Plural Marriage has always been a topic that has been attacked by many people outside of the LDS Church. From a certain perspective, one has be careful before casting the first stone. After all, Abraham, Jacob, and David engaged in plural marriage, didn’t they? For clarification, I am not justifying the actions of anyone in the Old Testament and I do not believe the plural marriage was ever commanded by God. If anyone can show me a verse of God commanding someone in the Bible to take an additional wife, I will gladly change my perspective. No one has succeeded so far.
That being said, the issue isn’t just the fact that Smith had over 30 wives. A deeper part of the issue stems from how the situations of these additional brides occurred. To help see things more clearly, it sometimes helps to put these things in a chronological order. So let’s start by doing that. And these things that I am listing have all been verified by LDS historians and admitted to by the LDS Church. Screenshots from the LDS Church website immediately follow:
- Joseph Smith marries Emma (1827)
- Smith writes the Book of Mormon. In Jacob 2:24, polygamy is an abomination to God. (1830)
- Joseph and Emma have a 17-year-old house maid Fanny Alger who was living with them, named Fanny Alger. Smith marries Fanny without Emma’s knowledge. (1835)
- Smith gets married and sealed to additional women without Emma’s knowledge. (1841 -1843) (screenshot below)
- Smith finally gets sealed to Emma (May 28th, 1843). Although she was the first wife he was married to, Joseph was sealed to 20 women prior to being sealed to Emma. I can’t help but ask the question, “If Smith was truly a faithful husband and man of God, why wasn’t Emma the 1st wife Smith was sealed to? And why did Smith marry other women behind Emma’s back?” (screenshot below)
- Smith then receives a revelation that conflicts with what he wrote in the Book of Mormon, Jacob 2:24. His new revelation is D&C 132 which states that Polygamy is now part of God’s everlasting covenant. (July 12th, 1843)
- Smith continues to get married and sealed to 10+ more wives, 30-40 in all:
- 3 pairs of sisters (Partridges, Johnsons, Lawrences – Leviticus 18:18)
- 1 pair of mother-daughter (Patty Bartlett Sessions & Sylvia Sessions Lyon – Leviticus 18:17)
- His youngest wife was 14 years old.
- 11 of his wives had living husbands when he married them. This is called, polyandry. No prophet before Smith ever practiced polyandry. (screenshot below)
One would think that Smith should have received this revelation (D&C 132) prior to marrying all of these other wives without Emma’s knowledge rather than conveniently receiving the revelation after the fact. Some of you might be thinking, “Paul, take it easy on Joseph Smith. He wasn’t in it for the sex. He was focused on keeping families together in the afterlife and being sealed for eternity.”
To this response, the question must be asked, “If Smith truly was focused on sealings and keeping families together in the afterlife, why is it that he was never sealed to his own parents or children? Why were women the only people he only got sealed to?”
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One thing that does not sit well with others is the fact that Joseph Smith hid a number of these marriages from Emma.
Joseph Smith married Fanny Alger without telling Emma. When Emma discovered this, she was furious, and drove Fanny out of her house.
Not only did Joseph hide a number of his marriages from Emma. He also publicly lied about it as well:
- ”What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one. I am the same man, and as innocent as I was fourteen years ago; and I can prove them all perjurers.” (History of the Church, vol 6, p. 411) May, 1844
At this time, Smith had over 25 wives.
On June 7th, 1844, the Navoo Printing Press was able to only published one issue. It primarily focused on exposing Joseph Smith and his secret practices of polygamy after he publicly denied engaging in the practice just two months prior. In the Navoo Expositors first and only publication, there are 2 affidavits that speak of Smith’s push towards polyandry (1 woman being married to 2 men). William Law was in the first presidency and a big leader next to Joseph Smith. Both he and his wife (Jane Law) came forward and stated that Joseph Smith made advances towards Jane and asked her to be one of his polyandrous wives. Both William and Jane detested this idea and believed that Joseph Smith had gone too far and wanted to raise awareness of these secrets by putting in the newspaper that was printed by the Navoo Expositor. On June 10th, Joseph Smith being the mayor, ordered for the Navoo Printing Press to be destroyed. Even though Smith was the mayor, this action was against the law. As a result, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were arrested and taken to Carthage jail.
There were other times when he would approach younger women with a bribe by promising them exaltation not only for themselves but for their parents as well. Then other times, Smith would threaten them, saying that an angel with a flaming sword would kill him if they did not agree to marry him. For Lucy Walker (17), she testifies:
“In the year 1842, President Joseph Smith sought an interview with me, and said: “I have a message for you. I have been commanded of God to take another wife, and you are the woman.” My astonishment knew no bounds. This announcement was indeed a thunderbolt to me… Gross darkness instead of light took possession of my mind. I was tempted and tortured beyond endurance until life was not desirable… He saw how unhappy I was, and later sought an opportunity of again speaking to me on this subject, and said: “It is a command of God to you. I will give you until tomorrow to decide this matter. If you reject this message the gate will be closed forever against you.”
The part that makes me most upset is process of how terrible Lucy felt when Smith initially asked her to marry him. She doesn’t give him an answer, then Smith later approaches Lucy again and then decides to pressure her into saying, “Yes” to his marriage proposal. All of this occurred while Lucy’s father was away on his mission and Smith insisted that Lucy and her siblings move into his own house.
From an honest and unbiased perspective, what are we to make of Smith in this situation with Lucy?
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Some choose not to believe that Smith ever married other women who were already married. That it is a lie that he practiced polyandry. Again, the official LDS Church website agrees that these things are in fact true:
There were 11 women that we know of that Joseph Smith was sealed to who all had living husbands. We know that at least some of the husbands were faithful latter day saints as well. Why not encourage these women to be sealed to their current husband?
Diaries of Joseph Smith. April 1842. “Verily thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have called upon me to know my will concerning my handmaid Nancy Marinda Hyde—behold it is my will that she should have a better place prepared for her, than that in which she now lives, in order that her life may be spared unto her; therefore go and say unto my servant, Ebenezer Robinson, and to my handmaid his wife—Let them open their doors and take her and her children into their house and take care of them faithfully and kindly unto my servant Orson Hyde returns from his mission, or until some other provision can be made for her welfare and safety.”
- Joseph Smith send Orson Hyde on a mission. While he is away preaching the restored gospel, Smith decides to get married and sealed to Orson’s wife. Upon returning and discovering this, accounts describe Hyde understandably being “in a furious passion.” Why didn’t Smith just let Orson get sealed to his wife for eternity once he returned from his mission? Why would he jump the gun like that?
- Why can’t Joseph Smith provide a better place for these women without getting sealed to them?
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Some respond to this by saying, “The marriage was just a sealing ritual. Smith never had sex with any of those other women. He was always faithful to Emma.” The official Church website says otherwise:
Below are statements made by the wives of Joseph Smith:
Emily Partridge (19 years old) – When under oath in a deposition in the Temple Lot case, Emily Partridge was asked, “Do you make the declaration that you ever slept with him (Joseph Smith) in the same bed?” to which she answered, “Yes sir.”
Lucy Walker (17 years old) – Lucy’s niece, Theodocia Frances Walker Davis, reported to Joseph Smith III in 1876, “Lucy Walker told her that she lived with Joseph Smith as a wife.”
Malissa Lott (19 years old) – In an 1893 interview, Malissa Lott was asked if she was the Prophet’s “wife in very deed,” to which she answered, “Yes.” Implying sexual relations as between a typical husband and wife.
Eliza Partridge (22 years old) – Benjamin F. Johnson wrote in 1903: “The first plural wife brought to my house with whom the Prophet stayed, was Eliza Partridge.”
Louisa Beaman (26 years old) – When Joseph Bates Noble, Louisa’s brother-in-law, was asked: “Where did they [Joseph Smith and plural wife Louisa Beaman] sleep together?” He responded: “Right straight across the river at my house they slept together.”
Almera Johnson (29 years old) – Almera’s brother, Benjamin Johnson said, “He [Joseph Smith] was at my house … where he occupied my sister Almera’s room and bed.”
Sarah Lawrence – Lucy Walker (one of Smith’s wives) attested in 1902: “I know that [Emma] gave her consent to the marriage of at least four women [Emily and Eliza Partridge and Maria (19) and Sarah Lawrence (16)] to her husband as plural wives, and she was well aware that he associated and cohabited with them as wives.”
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Saints, Volume 1 – The Standard of Truth; Ch. 40, pg 490 “Because neither Joseph nor Emma wrote down how they felt about plural marriage, many questions are left unanswered. In her writings, Emily (Partridge) recorded some of their struggles with the practice. At times Emma rejected it completely while at other times reluctantly accepting it as a commandment. Torn between the Lord’s mandate to practice plural marriage and Emma’s opposition, Joseph sometimes chose to marry women without Emma’s knowledge, creating distressing situations for everyone involved.
In early May, Emma took Emily and Eliza aside and explained the principle of plural marriage to them. She had told Joseph that she would consent to him being sealed to two additional wives as long as she could choose them, and she had chosen Emily and Eliza, apparently unaware that Joseph had already been sealed to them.
Rather than mention her former sealing, Emily believed that keeping silent on the matter was the best thing for her to do. A few days later, she and Eliza were again sealed to Joseph, this time with Emma as a witness.”
- Just to make sure we understand this situation: Joseph Smith already married the Partridge sisters without Emma’s knowledge. Then later, Emma consented that Joseph could marry them. Instead of confessing to Emma and saying, “Hey, we actually already got sealed. Please forgive me.” Smith gets sealed to the sisters a second time without telling Emma so that she would think that this was the first time Smith was getting sealed to them to prevent her from getting angry.
I believe that there is plenty of good evidence to believe that the Bible is true, the Jesus rose from the dead, and that He is the savior of the world. But when we step back, take an honest look at all of these historical factors about Joseph Smith, what is more reasonable for me to believe:
That Smith was a true prophet of God?
Or
That he deceived people?
You may find yourself losing faith in Jospeh Smith, the Book of Mormon, or the LDS Church…but never lose faith in Jesus. We can trust the words of the Savior that are found in the New Testament gospels. If you have ever asked yourself the question: Can I trust the Bible? Hasn’t it been corrupted over the years? Please check out my Bible Lesson called, “Has The Bible Been Accurately Preserved Over Time?”
Please let me know your thoughts, things you appreciated or things that you disagreed with in the comment section below. Thank you for reading and God bless!
JLLDS Ministries 