How Long Was There Darkness After the Crucifixion? The Bible Versus the Book of Mormon

In the "Book of Mormon Student Manual," chapter 40, "The three days of darkness symbolized the death of Jesus Christ, who is 'the light and life of the world' 3 Nephi 11:11. Mormon emphasized that the three days of darkness was 'a sign' given of the Savior’s death. After describing the damage caused by the 'great storm' that lasted for three hours, Mormon documented the complete darkness as one of the signs that was now fulfilled. The darkness was so intense that 'there could not be any light at all.' During this time of darkness, the body of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, lay in the tomb. On the day of His Resurrection, after Christ had overcome death, light came again to the people in America, signifying Christ’s victory over death and darkness." 

This refers to the LDS claim that there was three days of darkness after the crucifixion of Jesus, as, they claim, was prophesied by their prophets. "And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up, according to the words of Zenock, and to be crucified, according to the words of Neum, and to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos, which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death  unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel" (I Nephi 19:10). And, "But behold, as I said unto you concerning another sign, a sign of his death, behold, in that day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his light unto you; and also the moon and the stars; and there shall be no light upon the face of this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of three days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead. And he said unto me that while the thunder and the lightning lasted, and the tempest, that these things should be, and that darkness should cover the face of the whole earth for the space of three days" (Helaman14:20, 27). 

This is in contrast to the biblical account: "It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed" (Luke 23:44-45; see also Matthew 27:43). So, not three days, but three hours!

 Why the difference? Since I consider the Bible alone to be the Word of God, I necessarily believe that the error is in the Book of Mormon, not the Bible. My suspicion is that Joseph Smith, author of the Book of Mormon, confused the account of the crucifixion with the expectation of the resurrection on the third day. If one were hurried, it would be easy to gloss "days" for "hours." Acting under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the writers of the Gospels had no such risk. The supposed "prophecies" were then invented to cover Smith's error.