Official Declaration 1 has some supplementary materials included in the Doctrine and Covenants in the form of three excerpts from different addresses where he explained the reasoning for the change.\u00a0 I\u2019ve often mused on the idea of what would an analogous set of supplementary quotes look like for Official Declaration 2.\u00a0 At one point, I even created my own insert in my scriptures to fill that function.\u00a0 Admittedly, the addition of an introduction to the section in 2013 provides the key information, but I enjoy playing with hypotheticals for updates to the scriptures, so what would I include if I were to prepare the additions for the declaration?\u00a0 And, while I\u2019m sharing in the post, I\u2019d be interested in hearing folks\u2019 thoughts about what they would or would not include and their thoughts about my selections as well.<\/p>\n
My version would probably look something like this:<\/p>\n
EXCEPRTS FROM THREE STATEMENTS REGARDING THE PRIESTHOOD REVELATION<\/p>\n
We have revelations that tell us that the gospel is to go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people before the Second Coming of the Son of Man. And we have revelations which recite that when the Lord comes he will find those who speak every tongue and are members of every nation and kindred, who will be kings and priests, who will live and reign on earth with him a thousand years. That means, as you know, that people from all nations will have the blessings of the house of the Lord before the Second Coming.<\/p>\n
We have read these passages and their associated passages for many years. We have seen what the words say and have said to ourselves, \u201cYes, it says that, but we must read out of it the taking of the gospel and the blessings of the temple to [individuals of black African ancestry], because they are denied certain things.\u201d There are statements in our literature by the early Brethren which we have interpreted to mean that the [individuals of black African ancestry] would not receive the priesthood in mortality. I have said the same things, and people write me letters and say, \u201cYou said such and such, and how is it now that we do such and such?\u201d And all I can say to that is that it is time disbelieving people repented and got in line and believed in a living, modern prophet. Forget everything that I have said, or what President Brigham Young or President George Q. Cannon or whomsoever has said in days past that is contrary to the present revelation. We spoke with a limited understanding and without the light and knowledge that now has come into the world.<\/p>\n
We get our truth and our light line upon line and precept upon precept. We have now had added a new flood of intelligence and light on this particular subject, and it erases all the darkness and all the views and all the thoughts of the past. They don\u2019t matter any more.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t make a particle of difference what anybody ever said about the \u2026 matter before the first day of June of this year, 1978. It is a new day and a new arrangement, and the Lord has now given the revelation that sheds light out into the world on this subject. As to any slivers of light or any particles of darkness of the past, we forget about them. \u2026<\/p>\n
On the first day of June in this year, 1978, the First Presidency and the Twelve, after full discussion of the proposition and all the premises and principles that are involved, importuned the Lord for a revelation. President Kimball was mouth, and he prayed with great faith and great fervor; this was one of those occasions when an inspired prayer was offered. \u2026 He prayed by the power of the Spirit, and there was perfect unity, total and complete harmony, between the Presidency and the Twelve on the issue involved.<\/p>\n
And when President Kimball finished his prayer, the Lord gave a revelation by the power of the Holy Ghost. \u2026 On this occasion, because of the importuning and the faith, and because the hour and the time had arrived, the Lord in his providences poured out the Holy Ghost upon the First Presidency and the Twelve in a miraculous and marvelous manner, beyond anything that any then present had ever experienced. The revelation came to the president of the Church; it also came to each individual present. There were ten members of the Council of the Twelve and three of the First Presidency there assembled. The result was that President Kimball knew, and each one of us knew, independent of any other person, by direct and personal revelation to us, that the time had now come to extend the gospel and all its blessings and all its obligations, including the priesthood and the blessings of the house of the Lord, to those of every nation, culture, and race, including the black race. There was no question whatsoever as to what happened or as to the word and message that came. (Bruce R. McConkie, \u201cAll Are Alike unto God,\u201d speech given at Brigham Young University, August 18, 1978.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If you read the scriptures with this question in mind, \u2018Why did the Lord command this or why did he command that,\u2019 you will find that in less than one in a hundred commandments was any reason given.\u00a0 It\u2019s not the pattern of the Lord to give reasons.\u00a0 We [mortals] can put reasons to revelation.\u00a0 We can put reasons to commandments.\u00a0 When we do, we\u2019re on our own.\u00a0 Some people put reasons to the one we\u2019re talking about here, and they turned out to be spectacularly wrong.\u00a0 There is a lesson in that. \u2026 I decided a long time ago that I had faith in the command and I had no faith in the reasons that had been suggested for it. \u2026<\/p>\n
I\u2019m referring to reasons given by general authorities and reasons elaborated upon \u2026 by others.\u00a0 The whole set of reasons seemed to me to be unnecessary risk taking. \u2026 Let\u2019s don\u2019t make the mistake that\u2019s been made in the past, here and in other areas, trying to put reasons to revelation.\u00a0 The reasons turn out to be man-made to a great extent.\u00a0 The revelations are what we sustain as the will of the Lord and that\u2019s where safety lies.\u201d (Dallin H. Oaks, cited in \u201cApostles Talk about Reasons for Lifting Ban,\u201d Daily Herald,<\/em>\u00a0Provo, Utah [5 June 1988]: 21 [Associated Press]; reproduced with commentary in Dallin H. Oaks,\u00a0Life\u2019s Lessons Learned: Personal Reflections<\/em>\u00a0[Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Co., 2011], 68-69.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In theology and practice,\u00a0The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints\u00a0embraces the universal human family. Latter-day Saint scripture and teachings affirm that God loves all of His children and makes salvation available to all. God created the many diverse races and ethnicities and esteems them all equally. As the\u00a0Book of Mormon\u00a0puts it, \u201call are alike unto God.\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n Despite this \u2026, for much of its history\u2014from the mid-1800s until 1978\u2014the Church did not ordain men of black African descent to its\u00a0priesthood\u00a0or allow black men or women to participate in temple endowment or sealing ordinances.<\/p>\n The Church was established in 1830, during an era of great racial division in the United States. At the time, many people of African descent lived in slavery, and racial distinctions and prejudice were not just common but customary among white Americans. Those realities, though unfamiliar and disturbing today, influenced all aspects of people\u2019s lives, including their religion. Many Christian churches of that era, for instance, were segregated along racial lines. From the beginnings of the Church, people of every race and ethnicity could be baptized and received as members. Toward the end of his life, Church founder\u00a0Joseph Smith\u00a0openly opposed slavery. There has never been a Churchwide policy of segregated congregations.<\/p>\n During the first two decades of the Church\u2019s existence, a few black men were ordained to the priesthood. One of these men, Elijah Abel, also participated in temple ceremonies in Kirtland, Ohio, and was later baptized as proxy for deceased relatives in Nauvoo, Illinois. There is no reliable evidence that any black men were denied the priesthood during Joseph Smith\u2019s lifetime. In a private Church council three years after Joseph Smith\u2019s death, Brigham Young praised Q.\u00a0Walker Lewis, a black man who had been ordained to the priesthood, saying, \u201cWe have one of the best Elders, an African.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1852, President Brigham Young publicly announced that men of black African descent could no longer be ordained to the priesthood, though thereafter blacks continued to join the Church through baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. Following the death of Brigham Young, subsequent Church presidents restricted blacks from receiving the temple endowment or being married in\u00a0the temple. Over time, Church leaders and members advanced many theories to explain the priesthood and temple restrictions. None of these explanations is accepted today as the official doctrine of the Church. \u2026<\/p>\n Church leaders pondered promises made by prophets such as Brigham Young that black members would one day receive priesthood and temple blessings. In June 1978, after \u201cspending many hours in the Upper Room of the [Salt Lake] Temple supplicating the Lord for divine guidance,\u201d Church President Spencer\u00a0W. Kimball, his counselors in the\u00a0First Presidency, and members of the\u00a0Quorum of the Twelve Apostles\u00a0received a revelation. \u201cHe has heard our prayers, and by revelation has confirmed that the long-promised day has come,\u201d the First Presidency announced on June 8. The First Presidency stated that they were \u201caware of the promises made by the prophets and presidents of the Church who have preceded us\u201d that \u201call of our brethren who are worthy may receive the priesthood.\u201d\u00a0The revelation rescinded the restriction on priesthood ordination. It also extended the blessings of the temple to all worthy Latter-day Saints, men and women. The First Presidency statement regarding the revelation was canonized in the Doctrine and Covenants as\u00a0Official Declaration\u00a02.<\/p>\n This \u201crevelation on the priesthood,\u201d as it is commonly known in the Church, was a landmark revelation and a historic event. Those who were present at the time described it in reverent terms. Gordon\u00a0B. Hinckley, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, remembered it this way: \u201cThere was a hallowed and sanctified atmosphere in the room. For me, it felt as if a conduit opened between the heavenly throne and the kneeling, pleading prophet of God who was joined by his Brethren. \u2026 Every man in that circle, by the power of the Holy Ghost, knew the same thing. \u2026 Not one of us who was present on that occasion was ever quite the same after that. Nor has the Church been quite the same.\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else. Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form.<\/p>\n Since that day in 1978, the Church has looked to the future, as membership among Africans, African Americans and others of African descent has continued to grow rapidly. (\u201cRace and the Priesthood,\u201d Gospel Topics Essay<\/em>, churchofjesuschrist.org.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Official Declaration 1 has some supplementary materials included in the Doctrine and Covenants in the form of three excerpts from different addresses where he explained the reasoning for the change.\u00a0 I\u2019ve often mused on the idea of what would an analogous set of supplementary quotes look like for Official Declaration 2.\u00a0 At one point, I even created my own insert in my scriptures to fill that function.\u00a0 Admittedly, the addition of an introduction to the section in 2013 provides the key information, but I enjoy playing with hypotheticals for updates to the scriptures, so what would I include if I were to prepare the additions for the declaration?\u00a0 And, while I\u2019m sharing in the post, I\u2019d be interested in hearing folks\u2019 thoughts about what they would or would not include and their thoughts about my selections as well. My version would probably look something like this: EXCEPRTS FROM THREE STATEMENTS REGARDING THE PRIESTHOOD REVELATION We have revelations that tell us that the gospel is to go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people before the Second Coming of the Son of Man. And we have revelations which recite that when the Lord comes he will find those who speak every […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10397,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,2895],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-history","category-come-follow-me-currculum"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10397"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42320,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42319\/revisions\/42320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}