Tag: polygamy
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Did Emma Smith Approve of Polygamy?
Some Latter-day Saints may rationalize Smith’s behavior. After all, some might think, his wife Emma must have been a believer in this practice. Actually, Emma Smith approved of plural marriage for only a short time–maybe a few weeks–but she otherwise always despised polygamy and her husband’s involvement with this practice. In their book Mormon Enigma: Emma…
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The Wives of Joseph Smith Visit Manti
The annual Christian outreach at the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti, Utah concluded about 2 weeks ago. During this year’s outreach, 34 women, dressed in pioneer clothing, each took on the identity of a wife of Joseph Smith. This was a powerful visual representation that helped Mormons better understand what 34 wives actually looks like.…
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A Mormon “Detective Story”
[The following is a guest post written by a friend of Mormonism Research Ministry – a former Mormon who wishes to remain anonymous to keep family peace.] I’m submitting for your consideration a “detective story” from my family history that raises more serious questions about Joseph Smith and polygamy. It starts with my uncles – devout…
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Does 2 Samuel 12 Support Polygamy?
Does 2 Samuel 12 support the practice of polygamy in the Old Testament and 19th century Mormonism?
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What About Those Essays?
When asked by the New York Times why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints decided to post several “Gospel Topics” essays on its official web site, church historian Steven E. Snow said, “There is so much out there on the Internet that we felt we owed our members a safe place where they…
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Joseph Smith and His Many Wives
The Mormon Church recently admitted in a Gospel Topics essay that Joseph Smith had a total of 30-40 plural wives, meaning that Emma was not his “one and only.” In fact, the church even acknowledged that there was sexual intimacy in most of these relationships. Does this information agree with scholarship? And is it true…
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“The sweet dream of a pure minded boy”
In the spring of 1820 Joseph Smith went into the woods to pray. “Humbly kneeling, sweet appealing–‘Twas the boy’s first uttered prayer” says the Mormon hymn (“Joseph Smith’s First Prayer”). Joseph sought to know “Who of all these parties [Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists] are right; or are they all wrong together? If any one of…
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Book Review: Mormon Polygamy: A History (2nd Edition)
Mormon Polygamy: A History (2nd Edition) By Richard S. Van Wagoner Reviewed by Eric Johnson
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Faithful Mormons Respond to News of Joseph Smith’s Polygamy
Shock waves continue to move across the globe as Mormons discover their Church’s recent admissions regarding Joseph Smith’s polygamy. There is much distress evident among Mormons who have always believed (been told) that the kinds of things now disclosed in the Mormon Church essays (i.e., Joseph Smith married up to 40 women, many were quite…
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Mormon Church Posts Essays on Joseph Smith’s Polygamy
It’s all over the news. The Mormon Church has finally “admitted” long-buried facts about Joseph Smith’s polygamy. The new Church essays were actually posted at lds.org sometime around October 22nd (2014), but for some reason the news only hit the big-time mainstream media this week. Once the New York Times picked up the story, many…
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Gospel Topics Essay: Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo
On October 22, 2014, the LDS Church published another “Gospel Topics” essay titled “Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo.” There were a number of admissions made. However, all the facts were not included to give a complete picture. The information contained within should be disconcerting for any faithful Latter-day Saint, as history doesn’t lie. A…
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Early Mormon Marriages: Tangled Webs to Sort Out in the Eternities
Many people are aware of Joseph Smith’s practice of polygamy. A subset of those people are also aware that some of Joseph’s plural wives were married to other men at the same time they were married to Joseph. Many of these folks think Joseph Smith was the only Mormon leader to engage in these strange…
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Joseph Smith Wasn’t Arrogant or Boastful?
In a Deseret News article titled “Defending the Faith: Joseph Smith wasn’t arrogant or boastful” (9/4/14), Mormon BYU Professor Daniel Peterson addressed a common criticism used against Joseph Smith: “Some critics like to use a quotation attributed to Joseph Smith as a weapon against him: “‘I have more to boast of,’ he’s reported to have…
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The Dedication of Louie B. Felt
In December of 1866, three months after they first met, 26-year-old Joseph H. Felt and 16-year-old Sarah Louisa (Louie) Bouton were married in Salt Lake City. Louie became the first Primary general president in the Mormon Church, serving in that capacity for 45 years. She is featured in an article found in the July 2014…
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Testing Joseph Smith’s Integrity
Brigham Young University professor Daniel Peterson recently wrote an article for the Deseret News presenting evidence for the exemplary personal character of Mormonism’s founder, Joseph Smith. In “Defending the Faith: 2 legal tests of Joseph Smith’s integrity” Dr. Peterson discusses Joseph Smith’s three-year responsibility toward the Lawrence sisters and their sizable estate as legal guardian.…
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In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (Book Review)
Although many Mormons know that second LDS President Brigham Young was a practicing polygamist, some may not realize that Joseph Smith had many wives as well. When this issue is broached, I have heard it said more than once that we were connocting nothing more than an anti-Mormon lie. What LDS writer Todd Compton does…
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“What Many People Called Sin Is Not Sin” Part II
During a Church Court in 1850, Joseph E. Johnson claimed that he was aware of what he called “the first frigging” of Joseph Smith and Johnson’s mother-in-law, Mary Heron Snider. For details about this incident, see Part I. The reason that the Church Hierarchy in 1850 may not have been overly surprised by this account…
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“What Many People Called Sin Was Not Sin” Part I
A Church Court is convened. A man is accused of committing adultery and fathering a child with another man’s wife. One of the presiding elders speaks to those assembled about the offender and says that, “This matter was bro[ugh]t before Council … [and] his Priesthood was required to be laid down until he came here—……