 | This article possibly contains original research. Significant proportion of citations, especially in first few sections, are to sources from the early nineteenth century written by people closely involved in the events (experiences the participants believed constituted encounters with an angel). These are primary sources, and the section extrapolates from those primary sources to posit original research about the sources and their meaning, e. g. the textual comparison of different versions of accounts cited to nothing but the accounts themselves rather than to textual scholarship of the accounts, etc. Summarizing secondary scholarship—summarizing the Moroni story, about the reception history of the Moroni figure, about analyzing depictions like statues, etc.—would improve the article. (March 2024) |
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The angel Moroni (/moʊˈroʊnaɪ/[1]) is an angel whom Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, reported as having visited him on numerous occasions, beginning on September 21, 1823. According to Smith, the angel Moroni was the guardian of the golden plates buried near his home in western New York, which Latter Day Saints believe were the source of the Book of Mormon. An important figure in the theology of the Latter Day Saint movement, Moroni is featured prominently in its architecture and art. Besides Smith, the Three Witnesses and several other witnesses also reported that they saw Moroni in visions in 1829.
Moroni is thought by Latter Day Saints to be the same person as a Book of Mormon prophet-warrior named Moroni, who was the last to write in the golden plates. According to the Book of Mormon, the angel Moroni was a pre-Columbian warrior who buried the golden plates. After he died, he became an angel who was tasked with directing Smith to their location in the 1820s. According to Smith, he then returned the golden plates to Moroni after they were translated and, as of 1838, Moroni still had the plates in his possession.[2]
- ^ "Pronunciation Guide". Book of Mormon. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
- ^ Joseph Smith–History, 1:60, Pearl of Great Price.