View source for Gospel Topics: "During the first two decades of the Church’s existence, a few black men were ordained to the priesthood"

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==''Gospel Topics'': "During the first two decades of the Church’s existence, a few black men were ordained to the priesthood"==
"Race and the Priesthood," ''Gospel Topics'' on LDS.org (2013):
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During the first two decades of the Church’s existence, a few black men were ordained to the priesthood. One of these men, Elijah Abel, also participated in temple ceremonies in Kirtland, Ohio, and was later baptized as proxy for deceased relatives in Nauvoo, Illinois. There is no evidence that any black men were denied the priesthood during Joseph Smith’s lifetime.

In 1852, President Brigham Young publicly announced that men of black African descent could no longer be ordained to the priesthood, though thereafter blacks continued to join the Church through baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. Following the death of Brigham Young, subsequent Church presidents restricted blacks from receiving the temple endowment or being married in the temple. Over time, Church leaders and members advanced many theories to explain the priesthood and temple restrictions. None of these explanations is accepted today as the official doctrine of the Church.<ref>[http://www.lds.org/topics/race-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng "Race and the Priesthood,"] ''Gospel Topics'' on LDS.org (2013)</ref>
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[[Category:An Insider's View of Mormon Origins]]
[[Category:Letter to a CES Director]]
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[[es:Fuente:Temas del Evangelio:La raza y el sacerdocio:Durante las dos primeras décadas de existencia de la Iglesia se ordenó al sacerdocio a algunos hombres de raza negra]]
[[pt:Fonte:Tópicos do Evangelho:As Etnias e o Sacerdócio:Durante as primeiras duas décadas de existência da Igreja, alguns homens negros foram ordenados ao sacerdócio]]