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#23

Book of Mormon Epistles

Sun, Sep 10, 2006 at 6:07 am Posted in Book of Mormon Study, Trivia

How many epistles are in the Book of Mormon?

Who wrote them?

Answers are below. Feel free to write comments about how well you were able to do on these questions.

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There are eight epistles in the Book of Mormon.

They were written by:

Captain Moroni (2) / Alma 54:5-14 and Alma 60:1-36

Ammoron (brother of Amalickiah) / Alma 54:16-24

Helaman / Alma 56:2-Alma 58:41

Pahoran / Alma 61:2-21

Giddianhi / 3 Nephi 3:2-10

Mormon (2) / Moroni 8:2-30 and Moroni 9:1-26

Note: I want to thank Jeff Lindsay for publishing this information on his website — in an article by Richard Dilworth Rust and Donald W. Parry. I thought of the question and then, being lazy, googled to see if I would find the answer. I found the answer very quickly on this page.

2 Responses to “Book of Mormon Epistles”

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  1. 1Justin on Sep 12, 2006 at 5:57 pm:

    Sidney Sperry thought there were nine epistles in the Book of Mormon: the eight listed above plus Ether 5. He classified six as war epistles, Moroni 8 and 9 as pastoral epistles (comparing them to 1 Tim., 2 Tim., and Titus), and Ether 5 as a prophetic epistle. Of the last type, he wrote:

    There may be those who object to calling this chapter an epistle, but it truly is a letter, since it contains Moroni’s instructions to the future translator of the Book of Mormon. We call it a prophetic epistle because it was penned about fourteen hundred years before the advent of Joseph Smith, the prophet for whom it was intended. The great period of time which elapsed between the penning and the reception of the letter makes it one of the most unusual epistles in existence. Imagine receiving a letter directed to oneself fourteen hundred years after it was written!

    (”Types of Literature in the Book of Mormon: Epistles, Psalms, Lamentations,” JBMS 4/1 (1995)).

  2. 2Daniel B. on Sep 13, 2006 at 3:51 pm:

    As usual Justin, your comment brings a lot of welcome information and insight. Thanks! The idea of Ether 5 as a prophetic epistle really appeals to me. Or perhaps I should simply say, that view makes sense.