“Therefore if a Negro joins the Church through the waters of baptism and is confirmed by the laying on of hands and then he remains faithful and true to the teachings of the Church and in keeping the commandments the Lord has given, he will come forth in the first resurrection and will enter the celestial kingdom of God.
What other church can make a better promise? Moreover we know whereof we speak, for the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored with all its powers and divine authority.
The Negro who accepts the doctrines of the Church and is baptized by an authorized minister of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is entitled to salvation in the celestial kingdom or the highest heaven spoken of by Paul.
(President Joseph Feilding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, Vol. 4 Page 171)
And you were a member, & really didn't know this? You say that when you were a member, there was no such promise for the blacks. Wrong! They could not hold the priesthood or go to the temple, but exaltation has always been held out for them, ALWAYS! Yes, period! Just how long were you an active member?
If one looks at things from an eternal perspective, the only relevant matter is where we end up. Blacks will end up in the same places we all will, including the Celestial Kingdom. I recognize this is a difficult topic for you. I hope this has shed some light for you. However, I would sincerely ask that you ask first before spilling false doctrines about the church which has obviously been the case here. You will find nowhere in the church the doctrine that blacks would not be able to inherit Celestial Glory as their white counterparts. Nowhere. Ever.
I wish you & yours once again a wonderful & blessed Easter my FRiend.
"Until 1978, persons with any known trace of black African ancestry were not permitted to enter a Mormon temple, even if they were otherwise worthy members of the Church. Joseph Smith taught that Negroes (blacks) are the descendants of Cain. (J. S. History, vol. 4, p. 501)
Brigham Young was equally adamant about the status of the blacks. Young said; "Blacks are cursed with a flat nose and black skin". (Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, pp. 290-291) "Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African Race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so." Brigham Young also said "…that if the priesthood was ever given to the Blacks, on that very day and hour, if we should do so, the priesthood will be taken from this church." (Brigham Young Addresses, p. 61)
Pres. Joseph Fielding Smith said: "They are an inferior race, and their intelligence is stunted."
Apostle Bruce McConkie said: "The Negroes were less valiant in the preexistence, and therefore spiritually restricted."
From Wikipedia, From the end of the nineteenth century until 1978, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not allow black men of African descent to be ordained to the priesthood or allow black men or women of African descent to participate in temple ordinances such as the Endowment and sealing that the church teaches are necessary for the highest degree of salvation. In the early church, at least two black people were ordained by Joseph Smith, Jr., but they were not permitted by later presidents of the church to participate in temple ordinances.
From the Neil Maxwell Institute at BYU: The final two ordinances necessary for exaltation, the endowment and marriage for time and eternity, can only be performed in "houses of the Lord," that is, temples of the LDS Church.
The Doctrine of Exaltation, or Becoming a God
FARMS
The story of Elijah Abel and his activity in the Church is significant for several reasons. First, Abel's changing status was a microcosm of what happened to all Mormon blacks during the nineteenth century. Up until the 1840s, Mormon blacks were accepted in full Mormon fellowship including the right to receive the priesthood. However, by 1849 this was [p.139]no longer the ease; Mormon black priesthood denial was recognized as a churchwide practice. Even though Abel "got in under the wire" in receiving the priesthood, he and all other black Mormons were unable to participate in temple ordinances considered essential for full Mormon salvation.
Elijah Abel and the Changing Status of Blacks within Mormonism
“The Negro is an unfortunate man. He has been given a black skin. But that is as nothing compared with that greater handicap that he is not permitted to receive the Priesthood and the ordinances of the temple, necessary to prepare men and women to enter into and enjoy a fullness of glory in the celestial kingdom [i.e., godhood].”
- Apostle George F. Richards, Conference Report, April 1939, p. 58
Again, you said: but exaltation has always been held out for them, ALWAYS!
And, finally....."In 1954, Elder Mark E. Peterson, a Mormon apostle, said:
"Think of the Negro, cursed as to the Priesthood. Are we prejudiced against him? Unjustly, sometimes we are accused of having such a prejudice. But what does the mercy of God have for him? This negro, who, in the pre-existence lived the type of life which justified the Lord in sending him to the earth in the lineage of Cain with a black skin, and possibly being born in darkest Africa—if that negro is willing when he hears the gospel to accept it, he may have many of the blessings of the gospel. In spite of all he did in the pre-existent life, the Lord is willing, if the Negro accepts the gospel with real, sincere faith, and is really converted, to give him the blessings of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. If that Negro is faithful all his days, he can and will enter the celestial kingdom. He will go there as a servant, but he will get a celestial resurrection." (Race Problems--As They Affect the Church, August 27, 1954, address at CES convention at Brigham Young University)
So, in 1954, blacks could enter the Celestial kingdom AS SERVANTS....but not the highest degree of the Celestial kingdom...Quoting you again: but exaltation has always been held out for them, as their white counterparts, ALWAYS!
I was a member for years during the period of the 40s-70s when I heard many times from the podium in LDS chapels, stories of alert temple workers who had a "bad" feeling about a certain couple who had come to be sealed and would not let them continue, and it was later discovered that one or another of them had "a 1/32 of negro blood." This was presented as a very GOOD thing.
Quoting your post, again: I recognize this is a difficult topic for you. I hope this has shed some light for you. However, I would sincerely ask that you ask first before spilling false doctrines about the church which has obviously been the case here. You will find nowhere in the church the doctrine that blacks would not be able to inherit Celestial Glory as their white counterparts. Nowhere. Ever.
I know this is a difficult subject for you, but I would ask YOU sincerely to do some research and you will see there was MUCH controversy over allowing blacks to have the priesthood in the church's history and there was NO promise of exaltation to blacks in the early times. How long have YOU been a member?