The Long-suppressed Revelation on

The Black Race and The Priesthood

BACKGROUND

Until 1978 it was the policy and practice of the Mormon church (Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) to bar those with black African ancestry (even partial) from admission to the Mormon priesthood, which otherwise was open to all non-black) male members of the church. This ban also applied to keep black members of the church from participation in the sacred temple ceremonies which Mormon doctrine says are necessary for admission to the highest degrees of the Celestial Kingdom. In other words, blacks would never get as high a place as members of other races in Mormon heaven.

Mormon theologians justified this racial prejudice by claiming that the black race is descended from Cain, who was cursed and marked (supposedly with a black skin; Genesis 4:8-15). His descendants, through Ham, the son of Noah who was also cursed (Genesis 9:18-27), continued to bear the mark (black skin) and the curse, in the Mormon view. This ban was further justified by reference to the Mormon belief in a great War in Heaven before the creation of the world, when the forces of good overcame the forces of evil; Mormons believe that one's position at birth in this life is determined by one's valiance in that struggle. Those human beings who were born to privileged and prosperous white Mormons were obviously very valiant. Blacks were (just as obviously) less valiant.

These ideas were widely taught by Mormon prophets, from Brigham Young's day to the late 1970's.

Mormon Apostle Bruce R. McConkie summarized the doctrine as follows:

"The Negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concermed, ..but this inequality is not of man's origin. It is the Lord's doing, is based on his eternal laws of justice, and grows out of the lack of spiritual valiance of those concerned in their First Estate [the pre-existence]." Mormon Doctrine, p. 527 - 528, 1966 edition

Typifying the attitude of Mormon leaders was Mormon Apostle Mark E. Petersen, who said, in an address at Brigham Young University on "Race Problems as They Affect The Church" (August 27, 1954, as quoted in Jerald and Sandra Tanner's book The Changing World of Mormonism, p. 307):

"Now, we are generous with the Negro. We are willing that the Negro have the highest kind of education. I would be willing to let every Negro drive a Cadillac if they could afford it. I would be willing that they have all the advantages they can get out of life in the world. But let them enjoy these things among themselves."

(For links to more information about the pre-1978 doctrine and practice, click here.)

The 1978 Change

In 1978, this policy and practice changed, and the Mormon leaders announced that, pursuant to revelation, black members of the church would have full equality: priesthood for worthy black men and temple privileges for all worthy black members. The change was incorporated into the Mormon book of scripture Doctrine and Covenants.

Critics of the church point out that, although the ban has been removed, and the practice has changed, the doctrine (that Blacks are cursed because they were less valiant in the pre-existence) has not changed.

This seems to follow the Mormon pattern of changing a practice without changing the doctrine on which the practice was based, such as when polygamy was abandoned in 1890, but retained as a church doctrine even today. Or when the practice of "blood atonement" (shedding the offender's blood to atone for certain sins such as apostasy or adultery) was given up, but retained as a pantomime slitting of the throat in the temple ritual until 1990.

It has always been a puzzlement to me that the 1978 change of practice in that church, allowing blacks to receive the priesthood, is not in the Doctrine and Covenants in the form of a revelation, but only as an "Official Declaration-2" which reports that a revelation had been received. The text of the revelation, however, is not given, nor has there been any indication that it was recorded anywhere.

Through contacts I have with some former members of the office support staff at the Church Office Building, I have been able to obtain a photocopy of the only copy of the actual revelation. So far as I know, it has not yet been published anywhere. The text follows:

REVELATION given to Spencer W. Kimball, March 6, 1978, Salt Lake City, Utah.

1. Hearken, my servant Spencer, unto the voice of the Lord thy God, and receive my word in answer to thy fervent pleas!

2. Lo, I am well pleased with thee and my servants the Apostles and with all the righteous Saints of my Church. Because of your righteous obedience you are blessed, and I now reveal my Word unto thee, to proclaim unto my Saints and unto all the World;

3. For thou hast oft inquired of me regarding the skin of blackness which marks many of my faithful children, because of which the blessings of my priesthood and of my exaltation have been denied to them;

4. And thy cries and the cries of my black children have ascended unto me, and I now reveal unto thee further light and knowledge in this matter.

5. For my Church is like unto your father Abraham, whom I did sorely tempt, in that I commanded him to take his beloved son and offer up his life as a sacrifice to me;

6. And lo, Abraham in the fulness of righteous obedience did take his son, and did bind him to an altar of rough stones, and did raise the knife to sacrifice him, according to the command which I had given him.

7. And by mine angel did I stop his hand, for his sacrifice of obedience was complete.

8. For human life is not to be taken as a sacrifice to me, except the sacrifice of the Only Begotten, of which Isaac was a type, for such a doctrine and practice is repugnant to me.

9. But it was for Abraham a test of obedience to my Word.

10. And lo, likewise the doctrine of the curse of Cain and the mark of blackness, as well as everything pertaining thereto, is also repugnant to me, but was given unto my Saints as a test.

11. And ye have been valiant and righteous in obeying the words of my mouth which were given not as true doctrine but only as a test for your benefit.

12. Now, therefore, rejoice in my blessing and receive my Word! For no more shall ye make any distinction among my Saints as to their race or as to the color of their skin; for I the Lord God am no respecter of persons, but all shall come unto me and all may be worthy to receive all the blessings of my Gospel without let or hindrance.

My comment: If you are asking yourself at this point why this revelation has never been published, read the rest of the revelation here.

(You should have arrived here from Revelation on Blacks and the Priesthood (1978) Part I.

If not, please start there.)

Revelation on Blacks and the Priesthood (1978) - continued

13. And now, my servant Spencer, I recommend unto thee my young servant Claymore ""Rappa" Johnson, whom in my wisdom I have called and chosen and who, in obedience to my call, has requested baptism at the hands of my servants in East Los Angeles, having repented of his former life of pimping and car theft, yea, even as my servant Joseph Smith, Jr., repented of his former life of treasure hunting and sorcery.

14. For it is my will that Claymore be brought to the headquarters of my Church, and that he be there ordained as mine Apostle, and that he be set apart as the Senior Apostle of my Quorum;

15. For lo, the last shall be first, and the first shall be last, and the meek shall inherit the earth, as it is written.

16. And when I call thee, Spencer, to enter into thy reward, then shalt thou confer upon my servant Claymore the keys of the Priesthood, yea, the keys to bind and loose, to prophesy, to reveal, to know all things, yea, even the leadership of this my Church.

17. For times are changing, and the end is near.

18. And furthermore, as an ensample unto my Saints, I call upon my servant Mark E. Petersen, and as his reward for valiancy and obedience I give unto him in the New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage my servant and daughter Beulah Jackson Beauregard, who has recently ended her long and faithful life of service to me in Harlem, State of New York, and passed through the veil chaste and unmarried; and I direct my servant Mark and his faithful wife and helpmeet of lo these many years to enter into my house, yea, into my temple in Salt Lake City, and there shall Mark and Beulah be sealed together as husband and wife, with Mark's wife kneeling at the altar as proxy for Beulah, and thus shall Beulah have her eternal exaltation and Mark an eternal plurality of wives.

19. And unto all my faithful servants, from the greatest unto the least, I likewise command them to search out those children of mine of differing races, and, as I have commanded my servant Mark, to provide for them the sealing ordinances in accepting them as their eternal wives and family, that in my Kingdom there shall be all races together in every family, for time and all eternity.

20. For shall not all things be restored? And, if it please me, shall I not command my servant Claymore, when he shall be my mouthpiece on earth, that my revelation as to plurality of wives be restored, yea as it was in the days of my servant Brigham Young? For lo, am I not now preparing the world to accept all forms of marriage? And yea, even concubinage, as my servants Joseph and Brigham never deigned to practice? And shall I not, through my servant Claymore, if it please me, extend to my daughters the power of the priesthood? And yea, bless the marital union of elder to elder, or sister to sister?

21. My Saints shall receive my Word, line upon line, and precept upon precept, as they prove themselves worthy. Prepare yourselves, for I come quickly. Amen.

My source indicates that the copy had to be pieced together from many shreds; apparently it had accidentally been run through an office shredder. For this reason the name "Claymore" is not entirely clear.

In what may be pure coincidence, Los Angeles police investigated in June 1978 the apparent murder of a 22-year-old black man, Clayborn Johnson, whose body was found near the parking lot of a local Mormon meeting-house, with the throat slit from ear to ear.

The police theorized that it was a gang-type execution, since acquaintances said that Johnson had recently "got religion" and had neglected his gang activities. The crime remains unsolved.

If you have read this far, please don't stop now - there is more important information!

Please click here.

In what may be pure coincidence, Los Angeles police investigated in June 1978 the apparent murder of a 22-year-old black man, Clayborn Johnson, whose body was found near the parking lot of a local Mormon meeting-house, with the throat slit from ear to ear. The police theorized that it was a gang-type execution, since acquaintances said that Johnson had recently "got religion" and had neglected his gang activities. The crime remains unsolved.

All right, I confess, I admit it: I made it up.

This is how it happened: I was thinking about the 1978 change in practice (not really in doctrine) about the blacks and the priesthood. And I kept thinking, WHY wasn't the wording of the revelation published? Many Mormons have a nagging feeling, I think, (usually not expressed) that there is something suspicious about the modern prophets of the church, because they don't have revelations the way Joseph Smith had revelations. Smith was always pronouncing the literal words that God gave him, and they are published (the actual Words from God's Mouth!) in the Doctrine and Covenants. But the prophets since Smith are less and less willing to quote God verbatim. They describe their "revelations" as "feelings" or vague "inspiration," but not in any precise wording.

Of course, I personally think that they are not prophets at all, and - regardless of whether, one believes in divine prophecy or not - these so-called prophets are fakes. At least they are not in the same league as Joseph Smith (again, regardless of whether one believes that Smith was a genuine prophet).

And I got to thinking that it really showed stupidity on the part of Kimball not to come up with a "Thus saith the Lord" revelation. Joseph Smith did it all the time. If Kimball realized (and was honest with himself about it) that he really wasn't a prophet of God at all, then why didn't he just make something up?

Perhaps Kimball was intimidated by the challenge in Section 67 of the Doctrine and Covenants, where God dared unworthy men to try to produce a revelation as wonderful as those produced by Joseph Smith. But, is it that hard? No! It's really easy.

You have just read my "revelation," and I must say, it's pretty good. It took me maybe half an hour. Quite a few people who read it, when I posted it to the "Recovery From Mormonism" e-mail list thought it was genuine. And those are people who spent many years studying Smith's "revelations."

And my "revelation" takes care of the troublesome problem that the "Official Declaration 2" does not deal with, namely, the obnoxious "curse of Cain" thing, for which the church is still being criticized.

And then it occurred to me that if God REALLY had given such a revelation to the prophet, what possible reason could there have been for not publicizing its wording? And I realized that maybe the revelation had revealed more than the Brethren wanted revealed. Such as verses 13-21, which I am inspired to believe God would have included in a genuine revelation.

Either way you look at it, the whole thing shows that the Mormon church is NOT led by God.