The following was submitted January 14th, 2025 in consideration for the Latter-day Saint Theology Seminar to be held at Yale University in June 2025.
The first half of the verse: “Wherefore, a man being evil cannot do that which is good”[1] begs the question, “What defines ‘being evil?’” Mormon gives something of a puzzler in answer: “Why, the inability to do good.” Mormon seems to be reiterating in verse 10 his earlier assertion from verse 6 that “God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good.”[2] He further illustrates with the examples of gift-giving and prayer, specifically mentioning that the intent of the action—whether good or evil—has significant bearing upon whether that act is counted “for evil” or “for righteousness.”[3] Tracking a little further back, in verse 5 Mormon states that “the word of God…saith…if their works be good, then they are good also.”[4] Taking the contrapositive of that statement: they are evil whose works are evil.
I take the standard reading of verse 10 to be something along these lines:
P1: There are two mutually exclusive conditions relevant to moral agents: a “good” state and an “evil” state.[5]
P2: Sin,[6] by its very nature, causes the agent to depart from the good state and enter an evil state.
P3: Due to the fallen condition all ordinary human beings eventually sin by choice.[7]
C: Since all ordinary humans freely but inevitably choose sin at some point (P3), and sin places one in the evil state (P2), it follows that every ordinary human being eventually departs from the good state.[8]Consequently, all ordinary human beings occupy an evil state at some time, having chosen sin.[9] Thus, for all ordinary human beings who do sin by choice, it necessarily follows that they enter into an evil state.[10]
Permit me then assume that there exists a person in the evil state who wishes to change and inhabit the good state, in a word to repent, and add a fourth premise:
P4: Repentance is the initial mechanism offered by which one can move from the evil state to the good state, and is an act undertaken voluntarily by a human being.[11]
Repentance is, presumably, a good act. Repentance, coupled specifically with baptism, has the effect of moving a person from an evil situation to one where the interaction of the Holy Spirit can sanctify the subject such that they are removed of sin before God.[12] This seems to me a wholly desirable outcome, indeed a good one. If it is, Mormon presents what seems a stark impossibility: evil people[13] cannot do good![14] If we assume that repentance is not an action of a mortal, moral agent but rather a unilateral gift of God, then we run into an issue which seems nearly to preclude agency and morality altogether: God is choosing who can and will be saved.
This reading creates a hopeless situation where even the best efforts at good acts are near worthless. Verse 10 does not preclude the physical possibility of giving money to charity or building houses for the homeless, but these acts are soteriologically ineffectual. These seemingly “good” acts are “not counted…for righteousness.”[15] Assuming the evil state in verse 10 is brought about by sin and is reversible, what if there is a soul who recognizes that “[they are]…encircled about by the everlasting chains of death,”[16] and they want out?
In very short: what is repentance?
Repentance may not be understood as that which is good, at least viewing from the mortal side of things. It could be that which is neutral. Intent to repent invites God’s move, so to speak, as to whether He will accept and miraculously change me from the evil to the good state.[17] This question is complicated by the culminating verse of the chapter which hints to a purifying process effectual enough to bring a willing soul to the same type of purity as is enjoyed by Christ himself.[18]
This view of repentance may serve to offer, perhaps, a synergistic way of viewing it. Perhaps repentance is a union of deity and mortal into what can only be identified in Christ and by his light. Mormon shows this light to be the way to judge and “lay hold upon every good thing.”[19] Maybe Mormon really means it when he says we must be in Christ.[20]Perhaps, after being “enticed to do good”[21] and being persuaded “to believe in Christ,”[22] expending “all the energy of heart” in prayer invites a filling, unifying, oneness with Christ such that I, as repentant believer, have Christ in me.[23]
End Notes
[1] Moroni 7:10.
[2] Moroni 7:6
[3] See Moroni 7:6-9. We see consonant ideas in 3 Nephi 14:15-18 where prophetic “fruits” are given as examples of a test as to whether the prophetic “tree” is good or evil.
[4] Moroni 7:5
[5] The evil state here is understood as a state distinctly separate and opposite from the good, see 2 Nephi 2:11. That is to say, one cannot be some combination of good and evil on this view, but will inhabit either one or the other. This implied by the inability of the “evil man” to do good, and presumably vice versa.
[6] Here I mean something along the lines of an act which causes separation from God. This is used in an extremely broad sense and will include the Fall. I use it here as a near simile to the concept of spiritual death, see Alma 42:9-10.
[7] This is a practical inevitability, not a strict logical necessity. Christ is an avowed exception. Though in the incarnation fully human and free to sin, He chose not to and thus never departed from the good. This from D&C 93:12-14, see also Hebrews 5:7-10.
[8] In practice sin is unavoidable for ordinary humans, Christ excluded.
[9] Christ stands as the unique exception, never making the choice to sin despite having the capacity to do so.
[10] Once sin is committed, there is no avoiding the consequence of separation from the good state. It is also worth mentioning here that I do not espouse divine command theory, but we may see the commands of God profitably as those prescriptions which demarcate His presence and our relation to a desirable proximity to deity, see 3 Nephi 14:16-20, 2 Nephi 1:20.
[11] See Moroni 7:33-34. This is important because although verse 33 states that a person with faith “shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me,” repentance may not be logically possible if the standard reading holds, and then the believer cannot access this power, logically-speaking. This may create the situation, which I’ll outline below, of a person who is willing and unable to comply with a divine invitation/command to repentance.
[12] 3 Nephi 27:20. I include this reference here because Mormon and Moroni clearly had access to, and a working familiarity with, Christ’s ministry among the Nephites at Bountiful, see Moroni 2.
[13] Here I mean those who are in the evil state through their free acts, having chosen sin.
[14] See again Moroni 7:6, 10.
[15] See Moroni 7:5-7
[16] Alma 36:17-18
[17] This also bolstering the need for faith before the repentance. If God could refuse, the act of repentance takes immense trust and not a little surrender.
[18] Moroni 7:48
[19] See Moroni 7:15-21
[20] See Moroni 7:32-34
[21] Moroni 7:13
[22] Moroni 7:16
[23] Moroni 7:48