The Book of Mormon’s Pinnacle Temple Text: 3 Nephi—Part 1

Today is Christmas Day, December 25, 2025, as I send out the next installments in my on-going study of Joseph Smith’s restoration of temple ordinances and doctrine (to be delivered in three parts). It is fitting that the signs given on the American continent of our Savior’s birth in Bethlehem have increasingly been the subject of apostolic Christmas testimonies in recent years.[1] 

Each of these blogs explores and asks what the Prophet Joseph Smith might have learned—as he translated 3 Nephi and as he pondered its significance throughout his life—about the Father’s love for His children of every dispensation. Such love was manifested especially through the temple ordinances He revealed to them, which centered on the life and mission of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, whose birth and life we especially celebrate at this time of the year.

Translation Progress Accelerates. Brother Welch estimates that between April 25 and May 21, 1829, twenty-three-year-old Joseph Smith translated 52 chapters of the Book of Mormon, from Alma 14 to the end of 3 Nephi. What might this revelatory process have looked and felt like? For starters, it must have been intellectually and physically exhausting. Brother Welch calculates that by the end of May 1829, “Joseph translated and Oliver wrote” “about 75 percent” of the roughly 390-page Book of Mormon. “On average" that amounted to "7.4 present Book of Mormon pages per day.” To accomplish this, they worked “from morning till night.”[2] 

Of course, Joseph had to prepare himself spiritually each day and throughout the day to be able to use the interpreters.[3] The revelatory process must have demanded not only an extraordinary amount of faith, but great powers of concentration and mental exertion. After dictating the translation to Oliver, Joseph then had to listen carefully as Oliver would read back what he had written to see if he had written it correctly. Inevitably, transcription errors would need to be corrected. Joseph's effort to render the divinely inspired translation exactly as it was received was also evidenced by his care to “spell out unfamiliar words and ‘proper names he could not pronounce.’”[4]

“Day after day [they] continued, uninterrupted.” Frankly, for me just reading aloud or having read to me 7+ pages “day after day” would be challenging. No wonder Oliver Cowdery described these as “days never to be forgotten—to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, [which] awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom!”[5] No doubt they, as do we, thrilled as the account of the Savior’s visit to His temple in Bountiful unfolded to them during these Spring days of May 1829.

“I Am the Light of the World (Christ Appears to the Nephites)” by Casey Childs, (featured in The Friend, March 2024

Third Nephi—An “Incomparable” Text.[6] Joseph and Oliver would have immediately recognized, over the seven or eight working days it would have taken them to translate and transcribe Third Nephi (at the pace Brother Welch estimates), that this chapter, as Elder Jeffrey R. Holland described it, “constituted the focal point, the supreme moment, in the entire history of the Book of Mormon. It was the manifestation and the decree that had informed and inspired every Nephite prophet for the previous six hundred years, to say nothing of their Israelite and Jaredite forefathers for thousands of years before that.”[7] This they would have realized, even recalling that they had not yet translated the first six books of the Book of Mormon—the books of Nephi through Omni. Their translation would come only during the following weeks.

So much could be, and has been, said and written about this “Fifth gospel”[8] of Jesus Christ.[9] In this blog, however, I focus primarily on the temple-related elements of Third Nephi.

Elder Holland referred to this perspective on Christ’s sermon at the temple, citing scholars who describe the sermon as “the new law of God given at a mountain,” or temple, “replicating the giving of the law of Moses on Mount Sinai.”[10] Christ would later reveal to Joseph Smith that He had directed Moses to “plainly” teach “the children of Israel” “the gospel,” including “the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God,” which are only received in temples, so that “they might behold the face of God” on Mount Sinai (D&C 84:19, 23). While the children of Israel, the Lord would later explain, “hardened their hearts,” and thus “could not endure his presence” (D&C 84:24), the Nephite Israelites were spiritually prepared for that consummate blessing.

In this blog, then, I focus first on textual clues that help us understand who these Nephites were and how their temple faithfulness under the law of Moses may have prepared them to not only behold Christ’s face, but to be special witnesses of His resurrection and recipients of His temple teachings.

The Bountiful Temple Nephites—Faithful and Worthy Temple Patrons. Who were the “about two thousand and five hundred souls” (3 Nephi 17:25) who were privileged to become the first eyewitnesses of the central, climatic event in the Book of Mormon—the Savior’s visit to the Nephite temple after His post-resurrection ministry to His apostles in Israel?[11] 

Mormon does not expressly recognize the temple worthiness of these Nephites, as he had done, for example, with King Benjamin’s temple-going people, whom he described as being “diligent” “in keeping the commandments of the Lord” (Mosiah 1:11). However, Book of Mormon commentators universally acknowledge the faithful “loyalty” or temple worthiness of this privileged group of Nephites.[12] Moreover, Moroni later comments on their great faith (which comes of obedience). “For it was by faith that Christ showed himself unto our fathers, after he had risen from the dead,” affirming that He would not have done so unless “they had faith in him” (Ether 12:7).

Considering Moroni’s observation and all that the scriptures teach about what is required to see the face of God and “endure his presence” (D&C 84:24), some commentators surmised that “unless those prerequisites are irrelevant to this situation,” “the people who gathered at the temple that day were not those who just happened to be there. Each individual, in his or her own right, must have been worthy of seeing the Saviour. That fact strongly suggests that those who were present were there by invitation, that they had been spiritually prepared for the experience, and that no one who was not prepared had been invited.”[13] 

Mormon reported that those who “gathered together” “round about the temple” (3 Nephi 11:1) during Christ’s initial three-day ministry were from among “the people of Nephi who were spared, and also those who had been called Lamanites” (3 Nephi 10:18), suggesting that they may have travelled “some distance” to be at the temple. Moreover, if the group came from throughout the Nephite and Lamanite lands, as Mormon seems to suggest, possibly in connection with “New Year’s [temple] ceremonies” typically held at the end of each year, then the idea that they came by formal invitation seems plausible.[14]

John Welch, on the other hand, imagines that the assembled group was limited exclusively to “the entire population” of the town of Bountiful, consisting, he estimated, of “from 500 to 625 families” (assuming an “average family size [of from] four to five” people). In explaining how this might have been the case, Welch notes that Bountiful was established as a military outpost during the century before Christ on the east shore of the narrow neck of land that separated the Nephite and Lamanite lands in the south from “the land which they called Desolation . . . which had been peopled [by the Jaredites who] had been destroyed” (Alma 22:3).

The principal assignment of the “guards” and “armies” posted in Bountiful was to “hem in the Lamanites on the south,” preventing them from gaining any “possession on the north,” thus preventing them from outflanking the Nephites (Alma 22:34). Moreover, Lamanite prisoners were held in Bountiful (Alma 52:39). Thus, Welch argues, “it is reasonable to assume that once Moroni fortified this site (see Alma 52:9), no one was stationed or allowed to live there who was not fiercely and unquestionably loyal to the Nephite cause. The fact that these settlers built, operated, and maintained a temple in this remote and obscure site confirms their devotion to the most orthodox Nephite values and traditional practices.” In short, the people of Bountiful “epitomized the law of obedience.” [15] 

Map: “Possible Book of Mormon Sites in Relation to Each Other.” [16]

In either scenario, whether the group who received the Savior on the first day of his visit came from throughout the Nephite and righteous Lamanite lands or only from the small town of Bountiful, Moroni’s comment about these people’s faithfulness suggests that only those who were “temple worthy” were present for the extraordinary events described in 3 Nephi 11-18.

Why did Christ come to the temple? More importantly, perhaps, than who gathered or how they were selected, where they gathered, the temple, is paramount to plumbing the temple themes in Third Nephi. As Brother Welch noted,

For six centuries, temples had been important [Nephite] religious and political centers for teaching, preaching, imparting the mysteries [of the gospel or the temple], making royal proclamations, and for various gatherings and sacrifices. . . . By appearing at the temple, Jesus demonstrated that all things would become new, not that the old things would simply be cast off.

It is also significant that a crowd of men, women, and children had gathered at the temple in Bountiful, not knowing that Jesus would appear to them that day. . . .[B]ecause this gathering probably [occurred sometime] after the signs of Christ's death, one must wonder if these Nephites had assembled themselves on one of their traditional holy days to appear before the Lord [at his temple] and to hear the word of God.[17]

Indeed, it would have been fitting, if, as Welch and other scholars have suggested, it was not merely coincidence that prompted this group of righteous Nephites to be at the temple. As they were “conversing about . . .  Jesus Christ” (3 Nephi 11:2), He “descend[ed] out of heaven,” as directed and announced by God the Father (see 3 Nephi 11:3-7),[18] and “came down and stood in the midst of them” (3 Nephi 11:8). Might it have been these Nephites' faithfulness to the temple and its sacred rites that brought them there?

Even if they were not at the moment of Christ’s appearance participating in one of the multi-day temple festivals or rituals that these Nephites would undoubtedly have celebrated as part of the Law of Moses, their faithfulness in observing all the commandments and rites associated with the Law as their priesthood leaders administered them can be confidently assumed (see 3 Nephi 1:24-25). What might these sacred temple rites have involved? How might they have related to the teachings that Christ was about to reveal to them?

3 Nephi Christ in America Joseph Franklin Brickey

Parallels to the Feast of Tabernacles Temple Drama in Third Nephi’s Narrative Structure. If the temple texts found scattered throughout the Book of Mormon’s 600-year history prior to Christ’s appearance, such as those found in King Benjam’s and Alma’s sermons at or about the temple, are representative, then they might offer clues about what was done or said during the most important annual festival celebrated under the Law of Moses, the Feast of Tabernacles.[19]

Drawing upon ground-breaking Biblical scholarship,[20] which was based, in part, upon the 1928 discovery of a 13th Century B.C. Canaanite religious library from the Phoenician city Ugarit,[21] LeGrand Baker and Stephen D. Ricks reconstruct in exquisite detail the temple liturgy reenacted in Solomon’s temple. Baker summarizes the key elements of the temple ceremony utilized for 400 years “from at least the time of David and Solomon until 587 B.C., when Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and its inhabitants transported to Babylon”:[22]

The most important worship service in Solomon’s Temple was a pageant-like, [eight-day covenant renewal temple] drama that was performed annually. Everyone in ancient Israel participated.

The world-view of that drama . . .is eternal in both directions. The theme of [the drama] is the Savior’s Atonement and its power to preserve, enhance, then finally to perfect our eternal personalities.

The king and queen (or people representing them) were the main actors in the drama.The play opened with them playing the parts of themselves at the Council in Heaven.Then they were Adam and Eve in the Garden. When they left the Garden and came to this world, they played themselves again in mortality. Symbolically the actors represented each person in the audience.

The Psalms, in their original order, were the text of the ancient Israelite temple drama.The Jews lost its message when they lost the Temple and could no longer perform the drama. They also lost its covenants and ordinances. To disguise the loss, the Psalms were rearranged so they can no longer be read from front to back to discover the story the drama once told. Suggestions of the teachings and rituals of this drama remain scattered throughout the Bible, but they are almost hidden to everyone except those who already know the story.

Even though the ancient Jews no longer performed the drama after Solomon’s Temple was destroyed, the Nephites preserved it. The purpose of the drama was to teach each individual who he was, and why he is here—and do that in the context of the Savior’s Atonement. Its principles and covenants are the theme of every sermon in theBook of Mormon.[23]

While Book of Mormon writers never reveal the details of this temple drama (perhaps assuming, as Baker and Ricks argue, that it would have been available to us through the Bible—see 1 Nephi 13:20-26), they faithfully kept the Law of Moses, including its ritual festivals. Baker and Ricks show, for example, that the Nephites observed “the New Year festival with the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama, just as the pre-exilic Jews did, and as they were known to Lehi and Nephi before they left Jerusalem.”[24]

The doctrines and teachings that inform this temple drama would have been clearly explained in the brass plates. These teachings included such temple-oriented doctrines as (1) a correct understanding of the Godhead, consisting of Elohim, “the Father and King of all the gods,” who “presided at their councils,” and Jehovah, “the Son and Heir of Elohim,” who “conducted the affairs of the Council in Heaven and made assignments to its members;” and (2) doctrines about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the atonement and the priesthood. [25]  

We know from later revelations Joseph Smith would receive that Moses included all these doctrines in the record of his revelations (see Moses 1-6). However, as noted in previous blogs, “post-exilic Jewish authors and editors,” including the so-called Deuteronomists, “chose to ignore those earlier practices.”

Even non-LDS scholars recognize the apostasy that was occurring during Lehi’s day. Consequently, “the Jews discontinued their original temple rites, and removed almost all traces of them from their canon,”[26] depriving all Israel of the ordinances that would have paved the way for their exaltation. No wonder Nephi so severely condemned the “manner,” “wickedness,” “anger” and murderous intent of these priestly editors, whose “works were works of darkness, and their doings were abominations” (1 Nephi 1:19-20; 2 Nephi 25:2).

The following chart[27] summarizes parallels Baker and Ricks argue can be found between Israel’s ancient temple drama and Mormon’s narrative approach to the entire book of Third Nephi. From the sign of the Savior’s birth to the destruction following his crucifixion and descent to the spirit world, to his appearance at the temple, Mormon’s narrative constitutes “a translucent—if not an altogether transparent rendition of the ancient Israelite New Year’s festival and enthronement ceremonies.”[28] 

Feast of Tabernacles Temple Drama	Mormon’s Narrative 3 Nephi 1-10
The Israelite temple drama begins with the Council in Heaven, [during which Elohim declares that Jehovah was His “Beloved and Chosen from the beginning” (Moses 1:2).] Psalms 82, “The Father’s Instructions to the Council” was the text for “Act 1, Scene 1” of the temple drama, “The Council in Heaven.”[29] Psalm 45 was the text for “Act 1, Scene 2” of the drama, the Royal Wedding, “a play within a play.” The characters included “Elohim, the Father of the gods [who] gives a blessing to the earthly king of Israel, who plays himself as the prince who received the blessing—making this a reenactment of his own foreordination;” “Jehovah who had just been anointed the eternal King of Israel; Heavenly “Mother-Queen;” “her princess-daughter, who was played by the then-reigning queen” reenacting her foreordination. “The people in the audience were symbolically participating as though the drama were their personal story, so it is probable that they [also] were considered to be the members of the premortal Council.” [150-216]	“3 Nephi begins, as does the Israelite temple drama, with the heavens themselves testifying that Jesus is the Son of God.” [In answer to Nephi3’s “mighty,” all-day prayer, the Savior assured him, “behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets. Behold, I come unto my own, to fulfill all things which I have made known unto the children of men  from the foundation of the world, [including the things revealed and rehearsed for centuries in the Israelite temple drama] and to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son” (3 Nephi 1:12-14). Then, “at the going down of the sun there was no darkness” and “it was as light as though it was mid-day” (3 Nephi 1:15, 19). “And it came to pass also that a new star did appear, according to the word” (3 Nephi 1:21).]
[War in heaven (Rev. 12:7)]	Next, “there is a war where an alternate plan is proposed (3 Nephi 3) The enemies of righteousness are defeated by the powers of obedience, prayer, and testimony.” [3 Nephi 4]
Act 1, Scene 3: the Creation; Scene 4: The Garden and the Creation of Man [228-36]	“The Nephites enter a beautiful time where there is virtually no sin [Eden].” [3 Nephi 5].  “But their serenity is shattered as sin creeps in among them.” [3 Nephi 6-7]
Act 2, The Mortal World Scene 1: The Priesthood After the Order of Melchizedek Scene 2: Anointed to Become King Scene 3: The Abrahamic Covenant Scene 4: Moses and the Law Scene 5: The Davidic Covenant [237-85]	“Then Mormon tells us about himself and assures us that he has all the necessary priesthood and authority (3 Nephi 5:12-26).” [Earlier in his narrative, Mormon had noted that a misinterpretation of the scriptures arose “that it was no more expedient to live the law of Moses.” As the presiding high priest, Nephi3 corrected the “error” (3 Nephi 1:24-25) and faithful Nephites in Bountiful and elsewhere continued to strictly observe the law of Moses.]
Act 2, Scene 6: The Ritual Combat. “The king has been given all of the priesthood ordinances and kingly authorities requisite for his success . . . The Feast of Tabernacles drama was, above all, a moralistic play that demonstrated the invincibility of the light of truth and righteousness when challenged by the darkness of evil. The ultimate power of darkness was chaos, personified by the twin monsters of death and hell. Our anointed prince must now confront them both [alone] in all their final fury.” [289-99]	“Then all of the forces of evil are marshaled to destroy the Church and the Saints.” [As noted in the headnote to 3 Nephi 6, “The Church is rent with dissensions—Satan leads the people in open rebellion.”] “Just as was portrayed in the festival temple drama, this combination hatched a plot to be carried out with such violence that God himself was compelled to intercede in behalf of his people . . . , who might have” cried for help as in Psalms 64 (“Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy) and Psalms 11 (“the LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men”).
“The concept of repentance is central to the cleansing necessary for participation in the ordinance and covenants of the Old Testament.” (See Psalms 6, “Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak:  O LORD, heal me; . . . Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake.” “During the New Year’s festival,” [the people’s] cries for [deliverance from the powers of darkness dramatized in Act 2, Scene 6] seem not only to be cries of expectation but also reminders of the covenant the Lord had already made with the people and their king. Such covenants also suggest ordinances, for ordinances are often the token of the sealing or ratification of the covenants.” [611-12]	Mormon mentions that Nephi3 “began to testify boldly” “concerning the ministry of Christ” and preach “repentance and remission of sins through faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Further, he notes  “that there were none who were brought unto repentance who were not baptized with water. Therefore, there were ordained of Nephi, men  unto this ministry, that all such as should come unto  them should be baptized with water, and this as a  witness and a testimony before God, and unto the  people, that they had repented and received a remission of their sins” (3 Nephi 7:15-16. 23-24).
“Days 1, 2, and 3 [of the temple drama] were devoted to the beginning acts of the drama” as described above. “During days 4, 5, and 6, while the king remained in the world of the dead, the drama focused on the life and Atonement of the Savior; then on to his mission among the dead, and finally on his resurrection.” “On the fourth day of the . . . festival temple drama, the Canaanites symbolically attacked Jerusalem. They laid the city waste, destroyed the temple, and killed the king,” [symbolizing the Savior’s confrontation] “of all the combined enemies of his kingdom” [in Gethsemane and on the cross, as he pled, “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). Act 2, Scene 7, Jehovah Conquers Death and Hell. Psalm 22, recognized by all four Gospel writers (see Matt. 27:25, 46; Mark 15:24, 34; Luke 23:34; John 19:24), testifies “that the pre-exilic Israelites understood the full magnitude of the atonement”: 1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the  words of my roaring? 2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest  not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the  praises of Israel. . . . 7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they  shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying, 8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver  him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. . . . 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in  the midst of my bowels. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws . . . the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands  and my feet. . . . 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. [300-22; 612-13]	“Thirty-three years after the sign of Christ’s birth in the Old World, “on the fourth day of the new year (3 Nephi 8:5-7) [the traditional time for reenactment of the New Year festival,] the earth shook and all the warning words of the prophets were fulfilled.” [As “darkness [covered] all the earth” “and the sun was darkened, and the veil of the  temple was rent in the midst” in the Old World (Luke 23:44)], Mormon in 3 Nephi 8 describes the devastation in the New World. Psalms 97 reads much like Mormon’s story: 1 The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the  multitude of isles be glad thereof. 2 Clouds and darkness are round about him:  righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his  throne. 3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his  enemies round about. 4 His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled. 5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. . . . 7 Confounded be all they that serve graven  images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods. . . . 10 Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. . . . 12 Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
“The last third of [Psalm 22] takes place ‘in the midst of the congregation’ of the dead—just as in D&C 138.” 22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, [the “innumerable company of the spirits of the just” [D&C 138:12)] glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. 24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the  affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. . . . 26 The meek [“those who keep their covenants"] shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him [“And the saints rejoiced in their redemption, and bowed the knee and acknowledged the Son of God as their Redeemer and Deliverer from death and the chains of hell” (D&C 138:23)]: your heart shall live for ever.	“After the storm, the darkness hung as a tangible shroud upon the earth for three long days,” “during which time the spirit of Jehovah descends to the world of the dead. In the Temple festival ceremonies, it was the earthly king who was symbolically saved from the underworld by the power of Jehovah. But in the real story, Jehovah himself goes into the spirit world where he establishes his Kingdom among the ‘meek,’ and conquers their immortal enemies: death and hell.”
3 Nephi 9:15-18 is an “outline of [Christ’s] role in the festival temple drama”: Act 1 Behold, I am Jesus Christ [“the Savior Anointed”] the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the  beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me;  and in me hath the Father glorified his name. Act 2 I came unto my own, and my own received me not. And the scriptures concerning my coming are fulfilled. And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the sons of God [the “ultimate objective of the temple drama”]; and even  o will I to as many as shall believe on my name, for behold, by me redemption cometh, and in me is the law of Moses fulfilled. Act 3 I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.	Then, speaking from heaven out of the darkness and after describing the extensive destruction that has occurred throughout the land, Christ introduced Himself: “Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name” (3 Nephi 9:15).[30] Christ invites those who were spared to “return unto me, and repent of your sins” and “if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life” (3 Nephi 11:13-14). “In the drama, that invitation and its fulfillment were symbolic—a kind of dress rehearsal for the real thing. In Third Nephi, both the invitation and its fulfillment were the reality.” [616]
Still during days 4-6 of the drama, the king is in the underworld and the “drama turned its focus from the king to the psalms that told of the Savior’s life, death, Atonement, and Resurrection.” [300-22; 627]	In 3 Nephi 10:10-17, Mormon follows the pattern of the temple drama “by quoting the prophecies of Zenos, and Zenock, and Jacob with reference to the coming of Christ.”

Thus, we see in the structure of Mormon's recounting of the events in the American continent, which transpired during Christ's premortality, birth and 33-year ministry in the Old World, striking parallels to the recounting of Jehovah's role in the ancient Israelite temple drama.

In my next 2 blogs, we will explore in greater depth parallels between Israel’s ancient temple drama and Mormon’s account of the Savior’s appearance at the temple and His temple “instruction,” which Baker and Ricks suggest may have been delivered from the Holy of Holies of the Temple. We will also explore whether worthy participants in the Israelite temple drama might have been “endowed” as we understand it.

[1] See, for example, First Presidency 2020 Christmas Message, November 27, 2020, https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/first-presidency-releases-2020-christmas-message (“the true spirit of Christmas is in the Father’s introduction. ‘Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name — hear ye him’ (3 Nephi 11:7)”); Russell M. Nelson, “President Nelson's Teachings on Angels and the Savior That Will Brighten Your Christmas,” LDS Living, December 18, 2018, https://www.ldsliving.com/president-nelsons-teachings-on-angels-and-the-savior-that-will-brighten-your-christmas/s/89952 (“At the arrival of Him who is called ‘the light of the world’ (John 8:12), darkness was banished worldwide as a sign of His holy birth (see 3 Nephi 1:15, 19)”); David A. Bednar “The Light and the Life of the World,” 2015 Christmas Devotional, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/broadcasts/article/christmas-devotional/2015/12/the-light-and-the-life-of-the-world?lang=eng (“The day Jesus was born was a day of deliverance for the believers in the New World. Light as the sign of the Savior’s birth literally saved their lives.”).

[2] Welch, “Timing the Translation of the Book of Mormon,” 118-19. Elizabeth Ann Whitmer Cowdery testified that she “often sat by and saw and heard [Joseph and Oliver] translate and write for hours together.” As to the spiritual demands the process required, Sarah Heller Conrad recalled seeing Joseph and one or more of the Whitmer brothers who were assisting as scribes at the time “come down from [the] translating room several times when they looked so exceedingly white and strange that she inquired of Mrs. Whitmer the cause of their unusual appearance.” Ibid. 109.

[3] In his article about Joseph and Hyrum’s “emotional” lives and labor, Michael Thompson recounts an experience recorded by David Whitmer: “While Joseph Smith was translating the plates of the Book of Mormon at the Whitmer home in Fayette, New York, David says Joseph got out of sorts over a problem with Emma: ‘Something went wrong about the house, and [Joseph] was put out about it.’ Two stunning details emerge from the account. First, when Joseph returned to the upstairs room where David and Oliver Cowdery were waiting for him to resume the translation, Joseph ‘could not do anything. He could not translate a single syllable.’ Whitmer does not say how long Joseph struggled to translate; he does say (and this is the second point) that he left the room, went out into the orchard nearby, and prayed. Joseph ‘was gone about an hour—came back to the house, and asked Emma’s forgiveness and then came upstairs where we were and then the translation went on all right.’ Clearly, Joseph’s emotional life was important to his spiritual life and leadership.” "'Tuned to the Work': Joseph and Hyrum’s Emotional Labor," in Joseph and Hyrum—Leading as One, ed. Mark E. Mendenhall, Hal B Gregersen, Jeffrey S. O’Driscoll, Heidi S. Swinton, and Breck England (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010), 61–80.

[4] MacKay and Dirkmaat, From Darkness Unto Light, 126.

[5] Welch, “Timing the Translation of the Book of Mormon,” 103.

[6] From the title of a Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship Conference entitled “Third Nephi: An Incomparable Scripture,” the proceedings of which appear in Andrew C. Skinner and Gaye Strathearn, eds., Third Nephi: An Incomparable Scripture, Provo, Utah: Neil A. Maxwell Institute and Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 2012).

[7] Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1997), 250, quoted in the “Introduction” to Third Nephi: An Incomparable Scripture.

[8] See “Introduction,” Third Nephi: An Incomparable Scripture, attributing this term to, among others, B. H. Roberts in Conference Report, April 1904, 97 and “The Fifth Gospel,” in Defense of the Faith and the Saints, 2 vols. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News, 1907-12).

[9] While there does not appear to be a comprehensive bibliography of scholarship and commentary on Third Nephi, the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies has published an annual Book of Mormon bibliography. See https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/. See also Donald W. Parry, Jeanette W. Miller, and Sandra A. Thorne, A Comprehensive Annotated Book of Mormon Bibliography (1996), https://www.scribd.com/document/556334010/A-Comprehensive-Annotated-Book-of-Mormon-Bibliography#:~:text=Follow%20this%20and%20additional%20works,1, as well as more recent offerings from the BYU Religious Studies Center, Maxwell Institute and Scripture Central.

[10] Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, 263 & n. 55, citing Welch’s Illuminating the Sermon at the Temple as “the definitive LDS work on the sermon at the temple and its relationship to covenant making people, including temple covenants (emphasis added).

[11] The Savior’s post-resurrection ministry to his apostles in the Old World focused on the temple, just as it would in the New World. See Fluckiger 49 n. 9, citing the following secondary sources: “Welch, Illuminating the Sermon at the Temple, 33 (in the forty-day literature, Jesus blesses His apostles with “an initiation or endowment, generally called the ‘mysteries,’ which emphasized garments, marriage, and prayer circles”), 90 (in JST, Matthew 7:6 the Lord commanded His followers to keep such things “within yourselves”); Madsen, The Temple: Where Heaven Meets Earth, 30 (“the ‘mysteries of godliness’ are, we know from modern scholarship, the ordinances of godliness” found in the “House of God”); Amy Hardison, Understanding the Symbols, Covenants and Ordinances of the Temple (American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, Inc., 2016), 92 (“During His forty-day ministry, the period of time between Christ’s resurrection and His Ascension to heaven in Acts 1, Christ continued to teach His Apostles about sacred ordinances. In fact, ‘the major purpose of the forty-day ministry [was] to teach the nature of vicarious ordinances and to instruct the Apostles in the fulness of the temple ceremony,’” quoting Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert Millet, Life Beyond [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1986], 158). See also S. Kent Brown and C. Wilfred Griggs, “The 40-Day Ministry,” Ensign, August 1975 (detailing numerous 40-day texts that describe, among other themes, “the heavenly council, the rebellion in heaven, and the casting out of Satan and his rebellious followers;” “the creation story;” “a dramatic dialogue between God, Satan, Adam, and Eve . . . [t]he detailed account of the temptation, the partaking of the forbidden fruit, and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden;” “ceremonial washings and anointings [“and special garments”] . . . that Jesus gave to the disciples during the 40 days;” “those who do not know in mortality to whom they belong will go to a prison after this life, where they will be able to obtain knowledge and be saved;” “marriage as a requirement for those who would achieve the highest of the three heavens” “and the sanctity of marriage” generally; “the [portrayal of the] resurrected Jesus . . . as giving sacred teachings to the apostles and their wives”); Hugh W. Nibley, “Christ among the Ruins,” in Book of Mormon Authorship, ed. Noel B. Reynolds (Provo, Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1982), 121–41; reprinted in The Prophetic Book of Mormon, ed. John W. Welch (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1989), 407–34, https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/mi/88 and Ensign, July 1983,

14–19, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1983/07/christ-among-the-ruins?lang=eng (“One [forty-day] text in particular, the Coptic Gospel of the Twelve Apostles, makes it clear that 3 Nephi has more in common with the themes of the earliest Christian writings than we have heretofore realized.”) Listing a number of features common to many Old World forty-day texts and 3 Nephi, Nibley concludes, “the similarities between [these texts] and 3 Nephi are striking; and since none of these texts were available in the 1820s, they serve as evidence that Joseph Smith did indeed translate an authentic record.”

[12] Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, 258; Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, 6 vols. (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1981), 4:301 (describing these faithful Nephites as having “been taught true principles and . . . practicing true ordinances”). The Savior would later reveal to the Prophet Joseph Smith what He required before one “shall see my face and know that I am.” “Every soul” who would have such privilege, the Savior revealed, must “[forsake] his sins and [come] unto me, and [call] on my name and [obey] my voice, and [keep] my commandments” (D&C 93:1). Prerequisites listed in other scriptures include being pure in heart, following “peace with all men, and holiness,” having “the authority and ordinances of the Melchizedek priesthood,” being “quickened by the Spirit of God” and having a mind “single to the [glory of] God. See LeGrand L. Baker and Stephen D. Ricks, Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord?: The Psalms in Israel’s Temple Worship In the Old Testament and in the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2011), 632, citing 3 Nephi 12:8; D&C 97:16; Hebrews 12:14; D&C 84:19-22 and Psalms 17:15; D&C 67:11; D&C 88:66-68.

Matthew Brown shows from New Testament texts, particularly the Book of Revelation, that the Savior Himself promised that “the faithful could receive the same temple-related blessings that were experienced by the kings and priests of Israel,” which promises also appear to be included as part of the ancient temple drama as demonstrated by Baker and Ricks. Further, Brown describes in some detail how “liturgical practices of the Israelite temple found expression in some of the rites of the early Christians.” See Matthew B. Brown, “The Israelite Temple and the Early Christians,”

https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/conference_home/august-2008/the-israelite-temple-and-the-early-christians#:~:text=Melchizedek%20was%20both%20a%20king, 4). The slides mentioned in this printed version of Brown’s presentation can be seen in this YouTube video, “The Israelite Temple and Early Christians,” FAIR – Faithful Answers, Informed Responses, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agsbZKkbjO8.

[13] LeGrand L. Baker, “3 Nephi 5:12-18 — 3 Nephi as a temple text,” posted on October 3, 2012, https://www.legrandlbaker.org/2012/10/03/3-nephi-512-18-legrand-baker-3-nephi-as-a-temple-text/; Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord? 632.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Welch, “The Temple in the Book of Mormon,” 368. In assuming that the assembled crowd at the Bountiful temple was limited to the residents of the town of Bountiful, Welch also concludes that this singular town was home not only to the prophet Nephi₃, but “eleven other very worthy Nephite men” who, with Nephi₃ , became the senior leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ after Christ’s visit. It appears from Mormon’s account, however, that at the time of the Savior’s birth Nephi₃ was living in Zarahemla. “Six hundred years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem” (3 Nephi 1:1), Nephi₃’s father, “Nephi, the son of Helaman, had departed out of the land of Zarahemla, giving charge unto his son Nephi, who was his eldest son, concerning the plates of brass, and all the records which has been kept, and all those things which has been kept sacred from the departure of Lehi out of Jerusalem” (3 Nephi 1:2). This suggests that when Nephi₂ “charged” or set apart his oldest son, Nephi₃, as the presiding high priest among the posterity of Lehi, he did so in the City of Zarahemla were Nephi₂ lived (Helaman 7:1, 10) and presumably Nephi₃ was raised.

Mormon further suggests that Nephi₃ may still have been living in Zarahemla nine years later, when Mormon commented that “Nephi₂, who was the father of Nephi₃, who had charge of the records, did not return to the land of Zarahemla” (3 Nephi 2:9). Moreover, while Mormon does not tell us where Nephi₃ was residing during the intervening years after the sign of the Savior’s birth and the sign was given of His crucifixion and death in the New World, Mormon does indicate that Nephi₃ was ministering “many things unto” “the people of Nephi,” including performing numerous miracles and “ordaining” men to the “ministry” and apparently actively overseeing the affairs of the Church, between A.D. 31-34 (if not the entire period since the sign of the Savior’s birth)(3 Nephi 7:13-26). While Nephi₃ certainly could have moved from Zarahemla to Bountiful at some point during this period, as Welch assumes, a distance some estimate from 80 to 160 miles (see “Book of Mormon History: East Access to Current Research for Personal Study”, “Top 10 Book of Mormon Map Features.” April 4, 2019, https://www.bookofmormonhistory.com/post/top-10-book-of-mormon-map-features#:~:text=The%20Land%20of%20Bountiful%20bordered,Hill%20Cumorah%20%2F%20Ramah), Zarahemla would certainly have been more centrally located for such a widespread ministry

[16] “Possible Book of Mormon Sites in Relation to Each Other,” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/14419/book-mormon-land-map_1941052.pdf.

[17] Welch, “The Temple in the Book of Mormon,” 369-70.

[18] Heavenly Father’s role, not only in directing and announcing Jesus Christ, His Only Begotten Son, to the Nephites, but in authoring and overseeing His entire Plan of Salvation for ALL of His children, seems to be such an important point that Mormon references the word “Father,” referring to Heavenly Father (“Elohim” in the ancient Israelite temple drama) an incredible 159 times, as the following chart documents (chapter and verse in 3 Nephi and # of References to the word “Father,” meaning God the Father):

Verse	# Refs	Verse	# Refs	Verse	# Refs	Verse	# Refs	Verse	# Refs
1:14	2	15:1	1	17:14	1	20:33	1	27:7	1
9:15	4	15:13	1	17:15	1	20:34	1	27:9	2
11:7	1	15:14	1	19:6	1	20:35	3	27:10	1
11:11	3	15:15	2	19:7	1	20:46	2	27:13	2
11:25	1	15:16	1	19:8	1	21:2	1	27:14	2
11:27	4	15:18	1	19:20	1	21:3	2	27:15	1
11:32	5	15:19	1	19:21	1	21:4	3	27:16	1
11:35	3	15:20	1	19:23	2	21:6	1	27:17	1
11:36	3	15:20	1	19:24	1	21:7	1	27:26	1
12:45	1	15:24	1	19:27	1	21:9	1	27:28	2
12:48	1	16:3	1	19:28	1	21:11	1	27:30	1
13:1	1	16:4	1	19:29	2	21:14	1	28:1	1
13:4	1	16:5	1	19:31	1	21:20	1	28:4	1
13:6	2	16:6	1	20:10	1	21:26	3	28:7	2
13:8	1	16:7	1	20:12	1	21:27	2	28:8	1
13:9	1	16:8	1	20:14	1	21:28	1	28:10	4
13:14	1	16:9	2	20:19	1	21:29	1	28:11	2
13:15	1	16:10	2	20:20	2	23:4	1	28:30	1
13:18	2	16:13	1	20:25	1	23:9	1	28:30	1
13:26	1	16:14	1	20:26	1	24:1	2	28:40	1
13:32	1	16:16	1	20:27	1	26:2	1	29:1	1
14:11	1	17:3	1	20:28	1	26:15	2
14:21	1	17:4	2	20:29	1	27:2	1

[19] The New Year festival complex, celebrated in the “fall of each year, after their harvest and before the rainy season,” consisted of a continuous series of “sacred events”: first, “the celebration of New Year’s day,” a day of sacrificing to the Lord and feasting; next, there were “eight days of solemn preparation for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, a fast day “celebrated on the tenth day of the first month” and “a time for repentance and cleansing,” including the selection of two make goats, one of which was chosen by lot to be sacrificed as a sin offering and the other to be the “scapegoat” (Leviticus 16:21-22); then followed four days of preparation for the Feast of the Tabernacles in which individual families constructed “tabernacles” or booths with “tree branches and leaves” near the temple, where the families would stay during the remaining days of the festival; and, finally, the temple drama, which was enacted from the 15^th to the 22^nd days of the Feast of Tabernacles festival. “At Jerusalem, large portions of the drama were probably staged something like our modern-day pageants. Some parts of the performance took place within the city, and others outside its walls. Some occurred in the Temple itself. All the nation participated in the drama, either on the stage, in the choirs, or as part of the audience. The subject of the play covered the full panoramic scope of cosmic history—from the Council in Heaven before the foundation of the world, through linear time, and concluding with Jehovah’s ultimate triumph over evil, and his reign on a glorified paradisiacal earth.” Baker and Ricks, Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord? 25-32.

[20] Ibid. 40-47. Two of the most prominent leaders in this ground-breaking research noted by Baker and Ricks were Hermann Gunkel, a professor of Old Testament from Berlin, and his student, Sigmund Mowinckel, who taught Old Testament at the University of Oslo. For citations to their most important works, see ibid. 40 n. 50 & 48 n. 66.

[21] Baker and Ricks, Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord? 37-39.

[22] Ibid. 23.

[23] Ibid. 18-19. Baker “reconstructed” the liturgy of the ancient Israelite temple drama, as set forth in the Psalms as originally ordered, which “was divided into three acts” as follows:

Act 1 begins in the Council in Heaven where God instructs the members of the Council and foreordains the king. Then the drama takes us to the physical creation and an account of events in the Garden of Eden. The king and queen play the roles of Adam and Eve, but in doing so they also represent everyone in the congregation. After they eat the fruit that enables them to judge between good and evil, they lose their garments of light and are expelled from the Garden

Act 2 takes place in the mortal world and follows the same chronology as the history of Israel. The king receives “the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek.” He is anointed to become king and receives the Abrahamic Covenant. He receives the authority of Moses and becomes custodian of the Law. He receives the kingship covenant of David.

After he is fully prepared, he is confronted with impossible opposition. The Israelites are symbolically attacked by their Canaanite neighbors. Jerusalem and the Temple are destroyed and the king is killed. While the king awaits his rescue from the Underworld, the focus of the drama becomes an account or enactment of the Saviour’ s life and atonement.

After three days, Jehovah himself descends into the Underworld, defeats the twin

monsters of Death and Hell, and rescues the king.

On the morning of the seventh day, Jehovah (represented by the Ark of the Covenant), the king, and all the people join in a triumphal procession around Jerusalem, measuring it with their steps and redefining it as sacred space—a New Jerusalem, with a new Temple, and they are now Zion.

The procession leads into the Temple where the king is washed, anointed, clothed, and given a new name. Through this coronation he has become an adopted son of God and sits on the throne to deliver a lecture about the Law and the commandments.

Act 3 is the 8th day of the drama, and the last day of the festival. It is the time of the great feast and represents the millennial reign of the Savior. For the people it symbolizes their return to the Garden of Eden and the tree of life, the restoration of their garments of light—and their being again in the presence of God.  Baker and Ricks, Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord? 

[24] Ibid. 460-61.

[25] Ibid. 55-59.

[26] Ibid. 49. For Baker and Rick’s review of the Deuteronomists’ role in editing our current Old Testament text, see ibid. 35 n.32, 50-51.

[27] See Baker and Ricks, Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord? (page references to sections of their book discussing these concepts are in brackets) and Baker, “3 Nephi as a temple text.” Bracketed annotations are my own.

[28] Baker, “3 Nephi as a temple text.”

[29] In their extensive “reconstruction” of the “ancient temple drama,” Baker and Ricks minutely examine the Psalms that scholars have identified (or that Baker and Ricks believe might have been utilized) for each Act and scene in the dramatic reenactment of this cosmological Israelite temple ordinance. As a representative example, the following is a summarized annotation of “Act 1, Scene 1: The Council in Heaven,” of the drama—Psalms 82, “The Father’s Instructions to the Council:”

[Narrator or chorus:] God standeth in the congregation of the mighty;

he judgeth among the gods.

[The Father says to the members of the Council, His spirit children:]

How long will ye judge unjustly [perversely],   

and accept the persons of [show favor to] the wicked? [ie. we need to avoid, or correct, an attitude or feeling “that some people are better than others”]

Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

Deliver the poor [“weak or feeble”] and needy:    rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

They [the wicked] know not, neither will they understand;    they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course [in other words, you are to “go to the earth and help others walk in the light of truth”].

I have said, Ye are gods;    and all of you are children of the most High.

But [surely] ye shall die like men [death being a part of the Plan],    and fall [as a hero in battle] like one of the princes [ie. some of you will be martyred, like the early Christians or Joseph Smith].

Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

[30] Baker and Ricks add that the Savior’s words, “I am Jesus Christ the Son of God,” “is a translation: He would not have used the Greek forms of his names when he spoke to the people in America. ‘Jesus’ is the Greek form of Joshua, which in Hebrew means ‘Jehovah saves,’ or ‘Saviour.’ ‘Christ’ is the same as the Hebrew ‘Messiah’ which means one who is anointed.” What the “the Nephites actually heard,” then, they argue, was, “‘I am the Anointed Saviour, the Son of God.’ If that is what they heard, they would have understood!” (“3 Nephi as a temple text;” Baker and Ricks, Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord? 616).