Why Did Mormon Call Jesus “The Holy Child?”

John W. Welch

In Moroni 8:3, Mormon calls Jesus the Holy Child. This is the only time in the Book of Mormon that this name of Christ appears. That is very interesting because Mormon has met Jesus. Jesus has appeared to him, and he did not appear as an infant. Why, then, did Mormon here and at this time refer to the Savior as a Holy Child? For one thing, since the theme of this whole chapter is that children are pure like Christ, by using that name for Jesus at the beginning of this epistle—seeing Jesus as God’s Holy Child—Mormon is already subtly establishing the basis of his argument that children do not need to be cleansed from any sin. As Jesus, even as a child, was holy, so are all children.

John W. Welch Notes

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