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genuinegirly · 08-30-2009, 03:21 PM

Your friends likely danced around the issue because they didn't know the answer.

The Book of Mormon has never denied black men from being a part of the clergy. In one edition it stated that darker skin indicated a great sin in the ancestry, but this was altered in the early 1980s to reflect Joseph Smith's original translation. One of the first men ordained by Joseph Smith to the LDS Melchizedek priesthood was a black man, Elijah Abel. Black men were to be ordained alongside their white "brothers" for the first several years of the LDS church, but Abel seems to be the only man interested. It was only after Joseph Smith's death that Brigham Young decided to adjust the policy.

08-30-2009, 03:21 PM	#5 (permalink)
genuinegirly Eat your vegetables Super Moderator Location: Arabidopsis-ville	Your friends likely danced around the issue because they didn't know the answer. The Book of Mormon has never denied black men from being a part of the clergy. In one edition it stated that darker skin indicated a great sin in the ancestry, but this was altered in the early 1980s to reflect Joseph Smith's original translation. One of the first men ordained by Joseph Smith to the LDS Melchizedek priesthood was a black man, Elijah Abel. Black men were to be ordained alongside their white "brothers" for the first several years of the LDS church, but Abel seems to be the only man interested. It was only after Joseph Smith's death that Brigham Young decided to adjust the policy. __________________ "Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq "violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy Last edited by genuinegirly; 08-30-2009 at 03:23 PM..