4 options
The Mormon Church and Blacks : a documentary history / edited by Matthew L. Harris and Newell G. Bringhurst.
- Format:
- Book
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- African American Latter Day Saints--History--Sources.
- African American Latter Day Saints.
- Race relations--Religious aspects--Latter Day Saint churches--History--Sources.
- Race relations.
- Race relations--Religious aspects--Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--History--Sources.
- Priesthood--Latter Day Saint churches--History--Sources.
- Priesthood.
- Priesthood--Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--History--Sources.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (233 p.)
- Place of Publication:
- Urbana, [Illinois] : University of Illinois Press, 2015.
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- The year 1978 marked a watershed year in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as it lifted a 126-year ban on ordaining black males for the priesthood. This departure from past practice focused new attention on Brigham Young's decision to abandon Joseph Smith's more inclusive original teachings. The Mormon Church and Blacks presents thirty official or authoritative Church statements on the status of African Americans in the Mormon Church. Matthew L. Harris and Newell G. Bringhurst comment on the individual documents, analyzing how they reflected uniquely Mormon characteristics and contextualizing each within the larger scope of the history of race and religion in the United States. Their analyses consider how lifting the ban shifted the status of African Americans within Mormonism, including the fact that African Americans, once denied access to certain temple rituals considered essential for Mormon salvation, could finally be considered full-fledged Latter-day Saints in both this world and the next. Throughout, Harris and Bringhurst offer an informed view of behind-the-scenes Church politicking before and after the ban. The result is an essential resource for experts and laymen alike on a much-misunderstood aspect of Mormon history and belief.
- Contents:
- Mormon scriptural works : providing a canonical framework for race, slavery, and the status of Black people
- Joseph Smith and evolving Mormon attitudes and practices on slavery and race, 1830-1844
- Brigham Young, the beginning black priesthood denial, and legalization of slavery in Utah, 1844-1877
- Justifying and perpetuating black priesthood denial, 1877-1949
- Church growth, confronting civil rights, and official affirmations of black priesthood denial, 1945-1970
- The 1978 revelation and its implications
- Confronting the church's problematic racial past after 1978.
- Notes:
- Description based upon print version of record.
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Description based on print version record.
- ISBN:
- 9780252097843
- 025209784X
- OCLC:
- 933516735
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.