Gospel Topics Chapter 10 Harris Part 3

Viewpoint on Mormonism, the program that examines the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from a Biblical perspective. Viewpoint on Mormonism is sponsored by Mormonism Research Ministry. Since 1979, Mormonism Research Ministry has been dedicated to equipping the body of Christ with answers regarding the Christian faith in a manner that expresses gentleness and respect. And now, your host for today's Viewpoint on Mormonism. Welcome to this edition of Viewpoint on Mormonism. I'm your host, Bill McKeever, founder and director of Mormonism Research Ministry, and with me today is Eric Johnson, my colleague at MRM, and we continue our look at the book, the LDS Gospel Topics Series, a scholarly engagement. It's a book that has several authors, and each chapter critiques one of the Gospel Topics essays that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has written. Why is this so important to us as Christians wanting to better understand our LDS friends, as well as wanting to share our faith and challenge our Latter-day Saint friends regarding their faith?

Well, because there's a lot of information in these essays that can be very valuable to a Christian who wants to do just that. Today, we continue looking at chapter 10, a chapter that was written by one of the editors of this book, Matthew L. Harris, and it deals with the Race and the Priesthood essay that was published on the official website of the Church on December 6, 2013. We're looking at page 249, where Mr. Harris goes on to say that the essay acknowledges that the priesthood and temple ban made it difficult to fulfill the Church's overarching mission to take the LDS gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Of course, you would think it would, because the priesthood ban would certainly affect a lot of people living in certain countries, primarily the continent of Africa, because they would not be allowed to have the same kind of priesthood benefits that other people would have from other countries.

So what's the point of going into those countries? It would be kind of a waste of time if you're spreading the gospel to a people who can't really benefit totally from the message that you have. He goes on on page 249 and writes, further complicating LDS expansion in Brazil were black Brazilian Mormons who donated their time and money to build the Church's Sao Paulo temple in the early 1970s. Then Church president Spencer W. Kimball agonized over the stark reality that they could not attend the temple. The essay explains that this is one of many factors prompting Kimball to lift the ban, leading to the June 1978 priesthood revelation in the Salt Lake Temple. Let me talk about that for a second, because it's an interesting way that Mr. Harris words this, when he says, then Church president Spencer Kimball agonized over the stark reality that they could not attend the temple.

And of course, these are people that earlier, he says in that paragraph, had given their time and their money to build the Sao Paulo temple in Brazil, back in the early 70s. So we're really supposed to think that because a church president agonizes over a situation that is a part of their doctrine, and that's already been established, this is doctrine, that he can all of a sudden override all the things that were said and all the things that were done up until that point. So does that kind of hint to the fact that if we get an LDS church president that agonizes over the fact that his daughter can't hold the priesthood, that he can just come up with a revelation or come up with a statement, an impression, that God wants to change that.

And now we have to jettison everything that was said or done regarding that topic up until that particular point in time. Why is it that the God of Mormonism can't seem to see these things way down the road? It just boggles my mind that the God of Mormonism tends to use cultural shifts to institute or repeal doctrines. You have to also wonder, Spencer W. Kimball, did he know that this was going to be overruled, that the priesthood ban for those with black skin, because he institutes this temple to be built in 1975, and it opens in 1978, but it would not have been able to serve very many people because most Brazilians have some type of black blood in their bodies, and so that constitutes black skin.

So he had to have known something, I think, Bill. I would think that he did, but Mr. Harris goes on to say the essay closes on an optimistic note, reminding readers that the LDS church teaches that, quote, all are alike unto God. And as we've mentioned in previous broadcasts this week, this essay starts off with citing 2 Nephi 26-33, all are alike unto God, and it ends with that same passage.

And as Mr. Harris states, it affirms that God is no respecter of persons and emphatically declares that anyone who is righteous, regardless of race, is favored of him. And I think it should be mentioned again, 2 Nephi 26-33 was a part of Mormon scripture while the ban was in effect, as well as after it was repealed. So why didn't that verse have that kind of meaning to the leaders of the LDS church prior to 1978? It was always there.

It wasn't something that was added after 1978. He goes on on page 249 at the bottom, under weaknesses and or exclusions, and writes, Boy, does that not ring also true when it came to the Mountain Meadows Massacre. There was a lot of controversy when the 150th anniversary of the Mountain Meadows Massacre came and there was no apology issued by the church.

There was only a statement of regret, and that caused a lot of hard feelings, especially, you would think, for the family members of those who were killed at the Mountain Meadows on September 11, 1857. He continues on page 250 and writes, They were theories, the opinions of earlier leaders. The essay also incorrectly implies that Smith was an apostle when he wrote the letter, when in fact he was not ordained to the Council of the Twelve until 1910. Most problematic, the essay ignores Smith's later writings, both published and unpublished, in which he affirms LDS racial theories as essential doctrine. Indeed, for much of the 20th century, Smith was the chief purveyor of LDS racial teachings through authoritative books and articles.

Now this is an important paragraph because I think this is something that cannot be overlooked. They bring up this letter that was from Joseph Fielding Smith and Harris correctly notes at the time he really didn't have any authoritative position in the church. It incorrectly states he was an apostle, but we know that he didn't become an apostle until April 7, 1910. So in 1907, when this letter is written, Joseph Fielding Smith, who's an assistant church historian, really has no authority in the church to speak on doctrinal issues.

In fact, it's just his own opinion when he says that the reasons for the ban were just theories and opinions. But he makes an excellent point, Mr. Harris makes an excellent point, when he says that the essay ignores Smith's later writings, both published and unpublished, in which he affirms LDS racial theories as essential doctrine. I have in front of me the first volume of Theories of Salvation by Joseph Fielding Smith. Oh, excuse me, it's Doctrines of Salvation by Joseph Fielding Smith, where at the bottom of page 65, it reads, No neutrals in heaven, there were no neutrals in the war in heaven, all took sides, either with Christ or with Satan. Every man had his agency there, and men receive rewards here based upon their actions there, just as they will receive rewards hereafter for deeds done in the body.

The Negro evidently is receiving the reward he merits. Now, this essay denounces that idea, but here we have Joseph Fielding Smith confirming that teaching in his book, Doctrines of Salvation, volume 1, pages 65 and 66. I know you were joking when you said Theories of Salvation. No, it is called Doctrines of Salvation, and to show you how important this three-volume set of books were, the LDS Church decided to put this together in a Christmas-bound issue, and took selections from the three volumes. It's called Selections from Doctrines of Salvation, Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith. So this was a book given away by the First Presidency to church employees, we don't know how many church employees, leather-bound, in beautiful paper, we've covered this in a previous show, we talked about all the different quotes there. So I think there's some kind of authority with that book, but the quote from 1907, he's 30 years old, he's an assistant church historian, why did they bring that quote up and nothing else that he said?

I think that's an excellent point. The next page goes on to say that Joseph Fielding Smith's most influential book, The Way to Perfection, which was published in 1931, exerted a profound influence on Latter-day Saints. When inquisitive members queried him about, quote, the Negro and the priesthood, end quote, Smith recommended chapters 15, the Seat of Cain, and 16, the Seat of Cain, after the flood of his book to answer their questions.

The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles also recommended these chapters when asked about the priesthood in temple ban. Bill, I just want to point out the footnote given by Harris, number five, it's a very long footnote, but this is what he says about Smith. Born into patrician LDS stock, Smith's father was an LDS church president and his great-grandfather was a brother to Joseph Smith, the LDS founder. The oft-quoted Joseph Fielding Smith was widely recognized as the faith's foremost scriptorian. The LDS Church News remarked that it would be difficult to find the subject of church doctrine or history that President Smith has not written extensively upon in magazine articles, pamphlets, and books. Historian Matthew Bowman notes that Smith was one of Mormonism's most respected religious thinkers in the decades after World War II.

It goes on, but I'm just saying this man is not a slouch. And Mr. Harris notes also on the same page, 251, taught by the prophet Joseph Smith. Tomorrow we continue looking at chapter 10 in the book, the LDS Gospel Topic Series, a scholarly engagement. We hope you will join us again as we look at another viewpoint on Mormonism.