Mormon's Revelation regarding Baptism of Little Children
Published October 12, 2026 at 6:33 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
The text references a historical account from the Book of Mormon where the prophet Mormon, having heard of contentions among the Nephites concerning the baptism of little children, inquired of the Lord regarding the matter. The Lord provided a revelation to Mormon clarifying that children are whole and do not need baptism, which Mormon subsequently wrote to his son Moroni.
In a 2017 manual, the Church also correlates Mormon's teaching with a historical account shared by President Boyd K. Packer concerning two missionaries in the southern United States who comforted grieving parents after the death of their young child. While an itinerant minister had bluntly told the parents their child was condemned for lack of baptism, the missionaries testified that children are redeemed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and need no repentance or baptism, reinforcing the doctrine found in Moroni 8.
In Their Own Words
“An epistle of my father Mormon, written to me, Moroni; and it was written unto me soon after my calling to the ministry. And on this wise did he write unto me, saying: My beloved son, Moroni, I rejoice exceedingly that your Lord Jesus Christ hath been mindful of you, and hath called you to his ministry, and to his holy work... I inquired of the Lord concerning the matter. And the word of the Lord came to me by the power of the Holy Ghost, saying: Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance: the whole need not a physician, but they that are sick; wherefore little children are whole... — Mormon, Book of Moroni, Chapter 8”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 7 October 1897 (Vol. 59, No. 40). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1897-10-07_59_40 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: Book of Mormon (1830)/Moroni/Chapter 8 - Wikisource https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Book_of_Mormon_(1830)/Moroni/Chapter_8 Additional sources (periodical research): Book of Mormon Seminary Teacher Manual (2017), Lesson 157: Moroni 8. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/book-of-mormon-seminary-teacher-manual-2017/introduction-to-the-book-of-moroni/lesson-157-moroni-8?lang=eng
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