Mormons believe that the book of mormon tells the story of gods dealing with americans in. Check out this fascinating article which shows what book of mormon prophets thought of polygamy and also why polygamy was practiced in the. Why did the early mormons believe in plural marriage. For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife. Mormon is usually used to indicate people that believe the book of mormon. She has been called the first plural wife of the prophet joseph smith. It is a spiritual topic, associated with faith, belief, testimony, emotion, revelation, and personal conviction. Polygamy plural marriage lds church perspective on. Due to legal and social pressures, mormon officials banned the practice of plural marriage in 1890. Mormon leaders have trust issues religion news service. Insights and inspirations, originally published by covenant communications, inc.
For if i will, saith the lord of hosts, raise up seed. Lds historian todd compton, in his book in sacred loneliness, described various instances where some wives in polygamous marriages. After all, abraham and jacob and david and solomon had more than one wife. Josephs percentage of wives in their teen years was less than the series percentage of teen wives in kirtland, nauvoo, or the 1850 u. During this time the church publicly taught against polygamy and denied practicing it, while church authorities were privately taking plural wives. One of the biggest complaints i hear about the women of the scriptures is that there very few women mentioned in the book of mormon.
He confoundeth a man who seeketh to overthrow the doctrine of christ. Bassett, it begins with a family, in the book of mormon. Smith translated the book of mormon, the churchs sacred scripture. Mormon belief about relationships fact and myth cheat sheet. The book of mormon shall stand as a testimony against the world, ether 5. I figure this is a troll question, but just in case it isnt modern lds people do not practice polygamy. Currently, the official mormon position supports monogamy. Ambitious mormon men must beget many children with as many wives as possible, for their glory in heaven is in proportion to the number of their wives. And by lds people, im referring to the organization headquartered in salt lake city, utah and is currently presided over by russel nelson. And i specify that as the pr answer because it is effectively true, but there are technicalities. The mormon view of heaven and hell the bottomline guide.
This is chapter one from women of the book of mormon. By the time of his death in 1844, joseph smith is believed to have married at least 33 women, with some as young as 14 years old. A mormon, whether male or female, can only be sealed to one living person at any given time. What is mormonism, why can men have multiple wives, what. What the book of mormon tells us about jesus christ. Martin harris may 18, 1783 july 10, 1875 was an early convert to the latter day saint movement who financially guaranteed the first printing of the book of mormon and also served as one of three witnesses who testified that they had seen the golden plates from which joseph smith said the book of mormon had been translated. The bible and the book of mormon teach that the marriage of one man to one woman is gods standard, except at specific periods when he has declared otherwise. A few words concerning the history of the people of nephi. The book of mormon videos youtube channel is a collection of videos based on accounts from the book of mormon. From 1830 to 1876, lds scripture was consistent in prohibited polygamy. As well, many modern readers dont quite know what to do with a book that is more than 500 pages long but has only six named women sariah, abish and isabel in the book of mormon s.
These chapters in the book of mormon, giving an account of the message, trial, and death of the prophet abinadi, are quite well known. Mormons wont tell you that the state of utah, which is predominately mormon, has a higher than the national average of wife. Some mormons marry and have more than one wife, but this is not accepted by the mormon church, which. In the western united states, there are at least 30,000 people involved in the practice of mormon. Starting in 1853, the mormons began to claim that jesus had many wives and possibly even children by them, all on the strength of an idiosyncratic reading of a few passages in the gospels and the psalms. It is plain that, from the perspective of the book of mormon. Had several wives, but didnt live with them openly. Brigham young had more than 50 wives, 19 were connubial wives, and with all these women had 56 children. Mormons believe that the book of mormon tells the story of. This was one factor which did cause his people to commit sin, and do that which was abominable in the sight of the lord. The problems come when people later find out the truth, whether its about how the book of mormon was translated or how many wives joseph smith had.
Members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints the mormon church have only been allowed to have one wife for over 120 years, so they dont have so many wives. Some mormons marry and have more than one wife, but this is not accepted by the mormon church, which does not accept polygamy or plural marriage. Mormons believe that the book of mormon was translated correctly, unlike the bible, and is the word of god. This is precisely what brian david mitchell did when he abducted elizabeth smart. The pr answer is no, members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints do not have many wives. This verse clearly says that it was abominable to god that david had many wives and concubines. As well, many modern readers dont quite know what to do with a book that is more than 500 pages long but has only six named women sariah, abish and isabel in the book of mormon s own. Explaining polygamy and its history in the mormon church. However for the mormons trying to recruit new people they will whip out a. This included his priests, who followed noah in taking many wives and concubines mosiah 11. Excommunicated fringe groups that splintered from the mormon church currently practice this.
Theres a book called kingdom of the cults, in which the lds org is listed. In getting there, smith had to have done something pretty big, which for all intents and purposes was publishing the book of mormon. In an attempt to justify early mormon polygamy, many mormons point to the bible. Interestingly, this passage also links the polygamy of noah and his. Words of mormon mormon son of mormon moroni visited joseph smith mosiah isaiah sons and daughters sons and daughters children of ammon a people descended from lot solomon king many wives and concubines many wives. The early mormon church embraced polygamy and in so doing they sought to justify their preferred form of marriage by citing biblical examples. Mormons wont tell you that the reason the book of mormon has no maps is because there is not one scrap of archaeological evidence to support it. This spotlight on polygamy is likely to make the majority of mormons who are nonfundamentalist uncomfortable.
The greatest triumph is the way the 19th wife illuminates the larger landscape of faith. One of the most offensive aspects of mormon based polygamy is the rampant practice of taking underage girls as polygamous wives. These polygamous arrangements were not, and are not, considered adultery by the church, as it is the mormon view that god specifically commanded those men and select others to take many wives. The biblical imagery of god as husband and his people as wife is continued in the book of mormon, mostly from the writings of isaiah. The churchs public affairs department directed huffpost to todd compton, a mormon researcher whose 1997 book in sacred loneliness compiles a list of 33 welldocumented wives. A man may take a 100 wives if he can support them, but only one can be on paper. After smiths death, beaman remarried, becoming the ninth wife. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the movement, which mormons used alongside the bible for teaching. Unfortunately, later book of mormon peoples saw the rise of wicked kings such as noah, the son of zeniff, who did not keep the commandments of god by taking many wives and concubines mosiah 11. Birth control is, of course, very strongly discouraged.
The book of mormon, therefore, is the only record professing to be divine which condemns the plurality of wives as being a practice exceedingly abominable before god. Salt lake city ap mormon church founder joseph smith insisted on introducing polygamy in the early 1800s despite knowing the. Behold, david and solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the lord. Many mormons, especially those with polygamous ancestors, say they. Mormons believe that the book of mormon confirms information found in the holy bible. Joseph smith rejected the idea that all people go either to heaven or to hell.
Those many wives in heaven need to first be sealed to a husband on earth. What is mormonism, why can men have multiple wives, what are. Mormon leaders have acknowledged for the first time that the churchs founder and prophet, joseph smith, portrayed in church materials as a loyal partner to his loving. Jacob and joseph seek to persuade men to believe in christ and keep his commandmentsnephi dieswickedness prevails among the nephites. Very prominent early mormons, such as founder joseph smith and brigham young, were polygamists who took many wives. New mormon narrative history book includes polygamous roots. That may be true, but never, and in no way, does the bible ever say that god commanded them to take additional wives. The book of mormon states very clearly that you must be like abraham having many wives. Instead, he taught that there are three heavenly kingdoms where nearly all people will be saved. Though mormon history and press indicate beaman was not baptized until may 11, 1843, she had migrated with mormons to nauvoo in 1839 or 1840. Women in the book of mormon encyclopedia of mormonism. Some women feel frustrated or offended that in what joseph smith called the most correct of any book on earth, god would have neglected to mention women. The critics use this quote to state that orson pratt admitted that the book of mormon condemns plural marriage by extracting only the portion of his quote that mentions it.
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