{"id":91270,"date":"2021-05-21T13:12:40","date_gmt":"2021-05-21T19:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=91270"},"modified":"2021-05-24T21:52:36","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T03:52:36","slug":"beloved-by-all-the-people-a-fresh-look-at-captain-moroni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2021\/05\/beloved-by-all-the-people-a-fresh-look-at-captain-moroni.html","title":{"rendered":"“\u201cBeloved by All the People\u201d: A Fresh Look at Captain Moroni”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Captain<\/a>
Arnold Friberg\u2019s painting is wrong in a number of respects, but probably right in an essential way: It captures the spirit of the man.
(LDS.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, first, here\u2019s a link to my latest article in Meridian Magazine<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sacred History of the Church in Hawaii\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And now, on to today\u2019s newly posted article in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>, written by Duane Boyce<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201cBeloved by All the People\u201d: A Fresh Look at Captain Moroni\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Abstract:\u00a0<\/strong>In his well-known volume about the Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon, Grant Hardy focuses primarily on the book\u2019s main narrators. However, he also makes a\u00a0number of observations about other figures in the book that are of particular interest, including some about Captain Moroni. In addition to those I\u00a0address elsewhere, these observations range from the assertion that Captain Moroni slaughtered his political opponents in one instance, to his claim that Moroni is not depicted as \u201cparticularly religious,\u201d to his claim that Moroni had a\u00a0\u201cquick temper.\u201d The question is: Are such observations supported in the text? Carefully examining this question both shows the answer to be \u201cno\u201d and allows a\u00a0deeper look into Captain Moroni.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I confess that, while Captain Moroni has never seemed to me not \u201cparticularly religious,\u201d I have long thought, myself, that he had a quick temper.\u00a0 In fact, I\u2019ve seen it as evidence of his historical reality; he seems to me a real, three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood, complex human character, not a paper cut-out figure.\u00a0 I\u2019ve used this as a minor argument in favor of the historical authenticity of the Book of Mormon \u2014 a hint, at least, if not really a solid argument.\u00a0 And making that point once got me into trouble:\u00a0 Many years ago, after I had taught a Gospel Doctrine lesson in a California ward about the chapters in Alma in which Moroni figures prominently, the bishop called me aside.\u00a0 A couple of older sisters had come to him with the complaint that, by pointing out a possible human flaw in one of the Book of Mormon\u2019s great heroes, I was preaching \u201csecular humanism.\u201d\u00a0 Fortunately, the bishop wasn\u2019t concerned in even the slightest degree.\u00a0 He chuckled, told me not to worry, and said that he had allayed their concerns.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve long thought of Captain Moroni as an archetypal exemplar, curiously, of the \u201cauxiliary\u201d or warrior in Plato\u2019s Republic<\/em>, who is described by Plato as \u201cspirited\u201d (as well as an honorable lover of duty).\u00a0 Moroni\u2019s \u201cspiritedness\u201d makes him an excellent fighter for his country and his people, but perhaps less than ideal as a philosopher-king.\u00a0 It is this \u201cspiritedness\u201d that gets him into trouble in his negotiations with Ammoron in Alma 54<\/a>. and Alma 55<\/a>\u00a0and in his correspondence with Pahoran in Alma 59<\/a>, Alma 60<\/a>, and Alma 61<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, I\u2019m willing to be persuaded otherwise.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Incidentally, I\u2019m plainly on record (often, and as recently as last week<\/a>) as an admirer of Grant Hardy\u2019s Understanding the Book of Mormon<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from Richmond, VIrginia<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 *** \u00a0 But, first, here\u2019s a link to my latest article in Meridian Magazine: \u00a0 \u201cThe Sacred History of the Church in Hawaii\u201d \u00a0 *** \u00a0 And now, on to today\u2019s newly posted article in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, written by Duane Boyce: \u00a0 \u201c\u201cBeloved by All the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7281,17191,56,10562,23188,1809,4657,4654,482,18601,22943,18776,18746,18749,9824,18631,2905,1812,1815,18752,788,55,1667,1221,23191,18731],"class_list":["post-91270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alma","tag-ammoron","tag-book-of-mormon","tag-cannon","tag-captain-moroni","tag-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints","tag-george-cannon","tag-george-q-cannon","tag-hawaii","tag-hawaiian","tag-hawaiian-islands","tag-hawaiian-mission","tag-hugh-cannon","tag-hugh-j-cannon","tag-joseph-f-smith","tag-lahaina","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-latter-day-saints","tag-lds","tag-maui","tag-mormon","tag-mormonism","tag-mormons","tag-moroni","tag-pahoran","tag-pulehu"],"yoast_head":"\n"\u201cBeloved by All the People\u201d: A Fresh 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