In my life I frequently encounter claims of truth. This article is an evaluation of one such claim.
I've encountered an organization, calling itself Christ's Church (CC), that believes that black people shouldn't hold the priesthood. They teach that the fact that the LDS Church changed their position in 1978 (D & C Official Declaration 2) to allow blacks to hold the priesthood is a sign that the LDS Church has apostatized from the truth and is no longer led by God. This article is a brief evaluation of this claim according to my current understanding.
In the Official Declaration, the claim is made that a revelation was received from God to change the policy. CC believes that God can reveal truth to man today, so a revelation by itself doesn't violate their teachings.
CC's claim seems centered on some scriptures that include the following:
8 Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers—
9 For ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God—
10 Therefore your life and the priesthood have remained, and must needs remain through you and your lineage until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began.
11 Therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, a light unto the Gentiles, and through this priesthood, a savior unto my people Israel. The Lord hath said it. Amen.
D & C 86:8-11
This verse seems to be directed to some people who have had the Priesthood passed down through lineage or in other words direct descendants, "lawful heirs, according to the flesh", as opposed to a simple line of authority from someone else who held the priesthood which is most common in the LDS Church.
There are other evidences in the scriptures that some people are given priesthood according to lineage. In D & C 107:16 we can read, "No man has a legal right to this office, to hold the keys of this priesthood, except he be a literal descendant of Aaron." In the Old Testament we also read about the tribe of Levi who along with Moses, Aaron and his descendants, were the only ones to receive priesthood.
Note that these verses don't imply that only literal descendants can get the priesthood, but only that there are some people who are entitled to it based on lineage. Or in other words, they have an inherent calling to that responsibility. Whether or not they accept the calling or fulfill the responsibility is based on personal choice and righteousness.
There is also evidence that through a revelation, gospel blessings including the priesthood were extended to everyone (see Acts 10:1–33; 14:23; 15:6–8). Peter received a revelation that the gospel should be preached to the gentiles and among them people were ordained to the priesthood. There was a good deal of controversy regarding this change when it occurred.
So, the issue is not whether or not God CAN change his policy regarding who can receive the priesthood, but whether or not he DID.
A related question is whether God ever indicated that a particular lineage shouldn't get the priesthood. It seems clear that at least Abraham thought something along these lines according to Abraham 1:26.
27 Now, Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood, notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry;
I'm not sure that Pharaoh was black, but there are some weak evidences he was.
Once again though, it refers to a, "right of Priesthood", not necessarily that they couldn't receive it. Some are apparently entitled to priesthood through lineage, but as we see in the D & C and the New Testament, others can still receive it.
CC's teachings and some early leaders of the Church suggested that blacks aren't entitled to the Priesthood based on their poor behavior before coming to earth. To me this teaching is inconsistent with correct principles and will elaborate below.
A brief description of priesthood is that it's authority to act for God in certain ways. For example, someone may give their attorney the authority to act on their behalf in certain matters. The priesthood is essentially the government of God where he organizes his kingdom by giving people certain rights to act on his behalf.
It seems more consistent with my understanding of correct principles, that assignment of authority would be based on things other than skin color such as integrity and skills. I also don't believe God would encourage others to use skin color in judgement.
I suspect that originally people were left out of priesthood authority due to wickedness. This naturally passed down to descendants because wicked parents tend to raise wicked children. The patriarchal order is also natural as opposed to necessary when it comes to priesthood, but traditions tend to support the thought that it has some significance with regard to priesthood.
Another line of reasoning suggests that CC is teaching something very similar to what the Jews did at the time of Christ. Some of the Jews were very proud of their Abrahamic lineage and their detailed adherence to the law of Moses. They felt this put them above others. Jesus and the apostles taught that this was wrong. Paul in particular stressed that it's what in your heart and how you act that's important, not who your ancestors were. In fact they all taught that such traditions can be a stumbling block to doing what's right.
There's also a practice of the Jews that Jesus and the Apostles condemned regarding the claim to follow dead prophets. For some reason the Jews were proud of and claimed to follow the dead prophets in many detailed ways, but failed to acknowledge and following those that were living. CC seems to be doing the same thing with regard to Joseph Smith. They focus a great deal on what they believe Joseph Smith taught including obscure details, but perhaps they're missing the higher points of the law and living prophets.
I found some other good references on this subject here:
My conclusion is that the teaching of CC concerning blacks and the priesthood is false. In fact I don't believe it was ever God's policy for the LDS Church to withhold priesthood from blacks; it was simply interpretation of scripture, personal belief, and traditions that caused this policy until it was corrected in 1978.