For behold, the Lord shall curse the land with much heat, and the barrenness thereof shall go forth forever; and there was a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan, that they were despised among all people.
Click any product to generate a realistic preview. Up to 3 at a time.
* Initial load can take up to 90 seconds — revising the preview in another color is nearly instant.
"And it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves shall rise up against their masters, who shall be marshaled and disciplined for war."
"I defy all the world to produce a greater work than the Book of Mormon."
"It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God, and to know... that he was once a man like us...."
"I never told you I was perfect; but there is no error in the revelations which I have taught."
"The simple doctrine of the Christian Godhead, set forth in the New Testament is corrupted by the meaningless jargon of these creeds, and their explanations; and the learned who profess a belief in the…"
Moses 7:8 (from the Pearl of Great Price, a scripture canonized by the LDS Church)
Date: 1830-1831 (translation period)
GeneralFound in 1 providers: gemini
1 source checked
A divine curse is declared over a land, making it perpetually barren and scorched. Separately, a physical darkening is described as falling upon Canaan's descendants, marking them as socially outcast. The passage frames environmental destruction and racial othering as acts of divine will, presenting inherited divine punishment as both physical and agricultural, affecting land and people across generations.
Joseph Smith produced this text as part of the Book of Abraham (1835–42), claiming divine translation of Egyptian papyri. As LDS founder and self-declared prophet, his writings carried doctrinal authority. This passage directly shaped the LDS Church's priesthood ban on Black members—a policy rooted partly in this curse-of-Canaan framework—which remained official doctrine until Spencer W. Kimball's 1978 reversal.
Smith produced this text in the 1830s–40s, when the 'curse of Ham/Canaan' was the dominant theological argument used across American denominations to rationalize slavery and racial hierarchy. Abolitionist and pro-slavery factions both cited scripture. The Book of Abraham entered this charged debate, and its racial passages influenced LDS policy for over a century, making it historically significant within American religion and race history.
AI-generated insights based on extensive research and information for context. Factual errors? Email [email protected].
Your cart is empty
