Category: Priesthood and Blacks
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Review: Second Class Saints
A book titled “Second Class Saints” recently came out and covers the issue of the history of Blacks on the LDS Church. It’s worthwhile and it is recommended for your reading, with many insider information that you may not have known.
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Was Brigham Young a “Jerk”?
Brad R. Wilcox, a BYU professor and the second counselor in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Young Men general presidency, gave a fireside talk on Sunday, February 6, 2022 to church congregations in Alpine, UT. He claims that members have complained to him about how Mormonism’s authoritative priesthood was not given to…
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Brigham Young’s Eternal Predicament
On June 1st (2020) the prophet/president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Russell M. Nelson, posted remarks on his social media page(s) that addressed racism and its atrocities. Many Latter-day Saints noted that President Nelson’s words calmed them, brought them comfort, and gave them feelings of peace. I’m fairly certain that the…
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The Elijah Able History Essay
Note: The following was originally printed in the April 2020 edition of MRM Update. This is sent out 6 times a year to our financial supporters. To request a free subscription to our bimonthly publication Mormonism Researched, please visit here. Saints: The Standard of Truth, an official history book published in 2018 by The Church of…
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Jane Manning James: “Is There No Blessing for Me?”
The Salt Lake Tribune recently (14 June 2019) published an opinion piece by Jana Riess, author, researcher, and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Titled, “Commentary: Black Mormon pioneer Jane Manning James — only member ever sealed as a ‘servant’ — finally gets her due,” the article first noted that a feature…
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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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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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Priesthood Index
Priesthood Blacks and the Priesthood YouTube videos on Blacks Podcasts on Blacks
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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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Book Review: Blacks and the Mormon Priesthood: Setting the Record Straight
By Marcus H. Martins, Ph.D. Note: The month of June 2015 marks the 38th anniversary of Spencer W. Kimball and the members of the First Presidency deciding to allow those with black skin to begin receiving the priesthood. Let’s take a look at a book written with the intention of “setting the record straight.” For a…
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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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The Elijah Abel Controversy
Sweeping the past under the rug as something immaterial to the LDS Church today is a strategy that is leaving many people dissatisfied−Mormons included. In an effort to rescue their church from the charge of racism, Mormons like to bring up the earliest black Mormon priesthood-holder, Elijah Abel. What’s the story behind this man? Find…
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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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Joseph Smith Founder of LDS Racist Scriptures and Teachings: Part 2
[In honor of Black History Month 2014, each Monday in February Mormon Coffee’s blog post will address a topic related to racism in Mormon history. Today guest blogger Lynn Wilder presents Part 2 of the series she began last week.] LDS author Stephen Taggart (Negro Policy: Social and Historical Origins, 1970) writes that it was…
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Joseph Smith Founder of LDS Racist Scriptures and Teachings: Part 1
[In honor of Black History Month 2014, each Monday in February Mormon Coffee’s blog post will address a topic related to racism in Mormon history. Today guest blogger Lynn Wilder kicks off the series.] In January of 1964, LDS apostle Delbert L. Stapley wrote to LDS Michigan Governor George Romney urging him not to support…
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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…