Book of Mormon Commentary - Moroni 8

by Don R. Hender

The matter of infant baptism is a significant doctrinal matter. The Universal Church has adopted this practice and according to its doctrines have excluded unbaptized infants from obtaining the presence of the kingdom of God due to its lack. What God of passion, love and mercy would so treat his children so unfairly to 'discriminate' against the innocent to deny them the Kingdom of God on such a technicality? Perhaps in the grips of war, the Nephite Chruch of Christ was under some presure to pursue this activity to insure their children a spot in heaven, knowing that baptism is required for entrance therein. We understand and appreciate Mormon's answer from God, that innocence of sin makes one incapable of committing sin and that only at the age of accountablility is that required by the process of repentance unto rebirth, the symbol of which or ordered ordiancne is Baptism. But what of an eight year old, do they comprehend all that they must do and be to become like God? What about a mature adult, do they have all the answers? It is a process to become like God. Line upon line, precept upon precept. And given the ability to fully comprehend to be totally held accountable. What unknown 'sins' are any of us still guilty of because we do not yet know the whole of the matter? Aren't we all so reliant upon that grace and mercy of Christ beyond any comprehension and repentance yet not undertaken from a lack of knowing, understanding, comprehending all the ways of God. To this end, we all are reliant in part upon the Grace and Mercy of Christ to raise us to Gods level in those things we have not yet been given and it that not the same basis of the principle of why infants are not required to be baptized in their state of total innocence and lack of understanding unto being able to repent? Certainly we are all reliant upon that same Grace and Mercy, for it is by Grace that we are saved after all we can do. And we can not do that which we do not know and have not yet been given to understand. That is the principle of not only accountablity but a progressive accountablility which takes into consideration one degree of maturation and growth in the gospel. Certainly a new convert just learning the gospel cannot be fairly judged on the same level of understanding, comprehension, accountability and respoonsibility as a learned memeber of countless years of gospel and doctrinal understanding. Paul explains this principle of progressive accountablility in his writtings. It is a doctrinally sound principle which basically states where there is not law given there is not sin for one is not capable of sinning against that which he does not know is a sin.

Scriptural Text [& Editorial] Commentary & Explanation Footnotes ~ References ~ JST

             CHAPTER 8
Infant baptism is an evil abomination—Little children are alive in Christ because of the atonement—Faith, repentance, meekness and lowliness of heart, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end lead to salvation. [Between A.D. 400 and 421]
It is estimated that Mormon writes his epistle to Moroni while he was in the land of Desolation and Moroni was working with the church in lands north where the newly displaced 'southern Nephtites' and the 'northern Nephites' were disputing over infant baptism as a hightened concern in salvation prompted the question over the status of little children. [letter date around 350 A.D.]

1 AN epistle^a of my ^afather Mormon, written to me, Moroni; and it was written unto me soon after my calling to the ministry. And on this wise did he write unto me, saying:
2 My beloved son, Moroni, I rejoice exceedingly that your Lord Jesus Christ hath been mindful of you, and hath called you to his ministry, and to his holy work.
3 I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite ^agoodness and ^bgrace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end.

1^a An epistle We commonly reference the two epistles from Mormon to Moroni, which Moroni includes in his book entitled Moroni, as the 'first' espistle and the 'second' epistle. In an abridged record which selects and chooses what to include and what not to include, that is it is not by any means all-inclusive, we must understand and appreciate the fact that there were likely a number of letters written between Mormon and Moroni over the years of separation of war and church and not just these two. In fact this '1^st epistle seems to be written in a time of much less stress, likely around 350 A.D. when Mormon was in the war zone of the local land of Desolation preparing to defend and defending the narrow neck and the later 2^nd epistle of chapter 9 seems to be written under the duress and stress of unfavorable warfare likely at the unsuccesful 'Jordan Defense', about 375 AD some 25 years after the 'first' epistle of around 350 A.D. Why Moroni selected only these two may be speculated upon, such as writing on plates being difficult to letters of more personal nature not included and also letters of less significance not included. You do not readily share all your letters with the general public as Moroni does with these to very significant letters, which are quite significant to Moroni's intended readers, we of today. The point is, in an effort to un-condensed the highly condensed record, we must be aware that many events are occuring which never do get reported in the abridged Book of Mormon record which to some readers make the ones that are reported often seem to have occured about the same time rather than 25 years apart as is the case of these two epistles of Mormon. As Mormon stated, it is but a hundreth part of the records of his people. 1^a W of M 1:1
3^a Ex. 34:6 (5-7); Mosiah 4:11
   ^b TG Grace

4 And now, my son, I speak unto you concerning that which grieveth me exceedingly; for it grieveth me that there should ^adisputations rise among you.
5 For, if I have learned the truth, there have been disputations among you concerning the baptism of your little children.
6 And now, my son, I desire that ye should labor diligently, that this gross error should be removed from among you; for, for this intent I have written this epistle.

4^a TG Disputations

7 For immediately after I had learned these things of you I inquired of the Lord concerning the matter. And the ^aword of the Lord came to me by the power of the Holy Ghost, saying:
8 ^aListen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God^a. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the ^bwhole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little ^cchildren are ^dwhole, for they are not capable of committing ^esin; wherefore the curse of ^fAdam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them; and the law of ^gcircumcision is done away in me.
9 And after this manner did the Holy Ghost manifest the word of God unto me; wherefore, my beloved son, I know that it is solemn ^amockery before God, that ye should baptize little children.

—8^a Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God Now Mormon just finished speaking of Jesus Christ as the Holy Child of the God the Father, that Father of Spirit to whom we pray (verse 3). Then in what respect does Jesus Christ become our Lord and our God within the scope of God the Father being the father of our spirits? Jesus was anointed and ordained to be the God of this Second Estate. All things pertaining to this estate are ministered in and through him and beside him there is no other God given whereby men may be save and are Redeemed out of this Second Estate. Jesus as Jehovah was given the fulness of the power of the Father, by which power He, Jesus Christ as Jehovah created the heavens and the earth of this Second Temporal Estate. He it is that is its Beginnig, its Alpha and He it is that is it Omega, its End. Within the vast expanse of All Eternity, this subset of temporal existance has be ordained by the Father of Spirits to be administered to by His Firstborn spirit son. Only those spirits who do pertain unto this Second Estate do minister unto it. Thus in and through the Son does the Father work unto the administration of this world. The Father selected him and anointed him to this end. And the Son returns all glory unto the Father. 7^a TG Word of the Lord
8^a D&C 15:1
   ^b Mark 2:17
   ^c Mark 10:14 (13-16); TG Conceived in Sin
   ^d Mosiah 3:16; D&C 29:46; D&C 74:7
   ^e TG Sin
   ^f Mosiah 3:26; Morm. 9:12
   ^g Gen. 17:11 (10-27); Acts 15:24;
     TG Circumcision
9^a 2 Ne. 31:13

10 Behold I say unto you that this thing shall ye teach—repentance and baptism unto those who are ^aaccountable and capable of committing sin; yea, teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little ^achildren, and they shall all be saved with their little children.
11 And their little ^achildren need no repentance, neither baptism. Behold, baptism is unto repentance^a to the fulfilling the commandments unto the ^aremission of sins.
12 But little ^achildren are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world; if not so, God is a partial God, and also a changeable God, and a ^brespecter to persons; for how many little children have died without baptism!

11^a baptism is unto repentance Now Paul did teach that 'sin' is not imputed when there is no law (Rom 5:13) and also where there is no law, there is no transgression (Rom 4:15). And Nephi taught that where there is no law there is no punishment and where there is no punishment there is no condemnation (2 Nephi 9:25). Little children are without understanding that is they are without the law (Moroni 8:22) That is, since little children are in a state of ignorance or that is to say innocence without understanding of the law, they cannot repent (Moroni 8:19), for repentance requires an understanding of guilt. Thus baptism to them is not unto repentance and thus baptism avails them nothing.
   Now such is in accord with the Law of the Old Testament as in the sacrifice of the priest did so represent the atonement of Christ. That is 'the priest [who represents the great high priest Jesus Christ] shall make an atonement for the soul tht sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD, to make an atonement for him; and is shall be forgiven him (Numbers 15:27-29). And that applies to all men includig the children of men of Israel or of strangers, meaning not of Israel. All come under the atonement of Christ in this respect as represented by the ordinance of it. And it especially applies to children. 10^a TG Accountability
     ^b TG Family, Children, Responsibility toward;
       TG Family, Love within;
11^a TG Baptism, Qualifications for; TG Children
     ^b TG Remission of Sins
12^a D&C 29:46; D&C 93:38
     ^b Eph. 6:9; D&C 38:16

13 Wherefore, if little children could not be saved without baptism, these must have gone to an endless hell.
14 Behold I say unto you, that he that supposeth that little children need baptism is in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity, for he hath neither ^afaith, hope, nor charity; wherefore, should he be cut off while in the thought, he must go down to hell.
15 For awful is the wickedness to suppose that God saveth one child because of baptism, and the other must perish because he hath no baptism.

Neither Faith,
Hope, Nor Charity What does it mean that one has not faith, hope, nor charity if they believe in and practice the concept of infant baptism? To fully comprehend, one must have developed a concise definition of what faith, hope, and charity are. And then once one knows and understands what faith, hope, and charity are, then it is more readily to seen what it is to not possess them. And without faith, hope, and charity, one is not able to receive the redemption of Christ and therefore 'they must go down to hell'.
First then Faith: Faith is to be in God, that is belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of God, that by him and through him all things are done, both in heaven and on earth. To God all things are possible. If one denies that God has not the power to save little children, then they do mock the power of God, that he is not all powerful and is able to do all things. And when one includes in their tenents of faith that God has not the power to provide salvation unto all men, especially to provide for the salvation of innocent little children, then they are limiting the power of God, they are limiting God who they on the one hand state that he is all powerful. Thus they are in fact denying their own faith in God, that all things are possible unto God. And when you start to limit God, then you no longer have a true faith in God and the power thereof. If you state that God does not have the power to deliver innocent children, then you are stating that his power is not universal to all men, for little children can do nothing of themselves but must rely totally upon that limitless power of God. Would one deny God the power to save little children? What mockery of God's power is this?
Second is Hope: Hope swells eternal within the human breast, or so they say. Concisely what hope is, is the dream, expectation and aspiration of obtaining 'Eternal Life' and that through the mercy and grace of the atonement of Jesus Christ. So if Christ is God and all powerful, then through that means of the atonement, all men, even little children, have that prospect of 'Eternal Life' to which they may look to, in and through Jesus Christ. If one denies such hope to little children, which is the beginning of all men in this life, then what hope is there? If little children do not have a hope in Jesus Christ unto eternal life, then none do. For if Christ's power is so limited that it cannot save a little child, which Christ teaches is the very nature of heaven to be as a little child; then who does have hope? And in this hope is lost unto all men.
Third Charity: Charity is the pure Love of Christ. It is the love of God and of one's fellow man and the basis of the two great commandments. Does one in truth have charity toward one's fellow man when they so deny the love of God to be able to be received by little children? What callused hardened heart would deny God's Love to children? If one would so deny God's Love to a child, then they are of the heart and spirit that would deny God's Love to men, denying them the power of repentance, of being forgiven and of receiving of God's fulness. If one starts to be so selective as stating that God's unconditional love does not apply to the salvation of little children, just where does that type of heartless selectivity end? This is the 'I am saved and you are not', syndrome which is of an unfeeling and an unloving nature. And without such a nature, regardless of all else, man cannot be saved without charity.
If one truely believes and has total faith in Christ, in God's powers, and has that great hope of eternal life through the atoning powers of Christ, then within that charity of love and God and man, all mankind falls within the powers and scope of God's power of the atonement, not only as it applies to little children, but especially as it applies to little children. For thus is the Kingdom of God, as a little child.
14^a 1 Cor. 13:13 (1-13); Ether 15:3 (3-37);
       Moro. 7:1; Moro. 10:20-23

16 Wo be unto them that shall pervert the ways of the Lord after this manner, for they shall perish except they repent. Behold, I speak with boldness, having ^aauthority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for ^bperfect ^clove ^dcasteth out all fear.
17 And I am filled with ^acharity, which is everlasting love; wherefore, all children are alike unto me; wherefore, I love little children with a perfect love; and they are all alike and ^bpartakers of salvation.
18 For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is ^aunchangeable from ^ball eternity to all eternity.

16^a TG Authority
     ^b TG Perfection
     ^c TG Love
     ^d 1 John 4:18
17^a TG Charity
     ^b Mosiah 3:16-19
18^a Alma 7:20; Morm. 9:9; TG God, Perfection of
     ^b Moro. 7:22

19 Little ^achildren cannot repent; wherefore, it is awful wickedness to deny the pure mercies of God unto them, for they are all alive in him because of his ^bmercy.
20 And he that saith that little children need baptism denieth the mercies of Christ, and setteth at naught the ^aatonement of him and the power of his redemption.
21 Wo unto such, for they are in danger of death, ^ahell, and an ^bendless torment. I speak it boldly; God hath commanded me^a. Listen unto them and give heed, or they stand against you at the ^cjudgment-seat of Christ.

21^a God hath commanded me So serious is it that we understand that God's salvation is universal unto everyone, that it is a sin unto death, hell and endless torment to teach otherwise. And God himself commanded Mormon to so preach this strongly against it, especially in the consideration of little children. None are lost except in and of themselves, all will be resurrected and brought to stand before God. 19^a Luke 18:16 (15-17)
     ^b TG God, Mercy of
20^a TG Jesus Christ, Atonement through;
       TG Salvation, Plan of;
21^a TG Hell
     ^b Jacob 6:10; Mosiah 28:3; D&C 19:12 (10-12)
     ^c TG Jesus Christ, Judge

22 For behold that all little children are ^aalive in Christ, and also all they that are without the ^blaw. For the power of ^credemption cometh on all them that have ^dno law; wherefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is under no condemnation, cannot repent; and unto such baptism availeth nothing—
23 But it is mockery before God, denying the mercies of Christ, and the power of his Holy Spirit, and putting trust in ^adead works.
24 Behold, my son, this thing ought not to be; for ^arepentance is unto them that are under condemnation and under the curse of a broken law.

22^a TG Salvation of Little Children
     ^b Acts 17:30
     ^c TG Redemption;
     ^d TG Accountability
23^a D&C 22:2
24^a TG Repentance;

25 And the first fruits of ^arepentance is ^bbaptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth ^cremission of sins;
26 And the remission of sins bringeth ^ameekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the ^bHoly Ghost, which ^cComforter ^dfilleth with hope and perfect ^elove, which love endureth by ^fdiligence unto ^gprayer, until the end shall come, when all the ^hsaints shall dwell with God.

25^a TG Baptism, Qualifications for
     ^b Moses 6:60
     ^c D&C 76:52; TG Remission of Sins
26^a TG Meekness
     ^b TG Holy Ghost, Baptism of
     ^c TG Holy Ghost, Comforter;
       TG Holy Ghost, Mission of
     ^d 1 Ne. 11:22-25; TG Hope
     ^e 1 Pet. 1:22
     ^f TG Diligence; TG Perseverance
     ^g TG Prayer
     ^h TG Saints

27 Behold, my son, I will write unto you again if I go not out soon against the Lamanites. Behold, the ^apride of this nation, or the people of the Nephites, hath proven their destruction except they should repent.
28 Pray for them, my son, that repentance may come unto them. But behold, I fear lest the Spirit hath ^aceased ^bstriving with them; and in this part of the land they are also seeking to put down all power and authority which cometh from God^a; and they are ^cdenying the Holy Ghost.
29 And after rejecting so great a knowledge, my son, they must perish soon, unto the fulfilling of the prophecies which were spoken by the prophets, as well as the words of our Savior himself.

28^a in this part of the land they are also seeking to put down all power and authority which cometh from God While Moroni has been called to the ministry further north in those lands of the Nephites, Mormon sets forth the bottom line cause of the Nephite destruction, and that is that they are in absolute apostasy and rebellion against God, being full of wickedness. They not only reject the Lord and his church on a personal level, but they do actively seek to put it down and destory all power and authority of that which comes from God. This is the state of the people as Mormon for this last time has come forth to be the leader of their military. And we will see in the next letter of Mormon to Moroni that they even neglect to perform according to the commands of Mormon as their military leader. Even in that sector further north in which Moroni has been called to serve, the spirit of contention and apostasy from the true teachings of Christ have entered into the congregation of the church, which remaining congregation would likely be small compared to the vast population of the Nephite people, for they are all dwindling or have already dwindled in unbelief and in to gross wickedness. 27^a D&C 38:39; TG Pride
28^a TG Holy Ghost, Loss of
     ^b Morm. 5:16; Morm. 9:4
     ^c Alma 39:6;
       TG Holy Ghost, Unpardonable Sin against;

30 Farewell, my son, until I shall write unto you, or shall meet you again. Amen.

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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 8 Infant baptism is an evil abomination—Little children are alive in Christ because of the atonement—Faith, repentance, meekness and lowliness of heart, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end lead to salvation. [Between A.D. 400 and 421]		It is estimated that Mormon writes his epistle to Moroni while he was in the land of Desolation and Moroni was working with the church in lands north where the newly displaced 'southern Nephtites' and the 'northern Nephites' were disputing over infant baptism as a hightened concern in salvation prompted the question over the status of little children. *[letter date around 350 A.D.]*
1 AN epistle^a of my ^afather Mormon, written to me, Moroni; and it was written unto me soon after my calling to the ministry. And on this wise did he write unto me, saying: 2 My beloved son, Moroni, I rejoice exceedingly that your Lord Jesus Christ hath been mindful of you, and hath called you to his ministry, and to his holy work. 3 I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite ^agoodness and ^bgrace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end.	1^a An epistle We commonly reference the two epistles from Mormon to Moroni, which Moroni includes in his book entitled Moroni, as the 'first' espistle and the 'second' epistle. In an abridged record which selects and chooses what to include and what not to include, that is it is not by any means all-inclusive, we must understand and appreciate the fact that there were likely a number of letters written between Mormon and Moroni over the years of separation of war and church and not just these two. In fact this '1^st epistle seems to be written in a time of much less stress, likely around 350 A.D. when Mormon was in the war zone of the local land of Desolation preparing to defend and defending the narrow neck and the later 2^nd epistle of chapter 9 seems to be written under the duress and stress of unfavorable warfare likely at the unsuccesful 'Jordan Defense', about 375 AD some 25 years after the 'first' epistle of around 350 A.D. Why Moroni selected only these two may be speculated upon, such as writing on plates being difficult to letters of more personal nature not included and also letters of less significance not included. You do not readily share all your letters with the general public as Moroni does with these to very significant letters, which are quite significant to Moroni's intended readers, we of today. The point is, in an effort to un-condensed the highly condensed record, we must be aware that many events are occuring which never do get reported in the abridged Book of Mormon record which to some readers make the ones that are reported often seem to have occured about the same time rather than 25 years apart as is the case of these two epistles of Mormon. As Mormon stated, it is but a hundreth part of the records of his people.	1^a W of M 1:1 3^a Ex. 34:6 (5-7); Mosiah 4:11 ^b TG Grace
4 And now, my son, I speak unto you concerning that which grieveth me exceedingly; for it grieveth me that there should ^adisputations rise among you. 5 For, if I have learned the truth, there have been disputations among you concerning the baptism of your little children. 6 And now, my son, I desire that ye should labor diligently, that this gross error should be removed from among you; for, for this intent I have written this epistle.		4^a TG Disputations
7 For immediately after I had learned these things of you I inquired of the Lord concerning the matter. And the ^aword of the Lord came to me by the power of the Holy Ghost, saying: 8 ^aListen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God^a. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the ^bwhole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little ^cchildren are ^dwhole, for they are not capable of committing ^esin; wherefore the curse of ^fAdam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them; and the law of ^gcircumcision is done away in me. 9 And after this manner did the Holy Ghost manifest the word of God unto me; wherefore, my beloved son, I know that it is solemn ^amockery before God, that ye should baptize little children.	—8^a Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God Now Mormon just finished speaking of Jesus Christ as the Holy Child of the God the Father, that Father of Spirit to whom we pray (verse 3). Then in what respect does Jesus Christ become our Lord and our God within the scope of God the Father being the father of our spirits? Jesus was anointed and ordained to be the God of this Second Estate. All things pertaining to this estate are ministered in and through him and beside him there is no other God given whereby men may be save and are Redeemed out of this Second Estate. Jesus as Jehovah was given the fulness of the power of the Father, by which power He, Jesus Christ as Jehovah created the heavens and the earth of this Second Temporal Estate. He it is that is its Beginnig, its Alpha and He it is that is it Omega, its End. Within the vast expanse of All Eternity, this subset of temporal existance has be ordained by the Father of Spirits to be administered to by His Firstborn spirit son. Only those spirits who do pertain unto this Second Estate do minister unto it. Thus in and through the Son does the Father work unto the administration of this world. The Father selected him and anointed him to this end. And the Son returns all glory unto the Father.	7^a TG Word of the Lord 8^a D&C 15:1 ^b Mark 2:17 ^c Mark 10:14 (13-16); TG Conceived in Sin ^d Mosiah 3:16; D&C 29:46; D&C 74:7 ^e TG Sin ^f Mosiah 3:26; Morm. 9:12 ^g Gen. 17:11 (10-27); Acts 15:24; TG Circumcision 9^a 2 Ne. 31:13
10 Behold I say unto you that this thing shall ye teach—repentance and baptism unto those who are ^aaccountable and capable of committing sin; yea, teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little ^achildren, and they shall all be saved with their little children. 11 And their little ^achildren need no repentance, neither baptism. Behold, baptism is unto repentance^a to the fulfilling the commandments unto the ^aremission of sins. 12 But little ^achildren are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world; if not so, God is a partial God, and also a changeable God, and a ^brespecter to persons; for how many little children have died without baptism!	11^a baptism is unto repentance Now Paul did teach that 'sin' is not imputed when there is no law (Rom 5:13) and also where there is no law, there is no transgression (Rom 4:15). And Nephi taught that where there is no law there is no punishment and where there is no punishment there is no condemnation (2 Nephi 9:25). Little children are without understanding that is they are without the law (Moroni 8:22) That is, since little children are in a state of ignorance or that is to say innocence without understanding of the law, they cannot repent (Moroni 8:19), for repentance requires an understanding of guilt. Thus baptism to them is not unto repentance and thus baptism avails them nothing. Now such is in accord with the Law of the Old Testament as in the sacrifice of the priest did so represent the atonement of Christ. That is 'the priest [who represents the great high priest Jesus Christ] shall make an atonement for the soul tht sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD, to make an atonement for him; and is shall be forgiven him (Numbers 15:27-29). And that applies to all men includig the children of men of Israel or of strangers, meaning not of Israel. All come under the atonement of Christ in this respect as represented by the ordinance of it. And it especially applies to children.	10^a TG Accountability ^b TG Family, Children, Responsibility toward; TG Family, Love within; 11^a TG Baptism, Qualifications for; TG Children ^b TG Remission of Sins 12^a D&C 29:46; D&C 93:38 ^b Eph. 6:9; D&C 38:16
13 Wherefore, if little children could not be saved without baptism, these must have gone to an endless hell. 14 Behold I say unto you, that he that supposeth that little children need baptism is in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity, for he hath neither ^afaith, hope, nor charity; wherefore, should he be cut off while in the thought, he must go down to hell. 15 For awful is the wickedness to suppose that God saveth one child because of baptism, and the other must perish because he hath no baptism. Neither Faith, Hope, Nor Charity What does it mean that one has not faith, hope, nor charity if they believe in and practice the concept of infant baptism? To fully comprehend, one must have developed a concise definition of what faith, hope, and charity are. And then once one knows and understands what faith, hope, and charity are, then it is more readily to seen what it is to not possess them. And without faith, hope, and charity, one is not able to receive the redemption of Christ and therefore 'they must go down to hell'. First then Faith: Faith is to be in God, that is belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of God, that by him and through him all things are done, both in heaven and on earth. To God all things are possible. If one denies that God has not the power to save little children, then they do mock the power of God, that he is not all powerful and is able to do all things. And when one includes in their tenents of faith that God has not the power to provide salvation unto all men, especially to provide for the salvation of innocent little children, then they are limiting the power of God, they are limiting God who they on the one hand state that he is all powerful. Thus they are in fact denying their own faith in God, that all things are possible unto God. And when you start to limit God, then you no longer have a true faith in God and the power thereof. If you state that God does not have the power to deliver innocent children, then you are stating that his power is not universal to all men, for little children can do nothing of themselves but must rely totally upon that limitless power of God. Would one deny God the power to save little children? What mockery of God's power is this? Second is Hope: Hope swells eternal within the human breast, or so they say. Concisely what hope is, is the dream, expectation and aspiration of obtaining 'Eternal Life' and that through the mercy and grace of the atonement of Jesus Christ. So if Christ is God and all powerful, then through that means of the atonement, all men, even little children, have that prospect of 'Eternal Life' to which they may look to, in and through Jesus Christ. If one denies such hope to little children, which is the beginning of all men in this life, then what hope is there? If little children do not have a hope in Jesus Christ unto eternal life, then none do. For if Christ's power is so limited that it cannot save a little child, which Christ teaches is the very nature of heaven to be as a little child; then who does have hope? And in this hope is lost unto all men. Third Charity: Charity is the pure Love of Christ. It is the love of God and of one's fellow man and the basis of the two great commandments. Does one in truth have charity toward one's fellow man when they so deny the love of God to be able to be received by little children? What callused hardened heart would deny God's Love to children? If one would so deny God's Love to a child, then they are of the heart and spirit that would deny God's Love to men, denying them the power of repentance, of being forgiven and of receiving of God's fulness. If one starts to be so selective as stating that God's unconditional love does not apply to the salvation of little children, just where does that type of heartless selectivity end? This is the 'I am saved and you are not', syndrome which is of an unfeeling and an unloving nature. And without such a nature, regardless of all else, man cannot be saved without charity. If one truely believes and has total faith in Christ, in God's powers, and has that great hope of eternal life through the atoning powers of Christ, then within that charity of love and God and man, all mankind falls within the powers and scope of God's power of the atonement, not only as it applies to little children, but especially as it applies to little children. For thus is the Kingdom of God, as a little child.		14^a 1 Cor. 13:13 (1-13); Ether 15:3 (3-37); Moro. 7:1; Moro. 10:20-23
16 Wo be unto them that shall pervert the ways of the Lord after this manner, for they shall perish except they repent. Behold, I speak with boldness, having ^aauthority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for ^bperfect ^clove ^dcasteth out all fear. 17 And I am filled with ^acharity, which is everlasting love; wherefore, all children are alike unto me; wherefore, I love little children with a perfect love; and they are all alike and ^bpartakers of salvation. 18 For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is ^aunchangeable from ^ball eternity to all eternity.		16^a TG Authority ^b TG Perfection ^c TG Love ^d 1 John 4:18 17^a TG Charity ^b Mosiah 3:16-19 18^a Alma 7:20; Morm. 9:9; TG God, Perfection of ^b Moro. 7:22
19 Little ^achildren cannot repent; wherefore, it is awful wickedness to deny the pure mercies of God unto them, for they are all alive in him because of his ^bmercy. 20 And he that saith that little children need baptism denieth the mercies of Christ, and setteth at naught the ^aatonement of him and the power of his redemption. 21 Wo unto such, for they are in danger of death, ^ahell, and an ^bendless torment. I speak it boldly; God hath commanded me^a. Listen unto them and give heed, or they stand against you at the ^cjudgment-seat of Christ.	21^a God hath commanded me So serious is it that we understand that God's salvation is universal unto everyone, that it is a sin unto death, hell and endless torment to teach otherwise. And God himself commanded Mormon to so preach this strongly against it, especially in the consideration of little children. None are lost except in and of themselves, all will be resurrected and brought to stand before God.	19^a Luke 18:16 (15-17) ^b TG God, Mercy of 20^a TG Jesus Christ, Atonement through; TG Salvation, Plan of; 21^a TG Hell ^b Jacob 6:10; Mosiah 28:3; D&C 19:12 (10-12) ^c TG Jesus Christ, Judge
22 For behold that all little children are ^aalive in Christ, and also all they that are without the ^blaw. For the power of ^credemption cometh on all them that have ^dno law; wherefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is under no condemnation, cannot repent; and unto such baptism availeth nothing— 23 But it is mockery before God, denying the mercies of Christ, and the power of his Holy Spirit, and putting trust in ^adead works. 24 Behold, my son, this thing ought not to be; for ^arepentance is unto them that are under condemnation and under the curse of a broken law.		22^a TG Salvation of Little Children ^b Acts 17:30 ^c TG Redemption; ^d TG Accountability 23^a D&C 22:2 24^a TG Repentance;
25 And the first fruits of ^arepentance is ^bbaptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth ^cremission of sins; 26 And the remission of sins bringeth ^ameekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the ^bHoly Ghost, which ^cComforter ^dfilleth with hope and perfect ^elove, which love endureth by ^fdiligence unto ^gprayer, until the end shall come, when all the ^hsaints shall dwell with God.		25^a TG Baptism, Qualifications for ^b Moses 6:60 ^c D&C 76:52; TG Remission of Sins 26^a TG Meekness ^b TG Holy Ghost, Baptism of ^c TG Holy Ghost, Comforter; TG Holy Ghost, Mission of ^d 1 Ne. 11:22-25; TG Hope ^e 1 Pet. 1:22 ^f TG Diligence; TG Perseverance ^g TG Prayer ^h TG Saints
27 Behold, my son, I will write unto you again if I go not out soon against the Lamanites. Behold, the ^apride of this nation, or the people of the Nephites, hath proven their destruction except they should repent. 28 Pray for them, my son, that repentance may come unto them. But behold, I fear lest the Spirit hath ^aceased ^bstriving with them; and in this part of the land they are also seeking to put down all power and authority which cometh from God^a; and they are ^cdenying the Holy Ghost. 29 And after rejecting so great a knowledge, my son, they must perish soon, unto the fulfilling of the prophecies which were spoken by the prophets, as well as the words of our Savior himself.	28^a in this part of the land they are also seeking to put down all power and authority which cometh from God While Moroni has been called to the ministry further north in those lands of the Nephites, Mormon sets forth the bottom line cause of the Nephite destruction, and that is that they are in absolute apostasy and rebellion against God, being full of wickedness. They not only reject the Lord and his church on a personal level, but they do actively seek to put it down and destory all power and authority of that which comes from God. This is the state of the people as Mormon for this last time has come forth to be the leader of their military. And we will see in the next letter of Mormon to Moroni that they even neglect to perform according to the commands of Mormon as their military leader. Even in that sector further north in which Moroni has been called to serve, the spirit of contention and apostasy from the true teachings of Christ have entered into the congregation of the church, which remaining congregation would likely be small compared to the vast population of the Nephite people, for they are all dwindling or have already dwindled in unbelief and in to gross wickedness.	27^a D&C 38:39; TG Pride 28^a TG Holy Ghost, Loss of ^b Morm. 5:16; Morm. 9:4 ^c Alma 39:6; TG Holy Ghost, Unpardonable Sin against;
30 Farewell, my son, until I shall write unto you, or shall meet you again. Amen.