Blacks and the LDS/Mormon Priesthood

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andrewstx said:
Blacks are now ordained to the Mormon priesthood. But are they only made aaronoic priests but not Melchesidik (sp) priests as well?
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Since 1978, blacks are ordained to both the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods in the LDS Church, and blacks are also allowed to participate in temple ordinances (it’s sometimes forgotten that during this time, both black males and black females were not allowed to be Endowed nor Sealed, both of which are necessary for the highest eternal blessings in the faith).

Before I left the LDS Church, I was the Elders Quorum President of my ward.
 
Sam_777 said:
Which claimed “revelation” was that !!!https://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon13.gif

Such bad history for non Catholic sects moves me another step towards the Catholic faith.

Thank you for bringing us a flashback from the LDS history.
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Doctrine and Covenants-Official Declaration 2

It should be noted that this declaration (and OD 1) does not contain the actual text of the revelation received, unlike the other canonized revelations found within the Doctrine and Covenants. It merely states that a revelation was received.
 
In the LDS Church article, they say this:

"Church leaders pondered promises made by prophets such as Brigham Young that black members would one day receive priesthood and temple blessings."

This seems to obfuscate what they, or at least Brigham Young, said. What Brigham Young actually said was that blacks would receive the priesthood only after all the other children have received their blessings, and in the resurrection.

“Why are so many of the inhabitants of the earth cursed with a skin of blackness? It comes in consequence of their fathers rejecting the power of the Holy Priesthood, and the law of God. They will go down to death. And when all the rest of the children have received their blessings in the Holy Priesthood, then that curse will be removed from the seed of Cain, and they will then come up and possess the priesthood, and receive all the blessings which we now are entitled to.” (Journal of Discourses, 11, pg 272)

"When all the other children of Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead, then it will be time enough to remove the curse from Cain and his posterity" (Journal of Discourses, 2, pg 143)
 
Hi LivingWaters7, I have some questions
LivingWaters7 said:
***"When all the other children of Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead ***
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Do lds authorities consider that the above premise has been fulfilled?

And what about the subsequent consequence?
LivingWaters7 said:
then it will be time enough to remove the curse from Cain and his posterity" (Journal of Discourses, 2, pg 143)
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Do current lds people believe in things like “curse from Cain”?

There’s only “one kind” of salvation (Matthew 20: 1-16) and God wants all of us to be saved (1 Tim 2:4).

Things like “this person can be saved but up to a point, up to a lesser heaven; and this one can be saved to the best heaven” based on the race or the country, or the parents doesn’t seem to come from God.

On the other hand it sounds problematic from this other point of view. As far as I know they deny original sin, but they accept this weird thing of “curse from Cain”. Does anyone think about that?
 
HojaVerde said:
On the other hand it sounds problematic from this other point of view. As far as I know they deny original sin, but they accept this weird thing of “curse from Cain”. Does anyone think about that?
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That is a really good point, I’ve never though of that before…How do they answer this?
 
I’m LDS myself and ill say this situation furthers the fact that I am studying all I can about the catholic faith because I feel it’s time for me to convert. This article just makes me want to be catholic quicker. I look forward to it.🙂
 
CWM31 said:
I’m LDS myself and ill say this situation furthers the fact that I am studying all I can about the catholic faith because I feel it’s time for me to convert. This article just makes me want to be catholic quicker. I look forward to it.🙂
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Welcome home.
 
CWM31 said:
I’m LDS myself and ill say this situation furthers the fact that I am studying all I can about the catholic faith because I feel it’s time for me to convert. This article just makes me want to be catholic quicker. I look forward to it.🙂
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Yes, I understand. This was an issue that really caused me to think about the claims of LDS leaders, as well as my own place in the LDS Church as a black member. I hope that you find peace in the Lord’s true Church :).
 
On a somewhat related topic, imagine sitting in General Conference in 1960, and hearing this from Spencer Kimball (another quote that I’ll never forget):

***"The day of the Lamanites is nigh. For years they have been growing delightsome, and they are now becoming white and delightsome, as they were promised (2 Ne. 30:6). In this picture of the twenty Lamanite missionaries, fifteen of the twenty were as light as Anglos; five were darker but equally delightsome. The children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation.

At one meeting a father and mother and their sixteen-year-old daughter were present, the little member girl—sixteen—sitting between the dark father and mother, and it was evident she was several shades lighter than her parents—on the same reservation, in the same hogan, subject to the same sun and wind and weather. There was the doctor in a Utah city who for two years had had an Indian boy in his home who stated that he was some shades lighter than the younger brother just coming into the program from the reservation. These young members of the Church are changing to whiteness and to delightsomeness. One white elder jokingly said that he and his companion were donating blood regularly to the hospital in the hope that the process might be accelerated."***
scriptures.byu.edu/gettalk.php?ID=1091&era=yes

:eek: :doh2:
 
HojaVerde said:
On the other hand it sounds problematic from this other point of view. As far as I know they deny original sin, but they accept this weird thing of “curse from Cain”. Does anyone think about that?
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An official statement of the First Presidency on August 17, 1951:

“Man will be punished for his own sins and not for Adam’s transgression. If this is carried further, it would imply that the Negro is punished or allotted to a certain position on this earth, not because of Cain’s transgression, but came to earth through the loins of Cain because of his failure to achieve other stature in the spirit world.”
 
LivingWaters7 said:
***"The day of the Lamanites is nigh. For years they have been growing delightsome, and they are now becoming white and delightsome, as they were promised (2 Ne. 30:6). In this picture of the twenty Lamanite missionaries, fifteen of the twenty were as light as Anglos; five were darker but equally delightsome. The children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation.

At one meeting a father and mother and their sixteen-year-old daughter were present, the little member girl—sixteen—sitting between the dark father and mother, and it was evident she was several shades lighter than her parents—on the same reservation, in the same hogan, subject to the same sun and wind and weather. There was the doctor in a Utah city who for two years had had an Indian boy in his home who stated that he was some shades lighter than the younger brother just coming into the program from the reservation. These young members of the Church are changing to whiteness and to delightsomeness. One white elder jokingly said that he and his companion were donating blood regularly to the hospital in the hope that the process might be accelerated."***
scriptures.byu.edu/gettalk.php?ID=1091&era=yes

:eek: :doh2:
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What?! :eek: That is so sad.
 
To be fair to the early Mormons, they weren’t the only 19th and 20th century Americans pondering the “Negro Question”. Abolitionists, slave owners, progressives, klansmen, all if them have held and said a variety of insulting, condescending, evil and flat out stupid things about the “Negro Question”. All it shows is that Mormon prophets didn’t really differentiate from the general population in their views on race. Admittedly that is likely problematic for ones status as a prophet.
 
taylorf said:
An official statement of the First Presidency on August 17, 1951:

“Man will be punished for his own sins and not for Adam’s transgression. If this is carried further, it would imply that the Negro is punished or allotted to a certain position on this earth, not because of Cain’s transgression, but came to earth through the loins of Cain because of his failure to achieve other stature in the spirit world.”
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Thank you, Taylorf
jadamo said:
What?! :eek: That is so sad.
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😦 I agree. And it’s totally unfair.
CWM31 said:
I’m LDS myself and ill say this situation furthers the fact that I am studying all I can about the catholic faith because I feel it’s time for me to convert. This article just makes me want to be catholic quicker. I look forward to it.🙂
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Welcome CWM31! God bless your journey!
 
Hmm. I see plenty of Mormon posters on these threads all the time. But I don’t see any here…Hmm…

This is a very interesting thread though.👍
 
The typical LDS apologetic response to the priesthood restriction is to point out how the priesthood was passed on in the Old Testament, where it was limited to specific lineage. I believe I provided my thoughts on that concept, in the context of having the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Christ’s commands and promises, etc, in the OP.
 
LivingWaters7 said:
The typical LDS apologetic response to the priesthood restriction is to point out how the priesthood was passed on in the Old Testament, where it was limited to specific lineage. I believe I provided my thoughts on that concept, in the context of having the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Christ’s commands and promises, etc, in the OP.
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You are correct on the typical LDS apologetic responses. One response that I heard a lot in the various wards I attended was that it was Heavenly Father’s priesthood and he can give it to whoever he wants and doesn’t have to tell us why. I think certain LDS will rationalize it that way because they simply cannot accept what Brigham Young and other LDS prophets have said regarding Africans as even remotely true. They have to go back to what the current LDS leadership is saying which is “yes there was a ban, we don’t understand why, Heavenly Father did it that way because he can and it is impertinent to ask why”.
 
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