Polygamy a requirement for exaltation

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Contents

Criticism

Critics claim that some Church leaders taught that plural marriage was a requirement for those wishing to enter the highest degree of the celestial kingdom. Because the Church does not currently practice plural marriage, critics claim this means that either the leaders were wrong, or that current members are not destined for exaltation.

Source(s) of the Criticism

Response

Critics ignore that the purpose of modern prophets it to give the Saints the will of God in their particular circumstances. Wrote Joseph Smith specifically of the issue of plural marriage:

This is the principle on which the government of heaven is conducted—by revelation adapted to the circumstances in which the children of the kingdom are placed...in obedience there is joy and peace unspotted, unalloyed; and as God has designed our happiness—and the happiness of all His creatures, he never has—He never will institute an ordinance or give a commandment to His people that is not calculated in its nature to promote that happiness which He has designed, and which will not end in the greatest amount of good and glory to those who become the recipients of his law and ordinances.[1]

LDS doctrine also holds that the prophet, when speaking in an official capacity, speaks on behalf of the Lord:

whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same. (D&C 1:38

Critics of the Church often come out of an inerrantist background, or draw on arguments first formulated by religious inerrantists or fundamentalists. In an inerrantist religion, God's instructions cannot change with circumstances—if they did, then the Biblical record would not be sufficient, on its own, to guide us. Since inerrantists require, above all, that the Bible be the sole authority, they must assume that God's requirements are always the same.

However, even the Bible gives many examples of God giving new instructions because of new circumstances, or contravening previous instructions:

  • Noah (but no other prophet) was to build an Ark (Gen. 6:14)
  • Moses implemented the Passover, which was hitherto unknown (Ex. 3:12-28)
  • Jesus revoked the celebration of Passover, and modified the ordinance and its performance at the Last Supper (Matt. 26:26, Mark 14:22, Luke 22:19)
  • Hosea was commanded to marry a prostitute as a sign to Israel Hos. 1:1-3
  • Jesus told his disciples only to preach to Israelites (Matt. 10:5-6, Matt. 15:24)
  • The Lord later told the prophet (Peter) to preach to all people (Acts 10:14-28)

In each case, failure to obey carried significant penalties. Yet, when proper authority altered or rescinded a command, spiritual disaster followed those who did not obey the new instructions.

Said President John Taylor:

Where did this commandment come from in relation to polygamy? It also came from God. It was a revelation given unto Joseph Smith from God, and was made binding upon His servants. When this system was first introduced among this people, it was one of the greatest crosses that ever was taken up by any set of men since the world stood. Joseph Smith told others; he told me, and I can bear witness of it, "that if this principle was not introduced, this Church and kingdom could not proceed." When this commandment was given, it was so far religious, and so far binding upon the Elders of this Church that it was told them if they were not prepared to enter into it, and to stem the torrent of opposition that would come in consequence of it, the keys of the kingdom would be taken from them. When I see any of our people, men or women, opposing a principle of this kind, I have years ago set them down as on the high road to apostacy, and I do to-day; I consider them apostates, and not interested in this Church and kingdom.[2]

In response to a letter "received at the office of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" in 1912, Charles W. Penrose of the First Presidency wrote:

Question 4: Is plural or celestial marriage essential to a fulness of glory in the world to come?
Answer: Celestial marriage is essential to a fulness of glory in the world to come, as explained in the revelation concerning it; but it is not stated that plural marriage is thus essential. . . . These questions are answered, so that it may not be truthfully claimed that we avoid them. . . . [3]

Conclusion

To obey the Lord's commands in all things is necessary for exaltation. (Our inevitable failure to live perfectly requires the grace of Christ's atonement.) Members of the Church in, say, 1860 who refused to follow the counsel of prophets and apostles put their spiritual standing in jeopardy. Likewise, members who refuse to obey present counsel are at risk.

This does not mean that present members of the Church believe that the principle of plural marriage is false—rather, they believe that it is a principle only to be practiced when the Lord commands it for His purposes.(See Jac. 2:27-30.)

Endnotes

  1. [back]  Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 volumes, edited by Brigham H. Roberts, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1957), 5:135. GospeLink
  2. [back]  John Taylor, "Our Religion Is From God," Journal of Discourses, reported by G.D. Watt, E.L. Sloan, and D.W. Evans, (7 April 1866), Vol. 11 (London: Latter-day Saint's Book Depot, 1867), 221. off-site
  3. [back] Charles W. Penrose, Improvement Era, vol. 15, no. 11, September 1912, 1042.

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

Plural marriage wiki links

FAIR web site

Plural marriage FAIR links
  • FAIR Topical Guide: Polyandry FAIR link
  • FAIR Topical Guide: Polygamy FAIR link
  • Suzanne Armitage, "O that my voice could reach the ears of those uninformed and misinformed." FAIR link
  • Claudia Bushman, "Lives of Mormon Women," FAIR presentation transcript, 2006. FAIR link
  • Michael W. Fordham, 'Ask the Apologist'—Plural Marriage in the Book of Mormon and D&C" FAIR link
  • Gregory Smith, "Polygamy, Prophets, and Prevarication: Frequently and Rarely Asked Questions about the Initiation, Practice, and Cessation of Plural Marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." FAIR link PDF link (Key source)
  • Allan Wyatt, "Zina and Her Men: An Examination of the Changing Marital State of Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs Smith Young," FAIR presentation transcript, 2006. FAIR link (Key source)

External links

Plural marriage on-line articles
  • James B. Allen, "Line upon Line," Ensign (July 1979): 32–40. off-site
  • Edwin B. Firmage, "The Judicial Campaign against Polygamy and the Enduring Legal Questions," Brigham Young University Studies 27:3 (Summer 1987): 91–113. PDF link
  • Danel Bachman, Ronald K. Esplin, "Plural Marriage," Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, (New York, Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 3:1091–1095. ISBN 002904040X. off-site off-site off-site
  • Stephen R. Gibson, "Does the Book of Mormon Forbid Polygamy," lightplanet.com. off-site
  • Gordon Irving, "The Law of Adoption: One Phase of the Development of the Mormon Concept of Salvation, 1830–1900," Brigham Young University Studies 14:3 (Spring 1974): 291–314. off-site
  • Stephen E. Robinson, Are Mormons Christians? (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1993), 90–96. off-site FAIR link GospeLink
  • Gilbert W. Scharfs, The Truth About “The Godmakers”: A Response to an Inaccurate Portrayal of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Publishers Press, 1986). FAIR link
  • W. John Walsh, "Is Plural Marriage Necessary for Exaltation?" off-site
  • Mormon-polygamy.org off-site

Printed material

Plural marriage printed references
  • Danel W. Bachman, “A Study of the Mormon Practice of Polygamy Before the Death of Joseph Smith,” (1975) (unpublished M.A. thesis, Purdue University).
  • Todd Compton, In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1997). ISBN 156085085X. The introduction and prologue are available online at the Signature Books web site.
  • Reviews of In Sacred Loneliness:
    • Richard Lloyd Anderson and Scott H. Faulring, "The Prophet Joseph Smith and His Plural Wives (Review of In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith)," FARMS Review of Books 10/2 (1998): 67–104. off-site PDF link
    • Alma G. Allred, “Variations on a Theme,” Presentation to Mormon History Association, 1999, updated on-line version of 6 December 1999. PDF link
    • Danel W. Bachman, “’Let No One…Set On My Servant Joseph’: Religious Historians Missing the Lessons of Religious History,” Presentation to Mormon History Association, 22 May 1999.
    • Danel W. Bachman, "Prologue to the Study of Joseph Smith's Marital Theology (Review of In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith)," FARMS Review of Books 10/2 (1998): 105–137. off-site PDF link
    • Kathryn Daynes, “Review of In Sacred Loneliness,” Pacific Historical Review 68 (August 1999): 466–468.
    • Todd Compton's response to Anderson and Faulring off-site
    • Todd Compton's response to Jerald and Sandra Tanners' Review of In Sacred Loneliness off-site
  • Stephen R. Gibson, One-Minute Answers to Anti-Mormon Questions (Bountiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers, 1995).
  • Jeni Broberg Holzapfel and Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, eds., A Woman's View: Helen Mar Whitney's Reminiscences of Early Church History (Provo: Religious Studies Center, BYU, 1997). ISBN 1570083576. ISBN 978-1570083570. GospeLink
  • Joseph Fielding McConkie, Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1998), 27–28. GospeLink
  • John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations: Aids to Faith in a Modern Day, arranged by G. Homer Durham (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1960), 340–344. ISBN 088494073 GospeLink GL direct link
  • John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations: Aids to Faith in a Modern Day, arranged by G. Homer Durham (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1960), 390–393. ISBN 088494073 GospeLink GL direct link
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