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Origins of Mormon polygyny:
Joseph Smith, was the founder of the Church of Christ in 1830. This church eventually split to become the almost 100 denominations and sects forming the LDS Restorationist movement. Smith first secretly promoted the concept of polygyny during the 1830s. This type of marital structure involves one man married to multiple wives. The practice has been variously called the Law of Abraham, the Patriarchal Order of Marriage, Celestial Plural Marriage, or the Law of the Priesthood. Associated with these was the Law of Sarah. More details.
Joseph Smith himself assigned women to some of the Mormon men. He married dozens of women himself. Mormon writer Todd Compton wrote:
"I have identified thirty-three well-documented wives of Joseph Smith, which some may regard as an overly conservative numbering ...Historians Fawn Brodie, D. Michael Quinn, and George D. Smith list forty-eight, forty-six, and forty-three, respectfully. Yet in problematic areas it may be advisable to err on the side of caution."
His first wife was Emma. He married his second wife Fannie Alger in 1833 when she was 17 years of age. He apparently secretly married Emma's counselor and her secretary in the Nauvoo Relief Society. Emma was president of the group. "This was apparently done without Emma's knowledge or consent." It is reported that one wife was only fourteen years of age at the time that she married Joseph. 1,2
When the Mormons were centered in Nauvoo, IL (previously called Commerce, IL.) during 1844, a group led by the First Presidency counselor, William Law, split from the teachings of Joseph Smith. They printed the first of a series of publications in the local newspaper, "The Nauvoo Expositor." It exposed some of the secret practices of church members, including plural marriage. Before subsequent editions could be printed, allegedly "Smith and the city council had the press destroyed." 1 Smith and his brother Hyrum were arrested for the alleged crime. A mob later broke into the jail and assassinated both of them.
Brigham Young's promotion of polygyny:
It was not until eight years after Joseph Smith's death, on 1852-AUG-29, that the LDS Church publicly acknowledged the practice of polygyny. It was read in the conference held in Great Salt Lake City, and Apostle Orson Pratt delivered the first public discourse on that principle.
Brigham Young replaced Joseph Smith as head of the LDS Church after Smith's assassination. He continued to promote the practice of polygyny. He had 55 wives of his own and fathered 56 children during his lifetime. Some quotes from Mormon sources:
- "Now if any of you will deny the plurality of wives and continue to do so, I promise that you will be damned..."
Deseret News, 1855-NOV-14. - "The only men who become Gods, even the sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy...I heard the revelation on polygamy, and I believed it with all my heart... 'Do you think that we shall ever be admitted as a State into the Union without denying the principle of polygamy?' If we are not admitted until then, we shall never be admitted."
Journal of Discourses, Vol. 11, page 269, 1866) - "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. He has had a talent that he has hid up. He will come forward and say, 'Here is that which thou gavest me, I have not wasted it, and here is the one talent,' and he will not enjoy it but it will be taken and given to those who have improved the talents they received, and he will find himself without any wife, and he will remain single forever and ever."
Deseret News, 1873-SEP-17.
The Law of Sarah:
The reference to Sarah came from the story of Abraham and Sarai (later renamed Sarah) in the Bible's book of Genesis. Sarai told her husband Abraham to engage in sexual intercourse with her female slave Hagar -- presumably against Hagar's wishes -- in order to conceive children. Being totally lacking in power, Hagar could not refuse what was apparently repeated rapes, until she became pregnant:
Genesis 16:1-4: "Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived..." (King James Version)
The Mormon Law of Sarah states that a man's first wife was given the right to consent to, or prohibit, her husband's wishes to marry additional wives. 1 It was derived from one of the sacred Mormon books, the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 132. Further, she could select who these additional wives would be.
However, there were serious consequences if a wife refused to consent to additional wives. In Doctrine and Covenants, Section 132:64, God threatens any wife with destruction if she does not consent:
"And again, verily, verily, I say unto you, if any man have a wife, who holds the keys of this power, and he teaches unto her the law of my priesthood, as pertaining to these things (plural wives), then shall she believe and administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your God; for I will destroy her..."
In the next verse, Section 132:65, God states that if the wife does not consent, then she is considered a transgressor, and the husband is exempt from the law of Sarah:
"Therefore, it shall be lawful in me, if she receive not this law, for him to receive all things whatsoever I, the Lord God, will give unto him, because she did not believe and administer unto him according to my word; and she then becomes the transgressor; and he is exempt from the law of Sarah, who administered unto Abraham according to the law when I commanded Abraham to take Hagar to wife."
So, the Law of Sarah was really a type of Hobson's Choice. 3 It gave the first wife the right of consenting to, or refusing, her husband's request to marry additional wives:
- If she consented, then her and her husband's previously monogamous marriage would become polygamous.
- If she refused consent, then God would destroy her. Even if she survived, her husband was considered exempted from the Law, and could proceed with the additional marriages. Again, her marriage would become polygamous.
So, in practice, the first wife was expected to humbly accept new wives into the family. She had no power to stop it.
The Law of Abraham:
This Law authorizes polygyny (a.k.a. plural marriage involving one man and multiple women). This is a more accurate term that the more commonly used "polygamy" which can refer to any type of plural marriage.
The LDS recognizes four sacred texts as divinely inspired and authoritative scripture. These are called the "Standard Works." Unfortunately, they give three mutually exclusive teachings about polygyny:
- Negative teaching: In the Book of Mormon, God clearly condemns polygyny and the owning of concubines, treating both as abominations which lay curses on the land: Jacob 2:24 - 29: "Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord. Wherefore, I the Lord God will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old. 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; For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts. Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Hosts, or cursed be the land for their sakes."
Jacob 2:30: "For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things."
- Neutral teaching: Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), eight types of family structures are described without any having being condemned. Some involve concubines and multiple wives. For example, Esau had 3 wives, Jacob: 2, Ashur: 2, Elkanah: 2, Solomon: 700, Rehaboam: 3, and Abijah had 14. Ahab, Belshazzar, David, Gideon, Jeholachin, Jehoram, and Joash also had multiple wives. Solomon also had hundreds of concubines. Other Hebrew leaders in the Bible had concubines as well.
- Positive teaching: In the Doctrines and Covenants, Section 132, God assigns a positive value to polygyny. He makes a covenant to deal with plural marriage, and threatens both Mormon men and women if they reject polygamy. This revelation was allegedly given to Joseph Smith and recorded on 1843-JUL-12:
- God starts by stressing the universality of the covenant, its permanence, and a curse for any who reject it:
- 3: "...all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same."
- 4: "For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory."
- 6: "...he that receiveth a fullness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned...."
- God reviews the many figures in the Hebrew scriptures who had concubines and/or were involved in plural marriages: Abraham, David, Solomon, Moses and many others.
- God commands Joseph Smith's wife, Emma, to follow this commandment or be destroyed.
- God introduces the "law of the priesthood": that a man can, with the approval of his first wife, marry one or more other women without committing adultery "...for they belong to him and they are given onto him...":
- 61: "....if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else."
- 62: "And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him; therefore is he justified."
- However, if a woman, after she is espoused, engages in sex with another man, she is guilty of adultery and is to be destroyed. What is sauce for the gander is definitely not sauce for the goose.