Reading Disciple Consistently As New-world Apostle in the Book of Mormon

Abstract: In the Book of Mormon, the term disciple occurs fifty-five times. Of those, forty-eight are unambiguous references to the Twelve called by the risen Christ to preside over his new-world Church. The remaining six instances could plausibly be read either as references to more generic followers of Jesus or as references to the Nephite Twelve. If they are read as references to the Nephite Twelve, subtle themes emerge, generating insights into Mormon’s life, the apostasy in 4 Nephi, Mormon’s letters to his son, and the translation process of the Book of Mormon.

If one reads the Book of Mormon in translation order,¹ Mormon first introduces himself to the readers in 3 Nephi:

And behold, I am called Mormon . . . Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life. (3 Nephi 5:12–13)

Mormon’s pulling back of the editorial curtain seems to come rather suddenly and with little foreshadowing. In his self-introduction, Mormon declares, “I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.” At a surface reading, Mormon appears to be self-identifying as one who follows the teachings of Jesus Christ. However, as we continue to read the [Page 386]Book of Mormon, it becomes clear that the term disciple has a much narrower use in Mormon’s narrative. It next occurs in 3 Nephi 15:12, [Page 386]when Jesus is addressing the twelve men he has set apart to lead his Church in the New World. From then on, in every other instance in 3 Nephi (twenty-nine more occurrences) the term unambiguously refers to this group of twelve men whom, for my purposes, I will label new-world apostles.²

Disciples Versus Apostles

The Book of Mormon writers, as a whole, are aware of the term apostle, but it appears only sixteen times. Thirteen of the occurrences are in 1 Nephi 11–14 as references to the old-world apostles.³ They are deliberately differentiated from the Nephite Twelve in 1 Nephi 12:8-10. This is when the angel tells Nephi that the Twelve Disciples “chosen to minister unto thy seed” will themselves be judged by the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb in the Old World. This is a point reiterated hundreds of years later by Mormon (Mormon 3:19). The remaining occurrences of apostle are Mormon 9:18, where Moroni states that apostles perform miracles; Ether 12:41, where Moroni says that prophets and apostles have written of Jesus; and Moroni 2:2, which records some of Christ’s instructions to the Nephite Twelve that end with “for thus do mine apostles.” These twelve Nephite men are never formally labeled apostles in the Book of Mormon, but they are clearly called as the leaders of the new-world Church and in Moroni 2:2 their office is analogous to that of apostle. While some commentators read the Nephite Twelve as identical in apostolic office to the old-world Twelve,⁴ the Book of Mormon takes deliberate steps to both differentiate the Nephite Twelve from the old-world Twelve and to subordinate the former to the latter. The preferred term for these new-world apostles in the Book of Mormon is disciple. It appears to be the designated title for members of that quorum of twelve new-world apostles.

[Page 387]Table 1 details every instance of the term disciple in the Book of Mormon, with the reference, quotation (disciple(s) in bold), and my designation of whom the term is referring to—new-world apostles, old-world apostles, the Three Nephites (who were new-world apostles), and (perhaps) ambiguous references.

Table 1. Disciple in the Book of Mormon.

As shown in table 1, the term disciple is used most of the time to reference the new-world apostles. But there are a few instances where the term could plausibly be read as either a reference to new-world apostles or the more generic definition of a follower of Jesus. The ambiguous references from table 1 and the reasoning as to why they are ambiguous are as follows:

• 2 Nephi 18:16. The passage is a word-for-word quotation of Isaiah 8:16.
• Alma 45:14. Are only the members of the new-world [Page 392]Quorum of Apostles remaining in the Church? Or is this a reference to all Christians in the Lehite society?
• 3 Nephi 5:13. Is Mormon self-identifying as a follower of Jesus, or as a new-world apostle?
• 4 Nephi 1:13. The word among implies that the miracles only occur within the circle of the Twelve, which is contradicted by 4 Nephi 1:5.
• 4 Nephi 1:44. This could be read to mean the followers of Jesus in general, not just the new-world apostles.
• 4 Nephi 1:46. This could be read to mean the followers of Jesus in general, not just the new-world apostles.
• Ether 4:10. This could be read to mean the followers of Jesus in general, not just the new-world apostles.

In short, of the fifty-five times the term disciple is used in the entire Book of Mormon, only six of them could responsibly be read as referring to any generic follower of Jesus. (I am excluding 2 Nephi 8:16 in this count because of its borrowed language from Isaiah.) The remaining uses are all explicit references to the new-world apostles. Thus, 87 percent of the uses of the term disciple in the Book of Mormon are explicit references to either new-world apostles or old-world apostles (the latter only occurs in one instance: Mormon 3:18). There are two that are references to the three new-world apostles who are granted immortality by Christ. Both of those are the only instances in the Book of Mormon of the term beloved disciples (Mormon 1:13, 16). This is an intriguing parallel to the old-world Apostle, John the Beloved, who was similarly granted immortality by the risen Christ (John 21:20–23).

Given that most of the uses of the term disciple are to designate new-world apostles, and given that the remaining instances are ambiguous, these ambiguous references could also be references to the new-world apostles. (An exception to this would be 2 Nephi 18:16 where the term originates from the King James Bible.)

Insights from Reading Disciples as Apostles

What if one read the ambiguous uses of the term the same way the others are used—as references to new-world apostles? If all instances of the term disciple were read in this way, what might be gained from such a reading of the entire Book of Mormon? In doing so, a few consistent insights emerge from the text. For convenience and [Page 393]where appropriate, I will repeat the full text of the relevant passages at the beginning of each of the following sections.

Mormon as a new-world Apostle

Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life. (3 Nephi 5:13)

If we read all of the occasions of disciple as references to new-world apostles, we have a strong indication that Mormon is not self-identifying as a mere follower of Jesus Christ but is also declaring himself a new-world Apostle.⁷ There is no indication of his ordination as such in the record, though we do know that other disciples were ordained to replace those who passed on (4 Nephi 1:14). The rest of his self-introduction would then be his description of the responsibilities of new-world apostles. As Mormon expresses it, “I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.”

It would also color our understanding of what Mormon means when he says that he had been ministered to by the three Nephites (3 Nephi 28:26) who had disappeared during his youth (Mormon 1:13–14). It would have been a meeting of ecclesiastical equals, even if the three Nephites had some kind of seniority, and, certainly, legendary cultural status.⁸

[Page 394]Mormon’s speech at the synagogue

If the term disciple only means new-world apostle, it is plausible to understand Moroni 7 as not only a sermon at a synagogue by some Church leader, but as a sermon by a new-world apostle. Moroni deliberately specifies that it was “the synagogue,” not “the synagogues” or even “a synagogue.” The term is decidedly singular.

It is of note that every other major recorded sermon in a formal worship setting in the Book of Mormon is either by a political leader (such as King Benjamin in his sermon in Mosiah 3–5), by the high priest (such as Alma in his preaching tour in Alma 5–7), or by someone designated by the clear religious leader (such as Jacob in his sermon on assignment from Nephi, in 2 Nephi 6–10). This pattern bolsters the argument that Mormon’s talk in the synagogue may well be a formal sermon by a new-world apostle to the then-sparse membership of Christ’s Church.

A sobering and lonely picture for new-world apostles

And from this time the disciples began to sorrow for the sins of the world . . . And it came to pass that the robbers of Gadianton did spread over all the face of the land; and there were none that were righteous save it were the disciples of Jesus. (4 Nephi 1:44, 46)

If the term disciple refers to new-world apostle, it appears that as the Nephites fell into apostasy in 4 Nephi, there was a point when the only remnants of the true Church were new-world apostles. The progression seems to be thus: Around the year 200 AD, the people divided into classes and created “many” new churches (4 Nephi 1:27). The true Church of Christ still existed but was heavily persecuted (v. 29). The text reports that this included “the disciples of Jesus who did tarry with them” (vv. 30–33), a seeming reference to the three immortal Nephite disciples.

The Church still existed in 230 AD when the Nephite/Lamanite designation began again (vv. 36–38). By 244 AD, “the people of God” (Nephites) were severely outnumbered (v. 40). Around 260 AD, the Gadianton robbers reappear (v. 42), and the Nephites themselves fall (v. 43). It is then that the disciples begin to “sorrow for the sins of the world” (v. 44), and by 300 AD, “there were none that were righteous [Page 395]save it were the disciples of Jesus” (v. 46). Some commentaries assume that these last two references are to more generic followers of Jesus, but there are some differences even between these commentaries as to whom this is referring.⁹

Reading all instances of disciple as referring to new-world apostles helps us to understand 4 Nephi 1:25–46 with a slight nuance. These verses record a dwindling Church of Christ, to the point where the only righteous that are left are new-world apostles presiding over an apostate Church and a wicked nation. This is a sobering and lonely picture. Alma prophesied the conclusion of this dire situation:

But whosoever remaineth, and is not destroyed in that great and dreadful day, shall be numbered among the Lamanites, and shall become like unto them, all, save it be a few who shall be called the disciples of the Lord; and them shall the Lamanites pursue even until they shall become extinct. And now, because of iniquity, this prophecy shall be fulfilled. (Alma 45:14)

Indeed, Joseph Spencer’s discussion of Mormon’s life indicates that, “Mormon’s autobiographical writings give the impression that Nephite Christianity did not exist for most of his lifetime.”¹⁰ This situation Mormon foreshadows with great specificity in his history of Lehite civilization in 4 Nephi.

Of the six ambiguous instances of disciple across the entire Book of Mormon, three are references to new-world apostles in these circumstances.

[Page 396]Moroni as a possible new-world Apostle

If the term disciple only means new-world apostle, then Moroni 8 gains new context. Mormon is overjoyed that his son has been called to “[Christ’s] ministry, and to his holy work” (Moroni 8:2). The rest of the letter is a dense theological rejection of the practice of infant baptism—this does not seem to be just a letter from a proud father to a son on a momentous personal occasion. If we assume that Mormon is a new-world Apostle based on his self-identification as such in 3 Nephi 5:13, we could plausibly read Moroni’s call to the ministry as a similar call to new-world apostleship. This letter would then be not just one from a father to a son but from a senior new-world Apostle to a newly called junior one addressing a serious issue to be dealt with in the Church.

In the canon of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there are many examples of general letters from apostles to specific churches (such as Romans and 1 and 2 Corinthians), to other members in the Church but likely not members of the Twelve (1 and 2 Timothy, for example), and general letters to the entire Church (such as 1 Peter and Doctrine and Covenants 127). However, there are no instances of letters from apostles to apostles anciently in either the New or Old Worlds or in the current dispensation. That would make this chapter the only instance of a senior Apostle giving instructions to a junior Apostle in the entire canon. It appears to be the result of a confluence of two facts. First, both Mormon and Moroni were new-world apostles. Second, Moroni had preserved this letter from his father and included it in his record along with other meaningful items he kept during his years of wandering.¹¹

Two further insights emerge from the idea that Moroni was a new-world Apostle. When Moroni begins his own portion of the Book of Mormon, having completed his father’s record and abridging the Book of Ether, he says that the Lamanites of his day “put to death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ. And I, Moroni, will not deny the [Page 397]Christ” (Moroni 1:2–3). To deny the Christ would be to not only deny his testimony of him but to do the opposite of the command to testify of Christ—his primary role as a new-world Apostle.

And finally, if Moroni were the last living new-world Apostle, this lends a poignancy to Moroni 1–6 as he writes a handbook of instructions for future leaders of the Church of Christ, though they live centuries in the future in a new dispensation. Moroni does his best to train them in ecclesiastical policy and procedure even with his limited means to do so.¹²

This reading does require leaps, namely that Mormon was a new-world Apostle (likely) and then that Moroni was called as such before the occasion of the letter in Moroni 8 (possible).¹³ Certainly members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints call them both prophets, but the relationship between that title and the office of Apostle, whether old-world, new-world, or modern, is beyond the scope of this paper. At the very least, if Moroni’s ministry, mentioned in Moroni 8:2, were to some other office—maybe elder, teacher, or priest, all of which are well attested in the Book of Mormon record both before and after Christ’s appearance (e.g., Alma 4:7, Moroni 3:1)—then we ought to consider Moroni 8 as from a new-world Apostle to a Church officer lower in the hierarchy. This would make this letter more analogous to Paul’s letters to Timothy than, say, a letter from Peter to Paul. Either way, it is more an ecclesiastical letter than a personal one, even if it begins and ends with affectionate words from father to son. (Moroni 9 is the reverse—more a personal letter than an ecclesiastical one.) Either way, Moroni’s statement that he will not deny the Christ as well as recording basic ecclesiological instructions is colored by the [Page 398]understanding that he was a member of the Church hierarchy, whatever his office.

Miracles among or by the disciples?

And it came to pass that there was no contention among all the people, in all the land; but there were mighty miracles wrought among the disciples of Jesus. (4 Nephi 1:13)

If we take the use of the term disciples in 4 Nephi 1:13 to mean new-world apostles, there is a slight hiccup in the grammar. It would be unusual for the mighty miracles to be confined solely to the Twelve, but that is what is implied by the phrase “among the disciples of Jesus.”¹⁴ Such a reading is contradicted by the wording just a few verses earlier when it is said “there were great and marvelous works wrought by the disciples of Jesus . . . and all manner of miracles did they work among the children of men” (4 Nephi 1:5). Perhaps the preposition in verse 13 should have been translated as by so that the grammar could account for miracles involving people outside of the Twelve and to harmonize the wording with that of 4 Nephi 1:5. This slight change to a single preposition would maintain the use of disciple to only mean new-world apostle.

It is a bold course to suggest a change to the translation of the Book of Mormon, even in so small a matter as a single preposition. I wish to be clear that I am not advocating such an alteration. However, as I understand this verse, such a change would be the only way the grammar could make sense if we were to read the term disciple to mean only new-world apostle. Perhaps this is an instance where disciple means follower of Jesus Christ, despite its being surrounded contextually by instances of the word’s meaning new-world apostle. If this is the case, the phrase “among the children of men” in verse 5 and “among the disciples” in verse 13 could be a subtle way Mormon indicates the spread of the Nephite Church.

“He that believeth not my words believeth not my disciples”

And he that believeth not my words believeth not my disciples; and if it so be that I do not speak, judge ye; for ye shall know that it is I that speaketh, at the last day. (Ether 4:10)

[Page 399]The wording from Ether 4:10 about not believing the words of Christ and thus not believing his disciples does occur elsewhere. It is a type. The risen Christ speaks of blessings to those who follow his new-world apostles (3 Nephi 12:1).¹⁵ The idea that receiving or believing Christ’s authorized servants is as if receiving or believing Christ himself has parallels in the New Testament. Matthew 10:40 reads “He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.” John 5:46–47 reads “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?”

This idea also occurs in the Doctrine and Covenants predating the translation of the Book of Mormon: “Behold, if they will not believe my words, they would not believe you, my servant Joseph” (Doctrine and Covenants 5:7). It also occurs multiple times after the translation. Doctrine and Covenants 21:5, for example, also refers to Joseph Smith: “his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth.” Doctrine and Covenants 1:38 is quite well known and refers not just to Joseph Smith but to the Lord’s servants in general: “whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” (see also Doctrine and Covenants 84:36: “For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me”). One section is a direct reference to John Murdock, who was a high priest at the time: “Behold, thus saith the Lord unto my servant John Murdock . . . Who receiveth you receiveth me” (Doctrine and Covenants 99:1–2; see also 112:19–21).¹⁶

Perhaps the occurrence of the idea in Ether 4:10 that “he that believeth not my words believeth not my disciples” had influence on the prophet Joseph Smith’s revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants.

[Page 400]Possible influence on the translation

And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the twelve disciples of the Lamb, who are chosen to minister unto thy seed. And he said unto me: Thou rememberest the twelve apostles of the Lamb? Behold they are they who shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel; wherefore, the twelve ministers of thy seed shall be judged of them; for ye are of the house of Israel. And these twelve ministers whom thou beholdest shall judge thy seed. And, behold, they are righteous forever; for because of their faith in the Lamb of God their garments are made white in his blood. (1 Nephi 12:8–10)

Finally, the use of the term disciple (and minister) in 1 Nephi 12:8–10 may have been informed by the fact that 3 Nephi was completed earlier in the translation process. By the time Joseph encountered these verses, he had already been steeped in the use of disciple almost exclusively to refer to new-world apostles through his earlier translation of 3 Nephi.

There is much debate on exactly how the translation process of the Book of Mormon occurred. One of the main questions is to what extent, if any, Joseph contributed to the translation. The “tight control” theory advocates for a position that the actual translation was completely in God’s control, with Joseph serving as more of an oral stenographer. Royal Skousen is the chief advocate of this position.¹⁷ Others argue that Joseph contributed in some way to the process. Even this latter hypothesis has different scholars advocating along a spectrum, such as Brant Gardner’s “functional equivalence” translation¹⁸ or Blake Ostler’s expansion theory.¹⁹

If one believes in a more tightly controlled, strict, word-specific translation, then the occurrence of disciple in 1 Nephi 12 is a deliberate choice by God himself to maintain continuity with the rest of the book. If, however, one believes in a looser translation process, then perhaps Joseph Smith provided some contribution to the wording. The occurrence could be explained by Joseph Smith’s intuiting that disciple and [Page 401]minister are more appropriate terms than apostle given his previous exposure to disciple’s being almost exclusively used to reference new-world apostles in the previously translated material.

Summary and Conclusions

Given that most of the uses of the term disciple in the Book of Mormon are unambiguously used to designate the twelve new-world apostles and their successors, we might profit by reading the six ambiguous instances of that term in the same way. If we do so, we can glean additional insights into various passages across the Book of Mormon. Mormon self-identifies as a new-world Apostle when he first introduces himself in 3 Nephi 5. This subtly changes the readers’ understanding of Mormon’s life by seeing him as a member of the Nephite Twelve of his day, with all the attendant weight that comes with such an ordination. His sermon in Moroni 7 can be seen not just as preaching in the synagogue by a member of the Church but as a sermon by a new-world Apostle, the only such sermon of which we have a detailed record.

Even the letter to his son, Moroni, in Moroni 8, can be seen through Mormon’s lens as a new-world Apostle. It may very well be that Moroni was called as a new-world Apostle on the occasion of, or just before, this letter. Even if Moroni had been called to some other position—teacher, priest, or elder, perhaps—we can read this not as a personal letter from father to son, but as an ecclesiastical letter from a new-world Apostle to a Church officer with less seniority. If Moroni were called to some office lower than a new-world Apostle, then Moroni 8 might be analogous to the Pauline epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. If Moroni had been called as a new-world Apostle, then Moroni 8 would be the only communication between apostles in the entire Church canon.

If we read all instances of disciple as reference to new-world apostles, 4 Nephi takes on subtle new meaning. Concluding with the Church itself in disarray, the only righteous members remaining were those who also held the office of new-world apostle. This sobering and lonely picture accords with much of Mormon’s record of his own day where the Christian church seems almost entirely absent, perhaps limited to a single synagogue where he would have delivered the sermon in Moroni 7.

Finally, the considerations laid out in this paper might color one’s understanding of the terminology in 1 Nephi 12:8–10, as these verses [Page 402]use the same convention of having disciple (and minister²⁰) to designate new-world apostles. Given that Nephi and Mormon are separated by nearly a millennium of linguistic evolution, the question must be asked if Joseph Smith contributed to this consistent terminology in the translation. Different theories of Joseph’s contribution to the wording in the Book of Mormon might thus impact how one understands the phraseology of these verses. Reading disciple as new-world apostle in Ether 4:10 may also have set a precedent that emerges in certain phrases in various sections of the Doctrine and Covenants.

Reading disciple as always meaning new-world apostle throughout the Book of Mormon only requires us to re-interpret our understanding of a mere six words across the entire record. If we do so, the transition yields consistent insights and gives new meaning and color to various passages of the Book of Mormon. Particularly seeing Mormon and possibly Moroni as having been ordained as new-world apostles gives new gravitas and insight into their lives, ministries, and writings.