Excerpts from Birthright Blessings: Genealogical Training Class Sunday School Lessons (1942)

Note that these excerpts below exclude any racist ideas that existed in the LDS Church in the past  prior to 1978. I discuss this in my post: Disclaimer Regarding The Utah Genealogical Society & "Mormon Israelism". My intention in posting these excerpts below is thus not to meant to promote every idea in this book, but to show the past history of Mormonism and how they used to speak very positively of the Indo-Europeans. I think one can find value in some of this Pro-European content while rejecting anything that is problematic. My excerpts below exclude any false  ideas on race that even the LDS Church rejects nowadays. 

I present this as interesting LDS history. I think it shows how Mormonism acted as a quasi-ethnic identity, a tribe or a People, among the first Mormon converts: who were mostly of European descent, which I discuss here. 

These excerpts help us understand how early Mormons formed a tight nit tribal identity based on the belief that they were "American Israelites": which led to their growth and flourishing because in the first hundred years they were mostly all European (composed of those of British, German and Scandinavian descent). Since then, the LDS Church has expanded to a more global church with a more multiracial membership. The current LDS teachings, that reject any form of racism, reflect this change to a more global church. 

The following are excerpts from Birthright Blessings: Genealogical Training Class Sunday School Lessons (1942):

Lesson 1 

... We were among these choice and worthy spirits, selected to come to earth at this crucial time in the world's history to perform a special mission. Our heritage is the best in all the world; we come through a glorious lineage of noble men and women of highest character; and blessed are we because of our lineage. 

Life has come down to us through generations of patriarchs and prophets of ancient Israel; through valiant spirits during the dark ages who adhered at the cost of life to the principles they believed; through dauntless souls ever in the forefront of discovery, exploration and colonization; through kings and rulers, powerful warriors and nobles and law-givers; and through numerous folk of lesser worldly rank—honest God-fearing men and women, each of whom rendered his measure of service and sacrifice in his own day and generation. We never need to apologize for our earthly fathers and mothers, for we came to earth through an honorable parentage.

... "Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the Priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers.—For ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God.—Therefore your life and the Priesthood have remained, and must needs remain through you and your lineage until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began. Therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, a light unto the Gentiles, and through this priesthood, a savior unto my people Israel. The Lord hath said it. Amen." (Doc. & Coc. 86:8-11.) 

Children of the Covenant. The Lord in modern revelation has told us that we are "the children of Israel, and of the seed of Abraham."— (Doc. & Cov. 103:17.) Spirits were assigned to be born into the chosen family of Israel because of their faithfulness in the pre-existent life that on earth they might be a nation of ministers to keep alive in all the world a knowledge of God and the Gospel. ...

... Said Elder Orson F. Whitney, on this subject of our lineage and mission:

"You are among the chosen spirits that constitute the house of Israel. You are of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and consequently heirs to all the promises made to your great progenitors. You are of Ephraim, most of you—Eph-raim, 'the first born,' the first branch of the Israelitish race to bear the fruits of faith and obedience in modern days. Your lineage is noble— ..."

Lesson 2:

It is of great importance for every Latter-day Saint to know his true lineage, and what blessings come to him by virtue of his birthright. ...

... Abraham's Posterity to Bear the Priesthood. But to Abraham, preeminently faithful and obedient all his days, the Lord made a sacred covenant and promise that through him and his seed after him (that is to say the literal seed, or the seed of the body) this right of bearing the Priesthood should continue, and by its authority they should carry the blessings of the Gospel unto all nations. (Abr. 2:9-11.) 

Who are the children of Abraham, in the world today, who hold the birthright to the Priesthood? In Lesson 1 was quoted the word of the Lord to the members of His Church: "For ye are the children of Israel, and of the seed of Abraham." (Doc. & Cov. 103:17.)

... By Right of Lineage. Long ago the great prophet Isaiah, looking forward to our day, exclaimed in the fervor of prophecy: "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion!" (Isa. 52:1.) 

In March, 1838, Elias Higbee asked what Isaiah meant in this passage, and what people he had reference to. By revelation the answer came through the Prophet: 

"He had reference to those whom God should call in the last days, who should hold the power of Priesthood to bring again Zion and the redemption of Israel; and to put on her strength is to put on the authority of the Priesthood, which she (Zion) has a right to by lineage." (Doc. & Gov. 113:7-8.)

Lesson 3:

Patriarchs. "An Evangelist is a Patriarch, even the oldest man of the blood of Joseph or of the seed of Abraham. Wherever the Church of Christ is established in the earth, there should be a Patriarch for the benefit of the posterity of the Saints, as it was with Jacob in giving his patriarchal blessing unto his sons." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 151.) 

... Declaration of Lineage. The patriarch is also authorized to declare the lineage of the person being blessed, naming the tribe of Israel from which he derives. An examination of blessings shows that the great majority of those Church members blessed have been declared to be of the house and lineage of Ephraim.

Examples of Patriarchal Blessings. 

Here are a few typical excerpts from the blessings given by the first patriarch, Joseph Smith, Sr.: 

'God has had his eye on thee from all eternity. Thou hast a claim on the Priesthood and its powers. Thou art of the house and lineage of Joseph, the son of Jacob; thy descent is through the loins of Ephraim."

God has designed thee for a mighty man in this generation. * * * Thy posterity shall be blessed. Yea, thy children shall be received into the covenant from generation to generation. Thou art a descendant of Abraham; thou and thy children shall be blessed with the blessing of the Patriarch Joseph, the son of Jacob." ... Thou art of the pure blood of Joseph, through the loins and lineage of Ephraim. ... Thou shalt have posterity and thy seed shall be very numerous; they shall all be mighty men in the earth: they shall be kings and priests unto God and the Lamb, and they shall have an inheritance in Zion. ...

Patriarchal Blessings Are Sacred. ... Your blessing is in reality a revelation of the Lord to you, personally, ...

Lesson 6:

By the overruling power of God a mighty modern miracle has been performed. A new nation of Israel is being formed in this new land from select members of various races and peoples, in such a remarkable way that virtually every family among us has ancestral roots reaching into the various countries of Europe. 

A few examples of this may be cited. Take for instance, the pedigree of W . Henry Chace. His father, born in the South, comes from the well-known and numerous New England family of Chase, which came early in the seventeenth century from England. His mother is of mixed Spanish and Irish descent. His father's mother was a Zewadski, scion of the Polish nobility. 

Practically every Mormon congregation is made up of persons descended from nearly all northern 

European nationalities. ...

Colonists from Various Countries of Europe. During the process of the colonization of North America each European country sent its nationals here. Some came as outcasts, fleeing religious persecution at home and seeking here in America freedom to worship. Others were political refugees. Still others were alert and vigorous seekers of new opportunities and high adventure. Many typical Mormon pedigrees have one branch tracing down to the South, another to New England; one line links up with the Dutch and German and Swiss founders of New York and Pennsylvania; another with the hardy Norse of Scandinavia; and still another with the cavaliers of Virginia or the Puritans of Boston through their offshoots in Maine or New Hampshire or Vermont. The tide of population rolled westward, mingling together into one common bloodstream these diverse elements, forming a new and more virile race, possessing the noblest qualities of the parent peoples. 

Nor was the resulting admixture composed of European elements only. Literally thousands of Latter-day Saint families have one or more lines tracing back to Indian progenitors. One searcher, President A. Merlin Steed of the San Fernando Stake presidency, always had an intense interest in the Indians, but never suspected he himself was of that lineage until he began tracing his ancestors, when he discovered that he had not just one but many lines linking him up with Chief Massasoit and the New England tribes which met arid welcomed the Pilgrims. ...

... Each of us has sprung from the whole mass: they were all the veritable ancestors of every one of us; we are each vitally related to them all, each directly descended from them all. * * * We are of them, and their blood circulates in our veins." ...

The Design of God. This is not solely the result of chance. Through it can be seen the working out of the design of God. "And it shall come to pass that the righteous shall be gathered out from among all nations, and shall come to Zion." (Doc. & Cov. 45:71.) 

Who are these children of many peoples gathered into the fold of the Church? 

Of the House of Israel. An interesting answer is given by President Brigham Young. 

"It is the House of Israel we are after, and we care not whether they come from the east, the west, the north, or the south; from China, Russia, England, California, North or South America, or some other locality; and it is the very lad on whom Father Jacob laid his hands that will save the House of Israel. The Book of Mormon came to Ephraim, for Joseph Smith was a pure Ephraimite."

"Israel is dispersed among all the nations of the earth; the blood of Ephraim is mixed with the blood of all the earth. Abraham's seed is mingled with the rebellious seed through the whole world of mankind."

"We are now gathering the children of Abraham who have come through the loins of Joseph and his sons, more especially through Ephraim, whose children are mixed among all the nations of the earth."

"Ephraim has become mixed with all the nations of the earth, and it is Ephraim that is gathering together. It is Ephraim that I have been searching for all the days of my preaching, and that is the blood which ran in my veins when I embraced the Gospel." (Journal of Discourses, pp. 493, 669, 670.) 

Primary Purpose of this Modern Gathering. Such a world-wide movement must have a worldwide purpose. Someone once presented to the Prophet as he came to the stand this question: "What was the object of gathering the Jews, or the people of God in any age of the world?" His reply was direct and clear. 

"The main object was to build unto the Lord a house whereby He could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His house and the glories of His kingdom, and teach the people the way of salvation; for there are certain ordinances and principles that, when they are taught and practiced, must be done in a place or house built for that purpose. * * * It is for the same purpose that God gathers together His children in the last day, to build unto the Lord a house to prepare them for the ordinances and endowments, washings, and anointings, etc." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 308:)

Odin & The Hardy Vikings: A Few Pages of a Mormon Booklet

In the booklet titled Children of the Covenant (the front cover shown below), in the very first three pages it show images of the Viking god Odin and then references my ancestors the Viking Norseman of Scandinavia. You then read in the booklet that it's basically arguing that a large portion of the first Mormons were Germans, British, and Scandinavians. It doesn't argue that Odin was a literal God but was a god-concept based on a real historical person of Scandinavian descent. So it is basically venerating and honoring my Scandinavian (Viking) ancestry and how it contributed to the growth of the Mormon People. Here are some photos I took of the cover of the booklet and the first few pages:

Click images to enlarge

I am not aware of any other Christian sect that has spoken this positively of my Scandinavian ancestors. I mean just compare these images that are a clear form of what's often called Muscular Christianity with the Evangelical Christian YouTuber named Ruslan admitting that most churches have feminizing idea that masculine men find off putting. See: "Has the Church Become TOO Feminized? (that Premiered Aug 26, 2022). I quote excerpts from Ruslan's video and discuss it more detail here. In brief, Ruslan admits their is a problem with the feminization of men in many Christian churches. From this perspective, I see early Mormonism as a theo-philosophy seeking to re-masculinize Christian men.

Note: I do not believe in, support, or endorse, every teaching in this booklet mentioned above as the booklet unfortunately includes some of the now outdated interpretations regarding the Lamanites' "skin" which the LDS Church today disavows: see the LDS Church's 2013 essay Race and the Priesthood available online. Also see my post: Disclaimer Regarding The Utah Genealogical Society & "Mormon Israelism". Despite my rejection of some of the content in this booklet, my opinion is that just because the booklet got some things wrong does not mean that it got nothing right or that everything else in the booklet is wrong. What I think the booklet gets right is that those of British, German, and Scandinavian descent, should be proud of their Proto-Indo-European ethnolinguistic culture and ancestry; and no this does not mean feeling racially superior based on the silly idea that one's skin color makes someone better or purer. I am not advocating any so-called skin color as superior or purer to any other which is racist and wrong. Again, see my Disclaimer Regarding The Utah Genealogical Society & "Mormon Israelism".

Having said that, let's return to the pro-European imagery in this booklet and the photos I provided above. Note that the images above of "The Hardy Vikings" shows them with what looks like horned helmets (or winged helmets) from the booklet, which is actually historically inaccurate: as it is based on a common tradition among artist of the 1800s depicting Vikings in such a way. Note that this "horned helmet" idea is an nonhistorical artistic tradition that was carried over into Mormon art: for example in the painting Mormon Bids Farewell to a Once Great Nation by Arnold Friberg below:

(Source)

Here is the image from the booklet again below to compare to Friberg's use of a Viking horned helmet (click on image to enlarge):

Given this early tradition of revering the Vikings, it is not surprising that the group The Joseph Smith Foundation is presenting the speculative view that the Nephites escaped extinction at the end of The Book of Mormon and sailed to Scandinavia to mix their Israelite Nephite genes with the genes of the Vikings (or Scandinavians). See their documentary Nephites in Europe. Also see their YouTube video You Were Likely a Nephite. I discuss their documentary here.

Scandinavians like myself, who received an LDS patriarchal blessing are most often said to be of the Tribe of Ephraim, one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. Yet my DNA does not show any Israelite lineage. I am 100% European, mostly Scandinavian with a mix of British and German DNA. But it does not matter to me if it is not scientifically (i.e. genetically) true or not, for all religion to me is a form of poetry or parable and midrash as a form of "tribal identity formation" and a binding Ethos. As I see it, the Apostle Paul saw Germanic Scandinavians like me as absent from the story of Israel. For, as we see recorded in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) the ethnic Tribe of the Israelites and the Israelite deity had nothing to do with my people over in the Northern countries. The apostle Paul believed that all peoples (ethnicities or nations) would be grafted into Israel at the End of Days, so his whole theology is about grafting into Israel those like me through supernatural Gene Swapping. 

Joseph Smith, on the other hand, who is of British and Irish descent (a fellow European like me), presents a different version of Christianity than Pauline Christianity through his Irish American eyes: wherein, through his scriptural revelations, Joseph Smith basically presents himself as being of the Israelite Tribe of Joseph, and thus he made it so he was not "inferior" to other Israelites as an Irish American. Thus, Joseph Smith was no longer in need of gene swapping out his European genes and being grafted in genetically into Israel. Instead, through an appeal to revelation and scripture formation, Joseph Smith declared that he was already from one of the Israelite Tribes and already a member of the "Chosen People." This is a core idea in "Restored Christianity" (or Mormonism).

Joseph Smith explained that only those who are not of the blood of the Lost Tribes of Israel and thus are more fully Gentile, would be in need of gene swapping, that is being grafted into the Israelite ethnic tribe by spiritual adoption through literal gene replacement therapy (the actual turning their blood and ethnic code from a Gentile into an Israelite by blood). In my post on Paul's idea of gene swapping, I explain how Joseph Smith understood what Paul actually meant in the New Testament, and so Smith also describes the transformation of a Gentile into an Israelite "in Christ," as a literal purging out of their Gentile lineage through the Holy Ghost. This was the case with most Christians not born Jewish or Israelite. But Joseph Smith elevated Mormons to a higher status by making it so anyone not born Jewish who converted to Mormonism were deemed one of the Lost Tribes of Israel and thus were Israelites even if they didn't know it. Since most of those who converted to Mormonism were given patriarchal blessings that said they were of the Tribe of Ephraim or Manasseh, they did not need to undergo this purging out of their "old Gentile blood" but were seen as already sufficiently Israelite by blood as LDS members. For their Mormon conversion automatically revealed that they were all along one of the Lost Tribes of Israel (usually from the Tribes of Ephraim or Manasseh).  

So in Mormon-Christianity, Joseph Smith began the doctrine that most who are baptized Mormon are one of the Lost Tribes of Israel (regardless of what their DNA actually says scientifically).  As I see it, this is a form of midrashic religion-making, designed by Smith to restore a sense of self-esteem to Americans of Indo-European descent. For in LDS Christianity, they were not to see themselves as inferior or second class citizens to the Tribes of Judah (and others) in Jerusalem, by needing to be grafted in and their genes swapped out and replaced; but instead, in Mormonism they already had a mix of Israelite DNA as Europeans in America. 

As the Prophet of the Restoration, Joseph Smith was establishing a new role and identity for European Americans by placing them as a central focal point in God's dealings in the world.  Instead of only the Tribe of Judah (and others) being considered the "Chosen People" (as found in the Bible), Joseph Smith had expanded that elevated identity as God's chosen, to include European Americans and Native Americans and anyone else declared a member of the Lost Tribes of Israel in their patriarchal blessing; and instead of Jerusalem being seen as the central focal point of God's central locale and a place of holy sites, Joseph Smith had presented North America as a place with equally important holy sites, with for example Adam-ondi-Ahman and the Temple Lot (both in Missouri). So rather the Bible deity focused only on a specific place (Jerusalem and surrounding areas) and a specific ethnicity (Jews like those of the Tribe Judah), and Jesus going only to his fellow Jews while alive. In Joseph Smith's revelations, after his resurrection Jesus visits North America and people on the American continent become Jesus' disciples, and thus Christ becomes essentially an American God as much as a Middle Eastern God. So that Native Americans and Europeans in North America were to be part of God's chosen people as well as those in Jerusalem. As the 10th Article of Faith declares as a central doctrine of Mormonism: "We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; ..." (emphasis added). In other words, what some see as nonhistorical legends about the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel, Joseph Smith had elevated to "scripture truth" through his revelations. So that a core idea in Mormonism is that 19th century European American Mormons were included in the biblical drama as noble and powerful members of the Chosen People who will gather all the Israelite Lost Tribes in North America. 

Disclaimer Regarding The Utah Genealogical Society & "Mormon Israelism"

 

In my blog series on the Pro-European Americanism in Mormonism, I want to begin with a disclaimer: my intention in referencing and quoting from books and documents from The Utah Genealogical Society is to point out the former pride and respect given to those of British, German, and Scandinavian ancestry in Mormonism. However, I want to be clear that being proud of your ancestry is different from being racist or ethnocentric. Unfortunately, these books by The Utah Genealogical Society in the 1920s to 1940s, often endorse the extremely racist teachings of Joseph Fielding Smith in his book The Way of Perfection. I reject these racist ideas and so recommend caution when reading these books, for even the Brighamite LDS Church has rejected these teachings by Joseph Fielding Smith.

I recommend one watch Stirling Adams' 2019 video presentation: "Mormon Israelism and the Utah Genealogical Society" on YouTube. After watching this video presentation by Stirling Adams, I could definitely see the problems with Mormon Israelism when it is combined with early LDS doctrine of racial superiority and false ideas concerning darker skin as a curse from God. However, if we remove these racist teachings on skin color and elite spirits from the pre-existence and in particular the teachings of Joseph Fielding Smith which  went on to influence others like Bruce R. McConkie's Mormon Doctrine, and stick only with the ideas in Mormon Scripture about LDS members as Ephraimites, I find that the books by the Utah Genealogical Society are not problematic at all. At least not any more than anyone of Jewish ethnicity seeking to prop their tribal identity as the Chosen People. In other words, remove the racist teachings on dark skin pigmentation by Joseph Fielding Smith (which the LDS Church now rejects), and I don't see why the emphasis on respecting one's Scandinavian ancestry is problematic if one is a Scandinavian Mormon. The problem only arises when that feeling of respect and reverence for one's ancestry is elevated to the degree of actual "white supremacy," which of course I do not support. I personally believe in Martin Luther King Jr's vision of a color blind society where someone is judged based on the content of their character and not the color of their skin. So if we remove this stupid idea of white skin is better than black skin which is silly and ridiculous, and just stick to the idea of the growth and accomplishments of an ethnic culture like the Scandinavians, then I don't see any reason why these books by Utah Genealogical Society can't be seen as an appreciation of Scandinavian culture by the early Mormon Church. 

I also agree with Stirling Adams' video presentation when he condemns eugenics and I agree with his criticism of bad arguments for Mormon Israelism or Israelite LDS Europeans. I personally see the idea of Mormons as Ephraimites as midrashic religion-making and not historical or genetic fact, just like the Apostle Paul used midrashic religion-making, I see Joseph Smith using his creativity in scripture-making to bolster the identity of his American converts by declaring them a mixed race as Europeans and Israelites, or Native Americans and Israelites. As I discussed in my blog post here, I see it as a theological reaction to the "gene swapping" idea in the apostle Paul's writings: with Joseph Smith seeking to bolster the self-esteem of those on the American continent by utilizing the legend of the Lost Tribes of Israel, in order to give those on the American continent a scriptural Israelite identity. In this way, Smith was elevating the Europeans sense of worth and self-esteem by giving them a larger role and purpose in the Bible. I think you can appreciate Joseph Smith's creative midrashic religion-making on its own terms as more mythos than factual when it comes to "European Israelites," while rejecting the racist ideas taught by Joseph Fielding Smith. 

 I want to also note that the narrator of this video Stirling Adams, is at times less than gracious in his treatment of these early Mormons. I can't help but be of the opinion that he is it seems to me an extremely far-Leftist politically. I tried to look him up but didn't find much. If he is, as I suspect, more politically Leftist in his ideology, this will affect his assessments in a biased way. I am politically moderate or in the middle myself, and I can tell when someone is politically far-Left or far-Right, and how that bias often influences their rhetoric. A good sign Stirling Adams may be ideologically possessed by the far-Leftism is at the 17 minute mark in the video presentation when he speaks with a condemning tone when referring to "pasty white Europeans." Such a derogatory description of Europeans like me and my ancestors is unnecessary and some might find such rhetoric offensive. This, to me reveals at least a tinge of prejudicial sentiment against those labeled "white," or at least a disdain for those of European descent. 

I agree with Stirling Adams on many things he brings up in the video, but why is he so disdainful of "White" Europeans, and why classify them as "White" in the first place? Why the racial profiling? Why not just say Scandinavians, or German, why lump everyone together as "White" with his tone condemning those he calls "White." This seems problematic to me. Why is it OK to speak in derogatory tone of "pasty white Europeans" and in the video and why is it OK for him to mock the god Thor and Odin of the Scandinavians the way he does. That to me is his own bias and prejudice against European history and culture. It is as if he wants Europeans to have no pride in their culture or ancestry or ancient Norse religion, and he is biased to the point of only speaking condemningly of "White" people, probably because far-Leftist ideology has indoctrinated him into only thinking of so-called "Whiteness" as "bad."

So to be clear, I agree with Stirling Adams in his criticism of any racism in these early Mormon booklets but I disagree with his negative attitude toward Europeans seeking to find a sense of pride in their ancestry. If I read a book by Africans that take pride in their African ancestry without saying anything racist, I have no problem with that African booklet. So I see no problems with these booklets if you simply separate the racist ideas from there reverence for European ancestry. A sophisticated thinking person will be able to "sift the wheat from the tares." So to clarify even further, if I could take a pair of scissors to these booklets I would in fact cut out all the stupid racist ideas, but the respect and reverence these book pay to my Scandinavian ancestors I would keep and maintain.

In conclusion, I actually agree with Stirling Adams that he is correct that there was no reason for LDS Leaders to diminish another race and particularly those of Black African ethnicity (by LDS Leaders like Joseph Fielding Smith) in order for European Mormons to bolster their own ethnic identity. I agree with Nietzsche on this issue as Nietzsche rejected for example the form of racism of anti-Semitism because he saw it as a form of weakness. As in, it is weak people who blame their own status in the world on another race. He thought it basically reeked of resentment and insecurity, which he saw as displays of weakness and ignoble traits, which he considered sad and despicable. Nietzsche taught instead that your excellence is merited and is not based on your "skin color" but how you sublimate the instincts toward a will to power. 

How LDS Doctrine Teaches that Mormons Are Literal Descendants of Israel: Excerpts from Brad Wilcox's book "Born to Change the World"

 

Brad Wilcox (First Counselor in the LDS Young Men General Presidency), writes in his book Born to Change the World: Your Part in Gathering Israel, on  pages 36-37:

... Abraham's grandson was Jacob (Israel), and the members of his posterity were called Israelites. Thus, all Israelites were Hebrews and Semites but there were many Hebrews, Semites, and people who descended from Noah's other sons who were not Israelites. They were referred to as Gentiles. When the tribes were scattered, Israelites intermarried with Gentiles until the blood of Israel came to be found throughout the entire Earth. [1] Because of this mixing, many Gentiles today have the blood of Israel and just don't know it. 

.... We [Latter-day Saints] know we are Israelites through revelation, and we have a covenant relationship with Jesus ... 

The vast majority of Latter-day Saints--those born in the church and converts past and present--are literal descendants of Israel.[2] ...

Of course at this point it would be rare to find a pure-blood descendant of any one tribe because of all the mixing that has taken place. Almost everyone today has a combination of many bloodlines. This is why in a 2005 worldwide leadership training meeting for patriarchs, President Dallin H. Oaks taught, "A declaration of lineage is not a scientific pronouncement or an identification of genetic inheritance."[4] Patriarchs identify lineage "by the promptings of the Holy Ghost ... regardless of the race or nationality of the person receiving the blessing."[5] This clarification explains why two people in the same family--even twins--can be declared to be from different tribes.

Footnote [1] reads: 

Along with referring to bloodlines, "Jew" and "Gentile" can also refer to people from different lands. Lehi and Nephi were from Manasseh by blood but referred to themselves as Jews because they had lived in the kingdom of Judah (see 1 Nephi 1:2). Joseph Smith was from Ephraim by blood (see Brigham Young, Jurnal of Discourses [London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot], Vol. 2:269), but he is referred to on the title page of the Book of Mormon as a Gentile because he lived in a nation of Gentiles.

On page 49, Wilcox writes:

For most Christians, the tribes of Israel are a Bible story and nothing more. For Latter-day Saints, they are deeply personal, for we can do what no other Christians on earth can do: declare with confidence the tribes through which we will be blessed and bless others. Our patriarchal blessings assure us that the house of Israel is truly our home. [12]

When being interviewed by Richard N. Holzapfel, Joseph Fielding McConkey said, "The greatest evidence we have that the Book of Mormon is true is the way it picks up the promises of the Old Testament, continues the story, and extends the promise, ... the Abrahamic covenant. If you want the great evidence that Joseph Smith is a prophet, it is not that he restored New Testament Christianity. There were a host of small groups on the frontier seeking to replicate New Testament Christianity. What Joseph Smith restored was the Abrahamic covenant. That is the genius of the whole thing--that is who we are." [13].