Abstract: In his well-known volume about the Book of Mormon, Grant Hardy focuses primarily on the book’s main narrators. However, he also makes a number of observations about other figures in the book that are of particular interest, including some about Captain Moroni. In addition to those I address elsewhere, these observations include the claim that Moroni lacked the typical religious virtues — which Hardy identifies as “humility, self-sacrifice, kindness, and relying upon the Lord.” They also include the assertion that Helaman, in his manifest reliance upon God, serves as a counterexample to Moroni’s military leadership. A close look at the text, however, indicates that both these claims are mistaken.

Grant Hardy’s influential volume, Understanding the Book of Mormon,1 focuses on the text’s main narrators. Other figures in the book naturally receive attention along the way, however. One of these is Captain Moroni. Among Hardy’s remarks regarding Captain Moroni are these seven: (1) Moroni’s divine communication (reported in Alma 60:33) was an “off-the-mark revelation”;2 (2) Moroni “slaughters” his political opponents;3 (3) he is not portrayed in the text as “a particularly religious man”;4 (4) he was not comparable to the sons of Mosiah in spiritual matters [Page 218]— despite Mormon’s claim to the contrary;5 (5) he can be described as being “hot-blooded” and as having an “aggressive posture,” a “quick temper,” a “blunt manner,” and “hasty suspicions;”6 (6) he did not possess the “typical religious virtues;”7 and (7) he serves as a contrast to Helaman, who, unlike Moroni, put his trust in God more than in his own expertise.8

I have addressed the first five of these claims elsewhere in two separate papers.9 In this article I will consider the final two assertions, namely, that Captain Moroni lacked “the typical religious virtues” — by which Hardy specifically means “humility, self-sacrifice, kindness, and relying upon the Lord”10 — and the claim that Helaman serves as a counterexample to Moroni.11

Now, the idea that Moroni lacked the usual religious virtues might well be a common view, since what stands out in the record are his wartime leadership and his immersion in circumstances of violence. When we think of Moroni, we tend to think of his military engagements rather than his religious virtues. Surprisingly, however,