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(→Question: What do we know about the origin of the priesthood ban on Church members of African descent?) |
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[[en:Question: What do we know about the origin of the priesthood ban on Church members of African descent?]] | [[en:Question: What do we know about the origin of the priesthood ban on Church members of African descent?]] | ||
[[es:Pregunta: ¿Qué sabemos sobre el origen de la prohibición del sacerdocio a los miembros de la Iglesia de ascendencia africana?]] | [[es:Pregunta: ¿Qué sabemos sobre el origen de la prohibición del sacerdocio a los miembros de la Iglesia de ascendencia africana?]] | ||
[[pt:Pergunta: O que sabemos sobre a origem da restrição do Sacerdócio a membros de descendência Africana?]] | [[pt:Pergunta: O que sabemos sobre a origem da restrição do Sacerdócio a membros de descendência Africana?]] | ||
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+ | [[Category:An Insider's View of Mormon Origins]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Letter to a CES Director]] | ||
+ | [[Category:John Dehlin's "Questions and Answers"]] | ||
+ | [[Category:MormonThink]] |
The origin of the priesthood ban is one of the most difficult questions to answer. Its origins are not clear, and this affected both how members and leaders have seen the ban, and the steps necessary to rescind it. The Church has never provided an official reason for the ban, although a number of Church leaders offered theories as to the reason for its existence. The Church currently provides the following background information regarding the initiation of the ban in its Gospel Topics essay "Race and the Priesthood":
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. None of these explanations is accepted today as the official doctrine of the Church. [1]
Given that none of these theories regarding the reason for the ban is accepted today, Church members have generally taken one of three perspectives:
The difficulty in deciding between these options arises because:
The history behind the practice in the modern Church of withholding the priesthood based on race is described well by Lester Bush in a 1984 book.[2] A good timeline can be found at FairMormon's BlackLDS site: FAIR link.
Notes
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