Light of Christ doctrine

[deacon blues]

When I read Moroni 7, there is a clear connection between Moroni's faith, hope; and charity sermon with the one by Paul in 1st Corinthians. However the Sermon on the "light of Christ" which I have always been taught refers to our conscience, does not appear anywhere that I can find in either the Bible or 19th century theology. Does anyone have a hypothesis about where the "light of Christ" doctrine comes from?

[Corsair]

The LDS Bible Dictionary has you covered:

The phrase “light of Christ” does not appear in the Bible, although the principles that apply to it are frequently mentioned therein. The precise phrase is found in Alma 28:14, Moro. 7:18, and D&C 88:7. Biblical phrases that are sometimes synonymous to the term “light of Christ” are “spirit of the Lord” and “light of life” (see, for example, John 1:4; 8:12). The “spirit of the Lord,” however, sometimes is used with reference to the Holy Ghost and so must not be taken in every case as having reference to the light of Christ.

This is expanded upon under an LDS Gospel Topic Essay

The Light of Christ is the divine energy, power, or influence that proceeds from God through Christ and gives life and light to all things. The Light of Christ influences people for good and prepares them to receive the Holy Ghost. One manifestation of the Light of Christ is what we call a conscience.

Ultimately, I think we can attribute this LDS idiom to Joseph Smith in 1829 during his production of the Book of Mormon.

[dogbite]

You can attribute it to Joseph Smith reusing the idea of the ether for transmitting light. It's the same idea repackaged for religious explanations.