Moroni — Chapter 8
1 This is a letter my father wrote to me, Moroni, just after the Lord called me to his work.
2 My dear son Moroni, I am so happy that our Lord Jesus Christ has called you to help with his work.
3 I think of you and pray for you all the time, and pray to God the Father in Christ’s name that he in his goodness and grace will bless and keep you all your life, through faith in Christ.
4 My son, I need to talk to you about something that makes me very sad. It makes me sad that some among you are arguing about what should be done.
5 If I have been told the truth, I have heard that there are arguments about little children being baptized.
6 My son, I want you to work hard to fix this terrible mistake among your people. This is why I have written this letter.
7 Right after I heard this, I asked the Lord about it, and this is what he told me by the power of the Holy Ghost:
8 “Listen to the words of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I came into the world to save sinners. Well people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. Little children cannot sin, so I have saved them from the Fall of Adam and Eve. They do not need to worry about the Law of Moses anymore because of me.”
9 This is what the Holy Ghost told me, dear son, so I know it is wrong in God’s eyes for people to baptize little children.
10 You should teach people who are old enough to understand that they should repent and be baptized. Teach parents that they must repent and be baptized and become like their little children. If they do, they will be saved with their little children.
11 Little children do not need to repent, and they do not need to be baptized. Baptism is for people who repent, whose sins will be taken away by keeping this commandment.
12 Little children are alive in Christ, as was planned even before the world was made. If this were not so, God would not be fair, and he would be a God who changes. Think of how many little children have died without being baptized!
13 If little children needed to be baptized to be saved, many of them would be in hell right now.
14 Those who think little children need to be baptized are very wicked, and have no faith, nor hope, nor charity; and if they died while thinking such thoughts, they would go to hell themselves.
15 It is terribly wicked to think God would save one child just because it had been baptized, but would send another to hell just because it had not been baptized.
16 Woe to those who change what the Lord has taught! They will be destroyed if they do not repent. I say this without fear, because God has given me power to do so, and I am not afraid of what people can do. Love chases fear away.
17 I am filled with charity, which is endless love, so all children are the same to me, and I love them with a perfect love. They will all be saved.
18 I know God loves all his children. God does not change. He is the same forever.
19 Little children cannot repent, so it is very wicked to say that God will not have mercy on them and save them.
20 Whoever says that little children need baptism is saying that Christ does not have mercy, and that his sacrifice does not mean anything.
21 Woe to them, because they may go to hell. God has told me to say this plainly. Listen to what I say, because Christ will judge you by what I have said.
22 All little children are alive in Christ, and so are all people who die without knowing the commandments. People who do not know God’s commandments cannot repent, and they will not be judged by what they do not know. Baptism is not for them, but it is for people who know God’s commandments and can repent.
23 It is a wicked thing to baptize people who cannot repent, because it denies God’s mercy and the power of the Holy Ghost, and puts trust in dead works.
24 My son, this should not be. Repentance is for people who know the commandments and have broken them.
25 The first thing people should do after they repent is be baptized. Baptism shows faith in God’s commandments and takes away people’s sins.
26 When people’s sins are taken away, they become humble and meek, and the Holy Ghost fills them with hope and perfect love. This love will stay with them if they work hard to pray and keep the commandments all their lives. Then they (the saints) will live with God.
27 My son, I will write to you again if I do not have to fight the Lamanites soon. Our people, the Nephites, will be destroyed because of their pride, if they do not repent.
28 My son, pray that they will repent. I am afraid the Spirit has left them. They are fighting against the Holy Ghost and will not listen to anyone with power from God in this part of the land.
29 If they will not believe in God anymore after knowing all about him, they will be destroyed soon, just as the prophets and our Savior said.
30 Goodbye, my son, until I write to you again, or until I see you again. Amen.
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