Item Detail
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33257
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0
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18
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English
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“Life and Death, Blessing and Cursing”: New Context for “Skin of Blackness” in the Book of Mormon
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BYU Studies Quarterly
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2023
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62
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3
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Provo, UT
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Brigham Young University
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121-140
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"For many readers of the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 5 can prove rather challenging. Not only does this chapter contain the actualization of a curse and the apparent genesis of an outgroup, but it also states that 'the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon' this group because of their iniquity (2 Ne. 5:21). Given the prevalence of racial thought in society today, this passage has been interpreted as a hurtful reference to a phenotypic change in skin color brought on by a divine curse, leading many researchers to propose alternatives to a purely racialized understanding of the text. In support of this approach, senior leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have rejected any racialized reading of the passage but at the same time have given no formal interpretation. In this paper, I will present a new context with which to interpret the phrase 'skin of blackness' that builds on apparent intertextuality between Nephi’s writings, those attributed to Moses, and an example of a similar curse found in a prominent treaty from the ancient Near East." [Author]
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An Approach to the Book of Mormon
A Note on the Name Nephi
Assyria and the “Great Church” of Nephi’s Vision
Demythicizing the Lamanites’ “Skin of Blackness”
Isaiah in the Book of Mormon
Lehi and Nephi as Trained Manassite Scribes
Lehi as Moses
Lehi in the Desert; The World of the Jaredites; There Were Jaredites
Modern Near East Archaeology and the Brass Plates
Nephi as Scribe
Paradigms Regained : A Survey of Margaret Barker's Scholarship and Its Significance for Mormon studies
Pressing Forward with the Book of Mormon
Rediscovering the Book of Mormon
Skins as Garments in the Book of Mormon :
A Textual Exegesis
The Deuteronomist Reforms and Lehi’s Family Dynamics : A Social Context for the Rebellions of Laman and Lemuel
The Inclusive, Anti-Discrimination Message of the Book of Mormon
The Origin and Purpose of the Book of Mormon Phrase "If Ye Keep My Commandments Ye Shall Prosper in the Land"
The Treaty/Covenant Pattern in King Benjamin's Address