BLACKS AND THE PRIESTHOOD
Since the beginning of the LDS church, people of every race and ethnicity could be baptized into the church as full members. Joseph Smith openly opposed slavery.
From the LDS topics essay entitled "Race and the Priesthood" it states; “During the first two decades of the Church’s existence, a few black men were ordained to the priesthood. One of these men, Elijah Abel, also participated in temple ceremonies in Kirtland, Ohio, and was later baptized as proxy for deceased relatives in Nauvoo, Illinois. There is no reliable evidence that any black men were denied the priesthood during Joseph Smith’s lifetime. 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.
In 1852, President Brigham Young publicly announced that men of black African descent could no longer be ordained to the priesthood, though thereafter blacks continued to join the Church through baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. Following the death of Brigham Young, subsequent Church presidents restricted blacks from receiving the temple endowment or being married in the temple. Over time, Church leaders and members advanced many theories to explain the priesthood and temple restrictions."
It was largely taught in the Church that up through the 1980's blacks were denied the priesthood because they were from the lineage of Cain, who was cursed with a black skin after killing his brother Abel. People were born black because they were less valiant in the pre-existence.
One reason for this has been suggested that Brigham Young, the president of the church at the time, was influenced by racial tensions back then. This was a time of racial unrest. He might have just acted on his racist views.
Again from the race essay; “The justifications for this restriction echoed the widespread ideas about racial inferiority that had been used to argue for the legalization of black “servitude” in the Territory of Utah. According to one view, which had been promulgated in the United States from at least the 1730s, blacks descended from the same lineage as the biblical Cain, who slew his brother Abel. Those who accepted this view believed that God’s “curse” on Cain was the mark of a dark skin. Black servitude was sometimes viewed as a second curse placed upon Noah’s grandson Canaan as a result of Ham’s indiscretion toward his father. Although slavery was not a significant factor in Utah’s economy and was soon abolished, the restriction on priesthood ordinations remained.”
The Fairmormon website states that “Members have generally taken one of three perspectives:
1. the ban was based on revelation to Joseph Smith, and was continued by his successors until President Kimball
2. the ban did not originate with Joseph Smith, but was implemented by Brigham Young by revelation
3. the ban began as a series of administrative policy decisions, rather than a revealed doctrine, and drew partly upon ideas regarding race common in mid-19th century America. The passage of time gave greater authority to this policy than intended”
Past Prophets have stated such things as… “You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, un-comely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 7:290-291, October 9, 1859)
“Not only was Cain called upon to suffer, but because of his wickedness he became the father of an inferior race. A curse placed upon him and that curse has been continued through his lineage and must do so while time endures. Millions of souls have come into this world cursed with a black skin and have been denied the privilege of Priesthood and the fullness of the blessings of the Gospel.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, pages 101-102)
June 1978, President Spencer W. Kimball, president of the church at the time, received a “revelation”. They reversed the ban on Blacks which made it so all black people could receive the priesthood and go to the temple (See Official Declaration 2)
Today… “the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else. Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form”
MY THOUGHTS: The church stopped giving the blacks the priesthood starting with Brigham Young but I'm not sure of the reasons behind the ban. Most likely he was influenced by racism in his day, and that’s what he felt like he had to do this. My question is… WHY would the lord tell his prophets to deny the blacks the priesthood starting back in 1852, and then tell the prophet in 1978 that it was an error, and that they can have the priesthood now? Did Brigham Young receive revelation for this from God? Or did Brigham Young act on his own personal beliefs and feelings? Either way, why would God tell one prophet one thing, and then a hundred years down the road, would God reverse his “revelations” and instruct the prophet to do the exact opposite?
From the LDS topics essay entitled "Race and the Priesthood" it states; “During the first two decades of the Church’s existence, a few black men were ordained to the priesthood. One of these men, Elijah Abel, also participated in temple ceremonies in Kirtland, Ohio, and was later baptized as proxy for deceased relatives in Nauvoo, Illinois. There is no reliable evidence that any black men were denied the priesthood during Joseph Smith’s lifetime. 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.
In 1852, President Brigham Young publicly announced that men of black African descent could no longer be ordained to the priesthood, though thereafter blacks continued to join the Church through baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. Following the death of Brigham Young, subsequent Church presidents restricted blacks from receiving the temple endowment or being married in the temple. Over time, Church leaders and members advanced many theories to explain the priesthood and temple restrictions."
It was largely taught in the Church that up through the 1980's blacks were denied the priesthood because they were from the lineage of Cain, who was cursed with a black skin after killing his brother Abel. People were born black because they were less valiant in the pre-existence.
One reason for this has been suggested that Brigham Young, the president of the church at the time, was influenced by racial tensions back then. This was a time of racial unrest. He might have just acted on his racist views.
Again from the race essay; “The justifications for this restriction echoed the widespread ideas about racial inferiority that had been used to argue for the legalization of black “servitude” in the Territory of Utah. According to one view, which had been promulgated in the United States from at least the 1730s, blacks descended from the same lineage as the biblical Cain, who slew his brother Abel. Those who accepted this view believed that God’s “curse” on Cain was the mark of a dark skin. Black servitude was sometimes viewed as a second curse placed upon Noah’s grandson Canaan as a result of Ham’s indiscretion toward his father. Although slavery was not a significant factor in Utah’s economy and was soon abolished, the restriction on priesthood ordinations remained.”
The Fairmormon website states that “Members have generally taken one of three perspectives:
1. the ban was based on revelation to Joseph Smith, and was continued by his successors until President Kimball
2. the ban did not originate with Joseph Smith, but was implemented by Brigham Young by revelation
3. the ban began as a series of administrative policy decisions, rather than a revealed doctrine, and drew partly upon ideas regarding race common in mid-19th century America. The passage of time gave greater authority to this policy than intended”
Past Prophets have stated such things as… “You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, un-comely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 7:290-291, October 9, 1859)
“Not only was Cain called upon to suffer, but because of his wickedness he became the father of an inferior race. A curse placed upon him and that curse has been continued through his lineage and must do so while time endures. Millions of souls have come into this world cursed with a black skin and have been denied the privilege of Priesthood and the fullness of the blessings of the Gospel.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, pages 101-102)
June 1978, President Spencer W. Kimball, president of the church at the time, received a “revelation”. They reversed the ban on Blacks which made it so all black people could receive the priesthood and go to the temple (See Official Declaration 2)
Today… “the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else. Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form”
MY THOUGHTS: The church stopped giving the blacks the priesthood starting with Brigham Young but I'm not sure of the reasons behind the ban. Most likely he was influenced by racism in his day, and that’s what he felt like he had to do this. My question is… WHY would the lord tell his prophets to deny the blacks the priesthood starting back in 1852, and then tell the prophet in 1978 that it was an error, and that they can have the priesthood now? Did Brigham Young receive revelation for this from God? Or did Brigham Young act on his own personal beliefs and feelings? Either way, why would God tell one prophet one thing, and then a hundred years down the road, would God reverse his “revelations” and instruct the prophet to do the exact opposite?
REFERENCES:
- https://www.lds.org/topics/race-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng
- http://en.fairmormon.org/Mormonism_and_racial_issues/Blacks_and_the_priesthood/Origin_of_the_priesthood_ban
- http://jod.mrm.org/7/282
- http://www.evangelizationstation.com/Pamphlets/525%20Blacks%20&%20Mormon%20Priesthood.pdf
- https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/od/2?lang=eng
- http://sainesburyproject.com/mormonstuff/Mormonism%20and%20the%20Negro.pdf
- http://www.mormonthink.com/blackweb.htm
- http://www.blacklds.org/