How does Mormon now state his purpose in writing his own book and also the entire Book of Mormon? How does this statement of purpose compare with Moroni’s statement of purpose in the Title Page of the Book of Mormon? Or with Nephi’s statement of purpose in 1 Nephi 1:20?
Mormon’s role as an idle- or survivor-witness affects his statement of purpose. He had tried to get his people to repent, but now they had uprooted and moved, had been attacked and won, but then were attacked again and lost, and became proud and unruly. In Mormon 3:17–22, after washing his hands of further responsibility and pronouncing himself an idle witness, he spoke like a survivor-witness as he stated the only remaining purposes that he hoped to accomplish as this witness. What were Mormon’s purposes now in writing especially this last part of his personal book?
In Mormon 3:17, he first hoped to reach a distant, future audience:
In addition, the fact that Mormon truly loved his people, as he said in Mormon 3:12, is evident in this statement of purpose. In Mormon 3:20–21, he secondarily—and perhaps less hopefully—listed three immediate purposes for his account as a witness:
This statement of purpose is rather different from what Moroni expresses in the Title Page, the one that people usually refer to. Why may Mormon have wanted his main purpose to be to ensure that people know that they would stand to be judged? Was he discharging his obligation to let people know that this will happen? Was it because he cared about the people and his stewardship?
In Mormon 3:22, he forewarned all to repent and prepare for the time of judgment. Repentance is what the Lord had commanded him to preach (Mormon 3:2). It is apparent that Mormon had this message of the urgency to repent in his mind the whole time he was editing, abridging, and producing the Book of Mormon.
The fact that all will stand to be judged is really the only thing Mormon had left to say to his own people at this time. Because they had been wicked and had not listened, he turned them over to the accountability of God. The status of being an idle witness left nothing more to do than to bear testimony and remind people that they are accountable. This purpose is not identical to, but is consistent with, the purpose that Moroni expressed in the Title Page. It is a reflection of Mormon’s despair after hearing, as he wrote in verse 15, that this was their last warning. He knew that they had received their last chance.
Mormon had been described as a sober young man. Here he did not get angry, but he calmly and coolly stepped to the sidelines and stood as an idle witness. That is a sober person. These attributes are also characteristic of the way Mormon handled the accounts of the destructions in 3 Nephi 8, and other conflicts in the record with the Gadianton robbers. He presents a very factual, purposeful, sober history. He was decidedly suited for the task of abridging the history of his people into our Book of Mormon.