The Proclamation of the First Presidency on Church Doctrine
Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 3:57 am
We, the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, declare to all the World
the following proclamation:
WE WERE WRONG to teach for 130 year that "Negroes" were the cursed and inferior children of Cain,
and that Cain was a white man until he killed Abel.
WE WERE WRONG to ban all Negroes, and anyone with one drop of Negro blood, from our temples
and priesthood.
WE WERE WRONG to teach that Adam and Eve were the first human beings on Earth, two white people, and that there was no death on this planet before the Fall of Adam.
WE WERE WRONG to teach that the Flood of Noah was universal, baptizing the Earth, and that all races, plants, and animals descended from those saved on the Ark.
WE WERE WRONG to teach that the Living Oracles were more important than Scripture.
WE WERE WRONG to teach that man would not land on the Moon.
WE WERE WRONG to teach that The Book of Mormon, which has been changed and corrected numerous times, was the most correct book on the face of the entire earth.
WE WERE WRONG to teach that the American Indians were Lamanites, when in fact they have no Semitic ancestry whatsoever.
WE WERE WRONG to teach that blacks had to serve whites as servants on Earth and in Heaven until the Curse of Canaan was removed, since blacks are not Canaanites and never were.
WE WERE WRONG to teach that only polygamists become gods in heaven.
WE WERE WRONG to teach that the Sun and Moon were inhabited.
WE WERE WRONG to teach that all other Christians were "abominations" before God.
WE WERE WRONG to teach that salvation is by our own efforts rather than by the grace of the Holy Messiah as the Book of Mormon teaches.
WE WERE WRONG to teach that God the Father came down and had sex with Mary to produce the body of Jesus.
WE WERE WRONG to teach that material earthly blessings are rewards for being active in the Church instead of teaching the Gospel alone that we are to build treasures in heaven.
WE WERE WRONG to excommunicate anyone who spoke about Adam-God, and we should have simply admitted Brigham Young taught it, that he was wrong, and moved on in honesty and openness.
WE WHERE WRONG to change and re-write Mormon history in order to try to control rank-and-file Members.
WE WERE WRONG to teach that the Brethren have the Spirit of Discernment, and that nobody could fool or deceive them, when in fact many have deceived and fooled us over the years.
WE WERE WRONG to deny and try to cover-up the Curse of Cain legacy instead of just apologizing for it and moving on.
WE WHERE WRONG to let rank-and-file Members believe we are infallible, when in fact we never were.\
WE WHERE WRONG to put Joseph Smith upon a pedestal and to present him as the most holy man save Jesus Christ, when in fact he was a very sinful man who lied often and sinned horribly.
WE WERE WRONG to call Brigham Young a Prophet and the true successor of Joseph Smith, when in fact he denied being a Prophet and denied being the true successor of Joseph Smith.
WE WERE WRONG in hiding the true history of the Church from rank-and-file Members as a way to better control them.
WE WERE WRONG!
We hope that the Saints and the World will accept our apology.
Sincerely,
The First Presidency
