Moroni asks the nonbelievers whether they will believe in the Messiah when he returns as the Triumphant Messiah. Will they deny the Lamb of God when they stand in his very presence? It is a largely rhetorical question, since the answer is so obviously, “No.” But underlying Moroni’s question is his implicit challenge: The Messiah has already come, and the Book of Mormon is evidence of it. Certainly Moroni understands that the Messiah’s visitation to the New World is not the same as the second coming, but he also understands history as cyclical. What has happened predicts what will happen. Even though nonbelievers will confess belief when the Messiah comes in the future, they need not wait for that event. Since he has come before, he will come again. He develops his discourse to future unbelievers based on this pattern.