Up until this point in the Book of Mormon, Mormon has been largely in the shadows, but now it is time for him to tell his own story. The more we can know about Mormon’s life and times, his callings and motivations, the more we can appreciate why he included the things he did in this work of scripture and history.
In Mormon 2:2, we learn that he was sixteen years old in AD 326, putting his birth at AD 311. From that we can deduce that he lived to be 74 years old, since the final battle, from which he died, was in AD 385.
In 4 Nephi, the setting had deteriorated from one of faith and light into a century of slow decline that began around AD 200. Enormous cultural change occurred over the course of only a few generations. This inexorable decline continued downhill, one rung at a time. In Mormon’s mind, those changes appeared linked, as things had worsened step by step over that period. Approximately 30 downward-spiraling steps can be extracted from the relatively few verses in 4 Nephi.
Mormon knew this history, and it influenced his choices as he selected which records to transcribe or to abridge onto his plates. For example, he personally knew of, and made special mention in Mormon 1:19 of the fulfillment of, “all the words of Abinadi, and also Samuel the Lamanite.” This explains why Mormon included six chapters in the middle of the book of Mosiah about Abinadi’s prophecies and his fate, and also four chapters at the end of the book of Helaman about Samuel’s prophetic warnings and their aftermaths. It also explains why he covered in so many places throughout the Book of Mormon of the fulfillment of inspired forecasts about the coming of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, Redeemer, and Son of God.
Mormon remained stalwart in the midst of unthinkable hardships and tragic disappointments, one after another. He introduced himself, first and foremost, as “a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (3 Nephi 5:13), and, accordingly, throughout his composition of his abridgment, Mormon features Jesus Christ as the focus of Nephite doctrine, worship, religion, and civic and social order. Personally, Mormon wrote the ten chapters found in Mormon 1–7 and Moroni 7–9. In those chapters Mormon included the name of “Jesus” 19 times (at least once in every chapter except Mormon 4) and the title “Christ” a total of 52 times (with the highest density appearing 38 times Moroni 7 alone). Obviously, Mormon was much more than just a nominal Christian.
Having an overall chronology of Mormon’s life is helpful in guiding readers through these ten chapters that move quickly through his 75 years of life from AD 311 to AD 385. In the chronology below, the bold dates and ages are actually stated in Mormon’s text; the other dates and ages are derived or estimated and thus are only suggested and are not to be taken as absolutes.
Year | Event |
|---|---|
311 | Mormon is born |
321 | Ammaron commissions Mormon to retrieve sacred records when 24 years old (1:2–4) |
322 | Mormon, at age 11, goes with his father to the land southward and Zarahemla (1:6) |
322 | War breaks out between Nephites and Lamanites (1:8) |
323–326 | Four years of peace (1:12) |
326 | Mormon, age 15, is visited by the Lord and knows the goodness of Jesus (1:15) |
327 | Mormon, age 16, is appointed to lead the army (2:2) |
328 | Lamanites attack (2:3) |
330 | Mormon defeats Aaron (2:9) |
331? | Mormon marries at age 20? |
331 | Outbreak of hostilities |
333? | Moroni is born? |
335 | Mormon remembers Ammaron telling him to go to Antum at age 24 (1:3) |
335 | Mormon goes and obtains the records |
344 | People curse God and wish to die; day of grace was passed (2:14–15) |
345 | Nephites flee to Jashon, where the records were (2:16–17) |
345 | Mormon finishes the large plates of Nephi by adding information up to his time (2:18) |
345 | Nephites fortify city of Shem (2:21) |
346 | Lamanites attack Shem (2:22) |
348–349 | Mormon describes the feelings and conditions of this time (2:19–27) |
349 | Mormon, age 38, has not yet made a complete record on the Plates of Mormon (2:18) |
350 | Nephites and Lamanites enter into ten-year peace treaty (2:28) |
350–360 | Ten years of peace; Mormon and Moroni work on the Plates of Mormon (2:28) |
359? | Mormon preaches repentance and baptism (3:2); was Moroni 7 spoken about then? |
360 | The king of the Lamanites sends a letter that they will attack (3:4) |
360 | Nephites move to Desolation, by “the narrow pass into land southward” (3:5, 8) |
361 | Lamanites attack and are defeated (3:7) |
362 | Lamanites attack again and are defeated, dead thrown into the sea, Nephite boasting (3:8) |
362 | Mormon, age 51, refuses to lead the Nephite army any longer (3:11, 16) |
362? | Moroni, age 29, called to the ministry (Moroni 8:1), given copy of Moroni 7? |
362 | Conditions are described in Mormon 3:11–15 |
362? | Mormon writes to Moroni (Moroni 8?); this letter’s conditions match Mormon 3:3–15 |
363 | Nephites go on the offensive (4:1) |
364 | Lamanites attack Teancum and are driven back (4:7–8) |
366 | Blood on both sides, Teancum taken, idols, women and children sacrifice (4:10–13) |
367 | Nephites attack back in great anger, drive Lamanites out (4:15) |
367? | Mormon writes Moroni 9 to Moroni; its words and conditions match Mormon 4 |
368–374 | Hiatus in warfare, little information given, Mormon may have worked further on the records |
375 | Lamanites attack, great slaughter, women and children sacrificed (4:17–22) |
378? | Mormon (age 67) repents of his oath and was given again command of the army (5:1) |
379 | Lamanites attack the city of Jordan and other strongholds and were driven back; Nephites who would not gather in were destroyed (5:3, 5) |
380 | Lamanites attack again in great numbers, and the Nephites are defeated; only the swift could outrun the Lamanites (5:6, 7) |
384 | Mormon writes to the Lamanite king to set a final battle at Cumorah (6:2) |
385 | Mormon, age 74, dies (killed in last battle) |
For two other largely compatible chronological overviews of Mormon’s life, see Alan C. Miner, “A Chronological Setting for the Epistles of Mormon to Moroni,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 3, no 2. (1994): 94–113; Joseph M. Spencer, “On the Dating of Moroni 8–9,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 22 (2016): 131–148.