Big Development: Come Follow Me, 2 Nephi 5, and the rejection of Joseph Fielding Smith

 In July 2019, the digital edition of the Home and Family edition of the Church's unified study curriculum "Come Follow Me" went online at the Church's official website. Having a specific interest in how the Church has been interpreting and covering how the Church is teaching , interpreting, and approaching the Book of Mormon's account of "a skin of blackness" coming upon the Lamanites, I quickly flipped over to the section covering 2 Nephi 5.

What I found deeply disappointed me. 

2 Nephi 5:2-21: What is the "curse" that came upon the Lamanites?

"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 . . . The dark skin was the sign of the curse.  The curse was the withdrawal of the Spirit of the Lord ... Dark skin ... is no longer to be considered a sign of the curse" (Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. [1960], 3:122-23).

Using the Joseph Fielding Smith quote was problematic from several reasons. The first was in recognizing that when this was written, the Priesthood and Temple Restriction on Black Latter-day Saints was very much in effect, and Joseph Fielding Smith taught that "dark skin" was indeed a sign of what he believed was a currently-in-effect "curse". The association between what was going on in the Nephite narrative was absolutely being related to what was happening in the contemporary Church with the ongoing Priesthood and Temple Restriction.

In late 2013, the Church made major waves in its publication of "Race and the Priesthood", a new official statement on the history of the racial restriction in its historical context. This essay included a paragraph which was powerful, clear, and very, very new:

"Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else. Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form."

Notice that key phrase, that the Church disavows past theories "advanced in the past" that "black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse". It directly disavows the 1960 Joseph Fielding Smith assertion that "the dark skin was the sign of the curse". This, for me, created a powerful space for also applying this teaching to the Book of Mormon, and how we interpreted what was happening distinct from how those in the narrative understood or spoke about what was going on.

The problem is that now, on the eve of 2020, the Church was again using the 1960 Joseph Fielding Smith language that was disavowed in 2013.

As has been requested in many years in the opening pages of Curriculum, I sent messages of feedback to the Curriculum department, and contacted associates I knew who had connections in the Church Office Building in related departments explaining my concern at the contradiction, and the problem going forward (and also noting that it probably wasn't going to be in the Church's best interest in any way to have a Church lesson explaining that Dark Skin was legitimately a sign of a Curse just as we were heading into 2020's Black History Month).

The people I contacted expressed gratitude for letting them know, and I learned that there had been a lot of internal discussion about these passages. I didn't know if anything was going to happen.

But then .. suddenly the passage was gone from the online edition. Completely removed. I figured this would be the end of the story, but then I was shocked to discover several days later that it has been completely replaced by a lengthy passage:

2 Nephi 5:20–21

What was the curse that came upon the Lamanites?

In Nephi’s day the curse of the Lamanites was that they were “cut off from [the Lord’s] presence … because of their iniquity” (2 Nephi 5:20–21). This meant the Spirit of the Lord was withdrawn from their lives. When Lamanites later embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ, “the curse of God did no more follow them” (Alma 23:18).

The Book of Mormon also states that a mark of dark skin came upon the Lamanites after the Nephites separated from them. The nature and appearance of this mark are not fully understood. The mark initially distinguished the Lamanites from the Nephites. Later, as both the Nephites and Lamanites each went through periods of wickedness and righteousness, the mark became irrelevant as an indicator of the Lamanites’ standing before God.

Prophets affirm in our day that dark skin is not a sign of divine disfavor or cursing. The Church embraces Nephi’s teaching that the Lord “denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female” (2 Nephi 26:33). President Russell M. Nelson declared: “The Lord has stressed His essential doctrine of equal opportunity for His children. … Differences in culture, language, gender, race, and nationality fade into insignificance as the faithful enter the covenant path and come unto our beloved Redeemer” (“President Nelson Remarks at Worldwide Priesthood Celebration” [June 1, 2018], newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org).

Two massive developments occurred there.

First, the language from the earlier edition was absolutely negated in preference to the language from the 2013 essay, "Prophets affirm in our day that dark skin is not a sign of divine disfavor or cursing."

Second, there is presented space for interpreting the nature of the mark itself beyond the traditional change in skin pigment. They did this with the line, "The nature and appearance of this mark are not fully understood."

This was a massive step in Book of Mormon interpretation, but there were no announcements, and nothing drew its attention to this revision. 

This became even more problematic when it became clear the the original edition was the version that went to press, and in many wards was hand-distributed to every family to study. There was no not or comment to see the online edition for an important correction.

So any family or teacher who used the physical resource in 2020 for personal study, and to prepare lessons for Church classes would have had no reason to know there was a revision.

But now, in preparation for 2024, the Church has published a consolidated edition of Come Follow Me (called Come Follow Me for Home and Church)  that will be used for Home, Primary, Youth, and Sunday School preparation. It is the only edition online (which is encouraged to be used), and will have a print edition. And this new edition contains the revised online edition of the 2 Nephi 5 passage, along with a new more recent quote from President Nelson.

President Russell M. Nelson declared: “I assure you that your standing before God is not determined by the color of your skin. Favor or disfavor with God is dependent upon your devotion to God and His commandments and not the color of your skin” (“Let God Prevail,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 94).

This is a massive new development in Book of Mormon interpretation, active response to a passage that has long been allowed to silently stand as support for racist ideas, and is opening up new avenues of understanding the narrative text in ways that had previously not been given official or authoritative 'clearance' to do so in printed curriculum or teachings.

REVIEW: Ancient Christians - An Introduction for Latter-day Saints

For most Latter-day Saints, the history of our faith begins with the New Testament, and then suddenly picks up 1800 years later with Joseph Smith and the beginning of the Restoration movement. You go straight from the end of the Book of Acts, to the first chapter of the first volume in the 'Saints' series of narrative modern Church history without feeling you've missed anything important. 

Generally, my experience has seen a prevailing viewpoint that nothing that happened between the close of the New Testament and Joseph Smith's First Vision is really relevant or of value in the history or story of Christianity, with the exception of the idea that there was a Great Apostasy, and the Reformation, in general and vague ways, was important in paving the way for the possibility of the Restoration.

In my experience, your regular Latter-day Saint has never heard the names Clement, Ignatius, Irenaeus, or Justin Martyr. And those who may have heard the names in passing, certainly have not read from them, or if they have, likely saw a quick quote explaining how they believed something exactly the way the Church practices and teaches in the 21st Century.

There's a lot of history as to why Latter-day Saints have that perspective. But this new book, Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints published by the Maxwell Institute at BYU in December 2022, is hard at work at trying to fight against this long tradition by presenting history, context, and a sympathetic nuanced reading of the first centuries of Christian tradition.

The book's editorial team (Jason Combs, Mark D. Ellison, Catherine Gines Taylor and Kristian S. Heal) isn't subtle or opaque about its purposes, and the tides of tradition it knows it's working against.

From the introduction by Jason Combs: 

Latter-day Saint Narratives of Ancient Christianity: Early Latter-day Saints inherited from Protestants a great apostasy narrative. . . In support of ... more recent statements [from General Authorities speaking out against traditional anti-Catholic interpretations of Restoration scripture], we acknowledge the need for greater care in discussing a great apostasy - a term that does not appear in our standard works.

We unitedly affirm the need for the Restoration, and at the same time, we must be clear in stating precisely what that means.  For instance, the Doctrine and Covenants never speaks explicitly of a restored church . . . When Latter-day Saints use that unscriptural phrase, restored church, it should be understood as shorthand for the restorations the Doctrine and Covenants does address - namely, the bestowal of priesthood power, authority, and keys associated with making sacred covenants, establishing Zion (Moses 7:18), gathering scattered Israel on both sides of the veil (that is, in this life and beyond), and binding up all dispensations in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. These special purposes to which God has called us and for which God has established the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not require us to spend our time trying to prove other churches and religions wrong or apostate.

It goes on to suggest a new, positive approach to Christianity of the past:

A New Latter-day Saint Approach to Ancient Christians: What does this careful reading of our Latter-day Saint teachings regarding the Restoration mean for this volume about ancient Christians? First, it means that we cannot assume that something found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today necessarily existed in the ancient Church (see Doctrine and Covenants 124:38, 41). We cannot assume that today's Church is a template for what the first-century Church must have been, or vice versa.  For that reason, in this book, our authors acknowledge the differences between ancient Christians and Latter-day Saints without automatically assuming such differences to be evidence of apostasy. When our authors encounter these differences, they work to explain how and why ancient Christians developed beliefs and practices that contrast with our own - working toward understanding them from a position of respect and even "holy envy."

These opening passages are absolutely radical in our tradition, and present a huge promise of what one might expect in the coming chapters, which are in and of themselves stand-alone essays covering a specific topic and how it was understood, practiced, and developed in early Christianity.

I'll admit, as excited as I was by this introductory promise, I was skeptical (as past works on Christian History as presented by Church-owned institutions have generally rightfully caused me to be) of what I would be seeing in the ensuing chapters.

And then, each and every chapter not only lived up to their editorial promise, but exceeded it. I'm just going to list the chapters and their topics here:

• Preaching Christ: Scripture, Sermons, and Practical Exegesis (by Kristian S. Heal)
• Creating Canon: Authority, New Prophecy, and Sacred Texts (Thomas A. Wayment)
• Church Organization: Priesthood Offices and Women's Leadership Roles (Ariel Bybee Laughton)
• Sacred Spaces and Places of Worship: From House Churches to Monumental Basilicas (Matthew J. Grey)
• Connecting with Christ: Rituals and Worship (Mark D. Ellison)
• Human Nature: Creation and the Fall (Gaye Strathearn)
• Divine Nature: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Jason R. Combs)
• Receiving Christ: Atonement, Grace, and Eternal Salvation (Cecilia M. Peek)
• Becoming Like God: Incarnation, Moral Formation, and Eternal Progression (Daniel Becerra)
• Inclining Christian Hearts: Work for the Dead (Catherine Gines Taylor)
• Living in the Afterlife: Heaven, Hell, and Places Between
• Facing the End: The Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the Millennium (Nicholas J. Frederick)
• Medieval Christians (Miranda Wilcox)

At the beginning of reading through this book, even against what was stated in the introduction, I started bracing at certain points at each chapter where I was prepared to be hit with some traditional "parallelomania" showing why something the ancient Christians did is exactly what we do today. But each and every time I thought it was going to go that route, the author seemed to anticipate my concern, and would often specifically include a call-out box making sure that we did NOT make unwarranted connections, and make very clear why some parallels made by some in the past misinterpreted key reasonings or purposes or language in the ancient practices. Not only did these chapters avoid making false equivalencies, they went out of their way to try to repair some of the notions presented by past approaches to this work.

A few chapters in, I stopped worrying, and started to actively look forward to how some key aspects were handled. I was always incredibly impressed.

It's not just a book of 'debunking', though. There are wonderful and beautiful meditations on the practices, giving a sense of how the practitioners devotion to Christ led to such beliefs and practices, and in some cases giving a suggestion of how the principle could be understood or applied by modern Saints without suggesting there be a direct 1:1 relationship. It's all so masterfully handled.

The book is also beautifully visually presented. Andrew Heiss designed a stunning book filled with relevant and gorgeous authentic ancient artwork. It's as much a joy to look at as it is to read. The visuals complement and enhance the essays they accompany.

I want to also call attention to a fantastic companion resource. Wayfare Magazine has produced a 'Meet the Early-day Saints' podcast hosted by the great Blair Hodges, who in each episode interviews one of the authors of a chapter of this book, and has a wonderful in-depth discussion about its particular topic. This podcast serves both as a great companion for the chapters for those who have read it, and a completely independent introduction for those who have not (yet!) had the opportunity to check it out, and presents the key points in a highly accessible manner. It's a great podcast, and I highly recommend checking it out.

This whole project is a monumental and important work. President Nelson has said, "good inspiration is based upon good information" - this book can be a powerful source of "good information" that I believe can catalyze "good inspiration" as to how to change how we understand and talk about our Christian ancestors, as well as our brothers and sisters in other Christian traditions.