Joseph Fielding Smith says that Black people cannot receive patriarchal blessings proving them the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob until the Lord removes the restriction, due to not being valiant in the spirit world.

Date
Oct 11, 1958
Type
Meeting Minutes / Notes
Source
Joseph Fielding Smith
LDS
Hearsay
Scribed Verbatim
Reference

Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr. Digest of the minutes of the meeting of the patriarchs of the Church with the General Authorities held in Barratt Hall, Salt Lake City, Utah, Saturday, October 11, 1958, at 8:00 a.m. Church History Library, M251.32 S6535d 1958

Scribe/Publisher
Church History Library
People
Brigham Young, Joseph Fielding Smith
Audience
Church Patriarchs
Transcription

Now here is a problem which to me is serious. A patriarch gave a blessing to an individual who had Negro blood in his veins and said you are of the House of Israel and entitled to all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. A Negro cannot hold the priesthood and not holding the priesthood they cannot, until the Lord removes the restriction, enter into the exaltation of the kingdom of God and that would not entitle them to all of the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That is a very serious matter and we should be extremely careful to know the Lord is speaking to us because Negroes cannot receive the fullness. A Negro may come into the Church and we can do more for him than any other church on the face of the earth. If he is baptized and is faithful and true, he can enter the celestial kingdom, but he does not get exaltation, but as I understand it, the Lord will, in due time, remove the restrictions. Not in this world but the time will come, if the Negro receives the gospel and is true to the end, he may go to the celestial kingdom and when the right time comes the restrictions will be removed and he may receive all of the blessings. Now the reason as stated by President Brigham Young and some of the other brethren that the Negro cannot receive the priesthood is two fold. One is their own fault because of their attitude in the spirit world. They were not valiant for some cause which the Lord does not explain, and they were barred from receiving the priesthood but they were not barred from birth into this world, and were not denied the right to have a body. If he is faithful in his second estate, the time will come when these restrictions will be removed."

BHR Staff Commentary

Although an image of this record is not currently available, the accuracy of quote was verified by Church History Library staff on June 24, 2022.

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