especially in the later part of the chronological setting, between the time of Christ and of Mormon. Here we see warfare become the dominant experience of life for the Nephite people, as they commit brutal acts of violence against the Lamanites and receive the same in return. The climactic events of this conflict make clear The Necessity of Obedience to God’s Commandments: The Nephites have chosen disobedience, and the judgment that befalls them is to suffer the violence of genocidal warfare at the hands of the Lamanites.
Jesus’s arrival on the scene fulfills centuries of prophetic promises, a focal point in The Progression of History Along God’s Plan of Salvation. Jesus’s message of redemption ushers in a brief golden age in Nephite history, in which many trust in Jesus for their salvation and spread the good news of his message far and wide. That development ties in with yet another theme, that of Missionary Service as a Core Expression of Faith. Jesus’s teachings to the Nephites leave no doubt that his message is one that is intended to be actively spread throughout the whole world, and his Nephite disciples devote the remainder of their lives to that work.
The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is the turning-point on which that whole cosmic plan swings. With his atoning death and victorious resurrection, God’s salvation becomes experientially present to the believer: no longer something that is merely to be anticipated in faith, it is something to be accepted in a personal and transformative way. Even after Jesus’s visitation and the subsequent falling away of the Nephites, the text retains its firm belief in the progression of God’s sovereign plan over history, looking forward to the next major movement, which will come with the rediscovery of the plates in the latter days of world history.
