[34] On the other hand, some believers in the Book of Mormon, such as Marvin Perkins, see the changes as better conforming the chapter headers and footnotes to the meaning of the text in light of the LDS Church's 1978 Revelation on Priesthood. Thus, any and all become “pure and delightsome” [8] when they have “washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end” (3 Nephi 27:19; cf. The mark which distinguished the Lamanites from the Nephites for some five hundred years began to be lifted with the conversion of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. The “skins of the Lamanites were dark.” (This corresponds to the “skin of blackness” from 2 Nephi 5:21.) That such was the case is borne out by Mormon’s parenthetical comment concerning the decline and fall of the Nephite nation wherein he stated that in his own day those who had taken the name “Nephites” (in contradistinction to those apostates from the Church of Christ who had taken the name Lamanites) had been “slain and scattered upon the face of the earth, and mixed with the Lamanites until they are no more called the Nephites, becoming wicked, and wild, and ferocious, yea, even becoming Lamanites” (Helaman 3:16; emphasis added). delightsome” (2 Nephi 30:6; see also W of M 1:8). 15:92 Chron. [14], Historically, Mormons have identified the Lamanites as the primary ancestors of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Soon after his visit, the Lamanites and Nephites merged into one nation and co-existed for two centuries in peace. 185 Heber J. . . [12], The Doctrine and Covenants is composed of writings that adherents in the Latter Day Saint movement believe to be revelations from God. Without a doubt, these same revelations will be made known to the Latter-day Saints when similar conditions prevail among them (vv. By reducing the probability of social interaction between the two peoples, it protected the early Nephites in their infant spiritual state from being overwhelmed by the false traditions with which Satan sought to ensnare them via their rebellious brethren. [10][11] The Book of Mormon recounts a series of large battles over two centuries, ending with the extermination of the Nephites by the Lamanites. Such was the real curse that came upon the Lamanites. ; emphasis added). The issue with God is righteousness, not race. While its foundation was the false teachings of their fathers, this hatred was doubtlessly fed by feelings of inferiority engendered by the superior culture of the Nephites. Mormon (who was killed by the Lamanites between AD 385 and 400 [see Mormon 6:15; 8:2–3]) wrote to his son Moroni that “many of our brethren have deserted over unto the Lamanites, and many more will also desert over unto them” (Moroni 9:24). (2 Nephi 4:6–7). Insofar as mortality is concerned, they did not choose darkness; they were born into it. I will set a mark upon him that mingleth his seed with thy brethren, that they may be cursed also. Laman and Lemuel had not only sought to kill Nephi, but also their other brothers, Sam, Jacob and Joseph. Also consider the Book of Mormon mentions that the Lamanites wore very little clothing, (and it is inferred the Nephites were the opposite), so the Lamanites would appear darker from being in the sun more. Marriages between the daughters of Noah’s righteous sons and the “sons of men” (Moses 8:14) is prominently cited in connection with the general wickedness of Noah’s day which led to the deluge that swept mankind from the earth (see Moses 8:12–22). Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1976. The prophet Jacob later spoke of how the Nephites hated the Lamanites “because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins,” and warned the immoral Nephites that unless they repented, the Lamanites’ “skins will be whiter than yours, when ye shall be brought with them before the throne of God” (Jacob 3:5, 8). The new version deleted the phrase "dark, loathsome, and filthy" and now reads "the Lamanites will be scattered, and the Spirit will cease to strive with them. The first recorded instance of its being removed was in connection with the fourteen-year ministry of the four sons of Mosiah II between 90 and 77 BC. God wields a two-edged sword. “The dark skin was placed upon the Lamanites so that they could be distinguished from the Nephites and to keep the two peoples from mixing. President Joseph Fielding Smith taught that “the dark skin was placed upon the Lamanites so that they could be distinguished from the Nephites and to keep the two peoples from mixing. So far as the Lamanites were concerned, the Nephites were contemptible “sons of a liar” (Alma 20:13). The dark skin was the sign of the curse. We are further informed that in this Zionlike era: “There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God” (v. 17; emphasis added). The first suggestion that a divine curse would come upon Laman and Lemuel and their posterity is contained in a revelation given to Nephi, their younger brother, a few weeks after Lehi and his family departed from Jerusalem-600 years before the birth of Christ-and shortly after the colony encamped in the wilderness bordering the Red Sea: For behold, in that day that they [Laman and Lemuel] shall rebel against me, I will curse them even with a sore curse, and they shall have no power over thy [Nephi’s] seed except they shall rebel against me also. The day of the Lamanites is nigh. As a group, the Nephites-like their forebears in Canaan-proved incapable of resisting the gravitational pull of their mortal imperfections for any length of time. [15][20][21] A 1971 church magazine article claimed that Lamanites "consist of the Indians of all the Americas as well as the islanders of the Pacific."[22]. . Enos (c. 525–420 BC) wrote that because of their evil nature, they became wild, and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people, full of idolatry and filthiness; feeding upon beasts of prey; dwelling in tents, and wandering about in the wilderness with a short skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven; and their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and the ax. . Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1989), 133–57. Do you carry in your veins as pure Israelitish blood as those whom you criticize?” (“The Evil of Intolerance” 424). In spite of this “the people of Nephi did seek diligently to restore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God” (Enos 1:20; see also Alma 17–26). Kimball, Spencer W. “The Evil of Intolerance.” Improvement Era (June 1954) 57:423–26; also in Conference Report (Apr. At an equally volatile time in their history, the For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, and they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exce… Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Lamanite babies that were born to the dark-skinned Lamanites also had the sign of the curse. Provo, UT 84602 Those “incorrect traditions” (Alma 3:8) which had warranted the ancient separation of the two peoples no longer existed. Therefore, as many of the Jews “as shall believe in Christ shall also become a delightsome people” (2 Nephi 30:7). This fact alone demonstrates the very high esteem in which the Lord holds the principle of chastity and the gravity of offenses against it. Millions of Joseph’s modern descendants bear the temporal and spiritual burdens imposed upon them by their fathers. While the dark skin was initially designed to insulate Nephi’s followers against the false traditions and godless ways of their Lamanite brethren, in a later turn-about it served to protect the Lamanite people from the fatal sin of their supposedly superior Nephite brethren. [3] The converted Lamanite king renamed his son and successor Anti-Nephi-Lehi. And many of them did eat nothing save it was raw meat; and they were continually seeking to destroy us. Let us conclude by examining the LDS scriptures, which indicates plainly that dark skin was a sign of Gods curse: Book of Mormon. Richards, Franklin D. and James A. 3:16). The men believed that God was referring to the Native Americans and began teaching among the Lenape. The dark spirit manifested by Nephi’s older brothers remained the dominant force in them all their days and infected their posterity with similar dispositions. In the Book of Mormon’s narrative, the Lamanites began as wicked rivals to the more righteous Nephites, but when the Nephite civilization became decadent, it lost divine favor and was destroyed by the Lamanites. How long they dwindled in unbelief before the mark was reimposed upon them, we can only conjecture, but one thing is certain-the presence of the physical sign reflected the spiritual darkness into which Lehi’s posterity fell after the coming of the Savior. Brigham Young University As the mark served to segregate the Nephites from the Lamanites anciently, so has it served to segregate Lehi’s descendants from the Gentiles in more modern times. The existence of a Lamanite nation has received no support in mainstream science or archaeology. The new lesson manual states:  “The Book of Mormon also states that a mark of dark skin came upon the Lamanites after the Nephites separated from them. The Personal Writing of Joseph Smith. This edict was to prove of great significance. The temporal and spiritual deliverance of a righteous remnant of Jacob will presage a like deliverance for all of those-from whatever race and whatever nation-who come unto their Savior and Redeemer. [5]. Indeed, Lehi had blessed the children of Laman “that the cursing may be taken from you and be answered upon the heads of your parents” (2 Nephi 4:6). At one meeting, a father and mother and their sixteen-year-old daughter we represent, the little member girl – sixteen – sitting between the dark father and mother, and it was evident she was several shades lighter than her parents – on the same reservation, in the same hogan, subject to the same sun and wind and weather. The dark skin was the sign of the curse. An entire people may well have vanished in wickedness and perished in unbelief. Why there are different races making up the manifestly imperfect human family is known only to an all-wise God. As Satan gained ever greater influence over them, they descended deeper and deeper into barbarism. . They symbolize all racial minorities wherever they may be found. In that year the growing threat of the second Gadianton band to both the Nephites and Lamanites alike resulted in a partial union of these two peoples: And it came to pass that those Lamanites who had united with the Nephites were numbered among the Nephites; And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites; And their young men and their daughters became exceedingly fair, and they were numbered among the Nephites, and were called Nephites. Neither their isolation from the Lamanites nor the leadership of worthy prophets prevented their rapid moral decline into pride, selfishness and immorality following Nephi’s death. "[17] The wording was changed in the 2006 Doubleday edition and the subsequent editions published by the LDS Church, to state only that the Lamanites "are among the ancestors of the American Indians. Knowing that his death was imminent, the venerable patriarch pled with his wayward sons to awake from the “sleep of hell” lest “a cursing should come upon you for the space of many generations; and ye are visited by sword, and by famine, and are hated, and are led according to the will and captivity of the devil” (2 Nephi 1:13, 18; cf. It should be recalled that the Lord’s edict concerning the imposition of the Lamanite mark was not limited as to duration and extent (2 Nephi 5:23). One can hardly suffer a greater loss in mortality than to lose the Spirit of the Lord (see Alma 28:14; D&C 84:45–46). [13]:53, The Doctrine and Covenants also contains a prophecy that the Lamanites will "blossom as a rose" (D&C 49:24) and that the city of Zion would be built on the borders by the Lamanites (D&C 28:9), which was later identified as Missouri (D&C 54:8). "[30], In 1840, with the third edition of the Book of Mormon, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, Joseph Smith, who adherents believe translated the writings of ancient prophets to become the Book of Mormon, changed the wording to "a pure and a delightsome people," consistent with contemporary interpretation of the term "white" as used in scripture. Redeemed Well-known member. . They eventually did destroy the Nephites but not their records. Wherefore, because of my blessing the Lord God will not suffer that ye shall perish; wherefore, he will be merciful unto you and unto your seed forever. Next, this skin of darkness/blackness was set upon them “according to the mark” and it is the mark which is the curse. Nor were these Lamanites merely caught up in a wave of religious enthusiasm; they “never did fall away” (Alma 23:6). If the Lord were to acknowledge a superior race, would it not be Israel, the very people whom you would spurn and deprive? “The New Publications of the Standard Works—1979, 1981.” BYU Studies (Fall 1982) 22:387–424. . [6] It is LDS doctrine that the pre-flood Western Hemisphere-the then-geographical extent of which is unknown-was inhabited by Adam and his posterity from about 4000 BC to the time of the world-wide flood. Nephi recorded that “because of their cursing” the Lamanites “did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey” (2 Nephi 5:24). Answers to Gospel Questions. In all likelihood most pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas-of whatever original race or culture-eventually came under the edict: “I will set a mark upon him that mingleth his seed with thy brethren, that they may be cursed also” (Alma 3:14–15). who is my Neighbor” 277; “The Evil of Intolerance” 423). 2 Nephi 5:21). Mormonism teaches a replacement identity in the Book of Mormon – Lamanites. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, and they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them" (2 Nephi 5:21). . In that day when the “great division” (2 Nephi 30:10) has cleansed the earth of its rebellious inhabitants, contentions will cease, peace will prevail, the blessings of father Lehi upon the children of Laman and Lemuel will be fully realized, “and there shall be one fold and one shepherd; and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall find pasture” (1 Nephi 22:25). Thus we can only surmise the extent of Israel’s tribal representation among Book of Mormon peoples. Commenting on this point, Robert J. Matthews wrote: “The decision to use ‘pure’ in this passage was made not on the basis of the original manuscripts (as were most other cases) but on the 1840 revision by the Prophet Joseph Smith and the judgment of the [current] living prophets. There was good cause to fear that close association between those diverse peoples would lead to intermarriage and a consequent apostasy from the laws of God. The Book of Mormon further recounts, "There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God. The BOM clearly and literally states that the Lamanites were dark-skinned. Matthews, Robert J.