Gospel Topics Chapter 10 Harris Part 1

Is there not much of a difference between Mormonism and Christianity?

Well actually, despite what many may think, there is. And when it comes to the sensitive and even highly charged issue that is eternal ramifications, the Christian may not know where to turn. Just trying to understand that Mormon's beliefs can be both confusing and frustrating. That's why Mormonism 101 was written, a book resourced by Mormonism Research Ministries Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson that contrasts vital doctrines such as who is God, what is Scripture, and how a person is able to go to Heaven.

When the two religions are placed side by side, the differences are many. 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.

The Gospel Topics series, a scholarly engagement. There were two men that were really behind this project. One of them was Newell G. Bringhurst, who had a chapter in the book that we've already covered. But the other gentleman that was the person who really got this book published was Matthew L. Harris. Now, Matthew L. Harris, it says in his bio, is a professor of history at Colorado State University, Pueblo. He holds a Ph.D. in American history from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He's the author and or editor of several books, including most recently, The Mormon Church and Blacks, a documentary history. Watchmen on the Tower, on Ezra Taft Benson and The Making of the Mormon Rite, and Thunder on the Rite, Ezra Taft Benson in Mormonism in Politics. So he does have an LDS background. As far as we know, he is still a Latter-day Saint.

He went to Brigham Young University, graduated from there. And I would say that from the books that he has produced, he certainly can effectively handle the topic in chapter 10 that is titled, Whiteness Theology and the Evolution of Mormon Racial Teachings, dealing with the Gospel Topics essay that was titled, Race and the Priesthood. Before we get into his chapter, Eric, you were reading to me as we were prepping for this show, an interview that Mr. Harris was involved in where he's talking about the coming forth of this book and why he felt it was necessary. And some of the reluctance that he noticed among the leaders in the LDS Church in producing the essays, which of course led to the production of this book, what were some of the things that he said about the reluctance of the leadership in coming forth with the Gospel Topics essays? Well, one of the things that he commended the Church for is that they were actually dealing with historical issues that he felt were important for them to deal with, but he also showed that the LDS Church leaders had some reluctance as to how far they should go with this.

And this interview that you're referring to comes from the website fromthedesk.org, and there were 10 questions that he was given, and one of the questions I found to be the most interesting in this interview asked him, why haven't the essays been more heavily marketed? This is what he said, In other words, the Church's attempt to be more transparent could cause harm to some Latter-day Saints who were unaware or unfamiliar with challenging hotspots in the Church history. A quick glance at Latter-day Saint blog sites demonstrates that the Brethren had cause for concern.

Several essays in my book documents how rank-and-file members reacted to the essays, some positive, some negative. And Bill, I would agree with him, because we have talked to many Latter-day Saints who were struck by how honest they were and gave them information they didn't know. They ended up leaving the Church because of this information. I found it interesting, I've never heard this before, that the Church didn't want to do too much advertising, because yes, they wanted to be transparent, but then to be too transparent was going to possibly cause many people not only to leave the Church, but perhaps also not allow people to come in once they heard about these things. And when we did our introduction to this book several weeks ago, that introduction lists some of those examples that he just cited from that interview.

And I can understand why there could be some negative repercussions from bringing out this kind of information. And I think we're going to see it in this chapter as well that Mr. Harris wrote, Whiteness Theology and the Evolution of Mormon Racial Teachings. He is critiquing the Race in the Priesthood essay, which came out on December 6, 2013. So this would be one of the first essays that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints posted on their official website, which at that time was lds.org, and it's now churchofjesuschrist.org.

But he mentions that this essay is a 2,000-word document which LDS Church owned and operated Deseret News modestly described as, quote, an enhanced page on this admittedly, quote, hot topic. Without question, he continues, the tersely written essay is the fullest, richest, and most authoritative expression to date of Mormonism's evolving racial teachings. It repudiates what were once settled Mormon doctrines by rejecting the curse of Cain designation and by disavowing the quintessential LDS teaching that black people were less valiant in a pre-earth life.

Nevertheless, the essay stops short of full disclosure. It neither acknowledges past LDS racial teachings as essential doctrine, nor addresses problematic issues of race in LDS scripture. Consequently, Mormon whiteness teachings continue to pose significant challenges for black Latter-day Saints, even as the Church tries to distance itself from these teachings. Let's go back, because two times in this paragraph that you read, he uses the word doctrine or doctrines. He says it repudiates what were once settled Mormon doctrines, and then later on, it neither acknowledges past LDS racial teachings as essential doctrine.

That was a complaint that we have often had when discussing this topic with Latter-day Saints, even prior to 1978 when the priesthood ban was lifted and those of African heritage would be allowed to hold this much coveted priesthood authority, because it's absolutely essential, if you hope, as a Latter-day Saint male, to reach exaltation. Many times when talking to people after 1978, they would act like, well, it was never a doctrine. But yet, if you ask some of these same Latter-day Saints, well, did you believe it? They would usually all say yes. Some of them might have been uncomfortable with it, but they certainly believed it. They never voiced their opposition to this kind of a teaching.

So here's what you have. You have this game being played that, yeah, even though I believe it to be truth from God himself, I'm not going to call it a doctrine. And I think most people listening to that are probably not going to have a whole lot of respect for the individual that uses that kind of reasoning.

So I think he makes a point here because in the essay itself, they still try to play that game, even though it can be demonstrated that it was referred to as a doctrine. Bill, we have to ask the question, how many Latter-day Saints today who are alive were Latter-day Saints back in 1978? I mean, that happened over 40 years ago. Think about how many knew Latter-day Saints who never knew life with this doctrine. And even if they had been born by 1978, they wouldn't remember it.

You probably would have to have been born by 1970. So I think for a lot of Latter-day Saints who hear about this doctrine, maybe they don't think it's as serious of a doctrine as it really was. I mean, I'm looking at two quotes by 10th president Joseph Fielding Smith.

This is what he said two different times. This is in The Way to Perfection, page 110. Joseph Fielding Smith said, This doctrine did not originate with President Brigham Young, but was taught by the prophet Joseph Smith. Then in the Improvement Era from April of 1924, page 565, he said, It is true that the Negro race is barred from holding the priesthood, and this has always been the case. The prophet Joseph Smith taught this doctrine, and it was made known to him. Although we know of no such statement in any revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants, Book of Mormon, or the Bible.

Which is interesting. It's not found in the standard works, but according to Joseph Fielding Smith, it had been taught by Joseph Smith by Brigham Young. And we can go down the line, all the way to even David O. McKay talks about this.

And even though that is absolutely correct, I have to be quite honest with you though, Eric. I can't recall seeing a firsthand account of Joseph Smith teaching anything like this, even though Joseph Fielding Smith credits him for this teaching. If it was not a doctrine, then why did they not allow those with black skin to become priesthood holders that allowed them to be able to go to the temple?

I mean, that was a rule. That was a doctrine. You can call it official doctrine.

And so I think that's something that the point needs to be made. What he says here on page 247, Matthew Harris uses the word doctrine and doctrines, and I think he's accurate. Then under the section Overview on page 247, he says, The race in priesthood essay opens by quoting 2 Nephi 26-33, affirming, quote-unquote, that all are alike unto God.

This popular Book of Mormon scripture sets the tone for the remainder of the document, for the essay's primary purpose is to remind readers that the Church welcomes all races, colors, and creeds. When Bruce McConkie, a Mormon apostle, gave one of his talks that title, All Are Alike Unto God, and as this page points out, by citing 2 Nephi 26-33, where that comes from, wait a second here, Mr. McConkie, that's always been in the Book of Mormon. That's been there since the very beginning of your church. It's not like 2 Nephi 26-33 all of a sudden is inserted later. It was always there, which is very puzzling because they're acting as if, hey, what we're doing just goes along with our scripture. Well, if that's true, then what you were doing before doesn't go along with your scripture.

It doesn't seem to be acknowledged. On the top of page 248, he writes, the race and priesthood writers assert that the Church emerged, quote, amidst a highly contentious racial culture in which whites were afforded great privilege, end quote. The essay affirms that the Church was restored in 1830 when slavery was legal and racial discrimination permeated American culture. This in turn influenced the formation of LDS racial policies wherein Brigham Young implemented the priesthood and temple ban aimed specifically at blacks of African heritage. Most significantly, the essay admits that the ban resulted from human error rather than divine will. It further explains that Young reflected the prejudices of his 19th century environment when, quote, many people of African descent lived in slavery and racial distinctions and prejudice were not just common but customary among white Americans, end quote. There is a lot to discuss in that paragraph alone, and we're going to take up this subject in tomorrow's show when we continue looking at the Gospel Topics series, a scholarly engagement, a chapter written by Matthew L. Harris titled Whiteness, Theology, and the Evolution of Mormon Racial Teachings. Here we look at another viewpoint on Mormonism.