Notice issued by Joseph and Hyrum Smith in the Times and Season paper, February 1, 1844 (at the time Joseph had more than 30 plural wives): 1 “NOTICE As we have lately been credibly informed, that an Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter-day Saints, by the name of Hiram Brown, has been … Read more
Jacob 2:24, the Book of Mormon: 1 ‘Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord.’ Doctrine and Covenants 132: 2 1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand … Read more
LDS Apostle Orson Pratt, discourse delivered in the Salt Lake City Tabernacle, Sunday Afternoon, July 18, 1880: 1 “All these principles that I have treated upon, pertaining to eternal marriage, the very moment that they are admitted to be true, it brings in plurality of marriage, and if plurality of marriage is not true or … Read more
Excerpt from LDS apostle Orson Pratt’s 1874 General Conference address: 1 “…I have heard now and then (I am very glad to say that only a few such instances have come under my notice), a brother or a sister say, “I am a Latter-day Saint, but I do not believe in polygamy.” Oh, what an … Read more
Excerpt from a discourse by Apostle Heber C. Kimball, published in the April 22, 1857 Deseret News: 1 “I have noticed that a man who has but one wife, and is inclined to that doctrine, soon begins to wither and dry up, while a man who goes into plurality looks fresh, young, and sprightly. Why … Read more
Excerpt from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo: 1 ‘Most of those sealed to Joseph Smith were between 20 and 40 years of age at the time of their sealing to him. The oldest, Fanny Young, was 56 years old. The youngest was Helen Mar Kimball, daughter of Joseph’s close … Read more
Excerpt from ‘Address of the Prophet—His Testimony Against the Dissenters at Nauvoo’ (Sunday, May 26, 1844), shortly before his death:1 Be meek and lowly, upright and pure; render good for evil. If you bring on yourselves your own destruction, I will complain. It is not right for a man to bare down his neck to … Read more
Excerpt from the ‘Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo’, LDS Gospel Topic Essay:1 “When God commands a difficult task, He sometimes sends additional messengers to encourage His people to obey. Consistent with this pattern, Joseph told associates that an angel appeared to him three times between 1834 and 1842 and commanded him to proceed with … Read more
Image: LDS Apostle Orson Hyde – December 27, 1847 – April 10, 1875[footnote]Orson Hyde – Wikipedia[/footnote] A Lecture by President Orson Hyde, Delivered at the General Conference, in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1854:[footnote]The Marriage Relations – A Lecture by President Orson Hyde, Delivered at the General Conference, in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake … Read more
Image: Portrait of Emma Smith, wife of Joseph Smith Jr. *Post with commentary* The polygamy revelation in D&C 132 [footnote]Doctrine and Covenants 132 – LDS.org[/footnote] has been a ‘hot potato’ the LDS church has had to constantly juggle. Discard it—you lose a pillar of celestial marriage doctrine. Keep it—you canonize an abusive practice. This year’s … Read more
Image: LDS Temple sealing room Excerpt from the LDS temple marriage ceremony (sealing of spouses). [footnote]The LDS Endowment, Sealings [/footnote] [The sealer sits at the head of the altar with two witnesses, one seated at his right and the other at his left. The bride and groom kneel at opposite sides of the altar, facing … Read more
Image: Portrayal of a traditional LDS testimony meeting. Testimony excerpt of a member of The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days:[footnote]Spiritual Witnesses, 10:00-10:52 (video) – Youtube[/footnote] “I’ve been searching for a witness of this work and of this church and just tonight I got my witness and it’s … Read more
Joseph Smith Jr. From the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo found on LDS.org. ‘The youngest [of Joseph’s brides] was Helen Mar Kimball, daughter of Joseph’s close friends Heber C. and Vilate Murray Kimball, who was sealed to Joseph several months before her 15th birthday.’ Teen Brides of Joseph Smith Jr. … Read more
Image: Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecture. In Mark Twain’s book titled Roughing It (1872), he gives a review of the Book of Mormon: All men have heard of the Mormon Bible, but few … Read more
Image: Polygamist FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs. From the LDS church’s Gospel Topic Essay ‘Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo’ [footnote]Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo – LDS.org [/footnote] ‘Careful estimates put the number {of wives} between 30 and 40.’ ‘The youngest was Helen Mar Kimball, daughter of Joseph’s close friends Heber C. and Vilate Murray Kimball, who was sealed … Read more
Frances Ward (“Fanny”) Alger Custer (September 30, 1816 – November 29, 1889) is generally considered as Joseph Smiths first plural wife. Although undocumented, the marriage of Fanny and Joseph most likely took place in Kirtland, Ohio sometime in 1833 (before sealing authority had been restored). She would have been sixteen years old at the time. Joseph kept … Read more
Image: Image of Polygamist FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs and his wives [footnote] Warren Jeffs – Wikipedia [/footnote] From an April 17, 1860 New York Times article, ‘Polygamy and its Fruits'[footnote] The New York Times, April 17, 1860 [/footnote]and later published in Stanley P. Hirshson’s, The Lion of the Lord[footnote] The Lion of the Lord: A Biography … Read more