Written by E

And It Came to Pass: A Big Bundle of Prophesy

Day 2: Book of Mormon, Second Nephi

The tone of the Book of Mormon shifts considerably in Second Nephi. Lehi, Nephi, and their families reach the promised land (America) with the help of Liahona, the divine brass ball. Lehi, sensing he is near death, launches into several chapters of blessing and guidance. He asks his sons Lemuel and Laman to listen to Nephi — I think I mentioned that they always plotted against Nephi in the first book. Lehi “waxed old,” died and was buried. His sons Laman and Lemuel immediately rebel against Nephi and the people are split. This is how we get the Nephites and Lamanites in the Book of Mormon.

There’s some troubling verses in this book, which I list below. It’s suggested that the Nephites remain white and pure in appearance while the Lamanites turn dark skinned. So…black skin is a curse for sinfulness? It’s also suggested that slavery is a punishment for iniquity. Okay, so, let’s be clear. I’m reading this with a 2021 mindset. However, in reading the Hebrew Scriptures, I can say that 1. black skin was never a punishment and 2. slavery was complicated.

What I mean by the second point is that slavery in the Hebrew Scriptures was seen as a punishment to Israel for their iniquity, this is true, but it was never tied up to racial lines. It certainly wasn’t the chattel slavery we know from American history. The Book of Mormon suggests that the Lamanites are deserving of their punishments…both black skin and slavery. It’s the combination of the two that is alarming. There’s also an admonition to not “mix” races/peoples.

So, I might be imposing my viewpoints here. I know that. If I take the Book of Mormon to be an ancient record, I’m missing something. If I take it to be a book written in the 1800s, then it is hard to separate it out of the American paradigm of that time period.

The bulk of this book consists of prophesy and reading from the prophet Isaiah. Entire chapters are taken from the King James Version of Isaiah. I’m not saying either way if that is good or bad, it just is. We also see in this book that Jesus Christ is named some 500+ years before the time of his birth. Again, this is interesting. The Hebrew Scriptures do not name the messiah. They do not document, with surprising accuracy, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Messianic prophesy in the Hebrew Scriptures is very subtle and the most we hear relates to Elisha and Elijah.

That being said, again, no judgements. Just noticing. I’m getting a crash course in the Gospel stories and writings of Paul with Second Nephi (as well as Isaiah). What do I make of this? Is the entire book soured by the racist undertones? What does the LDS apologetics website (FAIR) have to say about those verses?

I will dig deeper on my own, but I want to stay true to just reading the text as is. If I knew nothing about the Bible or Christianity (or Judaism), I would read this as a book of prophesy. I would be along for the ride that this is a story of redemption, journey, and awaiting fulfillment. As an American, I would be with the Nephites in waiting for the Messiah to appear to them. Such an understanding would increase my reverence for the land I inhabit as well.

What I am waiting for is whether or not these prophesies will give way to more story. This is the second time I’ve seen these “recaps” — and Second Nephi fleshes them out a little more. However, I miss the story already. That’s my bias. I like story…less prophesy. It’s one of the challenges I had reading the Holy Qur’an — there was a lot of repetition of snippets of story, but more than that, it was a repetition of belief and prophesy. The challenge is finding the subtext in those snippets and prophesies, no matter the book. The most basic subtext, then, for Second Nephi is the continuance of the liberation narrative for the Nephites.

Thing I Noticed in the Text

  1. 2 Nephi 1:7, 5:21, Captivity and Blackness. There’s more verses before and after each of these cited here that are troubling. I’m not LDS, so it’s not for me to wrestle and reconcile these verses, but there they are. It’s not just the lazy implication of the “Curse of Ham,” but an on-the-nose condemnation of black skin.
  2. 2 Nephi 3:15, Joseph and His Dreamcoat. Joseph of Egypt prophesies that Joseph Smith will write the Book of Mormon. Now…imagine being the scribe for the Book of Mormon and hearing this…
  3. 2 Nephi 7-8, 12-24, 27, All Isaiah All Day. Nearly word-for-word quoting of Isaiah. You assume that Nephi is reading this from the Plates of Brass, which contain the genealogy of his people as well as the Torah and several prophets. If I wanted, I could take out my King James Bible and compare, but people have done that already.
  4. 2 Nephi 10:3, Crucifixion? So, not only is Jesus named in this book, but his crucifixion is also noted. The Romans “popularized” this form of execution and I don’t think the Persians were very prolific with it. It’s curious, then, to see it here in a prophesy 550+ years before the life of Jesus. Was it even a *known* execution method?
  5. 2 Nephi 10:5, Lovely Turn of Phrase. There’s a warning here about “priestcrafts and iniquities.” I love that phrasing. That’s all.
  6. 2 Nephi 28:22,23, Hellfire! Hell makes a few appearances here. There’s a warning about those who deny hell (that would be me). Given what I know about LDS cosmology, I’m curious where this understanding of hell shifts.

This post is part of a larger series where I read the entirety of Latter-day Saint scripture in 15 days. Take a look at the original post for more info, as well as links to other reflections on this journey.