Abstract: Multiple translations of the Doctrine and Covenants into German have been produced over the past century and a half. This essay looks at a more recent example of these translations as found in the Buch der Lehre und Bündnisse published electronically by the Community of Christ. Focusing on Community of Christ Doctrine and Covenants 36, the revelation of Zion to Enoch, the essay compares and contrasts the German text with its Vorlage. It also notes the ways in which the German translation attempts to “de-problematize” its source material, particularly in regard to its references to blackness and the racial implications of such references. The author argues that this effort resolves some issues while creating others.

There exists an extensive history of translating the Doctrine and Covenants into various languages, particularly into German. The first German translation was completed by Heinrich Carlos Ferdinand Eyring in 1876 for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.¹ Several later German editions of the scripture were published by the [Page 70]Utah-based Church in the twentieth century including a very limited printing from the 1920s and a later printing in the 1960s that included a German translation of the Pearl of Great Price. The German versions of the standard works published in 1981 through 2013 saw extensive revisions to the grammar and syntax contained in previous editions to better conform with modern developments in the language over its immediate pre-World War II predecessor.²

The most recent example of a German Doctrine and Covenants comes, however, not from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints but from the Community of Christ. An exclusively digital edition sold through Amazon, Buch der Lehre und Bündnisse (literally, the Book of Teaching and Covenants), is one of several electronic editions of the scriptures published by the Community of Christ in the past decade.³ Released in 2019, Buch der Lehre und Bündnisse contains German translations of all of the revelations found in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants as well as those unique to the Community of Christ as given by its various presidents. This includes the most recent revelation, CC D&C 165,⁴ given by the current President of the Community of Christ, Stephen Veazey, in 2016.

Most interesting is the German rendering of CC D&C 36, the revelation to Enoch regarding Zion. This section is not a part of the Doctrine and Covenants accepted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is, however, found in the Pearl of Great Price as Moses 7 and in the Inspired Version/Joseph Smith Translation—the official Bible translation used by the Community of Christ—as Genesis 7. This material, while foundational to Restoration theology in its emphasis on [Page 71]Zion as a spiritual utopia, is in some respects controversial due to its reference to the children of Cain as “black” and as being excluded from Enoch’s preaching.⁵ Concerning this issue, there exists considerable divergence between Buch der Lehre und Bündnisse and its English source text. Table 1 provides two examples of this divergence.

Table 1. Comparison of English, German, and English translations.

As can be seen from the comparison in table 1, the racial implications presented in the original English text of CC D&C 36 with the terms “black” and “blackness” used in reference to the children of Cain have been completely removed in the recent German translation. In both examples, racial identification has been replaced with spiritual identification. The children of Cain are described as spiritually corrupt and wicked, and when depicted in this manner, the reader finds justification for their exclusion from Enoch’s preaching and the larger community of Zion. Like the Lamanites and Nephites of the Book of Mormon, the children of Cain have rejected God’s laws and turned to violence [Page 72](CC D&C 36:1g), with the result that God has rejected them and literally brought upon them “depravity” (Verderbtheit).

The rendering of CC D&C 36:1i and 36:4 in Buch der Lehre und Bündnisse is not surprising given the concerns raised within the Community of Christ in recent decades regarding both the content of Restoration scriptures and their history of interpretation. One sees this most notably with the Community of Christ’s attitude toward and treatment of the Book of Mormon in the twenty-first century. Former Community of Christ President W. Grant McMurray deemed the text as racially problematic in the early 2000s. His decision was followed several years later by his successor, President Veazey, explicitly rejecting the long-standing view that the Book of Mormon was divinely inspired.⁶ The Community of Christ appears to have taken a slightly different approach towards the Doctrine and Covenants. Instead of rejecting its divinity, certain language in its content, as seen in CC D&C 36, has been changed to make it less racially problematic.⁷

The German translation complements other passages in the Restoration corpus while at the same time remaining problematic. Regarding its relation to other Restoration scriptures, CC D&C 36 in Buch der Lehre und Bündnisse follows certain trends in the Book of Mormon where the Lamanite curse is equated not with physical pigmentation but with spiritual darkness/blackness. I have proposed elsewhere that 2 Nephi 30:6 (2 Nephi 12:84 in the Community of Christ Book of Mormon) should be taken into account when interpreting and understanding other references to a “blackness” curse in the Book of Mormon.⁸ That verse speaks of Lehi’s descendants who one day would accept the blessings of the Gospel: 

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 [Page 73]generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and a delightsome people. (2 Nephi 30:6)

Based on this argument, the curse refers to spiritual separation and blindness and not to skin color. In this respect, it can be argued that Buch der Lehre und Bündnisse retains a precedent already established in the Restoration canon in its rendering of certain phrases here in CC D&C 36.

On the other hand, one might argue that the treatment of CC D&C 36 in the German translation, by nature of the significant changes made to the text, does not adequately or effectively address the racial features of Enoch’s revelation. In other words, by eliminating racial language from the text, Buch der Lehre und Bündnisse does disservice to readers, particularly those for whom CC D&C 36 (or the related text in the Book of Moses) is sacred and divine scripture, who are struggling with the racial elements and features of the revelation. To some extent, it can be said that the German translation is itself problematic in that it assumes, perhaps unintentionally, an interpretation of “blackness” as synonymous with depravity and wickedness and hence comes full circle back to the troublesome reception history of CC D&C 36.

The German edition of the Community of Christ Doctrine and Covenants is one example of the rich tradition of translating Restoration scriptures into non-English languages. The theological implications of these translations and their consequences have often received little attention from scholars. This article has attempted to analyze one example of such consequences as seen in the German rendering of CC D&C 36. While this rendering deliberately attempts to resolve the racial language found in the original English, it is still troublesome in other respects. However, Buch der Lehre und Bündnisse indicates an awareness of the problematic reception history of the Enoch material and a deliberate effort to address those issues. The desire to make such adjustments is understandable, but may not do justice to the text nor fulfill the duty to provide an accurate translation, even when the text is problematic. Indeed, it is even possible for a well-intended adjustment to exacerbate the apparent problem that the translator sought to resolve.