Responding to Eli Soriano on the Book of Mormon
Eli Soriano uses ang issue of "racism" to say that the Book of Mormon is false but however, he can't use it also against the Bible by his standard. he uses double standards all the time. we see na gumagamit siya ng isang standard para sa Bible at isang standard para sa Book of Mormon. I don't think he's playing fair. Soriano also begins by quoting Brigham Young about the "physical description" of the devil but what we see is that this is irrelevant sa issue dahil sa sinabi ni Brigham Young ay walang comparison sa mga black people. you can find the same sa mga literary works where skin becoming "black" is associated with becoming evil pero this is not making a comparison sa mga black people. these are not dogmatic and we're not canonized as church doctrine. Eli Soriano can't distinguish what is canonized and what is not and does not really know that much in Church history to get the facts right. it asks the question na kailan ba nagkaroon ng dogma sa church about sa rejection ng black people? It should be noted that " . . . Not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. A single statement made by a single leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, but is not meant to be officially binding for the whole Church. With divine inspiration, the First Presidency...and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles...counsel together to establish doctrine that is consistently proclaimed in official Church publications. This doctrine resides in the four “standard works” of scripture (the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price), official declarations and proclamations, and the Articles of Faith. Isolated statements are often taken out of context, leaving their original meaning distorted." (LDS Newsroom, "Approaching Mormon Doctrine," lds.org [4 May 2007]). there is no view sa panahon ni prophet Joseph Smith na ang mga blacks are lower beings than whites. Joseph Smith sold his property to free a slave at may mga ordained na blacks sa church at that times. pano mo nasabing may dogmatic teaching ng rejection of black people? In every clip sa mga attacks ni Soriano against the church ay may maghahanapan ka na mali mali at inconsistent. without giving any support sa kanyang claim na wala kaming pansin sa Bible ay he goes around charging the Book of Mormon with racism. such actions shows ignorance of the Book of Mormon as a whole with it's message. it is a argument ng mga Anti-mormons for over the years.Eli Soriano quotes Alma 3:6 and says na "para sa mga Mormons, ang mga negro ay nasa sumpa" and to Eli Soriano, had you really read the Book of Mormon? Eli Soriano here did not actually know what the difference between a mark and a curse. a mark was placed sa mga Lamanites which is dark skin but this is not the curse to them. ang curse sa kanila ay ang kanilang separation from the presence of the Lord (2Ne. 5:20). people get this wrong all the time at ito ay hindi itinago ng Church as we see it being taught in materials on the Book of Mormon that were used for church classroom settings. critics just make a false conclusion out of it. it does not refer sa mga nasa parts ng Africa so you can't make a conclusion unilaterally na ito ay patungkol sa mga "negro" when it specifically talks about mga Lamanites, that came from the same people that Nephites are from but was marked with dark skin on them and it's not a curse!
Eli Soriano adds na sa 200 years daw past ng church ay walang "minister" na isang black. today, we have many of them and back then ay may mga ordained na mga blacks and even performed ordinances. Elijah Abel and Walker Lewis are two first black men that were ordained to the Priesthood during Joseph Smith's lifetime (W. Kesler Jackson. Elijah Abel: The Life and Times of a Black Priesthood Holder [Cedar Fort Inc., 2013]; Gospel Topics "Blacks and the Priesthood"). Elijah Abel was ordained to the office of an Elder in 1836 at 9 months later, he was ordained to the third quorum of the Seventy (Kirtland elders’ certificates, 1836–1838, Mar. 31, 1836, CR 100 401, 61, [Church History Library, Salt Lake City]), at na si Elijah Abel was listed in ministers of the Gospel (“Kirtland, Ohio, June 3, 1836,” Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate 2 [June 1836]: 335.; Stevenson: For the Cause of Righteousness, 211-12.) it's bright as the Sun na meron and Eli Soriano just don't know anything about Church History. To say na walang ordained minister from the pass 200 years of the Church is just a presupposition out of thin air. Eli Soriano claims na saka lang nahayaan ang mga blacks to lead dahil sa law ng USA and not dogmatic and this again is out of thin air. you should read twice yung Official Declaration 2 to know what really is the cause. at if you have actually studied Church History, Joseph Smith did not view blacks as lower people and blacks lived in the church without the same treatment that 19th century USA has. there are not records that say Joseph Smith viewed them as such. Eli Soriano also does not know how to check the cultural context of these things dahil sa panahon ni Brigham Young ay may colonial slavery. Eli Soriano also used Zipporah, the wife of Moses, who is a Cushite—to use against the Book of Mormon where he tries to make a comparison between Mirriam and early Latter Day Saints to say that they are racist pero paano naging relevant sa topic ang arguments na ganito? does this represent right what we believe? Eli Soriano uses this kind of argument yet does not even know that we have the same in the Book of Mormon. may connection yung isang mabuting tao sa Bible sa isang dark skinned, yes at sa Book of Mormon din. I bet he does not know who Samuel the Lamanite is who is a Lamanite prophet who prophesied of Christ (Hel. 13-16). we also have the people of Ammon who are persecuted for their faith and where we can learn a lot from their experiences (Alma 23:17; 27:26). we also read in the Book of Mormon where Nephi said that the Lord both accepts "both black and white" (2Ne. 26:33) mirrors what Paul said that "...There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:26). the people of Ammon are those Lamanites who joined the church and was also called na mga "Anti-Nephi Lehies" which shows na there is no division. Eli Soriano also can't apply his standards sa Bible. we find in the Old Testament that you can't marry a foreigner (Gen. 24:3-47; 27:46; 28:1-9; Ex. 34:12-16; Dt. 7:3-4; 1Kgs. 11:2; Ezra 6:21; 9:11). and we also find in the Old Testament that Gentiles as called ritually unclean (Lev. 18:24-30; 20:22-27). can we charge the same accusation ni Eli Soriano on the Bible? We also see na present ang ethnocentrism sa second Temple Judaism and can we charge ang mga Jews of the same accusation by Eli Soriano? Joel Rembaum wrote the following (special thanks to Robert Boylan) on second Temple ethnocentrism:
" . . . many of the Jews of the late Second Temple period (ca. 150 B.C.E.-70 C.E.) and the talmudic age (ca. 70-500 C.E.) maintained strongly negative views of pagans and pagan society. Not only were the Jews heirs to the biblical traditions but their experiences with the Greco-Roman and, later, Persian civilizations were often bitter and antagonistic. Greeks, Romans, and Persians were, in the eyes of many Jews, no different from the peoples whom the Bible paints in negative colors. So, for example, in the Mishnah we read:
Cattle may not be left in the inns of the gentiles since they are suspected of bestiality; nor many a woman remain alone with them since they are suspected of lewdness; nor may a man remain alone with them since they are suspected of shedding blood. The daughter of an Israelite may not assist a gentile woman in childbirth, since she would be assisting to bring to birth a child of idolatry (Av. Zar. 2:1).
In a long midrashic account of the day of divine judgment at the end of time, the gentiles are depicted as having been unworthy of receiving the Torah (BT Av. Zar. 2bff.) Elsewhere, they are considered to be infected with lasciviousness (BT Shab. 145b-146a) and sexually immoral (BT Ket. 13b). Further we read: “All the charity and kindness done by the heathens is counted to them as sin, because they only do it to magnify themselves . . . [and] to display haughtiness (BT BB 10b) . . . According to Rabbinic tradition, six of the seven commandments of the children of Noah actually had been given to Adam: prohibitions against idolatry, blaspheming God’s name, murder, incest, and stealing and the obligation to establish courts of law . . . These commandments, for all intents and purposes, were the Sages’ principles of universal ethical monotheism . . . On occasion, the Sages’ critical view of the pagan world made them sceptical of the gentiles’ ability to fulfill even these few, very basic obligations (BT BK 38a; Lev. R. 13:2). (Joel Rembaum “Dealing with Strangers: Relations with Gentils at Home and Abroad” in Jacob Blumenthal and Janet L. Liss, Etz Hayim: Study Companion [Jewish Publications Society, 2005], 201-11, here, pp. 208-9)
Furthermore, Latter Day Saint biblical scholar John Tvedtnes in August 2003 in FAIR wrote:
1. There is no evidence, other than later hearsay, to indicate that Joseph Smith believed that skin color made someone inferior. On the other hand, there is clear evidence that he considered black Africans to be just as capable as whites, given the same opportunities, and he favored freeing the slaves.
2. At least two black men were ordained as elders during Joseph Smith’s time and the prophet himself signed the ordination certificate of one of them. That man, Elijah Abel, was later ordained a seventy and served as a missionary.
3. The Book of Abraham, frequently cited by later generations as evidence that blacks should not be ordained to the priesthood, says nothing about skin color and, in any event, describes a struggle over patriarchal authority between Abraham and the Egyptian king. One cannot read into the text anything about Egyptus being a descendant of Cain or having a black skin. Indeed, the idea of Ham having married a Cainite woman was prevalent among nineteenth-century American Protestants, whence Latter-day Saints picked up the idea. (I shall deal with this issue in a forthcoming review.)
He adds further on the nature of the curse to the Lamanites which Eli Soriano badly misunderstood:
The Nature of the Curse
Was dark skin really a curse pronounced on the Lamanites by God? That seems to be the general consensus, but what does the Book of Mormon really say? Speaking to Nephi, the Lord distinguished between the curse and the mark. “Behold the Lamanites have I cursed, and I will set a mark on them that they and their seed may be separated from thee and thy seed.“[Alma 3:14] At the time this promise was given to Nephi, the curse had already been enforced, while the mark, a change in skin color, was yet future. The Lord also told Nephi that others, including his own posterity, who mingled with the Lamanites, would be both cursed and marked:
And again: I will set a mark upon him that mingleth his seed with thy brethren, that they may be cursed also. And again: I will set a mark upon him that fighteth against thee and thy seed. And again, I say he that departeth from thee shall no more be called thy seed; and I will bless thee, and whomsoever shall be called thy seed, henceforth and forever; and these were the promises of the Lord unto Nephi and to his seed.[Alma 3:15-17]
Nephi described how the Lamanites, as a result of their consistent rebellion against God and the hardness of their hearts were cursed by being cut off from the presence of God.[2 Nephi 5:20] This curse also resulted in the Lamanites being separated from God’s people with the departure of Nephi.[2 Nephi 5:1-7] In connection with the curse of separation, the Lord is said to have set a mark upon the Lamanites. The purpose of the mark, according to the Book of Mormon, was to distinguish the Lamanites from the Nephites so that the Nephites would not intermarry with them and accept incorrect traditions. After Nephi had led away those who would follow him, he wrote:
And behold, the words of the Lord had been fulfilled unto my brethren, which he spake concerning them, that I should be their ruler and their teacher. Wherefore, I had been their ruler and their teacher, according to the commandments of the Lord, until the time they sought to take away my life. Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me, saying that: Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence. And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that 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. And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities. And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done. And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey.[2 Nephi 5:19-24]
A change in skin color would obviously not make the Lamanites “idle” or “full of mischief.” These were cultural, not racial traits. To the Nephites, who followed the law of Moses, [Jarom 1:5] the Lamanite practice of “drinking blood” [Jarom 1:6] and “feeding upon beasts of prey” [Enos 1:20] would have been abhorrent, being forbidden in the mosaic code.[Leviticus 7:26-27; 11:13-20]
Despite statements by such leaders as Nephi and his brother Jacob,[Jacob 3:5] some later Nephites considered being cut off from the presence of God as well as the mark upon the Lamanite skins to be a curse.[Alma 3:6]Thus we read,
And the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brethren, who consisted of Nephi, Jacob, and Joseph, and Sam, who were just and holy men. And their brethren sought to destroy them, therefore they were cursed; and the Lord God set a mark upon them, yea, upon Laman and Lemuel, and also the sons of Ishmael, and Ishmaelitish women. And this was done that their seed might be distinguished from the seed of their brethren, that thereby the Lord God might preserve his people, that they might not mix and believe in incorrect traditions which would prove their destruction. And it came to pass that whosoever did mingle his seed with that of the Lamanites did bring the same curse upon his seed. Therefore, whosoever suffered himself to be led away by the Lamanites was called under that head, and there was a mark set upon him. And it came to pass that whosoever would not believe in the tradition of the Lamanites, but believed those records which were brought out of the land of Jerusalem, and also in the tradition of their fathers, which were correct, who believed in the commandments of God and kept them, were called the Nephites, or the people of Nephi, from that time forth.[Alma 3:6-11]
So while at least some of the Nephites disdained the Lamanites because of their skin color, the Lord was concerned about the sinful nature of the Lamanites and merely used their physical characteristics to keep the Nephites from accepting their wicked ways. It is interesting that some Nephites, having rejected the Nephite religion, did mingle with the Lamanites, bringing “the same curse upon his seed” and having “a mark set upon him.” Again, we see that the curse and the mark, while going together, were two different things.
Lamanite Filthiness
Mosiah 9:12 describes the Lamanites as “a lazy and an idolatrous people,” but it does not tie this to their skin color. Indeed, Alma 22:28 ties it to geographical or cultural conditions, saying that “the more idle part of the Lamanites lived in the wilderness.” More important is the fact that Nephi described his brothers’ laziness long before the change in skin color came into being, when Laman and Lemuel were unwilling to help him build the ship.[1 Nephi 17:18] He also wrote of their “rudeness,” evidently in the original sense of that word, i.e., savagery.[1 Nephi 18:9; 2 Nephi 2:1] In his vision, Nephi “beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.”[1 Nephi 12:23]
References to filthiness are not an allusion to skin color, but clearly refer to a spiritual state of being “filthy before God”[Jacob 3:3; see also vss. 5, 9-10] rather than a physical characteristic. [1 Nephi 15:33-34; 2 Nephi 9:16; Mosiah 7:30-31; Alma 5:22; 7:21; Mormon 9:4, 14] Similarly, both the Bible and the Doctrine and Covenants use the term “filthy” in reference to sinners.[Job 15:16; Psalm 14:2-3; 53:2-3; Proverbs 30:12; Ezekiel 16:36; 22:15; 24:13; 36:25; 2 Corinthians; Ephesians 5:4; James 1:21; Revelation 17:4; 22:11; D&C 88:35, 102.]
We should not be surprised to find attitudes of superiority and the attribution of negative characteristics to foreign people and cultures among the Nephites, and the existence of such in the Book of Mormon is not evidence that the text was influenced by nineteenth-century American racist views. Parallels are known in other ancient cultures. For example, descriptions of the Otomi people of Mexico in the Florentine Codex reflect Aztec ethnocentrism and could be considered just as pejorative, even though they are precolumbian. According to this text, the Aztecs commonly described the Otomi as “untrained, stupid” and “very covetous, that is, very desirous, greedy. That which was good, they bought all; they longed for all of it even though it was not really necessary.” They were “very gaudy dressers–vain people.” They were “lazy, shiftless, although wiry, strong; as is said, hardened; laborers. Although great workers of the land, they did not apply themselves to gaining the necessities of life. When they worked the land they only wandered. Behold what they did: they went catching game.”[Bernadino de Sahagun, General History of the Things of New Spain, Book 10, in Dibble and Anderson, Florentine Codex (Santa Fe, New Mexico: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1961), Part 11:178-9] These descriptions resemble Nephite descriptions of the Lamanites.
In the ancient Near East, the Amorite was described as “a tent dweller” the “one who does not know city” “the one who in his lifetime does not have a house” or “the awkward man living in the mountains.” He is “the one who does not know (i.e. cultivate) grain,” or “the one who digs up mushrooms at the foot of the mountain” or he “who eats uncooked meat” and “who on the day of his death will not be buried.” They are “a ravaging people, with canine instincts, like wolves.” [Giorgio Buccellati, The Amorites of the Ur III Period (Naples: 1966), 330-332] Referencing such descriptions, William F. Albright observes,
This is naturally a somewhat extreme description, but it vividly illustrates the attitude of the sedentary folk of Babylonia at an undetermined period in the third millennium. It may be added that the Arab peasants of Syria still call the nomads el-wuhush “the wild beasts.”[William Foxwell Albright, From Stone Age to Christianity, 2nd edition (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1957), 166]
As the above examples from both ancient Mesopotamia and precolumbian Mesoamerica suggest, we should not be surprised to find that the Nephites and Lamanites may have struggled with their own ethnocentrism. Still, modern readers should be careful not allow their own cultural sensitivities to obscure the meaning of the text.
Positive Nephite Attitudes Toward the Lamanites
Significantly, Nephi, who first reported the “skin of blackness,” also wrote that the Lord accepts both “black and white” who are willing to come unto him.[2 Nephi 26:33] Nephite prophets and writers consistently referred to the Lamanites as their brethren. When Nephite prophets referred to the “curse” of the Lamanites they explained that it was only a curse in the context of opposing ideologies of the Nephites and Lamanites. Once united in tradition and beliefs, skin color and other ethnic or tribal differences become irrelevant as far as the Lord and the Nephite prophets are concerned.
Nephi’s brother Jacob publicly chastised the Nephites for hating the Lamanites because of their skin color.[Jacob 3:5] While some Nephites looked upon the darkness of skin as a curse, Jacob corrected this erroneous assumption of superiority by noting that the Lamanites of that time were more virtuous and pure than some of their Nephite contemporaries,[Jacob 3:5-7] that such external differences as skin color were temporary and do not necessarily signify spiritual states.[Jacob 3:8] He commanded the Nephites to repent and to no longer revile against the Lamanites because of the darkness of their skins.[Jacob 3:9-10] Here is an extract from his discourse:
Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father–that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them . . . O my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins that their skins will be whiter than yours, when ye shall be brought with them before the throne of God. Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, which is the word of God, that ye revile no more against them because of the darkness of their skins; neither shall ye revile against them because of their filthiness; but ye shall remember your own filthiness, and remember that their filthiness came because of their fathers. Wherefore, ye shall remember your children, how that ye have grieved their hearts because of the example that ye have set before them; and also, remember that ye may, because of your filthiness, bring your children unto destruction, and their sins be heaped upon your heads at the last day.[Jacob 3:5, 8-10]
Jacob’s son Enos noted that the Nephites “did seek diligently to restore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God.”[Enos 1:20] Subsequent generations were able to convert large numbers of Lamanites, and the righteousness and faithfulness of the Lamanites sometimes exceeded the righteousness of the Nephites.[Helaman 6:1-2, 34-38; 12:2; 15:5-10; 3 Nephi 6:14] Only in one instance in the entire Nephite record do we find Nephite prophets reporting any change in the darkness of the skin of the Lamanites, and this was after they had already converted and united with the Nephites.[3 Nephi 2:12-16] Whether this change occurred through intermarriage or some other unknown process, the event for the Nephites was apparently unique and unprecedented. Within the context of Nephite society and culture, this exceptional event would no doubt have been viewed as a sign from God that such distinctions were irrelevant for those numbered with Christ. After this there are no further references to the Lamanite skins becoming dark or that this was a significant factor for the Nephites.
White and Delightsome
In the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon Nephi, speaking of the latter-day restoration, discusses the future conversion of Lehi’s descendants, “And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and delightsome people.”[2 Nephi 30:6 1830 edition] In 1840 the Book of Mormon was “carefully revised by the translator” Joseph Smith and in that edition the words “white and delightsome” were changed to “pure and delightsome.” This change seems to reflect the Prophet’s concern that modern readers might misinterpret this passage as a reference to Latter-day racial changes rather than righteousness.
Unfortunately for subsequent LDS interpreters, following the Prophet’s death, the changes in the 1840 edition of the Book of Mormon were not carried over into subsequent LDS printings, which were based upon the edition prepared by the Twelve Apostles in Great Britain. Consequently, Latter-day Saints did not reap the benefit of the Prophet’s clarification until it was restored in the 1981 edition of the Book of Mormon. Interpreting this passage as meaning that conversion leads to a change of skin color echo a misinterpretation of the Book of Mormon text rather than an anachronism in the text itself.
But can we justify the prophet’s change from “white” to “pure?” The answer is yes. The terms “white” and “pure” can be found in parallel in Daniel 7:9, Revelation 15:6, and D&C 110:3. They are also found together in a number of passages where they clearly refer to those who are purified and redeemed by Christ.[Alma 5:24; 13:12; 32:42; Mormon 9:6; D&C 20:6] Moreover, we must note that the “white/pure and delightsome” passage that the prophet Joseph modified does not refer to the Lamanites, but to the Jews and Gentiles in the latter days who turn to Christ.[See 2 Nephi 30:1-7] Similarly, Mormon expressed the hope the Nephites “may once again be a delightsome people.”[Words of Mormon 1:8] It was also of the Nephites that he wrote,
And also that the seed of this people may more fully believe his gospel, which shall go forth unto them from the Gentiles; for this people shall be scattered, and shall become a dark, a filthy, and a loathsome people, beyond the description of that which ever hath been amongst us, yea, even that which hath been among the Lamanites, and this because of their unbelief and idolatry. [Mormon 5:15]
The use of black and white imagery to typify purity and righteousness is exemplified in the writings of Ephraim of Syria, a fourth century A.D. contemporary of Mormon in the Old World who commented on Philip’s baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch as follows. “The eunuch of Ethiopia upon his chariot saw Philip: the Lamb of Light met the dark man from out of the water. While he was reading, the Ethiopian was baptized and shone with joy, and journeyed on! He made disciples and taught, and out of black men he made men white. And the dark Ethiopic women became pearls for the Son.” [The Pearl: Seven Hymns on the Faith 3:2, in Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), 13:295. Thanks to Mark Ellison for bringing this passage to my attention.]
The Book of Mormon makes it clear that the color of one’s skin has no bearing on one’s status as a righteous or sinful person. Nephi, the son of Helaman, declared to the Nephites,
For behold, thus saith the Lord: I will not show unto the wicked of my strength, to one more than the other, save it be unto those that repent of their sins, and hearken unto my words. Now therefore, I would that ye should behold, my brethren, that it shall be better for the Lamanites than for you except ye shall repent. For behold, they are more righteous than you, for they have not sinned against that great knowledge which ye have received; therefore the Lord will be merciful unto them; yea, he will lengthen out their days and increase their seed, even when thou shalt be utterly destroyed except thou shalt repent.[Helaman 7:23]
This passage is reminiscent of Nephi’s vision of the future of the Lamanites: “And it came to pass that I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.”[1 Nephi 12:23] Clearly, the Book of Mormon describes various people–including the Nephites themselves–as being dark, filthy, and loathsome in a spiritual sense. The Nephites who dissented to the Lamanites would not have considered them in such negative terms, and the Lord himself does not use such verbiage to describe the Lamanites. Moreover, Nephites such as the sons of Mosiah and their generation, who welcomed converted Lamanites into their society, have only good things to say about these converts.
We conclude, then, that while some Nephites seem to have been racist in the sense that they were repulsed by the skin color of the Lamanites, this was not a general trait. Rather than promoting concepts of racial inferiority, Book of Mormon events and teachings clearly suggest that people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds and traditions can truly overcome old hatreds and misconceptions and attain peace, happiness and unity through the Gospel of Jesus Christ." (John A. Tvedtnes: The Charge Of Racism In The Book Of Mormon [FAIR, 2006]).
To add, here's the following article written by a Latter Day Saint convert from Ghana, Dr. Emmanuel Abu Kissi, on charges of racism against Latter Day Saints and this is to show a defense of Latter Day Saint Theology and History from a black man's position:
Are Mormons Antagonistic to Black People of the Negroid Race?
Enclosure with Letter of Appeal through Cpt. (Rtd.) Koko Tsikata
After the “Saints Alive in Christ” and other anti-Mormon organizations have gone through their archives to convince the Government and people of Ghana, with wicked lies, that the Latter-day Saint (Mormon) hates the black person of negro race, we the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) in Ghana want you to examine historical evidence pertaining to the subject of racism in relation to the Church.
The Church history is in seven volumes with an eight book of index to all seven books They span a period of time from 1820 to 1848.
Page 374 of volume one documents “The manifestation of the Mob” otherwise known as “the secret constitution” of July 1833. Parts of the document reads: “But their conduct here stamps their character in their true colors. More than a year since it was ascertained that they had been tampering with our slaves, and endeavoring to sow dissensions and raise seditions among them. Of this their “Mormon” Leaders were informed and they said they should deal with any of their members who should again in like case offend. But how spacious are appearances. In a late number of the Star, published in Independence by the leaders of the sect, there is an article inviting free negroes and mulattoes from other states to become “Mormons” and remove and settle among us. This exhibits them in still more odious colors. It manifests a desire on the part of their society, to inflict on our society and injury that they know would be to us entirely insupportable, and one of the surest means of driving us from the country . . . and, in fine, they have conducted themselves on many other occasions, in such a manner, that we believe it a duty we owe to ourselves, our wives, and children to the cause of public morals, to remove them from among us, as we are not prepared to give up our pleasant places and goodly possessions to them or to receive into the bosom of our families as fit companions for our wives and daughter, the degraded and corrupted free negroes and mulattoes that are now invited to settle among us.
This is the accusation with which the people of Missouri wanted their Government to disband the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from the white man’s country. And of course in Ghana, in Black man’s country, they have had to reverse the picture to annoy the Government and people of Ghana to achieve their aim.
Following this manifesto there was a law enacted by the Government of Missouri in the U.SA. 1833.
Page 377 of volume one of the Church history quotes that law in part as follows: “Section 4—Be it further enacted, that hereafter, no free negro or mulatto, other than citizen of someone of the United States, shall come into or settle in this state under any pretext whatsoever;”
Page 377 of volume one of the Church history quotes that law in part as follows: “Section 4—Be it further enacted, that hereafter, no free negro or mulatto, other than citizen of someone of the United States, shall come into or settle in this state under any pretext whatsoever;”
In April 1836, as recorded in page 436-40 of volume 2, the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote to Oliver Cowdery that a gentleman that had come to Kirtland who advocated the principles or doctrines of those who are called Abolitionists. In a lengthy letter the prophet asks on page 437, “And besides, are not those who hold slaves, persons of ability, discernment and candor? Do they not expect to give an account at the bar of God for their conduct in this life? It may no doubt with propriety be said that many who hold slaves live without the fear of God before their eyes.”
In 1843, the Prophet Joseph Smith had a brief discussion on negroes as document in vol. 5 pages 217-218.
“5 pm on Monday 2nd January 1843, Elder Hyde inquired the situation of the negro. I replied, change their situation with the whites, and they would be like them. They have souls and are subjects of salvation. Go to Cincinnati or any city, and find an educated negro, who rides in his carriage, and you will see a man who has risen by the powers of his own mind to his exalted state of respectability. The slaves in Washington are more refined than any in high place, and the black boys will take the shine off many of those they brush and wait on.
Elder Hyde remarked. “Put them on the level and they will rise above me.” The Prophet concluded that he would put the negroes on a national equalisation if he had anything to do with them.
In 1844 the Prophet Joseph Smith made the following inspired statement which was published throughout the United States. This is recorded in the introduction to volume three, page XXVI.
“Petition, also, ye godly inhabitants of the slave sates, your legislators to abolish slavery by the year 1850, or now and save the abolitionists from reproach and ruin, and infamy and shame. Pray congress to pay every man a reasonable price for his slaves out of the surplus revenue arising from the sale of public lands, and from the deduction of pay from members of Congress. Break off the shackles from the poor black man, and hire him to labour like other human beings; for an hour of virtuous liberty is worth a whole eternity of bondage.”
So it is clearly evident from the foundation of the church that the Mormons are not antagonistic to black people. The Statement that no black man will go to heaven must have originated from the Elimina Castle in Ghana. It is known that the white missionaries who lived there did write on the wall in that castle that no black man will go to heaven. They were not Mormons.
According to Church History, true followers of Jesus Christ have suffered severe persecutions with disbandment and killings. When the Roman Emperor [Nero] burnt Rome, [A.D. 62], so that a new capital city he was going to build in his name would have no competitors, and when he realised that the truth was coming to light so that he would be unpopular; he accused the Christians in Rome of arson and killed as many of them as he could lay hands on.
Great leaders like Peter and Paul are [believed] to have been killed [in A.D. 65] upon this charge [of arson] leveled against the Christians. This is history that many people know. This time our Government has not done anything wrong for which they need a cover up and for which another sacrificial lamb in the form of our church must be the sinless victim.
We are therefore, humbly appealing to the Government of the Republic of Ghana, in the name of “June 4 and 31st December” and also “Freedom, Justice and accountability”; we also appeal to the Government of Ghana in the name of the Almighty God and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) must be given justice through trial as is inherent in the laws of the land and aspirations of our Revolution.
May God bless our country Ghana.
May God bless the leaders of Ghana with wisdom and desires of righteousness and justice.
Is the Black Man Cursed by the Book of Mormon?
The Book of Mormon is an inspired historical account spanning a period from B.C. 600 to 421 A.D.
It is another testament of Jesus Christ. The Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the Pearl of Great Price are the four books which constitute the Standard Works of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
1 Ne[phi] 1:4 and 1 Ne[phi] 10:4 indicate that in the year BC 600, in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, King of Judah, there was a man called Lehi who prophesied that the people of Jerusalem must repent or the great city would be destroyed. They sought to kill Lehi for making such pronouncements. Go asked Lehi and his wife Sariah, with their sour sons, Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi to depart out of Jerusalem. They were accompanied by his friend Ishmael with his wife, five daughters and two sons and also Zoram whom they influenced to travel with them.
They travelled for eight years in the wilderness. 1 Ne[phi] 17:4, and during this time Jacob and Joseph were born to Lehi, 1 Ne[phi] 18:7. The group settled at a place they called Bountiful where Nephi was instructed by God to build a ship with which they travelled by sea to a promised land which happens to be present day America.
During the journeying the eldest son Laman was very rebellious and incurred the displeasure of his father and of God. Nephi was righteous, very obedient and Godly and later became the prophet in the group. Several moments of contentions arose between Laman and Nephi. Lemuel, and two daughters of Ishmael, and the two sons of Ishmael and their families followed Lama and were called Lamanites. Sam, and Ishmael and his wife plus his three other daughters followed Nephi and were called Nephites. Nephi used to teach his people righteousness as exemplified in 1 Ne[phi] 10:20, 21, “Therefore remember, O man, for all thy doings thou shalt be brought into judgment. Wherefore, I ye have sought to do wickedly in the days of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgment seat of God; therefore, ye must be cast off forever.”
According to his genealogy, Lehi was a descendant of Joseph, the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt 1 Ne[phi] 5:14. Nephi referred to the descendants of the Nephites as his seed, and he referred to the Lamanites and their descendants as his brethren. These two groups became like enemies and separated into two nations soon after they had landed on the promised land, 2 Ne[phi] 5:5. Both groups were therefore Israelites and none was black.
Here now begins the information in the Book of Mormon which the evil one has [twisted and perverted into a tool used] to persecute the church in the countries of the black man . . .
2 Ne[phi] 5:20-24, “Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me, saying that; Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence. And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against them, that they had become like 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. And thus saith the Lord God; I shall cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities. [And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.] And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey.”
Note that this curse was to be in force for as long as the Lamanites remained in their iniquities. Naturally, however, they did not remain in their iniquities all the time. In fact the Lamanites became more and more righteous while the Nephites later became so degenerate that the Lord caused their extinction as was prophesied by Alma in Alma 45:10, 11 and 14.
Jacob 2:35, says of the Nephites, “Behold, ye have done greater iniquities than the Lamanites, our brethren. Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascends up to God against you.” [Jacob 3:3-7 warns the Nephites,] But, wo, wo unto you that are not pure in heart, that are filthy this day before God; for except ye repent the land is cursed for your sakes; and the Lamanites, which are not filthy like unto you, nevertheless they are cursed with a sore cursing, shall scourge you even unto destruction.
And the time speedily cometh, that except ye repent they shall possess the land of your inheritance, and the Lord God will lead the righteous our from among you.
Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.
And now, this commandment they observe to keep; wherefore, because of this observance, in keeping this commandment, the Lord God will not destroy them, but will be merciful unto them; and one day they shall become a blessed people.
Behold their husbands love their wives, their wives love their husbands; and their husbands and their wives love their children; and their unbelief and hatred towards you is because of the iniquities of their fathers; wherefore, how much better are you than they, in the sight of your great Creator? . . .
[The Book of Mormon pronouncement that concerns all races including the blacks is found in 2 Nephi 26:33 which] says that God invites all the children of men to come unto him and partake of his goodness; “And he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.” . . .
The blackman of negroid Race was never associated with the Lamanite and his curse. The Lamanite is Jew and the Blackman is Gentile. (Emmanuel Abu Kissi, Walking in the Sand: A History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ghana [Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2004], 220-27).
The Book of Mormon is not racist and we do not see blacks as lower than us. every race in the Church is treated equally and we see this throughout the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. such accusations only show lack of understanding of what we actually believe and what we teach. Eli Soriano needs to be more careful on what he says and what he reads and what he concludes.
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