Scales of Darkness

Until 1981 2 Nephi 30:6 in the Book of Mormon taught that dark-skinned Lamanites (Indians) would eventually experience a change in the color of their skin should they embrace the Book of Mormon. This passage read:

“And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and a delightsome people.”

In 1981 the Church changed the text of The Book of Mormon to read:

“And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and a delightsome people.”

 



Crash Course:

White and Delightsome or Pure and Delightsome? – Mormon Research Ministry
Blacks and the Priesthood – Mormon Think
Black people in Mormon doctrine – Wikipedia
Statements about race in the Book of Mormon – Religious Tolerance
Race and the Priesthood Essay – LDS.org
Mormon racism in perspective – Elder Mark E. Peterson
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