Church Essays on Polygamy

[Enoch]

https://www.lds.org/topics/plural-marri ... o?lang=eng" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.lds.org/topics/plural-marri ... h?lang=eng" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.lds.org/topics/plural-marri ... s?lang=eng" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

also here:
http://www.sltrib.com/news/1733664-155/ ... e-lds-says" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Joel]

EX-MOs are having fun with them:

http://mormondisclosures.blogspot.com/2 ... r.html?m=1

http://mormondisclosures.blogspot.com/2 ... o.html?m=1

http://media.blubrry.com/infantsonthron ... ckdown.mp3

[Robin Hood]

Is there anyone on this board who concurs with me that Joseph Smith was not a polygamist?

[Stacy Oliver]

Is there anyone on this board who concurs with me that Joseph Smith was not a polygamist?

Probably not many. Even the reorgs gave up on that one. But I am interested in hearing your argument.

[Joel]

Is there anyone on this board who concurs with me that Joseph Smith was not a polygamist?

Rock Waterman is on this forum, he agrees with you about that.

Here an essay he wrote: http://puremormonism.blogspot.com/2010/ ... y.html?m=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[SAM]

Is there anyone on this board who concurs with me that Joseph Smith was not a polygamist?

I still haven't decided for sure. I don't believe it's a celestial practice, but I know I'm wrong on a lot of things, so I keep an open mind that I'm wrong on that point too. The entire principle, however, sits wrong with me. However, if consenting adults all decide they are happy to live it, under no duress about their eternal salvation bring at stake, then I say they should be free to practice it.

[Robin Hood]

Is there anyone on this board who concurs with me that Joseph Smith was not a polygamist?

Rock Waterman is on this forum, he agrees with you about that.

Here an essay he wrote: http://puremormonism.blogspot.com/2010/ ... y.html?m=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Rock's here?
Great!

[Robin Hood]

I'm familiar with Rock's essay on this issue.
However, I came to the view that Joseph was not a polygamist some years ago. When I say "polygamy" I'm talking about plural marriage - including marital relations. The catalyst for me initially was the work done by Richard and Pamela Price. But later I started doing my own research and giving the issue some deep thought.
I have concluded that Joseph was sealed to a number of people, but not married to them. Meaning the sealings were for eternity only and not for time. No marital relations occurred, therefore no children were born (as recent DNA research appears to demonstrate), and the whole thing was dynastical in nature, as Helen Mar Kimball made clear.

[Stacy Oliver]

I think that that's a thoroughly defensible position. But, its difficult to know for certain whether or not they had sex. It's true that there's no evidence (or at least limited evidence) of children born to the polygamous relationships, but that evidence can only prove so much.

[jbalm]

Is there anyone on this board who concurs with me that Joseph Smith was not a polygamist?

I try to. It is difficult with the amount of evidence to the contrary that gets tossed out there...as much by the church and LDS apologists as anyone else. But thinking he was not involved in polygamy is appealing.

But, whether JS was a polygamist or not, there is no happy outcome. The way I see it is:

a) If JS was a polygamist, then he was a bald-faced liar.
b) If JS was not a polygamist, then his contemporaries, who went on to lead and shape the LDS church for decades after JS died, were bald-faced liars.

It's a mess, no matter how you slice it.

[Robin Hood]

Is there anyone on this board who concurs with me that Joseph Smith was not a polygamist?

I try to. It is difficult with the amount of evidence to the contrary that gets tossed out there...as much by the church and LDS apologists as anyone else. But thinking he was not involved in polygamy is appealing.

But, whether JS was a polygamist or not, there is no happy outcome. The way I see it is:

a) If JS was a polygamist, then he was a bald-faced liar.
b) If JS was not a polygamist, then his contemporaries, who went on to lead and shape the LDS church for decades after JS died, were bald-faced liars.

It's a mess, no matter how you slice it.

I agree it appears to be a mess.
I'm not sure I can completely agree with Price and Rock about polygamy coming into the church entirely through the Cochranites, but I do believe that played a significant part.
Bro. Brigham isn't disqualified from the prophetic mantle because he had a number of plural marriages in my view. In fact he even gave us a very significant revelation recorded as D&C 136. But prophets and presidents are not immune from mistakes or from sin; or from bloody-mindedness!

One angle that interests me is the role Joseph Smith III played in getting polygamy stopped. He worked very closely with the US government on the issue and his motivation seems to have been to rescue the Utah saints from abuse and persecution; and not to convert them to the Reorganisation. His patriarchal blessing states that he would finish the work his father began. According to William Marks, Joseph Smith was starting to take steps to stamp polygamy out just before he died. Maybe JSIII fulfilled his PB.

[Kitkat]

I just read through the churches statements. Sounds like a lot of second hand info, written after the fact, hardly any original sources. I do not believe he practiced it, at least not at all as we understand it today.

[jbalm]

...Bro. Brigham isn't disqualified from the prophetic mantle because he had a number of plural marriages in my view. In fact he even gave us a very significant revelation recorded as D&C 136. But prophets and presidents are not immune from mistakes or from sin; or from bloody-mindedness!

It isn't the polygamy per se that bugs me. It's all the lying surrounding it.

[Enoch]

Here is a good discussion between Rock Waterman and George Miller on if it originated with Joseph Smith.

http://forum.newordermormon.org/viewtop ... &start=100" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Here is one of the quotes from one of the posters:


Fine. We'll talk about polygamy.

Quote:
About the first of April, 1843, the Prophet with some of the Twelve and others came to Macedonia to hold a meeting, which was to convene in a large cabinet shop owned by Brother Joseph E. and myself, and as usual he put up at my house. Early on Sunday morning he said, "Come Brother Bennie, let us have a walk." I took his arm and he led the way into a by-place in the edge of the woods surrounded by tall brush and trees. Here, as we sat down upon a log he began to tell me that the Lord had revealed to him that plural or patriarchal marriage was according to His law; and that the Lord had not only revealed it to him but had commanded him to obey it; that he was required to take other wives; and that he wanted my Sister Almira for one of them, and wished me to see and talk to her upon the subject. If a thunderbolt had fallen at my feet I could hardly have been more shocked or amazed. He saw the struggle in my mind and went on to explain. But the shock was too great for me to comprehend anything, and in almost an agony of feeling I looked him squarely in the eye, and said, while my heart gushed up before him, "Brother Joseph, this is all new to me; it may all be true--you know, but I do not. To my education it is all wrong, but I am going, with the help of the Lord to do just what you say, with this promise to you--that if ever I know you do this to degrade my sister I will kill you, as the Lord lives." He looked at me, oh, so calmly, and said, "Brother Benjamin, you will never see that day, but you shall see the day you will know it is true, and you will fulfill the law and greatly rejoice in it." And he said, "At this morning's meeting, I will preach you a sermon that no one but you will understand. And furthermore, I will promise you that when you open your mouth to your sister, it shall be filled."

At the meeting he read the parable of the Talents, and showed plainly that to him that hath shall be given more, and from him that had but one should be taken that he seemed to have, and given to him who had ten. This, so far as I could understand, might relate to families, but to me there was a horror in the idea of speaking to my sister upon such a subject, the thought of which made me sick. But I had promised, and it must be done. I did not remember his words, and have faith that light would come, I only thought, "How dark it all looks to me.' But I must do it, and so told my sister I wished to see her in a room by herself, where I soon found her seated. I stood before her trembling, my knees shaking, but I opened my mouth and my heart opened to the light of the Lord, my tongue was loosened and I was filled with the Holy Ghost. I preached a sermon that forever converted me and her also to the principle, even though her heart was not yet won by the Prophet. And so I had great joy after my tribulation.

He had asked me to bring my sister to the city, which I soon did, where he saw her at my sister's, the Widow Sherman, who had already been sealed to him by proxy. His brother, Hyrum, said to me, "Now, Brother Benjamin, you know that Brother Joseph would not sanction this if it was not from the Lord. The Lord revealed this to Brother Joseph long ago, and he put it off until the Angel of the Lord came to him with a drawn sword and told him that he would be slain if he did not go forth and fulfill the law." He told my sister to have no fears, and he there and then sealed my sister, Almira, to the Prophet.

Soon after this he was at my house again, where he occupied my Sister Almira's room and bed, and also asked me for my youngest sister, Esther M. I told him she was promised in marriage to my wife's brother. He said, "Well, let them marry, for it will all come right."

The orphan girl--Mary Ann Hale--that my mother had raised from a child, was now living with us, of nearly the same age as my sister, and I asked him if he would not like her, as well as Almira. He said, "No, but she is for you. You keep her and take her for your wife and you will be blessed." This seemed like hurrying up my blessings pretty fast, but the spirit of it came upon me, and from that hour I thought of her as a wife that the Lord had given me.

In lighting him to bed one night he showed me his garments and explained that they were such as the Lord made for Adam from skins, and gave me such ideas pertaining to endowments as he thought proper. He told me Freemasonry, as at present, was the apostate endowments, as sectarian religion was the apostate religion.

In the evening he called me and my wife to come and sit down, for he wished to marry us according to the Law of the Lord. I thought it a joke, and said I should not marry my wife again, unless she courted me, for I did it all the first time. He chided my levity, told me he was in earnest, and so it proved, for we stood up and were sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise.

This occurrence is referred to in the life of Joseph Smith as "Spending the evening in giving counsel to Brother Johnson and wife." At this time I knew that the Prophet had as his wives, Louisa Beeman, Eliza R. Snow, Maria and Sarah Lawrence, Sisters Lyon and Dibble, one or two of Bishop Partridge's daughters, and some of C. P. Lott's daughters, together with my own two sisters. And I also knew that Brother J. Bates Noble and others had plural wives, and that the Prophet had sealed to me my first and had given to me a second to be my wife. And I knew of other things in the Prophet's life and teachings that I will not now write, but I do so well remember his declarations in the meetings of the Saints, that the Lord had revealed to him principles, that should he teach and practice them, those who were now his best friends would become his bitterest enemies.


This comes directly from the journals of my family upline, Benjamin Johnson. Who knew the prophet personally obviously. Are you going to tell me that Ben made all of this up?

Big green hugs,

Froggie

[boo]

I am convinced.

[rewcox]

In the evening he called me and my wife to come and sit down, for he wished to marry us according to the Law of the Lord. I thought it a joke, and said I should not marry my wife again, unless she courted me, for I did it all the first time. He chided my levity, told me he was in earnest, and so it proved, for we stood up and were sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise.

Interesting terminology here. Is this what happens on sealings? Why not?

[rewcox]

Also, does it matter? Abraham did it, and Moses did it, so God accepts it at times.

As we learn from Jacob, God determines when it is on or off.

[Enoch]

Here is another persons take on it:
http://untanglingmybrain.blogspot.com/2 ... nesty.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Boo, not trying convince anyone. Just sharing info. But I'd like to hear your thoughts... What do you believe about it?

Rewcox, I think it is important because within our church's history it was proclaimed as an necessary exalting principle.

What do you all think about it?
Is it an eternal law necessary for exaltation?
Do we have a choice to not live it and be exalted only with our spouse?
Is it necessary for becoming a god and populating eternal worlds?
Can women also have more than one eternal husband?
Did it cease out of governmental pressure or divine sanction?
Was it lived correctly?
If Joseph, Brigham, and others failed to correctly live it, can we still honor them?
When we look at the material presented by Brian Hales, Todd Compton, journal entries of the early saints, how do we judge these?

Has anyone received revelation on it?

[SkyBird]

I am a great, great grandson of Brigham Young, through Zina D Huntington, who was sealed to Joseph Smith for time and eternity. My personal feeling is that polygamy in the Latter-day Church was lived and taught wrongly. I don’t believe it was ever intended to create, through sexual union, children… this is the fallen nature or carnal nature of the men who lived it. Its whole purpose (if there is a purpose) was to teach the “spiritual sealing” of our character to the character of godliness and holiness.

As Joseph Smith said: “If men do not comprehend the true nature (attributes) and character of God, they do not comprehend themselves.” All “sealing’s” performed in the temples and church are based on the principle of righteousness (a spiritual union)… which is manifesting the attributes and character of godliness in our thoughts, words and deeds. Why would the Lord go through the motions of bringing forth the Book of Mormon which taught:

“Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none” (Book of Mormon | Jacob 2:27) I believe Joseph Smith was true to this doctrine.

I believe all who took the principle of polygamy to mean to marry and have sexual relations with more than one wife while in mortality will be repenting on the other side of the veil before they ever receive a resurrected body. Polygamy in this light catered to the carnal nature of man.

Polygamy in the “spiritual sense” is the marriage of godly attributes innate to one’s self, which then creates a “union” or “oneness” with god/God. All who enter such a relationship are truly the “sons and daughters” and “children” of God. This is how a “righteous seed” is raised up unto God.

“And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning.”
(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 93:25)

This of course is all my opinion and feelings on the subject, and what the Spirit has taught me to be true.

According to this essay on “Why I’m Abandoning Polygamy”

http://puremormonism.blogspot.com/2010/ ... y.html?m=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I find this essay revealing and notice a huge “cover-up” by early Church “Leaders” that the current Church Leaders have either ignored or are afraid to bring to light what “really” took place during the polygamy era.

[SkyBird]

Ok... I am coping and pasting parts of this essay... I heartily agree with this. Does this mean the current church is "wrong." No it means that what makes the church "true" is if the members are living righteously, honestly and morally virtuous.

“I was reading Richard Van Wagoner’s biography of Sidney Rigdon, and something on page 292 jumped out at me. The Author was discussing how often and adamantly the Prophet Joseph Smith attacked polygamy and those who promoted it:

“The Prophet warned against ‘iniquitous characters [who] say they have authority from Joseph or the First Presidency’ and advising them not to ‘believe anything as coming from us, contrary to the established morals & virtues & scriptural laws...’ The sisters were urged to denounce any man who made polygamous proposals and to ‘shun them as the flying fiery serpent, whether they are Prophets, Seers, or Revelators; Patriarchs, Twelve Apostles, Elders, Priests, Majors, Generals, City Councilors, Aldermen, Marshals, Police, Lord mayors or the Devil, [they] are alike culpable & shall be damned for such evil practices.” (Page 292)

“Joseph Smith was unmistakably condemning to hell any man who advocated polygamy, even if that man was the prophet himself.”

“The Prophet’s most pointed denial of plural marriage occurred on 5 October 1843 in instructions pronounced publicly in the streets of Nauvoo. Willard Richards wrote in Smith’s diary that Joseph ‘gave instructions to try those who were preaching, teaching, or practicing the doctrine of plurality of wives...Joseph forbids it and the practice thereof. No man shall have but one wife.’”

"What really popped out at me was Van Wagoner’s footnote to the above quote, on page 303

“When incorporating Smith's journal into the History of the Church, church leaders, under Brigham Young's direction, deleted ten key words from this significant passage and added forty-nine others so that it now reads:

"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." (Emphasis mine)

”It is not commonly known that the seven volume History of the Church, which purports to have been written by Joseph Smith himself, was substantially added to and edited after the Prophet’s death. After all, Joseph Smith did leave great gaps in the narrative, and if his history was to be complete, the account required additional input from subsequent church historians. Editions of the massive work were still being tweaked by B.H. Roberts as late as 1912.

“Still, it struck me that the passage above had been substantially doctored so as to completely change its meaning. It put words into the Prophet’s mouth that he simply had not spoken, words that in fact contradicted what he had said. The added words I’ve highlighted in bold italics above could incline the reader to conclude that Joseph equivocated on the subject, but it’s clear from his original words that he did not. Missing entirely from Joseph's statement in the official history is the primary imperative, “Joseph forbids it and the practice thereof.”

“This is not editing for clarification. This is prevarication, a lie; a calculated attempt to change church history.

“The 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants included this article on marriage in section 101:

“Inasmuch as this church 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.”

“If you turn to section 101 in your D&C today, you won’t find that passage. It was removed when the Doctrine and Covenants was reprinted in 1876.

“While imprisoned in Liberty Jail, Joseph denounced polygamy in all its manifestations in a letter he wrote to the Saints in Caldwell County, ending with the warning that “if any person has represented any thing otherwise than what we now write they have willfully misrepresented us.”

“Joseph Smith’s denunciations of polygamy were frequent and fervent. He considered the practice a plague that must be stamped out or it would eventually lead the church to the very brink of destruction. But even he was not prepared to learn that some of his best friends were seducing women by claiming the authority to do so came from him.

“Less than a month before Joseph’s martyrdom, thousands of Saints gathered to hear him denounce for the umpteenth time the evil doctrine and those who would accuse him of promulgating it. You can find that address in The History of the Church under the title “Address of the Prophet-His Testimony Against the Dissenters at Nauvoo.”

“I am innocent of all these charges,” he declared, “and you can bear witness of my innocence, for you know me yourselves.”
“What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one.”

“It was Joseph Smith at his fiery best. As Richard and Pamela Price state in their book, (Joseph Smith Fought Polygamy) Joseph “wanted to get the whole matter out in the open and to put a stop to the polygamous activities which some of the apostles and their friends were practicing at the time.”

“The book is filled with examples of Joseph Smith decrying the practice in his many sermons, as well as numerous newspaper articles and affidavits by those close to the Prophet disproving the charges against him. You can read the entire book online here, as well as the yet unpublished volume two. I highly recommend, however, that you buy yourself a hard copy of the book, because it contains sketches, photos, and copies of documents vital to a full appreciation for the thirty years of research the Prices' put into this effort.

”In the last three years of his life Joseph took the precaution of having scribes and male companions with him at all times recording his actions and whereabouts in order to make it impossible for his enemies to continue to contrive illicit affairs where none existed. There are absolutely no contemporary records of any woman being married to Joseph Smith except one: Emma Hale Smith. Virtually no one came forward during Joseph Smith’s lifetime claiming to be married to him. As Joseph said in mocking reference to these phantom wives, “I wish the grand jury would tell me who they are.”

So what about Section 132? Isn’t that a revelation in Joseph Smith’s own hand calling for the institution of plural marriage?

Well, no it isn’t. That is, the revelation does clearly call for plural marriage, but it isn’t in Joseph Smith’s hand. And no one had ever heard of it during Joseph Smith’s lifetime. It showed up as if by magic eight years after his death.

After the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, the Nauvoo Temple was eventually finished, and some were soon putting it to use performing secret ceremonies wherein men were being sealed to multiple wives. This was a purpose for which the first and only other Mormon temple, the one at Kirtland, had never been used.

In the original 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, the church had issued strict rules under which all marriages were to be performed, rules which are consistently violated by faithful members of the Lord’s church even today:

“All marriages in this church of Christ of Latter Day Saints,” the declaration stated, “should be solemnized in a public meeting, or feast, prepared for this purpose..."
“...The persons to be married,” are to be “ standing together, the man on the right, and the woman on the left...” (Emphasis added)

"You can read the entire rule here in the church newspaper, the Times and Seasons where you’ll see that “the above rule is the only one practiced in this church,” and that the words of the ceremony leave no room to suppose that it was ever intended that another spouse join the marriage at any future time.

“Once the Saints were safely ensconced in Utah, plural marriage gradually became an open secret. Still, before making it official, church leadership needed to present it with a stamp of authority to assure the Saints that the practice was legitimate. That mark of legitimacy would have to come from Joseph Smith, as Brigham Young did not claim the gift of revelation. “I don't profess to be such a Prophet as were Joseph Smith and Daniel,” he admitted, “but I am a Yankee guesser.”

“So eight years after Joseph’s death, at a special conference called for the purpose, President Brigham Young (a polygamist) asked Apostle Orson Pratt (now also a polygamist) to read aloud a document purporting to be a revelation from the Lord to Joseph Smith, later to be incorporated into the Doctrine and Covenants as section 132. The document revealed that plural marriage was not merely approved by the Lord, but now actually required for any good Latter-day Saint man or woman not wishing to be damned.

“Brigham explained that this revelation of Joseph's, which Brigham called “the New and Everlasting Covenant” had been kept locked in a drawer in his desk all this time, but he didn’t explain why it hadn’t been released sooner. Joseph Smith had been publicly declaiming against the very things contained within it for a year after it was reported to have been received. Why would any prophet withhold a revelation that came directly from God? Surely any information the Lord sees fit to reveal to His people would be intended for immediate dissemination.

“More curious yet, this revelation is purported to have been given in July of 1843, just three months before Joseph, as both Prophet and Mayor, angrily took to the streets of Nauvoo and threatened to prosecute any who were “preaching, teaching, or practicing the doctrine of plurality of wives” and further warning all citizens that they are forbidden from engaging in it. In order to accept that Joseph Smith would engage in an impromptu tirade like this after having received such a revelation, you would have to believe that he was not just an outrageous, overwrought liar; you’d have to believe he was completely insane.

“Nor does the excuse hold that Joseph had to be careful because of his many enemies. His enemies already believed he was practicing polygamy. This would not be news to them. Joseph Smith was not the type of man to limp around a controversy, especially if delivered from God. On the question of whether, supposing he had believed in plural marriage, would he have shied away from declaring it, he stated, “I have taught all the strong doctrines publicly, and always taught stronger doctrines in public than in private.”

“Brigham’s later explanation for why the revelation was not in Joseph Smith’s handwriting was that this one was actually a copy of the original revelation, as “Sister Emma burnt the original.”

“When Emma Smith, back in Nauvoo heard this claim, she replied that she had “never saw such a revelation until it was published by Pratt in The Seer.”

“This “copy” of a very lengthy revelation was in the handwriting of William Clayton, formerly a scribe of Joseph Smith. He was also now a polygamist.


So how is it that today we know the names of at least thirty-three of Joseph Smith’s alleged wives, when during his lifetime no one seemed to be able to suggest more than a couple of possible ones?

After Joseph Smith’s sons were grown, the three of them made the long journey to Utah to challenge the polygamous system and attempt to restore their father’s good name. They met a wall of resistance. Out of nowhere appeared a number of women declaring that they had all been plural wives of Joseph Smith while at Nauvoo. Most prominent of these women was Eliza R. Snow, a well-known woman of letters and now a plural wife of Brigham Young.

Eliza claimed to have been married to Joseph on June 29th, 1842, but this would mean she was married to him three months before she had led a thousand women in promoting a petition stating that Joseph Smith was not guilty of polygamy as Dr. Bennett had charged. So was she lying then or was she lying now?

Eliza was sitting pretty as the wife of the prominent Governor of the Territory. Certainly she had much to lose if polygamy was exposed as a fraud and Brigham’s empire crumbled. Besides, it’s very likely that most Mormons by then firmly believed in the principle whether it could be proven to have originated with Joseph Smith or not. The Saints felt constantly under attack from the gentiles for their peculiar ways, and didn’t Brigham constantly preach that “lying for the Lord” was not a sin, but the duty of every faithful Latter-day Saint?

Curiously, Eliza Snow held the honored seat, at home and in public, at the right hand of Brigham Young. This position of honor was ordinarily reserved only for a man's first wife. How was Eliza Snow able to shunt wife number one out of the way and take her place? What did she know? Or what could she threaten to tell?

Nearly all of the other women who claimed to have been married to Joseph Smith at one time were also in polygamous marriages to prominent church leaders. It certainly wouldn’t have taken much to persuade these women to make a public statement in order to protect the society they had struggled so hard to attain. When you examine the statements of these women, you find some of their claims to be a real stretch.

To their credit, some of these women went out of their way in their declarations to maintain that their marriage to Joseph had been for eternal purposes only, and that they had never been physically intimate with the Prophet. So I give these ladies props for at least having the decency not to thoroughly besmirch a dead man’s memory.

Also, most of these women neglected to sign their names to their declarations, a clever way of protecting themselves from being called up on charges of perjury if the statements were to be challenged in a federal court. As legal affidavits, these documents are worthless.

Besides, these women were soon marched through the temple to be sealed to Joseph Smith a second time, in order that their marriages would now be on record. So they weren’t really lying. In their minds they now truly were sealed to the prophet Joseph Smith for time and all eternity.

Then one happy day during an interview with Larry King, I saw Gordon B. Hinckley make it clear that we won't be dusting off that doctrine for another go 'round. “As far as we're concerned,” Hinckley said, “it's behind us, a long ways...I condemn it as a practice because I think it's not doctrinal."

[Fiannan]

I'd like to dedicate this song to this thread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnowePU8npc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Remember that "the traditional family" in the Bible was a man and several women.

[Robin Hood]

I am convinced.

I'm not

[Robin Hood]

Also, does it matter? Abraham did it, and Moses did it, so God accepts it at times.

As we learn from Jacob, God determines when it is on or off.

Jacob doesn't say that at all. I know this is the common interpretation in the church, but it can, and in my view should, be read another way.

[Seek the Truth]

Polygamy is a biblical practice, plus concubines. Not really a big deal theologically.

[Robin Hood]

Polygamy is a biblical practice, plus concubines. Not really a big deal theologically.

You're only partially right.
It is true that polygamy is a practice recorded in the Bible; but the Bible does not condone it.