“The Power of the Holy Ghost”

Brant Gardner

Jesus’s final act was to confer on his chosen twelve the Holy Ghost and the authority to give that same gift to others. Thus, it was the ordinance of confirmation and ordination. Although Mormon describes it as “touch[ing] with his hand,” we would use the more familiar “laying on of hands.”

Text: Mormon interjects an editorial comment: “I will show unto you hereafter that this record is true” (v. 37). By this he means the disciples receiving the Holy Ghost. I read 4 Nephi 1:1–5 as Mormon’s fulfilling of this particular editorial promise.

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 5

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