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It’s difficult not to notice that our general authorities emphasize how difficult it is to understand atonement as they expand the list of things which atonement covers. How atonement can take care of all of our mental and physical stresses and sicknesses is far beyond my ability to understand. I wonder why we still need home teachers, visiting teachers, and guardian angels now that some of our general authorities have figured out that atonement covers just about every problem we might face.

Alma, a Book of Mormon prophet, in Alma 33:16, quoted an Israelite prophet named Zenock who is not mentioned in the Bible, as saying “Thou art angry, O Lord, with this people, because they will not understand thy mercies which thou hast bestowed upon them because of thy Son.” In Jacob 4:14 another Book of Mormon prophet gives us more details as to why the Lord’s people were in trouble with him. The verse tells us that the Jews were in trouble with the Lord because they had been blinded by looking beyond the mark for things which they could not understand. It further says that because they desired things which they could not understand God delivered unto them many such things and He did so that they might stumble, because they desired it.

Notice that Zenock said that “they will not understand thy mercies” not that they could not understand the Lord’s mercies. Jacob’s remarks imply that the Jews were afflicted with a case of intellectual snobbery. They wanted to struggle with difficult problems in ways which were designed to flatter their intellectual capabilities even if they had to make simple things seem complicated. The Latter-Day Saints were warned again in D&C 88:64-65 when they were told, “Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be given unto you, that is expedient for you; and if ye ask anything that is not expedient for you, it shall turn unto your condemnation.” In D&C 63:31 the saints were warned that the price of failure to settle in Missouri was that they would be “scourged from city to city”. In D&C 84:55-59 we learn that we brought the whole church under condemnation because of our vanity and unbelief and we would remain under this condemnation until we “repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them,”.

 If we had remembered the Book of Mormon passage which states that “all are alike unto God”, we would not have decided that the Pearl of Great Price gave us a precedent for denying the priesthood to blacks of African descent. In a Book of Mormon passage (3 Nephi 26:8-11), it says of those who receive the Book of Mormon which was a translation of 1/3 of the plates given Joseph Smith, “And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he [Jesus] taught the people; ...  And when they shall have received this [the Book of Mormon], which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater thing be made manifest unto them. And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.” The remaining 2/3 of the plates were never translated. Instead, the Latter-Day Saints were given the Pearl of Great Price which was received enthusiastically by racists in the church as it fit in so well with their preconceptions about African Blacks. They accepted it as justification for withholding the priesthood from blacks even though Joseph Smith ordained at least one black man.

When the Latter-Day Saints decided that the Pearl of Great Price was more credible than the Book of Mormon it proved that Latter-Day Saints did not understand the atonement. On the church web site an essay on Race and the Priesthood justifies making the priesthood available to men of all races with a Book of Mormon passage “all are alike unto God”. The footnote lists Book of Mormon and New Testament sources. Starting with Brigham Young in Utah the official doctrine of the church was that blacks of African descent would never obtain the priesthood during mortality. Adding more detail to that opinion was another Brigham Young explanation which pronounced that they would not be able to obtain the priesthood until all the other sons of Adam had been given the opportunity. These doctrines can be found in the Journal of Discourses, but are difficult to find in doctrinal commentaries from the 1900s. Brigham Young’s more controversial teachings met some opposition in his lifetime. While modern commentaries avoid the question of how long the blacks would be denied the priesthood, some of Brigham’s unpopular teachings have been explained away or covered up with denials.

Our general authorities try to avoid any show of disagreement. Also, racist doctrine was promoted so boldly in the church that there was little chance for the Latter-Day Saints to learn that our prophet during the 1950s and 1960s didn’t believe that the priesthood should be withheld from blacks. David O. McKay’s biography finally came out in 2005. Now we know that he had been trying to obtain revelation allowing him to do away with the practice of withholding the priesthood from blacks and that one of his councilors had told him that the reason for his failure was that the Latter-Day Saints were not ready to share the priesthood with the blacks. Until very recently we were not encouraged to believe the change made church policy compatible with Book of Mormon passages about the gospel being for all nations. When it was announced that the priesthood was now available to men of all races Brigham Young’s teachings that blacks would never obtain the priesthood during their mortal lives were ignored. The change was announced as being in tune with the teachings of past presidents of the church. On the local scene some speculated that the change came because of pressure from the civil rights movement. Others suggested that the popularity of the mini-series, Roots, was a sign that blacks were now ready for the priesthood. For now, let’s set aside this talk of lies and coverups for what I prefer to think is a look at this mess from the proper perspective.

When the Mormons arrived in the Great Salt Lake valley they had been scourged from city to city only to face drought, famine and plagues of crickets for a number of years. On February 10, 1856 (JD Vol. 3, pp296-297) Orson Pratt told of the crop failure in the previous year because of drought and crickets. He told them that they had laid the foundation of a superstructure for what will become “one of the greatest ever constructed by the inhabitants of this earth. ... I believe that the Lord will whip us into it; I have no doubt of that.” Elder Pratt went on to say “I am as convinced that the Lord will whip us into this diligent course, as I am that I am standing before you. Why? Because this is the kingdom, this is the people and the Church of the living God, and just as surely as He is our God, will He purify this people by famine, by war, by sickness, by death, by various judgments, and by the flame of devouring fire. We cannot escape the course of purification. ... I would much rather be chastened than to heap up an abundance of this world’s goods, and neglect some of the most important duties of my religion. Hence, when I pray in relation to myself, my prayer is for the Lord to chasten me, and also in relation to this people my prayer is, O Lord, let thy chastening hand be upon this people, until they learn to obey...” We have paid dearly and chastened harshly for the racism promoted by racists in the church.

In Utah they also faced God’s promise to deliver things they could not understand. Many such things were delivered through the instrumentality of Brigham Young. In D&C 112:12-13 Joseph Marsh was told to “pray for thy brethren of the Twelve. Admonish them sharply for my name’s sake, and let them be admonished for all their sins, and be ye faithful before me unto my name. And after their temptations, and much tribulation, behold, I, the Lord, will feel after them, and if they harden not their hearts, and stiffen not their necks against me, they shall be converted, and I will heal them.” There is no doubt in my mind that Zenock and Jacob were warning us about Latter-Day problems. With the passing of Brigham Young, the influence of some of his doctrine began to wane, but racism would remain a long term problem.

 In the History of the Church, vol. 3, page 296-297, is a letter written while Joseph was in Liberty Jail and completed on March 25, 1839. Joseph Smith wrote “But I beg leave to say unto you, brethren, that ignorance, superstition and bigotry placing itself where it ought not, is oftentimes in the way of the prosperity of this Church; like the torrent of rain from the mountains, that floods the most pure and crystal stream with mire, and dirt, and filthiness, and obscures everything that was clear before, and all rushes along in one general deluge; but time weathers tide: and notwithstanding we are rolled in the mire of the flood for the time being, the next surge peradventure, as time rolls on, may bring to us the fountain as clear as crystal, and as pure as snow; while the filthiness, floodwood and rubbish is left and purged out by the way.”