What does the often-mentioned phrase “hewn down and cast into the fire” mean?

Thomas R. Valletta

The phrase “hewn down and cast into the fire” is repeated twelve times in the Book of Mormon by several different prophets. It is a figure of speech wherein “trees are people. … The root of the tree is the essential core, the source and supplier for the body of the tree, which should bear the fruit. ‘If the root be holy, so are the branches’ (Rom. 11:16)” (Ogden, Where Jesus Walked, 78). If we fail to bear fruit and endure to the end, we will become like dead trees, fit only for burning.

The Book of Mormon Study Guide: Start to Finish

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