THE NEGRO AND THE PRIESTHOOD

1. Are the negroes descendants of Ham (son of Noah), or do they date back to Cain. (son of Adam)? The Pearl of Great Price. page 39, ays the seed of Cain were black. Some say Ham married a descendant of Cain and thus brought negro blood across the flood. Are there any sermons to that effect?

2. Were the Egyptians, to whom the Israelites were in bondage for about 400 years, negroes? If negroes are descendants of Ham, we would think hy reading the Pearl of Great Price, page 55, that the Egyptians were negroes.

3. Why is it that a negro can be baptized into the Church, but cannot be given the priesthood? A. A., Hyrum, Utah.

We learn from the Pearl of Great Price that the gospel, including animal sacrifice foreshadowing the atonement of Christ, was taught to Adam and his immediate descendants. Abel, the righteous son of Adam, offered sacrifice “of the firstlings of his flock,” thus obeying the law and honoring the Savior who was to come. Of Cain and his offering the Bible says:

And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. (Gen. 4:3.)

The following verse from the Pearl of Great Price, page 21, throws more light on Cain's sacrifice:

And Cain loved Satan more than God, and Satan commanded him saying: Make an offering unto the Lord.

Cain's offering was made in obedience to a command of Satan, and consisted of fruits of the ground instead of a living animal whose life could be taken, thus typifying the atonement of a Messiah who should come in the “meridian of time.” Here we have “a changing of the ordinances,” a rebelling against God, a denial of the Christ, an apostasy. God had respect for Abel's offering—his religion—but for Cain's He had no respect. We learn from the Pearl of Great Price, pages 22–3, that Cain was angry and made a compact with Satan under which Satan was to deliver Abel into Cain's hands, and Cain was to obey the commands of Satan. This compact was carried out, and Cain slew Abel. His motive was double: To gain possession of the dead man's flocks, and gratify a jealous hate. The murderer became the head of a secret cabal whose object was to murder for gain. God cursed him and “set a mark” upon him so that no one finding him should kill him, and he became a fugitive and a vagabond. Still he begot many sons and daughters and builded a city. His seed were black, and did not mix with the other descendants of Adam. (page 39.)

It is thus clear that the negro race flourished before the flood, and it is probable that the law of God forbade admixture with them. The theory that Ham, in violation of this law, married a woman of this race is, we think very reasonable. The shocking crime which he committed after the flood could hardly have been his first offense, and proves him to have been a man of depraved proclivities, at least when under a wrong spirit, although at one time, before the flood, he was a righteous man, for he "walked with God" in company with his father and two brothers (page 49.)

That the negroes are descended from Ham is generally admitted, not only by Latterday Saint writers but by historians and students of the scriptures. That they are also descended from Cain is also a widely accepted theory, although sacred history does not record explicitly how this lineage bridged the flood. In our opinion the best explanation of this difficulty is the hypothesis that Ham's wife was a descendant of Cain. The curse of Noah rested upon Canaan, the son of Ham, (see below) and he it was who became ancestor of the black race. That all of the descendants of Ham were black is not shown by the record. He had four sons (Gen. 10:6) and at least one daughter who had children (Pearl of Great Price, page 37). But that all of the posterity of Canaan were black is made plain (Pearl of Great Price, page 37):

And there was a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan, that they were despised among all people.

Abraham, referring to a king of Egypt of his day, says (Pearl of Great Price, page 55):

Now this king of Egypt was a descendant from the loins of Ham, and as a partaker of the blood of the Canaanites by birth.

From this descent sprang all the Egyptians, and thus the blood of the Canaanites was preserved in the land.

It thus appears that the original inhabitants of Egypt were descendants of Ham through Canaan, and hence were black. It also appears that a king of Egypt, known to Abraham, and presumably contemporary with him, was of the same race. But were the Egyptians, that is the ruling class in that country, during the period from Joseph to Moses, negroes? Without undertaking to discuss this question fully, we will suggest that between Abraham and Moses there was plenty of time for such political changes as would place a different race in power; and that, if the taskmasters of the children of Israel were descendants of Canaan, the prophetic curse pronounced upon him was reversed . The children of Israel were the descendants of Shem, and under the curse of Noah, Canaan was to be a servant to Shem, instead of his master. He was also to be a servant to Japheth.

In the Times and Seasons, volume six, page 857, is the following· article headed "A Short Chapter on a Long Subject:"

After the flood, and after Ham had dishonored the holy priesthood, Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son (Ham) had done unto him. And, as the priesthood descended from father to son, he delivered the following curse and blessing, as translated by King James' wise men and recorded in Genesis:

"And he said, cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren."

"And he said, blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant."

"God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant."

History and common observation show that these predictions have been fulfilled to the letter. The descendants of Ham, besides a black skin which has ever been a curse that bas followed an apostate of the holy Priesthood, as well as a black heart, have been servants to both Shem and Japheth; and the abolitionists are trying to make void the curse of God, but it will require more power than man possesses to counteract the decree of eternal wisdom.

Again Shem or his descendants were blessed with receiving the revelations, prophets and Savior:-A blessing truly, which even the most sagacious infidel has not been able to explain away.

Again, Japheth has dwelt in Shem's tent, both in the land of Canaan and America; for "tents" js a figurative expression which in Hebrew, would signify the residence or abode.

Now our short chapter will soon end, for the Savior said Jerusalem should be trodden down until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, and the very movement of every nation shows the eternal truth of the above quoted passage of scripture. It frustrates the designs of sectarians: it chokes the deists, astonishes the world. and delights the Saints. Amen."

So far as any record in our possession shows, Canaan was the sole ancestor of the negro race, and upon Canaan and his seed Noah placed the double curse of a black skin and a condition of perpetual servitude. Now the priesthood is divine authority to preside, and to say of a race that they shall be servants forever is equivalent to saying that they shall not hold authority, especially divine authority. Hence the curse of Noah necessarily means that the race upon which it rests cannot hold the priesthood.

Jesus commanded the apostles: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel unto every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." "Every creature" means every human being, regardless of race; and the right to be baptized was thus extended to every descendant of Adam. A great number of passages of scripture could be quoted to show that the privilege of baptism is universal, and that all who believe and are baptized and endure will be saved in as high a glory a they are willing to fit themselves for.

But the privilege of receiving the priesthood was vastly different. By reading the Book of Abraham and Paul's epistle to the Hebrews, not to mention many other portions of sacred writ, we see that it was the design of the Almighty to confine the priesthood to a certain lineage which ran from Shem to Noah, and from him to Abraham, and thence down through certain strains of blood to the end of the world. Deprivation of the priesthood was part of the curse placed upon Canaan and his seed by Noah, who held the keys that “bind on earth that it may be bound in heaven.” From the Pearl of Great Price, page 55, we learn that “the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham;” that this Pharaoh was a righteous man, and that Noah “blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the priesthood.” That is, forbade him and his posterity to hold the priesthood. Noah had authority from the Almighty to designate which branches of his posterity should, and which should not, hold the priesthood; and he was undoubtedly directed in the matter by revelation.

A more comprehensive explanation of the reason why certain strains of lineage have been chosen to hold the priesthood, while certain others have been forbidden to do so, is found by going back to the pre-existent state of mankind. By the course which individual and multitudes of spirits pursued in that state they determined their status in this with reference to the blessings and privileo-es of the gospel, especially the priesthood. The spirits inhabiting that sphere before this earth was created classified thernselves. A few by their faithful devotion to truth, won the promise that they should receive their mortal bodies through a lineage that would entitle them to the priesthood; but to the great mass of spirits this promise was not given, while some were predestined to come to earth through a parentage that would deprive them of this honor. The spirits that appear in mortality as negroes were of this latter class, and a lineage had to be provided for them which would accord with their deserts; hence the dealings of God with Cain, Ham, Canaan, etc.

The present writer has heard President Brigham Young quoted as offering a still further explanation of the reason why negroes are not ordained to the priesthood. It was to the effect that they did not possess sufficient innate spiritual strength and capacity to endure the responsibility that always goes with the priesthood, and to successfully resist the powers of darkness that always oppose men who hold it; and that, were they to be clothed with it, evil agencies would harass and torment them, frighten them with spiritual manifestations from a wrong source, and so destroy their rest and peace that the priesthood instead of being a blessing to them would be the reverse.

But it is the privilege of a negro to take advantage of the atonement of Christ by being baptized, and if he continues faithful to the covenant he makes by that act. he will receive as great a reward and as high a glory as he will be able to endure.