Those who see the influence of cultural factors and institutional practice behind the ban consider this evidence that the ban was based on Brigham's cultural and scriptural assumptions, and point out that such beliefs were common among most Christians in Antebellum America. 6) Why wait until 1978, after all the other churches changed? But I accepted it on faith and said, "Okay, so be it. The authority and offices of the priesthood remain largely consistent with those of Joseph Smith's day, but the way that authority and those offices are organized is flexible. This rang so true to me at the time. Over the years, the ensuing years, when President Kimball became President of the church in '73, every time a general authority would be sent to preside at a stake conference in Rio, he always instructed these brothers to interview my father. Best race for priest. Spencer: President Joseph F. Smith continued the inclusion of young men in priesthood quorums but added some new reforms, as well. Here was more proof that the initial creed of the LDS Church did not prohibit priesthood or temple blessings based upon ancestry. From the beginnings of the Church, people of every race and ethnicity could be baptized and received as members. As a second generation of Latter-day Saints began to come of age, their parents wanted to ensure that these young people had faith in God and testimonies of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. "I think where this has its direct impact is in the pews of Mormon congregations, " Reeve said. And I'll mention here that modern church leaders have since disavowed the curse of Cain as an explanation for the restriction. Marcus: First of all, we need to remember that Brazil has a very different racial environment when compared with the United States.
He will deny no one who comes unto him. Mom always said our family had purpose. If it did then it would be admitting that the Church made a serious mistake and their prophets are not really prophets.
There was no recorded revelation on the matter such as those found in the Doctrine and Covenants. I encourage anyone reading this to do your own research if you truly want to know the truth about the LDS church and its claims to truthfulness. Spencer: Elijah Abel had also received temple ordinances in the Kirtland Temple before moving to Nauvoo. Alma 3:5-10, 14-17 - 5 Now the heads of the Lamanites were shorn; and they were naked, save it were skin which was girded about their loins, and also their armor, which was girded about them, and their bows, and their arrows, and their stones, and their slings, and so forth. Later that year, in September 1978, President Kimball asked his counselor, President N. LDS blacks, scholars cheer church's essay on priesthood. Eldon Tanner, to read a letter from the First Presidency to present the lifting of the temple and priesthood restrictions to a general conference of the church. This includes the oft-repeated quote from Brigham Young that the Negro had not yet had his time to receive the fullness of the blessings of the gospel in his 1852 "Speech given in Joint Session of the Utah Legislature, " included in Fred Collier's The Teachings of the Prophet Brigham Young.
Lest they learn obedience by the things which they suffer. " Then we had a meeting where we meet every week in the temple, and we discussed it as a group circle. Why can't the LDS Church do the same? Soon after the revelation, Elder Bruce R. McConkie, an apostle, spoke of new "light and knowledge" that had erased previously "limited understanding. " 12] These accounts must be weighed against records of free blacks receiving the priesthood such as Black Pete (1831 OH), Elijah Abel (1835 OH), Joseph T. Ball (1837 MA), Isaac van Meter (<1837 ME), and Walker and Enoch Lewis (Fall 1843-Nov. 1844 MA). How does priestley present eric essay. As the Church grew worldwide, its overarching mission to "go ye therefore, and teach all nations" 17 seemed increasingly incompatible with the priesthood and temple restrictions. Note the lack of ethnic diversity. And so, on the cornerstone ceremony was about a year before the dedication in those days, President Kimball called my father once again for a nice old chat. They were overjoyed.
These LDS scriptures need addressed if the Church really wants to explain or justify the priesthood ban that lasted for almost a century and a half. As with all of our material, please email us at if you have any issues with our comments or suggestions to add. "In 1978, among my friends and associates it was almost universal jubilation" over the revelation that extended the priesthood to black men, said Bob Rees, who last fall taught the first class on Mormonism at the University of California at Berkeley. A Black Latter-day Saint’s thoughts on race, Priesthood, and the Church’s essay. Link to the Church's view on slavery in Utah. After praying for guidance, President McKay did not feel impressed to lift the ban. Matthew: Between the early 1850s and 1870s, the church grows almost an order of magnitude. And then second, you could say that there has been, in general, a move toward greater standardization, more uniformity, more clarity, and a move toward strengthening and clarifying the lines of authority between the local church and the central or the general authorities. And how could every prophet from Brigham Young until Spencer W. Kimball really be prophets if they never realized this or received any revelation to stop it during all that time?
In a private Church council three years after Joseph Smith's death, Brigham Young praised Q. Walker Lewis, a black man who had been ordained to the priesthood, saying, "We have one of the best Elders, an African. " The ban predates membership for most Mormons. 5) Why don't the leaders know? I also ran into several people who perpetuated falsehoods and speculation around the priesthood and temple restriction. The beauty of our belief system shows us that God takes ordinary people and does extraordinary things. So far, five of us have served full-time missions, including Mom, after Dad passed away. He will go east to Ohio on a preaching tour. It turns out the change came about following the movement of a large number of men who were serving in Aaronic priesthood quorums who were ordained to offices in the Melchizedek Priesthood in the late 1850s. Gray didn't even look up. The Lamanites, your brethren, whom ye hate, because of their filthiness and the cursings which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father, &c. Wherefore the Lord God will not destroy them; but will be merciful to them; and one day they shall become [58] a blessed people. A personal essay on race and the priesthood answer. " He had encountered Kwaku Lewis and his wife and suspected that William Smith (Joseph Smith's brother) had acted improperly by ordaining a black elder. SPEECH OF ELDER ORSON HYDE, DELIVERED BEFORE THE HIGH PRIESTS' QUORUM, IN NAUVOO, APRIL 21th, 1845..., p. 30). I had previous experience with racism within the LDS community.
Telling us that it's not important isn't bearing our burdens. There is not, nor has there ever been any doctrinal basis for excluding people from the blessings of the temple and the priesthood based upon their ancestry. So the majority are either unaware of the old "folklore" surrounding the ban, as Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles called it during an interview with PBS in 2006, or they had rejected the theories in 1978. Mentioning that Elijah performed baptisms for the dead in Nauvoo very likely refers to his doing so in a river (as all early baptisms for the dead were done), not in the Nauvoo Temple.
Despite the effort that went into the essay to attempt to explain the ban, the scriptures remain. It lets us be aware of the changing circumstances that the church finds itself in, different political, different cultural circumstances, positions, just to think about how we can change and respond to growth. From here, December 1847, to February 1849, Church leaders and other Saints are moving to Utah. Supreme Court declared that blacks possessed "no rights which the white man was bound to respect. " … I have no expectation that any man is perfect. There was no doubt in my mind or in the minds of my associates that what was revealed was the mind and the will of the Lord. For example:.. they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them. "In some ways, that's the most amazing story, people like Darius Gray and so many others who against all odds, in a sense, stayed faithful. Some frustration remains for Alexis Henson, 20, who completed her sophomore year at BYU this spring.
He didn't say "the curse of Cain. " It felt like a direct contradiction to President Hinckley's assertion that, "... no man who makes disparaging remarks concerning those of another race can consider himself a true disciple of Jesus Christ. This is fundamental in understanding and accepting what happened. Brigham Young's position on slavery is well-documented. It is Parley P. Pratt who gives us at this time in April 1847 the very first evidence of the existence of a priesthood restriction. 20 (Again, if God truly cares about all of his children, He would answer the prayers of the one true church long before they were confronted with what is essentially a business problem. This change restricted Black men from receiving the priesthood and Black men and women from receiving all the ordinances of the temple.