Tag: polygamy
-
Age Disparity Among LDS Polygamists
Note: The following was originally printed in the January/February 2023 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here. Polygamist Samuel Bateman was raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), and though this organization is not associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints headquartered in Salt…
-
Latter-day Saints Continue To Grapple With Mormon Polygamy
Richard Ostling is perhaps best known for his past career as a religion reporter for TIME Magazine and the Associated Press, and for the landmark book he coauthored in 1999 with his wife, Joan Ostling, Mormon America: The Power and the Promise. Mr. Ostling today maintains a blog titled Religion Q&A where he answers religiously-themed…
-
Citations on Polygamy (Plural Marriage)
The following are sections out of Bill McKeever’s book In their Own Words: A Collection of Mormon Quotations. Standard Works “Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord. Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of…
-
Examining Mormonism’s Founder: The What-Did-Joseph-Smith-Lie-About Approach
By Rob Sivulka Summary A question I am often asked while holding up my “JosephLied.com” website sign [1] is, “What did Joseph lie about?” The question is like having a fish bite on the bait. When that happens, it’s time to set the hook and reel it in! While many issues may be brought up, I…
-
The Gospel Topics Essays: The Dynamite Approach
Summary Written by LDS scholars, the “Gospel Topics Essays” are available on the official lds.org website. These articles cover a variety of topics and attempt to confront the checkered history of Mormonism while smoothing out the rough edges. However, instead of placating many questioning Mormons, these writings tend to chafe the souls of the faithful…
-
Technology is Changing Mormon Missionary Work
On March 8, 2018, Deseret News ran a story with a lengthy title that began, “How technology is changing Mormon missionary work.” This article discusses the LDS missionary force’s increased use of technology to find and teach investigators, often via online chats. Relating one such chat, the Deseret News article quotes sister missionary Kimeme Ackley…
-
Whatever Happened to Emily and Eliza Partridge?
Note: The following was originally printed in the September/October 2017 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here. In early Mormonism, you might say some of the women who became plural wives were kept as a set. Several Mormon leaders, including Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, married sisters. When Edward Partridge, Mormonism’s first bishop, died…
-
Was Polygamy Necessary Because the LDS Church Needed To Have Its Growth “Jump-Started”?
According to some Mormon apologists, polygamy instituted by the LDS Church in the 19th century was necessary in order for the church membership to grow. According to LDS pollster Gary Lawrence in his book Mormons Believe…What? Because original Christianity needed to be re-established to be the forerunner for the Second Coming of the Savior in…
-
Was Polygamy Necessary in the 19th Century Because There Were More Women Than Men?
If you speak to some Latter-day Saints regarding the issue of polygamy (the marriage on one man to multiple women), one of the most common arguments still used is pointing out how there were more women than men in the 19th century Utah. If that’s the case, single women needed to have a husband too. Right? Polygamy to…
-
Book Review: The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy
Note: The following was originally printed in the November/December 2016 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here. Issues related to Mormon polygamy have long been discussed and dissected, both inside and outside of the LDS Church. Once an official requirement for a bigger and better eternal glory, the practice of plural marriage was…
-
Did God Command Polygamous Relationships in the Old Testament?
Polygamy, or plural marriage, is a sticky issue for many Mormons. Some have become deeply embarrassed when they found out how their founder, Joseph Smith, married at least 34 girls and women. In fact, a third of his marriages were to teenagers and another third were to women who were already married to living husbands.…
-
Joseph Smith is Triggering Faith Crises Among Mormons
The Salt Lake Tribune recently conducted a survey, asking readers (Mormons) “if they have experienced a faith crisis, what triggered it and how they resolved it.” The newspaper received just over 1700 responses. The demographical breakdown was roughly in thirds: no longer members (538), inactive members (637), and still active members (532). The faith-crisis triggers…
-
The New and Everlasting Covenant: A Review
Link to the December 2015 article by Seventy Marcus B. Nash: The New and Everlasting Covenant Listen to an 8-part podcast series that aired January 18-27, 2016: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Note: This article—repeated word-for-word here—was written by Seventy Marcus B. Nash and printed in the December 2015 Ensign magazine…
-
Gospel Topics Essay: Plural Marriage and Families in Early Utah
Gospel Topics Essay: Plural Marriage and Families in Early Utah To see an introduction to the Gospel Topics essays, click here. The entire essay is printed below, underlined, with my commentary included throughout. Because I will try to be short and to the point as much as possible, a number of sites (many from MRM) to support…
-
Gospel Topics Essay: The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage
Gospel Topics Essay: The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage To see an introduction to the Gospel Topics essays, click here. The entire essay is printed below, underlined, with my commentary included throughout. Because I will try to be short and to the point as much as possible, a number of sites (many from MRM)…
-
List of Joseph Smith’s Wives (George A. Smith)
Mormonism’s founder, Joseph Smith, was married to more than 30 women, meaning that Emma was not his one and only wife. Many who know about Smith’s philanderous ways may assume that these women must have been widows or “old maids” and their prophet was doing a favor to them by marrying them. However, the idea that Joseph Smith…
-
Redefining Celestial Marriage
Mormon temples and the rituals performed in them constitute one of the more important disciplines of the LDS faith. While a great portion of the activity in a Mormon temple is on behalf of the dead (baptisms for the dead, endowments for the dead, etc.), marriage ceremonies for the living, called celestial marriage, also plays…
-
Mormonism 201: Chapter 16 Response to Michael W. Fordham
To visit the list of rejoinders, go here. Response to Michael W. FordhamRejoinder by Richard Abanes In 2000, Mormonism 101 (Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson) was published by Baker Books. Within a few years, a group of Mormon apologists provided a rebuttal to the chapters in the book. We decided to respond to many of the…
-
JosephsWives.com
Welcome to JosephsWives.com, a page that has been created to help people better understand the truth about the more than thirty wives of Joseph Smith. We invite you to look through the information we have made available here and see that what we are saying is historical fact, not anti-Mormon rhetoric. And please understand what…