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Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Use of sources/John Taylor September 1886 revelation
Did John Taylor receive a revelation on September 27, 1886 that promised that “polygamy would never be abandoned?”
| Damned without plural marriage | A FAIR Analysis of: One Nation Under Gods A work by author: Richard Abanes
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Polygamy absolutely essential to godhood |
Author's Claims
One Nation Under Gods, page 316 (hardback and paperback)
The author asserts that John Taylor received a revelation on September 27, 1886 that promised that the practice of plural marriage would never be abandoned.
Author's Sources
Endnote 15, page 587 (hardback); page 585 (paperback)
- Fred C. Collier, Unpublished Revelations, vol. 1, 145-146, 180-183.
Other source(s) of the criticism
- John W. Taylor—claimed that the revelation read "the Law of Plural Marriage was Eternal." This phrase is not, however, in the revelation. (See diary of Heber J. Grant, 30 September 1890).
John Taylor's 1886 revelation
Jump to details:
- Question: Did John Taylor receive a revelation on September 27, 1886 that promised that polygamy would never be abandoned by the Church?
- The revelation does not say that the practice of plural marriage will never be abandoned, but that the law of the new and everlasting covenant (which includes monogamous and polygamous marriage) would not be altered or revoked
- A document that is apparently in John Taylor's handwriting was found among his papers after his death
- John Taylor, so far as is known, did not discuss this revelation with anyone, and it was never canonized as binding upon the Church
- The document concerns the new and everlasting covenant, not the practice of plural marriage
- The Doctrine and Covenants frequently refers to the covenant, and it is clear that the reference is generally to the Gospel covenant, not to plural marriage
- The new and everlasting covenant of marriage
- It was common for nineteenth century members of the Church to focus on the plural marriage aspect of this covenant
- Applying the analysis to the 1886 document
Notes