What the passages say
Patrick Madrid reads the Book of Mormon’s skin-color language as a contradiction of the Church’s disavowal. The passages are difficult on their face. In 2 Nephi 5:20–23, Nephi first describes his brothers’ people as cut off from God’s presence. He then says God caused a “skin of blackness” to come upon them and links it to keeping the groups apart, including through intermarriage. In Alma 3:6–10, the narrator describes dark skin as a mark and closely connects the mark with the curse. In 3 Nephi 2:14–16, the narrator says that a group of Lamanites united with the Nephites, their curse was removed, and their skin became white. Madrid’s objection · 2 Nephi 5:20–23 · Alma 3:6–10 · 3 Nephi 2:14–16
The Church’s current explanation identifies separation from God as the curse and the skin language as a mark described in the narrative. It says the nature and appearance of the mark are uncertain. That distinction helps explain verse 20, but the other verses still put skin color next to moral judgment. A reader can reasonably see a racialized contrast in that wording. Ethan Sproat has proposed a reading involving garments. That is an interpretation to test against the passages, especially 3 Nephi 2:15. The Church leaves the nature of the mark open. Church explanation of the mark · Sproat’s proposal · Robert Bowman’s critical reading
What changed from white to pure?
In 2 Nephi 30:6 the 1830 edition described descendants of Lehi’s people becoming a “white and a delightsome people” as they learned the gospel. The 1840 edition Joseph Smith supervised printed “pure and a delightsome people.” Later LDS editions based on the 1837 text carried forward “white.” The 1981 LDS edition restored the 1840 reading. That textual history concerns 2 Nephi 30:6. Readers can still find the skin-color language in the other passages today. 1830 edition, p. 117 · 1840 edition, p. 115 · Church history of the revisions
What was taught then and what is taught now?
In October 1960, then-apostle Spencer W. Kimball described some Indigenous Church members becoming lighter-skinned and treated it as fulfillment of the promise. That teaching shows how a Church leader applied the text to real people. In 2020, Elder Gary Stevenson addressed an older statement about skin color that appeared in the printed Come, Follow Me manual. He asked readers to disregard the paragraph and reaffirmed the Church’s disavowal. Kimball’s 1960 conference address · Stevenson’s remarks · Corrected online lesson
Madrid links the passages to the 1978 revelation ending the restriction. Official Declaration 2 concerns eligibility for priesthood and temple blessings. The Church’s later explanation addresses the passages themselves. It says the mark applies to no one today and is unrelated to the restriction. The Church disavows theories that black skin signals divine disfavor or a curse, that people of any race are inferior, and that mixed-race marriages are sinful. The distinction is between a mark in a particular narrative and a rule about what anyone’s skin means. The current Church rejects the rule. Official Declaration 2 · Race and the Priesthood · Church explanation of the mark
In the text itself, Jacob condemns his own people for reviling the Lamanites and praises the Lamanites’ family faithfulness. Nephi says God invites everyone, black and white. A Latter-day Saint can take those teachings as grounds to reject judging people by skin color and still face the hard question of why particular narrators tied color to the curse. The passages and their history warrant that question. Jacob 3:5–9 · 2 Nephi 26:33