Mormon’s Sources

Abstract

How Mormon compiled Nephite records into the book that bears his name has never been carefully studied. This paper makes an attempt to understand that process as it details the limitations Mormon faced and the sources he would have used. Mormon’s framework depended primarily on the larger plates of Nephi, but this paper demonstrates that Mormon appears to have supplemented those plates with other sources from the Nephite archive of records. The restrictions of the plates of Nephi and the nature of the additional sources are discussed and evaluated.