The historical case for Joseph Smith having been a monogamist, and my case for why polygamy as a doctrine can and should be renounced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The following is a non-exhaustive list of many aspects related to plural marriage, with additional source references provided for deeper study. These section points are meant to provide a basic foundational understanding of the narrative of Joseph Smith having not been a polygamist, and the case for plural marriage as a whole to be rejected as doctrine. Reading each section in order of which they are listed is recommended for ease of understanding.
Sections 1-10
Sections 11-20
Sections 21-30
Sections 31-40
Sections 41-50
Sections 51-60
Sections 61-70
Sections 71-80
Sections 81-90
Sections 91-104
1 ~ An alternate narrative — 'Who on Earth would think that Joseph Smith didn't practice plural marriage?'
The RLDS Church (The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) was formed in part due to this stance, with their numbers including Emma Smith as well as Joseph and Emma's children. Many of the founding members of the RLDS church testified against Joseph Smith having been a polygamist (technically a polygynist), and an ever-increasing number of LDS members, due to a greater accessibility of information now available, have also adopted this same belief.
2 ~ The failed tests of paternity — 'What possible credibility would there be to even consider such a thing?'
One point of credibility is due to any child attributed to Joseph Smith through a plural wife and subsequently DNA-tested having been verified as false. This is despite the fact that with Emma he fathered nine children, and also despite the fact that polygamy was claimed to have been introduced as a means for righteous men to have a higher number of children.
3 ~ First-hand & published denials ~
Another reason is that every first-hand account Joseph ever made in relation to polygamy was against polygamy. The Latter-day Saint church states that Joseph ‘sometimes made denials’ that he was practicing polygamy, but that such was to protect himself and the other church members. However, the statements that Joseph made which we have first-hand evidence for go far beyond ‘some denials’. They stretch from August 1835 all the way to July 1844, less than one month before he died, and several were statements that he’d had published in church or Nauvoo city periodicals. A timeline list of statements that have been attributed to his denials and denunciations of polygamy is here:
A Timeline of Historical Denials & Denunciations from Joseph Smith
4. 'Since denying it was necessary for him to remain out of jail, does it not make sense that he may have denied it so much and so often?'
The statements linked above, that Joseph Smith either made himself or himself approved for publication, are not only denials of polygamy, but also denunciations of it. Certain key words and phrases from the records illustrate this:
"Perjurers"
"Crime of fornication & polygamy"
"We will have no fellowship with any Elder belonging to the quorum of the Seventies who is guilty of polygamy or
any offense of the kind."
"Lasciviousness"
"Abomination in the sight of God"
"False slander"
"Committing adultery"
"Foul and libelous reports"
"He that looketh upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already in his heart..."
"Adulterers and Fornicators"
"Unvirtuous persons"
"Iniquitous designs"
"Illegal illicit intercourse with females"
"Unchaste and un-virtuous conduct"
"Unlawful intercourse"
"Promiscuous intercourse"
"Blasphemous"
"Fallacy"
"Committing such evils"
"Bring a curse upon any such person who commits such deeds"
"Excommunicated"
"Cut off from the church"
"Iniquity"
"Immoral"
"I will not countenance such wickedness"
"Chagrin & mortification"
"Iniquitous characters"
"Without principle"
"A lie in their mouth"
"Deceive & debauch the innocent"
"May God forbid!"
"No such authority ever has, ever can, or ever will be given to any man & if any man has been guilty of any such
thing let him be treated with utter contempt & let the curse of God fall on his head, & let him be turned out of
Society as unworthy of a place among men, & renounced denounced as the blackest & the most unprincipled
wretch & finally let him be damned."
"Liars & base imposters"
"You are authorized on the very first intimation of the kind to denounce them as such & shun them as the fiery flying
serpents"
A Timeline of Historical Denials & Denunciations from Joseph Smith
5. 'Couldn't that have been empty language that was used to protect himself?'
Joseph Smith went beyond merely speaking out against polygamy. In 1835 he included monogamy in the Doctrine & Covenants as the law of marriage in the church (the original Section 101.) He also excommunicated men in the church for having practiced and taught it (John Bennet, Francis M. Higbee, Chauncey Higbee, Hirum Brown) and sued one of the same men in court (Chauncey Higbee) for slander for stating that Joseph was teaching it in private. He also had church members write affidavits swearing to his innocence in regard to the trial.
6. 'Weren’t his public actions against polygamy in part because of Emma?'
The idea that Joseph was hiding his polygamy due to Emma’s opposition and bad temper was first reportedly taught by Chauncey Higbee, and Joseph and Emma together sued him in court for defamation over this teaching:
“…one Chancy [sic] L. Higbee has slandered and defamed the character of the said Joseph Smith, and also the character of Emma Smith, his wife, in using their names, the more readily to accomplish his purpose in seducing certain females, and further this deponont [sic] saith not.”
Complaint, 24 May 1842 [State of Illinois v. C. L. Higbee]
7. 'Weren’t there other reports of Joseph and Emma not getting along?'
Joseph Smith III had this to say regarding his recollection of his parents:
It has been reported by those who pretended to be friends of father, that mother was quarrelsome and was antagonistic to my father, and frequently made trouble for him. I have this to say now that tracing my memory back through the period of time in which my father was permitted to stay with his family, that I never heard any quarreling or harsh language between them under any circumstances, and that even disagreements between them were not conducted in a noisy or angry manner, that mother’s language was quiet and temperate, and so was father’s.
Journal of History 3 [July 1910]: 337-338
It has been charged by certain ones advocating plural marriage that [Emma] was a thorn in [Joseph’s] side, opposing his policies, and leading him an ill life. This is absolutely not true. I was old enough at the time to know what was going on around me, and was closely associated with both my parents. The sleeping room I shared with my brothers was never more than a door away from where Father and Mother slept. Because of the great love and concern Mother had for her children she never wanted us far from her, in order that she might be on hand to take care of us herself in case of necessity. So, I am sure that if there ever were angry words between my parents I should have known it, and I can truthfully state that nothing of the kind ever occurred. Father was a kindly man, and emphatically a home loving one, whose wife and children were very dear to him and who was, in turn, loved and respected by them.
Anderson, M. S. [1832-1914] The Memoirs of President Joseph Smith III, p. 35
Edmund C. Briggs was an RLDS Elder who interviewed Emma on several occasions, and reported her to have said the following regarding reports of her contentious relationship with Joseph:
“I never had any reason to oppose him, for we were always on the best of terms ourselves, but he allowed some others to persuade him in some measures against his will, and those things I opposed. He was opposed to the destroying of the press of the Nauvoo Expositor, but the council overruled him by vote and he told them they were the cause of its destruction, but he would be held personally responsible for it; and I often heard Joseph contend against measures in council, and sometimes he would yield to them.”
I said, “Those were city councils?”
She replied, “Sometimes, and other times in councils of the Church, which were often held in our house....” .... she always denied to me in the most emphatic language that he taught or practiced polygamy.
Briggs, E. C., Early History of the Reorganization, p. 88, 93-95.
8. ‘It’s been said that, during the time he was alive, Joseph managed to convince Emma of polygamy at times.’
Like Joseph, all her own public and first-hand statements that were made while he was alive and after his death are against polygamy, without exception. On 17 March 1842, the Relief Society was organized and had its first meeting; Joseph Smith was present and addressed the meeting, and called for a vote for a president to be appointed. Emma had given birth to a stillborn son only the month before, but was yet voted to be and accepted the position of president and Joseph set her apart. The following week, in the second meeting of the Relief Society, Emma read aloud a report of a woman named Clarissa Marvel accusing Joseph Smith of “scandalous falsehoods”, to pre-emptively notify the sisters of it and declare the report as untrue. In October of that same year, the actions of John Bennett became known, and Emma presented this document in another meeting of the Relief Society,
We the undersigned members of the Ladies’ Relief Society, and married females, do certify and declare that we know of no system of marriage being practiced in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints save the one contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants; and we give this certificate to the public to show that J. C. Bennett’s ‘secret wife system’ is a disclosure of his own make.
Times and Seasons 3 [October 1, 1842]: 940
The statement was signed by Emma Smith as Relief Society president, three other Relief Society officers, and fifteen Relief Society members. Joseph then published the statement in Times and Seasons.
Two years later in March of 1844 when charges of polygamy had continued, another document was written titled ‘Voice of Innocence’, and this time Emma presented it in four meetings to have it be assented by as many as possible,
We raise our voices and hands against John C. Bennett’s "spiritual wife system," as a scheme of profligates to seduce women; and they that harp upon it, wish to make it popular for the convenience of their own cupidity; wherefore, while the marriage bed, undefiled is honorable, let polygamy, bigamy, fornication, adultery, and prostitution, be frowned out of the hearts of honest men to drop in the gulf of fallen nature, "where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched!" and let all the Saints say, Amen!
Emma Smith, Prest.
H. M. [Hannah] Ells, Sec. pro tem.
“Virtue Will Triumph,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 20 Mar. 1844, 187
Joseph supported this proclamation by publishing it in the Nauvoo Neighbor. The official narrative of LDS church historians has been that Emma was at other times in her life accepting of polygamy, but none of her verified words support this narrative.
9. ‘Wasn't Hyrum Smith still a polygamist?’
Like Joseph and Emma, his public statements are also against polygamy, and he also did not father children with any of his purported plural wives. Hyrum Smith used the following terms in his denunciations of polygamy:
"False doctrine"
"Criminal"
"Bogus makers"
"Damned fool doctrine"
"It is lawful for a man to marry a wife, but it is unlawful to have more, and God has not commanded any of you to
have more."
"Empty as an open sepulchre"
"No man would have more than one wife or they would join together and beat him."
"I give the sisters leave to wring his nose who teach such stuff"
"I despise a man who teaches a pack of stuff that will disgrace himself so"
"Unlawful"
"Disgrace"
"Ashamed"
"Wicked"
"An abomination in the sight of God"
10. ‘I’d heard that Hyrum Smith was initially against polygamy, but that Joseph eventually convinced him of it in 1842.’
Hyrum Smith's anti-polygamy general conference address was given in April 1844, less than three months before he died, and so such a narrative is not supported by his public statements.
In February 1844, a man named Orsimus F. Bostwick accused Hyrum Smith of having sexual affairs with certain women in Nauvoo. Hyrum Smith brought complaint to the city of Nauvoo, who charged Bostwick with slander against Hyrum and the women of Nauvoo. Trial was held and a guilty verdict was given to Bostwick who was fined $50 and costs.
LDS History of the Church 6:225
11 ~ Emma Smith also publicly defended Hyrum Smith's innocence ~
The March 1844 "Voice of Innocence" publication was directly following Hyrum Smith's civil court case against Bostwick. Excerpts from it contain the following language,
The corruption of wickedness which manifested itself in such horrible deformity on the trial of Orsemus [sic] F. Bostwick last week, for slandering President Hyrum Smith and the Widows of the City of Nauvoo... from the blasting breath and poisonous touch of debauchees, vagabonds, and rakes, who have jammed themselves into our city to offer strange fire at the shrines of infamy, disgrace and degradation... and, as such ungodly wretches, burning or smarting with the sting of their own shame, have doubtless, transported with them; some of the miserable dupes of their licentiousness...to rebuke such an outrage upon the sanctity of Society; to thwart such a death blow at the hallowed marriage covenant: and to ward off such poisoned daggers from the hearts of our innocent daughters...Let the whole virtuous female population of the City, with one voice, declare that the Seducer of female Chastity, the Slanderer of Female Character, or the Defamer of the Character of the Heads of the Church or the canker worms of our husband’s peace...shall have no place in our houses, in our affections, or in our Society. Wherefore, Resolved unanimously that Joseph Smith, the Mayor of the City, be tendered our thanks for the able and manly manner in which he defended injured innocence in the late trial of O.F. Bostwick for slandering president Hyrum Smith “and almost all the women of the City.”
William W. Phelps, “The Voice of Innocence from Nauvoo,” Feb. 1844; revisions by Emma Smith, Mar. 1844.
Emma was the one to have edited and amended this text, and she was also the one to have read it aloud in four Relief Society meetings. The current LDS church narrative is that in July 1843, less than nine months before this date, Hyrum had gone to Emma to convince her of the truthfulness of the doctrine of plurality of wives, and "Hyrum replied that he had never received a more severe talking to in his life, that Emma was very bitter and full of resentment and anger." [a] But Emma's public declarations in defense of Joseph and Hyrum, while in the same breath scathingly condemning any man who would act unvirtuously, are not characteristic of a woman who has been scorned by both a cheating husband and by a brother-in-law who has urged her to submit to it.
12. 'The fact that Emma didn't go west to Utah with the Saints could be taken as a sign that she had become weak in faith. Why believe her over others?'
Q.—It has been stated sometimes that you apostatized at Father's death, and joined the Methodist Church. What do you say to this?
A.—I have been called apostate; but I have never apostatized, nor forsaken the faith I at first accepted; but was called so because I would not accept their new—fangled notion.
Joseph Smith [III]. —The Saints' Herald, vol. 26, pp. 289, 290.
RLDS History of the Church 3:353-358; The Saints Advocate 2:49-52, October 1879
Emma Smith continued faithful to her faith and to the work of Joseph Smith during his life and after his death. We know her best as having been the Relief Society president and having borne him children, but it is also only because of her that the Joseph Smith Translation (the ‘Inspired Version’) of the Bible has survived. In February 1839, Joseph was in Liberty jail and the Missouri militia were carrying out Governor Lilburn W. Bogg’s orders to drive the Saints from the state. Emma could only take what she could carry. She placed the JST manuscript into two cloth bags and knotted them to the ties of her skirt. A neighbor took her and her children into their wagon and drove them to the frozen-over Mississippi River. The length of the river crossing there was over half a mile. (Stone, 2022) She took the baby in one arm, her toddler in the other, and had Julia and young Joseph (seven and six years old) hold onto either side of her skirt while they crossed.
She spent the twenty-two years following Joseph’s death protecting the manuscript, while also stating her belief that the manuscript was protecting them as well:
Sister Emma, in speaking of the condition of the Church after her husband’s death, said to me, “I was threatened by Brigham Young because I opposed and denounced his measures and would not go west with them. At that time, they did not know where they were going themselves, but he told me that he would yet bring me prostrate to his feet. My house was set on fire several times, and one time wood was piled up at the side of the house and set afire. It burned the siding considerably and went out before we discovered it. It was either set on fire, or by accident or carelessness caught afire a number of times, and went out of itself when we did not discover it and put it out; but I never had any fear that the house would burn down as long as the Inspired Translation of the Bible was in it. I always felt safe when it was in the house, for I knew it could not be destroyed.”
Early History of the Reorganization, Apostle Edmund C. Briggs, pp. 88, 93-95
13. ‘But Emma Smith wasn’t called of God to a role of priesthood leadership like the brethren of the church were, why take her testimony over theirs?’
According to Joseph Knight, one of the first members of the Church, Joseph had told him Emma was chosen of God to be Joseph’s partner in bringing forth the plates,
But Before September Came his oldest Brother Died. Then he was Disapinted and did not [k]now what to do. But when the 22nt Day of September Came he went to the place and the personage appeard and told him he Could not have it now. But the 22nt Day of September nex he mite have the Book if he Brot with him the right person. Joseph says, “who is the right Person?” The answer was you will know. Then he looked in his glass and found it was Emma Hale, Daughter of old Mr Hail of Pensylvany, a girl that he had seen Before, for he had Bin Down there Before with me. Jesse, “Joseph Knight’s Recollection,” BYU Studies Quarterly 17:1, Page 29
Joseph’s sister Katherine Smith Salisbury corroborated Joseph Knight’s story when she also shared that Moroni had told Joseph he must come back with someone else, and that only the right person will do,
“And Joseph said: ‘Who shall I bring? My oldest brother is gone.’
“The angel said: ‘You will know her when you see her.’
“That fall he went down to Pennsylvania and became acquainted with his wife, Miss Hale, and he knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records.
Kyle R Walker’s article, "Katharine Smith Salisbury’s Recollections of Joseph’s Meetings with Moroni", published in BYU Studies Quarterly, notes the significance of these two testimonies,
Contained within the narrative there is also evidence regarding the accuracy of Katharine’s remembrances. Most noteworthy is the fact that she rehearses details that parallel other early converts’ written accounts to which she had no access during her lifetime. For example, her identification of Alvin and then Emma Hale Smith as the individuals who were to accompany Joseph to the Hill Cumorah to obtain the Book of Mormon plates harmonizes precisely with Joseph Knight Sr.’s account. Knight’s corresponding description of these events had been unique until the discovery of Katherine’s testimony.
Katharine Smith Salisbury’s Recollections of Joseph’s Meetings with Moroni Author(s): Kyle R. Walker Source: BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol. 41, No. 3 (2002), pp. 5–17. Published by: BYU Studies
Section 25 of the Doctrine & Covenants can be seen as corroborating these claims that Emma was selected by the Lord in verse 3 when it says, “thou art an elect lady, whom I have called.” In other language translations of the Doctrine & Covenants, the word ‘elect’ is translated as ‘chosen’. (Stone, 2022) Verse 7 reads, “And thou shalt be ordained under his [Joseph’s] hand to expound scriptures, and to exhort the church, according as it shall be given thee by my Spirit."
14 ~ Joseph's surviving family members stated he did not preach or practice polygamy ~
Joseph’s mother Lucy Mack Smith also stayed in Nauvoo after the Saints went west to Utah, remaining near her three daughters, Emma, and their children. [a] In the RLDS edition of Lucy Mack Smith's biography of Joseph Smith, published by Orson Pratt, an unsigned footnote reads:
The course that Brigham Young and the Twelve with him took after the death of her sons Joseph and Hyrum, was not approved by Grandmother Smith. She always spoke in kindly terms of the men, but steadily and persistently refused to give credence to the doctrine and policy adopted by them. In this she did not waver to the end of her life
William Smith, Joseph Smith’s younger brother, was also in Church leadership, but left town some time after Joseph and Hyrum’s deaths. Once out of Nauvoo, he published an article titled, ‘A Proclamation’ in which he exposed and denounced the polygamy being practiced by the Twelve. In April 1893 Joseph Smith’s only surviving sister, Katherine Smith Salisbury, stated:
I was at his [Joseph’s] house in Nauvoo a great many times, and I conversed with him about many subjects, but I never heard him at any time mention such a thing as the plural-wife system or order. And I heard nothing of such a doctrine existing until a year after his death RLDS 5:207
15. 'Doesn’t the church history record Joseph as saying he holds the keys of plural marriage?'
This is a photograph of Joseph’s office journal entry from 5 of October, 1843, in which he forbids any teaching or practicing of plurality of wives:
Thursday October 5
… — eve at home
walked up and down str[eet] with scribe —
and gave instruction to try those who were
preaching teaching or pract[ic]ing [crossed-out] the doctrine of
plurality of wives. on this law. Joseph forbids
it. and the practice thereof — No man
shall have but one wife
Later on, a handwritten draft copy of Joseph's office journal was made, and this entry was altered with a handwriting that is smaller and a different script from the other draft copy entries. The alteration can be very clearly seen here in a photo of the document:
In the bottom left-hand corner, the words ‘to be revised’ were added and crossed out:
With the altered markings, the text now reads thus, (the added words are in purple)
With the crossed-out words removed, as it is quoted in church publications, it reads:
Evening at home, and walked up and down the streets with my scribe. Gave instructions to try those persons who were preaching, teaching, or practicing the doctrine of plurality of wives; for according to the law I hold the keys of this power in the last days, for there is never but one on Earth at a time on whom the power and its keys are conferred—and I have constantly said No man shall have but one wife at a time unless the Lord directs otherwise.
These alterations make it appear that Joseph is only denouncing unauthorized polygamy, and is only intending to try those polygamists who have not received permission from himself. The original writing is in harmony with the law of marriage Joseph included in the Doctrine & Covenants.
16. 'What was the law of marriage in the Doctrine & Covenants then?'
The Doctrine & Covenants has had four editions. The first was published in 1835, and was compiled and published under the direction of Joseph Smith. The second was published in 1846. It was published after Joseph’s death, but he did select the sections to be included in the second edition before his death. Both of those editions contain what was then Section 101, which read as follows (bold added for emphasis),
ON MARRIAGE.
According to the custom of all civilized nations, marriage is regulated by laws and ceremonies: therefore we believe, that all marriages in this church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, should be solemnized in a public meeting, or feast, prepared for that purpose: and that the solemnization should be performed by a presiding high priest, high priest, bishop, elder, or priest, not even prohibiting those persons who are desirous to get married, of being married by other authority.-We believe that it is not right to prohibit members of this church from marrying out of the church, if it be their determination so to do, but such persons will be considered weak in the faith of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Marriage should be celebrated with prayer and thanksgiving; and at the solemnization, the persons to be married, standing together, the man on the right, and the woman on the left, shall be addressed, by the person officiating, as he shall be directed by the holy Spirit; and if there be no legal objections, he shall say, calling each by their names: “You both mutually agree to be each other’s companion, husband and wife, observing the legal rights belonging to this condition; that is, keeping yourselves wholly for each other, and from all others, during your lives.” And when they have answered “Yes,” he shall pronounce them “husband and wife” in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by virtue of the laws of the country and authority vested in him: “may God add his blessings and keep you to fulfil [fulfill] your covenants from henceforth and forever. Amen.”
The clerk of every church should keep a record of all marriages, solemnized in his branch. All legal contracts of marriage made before a person is baptized into this church, should be held sacred and fulfilled. Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again. It is not right to persuade a woman to be baptized contrary to the will of her husband, neither is it lawful to influence her to leave her husband. All children are bound by law to obey their parents; and to influence them to embrace any religious faith, or be baptized, or leave their parents without their consent, is unlawful and unjust. We believe that husbands, parents and masters who exercise control over their wives, children, and servants and prevent them from embracing the truth, will have to answer for that sin.
1835 & 1844 editions of the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 101
The terms "no legal objections", "observing legal rights", "by virtue of the laws of the country" and "crime of...polygamy" highlight that illegal marriages are here considered undoctrinal by the church. The directions to solemnize marriages in public, not in secret, is also significant given the LDS church claims that Joseph was both getting married and marrying others in secret. The direction that clerks should make records of every marriage and to make them accessible to the public, is also significant.
The current narrative of the LDS church is that 1835 was before Joseph had a clear understanding of the Lord’s law of plural marriage, and that in the years following this publication he gained more full revelation on the topic, making these previous declarations based on a false and incomplete understanding. However, Joseph was still responsible for the 1844 selection of sections for the second edition of the Doctrine & Covenants, and he did not remove this section from it. Section 101 was not removed from the Doctrine & Covenants until 1876, at the same time that our current Section 132 was added under the direction of Brigham Young.
17. 'Why not believe that Section 132 was God’s revealed word to Joseph Smith?'
Section 132 was only presented publicly in 1852, eight years after Joseph and Hyrum were killed. There is strong argument to be made that Joseph Smith did not write it, but that it was fabricated after his death. Emma Smith stated that she had never seen such a document before, [a] even though it was testified in Utah that she had purposefully burned a copy of it in anger.
18. 'Even if Section 132 had questionable origins, why think it to be a fabrication?'
Section 132 has several points inconsistent with established scripture and modern doctrine:
• Section 132:1,37 talks of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob having wives and concubines, when Isaac of the Old Testament is only recorded as having one wife — even in the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible
• Section 132:1 talks of inquiring why the Lord justified Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in taking wives and concubines, when the Lord of the Old Testament never was recorded to have justified having wives and concubines — Abraham took a concubine at Sarah's behest, not the Lord’s, to have Hagar be a surrogate mother. Jacob non-consensually had a second wife forced on him, and then both wives had their respective maids act as surrogate mothers again. The Lord is not recorded as having commanded or condoned any of it.
• Section 132:7 says there is "never but one on the earth at a time" who holds the sealing power, which thing we do not follow in the church as we have many men exercising the sealing power in temples, and which does not appear to have been followed in Joseph's day as there were more men reported to have performed sealings than solely him.
• Section 132:26 states that a sealed man and woman can be guilty of "any sin or transgression" except murder and they will still come forward in the first resurrection of the righteous after suffering in purgatory. This is a much different plan of salvation than that of accepting Christ as Savior and repenting of sins. Also, if a covenant is a two-way promise, then it is only if we honor our covenants that we will receive any blessing from them. It is morally problematic to teach the sealing ordinance as being a "Get out of Hell at Judgment Day" card for anyone who is not a murderer.
• Section 132:36-37 compares Abraham's willingness to obey the commandment to have plural wives and concubines with Abraham's willingness to kill Isaac — but Abraham did not kill Isaac. The Lord from the beginning never intended for Isaac to be killed by Abraham. Suggesting that the Lord would have us all go through with breaking previously- established commandments as a test of loyalty to Himself is morally problematic.
• Section 132:37 talks of Abraham having concubines (plural) and children (plural) from his concubines, though our Old Testament record (even the JST of the bible) tells only of him taking Hagar as a concubine and only having Ishmael from
her.
• Section 132:38 talks of the Lord having given David and Solomon their many wives and concubines, when in the Book of Mormon Jacob (2:24) quotes the Lord as saying their having many wives and concubines was abominable to Him.
• Section 132:38 states that Moses was a polygamist, when our scriptural records only record him as having one wife • Section 132:1,37- 38, you'll notice, aren't only saying the Lord permits having more than one wife, they’re also saying that the Lord permits concubinage. The practice of concubinage is when the man of the home engages in sex with either a maidservant (a woman who works for wages) or a bondwoman (a woman who had been sold to them). Those respectively meet the definitions of what we in modern days consider to be sexual exploitation and sex slavery. This contradicts Jacob when he quotes the Lord as saying,
For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none; Jacob 2:27
• Section 132:41 tells of polygamy being the new and everlasting covenant, which contradicts the 1842 letter to the Relief Society, which condemns unlawful marriage at the same time that the Relief Society members are referred to as sisters in the new and everlasting covenant.
• Section 132: 54 tells Emma Smith that she'll be destroyed if she doesn't accept the wives that were given to her husband. This is against our understanding of consent and moral agency regarding marriage.
• Section 132: 54 tells Emma Smith that she will be destroyed if she does not accept Joseph’s polygamy. Emma Smith never did accept polygamy, and, contrary to what this verse prophesies, Emma Smith was not destroyed. She lived until 1879, longer than Brigham Young or Heber C. Kimball. This verse then also contradicts D&C section 25, the Lord's revelation to Emma, wherein it says,
A revelation I give unto you concerning my will; and if thou art faithful and walk in the paths of virtue before me, I will preserve thy life, and thou shalt receive an inheritance in Zion. D&C 25:2
• Section 132:61-63 appears to state proper procedure for a man to be espoused to multiple women, but only states reference to those women being virgins.
• Section 132: 64 says that any wife who has been taught the principle of plural marriage and rejects it will be destroyed, which is also against our understanding of consent and moral agency regarding marriage.
• Section 132: 65 says that any husband whose wife rejects the principle of plural marriage can nevertheless practice it anyway, which is also against our understanding of consent and moral agency regarding marriage.
19 ~ Section 132 is contradicted by other parts of the Doctrine & Covenants ~
Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and
shalt cleave unto her and none else D&C 42:22
Wherefore, it is lawful that he should have one wife,
and they twain shall be one flesh, and all this that
the earth might answer the end of its creation; D&C 49:16
Both of these sections were included by Joseph Smith in both the first and second editions of the Doctrine & Covenants.
20 ~ Section 132 also contradicts the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible (the Inspired Version) more directly ~
All sections of the Doctrine & Covenants that Joseph Smith selected for the first two editions, 188-179 years later, still hold up well when viewed under scrutiny. Section 132 does not.
21. 'Doesn't Jacob 2:30 state that the Lord may at times command His people to practice polygamy?'
Jacob 2:30 states,
The interpretation that the LDS church currently teaches of this verse can be reworded as,
"If it is my will to more greatly increase the numbers of my people, then I will command my people to practice polygamy, otherwise they must follow the practice of monogamy."
However, when viewed in context of the directly surrounding verses, we can see this:
In the three other parts of the chapter in which the word "thing" appears, it is referring to the abomination of having wives and concubines (see bold text):
In the earlier part of the chapter that the words "raise up" are used, it is referring to raising up a righteous people to the Lord, not raising up more people:
Each time that the word "commandment" is used in neighboring verses, it is referring to the command to have only one wife and no concubines:
The only other instance in the Book of Mormon in which the term “raise up seed unto the Lord” is used is in 1 Nephi 7:1, in which the Lord tells Lehi that his sons are to take wives for the promised land. Jacob in 2:30 is perhaps then directly referencing these words of the Lord to Lehi –
This idea is supported by Jacob referencing words of the Lord to Lehi in two other parts of his sermon,
An alternative interpretation of Jacob 2:30 then, one that is formed by the immediate context of this same sermon, can be read as,
"If I aim to raise up a righteous people unto myself, then I will be specifically commanding the people to be monogamous, otherwise they will end up hearkening to these things of old that were an abomination to me."
22 ~ The traditional LDS interpretation of Jacob 2:30 is not supported by any other scriptural account ~
Our traditional LDS interpretation of Jacob 2:30, that the Lord may command polygamy at times to increase posterity, is not corroborated by any other account of any other people in scriptural history in which this could have applied. Polygamy was not commanded during Adam and Eve's time, despite them being commanded to 'be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth' (Genesis 1:28) The Pearl of Great Price tells us that the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve divided "two and two" in the land to beget sons and daughters of their own. (Moses 5:3) Noah and his sons were also monogamous, and were again also commanded to be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. (Genesis 9:1) Lehi, Sariah, and their children were also monogamous, and Jacob states that Lehi had specifically had this commandment given to him again, (Jacob 2:34) after being previously given to their fathers. (Jacob 3:5 RLDS)
23 ~ The traditional LDS interpretation of Jacob 2:30 was not taught during Joseph Smith's life ~
During Joseph Smith's life, Jacob chapter 2 is only recorded as being used to teach against polygamy, without verse 30 or any other caveat taught to be an exception,
May 14 attended meeting at the Temple A.M. Hyrum Smith addressed the people – subjects from the book Mormon 2d chap Jacob remarked that – the book Mormon was a mirror, a key to the Bible... said there were many that had a great deal to say about the ancient order of things as Solomon and David having many wifes [sic] & concubines – but it’s an abomination in the sight of god... a man might have one wife, – concubines he should have none – observed that, the idea was, that this was given to Jacob for a perpetual principle . . .
Levi Richards papers, 1837-1867; Diaries; Volume 18, 1843 May 14 - June 11; Church History Library.
Hyrum Smith is recorded here as using Jacob chapter 2 to teach that monogamy is "a perpetual principle". In the weeks following the martyrdom, after polygamous activity had increased, Joseph Fielding (Hyrum’s brother-in-law) recorded that the women’s voices against plural marriage had also increased, stating they'd “risen to a very high pitch, saying it is abomination, whoredom, etc. A passage in the Book of Mormon is quoted in opposition to this Doctrine where it is said that a man should have but one Wife and no concubines.” It is only nine years after the martyrdom that Jacob 2:30 is first recorded by Orson Pratt in The Seer as being interpreted as an exception to the rule.
24 ~ This reinterpretation of Jacob 2:30 is consistent with other Book of Mormon passages of 'otherwise' word usage ~
As first explained by Steve Reeds of Oneclimbs.com, this reinterpretation of Jacob 2:30 consists of a stated desired outcome or state, then a semicolon and the word otherwise, followed by an alternate undesired outcome or state,
There are a total of seven other Book of Mormon passages which include the word ‘otherwise’ following a semicolon, and they all follow this same pattern,
Our publication of The Book of Mormon includes Joseph Smith quoting Moroni using this same pattern of ‘otherwise’ directly to himself,
25 ~ The traditional LDS interpretation of Jacob 2:30 is not well-supported by Mormon polygamy birth rate numbers ~
Early Mormon settlers did not experience a statistically high birth rate because of polygamy. While polygamous men had a higher number of children, polygamous women themselves did not on average give birth to a higher number than monogamous wives did,
Studies have shown that monogamous women bore more children per wife than did polygamous wives except the first. Fertility at the societal level, however, was enhanced because of the near universality of marriage among women and the abundant opportunities for remarriage among previously married women of childbearing age.
L. L. Bean and G. P. Mineau, “The Polygyny-Fertility Hypothesis: A Re-evaluation,” Population Studies 40 (1986): 67–81;
Miriam Koktvedgaard Zeitzen, Polygamy: A Cross Cultural Analysis (Oxford and New York: Berg, 2008), 62–63.
There was a slightly higher number of children born at a population level, due to there being a higher number of women who were married during their childbearing years, but the fact that the numbers were only marginally higher means that polygamy was not a working model to significantly boost numbers of births. It also suggests that the early Mormon church would have been able to demographically survive as well as it did without anyone practicing polygamy.
26 ~ The traditional LDS interpretation of Jacob 2:30 is not well-supported by the nature of women's reproductive cycles ~
The Guardian reported the following when they looked into the peculiar birth rate details of Utah polygamy,
In the study of Mormon families, published in the US journal Evolution and Human Behaviour, the researchers surveyed birth, marriage and death records from the Utah population database, which covers nearly 186,000 adults and 630,000 children who lived or died between 1830 and 1894....The results were clear: the more women partnered with a man, the fewer children each of those women had. Exactly why is not clear.
Robin McKie, "Mormon polygamists shared the flaws of the fruit fly," The Guardian, 27 Feb 2011.
Jacob A. Moorad, et al. Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 32, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 147-155
One way this can be explained is with the understanding that a woman only has a very small window of time each month in order to conceive, and this window of time has some irregularity to it. The more wives your husband has then, the less statistically likely he will be with you during that part of your cycle. This could explain why "the more women partnered with a man, the fewer children each of those women had." This can also explain why the studies showed that "monogamous women bore more children per wife than did polygamous wives except the first." If the Lord was the one to deign many-wife polygamy to be His last-case-scenario model for when a greater abundance of children were needed to be produced, He did not design a woman's reproductive system to work efficiently with it.
In light of this, it is then even more significant that Emma Smith gave birth to nine children, a number 40% higher than the national birth rate at the time, [a] and that she was even pregnant at the time of Joseph's death.
27. 'But what if there are a higher number of women than men in the population?'
The sex-at-birth ratio has always been near-perfectly at 50-50. There has been a 51-49 ratio of boys-to-girls born noticed since the 17th century. [a] There is no natural reason for there to be a disproportionately higher number of women than men born at a population level.
28. 'But what if there are more righteous women than men? Or what if there's a war where the men are killed?'
There are many accounts of wars with high death rates within our scriptures, and none of them tell of polygamy being implemented as a result. In fact, during the reign of Limhi, after the third consecutive failed battle against the Lamanites, they still did not introduce any form of polygamy, but rather a communal welfare system for the many widows with children:
It would have been morally problematic for widows to instead have been told that they must become polygamist wives so that they and their young children "might not perish with hunger."
On a larger historical scale, wars have not caused a perpetually larger global population of women than men, as throughout time there have been a higher number of women who have died from pregnancy and childbirth-related issues than all the men who are estimated to have ever died in war. Even today, there are still an estimated 300,000 women who die from pregnancy, labor, or postpartum complications each year.
29. "With there being more women than men in the church, won't we still need to have mass polygamy in the eternities?"
The religious gender disparity that we've seen historically and to this day has often been referenced as one of the necessities for eternal polygamy. The doctrine of eternal progression has often been taught as only being applicable to those who are temple-worthy Latter-day Saint members in this life, which is a dominantly female population. Polygamy has thus been deemed necessary to save certain women from eternal singlehood, which is a teaching that also has its origins in part from D&C 132,
If however, we believe the doctrine of eternal progression to be extended to a much greater number of God's children than those who make covenants while alive (through the principles of proxy ordinances), it would mean that there would be a much higher number of men eventually qualifying in the hereafter for an eternal companion, which would remove any necessity for mass polygamy after death. If we believe that men and women were created equal in the sight of God, we can reason that any gender disparity in righteousness is the result of our current fallen world, and will therefore not be found in the world in its more perfected state.
30. 'What about the angel with the drawn sword?'
The story that Joseph was visited by an angel with a drawn sword and commanded to practice polygamy or be destroyed was first recorded nine years after Joseph Smith's death, and is either a second-hand or a third-hand account. The story also does not align with our moral understanding of agency with regard to marriage.
Now there was a great number of women,
more than there was of men; therefore king Limhi commanded that every man should impart to the support of the widows and their children, that they might not perish with hunger; and this they did because of the greatness of their number that had been slain. Mosiah 21:17
17 For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods,
but are angels of God forever and ever.
31 ~ Hyrum Smith spoke against the idea of an angel commanding polygamy ~
The very first record we have of the idea of an angel commanding polygamy is from Hyrum Smith, who used it as a hypothetical illustration to state that in such a scenario it would be a false spirit,
May 14 attended meeting at the Temple A.M. Hyrum Smith addressed the people... said there were many that had a great deal to say about the ancient order of things as Solomon and David having many wifes [sic] & concubines – but it’s an
abomination in the sight of god – if an angel from heaven should come & preach such doctrine [you] would be sure to see his cloven foot & cloud of blackness over his head, – though his garments might shine as white as snow – a man might have one wife, – concubines he should have none – observed that, the idea was, that this was given to Jacob for a perpetual principle... I am a plain man to God I am responsible I deal in plainness... I feel myself ashamed of such conduct amongst us trifling with property & chastity of one another –
Levi Richards papers, 1837-1867; Diaries; Volume 18, 1843 May 14 - June 11; Church History Library.
32 ~ The 'angel with a drawn sword' story is contradicted by both the Doctrine & Covenants and Pearl of Great Price ~
Polygamy, whether called spiritual wifery, plural marriage, or anything else, was not lawful during Joseph Smith's life and fell under the legal definition of adultery or bigamy, which in some cases was a serious enough offense to lead to legal charges and fines. The Lord in D&C 58:21 states,
Let no man break the laws of the land, for he that keepeth the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the land.
Joseph Smith included Section 58 in both the first and the second edition selections of the Doctrine and Covenants. In The Articles of Faith, the list of twelve basic tenets of church doctrine which is included in the Pearl of Great Price, he wrote as number twelve,
We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
33. 'Then isn't polygamy okay if it's legal?'
At the time of King David and King Solomon polygamy was indeed legal, but the Lord in Jacob 2:24 said it was ''abominable" to Him anyway, and told the people that they shall not do like unto them of old. From this it appears that the Lord is not okay with polygamy even when it is legal, and is not desiring His people to make it legal for themselves to do. In New Testament times, when polygamy was still legal in Israel and abroad, it was yet taught (and included as scripture) that the leadership positions of the church of Christ (namely elders, bishops, and deacons) should only be held by men who have one wife (and in the case of elders and bishops, it is the very first stipulation that is listed):
5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain
elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:
6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
Titus 1:5-6
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 1 Timothy 3:2
Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 1 Timothy 3:12
-
34. 'But early Mormon pioneers practiced "ethical" polygamy. If polygamy is conducted in a proper manner, then there isn't anything bad about it.'
There was very little regulation or restriction with regards to how polygamy was carried out amongst the early Mormons. Consent from the first wife or any of the wives was not necessary to obtain an additional wife, as D&C 132:65 states that a husband must ask for her consent, but he is not required to receive her consent. There were no restrictions set as to how old a bride must be, no upper limit as to how much of an age gap there could be between the bride and groom, no rules set to prevent either blatant favoritism or neglect, and no declaration of funds made to show that an additional wife and child would not cause a sunken standard of living for the older wives and children.
Muslim men are restricted by doctrinal Islam to four wives, whereas Mormon men had no declared upper limit. Mosaic Law and Islamic doctrine forbids the practice of marrying your sister, half sister, one of your wife's sister's, your daughter, or your stepdaughter, but Mormons also did not have any of these restrictions. Brigham Young stated, "by marriage Lot's two daughters were sealed to him, and will be his to all eternity." (27 October 1869, Lehi, Utah) He also taught,
The whole world will think what an awful thing it is. What an awful thing it would be if the Mormons should just say we believe in marrying brothers and sisters. Well we shall be under the necessity of doing it, because we cannot find anybody else to marry. The world are at the same thing, and will be as long as man exists upon the Earth.
- Brigham Young, 22 February 1852 sermon
In the evening, Hudson and I (Rodger Clawson), had a conversation with Lorenzo Snow about various doctrines. Brother Snow said I would live to see the time when brothers and sisters would marry each other in this church. All our horror at such union was due entirely to prejudice, and the offspring of such unions would be as healthy and pure as any other. These were decidedly the views of President Young when alive, for Brother Snow talked to him freely on this matter."
- Rudger Clawson, 15 July 1886, Abraham H. Cannon's journal
35 ~ Our history contradicts Brigham Young's prophecies of polygamy ~
Brigham Young had other prophecies of polygamy that were not fulfilled. On the same day that he presented the doctrine of plural marriage publicly to the church, he stated,
I can deliver a prophecy on it: I tell you for I know it, it [polygamy] will sail over and ride triumphantly above all the prejudice and priestcraft of the day. It will be fostered and believed in by the more intelligent portions of the world as one of the best doctrines ever proclaimed to any people.
Deseret News, Great Salt Lake City, U.T., September 14, 1852; page 25
We can see from our history that this did not happen.
Your hearts need not beat. You need not think that a mob is coming here to tread upon the sacred liberty which the constitution of our country guarantees for it will not be.
Deseret News, Great Salt Lake City, U.T., September 14, 1852; page 25
In actuality, President James Buchanan sent U.S. forces to the Utah Territory less than five years later, with the aim to install a non-Mormon governor in order to show disfavoratism to polygamy in lieu of it being declared one of the “twin relics of barbarism”. The Edmunds-Tucker act was later passed, in which it, among other things, disincorporated the LDS church, prohibited polygamy with fines and up to five years of imprisonment, declared confiscation of all major church properties to the federal government, barred polygamists from public office, and mandated that polygamous women testify against their husband in cases of court trials. The act was enforced by the U.S. Marshal and their deputies. Many polygamous men were imprisoned and others fled to Mexico.
36 ~ Our history corroborates Jacob's prophecies of polygamy ~
Jacob 3:3 reads,
But, wo, wo, unto you that are not pure in heart, that are filthy this day before God; for except ye repent the land is cursed for your sakes; and the Lamanites, which are not filthy like unto you, nevertheless they are cursed with a sore cursing, shall scourge you even unto destruction.
Jacob prophesied that unless those members of the church who wished to reinstate polygamy repented, they would face destruction. In 1890, after writing the manifesto to declare the end of new plural marriages, Wilford Woodruff stated the following:
The Lord showed me by vision and revelation exactly what would take place if we did not stop this practice. If we had not stopped it, you would have had no use for. . . any of the men in this temple at Logan; for all ordinances would be stopped throughout the land of Zion. Confusion would reign throughout Israel, and many men would be made prisoners. This trouble would have come upon the whole Church, and we should have been compelled to stop the practice.
Sixty-first Semiannual General Conference of the Church, Monday, October 6, 1890, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Reported in Deseret Evening News, October 11, 1890, p. 2
Yes, I saw by vision and revelation this Temple in the hands of the wicked. I saw our city in the hands of the wicked. I saw every temple in these valleys in the hands of the wicked. I saw great destruction among the people. All these things would have come to pass, as God Almighty lives, had not that Manifesto been given.
Wilford Woodruff, The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, p. 218
Jacob's warning from the Lord to the Nephites, that the act of taking more wives would lead to their destruction, aligns with the destruction of the church that Wilford Woodruff testifies of having seen in vision from God.
37. "If you think Joseph Smith Jr wasn't a polygamist, that means you say other leaders lied. Isn't that 'speaking evil of the Lord's anointed'?
The official stance of the church is currently that Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum all lied about polygamy to church members and to the public. Suggesting that Brigham Young and others were instead the ones who lied shouldn't then be off the table.
38. "But the lies you are suggesting Brigham Young to have said are of an order of magnitude higher than the lies the church attributes to Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum. Isn't that still speaking evil of the Lord's anointed?
In the 1866 October session of General Conference Brigham Young said this,
To my certain knowledge, Emma Smith is one of the damnedest liars I know of on this earth; yet there is no good thing I would refuse to do for her, if she would only be a righteous woman; but she will continue in her wickedness. Not six months before the death of Joseph, he called his wife Emma into a secret council, and there he told her the truth, and called upon her to deny it if she could. He told her that the judgments of God would come upon her forthwith if she did not repent. He told her of the time she undertook to poison him, and he told her that she was a child of hell, and literally the most wicked woman on this earth, that there was not one more wicked than she. He told her where she got the poison, and how she put it in a cup of coffee; said he 'You got that poison from so and so, and I drank it, but you could not kill me.' When it entered his stomach he went to the door and threw it off. He spoke to her in that council in a very severe manner, and she never said one word in reply. I have witnesses of this scene all around, who can testify that I am now telling the truth. Twice she undertook to kill him.
Utah Historical Quarterly, vol. 48, Winter 1980, 82
Brigham Young professed here that Emma Smith tried to murder Joseph, that Joseph called her a “child of hell” and “literally the most wicked woman on this earth, that there was not one more wicked than she” and that this all occurred “not six months before” the death of Joseph. In reality, “not six months before the death of Joseph” is when Emma became pregnant with her and Joseph’s last child, David. Emma was also continuing to serve as president of the Relief Society throughout this entire period. It is not believable that they were on the bad terms that Brigham Young claims. Brigham in 1855, 1859, 1863, 1866, and 1869 publicly repeated his claims that Emma tried in different ways to have Joseph killed (poisoning, conniving with the mob that did kill him, telling him to remove his temple garments,) saying in 1860 that "she will go to hell as surely as her name is Emma Smith." On the same occasions of 1860 and 1866, he stated Joseph as saying that if Hyrum were to ever lead the church he would lead it to hell.
I believe Emma Smith to have been called and elected by the Lord. I also believe Joseph and Hyrum Smith to have been called and elected by the Lord, and that they were all speaking the truth of themselves. My denunciations of Brigham Young's opposing words are therefore in defense of who I believe to be the Lord's anointed.
39. 'Isn't going against the doctrine of Brigham Young apostasy?'
There are several other principles that Brigham Young taught and even made official doctrine which we have since done away with:
• banning ordination to the priesthood to those of African ethnicity
• banning admission to the temple to those of African ethnicity
• Adam-God Doctrine Journal of Discourses, v. 3, pp. 319-320
• blood atonement Journal of Discourses, v. 4, p. 219
• that blood atonement would be used against any wife of his who commits adultery
Journal of Discourses, v. 1, pp. 108-109
• that blood atonement should be used against those who mix their seed with those of African ethnicity
(President Brigham Young to the Joint Session of the Legislature in Salt Lake City, on Thursday, February 5, 1852.)
• that polygamy is necessary for exaltation [a]
• that Adam was a polygamist Deseret News, v. 22, no. 308, June 8, 1873;
• that those of African ethnicity are the seed of Cain and suffer from his curse
https://www.mrm.org/young-1852-speech
• that the seed of Cain are meant to be slaves Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p. 172
• that there are inhabitants who live on Earth's sun Journal of Discourses vol. 1, Discourse 31
• that if the church ever allows its members to mix with those of African descent that it will be destroyed: "The moment we consent to mingle with the seed of Cain the Church must go to destruction"
40. 'Weren't some of those things merely stated as his own personal opinion?'
I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call scripture.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, p. 95
I say now, when they [his discourses] are copied and approved by me they are as good Scripture as is couched in this Bible...
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, p. 264
41 ~ Brigham Young's idea of polygamy eugenics also shown to be false ~
Brigham Young, again as church president, at the podium, speaking in that same special conference to all church members in 1852, stated he was quoting an unnamed 'senator friend' when he said,
'If the United States do not adopt that very method [polygamy], let them continue as they now are, pursue that precise course they are now pursing and it will come to this: that their generations will not live until they are thirty years old. They are going to destruction. Disease is spreading so fast among the inhabitants of the United States that they are born
rotten with it, and in a few years they are gone.' Said he, 'Joseph has introduced the very best plan for restoring and establishing strength and long life among men...'
Deseret News, Great Salt Lake City, U.T., September 14, 1852; page 25
The idea was that by having the more righteous men have a greater number of wives and children, the following generations of people would be healthier and stronger - essentially by having such a high proportion of them be from the most holy and good men. In fact, the opposite of this is now known to be genetically true - the more limited the male gene pool, the more genetic diseases and shortened lifespans you will have occur. Due to polygamy, as reported by the BBC, "more human disease genes have been discovered in Utah - with its Mormon history - than any other place in the world." [a]
Certain families are still facing fatal illness and early deaths to this day as a result of early Mormon polygamy - see "Fatal Inheritance: Mormon Eugenics" for Linda Walker's introductory exposition on the topic.
42 ~ Polygamy has been socioeconomically shown to foment societal instability and crime ~
Genetic abnormalities are not the only negative societal impacts of polygamy. Polygamy also creates marriage markets that are too competitive for large numbers of younger men to take part in. The Economist reports,
The 20 most fragile states in the world are all somewhat or very polygamous...Polygamy nearly always means rich men taking multiple wives. And if the top 10% of men marry four women each, then the bottom 30% cannot marry at all...When large numbers of men are doomed to bachelorhood, they get desperate.
https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/03/19/why-polygamy-breeds-civil-war
Many are aware of the hundreds of school-girl kidnappings of Boko Haram, but a fewer number are aware that a chronic shortage of potential brides for young men due to polygamy is a major contributing factor to these kidnappings:
43 ~ Plural marriage is not the only thing that Brigham Young questionably attributed to Joseph Smith ~
Those who are in the habit of speaking untruths often have patterns emerge in their untruths. After Joseph's death, there were several things that Brigham Young quotes Joseph as having testified of which we have no corroborating first-hand accounts for:
• the truthfulness of the doctrine of plural marriage Deseret News, Great Salt Lake City, U.T., September 14, 1852
• that Emma tried to kill Joseph on multiple occasions Utah Historical Quarterly, vol. 48, Winter 1980, 82
• that Joseph had appointed the Twelve to lead the church if Hyrum died
Draft declaration of the Twelve Apostles, reporting March 1844 meeting of Twelve,
Brigham Young Papers, LDS Church Archives
• that anyone who is not a Mormon cannot be saved and will be damned
• that Joseph had said many times that he (Joseph) would die before the age of forty
Journal of Discourses, Volume 18, 6 May 1877
• that Hyrum's leadership would lead the church to hell:
Once Joseph told his Brother Hyrum if he would suffer him to dictate [to] him he should lead the Church to Hell; and he would frequently sit and sneer at the remarks of Bro. Hyrum... 24 February 1860
I have heard Joseph tell him that if the church was left to his leadership he would lead it directly to hell. He never
appointed his Brother Hyrum to be his successor. He never even thought of such a thing...
6 October 1866 General Conference
• that a woman can avoid the condemnation of leaving her sealed husband if a higher-ranking church leader wants her:
The Second Way in which a wife can be separated from her husband, while he continues to be faithful to his God and his priesthood, I have not revealed, except to a few persons in this Church; and a few have received it from Joseph the
prophet as well as myself. If a woman can find a man holding the keys of the priesthood with higher power and
authority than her husband, and he is disposed to take her he can do so, otherwise she has got to remain where she is...
there is no need for a bill of divorcement...
Brigham Young, “A Few Words on Doctrine,” October 8, 1861
• Adam-God Doctrine (which he stated he knew from God at first before Joseph confirmed it to him):
How much unbelief exists in the minds of the Latter-day Saints in regard to one particular doctrine which I revealed to them, and which God revleaed [sic] to me – namely that Adam is our father and God – I do not know, I do not inquire, I care nothing about it. Our Father Adam helped to make this earth, it was created expressly for him, and after it was made he and his companions came here. He brought one of his wives with him, and she was called Eve, because she was the first woman upon the earth. Our Father Adam is the man who stands at the gate and holds the keys of everlasting life and salvation to all his children who have or who ever will come upon the earth. I have been found fault with by the ministers of religion because I have said that they were ignorant. But I could not find any man on the earth who cold [sic] tell me this, although it is one of the simplest things in the world, until I met and talked with Joseph Smith.
Brigham Young, Deseret News, v. 22, no. 308, June 8, 1873;
This last topic of Adam-God Doctrine has a point of similarity with how he states he learned of plural marriage -- that the Lord first revealed it to his mind, and then Joseph confirmed it all to him afterwards.
44 ~ Brigham Young taught unlawful marriage principles that contradicted earlier D&C scripture in other ways ~
Section 101 of the 1835 edition of the Doctrine & Covenants stated,
All legal contracts of marriage made before a person is baptized into this church, should be held sacred and fulfilled.
However, Brigham Young did not consider a legal divorce to be necessary to obtain in order for a woman to remarry someone within the church. Augusta Adams Cobb was a married woman when she in October 1843 left her husband and seven children in Boston and traveled with Brigham Young to Nauvoo to live as his first plural wife. She remained married to her husband Henry Cobb until 1847, when he sued the Massachusetts State Supreme Court for divorce on the grounds of adultery. George J. Adams was called to testify in the trial as he had been acquainted with Augusta Cobb in Nauvoo,
In the cross examination, Mr. Adams stated that he performed on the stage when he was a young man; that he was a merchant tailor in extensive business before he joined the Mormons; that he has, since he withdrew, performed at the National Theatre in this city, that Joseph Smith the founder of Mormonism, did not teach the doctrine of spiritual wives; that Brigham Young, in assuming to be president of the church, had ursurped authority, and that he, Mr. Adams, opposed the usurpation. - from the Boston Supreme Court testimony of George J. Adams, as reported by the Boston Post
In 1851 the LDS church began recording divorces, but LDS church practices still allowed for them to not be obtained: of Parley P. Pratt's twelve wives, two were legally married to other men (the last husband castrated and killed Pratt in retaliation.) [a]
45. 'Wasn't it Joseph who gave the others approval to practice polygamy?'
This idea was first used by John C. Bennett, and Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum Smith all published refutations against him. Bennett had moved to Nauvoo in September 1840 and soon after joined the church. In 1841 Joseph received word that John Bennett was "practicing iniquity under the base pretense of authority from the heads of the Church." [a] John Bennett was not excommunicated at this time, as he showed remorse and made oath that he would do no such thing again. However, by May 1842 those same reports surfaced again. Affidavits were collected and published in Times and Seasons to denounce John Bennett and expose his teachings. One affidavit was written by Hyrum Smith, which stated in part,
On the seventeenth day of may, 1842, having been made acquainted with some of the conduct of John C. Bennett, which was given in testimony under oath before Alderman G[eorge] W. Harris, by several females, who testified that John C. Bennett endeavored to seduce them and accomplished his designs by saying it was right; that it was one of the mysteries of God, which was to be revealed when the people was strong enough in the faith to bear such mysteries... I was determined to bring him to justice, and declined listening to his entreaties;... at that time Brother Joseph was crossing the yard from the house to the store and met Dr. Bennett on the way; he reached out his hand to Br. Joseph and said, will you forgive me, weeping at the time; he said Br. Joseph, I am guilty, I acknowledge it, and I beg of you not to expose me, for it will ruin me; Joseph replied, Doctor! why are you using my name to carry on your hellish wickedness? Have I ever taught you that fornication and adultery was right, or poligamy [sic] or any such practices? He said you never did. Did I ever teach you any thing that was not virtuous—that was iniquitous, either in public or private? He said you never did. Did you ever know anything unvirtuous or unrighteous in my conduct or actions at any time, either in public or in private? he said, I did not;...
Times and Seasons, 1 August 1842, p. 870-872, The Joseph Smith Papers
46. 'Didn't Emma see Joseph in the barn with Fanny Alger?'
This story is in part from William McLellin in 1872. It was based on earlier rumors involving Oliver Cowdery, with Oliver's involvement explained in the following video from 'Hemlock Knots':
William McLellin recorded this story forty years after he states the events took place, and that he heard it not from Joseph or Emma but from a colleague, six years after the fact. His story loses further credibility once it is understood that he had been excommunicated by Joseph Smith in 1832 for engaging in sex with “a certain harlot” while serving a mission; fourteen months earlier he had been counseled in D&C 66:10 -- “Commit not adultery—a temptation with which thou hast been troubled.” His story loses yet more credibility in the fact that he mistakenly refers to Fanny Alger as "Fanny Hill" -- who was the fictional main character of a pornographic novel in circulation at the time.
47. But Brigham Young could have been taught of plural marriage by Joseph even if John Bennett wasn’t. Wasn't Brigham Joseph's right-hand man?
Hyrum Smith is the one that Joseph Smith appointed as copresident. Sidney Rigdon was the first counselor in the first presidency, and served in that capacity from 1833, when the First Presidency was first formed, until Joseph's death in 1844. Before the formation of the First Presidency, Sidney assisted Joseph in his translation of the Bible for the three years during 1830-1833. Sidney Rigdon was also the one Joseph had the shared vision of Section 76 with. Sidney was also Joseph's neighbor in Nauvoo, close enough to see the comings and goings of everyone to and from the Joseph Smith home. Not only that, but Sidney also served as Nauvoo's postmaster, meaning he received all letters addressed to Joseph as well as all letters sent by Joseph. Joseph appointed him as vice-president in Joseph's bid to run as president of the United States. One month before Joseph's death, Rigdon testified on behalf of him in his trial against Chauncey Higbee and even acted as part of Joseph's legal council, declaring Joseph to be innocent of all polygamy charges.
Several months after the martyrdom, in February 1845, William Law successfully convinced Rigdon that Joseph had secretly tried to seduce Law's wife. It was only at that point — posthumous to Joseph's life — that Rigdon adopted the stance that Joseph must have been a fallen prophet.
Brigham Young, before and after Joseph's death, was closest to Heber C. Kimball. He and Heber had grown up together in the same town of New York, had learned of the gospel together and converted at the same time, had both been called into the Twelve at the same time, and also served missions in New York state and in England together.
48. But wasn’t Brigham Young there the whole time too?
The Twelve were traveling ministers, and as the president of the Twelve Brigham Young was gone more often than other leaders. Between the years of 1832 to 1844, Brigham Young served missions of varying lengths to the eastern United States, eastern Canada, and England:
.png)
Brigham Young was not living in Nauvoo at the time that he in 1843 courted the first woman that he would live with as a plural wife, Augusta Adams Cobb, who was a woman that he converted to the church while preaching in Boston. [a] The first woman to live with Heber C. Kimball as a plural wife, Sarah Noon, was also a woman that he had converted to the church while he was abroad and not living in Nauvoo.
49. 'Where did the idea of polygamy come from, if not from the Lord to Joseph Smith?'
We came to Nauvoo, and the Twelve went to England [1839]. While we were in England, I think, the Lord manifested to me by visions and his spirit, things that I did not then understand. I never opened my mouth to any persons concerning them, until I returned to Nauvoo [1841]. Joseph had never mentioned this, there had never been a thought of it in the Church that I knew anything about at that time. But I had this for myself, and I kept it to myself, and when I returned home and Joseph revealed these things to me, I then understood the reflections that were upon my mind while in England.
Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, 18: 241 (June 23, 1874).
According to this account from Brigham Young, the Lord began to reveal the doctrine of plural wives to him while on his mission in England. But some time previous to the Twelve's mission to England, Brigham Young served a mission to the eastern states, where a polygamist group called the Cochranites was established. The Cochranites were an early 1800s Christian group practicing what they called "spiritual wifery", their church being formed by a preacher named Jacob Cochran. Mormon missionaries were preaching to and converting Cochranites near their main settlement in Saco, Maine as early as 1832, and later at their secondary settlement in Allegany Co., New York. Conferences of the LDS church were held in Saco, Maine in June 1834, August 1835, and August 1836. At least seven of the Twelve were in attendance at the conference in 1835, and Brigham Young states he attended the conference in 1836. Cochranites continued to be converted into the LDS church into the late 1800s.
Lorenzo Snow also stated that he gained his testimony of plural marriage while in England with the Twelve,
There is no man that lives that had a more perfect knowledge of the principle of plural marriage, its holiness and divinity, that what I had. It was revealed to me before the Prophet Joseph Smith explained it to me. I had been on a mission to England between two and three years [1840-1843] and before I left England I was perfectly satisfied in regard to something connected to plural marriage.
Heber C. Kimball was also living in England with the other members of the Twelve at the time that he began cohabitating with Sarah Noon.
50. Even if Joseph Smith never taught or practiced plural marriage, and even if he taught against it, couldn't the Lord have later revealed it as a doctrine or given it as a temporary commandment to Brigham Young, by principle of continuing revelation?
The 1842 letter to the Relief Society contained the line,
"...no such authority ever has, ever can, or ever will be given to any man..."
Letter to Emma Smith and the Relief Society, 31 March 1842, p. 2, The Joseph Smith Papers
He also taught,
If any man preaches to you, doctrines contrary to the Bible, the Book of Mormon, or the Book of Doctrine & Covenants, set
him down as an imposter…Try them by the principles contained in the acknowledged word of God; if they preach, or teach,
or practice contrary to that, disfellowship them; cut them off from among you as useless and dangerous branches.
Times & Seasons, volume 5, page 490
51. 'But aren't members who deviate from the official church stance this much having their membership withdrawn?'
Whitney Horning, Michelle Stone, and Gwendolyn Wyne are all believing members of the LDS church living in the intermountain west and all have been -- independently of each other -- teaching this narrative publicly, without any of them having had their memberships be withdrawn or sent to a disciplinary council over it.
52. 'Even if no one's losing their membership over it, what makes you think it is your place to speak on it when you are not in church leadership?'
The 1842 letter to the Relief Society also contained the following passage:
...and all persons pretending to be authorized by us or having any permit or sanction from us are & will be liars & base imposters & you are authorized on the very first intimation of the kind to denounce them as such & shun them as the fiery flying serpents, whether they are prophets, seers, or Revelators, patriarchs, Twelve apostles, Elders, Priests. or what not, Mayors, Generals, or what not, city council alderman, Marshal, Police, Lord Mayor or the Devil, are alike culpable.
Letter to Emma Smith and the Relief Society, 31 March 1842, p. 2, The Joseph Smith Papers
Hyrum Smith was copresident of the Church at the time that he publicly gave his anti-polygamy address that said:
"....I give the sisters leave to wring his nose who teach such stuff"
Hyrum Smith, 8 April 1844. Selected Collections from the Archives, BYU Press
Joseph and Hyrum Smith both gave permission to the sisters of the church to reject and denounce anyone teaching this, no matter who it was in church or government leadership that was doing so.
53. 'Church leaders since Brigham Young's time have also defended the doctrine of polygamy, so you are going against the words of more leaders than just Brigham Young.'
Church leaders also defended the priesthood and temple bans during the period that those bans were in effect. One of them was Bruce R. McConkie, who published the Cain/Ham curse doctrines in his publication, "Mormon Doctrine", and also wrote that those of African ethnicity will not hold priesthood ordination until the Millennium. In a BYU devotional after the manifesto ending the bans was given, he said:
Forget everything that I have said, or what President Brigham Young or President George Q. Cannon or whomsoever
has said in days past that is contrary to the present revelation. We spoke with a limited understanding and without
the light and knowledge that now has come into the world.
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/bruce-r-mcconkie/alike-unto-god/
54. 'A Gospel Topics essay issued in 2014 stated that Joseph Smith had up to 40 wives. How can you think the church would ever go back on an official church statement?'
The church has already gone back on official statements at least twice before. Once was regarding a 1949 First Presidency statement declaring that the priesthood restriction was divinely commanded and not solely a matter of church policy. In December 1969, a second official statement was issued and signed by every member of the First Presidency and the Twelve apostles, which read,
'From the beginning of this dispensation, Joseph Smith and all succeeding presidents of the Church have taught that Negroes, while spirit children of a common Father, and the progeny of our earthly parents Adam and Eve, were not yet to receive the priesthood, for reasons which we believe are known to God, but which He has not made fully known to man.
'Our living prophet, President David O. McKay, has said, "The seeming discrimination by the Church toward the Negro is not something which originated with man; but goes back into the beginning with God….
'Revelation assures us that this plan antedates man's mortal existence, extending back to man's pre-existent state.'
First Presidency Statement, 15 December 1969; printed in The New Era, February 1970
It is now understood and acknowledged that, contrary to these two statements, the priesthood ban was introduced by Brigham Young, not Joseph Smith, that it did not have valid doctrinal foundation, and that it was not ever commanded by God. [a] I argue the same for polygamy.
55. 'But the prophet can never lead us astray.'
This idea also originated with Brigham Young, not Joseph Smith, when he stated,
The Lord Almighty leads this Church, and he will never suffer you to be led astray if you are found doing your duty.
You may go home and sleep as sweetly as a babe in its mother's arms, as to any danger of your leaders leading you
astray, for if they should try to do so the Lord would quickly sweep them from the earth."
Brigham Young, 23 February 1862. Journal of Discourses 9:289
This idea, however, contradicts the principle to trust not in the arm of flesh. Nephi prophesied that the righteous few of our day will in 'many instances' follow false precepts of men,
. . . they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led,
that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men. 2 Ne. 28:14
...inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines -
The Nauvoo Expositor also made this claim. However, Joseph's testimony to the Nauvoo City Council against the Expositor states his revelation on marriage to have been from his inquiry on an altogether different passage of the bible (specifically Matthew 22:30), and was in reference to eternal marriage, not plural marriage,
Mayor [Joseph Smith] said he had never preached the revelation in private as he had in public - had not taught it to the annointed in the church in private which many confirmed. - On enquiry the passage in the resurrection they neither mary & I received for answer. Men in this life must be married in view of eternity, was the amount of the revelation, otherwise they must remain as angels - in heaven, and spoke at considerable length in explanation of this principle..."
Nauvoo City Council, 10 June 1844; published in "EXTRA," Nauvoo Neighbor 2:8, published 19 June 1844
61. 'Is all of Section 132 a fabrication then?'
The journal notes of 16 July 1843 bear similarity to D&C 132:7 wherein it says,
All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity...are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead.
This suggests that even if plural marriage was never taught nor practiced by Joseph Smith, that the principle of eternal marriage still was, and that the origin of Section 132 could perhaps have been Joseph Smith's revelation on eternal marriage that was altered, added to, and then conflated with eternal plural marriage.
62. 'What precedence would there be to think Brigham Young altered a revelation of Joseph Smith?'
We know that the endowment ceremony during early Utah also included the doctrines of plural marriage, Adam-God doctrine, and blood oaths — things that we know Brigham Young to have taught extensively and that we have no first-hand records of Joseph teaching, things that the RLDS church say were never part of the temple during Joseph's day, and things that have since been removed by the LDS church, which could suggest that the endowment was also altered from its original form.
63 ~ There are records of familial-not-sexual sealings involving other priesthood holders ~
Sealings between a man holding priesthood ordination and women who had not previously been sealed to anyone else occurred among men other than Joseph, as well as men other than just the Twelve or Joseph's closest circle of church leaders. Joseph Smith’s office journal records Dr. Bernhisel’s 16 October 1843 sealings to,
Maria Bernhisel, sister; Brother Samuel’s wife, Catherine Kremer; Mary Shatto, (Aunt); Madalena Lupferd, (distant relative); Catherine Bernhisel, Aunt; Hannah Bower, Aunt; Elizabeth Sheively, Aunt; Hannah Bower, cousin; Maria Lawrence, (intimate friend); Sarah Crosby, intimate friend, [deceased] . . . ; Mary Ann Bloom, cousin.” Brown, “Early Mormon Adoption Theology,”
None of these stated relationships contain the words "plural wife", "spiritual wife", or "eternal wife". The term "intimate friend" had no sexual connotations in the 1800s.
64. What about the new and everlasting covenant of marriage?
There are several instances of the phrase "new and everlasting covenant" being used both in the Book of Mormon and by Joseph Smith, but none of them include the words "of marriage" afterwards. The specific wording of its use in the Book of Mormon and the earlier sections of the Doctrine & Covenants suggest it to be referring to repentance and baptism in Jesus Christ, and the usage of it in Joseph Smith's writings outside of the Doctrine & Covenants support this. The first scriptural record of "new and everlasting covenant of marriage" being used is in the added-after parenthesis of Doctrine & Covenants Section 131, which were first seen in the 1876 edition of the Doctrine & Covenants -- see Hemlock Knot's video on the topic for a closer analysis:
New & Everlasting Covenant... of Marriage?
It would appear then that the doctrine of sealing, the doctrine of eternal marriage, and the doctrine of the new and everlasting covenant were all conflated together as referencing plural marriage, and that Joseph Smith's teachings on these three topics were all later incorrectly used as evidence of his historical promotion of polygamy.
65 ~ Brigham Young also conflated the virgin birth with plural marriage ~
The man Joseph, the husband of Mary, did not, that we know of, have more than one wife, but Mary the wife of Joseph had another husband.
Journal of Discourses, vol. 11, p. 268
The birth of the Savior was as natural as the births of our children; it was the result of natural action.
Journal of Discourses, vol. 8, p. 115
This argues against the scriptural doctrine of Mary having been a virgin at Christ's birth. This is a morally problematic teaching as it is arguing that Heavenly Father sexually impregnated one of His own daughters and she is now one of His plural wives. And polyandry, the practice of having more than one husband, has also never been part of any Mormon doctrine.
66. 'What about all the church members that testified Joseph had been a polygamist?'
During the 1880s there were court proceedings called the Temple Lot case in which legal title of the Independence, Missouri temple lot land was being contested. The LDS church sought to disprove the RLDS church's claim that they were the branch of Mormonism who most closely resembled the church of Joseph Smith's day. One of the main claims that the LDS church made was that Joseph Smith taught and practiced polygamy, something the RLDS church had denied from its founding. There were many affidavits testifying that they had been taught polygamy by Joseph Smith, but there were also several Nauvoo-era church members who testified they had not, including:
James Whitehead, who was the private secretary to Joseph Smith from 1842 until Joseph's death, and had been working in
Joseph's office on the day of Joseph's assassination. His court testimony can be read here:
John Taylor (not the LDS apostle) who was a teacher in the church from 1832 to 1844. His testimony is here.
Samuel W. Richards, nephew of LDS apostle Willard Richards, testified that he had never heard the principle of plural marriage from Joseph, but only from others in church leadership, "Yes sir, I knew all the time I was there in Nauvoo, from 1842 down to the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, that there was no other system of marriage taught or practiced by the church than that of monogamy."
Bathsheba Smith, second counselor in the LDS Relief Society
Mary Page Eaton, long-time friend of Emma Smith
Lyman O. Littlefield, president of the LDS quorum of the seventies
Jason W. Briggs, former RLDS apostle testified, "The doctrine of the original church from the time it was established up to 1844, when Joseph Smith was killed, was that one man should have one wife, and one woman one husband. It was the one wife doctrine at that time." [a]
Cyrus H. Wheelock testified, "The law of the church when I became a member (1839) did not teach polygamy. It was that one man should have but one wife, and one woman but one husband....Anybody was liable to be excommunicated or disfellowshipped from the church who attempted to teach the doctrine of plural marriage at that time, up to the death of Joseph Smith."
67 ~ Wilford Woodruff had signed a previous affidavit testifying of Joseph's innocence ~
One of those who testified that Joseph had been a secret polygamist was Wilford Woodruff. However, Wilford Woodruff had also signed the 1835 statement of marriage issued by Joseph Smith in Times and Seasons. The judge overseeing the case stated in his final address,
...it must be a little embarrassing to President Woodruff of that organization when he is confronted, as he was in the evidence in this case, with a published card in the church organ at Nauvoo in October, 1843, certifying that he knew of no other rule or system of marriage than the one published in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and that the "secret wife system," charged against the church, was a creature of invention by one Doctor Bennett, and that they knew of no such society. That certificate was signed by the leading members of the church, including John Taylor the former President of the Utah Church. And a similar certificate was published by the Ladies' Relief Society of the same place, signed by Emma Smith, the wife of Joseph Smith, and Phoebe Woodruff, wife of the present President Woodruff.
Decision of Judge Philips in Temple Lot Case, p. 43
68. 'What about the women who said they were married to Joseph?'
By 1869 when Joseph F. Smith started collecting affidavits from women stating connection to Joseph Smith, the terms of marriage and sealing had been conflated to such a large extent that the question asked to the women to give testimony of was, "Were you married or sealed to Joseph Smith?" The women were only able to state "Yes" or "No" to the judge. During the Temple Lot trial, this conflation of the two terms by polygamists continued,
E. L. Kelley & Melissa Lott:
56: Well what ceremony was used on that occasion?
M. Lott: It was that I was married to him [Joseph Smith Jr.] for time and all eternity.
57: Were you married or seal[ed] to him?
M. Lott: Well I don’t know any difference in the ceremony it was all the same exactly. All the ceremonies that I ever know anything of were all the same.
58: That is to say you don’t know any difference between the ceremony of marriage and the ceremony of sealing?
M. Lott: No sir.
https://uncorrelatedmormonism.com/temple-lot-case/36-melissa-lott-willes/
E.L. Kelley & Lorenzo Snow:
73: And at that time you stated that he [Joseph Smith Jr.] told you that he had already taken your sister as a wife?
L. Snow: Yes sir, that was the statement he made to me in this private interview, that is related in that affidavit.
74: Did he say that she was taken as a wife and married to him, or did he say that she was sealed to him?
L. Snow: Sealed to him.
75: Sealed to him?
L. Snow: Yes sir.
76: How sealed to him?
L. Snow: For time and eternity.
77: Did he use the word “time” as well as “eternity”?
L. Snow: I think so, but I couldn’t say positively. That was distinctly understood you know. I believe, I would say that I solemnly believe so to the best of my knowledge, because that is a term that is generally used in the matter when the question of plural marriage is spoken of in reference to sealing “for time and eternity”. That is the way it is generally referred to you know, in speaking of the matter of plural marriage.
https://uncorrelatedmormonism.com/temple-lot-case/37-lorenzo-snow/
69. 'What about the women who said they were married to him "even in the act of flesh"?'
Of the women who, many years later, testified to have been "married or sealed" to Joseph, only two women were willing to state that they were his wives "in very deed". Judge Philips deemed their testimonies to be lacking as far as proof that Joseph Smith introduced polygamy as a core tenet of the faith (as the LDS church was trying to argue at the time.) Said he,
It is charged by the Respondents, as an echo of the Utah Church, that Joseph Smith, "the Martyr," secretly taught and practiced polygamy; and the Utah contingent furnishes the evidence, and two of the women, to prove this fact. It perhaps would be uncharitable to say of these women that they have borne false testimony as to their connection with Joseph Smith; but, in view of all the evidence and circumstances surrounding the alleged intercourse, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that at most they were but sports in "nest hiding."... No such marriage ever occurred under the rules of the church, and no offspring came from the imputed illicit intercourse, although Joseph Smith was in the full vigor of young manhood, and his wife, Emma, was giving birth to healthy children in regular order, and was enciente [pregnant] at the time of Joseph's death. But if it were conceded that Joseph Smith, and Hyrum, his brother, did secretly practice concubinage, - is the church to be charged with those liaisons, and the doctrine of polygamy to be predicated thereon of the church? If so, I suspect the doctrine of polygamy might be Imputed to many of the Gentile churches. Certainly it was never promulgated, taught, nor recognized, as a doctrine of the church prior to the assumption of Brigham Young.
Decision of Judge Philips in Temple Lot Case, pp. 42-44
70. 'Weren't there women who at the time wrote in their journals of being married to Joseph?'
No, there are no journal accounts from any woman stating that she was married to Joseph Smith, nor stating any other improper relationship either. The only journal accounts of Joseph's polygamy we have supposedly from that time are William Clayton's and these show signs of later alteration. An in-depth analysis of William Clayton's journals and the evidence for them to not have been contemporaneous to Joseph Smith's life can been seen in the following video with Jeremy Hoop:
Proving William Clayton's Journals are not Contemporaneous
71. 'How can you think the 1890s church leaders to have been complicit in lies about Joseph's practice of polygamy?'
We know that those church leaders lied with regards to other aspects of polygamy. The 1890 manifesto ordered the cessation of all new plural marriages, but we know that new plural marriages continued amongst church leaders despite this:
In all, 8 of 19 members of the Quorum of the Twelve who served between 1890 and 1904 married new plural wives during those years, and these marriages are not represented on the ledger. These members include Brigham Young Jr., George Teasdale, John W. Taylor...
Gospel Topics Essays, "The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage"
These leaders believed that Joseph Smith had similarly lied about his own practice of polygamy, and so they perhaps justified their untruths of it by the same line of rationalization that they had for excusing Joseph's.
72. 'With all the affidavits and statements by church members, doesn't the current church narrative have the greater quantity of evidence?'
Quality of evidence ought to be given greater weight over quantity. All verified first-hand words of Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum Smith consistently and over a period of several years condemn any present or future teachings of polygamy. The court cases that they initiated, both in city and church councils, reflect this, and they did win both of their civil cases. We do not know Joseph, Emma, or Hyrum of having borne false testimony of their lives in any other aspects. The testimonies of their contemporaneous accusers of polygamy (both those within the church and those without) have made other statements of questionable truth, some shown conclusively as false. All court testimonies that Joseph Smith was a polygamist came decades after his death, showed inconsistencies between accounts, and were ultimately deemed in court to be erroneous. Every court case regarding Joseph's polygamy has determined him to have been falsely accused.
73. 'Doesn't this narrative interfere with what we know of the Nauvoo timeline?'
The Nauvoo timeline of polygamous sealings actually makes more sense under the narrative that Joseph did not approve of polygamy. In the year following Joseph and Hyrum's deaths, there was a sharp increase in the number of plural marriages entered into by those of the Twelve, as can be seen by these sealing dates for Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball:
74. 'I'd heard that the reason why Joseph didn't get any of his plural wives pregnant was because the women were too stressed.'
The martyrdom and the year following it was arguably one of the most traumatic and stressful periods of time in Mormon history, and yet at that time there was a polygamous baby boom amongst the women the Twelve had taken as plural wives:
75. 'If Section 132 was fabricated, why not produce it right after Joseph died? Why wait until 1852?'
A reason for this was never given by church leaders. At that same special conference, Brigham Young said,
They have cried out, Proclaim it! But it would not do a few years ago, everything must come in its time, as there is a time in all things I am now ready to proclaim it. This revelation has been in my possession many years, and who has known it? None but those who should know it. I keep a patent lock on my desk and there is not anything leak out that should not.
Deseret News, Great Salt Lake City, U.T., September 14, 1852; page 25
However, 1852 was also the same year that Hyrum Smith’s widow, Mary Fielding, died. At the time of the announcement to the church, she was bedridden and under the supervision of Heber C. Kimball and Vilate Kimball. Brigham Young and the rest of the Twelve would have had access to this knowledge as Heber C. Kimball was also one of the Twelve. Her condition had deteriorated to the point that she was not recorded as venturing out of doors. She died less than four weeks after the announcement of the revelation was given, perhaps having never heard of it.
76 ~ Another major announcement at that special conference weakens Brigham Young's appearance of pure intentions ~
The announcement of the Section 132 document was not the only, or the first, major announcement of the special conference. The day previous, Brigham Young had announced to the church membership that a large number of men were, within the next few weeks, going to be called on missions that were to last for 3-7 years. In total, 115 men were called on missions, all outside the Utah Territory. [a]
The leaders of the church here announced that plural marriage is a central doctrine of the church, that all members must practice it, and that it is essential to one's exaltation — and at that exact same time, over a hundred men were sent away for 3-7 years to where they would be unable to compete for the women left behind with the highest-ranking church leaders. This calls the divinity of these actions into even more serious question.
77 ~ The doctrine of plural marriage was not assented to by the church membership at the time of its implementation ~
Doctrine & Covenants 26:2 states,
2 And all things shall be done by common consent
in the church, by much prayer and faith, for all
things you shall receive by faith. Amen.
This is repeated in Doctrine & Covenants 28:12-13, with more clarification,
12 ...neither shall anything be appointed unto any
of this church contrary to the church covenants.
13 For all things must be done in order, and by
common consent in the church, by the prayer of faith.
In 1833, the document on marriage that later became Section 101 of the 1835 Doctrine & Covenants was accepted as doctrine of the church by vote of assent among all members who were present to give their vote. Conversely, this did not happen for the revelation we now know as Section 132 when it was introduced in 1852 by Brigham Young, nor did it happen at any other time during his life. A vote of assent never occurred specific to Section 132 or the practice of polygamy, as it was only in 1880 that one took place for the updated 1876 edition of the Doctrine & Covenants. This means that for the majority of the time that polygamy was in practice in the LDS church, monogamy was still the only law of marriage that had ever been accepted as doctrine by vote of common consent.
78. 'Wouldn't denouncing polygamy cause people to leave the church?'
Many if not most of those who either have lost or never gained a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon have indicated this to be in part due to the doctrine of polygamy. Denouncing polygamy would therefore lead more adherents into the church, not fewer, and would also make it easier to stay.
79. 'For those who already have testimonies, wouldn't this be weakening to their faith?'
That has not been my case. While I have discarded my testimony in certain lesser things, my testimony of The Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith as a prophet, and his mission in establishing the true Church is stronger and will never be in any way tied up in nor conditional on the integrity of other men.
80. 'Early Mormon pioneers are the ones who actually needed to have testimonies of plural marriage, and they did. How can you dismiss the individual testimonies of the doctrine of polygamy that all those members of the church had?'
Polygamy was only practiced by 20-30% of families during the time that it was in practice. [a] This is despite the fact that Brigham Young and contemporaneous leaders preached of it being essential to exaltation, official doctrine of the church, a central teaching of the church, and had it included as part of the temple endowment. Brigham's teachings on the matter were of the following kind:
The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy. Others attain unto a glory and may even be permitted to come into the presence of the Father and the Son; but they cannot reign as kings in glory, because they had blessings offered unto them, and they refused to accept them.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 11, p. 269
Now if any of you will deny the plurality of wives, and continue to do so, I promise that you will be damned.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p. 266
Despite these quotes and others like it, the large majority of members of the church never adopted the practice of plural marriage for themselves. 70-80% of early Mormon pioneer families, for whatever reasons they had, seemed to either think or feel that it wasn't a right or desirable thing for themselves.
81 ~ Those unwilling to practice polygamy were told they would lose their families in the hereafter ~
In later years Brigham Young went so far as to teach that a husband who was living monogamously would have his wife taken from him in the eternities:
Now, where a man in this church says, ‘I don't want but one wife, I will live my religion with one.' He will perhaps be saved in the Celestial Kingdom; but when he gets there he will not find himself in possession of any wife at all.... and he will remain single forever and ever. Brigham Young, Deseret News, September 17, 1873
Journal of Discourses volume 16, pg. 166. August 31, 1873
[A] man who did not have but one wife in the Resurrection that woman will not be his but [be] taken from him & given to another. Prophet Brigham Young, quoted by Wilford Woodruff, in Abanes, One Nation Under Gods, p. 579
He also told me that he would preach a sermon that day for me which I would understand, while the rest of the congregation would not comprehend its meaning. His subject was the ten talents, “Unto him that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundantly, but from him that hath not (or will not receive), shall be taken away that which he hath (or might have had).” Plainly giving me to understand that the talents represented wives and children, as the principle of enlargement throughout the great future to those who were heirs of salvation.
The Historical Record: https://archive.org/details/historicalrecord06jens/page/220/mode/2up
In light of this it could be argued that many entered polygamy not due to belief of it being a wonderful, glorious principle of heaven, but out of fear of receiving cursing, eternal damnation, and being eternally separated from one's family.
82 ~ Some members who practiced polygamy on paper still weren't willing to use it to ‘raise up seed’ ~
There seem to have been certain husbands and wives who were willing to believe in the teaching that plural marriage was necessary for exaltation, but who nonetheless put it off for themselves until later in life, perhaps deciding to raise a family together as a couple first with the plan to find an old widow or spinster to support as a plural wife at some point in the future. Brigham Young is speaking out against these men who were not willing to procreate with plural wives (as well as against plural wives who were not willing to procreate with their husbands) when he said,
Few, if any, of the temple marriages have been made binding upon the Lord by the participants fulfilling their vow and covenant, 'to fulfill all the laws, rites and ordinances pertaining to this holy matrimony in the new and everlasting covenant.' This means obeying the law of Abraham and Sarah as set forth in the Holy Scriptures (D&C Sections 131 and 132, especially verse 34). Without compliance to this law upon which eternal marriage is predicated, you will get about as far as anyone married outside the temple. The Lord says, "I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." See D&C 82:10.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 16, p. 167
The Doctrine & Covenants verse that he references (D&C 132:34) is the verse stating that Abraham had been commanded to impregnate Hagar. Brigham Young's counsel here then, is that men are commanded to consummate marriages with plural wives who are young enough to bear children, and that plural wives are commanded to allow their husband to try to impregnate them.
83 ~ Many of those who did enter into the practice of polygamy left it later on ~
Under official church doctrine of the time, a wife who divorced her polygamist husband would be without any chance of exaltation unless she were to afterwards marry another polygamist, and according to Brigham Young's words specifically, it had to be a higher-ranking church leader who wanted 'to take her on'. Plural wives would also not be legally eligible for any divorce alimony due to their marriage not having been legal (and the church itself also did not require a husband to pay any support to a plural wife who divorces him). Despite this, Brigham Young still had at least ten wives divorce him (four other wives are unaccounted for). Only one of his divorced wives (Eliza Babcock) is reported as having remained in polygamy with another man throughout the remainder of her life. A full list of women detractors amongst the wives of the leadership and other polygamous men would likely not be possible to form due to the unlawful and therefore often undocumented nature of plural marriages. Those women who left their polygamous husbands without later remarrying another polygamist either lost their testimony of the necessity of polygamy for exaltation, or else gave up trying to live worthily of exaltation.
84 ~ It was due to the voices of polygamous women that the Anti-Polygamy Society of Utah was formed and gained support ~
One of the most famous anti-polygamy women of history is Jennie Anderson Froiseth. Jennie was a very well-educated and well-traveled Catholic from an extremely prominent family in New York. She married an army surveyor stationed in Salt Lake City and, feeling isolated from the outside world once there, created an exclusive women's education club called the Blue Tea. Mormon women were not permitted as members of the club -- monogamous wives seem to have not liked associating closely with polygamists who might start preaching things to their husbands or to their daughters.
This segregated tolerance towards Mormons and their polygamy ended one night in 1878 when a polygamist wife, Carrie Owens, went running from house to house knocking on doors of non-Mormons asking for help to leave her husband. Members of the Blue Tea immediately became involved and the next day Carrie's husband was arrested for bigamy. However, "There were no witnesses, no marriage records at the time, and there was no legal case that could be made due to the lack of evidence and the inability for a woman to legally testify in the Utah territory without the permission of her husband." [a] The members of the Blue Tea then acted to form the Anti-Polygamy Society of Utah. Jennie started a monthly newspaper aimed to educate those within and outside of Utah about all that was occurring with polygamy in the Territory. She interviewed many dozens of Mormon women in polygamous families and compiled their stories in a book titled, The Women of Mormonism: Or, The story of polygamy as told by the victims themselves. The book records many accounts of abuse and neglect, all except the worst ones -- it states that abuses which were too 'indecent' to be published to the public were not included. Jennie's book and The Anti-Polygamy Society were instrumental in the LDS church becoming disincorporated and church property being seized -- it was less than ten years after the Anti-Polygamy Society was founded that the Edmunds–Tucker Act was passed.
Jennie and the other members of the Anti-Polygamy Society have been regarded in LDS history as anti-Mormons who fought against the church due to a prejudiced vendetta to erode the religious freedom of Mormon society. But it was only because of the pleadings of a Mormon woman that they ever first became involved, and it was only because so many polygamous women were willing to let a non-Mormon publish their grievances that Jennie could create her 470-page publication.
85 ~ The reported afflictions of polygamous women, and their feelings of it, are validated by Jacob chapter 2 ~
Jacob chapter 2 tells us that the painful experiences of Mormon polygamous women are not incidental nor irrelevant. In verses 31 to 35 the Lord says,
For behold, I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow, and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people in the land of Jerusalem, yea, and in all the lands of my people, because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands. And I will not suffer, saith the Lord of Hosts, that the cries of the fair daughters of this people, which I have led out of the land of Jerusalem, shall come up unto me against the men of my people... For they shall not lead away captive the daughters of my people because of their tenderness, save I shall visit them with a sore curse, even unto destruction; ...Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you... [with] many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds.
Here the Lord states that the pain of polygamy bourne by women is universal amongst all His people, and is so grievous to Him that He would sooner bring cursing and destruction to the men rather than allow the men to prosper in it. Jennie Anderson Froiseth's 470-page book is the largest record ever compiled of the 'sorrow', 'mourning', 'cries', 'sobbings of the heart', and 'deep wounds' of the 'captive', 'broken-hearted' polygamous women whose 'hearts [have] died.'
Brigham Young, when confronted himself by the grievances of polygamous women, did not follow after the Lord's model of concern for them,
Men will say, ‘My wife, though a most excellent woman, has not seen a happy day since I took my second wife; No, not a happy day for a year,' says one; and another has not seen a happy day for five years. It is said that women are tied down and abused: that they are misused and have not the liberty they ought to have; that many of them are wading through a perfect flood of tears, because of the conduct of some men together with their own folly... I wish my women, and brother Kimball's and brother Grant's to leave, and every woman in this Territory, or else say in their hearts that they will embrace the Gospel – the whole of it.... say to your wives, ‘Take all that I have and be set at liberty; but if you stay with me you shall comply with the law of God, and that too without any murmuring and whining. You must fulfill the law of God in every respect, and round up your shoulders to walk up to the mark without any grunting.' ...But the first wife will say, ‘It is hard, for I have lived with my husband twenty years, or thirty, and have raised a family of children for him, and it is a great trial to me for him to have more women;' then I say it is time that you gave him up to other women who will bear children. If my wife had borne me all the children that she ever would bare, the celestial law would teach me to take young women that would have children....
But I do know that there is no cessation to the everlasting whining of many of the women in this Territory; I am satisfied that this is the case. And if the women will turn from the commandments of God and continue to despise the order of heaven, I will pray that the curse of the Almighty may be close to their heels, and that it may be following them all day long.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 4, pp. 55-57, also printed in the Deseret News, v. 6, pp. 235-236
86. 'If so many early Mormon pioneers didn’t like polygamy, why wasn’t there an anti-polygamy movement within the church?'
Many anti-polygamists were excommunicated after the martyrdom. In the church vote of succession by the members, the Twelve with Brigham Young as president were elected by majority vote to be the new leaders of the Church. Those who opposed the vote were all later excommunicated. [a]
Those not of the Twelve who vied the Twelve for the presidency of the church after the martyrdom -- Sidney Ridgon, James J. Strang, William Smith, and Granville Hedrick -- afterward either established or joined off-shoot branches of Mormonism that all taught and practiced monogamy. William Marks, John E. Page, and Lyman Wight were three other high-ranking Nauvoo leaders who dissented from the church under Brigham Young's leadership and rejected the doctrine of polygamy.
The Twelve under the leadership of Brigham Young continued to excommunicate those who disavowed polygamy over the following decades. One of those was Brigham Young's plural wife Ann Eliza Webb, who wrote an anti-polygamy memoir titled, Wife No. 19. Fanny Warn Stenhouse, T. B. H. Stenhouse, Gudmund Gudmundson, and Samuel Broadhurst were other members who disavowed polygamy and were excommunicated. However, a full list of anti-polygamist Mormons would likely never be feasibly formed as the given reasons for such excommunications at the time were the more vague terms of "apostasy". Anti-polygamy sentiment was not possible to become organized within the church itself.
87. 'Wouldn't adopting this narrative be too much of a progressive shift in the church?'
Being that the doctrine of monogamy was the original stance of the church, a return to that stance would only be a reversion back to the church's first established teachings of marriage, not any new, progressive, or radical alteration.
88. 'But what are the odds that this narrative would actually become accepted by church leaders?'
During the Civil Right's Era there was mounting pressure on the LDS church -- both from scholars within and activists outside of the church -- to grant priesthood ordination to men of African descent. Certain LDS scholars declared that the ban was undoctrinal on account of our own scriptures dictating that the gospel is go to every 'nation, people, and tongue'. Spencer W. Kimball as church apostle spoke against those LDS scholars, stating that they were not respecting the proper process of divine revelation,
These smart members who would force the issue, and there are many of them, cheapen the issue and certainly bring into contempt the sacred principle of revelation and divine authority. The conferring of priesthood and declining to give the priesthood is not a matter of my choice nor of President McKay's. It is the Lord's program. When the Lord is ready to relax the restriction it will come whether there is pressure or not. This is my faith; until then I shall try to fight on.
Spencer W. Kimball, letter to his son Edward Kimball, 1963
The church's stance remained firm despite boycotts, protests, very bad public relations and media attention, issues trying to determine member lineage in Brazil, a pro-ordination organization within the church called the Genesis Group, and rumored tax threats.
Then, in 1973 LDS historian Lester E. Bush published a 70-page article titled, Mormonism’s Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview. [a] Of all that was included, most notable was his argued case that the priesthood ban was not something revealed by Joseph Smith, but an artifact later introduced by Brigham Young. This changed things for many church leaders, including Spencer W. Kimball, who was now church president. He later met individually with all of the Twelve and with many other church leaders to discuss their views on the matter. Kimball then was reported to have told the first two sister missionaries of African descent 'that God wasn't waiting on black people to be ready but waiting on the church and church leaders to finally repent.' The ban was ended in 1978, only five years after Lester E. Bush's paper had been published.
I think that doctrinal polygamy can follow a similar path out of the church.
89. 'Why would post-polygamy church leadership have believed the polygamist narrative if they didn't have good reason to?'
"History is written by the victors." With every leader and member who disbelieved the narrative of Joseph having been a polygamist being excommunicated for decades and labeled apostates, the only content that was deemed credibly unbiased by the church were accounts that confirmed this narrative. The historical momentum that this caused has meant that the documents pointing to Joseph Smith having been a monogamist are much fewer than that he was not, and the number of people in the church who believe him to have perhaps been a monogamist are much fewer as well.
90. 'If this were to be true, why wouldn't our current church leaders have had this revealed to them already?'
The most oft-repeated phrase in the Doctrine & Covenants is "seek and ye shall find". However this also means that without seeking, you will not find. I presume that the reason the leaders haven't learned of and revealed any of this themselves is because they haven't sought it diligently for themselves. I think it to be only a matter of time before they do.
91. 'But what about church historians? How do you think they could have gotten all this wrong?'
LDS church historians have changed their proposed narrative of events several times before. Joseph Smith was deemed the likely father of several sons through plural wives, up to and until the point that each one was individually proven conclusively false by DNA testing. Up until 2016, it was still believed that Josephine Lyon was a daughter of Joseph Smith. Her mother Sylvia had post-humously been reported as having made a death-bed confession that Josephine was Joseph's daughter. This for church historians was a testimony that could not be refuted -- Josephine's name was obviously in honor of her real father Joseph Smith Jr. In 2016 autosomnal DNA testing confirmed that Josephine Lyon was in fact the daughter of William Lyon, her mother's husband. Church historians have lost all that they have held over the decades to be their most solid evidence.
92. 'That answers why it wouldn't be considered back then, but what about now? Why wouldn't church historians be forward about this now?'
One marker of a good historian is that they do not settle on or change positions lightly; a very long period of time is taken to consider all possible aspects of all known and unknown information. I first learned of this alternate narrative in 2016, and have spent the following seven years studying it out on my own before acting to write anything about it online. I speculate that there are church historians who have also been following and studying the particulars of this narrative in recent years, but that not enough time has passed yet in the historical re-evaluation process for them to state it to be a valid possible narrative.
93. 'Well why would you stay in the church right now if you think it to be wrong about all this right now?'
Many of those who realize that the navigational course is wrong decide to jump ship. I'd prefer to yell the captain into going in the right direction; I'd think that to be the much better outcome for everyone involved. Considering the suffering that Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum endured to form the church, it's a relatively small thing to try to reform what they've left behind.
94. 'What about the keys of the priesthood? If you think the church to be wrong about this, then you must be denouncing the validity of the church's priesthood keys.'
Under church doctrine, legitimacy of performed priesthood ordinances is contingent upon the validity of the ordination of the priesthood holder, not the worthiness of the priesthood holder — if a bishop is found to be engaging in wrongdoing, even the most serious wrongdoing, his authorization to perform further ordinances is removed, but any ordinances he has already performed are not re-done. This was the case during Joseph Smith’s lifetime as well, and is the same for any other priesthood position besides only a bishop. Denouncing wrongdoing and unworthiness in past leaders does not, under the doctrine established by Joseph Smith, call any later priesthood holder's keys into question. This also aligns with Book of Mormon accounts of priesthood ordination, as Alma the Elder, despite having been ordained as a priest by the other wicked priests of King Noah, afterwards continued to exercise his same priesthood keys.
John the Baptist, in his conferring of the Aaronic priesthood on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, is quoted as saying, "this shall never be taken again from the earth", [a] (as it had been when Christ's disciples were all killed.) Many have taken this to believe that the church Joseph established would never fall into serious wrongdoing — but those are two different things.
95. 'What about the line of succession then? Doesn't this narrative go against the Lord's model of succession within the church?'
We only have first-hand records of Joseph Smith appointing Hyrum Smith as president after him. Brigham Young and Lorenzo Snow, both members of the Twelve, were the only ones who ever posthumously to Joseph's life quoted him as stating that the Twelve were to lead the church in the advent of Hyrum's death. Others refuted this claim, including Samuel Smith (who died a month later), Lucy Mack Smith, Emma Smith, William Smith, James Whitehead, and Sidney Rigdon. It is not against the verified words of Joseph Smith, nor the word of the Lord through Joseph Smith, to state that our current policy of succession within the church was first determined by majority vote, not something explicitly directed by the Lord.
96. 'It's been taught that if you have a testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, then you can know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and then you can know that Brigham Young was a true prophet and all the leaders succeeding him, and that by this one can infer the truth of everything in the church that is most important.'
The idea of 'true by association' — that is, only having a testimony of one thing because you received witness of a different thing — surely ought to be re-examined.
97. 'How can you think that descendants of polygamy would themselves accept this narrative?'
King Noah in the Book of Mormon is another leader that led the church of his territory into polygamy and other wickedness. Limhi was his son, and openly condemned his father's sins, disregarding what familial shame this might bring to himself.
98. 'What makes you think church leaders would ever denounce Brigham Young if they claim right to succession through him and the line of the Twelve?'
Limhi still denounced his father's false teachings and practices, despite himself likely being at least one of his father's potential appointed successors to the throne. He did not withhold judgment from his father in attempt to protect any reputational legitimacy of his own reign. This was counted unto him as righteousness.
99. 'Admitting that the LDS church was wrong about polygamy would mean admitting the RLDS were right about it'
The LDS church has already now aligned with the RLDS church's 1865 stance on granting priesthood ordination to men of African descent. Five years after the RLDS church was formed, the question was put forward as to whether other ethnicities ought to be considered worthy of priesthood ordination. Joseph Smith III asked this question in prayer, and stated that he received this answer:
Hearken! Ye elders of my church, I am he who hath called you friends. Concerning the matter you have asked of me: Lo! It is my will that my gospel shall be preached to all nations in every land, and that men of every tongue shall minister before me: Therefore it is expedient in me that you ordain priests unto me, of every race who receive the teachings of my law, and become heirs according to the promise. RLDS Doctrine & Covenants 116:1
Our LDS doctrine is now the same: that men of all nations of every land, tongue, and race are meant to receive priesthood ordination and always have been. Hesitancy shouldn't be given in admitting wrong to something else too.
100. 'Wouldn't denouncing the doctrine of polygamy mean that we'd need to give up the doctrine of Heavenly Mother as well?'
We also have no first-hand accounts of Joseph directly speaking of the existence of a Heavenly Mother. The only records we have that make mention of a Heavenly Mother are posthumous to Joseph's life, written by polygamists or later polygamists, and most are with wording that either give allowance for or directly state of there being multiple Heavenly Mothers to our Heavenly Father. From all this, it would appear that the doctrine of a Heavenly Mother came only after Joseph's death, and only from polygamists.
However, certain of those who have been studying and seeking answers on this topic have received personal witness of the existence and divinity of a Heavenly Mother. Despite a dearth of unquestionable historical revelation on the topic, abandoning one's testimony of polygamy does not infer that one must abandon their testimony of a Heavenly Mother, and it means that we could give allowance for there being only one Heavenly Mother for all Heavenly Father's children.
101. 'How could we have our official doctrine of Heavenly Mother be redefined in this way if all revealed information we have is from polygamists?'
At the time the priesthood and temple bans were in effect, certain leaders in the church had prayed for several years that God would lift the bans — to no effect. While presidents of the church like David O. McKay and Spencer W. Kimball stated their openness to receiving such a revelation, they also state that God never did at that time manifest that He was now lifting the bans. It was not until church leaders learned that God never instituted nor sanctioned the bans and that more of the wider church leadership needed to first receive testimony of that, that the presidency then later collectively experienced what certain of them described as the "most powerful spiritual witness of their lives" as confirmation to allow those of African descent all the rites of temple and priesthood ordinances.
It might just be that once there is sufficient willingness to believe of there being only one Heavenly Mother for all Heavenly Father's children, that we as a church will then receive further witness of our Heavenly Mother's existence and divinity.
102. 'Why make this this fuss over polygamy when our practice of it ended so long ago? Why not focus on basic gospel truths?'
It is abominable to the Lord, abominable to our founding church leaders, it causes tender hearts of wives to be broken (Jacob 2:35), a loss of confidence in children (Jacob 2:35), a greater risk of fatal and near-fatal genetic deformities, and chronic societal and familial instability. Monogamous marriage as established by God between Adam & Eve and all their posterity is a basic gospel truth.
103 ~ A release from condemnation ~
Jacob told the Nephites that they were under condemnation simply for making rationalizations to institute polygamy:
...For behold, thus saith the Lord: This people begin to wax in iniquity; they understand not the scriptures, for they seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms... Jacob 2:23
By this it would appear that even if we are not actively practicing polygamy, we are still under a level of condemnation from the Lord for teaching it as excusable. Any level of condemnation inhibits spiritual light and knowledge and hinders what revelation is received from the Lord. The LDS church could perhaps receive a much greater manifestation of spiritual gifts and knowledge if we no longer 'seek to excuse [past leaders] in committing whoredoms' due to us 'not understand[ing] the scriptures'. We have more scriptures that condemn polygamy than the Nephites ever had.
104. 'What if I'm still not yet convinced?'
Many aspects of early Mormon polygamy are more complex and not easily addressed by simple Question-Answer format. Deeper understanding of this narrative, with important and relevant details of Joseph Smith's life and ministry, can be gained by accessing the content on the Further Study page.
Also seek confirmation of the truth from the Lord in prayer, as "by the voice of the Spirit ye may know the truth of all things," and as Joseph Smith read, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him."