1111: How, When, & Why of LDS Priesthood Ban (Rick B)

Описание: For many years, the official position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) was that "it is not known precisely why, how, or when this restriction [on the priesthood for male members of African descent] began in the church". However, historical research utilizing early records suggests that the origins of the ban are quite specific, pointing to a confluence of events involving race and interracial sexual relations (often called "amalgamation" or "miscegenation" at the time) that served as the primary catalyst.

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CHAPTERS
0:00 Reasons & Origins of Priesthood Ban
36:50 Response by Marguerite Driessen
1:05:26 Reflections
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Interracial Marriage and the Origins of the LDS Priesthood Ban
For many years, the official position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) was that "it is not known precisely why, how, or when this restriction [on the priesthood for male members of African descent] began in the church.” However, historical research utilizing early records suggests that the origins of the ban are quite specific, pointing to a confluence of events involving race and interracial sexual relations (often called "amalgamation" or "miscegenation" at the time) that served as the primary catalyst.
Priesthood Before the Prejudice (1830–1846)
Contradicting later restrictions, evidence shows that Black men held the priesthood and participated in temple ordinances during the earliest decades of the Church.
• Black Pete, the first Black convert, was baptized in 1830 and served a mission in Ohio, likely performing baptisms in January 1831.
• Elijah Abel, perhaps the most famous early Black Mormon, was ordained an Elder and then a Seventy in 1836, received his washing and anointing ordinance in the Kirtland Temple, and participated in baptisms for the dead in the 1840s.
• Joseph Ball was ordained a high priest and served as a branch president in Lowell, Massachusetts, after Joseph Smith's death in 1844. Ball was also slated to receive his temple endowment in Nauvoo in 1845.
• Walker Lewis, baptized in 1843, was ordained an Elder by William Smith, and was later referred to by Brigham Young in 1847 as "one of the best elders an African in Lowell," [Massachusetts.]
Furthermore, marriage between Black and white members was not automatically prohibitive; John Teague, a white Irishman, joined the church in 1842 with his Black wife, Evelyn Wilbur, and John was ordained a priest and then an elder. These facts confirm that no formal priesthood restrictions existed before 1847.
Interracial Marriage Crisis of 1847
The shift from granting the priesthood to prohibiting it appears to have been driven by the highly visible, controversial interracial relationships of two Black elders in 1846 and 1847.

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