Race and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Overview

Race is a concept that categorizes people based on the color of their skin or other physical features. Unfortunately, race is often used to justify mistreatment or to suggest that one group is better than another. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that everyone is an equal child of God regardless of race, ethnicity, background, skin color, or nationality. The Book of Mormon teaches that “all are alike unto God.”

God loves all His children. We are equal in His eyes, and He recognizes our divine potential to progress and become like Him. He wants each of us to return to live with Him and receive eternal life. Our differences bring beautiful variety to our lives. While we may judge one another based on outward appearance, “the Lord looketh on the heart.”

Racism has been a challenge throughout history across many cultures. Latter-day Saints are not immune from the tendency toward racist attitudes and actions. President Russell M. Nelson taught: “The Creator of us all calls on each of us to abandon attitudes of prejudice against any group of God’s children. Any of us who has prejudice toward another race needs to repent!”

What do we know about the origins of the priesthood and temple restriction?

Historical records show that a few Black men were ordained to priesthood offices during Joseph Smith’s lifetime. At least one Black man, Elijah Able, participated in the washing and anointing ceremony in the Kirtland Temple. In 1847, Brigham Young spoke approvingly of the priesthood service of Q. Walker Lewis, a Black elder living in Massachusetts.

Five years later, in 1852, in the Utah territorial legislature, Brigham Young announced that Black men of African descent could not be ordained to the priesthood. The restriction also meant that men and women of Black African descent could not participate in the endowment and sealing ordinances in the temple. However, Brigham Young also stated that Black Saints would eventually “have the privilege of all [that other Saints] have the privilege [of] and more.”

Brigham Young’s explanation for the restriction drew on then-common ideas that identified Black people as descendants of the biblical figures Cain and Ham. The Church has since disavowed this justification for the restriction as well as later justifications that suggested it originated in the pre-earth life.

There is no documented revelation related to the origin of the priesthood and temple restriction. Church Presidents after Brigham Young maintained the restriction, in spite of increasing social pressure, because they felt they needed a revelation from God to end it.

Church leaders today counsel against speculating about the origins of the restriction. For example, President Dallin H. Oaks has taught: “To concern ourselves with what has not been revealed or with past explanations by those who were operating with limited understanding can only result in speculation and frustration. … Let us all look forward in the unity of our faith and trust in the Lord’s promise that ‘he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female’ (2 Nephi 26:33).”

How did the priesthood and temple restriction end?

President Brigham Young and subsequent Church Presidents taught that the priesthood and temple restriction would one day end. Several affirmed that lifting the restriction would require a revelation from God.

During the period when the restriction was in place, Black men and women received witnesses of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, joined the Church, and served faithfully.

After praying for guidance, Church leaders in the 20th century made changes to the way the restriction was implemented, opening the way for larger numbers of Latter-day Saints to be ordained and participate in temple ordinances. Presidents George Albert Smith and David O. McKay authorized the ordination of previously restricted ethnic groups in the Philippines and Fiji. And President McKay discontinued an earlier policy requiring prospective priesthood holders in racially mixed South Africa to trace their lineage out of Africa. Several individuals close to President McKay reported that he prayed to know the Lord’s will regarding the restriction but did not receive the direction to lift it at that time.

After becoming President of the Church, Spencer W. Kimball made the restriction a matter of fervent prayer and personal study. He counseled with other Church leaders, asking them to search the scriptures and share their impressions. President Kimball described the nature of his prayers: “I wanted to do what [the Lord] wanted. I talked about it to him and said, ‘Lord, I want only what is right.’” He was committed to follow whatever answer he received.

In seeking the Lord’s will, President Kimball was also moved by the righteous desires and life experiences of Black members and believers. For example, he witnessed the support given by Black Latter-day Saints for the construction of the São Paulo Brazil Temple in the 1970s, the pleas for missionaries by believers in West Africa, and the faithfulness of Black American members of the Genesis Group in Salt Lake City.

In 1978, President Kimball received a revelation that immediately removed all restrictions with regard to race that once applied to priesthood ordination and temple ordinances. In a meeting of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the Salt Lake Temple on June 1, 1978, these Church leaders received a powerful confirmation from the Spirit that this was the Lord’s will. A joyful declaration announcing the immediate lifting of the priesthood and temple restriction soon followed in a letter to Church leaders on June 8. That letter, found in Official Declaration 2 in the Doctrine and Covenants, states:

“[The Lord] has heard our prayers, and by revelation has confirmed that the long-promised day has come when every faithful, worthy man in the Church may receive the holy priesthood, with power to exercise its divine authority, and enjoy with his loved ones every blessing that flows therefrom, including the blessings of the temple.”

After this revelation Black Church members throughout the world were immediately ordained and given temple privileges.

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What is the Church’s position on white supremacism?

The Church has issued the following statement about white supremacism: “There are some among the various pro-white and white supremacy communities who assert that the Church is neutral toward or in support of their views. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the New Testament, Jesus said: ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’ (Matthew 22:37–39). The Book of Mormon teaches ‘all are alike unto God’ (2 Nephi 26:33).

“White supremacist attitudes are morally wrong and sinful, and we condemn them. Church members who promote or pursue a ‘white culture’ or white supremacy agenda are not in harmony with the teachings of the Church.”

Does the Church discourage interracial marriage?

The Church does not teach that mixed-race marriages are wrong and does not discourage interracial marriage. Many interracial, international, and intercultural couples share a strong foundation in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and are sealed in holy temples.

Is dark skin a curse or sign of divine disfavor?

No. The scriptures declare that God invites “all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him,” whether they be “black or white” or of any other race. President Russell M. Nelson testified: “God does not love one race more than another. … Your standing before God is not determined by the color of your skin.”

Some believe that their own appearance and customs are normal and view people who look different from them with suspicion or negativity. This unfortunate tendency is reflected in the histories of several of the world’s major religions. For centuries, many people perpetuated negative stereotypes about people from sub-Saharan Africa, often linking darker skin with the curse of Cain mentioned in the book of Genesis. Sadly, for a long time, this idea was used to justify the sinful practices of racial prejudice and slavery. The Church today condemns racial and cultural prejudice in any form.

The Book of Mormon tells of a people, the Lamanites, who were cursed with losing the Spirit and other blessings of the Lord for a time because of their wickedness. One passage in the Book of Mormon describes the Lamanites as having a “skin of blackness” that for a time distinguished them from the Nephites. When Lamanites turned to God, He received them as His people. Their experience affirms that our standing with God depends on our devotion to Him and His commandments, not on the color of our skin. The Book of Mormon testifies that “the one being is as precious in [God’s] sight as the other,” and that “the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ.”

Book of Mormon or other scriptural passages should never be used to justify racial prejudice or discrimination.

Does the Church teach that Jesus Christ was a white northern European, as is sometimes depicted in Church art?

No. Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem to a Jewish woman and raised in Nazareth.

The fact that some popular Church artwork has portrayed Jesus as white does not mean, as some have mistakenly argued, that Jesus was “white” according to a modern understanding of race.

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