The Mormon Faith & Black Folks
Question #34
Q. Isn’t Islam the true religion of the black
people?
A. There may be some truth in this. The Prophet of
Islam was Muhammad; a Bedouin. And the Bedouins were the descendants of Abraham
and his concubine Hagar; an Egyptian woman. And the Egyptians were the
descendants of Ham and Egyptus. And Egyptus was a Cainite woman.
Islam may have been God’s secondary or alternative
priesthood for Hamites (both black-skinned and white-skinned ones). In Islam,
only men can worship in Masjids (women are allowed in the back of
Masjids as observers). Masjids in the West are often called Mosques.
Only men can be Muazzin (Callers to Prayer) and Imams (Leaders of Prayer). Only
men can go on pilgrimages (hajj) to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, and pray at the Ka’aba (Cube); the most holy site in
Islam. While there they go through a symbolic ritual that repeats things that
Abraham did, and things that Hagar and Ishmael did.
On September 23, 1855, Elder Parley P. Pratt (Apostle)
gave a sermon called ‘Mohametism and Christianity’ in the Mormon Tabernacle,
and said:
“Ishmael and his descendants were blessed by the Lord,
who said, ‘I will make of him a great nation, and kings shall come of him, and
he shall have dominion’, yet there was one thing not said on the head of
Ishmael. It was not said that in him should the elect seed be chosen, who
should bear the keys of the eternal Priesthood, and Salvation, in which all
nations should be blessed; this was said on Isaac, the brother of Ishmael, the
heir; and it was also said of Jacob and of Abraham, therefore, the blessings
that were peculiar, that pertained to the fullness of the Gospel, that
pertained to the coming of Christ, and to the things of his ministry, and to
those that were called with the same calling, and in which all nations should
be blessed and redeemed, could not be given to Ishmael and his descendants but
they belonged by election to the chosen seed to whom the promises were made,
viz., the children of Abraham through Isaac, and through Jacob; but the Lord
said of Ishmael, ‘I will make of him a great nation, because he is thy son; I
will bless him because he is thine, and kings shall come of him! So the Lord
seems to have fulfilled, more or less, from those early days until the present,
the promises that He made to the children of Abraham, that were not
particularly designed to hold the keys of the Priesthood.” (Journal of
Discourses 3:40)
Islam acts in many respects like a priesthood.
It’s worship includes only men. When male Muslims go to Mecca on a pilgrimage,
they done white clothing, and they draw a portion of their white clothing over
their left shoulder. When Mormon men go to the Temple, which is open to both
men and women, they wear the white robes of the Priesthood, and draw a portion
of it over their right shoulders. Women in Islam are expected to cover their
hair and wear a veil over their faces. Mormon women are expected, while in the
Temple, to cover their hair and wear a veil over their faces while they pray.
Outside of the Temple, this is not asked nor required nor expected.
Islam is not a priesthood. It has no priesthood
ordinances. But it is a brotherhood. It seems to have begun as a Hamitic
Brotherhood of both white-skinned Hamites (Bedouins, Berbers) and black-skinned
Hamites (Negroes). Islam is Arabic, and means “Submission” to the Will
of God. A Muslim (“moos-lim”) means “One who submits” to the Will of
God.
The Holy Book
of Islam is the Qu’ran (“koor-rhon”), which means “Recite”. The Angel Gabriel
appeared to Muhammad, a Bedouin, a descendants of Abraham and Hagar through Ishmael,
and told him to “Recite” (as in poems) the revelations that God would give to him.
The Qu’ran promised the truly faithful “Gardens of
Eden” to dwell in for eternity:
The Qur’an said that those who believed that Joseph
(the son of Israel and Viceroy of Egypt) was the last Messenger of God were
mislead; because God sent further Messengers such as Moses, Jesus, and
Muhammed.
Muhammad was the last Apostle for his time; not
the last for all time. Malachi was the seal of the Prophets under
the dispensation of Moses. John the Revelator was the seal of the
Prophets under the dispensation of Jesus. There is always a last (seal) prophet
in every dispensation. Men cannot break that seal, but God can,
and always has.
Latter-day Saints are taught that all religions have
truth in them, except the Sons of Perdition (worshippers of Lucifer). The
Prophet Joseph Smith said:
“The first and fundamental principle of our holy
religion is, that we believe that we have a right to embrace all, and every
item of truth, without limitation or without being circumscribed or prohibited
by the creeds or superstitious notions of men.” (Times and Seasons, Feb.
1840, p.54)
For thousands of years uninspired mortal men have
written creeds, and in these creeds they’ve said ‘You must believe this’ to go
to Heaven or ‘You must not believe that’ or you will burn in Hell forever. For
example, for over 400 years the Roman Catholic Church taught that all men not
born into or converted to the Roman Catholic faith would literally burn in Hell
forever; with their screams of torture ascending as smoke up to God for all
eternity. However, this was changed. Now, the official teachings of the
Roman Catholic Church is that God will send all men to Heaven (after Purgatory)
if they strive in sincerity to worship Him; whether they are Muslims,
Protestants, Catholics, or even Pagans.
Does this mean all those non-Catholics will get out of
Hell now?
Evangelical Christians teach that all men and women
who are not Evangelical Christians will burn in Hell forever; that God
will burn them with fire, and they will scream and cry and beg God for billions
and billions of trillions of years for mercy, but He will do nothing. They will
be tortured for all eternity.
Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that all man and women who
are not active publishing Jehovah’s Witnesses (doing at least 8 hours of
missionary work each week) will be destroyed by God; utterly annihilated both
in body and in soul.
Seventh-day Adventists teach that all who are not
Seventh-day Adventists will receive the ‘mark of the beast’ (they interpret to
mean a person who worships on Sunday instead of Saturday), and will be
annihilated for eternity; both in body and soul.
Many Buddhist sects teach that if you are not a member
of their particular sect, you will burn in Hell forever; being tortured by evil
demons. The same teachings can be found among many Hindu sects. Muslims
believes that if one is not a Muslim one burns in Hell forever. Some Muslims
sects teach that if you are not a member of their particular sect, you
will burn in Hell forever; even if you are a Muslim. The same is true for
Sikhs. If you aren’t a Sikh you won’t be saved or liberated from repeated
births and deaths.
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that all of
this came not from God, but from the simple minds of fallible men.
He called them the “superstitious notions of men”. Mormons believe that all
men and women will eventually resurrected and go to Heaven, but they shall be judged
by their works. If they are evil, then they will have to spend time in Hell.
But this is God’s way of purifying the unregenerate soul. The more good a
person does in this world, the greater his or her reward in the next.
The Qur’an tells Muslims that they must submit to the
Will of God, and if they do they will be rewarded with Paradise. In Mormon
theology, Paradise and Hell exist in the Spirit-World; which is a non-material
existence between death and the Resurrection of the Dead. All of us go to
either Paradise or Hell at death. But we are taken out of Paradise or Hell at
the Day of Judgment; to be judged according to our works, and be rewarded with
either becoming an Immortal or a Ministering Angel.
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared:
“One of the grand fundamental principles of
‘Mormonism’ is to receive truth, let it come from whence it may.” (The
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.313)
President Brigham Young declared:
“Mormonism includes all truth. There is no truth but
what belongs to the Gospel.” (Journal of Discourses 11:375)
President John Taylor (3rd President of the
Church) declared:
“If there is any truth in heaven, earth, or hell, I
want to embrace it. I care not what shape it comes in to me, who brings it, or
who believes in it, whether it is popular or unpopular. Truth, eternal truth, I
wish to float in and enjoy.” (Journal of Discourses 1:155)
President Joseph F. Smith (6th President of
the Church) declared:
“We believe in all truth, no matter to what subject it
may refer. No sect or religious denomination in the world possesses a single
principle of truth that we do not accept or that we will reject. We are willing
to receive all truth, from whatever source it may come; for truth will stand,
truth will endure.” (Gospel Doctrine, p.1)
Mormon Seventy Milton R. Hunter wrote the following in
1945:
“All that is good in the entire world, or that has
been or that will be, comes from one divine source-the Godhead. These heavenly
beings constitute the Eternal Fountain of Law and Truth.All the great
religious teachers of the world, such as Buddha, Confucious, Mohammad,
Zoroaster and Lao-Tze, were-in they taught virtue and truth, received the same
from the divine fountain of truth.” (The Gospel Through the Ages, p.46)
On February 15th, 1978, the First
Presidency of the LDS Church issued the following statement:
“The great religious leaders of the world such as
Muhammad, Confucius, and the Reformers, as well as philosophers, including
Socrates, Plato, and others, received a portion of God’s light. Moral truths
were given to them by God to enlighten whole nations and to bring a higher
level of understanding to individuals.” (The Expanding Church,
p.i)
There is a doctrine in the Church of the Three
Kingdoms of God; the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial Kingdoms.
Celestial is
a Latin word meaning Heavenly. The Celestial Kingdom is simply the Kingdom of
Heaven. Within the Kingdom of Heaven are three degrees of glory: called the
celestial, terrestrial, and telestial degrees. The highest of the degrees of
glory is the celestial, or heavenly degree of glory. Those who are rewarded
this degree of glory are the Elect. They become the Manifest Sons of God. They
inherit the title of “god”, and receive thrones, dominions, principalities,
and powers. They become Immortals.
The lesser degrees are for those who are not
the Elect, and they become Ministering Angels for all eternity; like eternal
monks or nuns. They become cherubs and seraphs. The Celestial Kingdom is
Heaven.
Terrestrial
is from the Latin, and means Earthly. The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints is the Kingdom of God on earth. It is the Terrestrial
Kingdom of God; not to be confused with the terrestrial glory in the Celestial
Kingdom.
The Terrestrial Kingdom is the Church. The
purpose of the Church is to prepare souls for the Celestial Kingdom and the
highest, or celestial, glory therein.
Telestialstars. To the Greeks,
the great lights in the sky were the Sun and Moon. The stars were telos:
lesser lights. The religions of the world are the lesser lights. They
contain lesser revelation. They contain lesser ordinances. They contain lesser
amounts of truth and light. Therefore, they are the Telestial Kingdom of
God.
The Telestial Kingdom is the World. The purpose
of the Telestial Kingdom is to supply light and truth to those who are
not heirs of Celestial Glory in Heaven. Not all men or women are the Elect of
God. For the non-elect, God has made arrangements, and sent to the earth
prophets and sages to give them all the light and truth they can abide by.
The 3 Kingdoms are as follows:
1) Celestial Kingdom=Heaven
2) Terrestrial Kingdom LDS Church
3) Telestial Kingdom=World (all other churches,
religions, and philosophies which have varying amounts of truth and light from
God).
There is also a “kingdom of no glory” for those who
worship or follow Lucifer. The men and woman who follow him are called “Sons of
Perdition”, and their fate is to be thrown forever into Outer Darkness; also
known as the Bottomless Pit or the Abyss. The Sons of Perdition will be given
their wish, and will join their master and his angels for all eternity.
The 3 Degrees of Glory in Heaven (Celestial Kingdom)
are as follows:
1) Celestial Glory=Paradise and then
Immortality and Godhood. 100 fold Salvation. Eternal Salvation. Exaltation and
Eternal Life. The Elect of God.
2) Terrestrial Glory=Paradise and then
Ministering Angelhood. 60 fold Salvation. Redemption. Personal Salvation. The
Honorable Men and Women of the World.
3) Telestial Glory=Hell and then Ministering
Angelhood.
30 fold Salvation. Resurrection. Universal Salvation.
The Wicked and Unjust and Unrighteous.
God, our Heavenly Father, has thus provided for all
men and women who come to this planet varying degrees of light and truth;
because the souls of men are not equal in their ability to accept light and
truth. Some can accept all of it, while others can accept only portions of it.
The purpose of Islam, of Sihkism, of Vaishnavism, of
Confucianism, of Buddhism, of Shintoism, of Jainism, of Taoism, etcetera, is to supply the
non-elect with those portions of Truth they can handle and accept and live
by. But the greatest portion of God’s Truth is contained in the
Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is for the Elect of God; those who shall
become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
Even though God cursed the Hamites (white or black)
with a denial of his Holy Priesthood, He did not leave them without recourse,
but sent them Islam, through a Prophet who was a descendant of Ishmael, the son
of Abraham and Hagar the Egyptian; so that they could not perish in unbelief,
but become the heirs of Paradise.
But since June 8th, 1978, Hamites can now
hold the Holy Priesthood of God, and enjoy the exact same benefits of this
Priesthood as all the other descendants of Adam and Eve, and thus become the
heirs of the celestial glory in the Celestial Kingdom of God.
Please feel free to e-mail Darrick Evenson
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