Tag: priesthood ban
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Mormonism’s Exclusive Line of Divine Authority
Last month the LDS Church celebrated the anniversary of the 1978 lifting of the spiritual restrictions placed on black Mormons. Usually referred to as the Priesthood Ban, these restrictions not only disallowed black men from holding the Mormon priesthood, but also kept all black members from participating in LDS temples, denying them the church’s “saving…
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The Disbelief of Mormon Prophets, Seers, and Revelators
Last weekend the LDS Church celebrated the 40th anniversary of its discontinuance of a long-standing ban that denied black Mormons the full benefits of Church membership (i.e., priesthood, endowment, sealing/temple marriage). The celebration, “Be One,” focused on a continuing effort to unite all members of the Church without regard to race. As part of this celebration,…
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Technology is Changing Mormon Missionary Work
On March 8, 2018, Deseret News ran a story with a lengthy title that began, “How technology is changing Mormon missionary work.” This article discusses the LDS missionary force’s increased use of technology to find and teach investigators, often via online chats. Relating one such chat, the Deseret News article quotes sister missionary Kimeme Ackley…
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Unexplaining the Mormon Priesthood Ban on Blacks
February 2015 Synopsis For much of its history, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had a fairly standard explanation as to why those of African heritage were prohibited from holding any priesthood office in the church. The ban was officially lifted in June 1978 by the First Presidency, the top leaders…
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Mormonism hurts
The topic of the Mormon Church and race has been in the news again this summer. The June anniversary of the Church’s 1978 lifting of the priesthood ban passed mostly unnoticed, but a week and a half later, when the Church announced plans to index the records of 4 million freed slaves, people started talking.…
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Citations on Blacks and the Priesthood
LDS Quotes on the ban on blacks receiving the priesthood before 1978 Standard Works “And Enoch also beheld the residue of the people which were the sons of Adam; and they were a mixture of all the seed of Adam save it was the seed of Cain, for the seed of Cain were black, and…
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Mormon Church Essay on Priesthood Ban Banned From Church Classroom
An interesting thing happened to Mormon Sunday school teacher Brian Dawson. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that a student in Mr. Dawson’s youth Sunday school class asked him why his Nigerian wife joined a church that had at one time excluded blacks from the priesthood and Mormon temples. The student wondered where the priesthood ban…
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Mormon Prophecy: Trying to Keep Up
In September (2014) the Rexburg Standard Journal enjoyed an exclusive interview with Mormon apostle Jeffry Holland. Journalist Emmilie Whitlock reported on Elder Holland’s remarks. One topic the Mormon apostle discussed was the “challenging times” in which we live, especially in regards to the family. “ ‘One thing that is truly unique in our time is…
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The 2013 Race and Priesthood Statement
The LDS Church came out with a statement last year regarding the priesthood ban for black males before 1978. Was this teaching a principle or a doctrine?
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Passing the Torch of Mormonism’s Historical Racisim
[In honor of Black History Month 2014, each Monday in February Mormon Coffee’s blog post has addressed a topic related to racism in Mormon history. Today is the final post in the series.] Institutionalized racism in the Mormon Church spanned nearly 150 years. It began with the religion’s founding prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. Smith’s prophet-successor…
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Quotations on blacks and the priesthood
During the week of January 6, 2014, Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson spoke on Viewpoint on Mormonism about issues related to the ban on black males to the priesthood. Here are some quotes in response to an article on www.lds.org titled “Race and the Priesthood.” Is it really true that the ban was based on nothing more than…
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Early Mormon Prophet Led the Church Astray
The Mormon Church very recently posted a new statement on “Race and the Priesthood” at LDS.org in which the blame for the Church’s historic racism is laid squarely at the feet of Brigham Young. According to the statement, the idea to deny Blacks the priesthood and Mormon temple blessings didn’t come from God. Rather, the…
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The Priesthood Ban: Intended To Be Enforced Until the Resurrection?
On December 6, 2013, the LDS Church published an article (“Race and Priesthood”) that contradicted the facts from earlier church history. Was the banning of blacks holding the priesthood originated by Brigham Young and perpetuated for more than a century? Or was this teaching truly a “doctrine” originated by Joseph Smith as claimed by a number of…
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Black (Priesthood Ban) (Defined)
Blacks. Before 1978, LDS leaders claimed that African Americans and others with dark skin could not hold the Mormon priesthood because they were cursed.
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White and Delightsome or Pure and Delightsome? – A Look at 2 Nephi 30:6
By Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson For much of its history, the Salt Lake City-based LDS Church edition of the Book of Mormon taught that dark-skinned Lamanites (Indians) would eventually experience a change in the color of their skin should they embrace the Book of Mormon. Except for a single edition (1840), 2 Nephi 30:6…