The Spiritual Manifestations of Alex Haley | Roots, Ancestral Voices & the Spirit of Elijah (LDS)

Send us Fan MailDid the author of Roots hear his ancestors' voices — and did the Spirit of Elijah guide the most-watched television event in American history? In a 1993 BYU-Idaho devotional called "Family Histories," Elder J. Richard Clark — who oversaw the Church's family history department — shared what Alex Haley personally told him about the spiritual experiences behind the book that changed the world's relationship to genealogy. While researching Kunta Kinte's story aboard a freighter crossing the Atlantic, Haley forced himself into the ship's hold night after night, lying on a plank in the dark, listening to the sounds his ancestor must have heard. On the fourth night, overwhelmed by debt, eleven years of work, and near despair, he stood at the stern rail and heard voices urging him to step through into the sea. Then he heard other voices — conversational, familiar: "No, don't do that. You must finish. You must go on." He knew exactly who they were: Kunta Kinte, Belle, Chicken George, his grandmother — the ancestors he had been writing about. "From that night forward," Haley said, "I never had the misgivings or the tortures... I began to think that perhaps I was some kind of a conduit." When Clark later visited Haley at his Tennessee farm and suggested "an invisible hand" was guiding this work, Haley slammed his fist on his knee and said, "That's right. I felt the guiding hand of the Lord as I wrote my book." Roots became the bestselling book in U.S. publishing history, was translated into 30 languages, and reached an estimated 130 million television viewers. One year after its broadcast, in June 1978, the revelation extending the priesthood to all of God's children was announced. Elder David A. Bednar has taught that the Spirit of Elijah — "a manifestation of the Holy Ghost bearing witness of the divine nature of the family" — affects people inside and outside the Church. Alex Haley's story is one of its most powerful witnesses.Q: Did Alex Haley have spiritual experiences while writing Roots?A: Yes — Alex Haley personally told Elder J. Richard Clark that while aboard a freighter researching Kunta Kinte's story, he heard ancestral voices at a moment of near despair, urging him to finish the book. He described the experience as "almost like a religious experience" and said, "I think that it would be blasphemous for anyone to think he could write a thing like this without the help of the Lord."Q: What is the Spirit of Elijah?A: Elder Russell M. Nelson taught that the Spirit of Elijah is "a manifestation of the Holy Ghost bearing witness of the divine nature of the family." Elder David A. Bednar added that it affects people both inside and outside the Church — and that members have a covenant responsibility to search out their ancestors and provide saving ordinances for them. Alex Haley, who was not a Latter-day Saint, is one of the clearest examples of the Spirit of Elijah working upon someone outside the Church to turn the hearts of millions to their forebears.Q: How did Roots affect family history research worldwide?A: According to an article in the Congressional Quarterly cited by Elder Clark, Alex Haley's Roots "is the primary cause of the worldwide surge in interest in family history." The book sold six million copies, was translated into 30 languages, and the television miniseries reached 130 million viewers — the largest program audience in television history at the time. One year after the broadcast, the 1978 revelation extending the priesthood and temple blessings to all of God's children was announced — a timing Elder Clark called part of a "predetermined course" guided by "an invisible hand."YouTube: The Spiritual Manifestations of Alex Haley Video: https://youtu.be/Vtwz7EH2jNAYouTube Thinning of the Veil Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thinningoftheveilSUPPORT THE SHOW: Website: Thinning of the Veil: https://www.thinningoftheveil.com/Venmo:  https://account.venmo.com/u/thinningoftheveilPayPal: https://paypal.me/thinningoftheveil?country.x=US&locale.x=en_USBook: "Patterns of Revelation":  https://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Revelation-Spiritual-Foundations-Hearing-ebook/dp/B0BWGLZ8VXEmail: [email protected]: https://www.instagram.com/thinning.of.the.veil/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinning.of.the.veil/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thinning.of.the.veilCITATIONS: J. Richard Clarke, "Family Histories", BYUI Devotional, 1993: https://www.byui.edu/speeches/weekly-devotionals/family-historiesSupport the show