Sunday School Discussion of Blacks and the Priesthood - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

Clark Addison · 08-13-2007, 05:32 PM

In Gospel Doctrine class yesterday, the discussion moved from Peter and Cornelius to the revelation allowing all worthy men to hold the Priesthood, and I was surprised at the direction the discussion went. I am in a southern ward, and it is somewhat on the conservative side, certainly much more so than my last ward. There were probably 6 or 7 people who commented, and there was not unanimous agreement on all points, but everyone came from a similar base. This was that the practice of not allowing Blacks to hold the priesthood was not dictated by God, but instead allowed by God, based on the cultural background of the members of the church.

While there were no earth-shattering insights, I thought it was very interesting that this was the default position. Over the past 30 to 40 years, it seems that the general mood has moved along this scale:

1. God has denied the priesthood to Blacks due to something they did or something in their character or background.

2. God denied the priesthood to Blacks for reasons unknown to us.

3. The priesthood was denied to Blacks due to the cultural biases of the people in the Church at the time, and was allowed by God.

Even 10 years ago, I think you would have found very few people in a typical ward whose thinking was outside of #2. If my ward is any indication, #3 is becoming the dominant view. I suppose that if you continued this onward, #4 would be that the view that the Church denied priesthood to Blacks in opposition to God's instructions. I wouldn't think that that will be the default position anytime soon.

08-13-2007, 05:32 PM	#1
Clark Addison Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 638	Sunday School Discussion of Blacks and the Priesthood In Gospel Doctrine class yesterday, the discussion moved from Peter and Cornelius to the revelation allowing all worthy men to hold the Priesthood, and I was surprised at the direction the discussion went. I am in a southern ward, and it is somewhat on the conservative side, certainly much more so than my last ward. There were probably 6 or 7 people who commented, and there was not unanimous agreement on all points, but everyone came from a similar base. This was that the practice of not allowing Blacks to hold the priesthood was not dictated by God, but instead allowed by God, based on the cultural background of the members of the church. While there were no earth-shattering insights, I thought it was very interesting that this was the default position. Over the past 30 to 40 years, it seems that the general mood has moved along this scale: 1. God has denied the priesthood to Blacks due to something they did or something in their character or background. 2. God denied the priesthood to Blacks for reasons unknown to us. 3. The priesthood was denied to Blacks due to the cultural biases of the people in the Church at the time, and was allowed by God. Even 10 years ago, I think you would have found very few people in a typical ward whose thinking was outside of #2. If my ward is any indication, #3 is becoming the dominant view. I suppose that if you continued this onward, #4 would be that the view that the Church denied priesthood to Blacks in opposition to God's instructions. I wouldn't think that that will be the default position anytime soon.