“Mormon has a providential philosophy of history that greatly influences his selection and interpretation of individuals, events, and society. In composing his monumental summary of Nephite history, Mormon has left, as it were, ‘DNA fingerprints’ that portray his own attitude toward life, toward the consequences of men’s faith or disobedience, toward God’s blessings or punishment, toward prophecy and its fulfillment, and toward the recurrence of debilitating and destructive social forces. As a prophet, he places his focus more on matters of righteousness than on material manifestations of achievement” (Mackay, “Mormon’s Philosophy of History,” 129).