Sermons in the Book of Mormon

[consiglieri]

The Book of Mormon contains upwards of ten sermons, given by different persons at different times.

Although obviously a subjective judgment, my study of the Book of Mormon reveals to me that each and every one of its sermons is a masterpiece; complex, beautiful and profound.

I have from time to time entertained the idea of writing an analysis of the various Book of Mormon sermons, because the field is so fertile and to my mind, no such work has appeared doing the sermons justice. But then, how many new things have I seen in the Book of Mormon sermons just this year? Had I written such an analysis when I first thought of the idea over ten-years ago, the analysis would not do justice to my current understanding of the Book of Mormon sermons. And I fully expect that, should I write such an analysis today, it would do as little justice to my understanding of the sermons in ten more years!

After 30-years of studying the Book of Mormon, I continue to learn new things and see new connections that only serve to reinforce my perception of the superlative nature of its sermons and the profound depths being plumbed.

Although it is possible to appreciate the beauty of the sermons in the Book of Mormon without believing them to be "true," I confess to being astonished at the idea that Joseph Smith (or whoever!) would come up with sermon after sermon after sermon, contained within the context of a tightly-woven historical narrative of over 500-pages and spanning 1,000 years; and yet have each and every sermon be a highly polished masterpiece that consistently knocks the ball out of the park.

All the Best!

--Consiglieri

[LeSellers]

The Book of Mormon contains upwards of ten sermons, given by different persons at different times.

Let's see if I can come up with (at least) most of them (without actually looking):

1. Lehi to his family in re: his original vision (of the destruction of Jerusalem)
   
2. his second vision (of the tree of Life)
   
3. his blessings to his, Zoram's and Ishmael's families just prior to his death.
   
4. Nephi to his brothers about his own vision of the Tree of Life
   
5. his sermon using Isaiah in 1 Nephi
   
6. his sermons using Isaiah in 2 Nephi.
   
7. Jacob's 2 Nephi Feast of the Tabernacles sermon
   
8. his Jacob Feast of the Tabernacles sermon (including his call to repentance on greed and unsanctioned plurality of wives) (does this include the Olive tree?)
   
9. Benjamin's for the Feast of the Tabernacles
   
10. Alma I at the Waters of Mormon
    
11. Alma II to the Zoramites
    
12. His to the poor, outcast Zoramites
    
13. Another of his I can't place clearly
    
14. Christ's first-day sermon (I cannot read 3 Nephi 17:24 without tearing up)
    
15. His second-day sermon
    
16. His third-day sermon
    
17. Mormon's letter to his son in Mormon
    
18. Mormon's letter to Moroni in Moroni 7
    
19. In Moroni 8
    
20. Moroni's final words in 10.
    

Although obviously a subjective judgment, my study of the Book of Mormon reveals to me that each and every one of its sermons is a masterpiece; complex, beautiful and profound.

My observation, also.

Lehi

[Rommelator]

Although it is possible to appreciate the beauty of the sermons in the Book of Mormon without believing them to be "true," I confess to being astonished at the idea that Joseph Smith (or whoever!) would come up with sermon after sermon after sermon, contained within the context of a tightly-woven historical narrative of over 500-pages and spanning 1,000 years; and yet have each and every sermon be a highly polished masterpiece that consistently knocks the ball out of the park.

All I have to say is that whoever wrote King Benjamin's speech is a master rhetor. And that's just the English text. Once we get into the fact that (as John Welch pointed out) Benjamin constructed his speech chiastically I think that not only does the speech knock the ball out of the ball park but launches it to the moon.