Entries Tagged 'Priesthood Ban' ↓

Ok, I am interested in politics, but don’t feel I’m an expert.  I love to look at history, and this past weekend found out some interesting things about the father of our country.  I was reading in the Wall Street Journal.  There was an article about possible election fraud, and it talked about some election fraud history in America.  I learned that George Washington actually offered alcohol for votes.  The article also states that James Madison lost for not offering alcohol.  Votes have been for sale in America since 1757, when George Washington bought alcohol for every voter in his district, Baumgartner says.

Now it was so interesting to me that I mentioned it to my brother in law.  He immediately called the Wall Street Journal biased, and said it was just tearing down Washington’s legacy, and he did not believe it was credible.  He even compared it to anti-mormon attacks, and called it revisionist history.  I found this stance interesting, because I have been accused of thinking poorly of Brigham Young.

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Wow, this is a really long post, and I didn’t cover everything, but what I did cover is quite considerable. I hope to hear some comments. I decided to update this post on 9/16 with some of Greg Prince’s insights into this topic. These updates are highlighted in orange.

We have had an interesting discussion in a previous blog post on Joshua’s Unholy War. In this discussion, we have discussed the idea as to whether God commanded Joshua (and Moses) to commit genocide in wiping out the Canaanites in various cities, such as Jericho. I am claiming that the command to extinguish the Canaanites in the Book of Joshua was not inspired. As part of the discussion, we have explored two other topics: the priesthood ban, and Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac. I would like to focus this post on the priesthood ban, and will devote another post to the subject of Abraham.

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I saw a sneak preview of the upcoming movie, “Emma Smith: My Story” at the LDS Film Festival in January. It is due to be released in about a week–April 11 here in Utah. I highly recommend it. It was commissioned by the Joseph Smith Historical Society, and has many of the same actors and actresses who appeared in “Legacy“, which used to show at the Joseph Smith Building. The producers even received permission to use some of the unused footage from Legacy. For those of you in Utah, I really encourage you to attend during the opening weekend. This makes a big impact on how long the film will run. It is a highly professional production, and it is a truly inspiring story. Continue reading →

Most Mormons believe that President Kimball’s revelation in 1978 was the first time black church members were able to hold the priesthood. However, in 1836, Elijah Abel was ordained an elder, probably by Joseph Smith himself. Elijah helped build the Nauvoo Temple, tried to rescue Joseph from jail, and served several missions for the church. His sons and grandsons also received the priesthood as late as 1934.

Darius Gray makes the case that there have always been a few black members holding the priesthood since Elijah Abel was first ordained. He granted an interview on Mormon Stories podcast that I think many will find interesting. He documents early black church members including Green Flake, and Jane Manning James. To me, these stories are very inspiring. Continue reading →

I looked up “Infallibility”, and according to encyclopedia.com, “Roman Catholics hold that the infallibility of the church is vested in the pope…on matters of faith and morals. Definitive pronouncements resulting from an ecumenical council, when ratified by the pope, are also held to be infallible.”

In Official Declaration 1:12, Wilford Woodruff writes, “The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty.”

Is there a fundamental difference between these? Continue reading →