ONE WIFE

Reason 9

God's Word is unchanging; forever; always has been and always will be.
     Psalm 119:142-144
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law is truth. Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, Yet Your commandments are my delights. The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting; Give me understanding, and I shall live.

     Alma 41:8 in the Book of Mormon agrees with the Bible.
Now, the decrees of God are unalterable; therefore, the way is prepared that whosoever will may walk therein and be saved.

     D&C 56:4-5, however, disagrees with the Bible and says God's Word can change.
Wherefore I, the Lord, command and revoke, as it seemeth me good; and all this to be answered upon the heads of the rebellious, saith the Lord. Wherefore, I revoke the commandment which was given unto my servants...and give a new commandment unto my servant...

If polygamy was not okay in the Old and New Testament Times, then it was not okay in the 1800s just as it is not okay today.

     Genesis 2:24
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
     Matthew 19:4-6 and Mark 10:6-9 and Ephesians 5:31
And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."
     Ephesians 5:33
Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

The Bible condemns polygamy.
     1 Timothy 3:2
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;
     1 Timothy 3:12
Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
     Titus 1:6
if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination.

God does not change His mind. This includes monogamy.

The Book of Mormon condemns polygamy.
     Jacob 1:15
And now it came to pass that the people of Nephi, under the reign of the second king, began to grow hard in their hearts, and indulge themselves somewhat in wicked practices, such as like unto David of old desiring many wives and concubines, and also Solomon, his son.
     Jacob 2:24
Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord.
     Jacob 3:5
Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father-that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.
     Mosiah 11:2
For behold, he did not keep the commandments of God, but he did walk after the desires of his own heart. And he had many wives and concubines. And he did cause his people to commit sin, and do that which was abominable in the sight of the Lord. Yea, and they did commit whoredoms and all manner of wickedness.

However, the Doctrine and Covenants commands polygamy.
     D&C 132:1
Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines-
     D&C 132:37-39
Abraham received concubines, and they bore him children; and it was accounted unto him for righteousness, because they were given unto him, and he abode in my law; as Isaac also and Jacob did none other things than that which they were commanded; and because they did none other things than that which they were commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods. David also received many wives and concubines, and also Solomon and Moses my servants, as also many others of my servants, from the beginning of creation until this time; and in nothing did they sin save in those things which they received not of me. David's wives and concubines were given unto him of me, by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power; and in none of these things did he sin against me save in the case of Uriah and his wife; and, therefore he hath fallen from his exaltation, and received his portion; and he shall not inherit them out of the world, for I gave them unto another, saith the Lord.
     D&C 132:61
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 is he 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.
          God claims to justify polygamy in these verses. I'm so confused; I cannot figure out if polygamy is condemned or commanded...

As a member, I was taught that polygamy was needed at the time it was practiced by Mormons. So many women and children were being left behind without a husband and father. Men were being sent off to wars, dying, etc. I was taught that Joseph Smith had a few wives in order to take care of them and their children who had no father.
I was also told that in the 1800s, the number of women outnumbered the men by a huge margin. The men needed to take as many wives as they could afford. All women needed to be able to multiply and replenish the earth as well as receive their temple ordinances to get to the celestial kingdom.

However, since leaving the church, I have learned that these are both false stories. Joseph Smith was married to at least 24 women, about ten of them under the age of 20 and one was 14 years of age. He also practiced polyandry, which means most of his wives were already married to other men when Joseph Smith married them. I was never told about polyandry and this is very upsetting to me. Please feel free to use the LDS source to verify this information.
     familysearch.org This is an LDS church website.
     familysearch.org/Joseph Smith (Joseph Smith's record)
Another source shows 33 wives were sealed to the prophet while he was alive.
And yet another source shows a total of 44 wives as more were sealed to him after his death.
     wivesofjosephsmith.org
     List_of_the_wives_of_Joseph_Smith,_Jr.

The number of women did not outnumber the number of men in the 1800s to justify polygamy.
     exmormon.org/mormon/mormon199
          (about halfway down the page is the population statistic)

     LDS 12th Article of Faith
We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

During the 1830s, monogamy was the US law, not polygamy or polyandry. Therefore, polygamy and polyandry were illegal in the US.

Whether Joseph Smith was married to 2, 24, 33, or 44 is irrelevant to me. The heartbreaking information is that God created Adam and Eve to multiply and replenish the earth, and He always wanted it this way. God did not create Adam and Eve and Abigail and Hannah and Julia and Leah and Martha and Naomi and Phoebe and Rachel and Rebecca and Ruth and Sarah and Susanna and Tabitha and Victoria. There is no way I will share my husband with another woman, nor would I care to have another husband. The bond that I have with Ken is unbreakable and I have no desire to have that union with anyone else; even if the prophet told me I had to.

Some Mormon Apostles taught that Jesus was married polygamously and had children while on earth.
     mrm.org/jesus-married

There is nothing in the Bible about Jesus being married at all or having children. For such an important occasion in His life, I would think it should be mentioned at least one time in the Bible.

My unanswered question was:

How could any man, especially a prophet of God, justify marrying this many women of this age range, most with husbands already, when it is clearly against Biblical customs and the law?

I was initially devastated when I received this answer that it was unjustifiable, yet overjoyed to find the truth that polygamy and polyandry were not necessary and were certainly not revelation from God!