1852 and The Beginnings of the Priesthood-Temple Ban in the

Title

1852 and The Beginnings of the Priesthood-Temple Ban in the Church

Publication Type

Podcast

Publication Date

July 18, 2023

Authors

Griffiths, Casey Paul (Primary), and Woodward, Scott (Primary)

URL

https://churchhistorymatters.podbean.com/e/1852-and-the-beginnings-of-the-priesthood-temple-ban-in-the-church/

Terms of use

Items in the BMC Archive are made publicly available for non-commercial, private use. Inclusion within the BMC Archive does not imply endorsement. Items do not represent the official views of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or of Book of Mormon Central.

Bibliographic Citation

Abstract

The historical record shows that Joseph Smith did not implement or endorse any practices or policies which specifically prevented church members with black African ancestry from fully participating in priesthood offices or temple worship. But in 1847, only three years after Joseph’s death, attitudes and teachings of some church leaders began to shift away from full inclusion of blacks to partial exclusion until, only five years later, in 1852, President Brigham Young first publicly articulated a priesthood restriction on blacks in the church. In today’s episode of Church History Matters, we probe what exists in the historical record to learn what happened between 1847 and 1852 to precipitate this divergence in attitudes and teachings about blacks away from Joseph Smith’s more inclusive teachings and practices. We’ll then look at the context and content of Brigham Young’s first public articulation of the priesthood restriction and attempt to answer one very important question. Was Brigham Young inspired by God to institute the priesthood ban, or is this an example of an uninspired error?