This is the place:
This is the place:
DOCTRINE- POLYGAMY - CONTRADICTIONS
| WHAT WAS CLAIMED | WHAT WAS PRACTICED |
| "12. We believe in being subject to
kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates,
in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the
law." - Articles of Faith, Joseph Smith, Pearl of Great Price |
"With the waning of the spirit of reformation, the rate of polygamous marrying dropped in 1858 to less than a third and in 1859 to less than a fifth of what it was in 1857 [highest level in Mormon history.] This decline continued until 1862 when [the US] Congress, responding to the clamor of alarmists, enacted a law prohibiting bigamy in Utah and other territories. The answer of the Mormons to this rebuke was a revival of plural marrying to a point not previously reached except during the gala years of the Reformation [1857]." - Notes on Mormon Polygamy, Stanley S. Ivins, The New Mormon History, Signature Books, 1992. |
| BOOK OF MORMON TAUGHT: | DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS TAUGHT: |
| But the word of God burdens me because of
your grosser crimes. 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,
because of the things which were written
concerning David, and Solomon his son. Behold,
David and Solomon truly had many wives and
concubines, which thing was abominable before
me, saith the Lord. - Jacob 2:23-24 |
Verily, thus saith the Lord...you have inquired
of my hand to know and understand wherein
I, the Lord, justified my servants...David
and Solomon...as touching the principle and
doctrine of - having many wives and concubines
- David's wives and concubines were given
unto him of me... - Doctrine and Covenants, 132, v. l and 39 |
| REVELATION JOSEPH SMITH RECEIVED: | WHAT JOSEPH SMITH ACTUALLY DID: |
| And again, as pertaining to the law of the
priesthood--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 he is 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. -
D&C 132:61 |
“...the Prophet Joseph and his wife Emma offered us a home in their family, and they treated us with great kindness. We had been there about a year when the principle of plural marriage was made known to us, and I was married to Joseph Smith on the 4th of March 1843, Elder Heber C. Kimball performing the ceremony. My sister Eliza was also married to Joseph a few days later. This was done without the knowledge of Emma Smith. Two months afterward she consented to give her husband two wives, providing he would give her the privilege of choosing them. She accordingly chose my sister Eliza and myself, and to save family trouble brother Joseph thought it best to have another ceremony performed. Accordingly on the 11th of May, 1843, we were sealed to Joseph Smith a second time, in Emma's presence,... From that very hour, however, Emma was our butter enemy. We remained in the family several months after this, but things went from bad to worse until we were obligated to leave the house and find another home.” - (Historical Record, p. 240) |
| TAUGHT BY BRIGHAM YOUNG: | TAUGHT BY GORDON HINCKLEY: |
|
"Monogamy, or restrictions by law to
one wife, is no part of the economy of
heaven among men. Such a system was commenced
by the founders of the Roman empire...Rome
became the mistress of the world, and introduced
this order of monogamy wherever her sway
was acknowledged. Thus this monogamic order
of marriage, so esteemed by modern Christians
as a holy sacrament and divine institution,
is nothing but a system established by a
set of robbers..." - The Deseret News, August 6, 1862 |
We, the First Presidency and the Council
of the Twelve Apostles of The Church
of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly
proclaim
that marriage between a man and a woman
is
ordained of God and that the family
is central
to the Creator's plan for the eternal
destiny
of His children. - The Family: A Proclamation to the World, Sept. 23, 1995 |