Let’s Talk About Race and Priesthood

Few topics related to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are as complex and painful to understand as the policy that for 130 years restricted members of Black African descent from priesthood ordination and receiving temple ordinances. The impact of this policy has been deeply felt by generations of faithful members of the Church. Through the lens of modern scholarship and a trust in revelation, historian W. Paul Reeve offers vital historical context and insight on the origins of the restrictions, race relations both within and outside of the Church, the effects of implementing and eventually removing the policy, and other questions surrounding this sensitive topic. Reeve explores three phases of racial priesthood and temple restrictions in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: first, when there were no racial barriers to receiving the priesthood and temple ordinances; second, the 130-year period when there were racial restrictions; and third, a return to “the original universalism.”