Though I said my next blog would be about “his coming,” this video came across my Facebook Newsfeed today and it raised some questions for me.
Though the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has done a very good job of backpedaling, when it comes to defending their historically racist teachings concerning the Priesthood and black men of African descent, the fact that this has to be done by disavowing the teachings of so many “modern-day Prophets and Apostles” is disturbing. That alone should speak volumes to those still being asked to believe that these men are and were called of God, but it doesn’t seem to be saying much of anything to members of the church.
In this video, Marvin Perkins walks us through some of the scriptures that, as he explains, have been misunderstood and mishandled by these same Prophets and Apostles for decades now!!
At 18:54 he talks about Prophets being allowed to be wrong. His justification for accepting the racist teachings of past LDS Prophets and Apostles is that he can go through the Old and New Testaments “and name all the Prophets and Apostles who sinned and made mistakes.” So, the historically racist teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are being (and have been for some time now) framed as “the mistakes of men,” men who are fallible, just as are all men.
Why can the LDS not see that this is not the issue? The issue is not that all men are sinful and make mistakes. The issue is saying “the Lord saith,” when the Lord has not spoken. That is the very definition of a false prophet! Ezekiel calls them “lying divinations.”
A “Prophet of God” is one who is inspired by the Spirit of Christ that dwells in him. He will not be teaching, for truth, the doctrines of men. He will be correcting the false doctrines of men!! Wouldn’t he?
God said, through Jeremiah: “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in MY counsel, and had caused my people to hear MY words, then they should have TURNED THEM from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. (Jer 23:21-22)
I will come back to this.
I wonder if Mr. Perkins can name even one true Prophet of God or Apostle of Jesus Christ from the Old or New Testament who “lied”? Who was “mistaken” in his teachings of the doctrines of God and Christ?
Mr. Perkins goes on to appeal to D&C 1 to prove that “the Lord is OK with” apostles and prophets who sin and make mistakes. Ok, so Joseph Smith says that Jesus Christ is perfectly ok with His Apostles and Prophets making mistakes. Is that supposed to mean that He’s ok with them lying in His name?
Instead of judging whether or not Joseph Smith is a true Prophet of God by comparing the message he brings with the already revealed word of God (THE BIBLE), which Mr. Perkins (correctly) goes on to say we should be doing, he uses the message Joseph himself brought to determine whether or not Joseph Smith is a Prophet. This is the very definition of “cognitive dissonance,” one very similar to the example that he gave himself about reading only the good things written about the Honda van he chose to purchase. Isn’t it?
He said himself that we must verify the words of the prophets against other prophets by comparing their words to the words of those prophets who came before. Yet, instead of appealing to that which was previously revealed through known Apostles and Prophets (found in the Bible) the LDS rely on LDS scripture that all came to them through the very man who needs to be tested as a Prophet. And because they have been told by this very same man that any discrepancy between his message and the messages of other Prophets, as recorded in the Bible, is proof that the Bible has been corrupted and cannot be trusted, they dismiss the Biblical record in favor of the words of Joseph Smith and LDS scriptures. What kind of sense does that make?
At about 24:46, in addressing Jeremiah 8:21, Mr. Perkins says: “Only in the LDS version of the King James Bible are you going to find a footnote that gives you clarity on that word black, that says it’s a Hebrew idiom, meaning gloomy.” He goes on to discuss Jeremiah 14:2, which says: “… they are black unto the ground..” and he repeats: “Again, only in the LDS version of the King James Bible are you going to find a footnote that tells you that this is referring to the dejected,” that “this is also a Hebrew idiom.”
He goes on to prove his assertion by appealing to other translations of the Bible, particularly the Interlinear translation of the Bible. Ok! But why assume that (1) everyone else is using a KJV and not some other translation that might translate those passages differently, as is clearly the case, or that (2) every other reader of the KJV is too ignorant to be able to tell that the context of the passage itself does not support a literal reading?
(Note the implication that these problems have finally been resolved by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, through their inspired footnotes.)
I get that Mr. Perkins is trying to demonstrate how easy it can be for someone to misread and/or misunderstand various passages of scripture, and how easy it might be for someone to read their own personal bias into them, which might result in a teaching, doctrine, or policy that is far removed from the teaching or doctrine actually contained in the text. But, for me, the real problem is not that “we” might have misunderstood some of these passages of scripture, but that those claiming to be “Prophets of God” and “Apostles of Jesus Christ,” have misunderstood the scriptures and so (mis)-used them to support racist teachings about skin color, and that such teachings persisted in the Church even longer than they persisted in the “American culture” that they are being blamed on.
At 39:06 we get to the topic of the Priesthood. Mr. Perkins begins by pointing out that black men, indeed all men, were given the priesthood early on in church history, and there is no clear insight offered by Church History for why that was changed (39:38). This, he says, indicates (to him) that those teachings and policies did not originate in any “revelation” that came from God OK, so what we are left with is racism. The same racism that is evident in the many years of false teachings that followed these supposed Prophets and Apostles of Jesus Christ , until they claimed to have “received a revelation” allowing the Priesthood to be given to black men of African descent.
While the LDS are quick to excuse and forgive the “mistakes” of their Prophets and Apostles, the real concern, for me, is that these, supposed, Prophets and Apostles of Jesus Christ did not know better. Mr. Perkins seems to address this concern by emphasizing that the LDS Church is “a church of continuing revelation,” and by indicating that this is something that members “need to embrace,” but what that seems to imply is that “continuing revelation” allows for the teaching of false doctrine, of lies. It implies that, though the end goal might be for us to come to a full of knowledge of the truth, we might be taught to believe lies along the way… UNTIL “further revelation” is received. I don’t buy that! Nor do I believe that such can in any way be supported by the Bible.
So, what about the revelation that ended this practice, or policy, of the Church?
He points out in his own presentation the various passages contained in the D&C that show that there never was any restriction placed on the Priesthood, except upon those who persecuted the church (D&C 121:21-23), though even they could repent and receive the priesthood (D&C 124:52).
So, what “further revelation” was needed, except that these men were heavily influences by either their own racist inclinations or the racist inclinations of the society in which they lived, or both?
Of course, this was the problem. In the Q&A section (52:40), he answers a question by acknowledging (as does, he says, the church, through their release of an essay on the topic) that the past teachings of the church were “rooted in the racist American culture that was taking place at the time.” (Notice that he blames in on “American culture,” and not the men themselves.) He points out that the church has “disavowed all the teachings of the past” (on this subject), and indicates that these were “the doctrines of men,” rather than God.
Again, therein lies the problem. We are talking about, supposed, Prophets and Apostles of Jesus Christ, those in whom “the Spirit of Christ” is supposed to dwell. These men are not supposed to be influenced by “American culture,” they are supposed to stand up against those things that do not align with the culture and teachings of Jesus Christ.
So, as promised, I come back to this:
God said, through Jeremiah: “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But IF they had stood in MY counsel, and had caused my people to hear MY words, then THEY SHOULD HAVE TURNED THEM from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. (Jer 23:21-22)
If the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was being led by genuine Prophets and Apostles of Jesus Christ, why did they not stand up against the racism that existed in American culture, instead of giving into it, adopted it, and incorporated it into their teachings? Why did they not turn the people away from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings, instead of joining themselves to the world and its evil ways and doings?
Why is it that Mr. Perkins has come to understand these scriptures in a way that so many leaders of the LDS Church never could?
Here we are being asked to believe the argument that those who did these things were simply in need of further revelation, though we are also being asked to believe that the D&C already contained all the revelation they needed concerning the Priesthood, yet they could not see it!
Justifying years of false doctrine (or policy) by appealing to the sinful nature of man and our need for “continuing revelation,” to overcome the lies being taught, by modern-day Prophets and Apostles, through what is claimed to be Christ’s “only true church,” is another place where I believe Mormon doctrine falls apart…
However, the fact that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is probably not going away any time soon, makes me grateful for people like Marvin Perkins, who are able to call it what it is: Racism! And take the church and its members in a completely different direction by acknowledging that fact and moving past it. I think it just goes to show us how revelation and inspiration can come to anyone and how God can use even false prophets, the Book of Mormon, other LDS scriptures… or anything else He so chooses… to bring light into the world. I just wish the LDS would let go of the false notion that the Church of Jesus Christ is an organization that one can join or un-join and see that it is made up of of the “one new man” created “in Christ,” when God gathered together in one all things in Him, as discussed in my previous blog. We are ALL “members” of the ONE BODY of Christ.
Link to the Video: https://youtu.be/jJZ5fdlTXu4
Where Mormon Doctrine Falls Apart 