Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)

This article is about the prophet 'Moroni from the Book of Mormon. For other uses, see Moroni

Moroni (), according to the Book of Mormon, was the last Nephite prophet, historian, and military commander who lived in North America in the late fourth and early fifth centuries. He is identified as the same angel who presented the golden plates to Joseph Smith, Jr., who claimed to translate the plates upon which the Book of Mormon was originally written.

Mortal life

According to the Book of Mormon, Moroni was the son of Mormon, the prophet for whom the Book of Mormon is ostensibly named. Moroni is often easily confused with Captain Moroni, a much earlier Book of Mormon figure that Mormon greatly admired.

The Book of Mormon tells that Moroni served under his father, the commander in chief of 23 groups of about ten thousand Nephites each, who battled against the Lamanites. Upon the Nephites' defeat, Moroni was forced to go into hiding and to wander from place to place to avoid being killed by the victorious Lamanites. (See Cumorah for more information on this battle.) Moroni was the last known survivor of the Nephite nation.

Moroni had been commanded by his father to complete the Nephite record, which Mormon had abridged from previous records. Moroni is the ascribed author of chapters 8 and 9 of the Book of Mormon (Mormon's record within the larger Book of Mormon), the entire Book of Moroni, and the of the...
Read More