Item Detail
-
32796
-
3
-
25
-
English
-
“Being of that Lineage”: Generational Curses and Inheritance in the Book of Abraham
-
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
-
2022
-
54
-
Salt Lake City, UT
-
Interpreter Foundation
-
97-146
-
"The seeming appearance of a lineal or generational curse in the Book of Abraham has been used erroneously to marginalize people and justify racist ideas in Latter-day Saint history. To avoid any further misinterpretation of scripture in ways that are hurtful to others, the following attempts to elucidate the meaning of lineal curses within the Book of Abraham’s claimed ancient provenance. 'Cursed' often reflected a simple legalistic concept, applicable to any person regardless of race, that meant one was currently in a state of disinheritance. An individual might be in a state of disinheritance if they violated any requirement necessary to receive their inheritance, and any descendant who remained an heir of a person who no longer had an inheritance to give was also considered disinherited or 'cursed,' even though they may have personally done nothing wrong. This ancient understanding of cursing as disinheritance provides better context and clarity to many of Joseph Smith’s revelations and translations, including the Book of Abraham. Arguably, the scriptures and revelations of the Latter-day Saint tradition, including the Bible, indicate that the eternal blessings of a kingdom (land) and priestly kingship/queenship (priesthood) originate from God but must be inherited through an unbroken ancestral chain forged via covenant. Indeed, the express purpose of sealing children to parents in modern Latter-day Saint temples is to make them 'heirs.' Consequently, moving towards a better understanding of the roles inheritance and disinheritance play in receiving the divine blessings of the covenant might be beneficial generally and help readers avoid racist interpretations of the Book of Abraham and other scripture. This is especially the case when it is understood that being disinherited, in a gospel context, does not need to be a permanent status when one relies on the grace of the Holy Messiah and submits to those divine laws and covenant rites whereby one can literally inherit the promised blessings." [Author]
-
Abraham in Egypt
Adoptive Sealing Ritual in Mormonism
All Abraham's Children : Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and Lineage
An Introduction to the Book of Abraham
Black and Mormon
Black, White, and Red : Race and the Making of the Mormon People, 1830-1880
Brigham Young and Priesthood Denial to the Blacks : An Alternate View
Contemporary Mormonism : Latter-day Saints in Modern America
Curses and Marks : Racial Dispensations and Dispensations of Race in Joseph Smith's Bible Revision and the Book of Abraham
Demythicizing the Lamanites’ “Skin of Blackness”
Early Mormon Adoption Theology and the Mechanics of Salvation
For the Cause of Righteousness : A Global History of Blacks and Mormonism, 1830-2013
Gathering and Election : Israelite Descent and Universalism in Mormon Discourse
Neither White nor Black : Mormon Scholars Confront the Race Issue in a Universal Church
Religion of a Different Color : Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness
Saints, Slaves, and Blacks : The Changing Place of Black People within Mormonism
Skins as Garments in the Book of Mormon :
A Textual Exegesis
Temples of the Ancient World : Ritual and Symbolism
The Early Mormon Chain of Belonging
The Inclusive, Anti-Discrimination Message of the Book of Mormon
The Law of Adoption : One Phase of the Development of the Mormon Concept of Salvation, 1830-1900
The Mormon Church and Blacks : A Documentary History
The Pearl of Greatest Price : Mormonism's Most Controversial Scripture
The Traditions of Their Fathers : Myth versus Reality in LDS Scriptural Writings
Whence the Negro Doctrine : A Review of Ten Years of Answers