Comments on: Questions from the Grass Roots, 1948 — Curse of Cain Edition http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2010/08/04/questions-from-the-grass-roots-1948-curse-of-cain-edition/ Where our past is never very long ago Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:08:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Steve C. http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2010/08/04/questions-from-the-grass-roots-1948-curse-of-cain-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-24893 Steve C. Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:41:30 +0000 http://www.keepapitchinin.org/?p=7615#comment-24893 RE: Comment 23.
That bothered me as well for the same sort of reasons. I think we’ve already read here on Keepa that JS’s did not interpret the scriptures in that way as we know he ordained persons of African descent to the priesthood after 1830.

]]> By: Ardis E. Parshall http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2010/08/04/questions-from-the-grass-roots-1948-curse-of-cain-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-24872 Ardis E. Parshall Thu, 05 Aug 2010 20:44:20 +0000 http://www.keepapitchinin.org/?p=7615#comment-24872 Paul, I’m glad you brought that up. With our post-1978 understanding it’s so easy to see how Mr. 1948-anon-answer-guru and his fellow Saints were reading things into those verses that are not there — yet they were seemingly unaware of the leaps they were making to connect unconnectable dots. They “knew” how things were and didn’t seem bothered that the scriptures didn’t exactly say that; they seemed content to believe that if even part of their understanding was verified by the scriptures, then the unverified parts must be true, too.

Not that I want to condemn that generation too harshly — they were speaking without the “greater light and knowledge,” as BRMcConkie put it, that came in June 1978. (Makes me wonder what I may be misreading on other subjects in the same way.)

There’s no excuse for anybody today to cling to those unsupported beliefs, though.

]]> By: Paul Reeve http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2010/08/04/questions-from-the-grass-roots-1948-curse-of-cain-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-24871 Paul Reeve Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:57:48 +0000 http://www.keepapitchinin.org/?p=7615#comment-24871

Q. When and to whom was information received in this dispensation as to the sons of Cain and the Priesthood? – A.R.W., Creston, Mont.

A. The Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price was revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1830. That book includes the visions and the writings of Moses as they were made known to the Prophet. If you will read chapter five of the Book of Moses you will see the story of Cain’s downfall and the manner in which he was cursed pertaining to the Priesthood. Then if you examine Moses seventh chapter, twenty-second verse, you will see there the record of the fact that the seed of Cain were black.

Is anyone else bothered by this answer? I’m really sorry for how Mr. 1948-anon-answer-guru used the book of Moses to bolster his (has to be a “his” doesn’t it?) position. I like this question a lot, but I do not care for the answer because it feels like it is not historically honest. Yes, JS received those scriptures in 1830, but did he ever interpret them the way in which the writer of the answer interprets them? Not of which I’m aware. It bothers me as being disingenuous because in fact there is no revelation about a curse and priesthood, only later interpretation of scripture. The only revelation on the matter of which I’m aware came in 1978. Before that it seems like the ideas of men mingled with scripture held sway. In offering this answer, the answer guru implicates Joseph Smith in the ban, again without supporting evidence.

]]> By: Confutus http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2010/08/04/questions-from-the-grass-roots-1948-curse-of-cain-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-24868 Confutus Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:41:57 +0000 http://www.keepapitchinin.org/?p=7615#comment-24868 More thanks for the article, Ardis.

]]> By: Paul Reeve http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2010/08/04/questions-from-the-grass-roots-1948-curse-of-cain-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-24867 Paul Reeve Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:24:08 +0000 http://www.keepapitchinin.org/?p=7615#comment-24867 Steve C.: Yes, correct. The curse notion long pre-dates Mormonism, but Mormonism put its own twist on it. There has been some good scholarship of late on the notion of biblical curses: Stephen R. Haynes, Noah’s Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery; Colin Kidd, The Forging of Races: Race and Scripture in the Protestant Atlantic World, 1600-2000; and David M. Goldenberg, The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

]]> By: J. Stapley http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2010/08/04/questions-from-the-grass-roots-1948-curse-of-cain-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-24863 J. Stapley Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:20:07 +0000 http://www.keepapitchinin.org/?p=7615#comment-24863 Thanks for publishing that article, Ardis. I don’t believe that I have ever read it.

]]> By: Steve C. http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2010/08/04/questions-from-the-grass-roots-1948-curse-of-cain-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-24859 Steve C. Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:50:38 +0000 http://www.keepapitchinin.org/?p=7615#comment-24859 Paul: Your comments on the “one drop” notion and how that seeped into LDS doctrine is interesting. I’ve often wondered how many ideas like that have made their way into LDS “doctrine.” Growing up I had always heard that the curse of Cain was a black skin. When I was in graduate school (at a southern state university) in the 1990s one of my professors (non-LDS) commented in class that it was a common belief among 18th and early 19th century Protestants that the curse of Cain was a black skin. I would speculate that many of the early brethren had heard that in their former churches and later as a General Authority they preached it as it made sense to them at the time.

]]> By: Ardis E. Parshall http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2010/08/04/questions-from-the-grass-roots-1948-curse-of-cain-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-24858 Ardis E. Parshall Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:45:45 +0000 http://www.keepapitchinin.org/?p=7615#comment-24858 “Prophets Tell of Promise to All Races”, the article cited by Justin in #15, has been posted for readers’ convenience.

]]> By: Christopher http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2010/08/04/questions-from-the-grass-roots-1948-curse-of-cain-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-24854 Christopher Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:48:13 +0000 http://www.keepapitchinin.org/?p=7615#comment-24854 Thanks for the post, Ardis. Your efforts “to give a clearer picture of what was actually once taught and believed and to help us understand how the pervasiveness of such teachings and the interest focused on them once upon a time contribute to the unfortunate and nagging persistence of such beliefs among older or less-informed members of the Church” are appreciated.

]]> By: Confutus http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2010/08/04/questions-from-the-grass-roots-1948-curse-of-cain-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-24846 Confutus Thu, 05 Aug 2010 04:21:10 +0000 http://www.keepapitchinin.org/?p=7615#comment-24846 I thought it was earlier than that, but as I said, I don’t trust my memory.

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