Difference between revisions of "Purpose of plural marriage"

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{{Resource Title|The purpose of plural marriage}}
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== ==
 
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{{Question label}}
 
  
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*Why would the Lord have commanded the 19th century Saints to implement plural marriage? 
 
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*What purpose(s) did polygamy accomplish?
 
  
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''Note: Some provide their own reasons for plural marriage—they claim Joseph Smith and the Mormons implemented plural marriage because of lustful motives. That charge is addressed elsewhere:''  
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=''Gospel Topics'': Latter-day Saints do not understand all of God’s purposes for instituting, through His prophets, the practice of plural marriage during the 19th century=
 +
"Plural Marriage and Families in Early Utah," ''Gospel Topics'' on LDS.org:
 +
<blockquote>
 +
Latter-day Saints do not understand all of God’s purposes for instituting, through His prophets, the practice of plural marriage during the 19th century. The Book of Mormon identifies one reason for God to command it: to increase the number of children born in the gospel covenant in order to "raise up seed unto [the Lord]" (Jacob 2:30). Plural marriage did result in the birth of large numbers of children within faithful Latter-day Saint homes. It also shaped 19th-century Mormon society in other ways: marriage became available to virtually all who desired it; per-capita inequality of wealth was diminished as economically disadvantaged women married into more financially stable households; and ethnic intermarriages were increased, which helped to unite a diverse immigrant population. Plural marriage also helped create and strengthen a sense of cohesion and group identification among Latter-day Saints. Church members came to see themselves as a "peculiar people," covenant-bound to carry out the commands of God despite outside opposition, willing to endure ostracism for their principles.<ref>[http://www.lds.org/topics/plural-marriage-and-families-in-early-utah?lang=eng "Plural Marriage and Families in Early Utah,"] ''Gospel Topics'' on LDS.org. (2013)</ref>
 +
</blockquote>
  
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::{{Main|Polygamy because of lustful motives|l1=Polygamy because of lustful motives|Mormonism and polygamy/Purpose of plural marriage/Reasons offered that are not in keeping with the evidence|l2=Reasons for plural marriage that have scant evidence|Mormonism and polygamy/Purpose of plural marriage/Possible benefits|l3=Possible benefits of plural marriage}}
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=What do the scriptures say about plural marriage?=
 +
==The only scriptural explanations given from the Lord for approved plural marriage are found in Jacob 2:30 and D&C 132==
 +
Many have asked what the scriptures say about the reasons the Lord gave for plural marriage. All such reasons are outlined in this article.
  
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{{CriticalSources}}
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===Raise Up A Faithful Seed===
 +
<blockquote>
 +
"For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things."
 +
</blockquote>
  
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== ==
+
Here, the Lord gives one reason for plural marriage, "to raise up seed unto me."
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{{ChurchResponseBar
 
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|link=http://www.lds.org/topics/plural-marriage-and-families-in-early-utah?lang=eng
 
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|title=Plural Marriage and Families in Early Utah
 
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|publication=Gospel Topics
 
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|date=2013
 
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|summary=Latter-day Saints do not understand all of God’s purposes for instituting, through His prophets, the practice of plural marriage during the 19th century. The Book of Mormon identifies one reason for God to command it: to increase the number of children born in the gospel covenant in order to “raise up seed unto [the Lord]” (Jacob 2:30). Plural marriage did result in the birth of large numbers of children within faithful Latter-day Saint homes. It also shaped 19th-century Mormon society in other ways: marriage became available to virtually all who desired it; per-capita inequality of wealth was diminished as economically disadvantaged women married into more financially stable households; and ethnic intermarriages were increased, which helped to unite a diverse immigrant population. Plural marriage also helped create and strengthen a sense of cohesion and group identification among Latter-day Saints. Church members came to see themselves as a “peculiar people,” covenant-bound to carry out the commands of God despite outside opposition, willing to endure ostracism for their principles.
 
−
}}
 
  
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== ==
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===Restoration of All Things===
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{{Conclusion label}}
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As Latter-day Saint scholar Brian Hales has [https://josephsmithspolygamy.org/theology/joseph-smiths-teachings/ written]:
  
−
Plural marriage can be a difficult historical fact for people to understand, both members and nonmembers alike.  Trying to fully understand the purposes behind such a commandment in today's mindset can also make this subject difficult. It is important to note that we do not have all the historical information surrounding the inception and implementation of the practice. Rather than trying to understand the Lord's purposes in retrospect on a limited scope, one should remember the above scripture in Jacob.  Other benefits, although potentially advantageous, are not given as reasons by the Lord.
+
:The earliest justification mentioned by the Prophet was as a part of the "restitution of all things" prophesied in Acts 3:19–21. Old Testament prophets practiced polygamy, so it could be a part of the restoration of "all things" (see D&C 132:40, 45).
 +
:[. . .]
 +
:Joseph Smith was a prophet-restorer, which helps to explain why the command to practice plural marriage has been labeled a "restoration," even though it is not a salvific ordinance.
  
−
== ==
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===Making Marriage Available to Everyone===
−
{{Response label}}
+
Again from Brian Hales:
 +
:The fourth reason Joseph Smith gave for the practice of plural marriage dwarfs the other three explanations in significance because it deals with eternity. The message of D&C 132:16–17 states that men and women who are not sealed in eternal marriages during this life (or vicariously later) "remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity."
 +
:In other words, "exaltation," the highest salvation, requires eternal marriage. No unmarried person can be exalted according to Joseph Smith’s teachings.
  
−
===What do the scriptures say?===
+
===Multiply and Replenish the Earth===
−
The only scriptural explanation given from the Lord for approved plural marriage is found in {{scripture||Jacob|2|30}}:
+
In the only recorded revelation on plural marriage received by Joseph Smith, the Lord further stated ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/search?search=D%26c+132:63&do=Search D&C 132:63]):
  
−
:"For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things."
+
<blockquote>
 +
"they [the plural wives] are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified."
 +
</blockquote>
  
−
Here, the Lord gives only one reason for plural marriage, "to raise up seed unto me." In the only recorded revelation on plural marriage received by Joseph Smith, the Lord further stated ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/search?search=D%26c+132:63&do=Search D&C 132:63]):
+
This passage suggests that plural marriage served the purpose of multiplying and replenishing the earth.
  
−
:"they [the plural wives] are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified."
+
===Abrahamic Test===
 +
D&C 132:34-36 reads:
  
−
These scriptural passages suggest to many that plural marriage served at least two reasons: 1) "to raise up seed" or "multiply and replenish the earth," and 2) "that they may bear the souls of men."
+
:34 God acommanded Abraham, and Sarah gave bHagar to Abraham to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law; and from Hagar sprang many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling, among other things, the promises.
 +
:35 Was Abraham, therefore, under condemnation? Verily I say unto you, Nay; for I, the Lord, commanded it.
 +
:36 Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac; nevertheless, it was written: Thou shalt not kill. Abraham, however, did not refuse, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.
  
−
It is often not the Lord's pattern to give reasons for His commandments, and we are often left to draw our own conclusions&mdash;which may be completely wrong ({{s||Moses|5|6-8}}). We often obey when we do not understand why a command has been given&mdash;we only know ''that'' it has been given. We should remember the caution of Elder Dallin H. Oaks:
+
This scripture suggests that one of the purposes of polygamy was to provide an Abrahamic-like test for the early Saints. Many people recalled how difficult it was to practice polygamy.
  
−
:...It's not the pattern of the Lord to give reasons. We can put reasons to commandments. When we do we're on our own. Some people [have] put reasons to [commandments] and they turned out to be spectacularly wrong.{{ref|oaks1}}
+
Hellen Mar Kimball recalled:
 +
<blockquote>
 +
I did not try to conceal the fact of its having been a trial, but confessed that it had been one of the severest of my life; but that it had also proven one of the greatest of blessings. I could truly say it had done the most towards making me a Saint and a free woman, in every sense of the word; and I knew many others who could say the same, and to whom it had proven one of the greatest boons—a ‘blessing in disguise.'<ref>Helen Mar Kimball Whitney, ''Why We Practice Plural Marriage'' (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1884), 23–24; see also page 8.</ref></blockquote>
  
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===Joseph didn't "raise up seed," so why did he practice plural marriage?===
+
==Plural marriage can be a difficult historical fact for people to understand, both members and nonmembers alike==
  
−
If the purpose of polygamy was to "raise up seed," then why did Joseph not have children by his plural wives? He was certainly capable of having children, as demonstrated by those that he had by Emma, many of whom died. Yet, there is no conclusive evidence to date of Joseph having had children by any of his plural wives.  
+
It is often not the Lord's pattern to give a multitude of reasons for His commandments, and we are often left to draw our own conclusions&mdash;which may be completely wrong ({{s||Moses|5|6-8}}).  We often obey when we do not understand why a command has been given&mdash;we only know that it has been given. We should remember the caution of Elder Dallin H. Oaks:
  
−
Joseph established the practice of plural marriage as part of the "restoration of all things," and introduced it to a number of others within the Church. This alone may have been the purpose of Joseph's initiation of the practice. The establishment of the practice ultimately ''did'' have the effect of "raising up seed"...just not through Joseph Smith.
+
<blockquote>
 +
...It's not the pattern of the Lord to give reasons. We can put reasons to commandments. When we do we're on our own. Some people [have] put reasons to [commandments] and they turned out to be spectacularly wrong.<ref>{{Speech:Oaks:5 June 1988}}</ref>
 +
</blockquote>
  
−
Interestingly, some claim that Joseph Smith actually ''did'' father children with some of his plural wives, and that he simply covered up the evidence of pregnancies. This claim appears to have originated with Fawn Brodie in her critical book ''[[Specific works/No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith/Index/Chapter 24#346|No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith]]'', in which Brodie speculates that he may have "learned some primitive method of birth control". This is simply speculation on the part of the author, since Brodie can't adequately explain why a large number of children were not produced from Joseph's other "marriages." Brodie also claimed that Joseph Smith had intimate relations with other men’s wives to whom he had been sealed, and that children resulted from these unions. However, DNA testing has so far proven these allegations to be false.
+
Trying to fully understand the purposes behind such a commandment in today's mindset can also make this subject difficult.  It is important to note that we do not have all the historical information surrounding the inception and implementation of the practice. Rather than trying to understand the Lord's purposes in retrospect on a limited scope, one should remember the above scriptures in Jacob and D&C 132. Other benefits, although potentially advantageous, are not given as reasons by the Lord.
  
−
{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Children of polygamous marriages|l1=Did Joseph have any children through polygamous marriages?}}
+
=If the only purpose of polygamy was to "raise up seed," then why did Joseph not have children by his plural wives?=
 +
==Polygamy was not permitted ''only'' for the purpose of procreation==
  
−
===Are there other possible purposes?===
+
If the ''only'' purpose of polygamy, at least in Joseph Smith's case, was to "raise up seed," then why did Joseph not have children by his plural wives? He was certainly capable of having children, as demonstrated by those that he had by Emma, many of whom died. Yet, there is no conclusive evidence to date of Joseph having had children by any of his plural wives, and DNA testing has ruled out most of those who were suspected of being such.
−
Save for scriptural accounts, any other "reasons" which we attach, in retrospect, to plural marriage can only be based on supposition and intellectual deduction. Any such list as this is therefore tentative. Any or all of these things could have been intended by the Lord for the benefit of the Church and the Saints. A few of these benefits which have been suggested include:
+
 
 +
Joseph was commanded to restore the practice of polygamy as part of the "restoration of all things." It was obviously not intended that Joseph use the practice to produce progeny.
 +
 
 +
==Joseph was also sealed for eternity to some women who were already married, but these women continued to have children by their current husbands==
 +
 
 +
Among Joseph's plural marriages and/or sealings, between eight to eleven of them were to women who were already married. Of the eight well-documented cases, five of the husbands were Latter-day Saints, and the other three were either not active in or not associated with the Church. In all cases, these women continued to live with their husbands, most of them doing so until their husbands died. These eternal marriages appear to have had little effect upon the lives of the women involved, with the exception that they would be sealed to Joseph in the afterlife rather than to their earthly husbands. No children from these marriages have ever been identified. These were sealings which would only affect Joseph's association with these women in the afterlife.
 +
 
 +
{{HalesSite
 +
|subject1=Common Inaccurate Explanations for Joseph Smith’s Polygamy
 +
|link1=http://josephsmithspolygamy.org/theology/explanation_for_mormon_polygamy/
 +
|summary1=Both modern and 19th century members of the Church have proposed a variety of explanations for the practice of plural marriage. Not all of these suggestions can be supported by the available data.
 +
|subject2=Doctrinal summary
 +
|link2=http://josephsmithspolygamy.org/theology-2/doctrinal-summary/
 +
|summary2=Joseph identified four reasons for the restoration of plural marriage.
 +
|subject4=Joseph Smith’s Personal Polygamy
 +
|link4=http://josephsmithspolygamy.org/beginnings-mormon-polygamy/
 +
|summary4=Many are quick to declare that Joseph's polygamy sprang from religious extremism and/or sexual desire. This article explores the difficulties that Joseph had with plural marriage, and evidence for what truly motivated his acts.
 +
|subject5=The Faith of the Nauvoo Polygamists
 +
|link5=http://josephsmithspolygamy.org/stories-faith-polygamists/
 +
|summary5=Why did early members of the Church practice polygamy? Were they all dupes? Easily manipulated? Religious fanatics who believed Joseph could do no wrong? This article explores the initial reactions and eventual decisions made by the first generation of polygamists in Nauvoo.}}
 +
 
 +
=What purposes could plural marriage possibly serve?=
 +
==Save for scriptural accounts, any other "reasons" which we attach, in retrospect, to plural marriage can only be based on supposition and intellectual deduction==
 +
 
 +
Any such list as this is therefore tentative. Any or all of these things could have been intended by the Lord for the benefit of the Church and the Saints. A few of these benefits which have been suggested include:
  
 
# It was to try (prove) His people.  Polygamy stood as an Abrahamic test for the saints.  
 
# It was to try (prove) His people.  Polygamy stood as an Abrahamic test for the saints.  
Line 64: Line 99:
 
# Polygamy was part of the "restoration of all things."  
 
# Polygamy was part of the "restoration of all things."  
 
# Numerous family ties were created, building a network of associations that strengthened the Church.
 
# Numerous family ties were created, building a network of associations that strengthened the Church.
−
# Polygamy created a system where a higher percentage of women and men got married compared to the national average at the time. {{ref|keller2}}
+
# Polygamy created a system where a higher percentage of women and men got married compared to the national average at the time.<ref>David R. Keller, "[http://www.fairblog.org/2008/04/27/where-the-lost-boys-go/ Where the Lost Boys Go]," FAIR Blog (last accessed 9 May 2008)</ref>
  
 
Other benefits which we do not yet see or understand could also have been intended.  But, it reminds us plural marriage may have accomplished more than we sometimes appreciate.
 
Other benefits which we do not yet see or understand could also have been intended.  But, it reminds us plural marriage may have accomplished more than we sometimes appreciate.
  
−
{{Detail|Mormonism and polygamy/Purpose of plural marriage/Possible benefits|l1=Possible benefits of plural marriage}}
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{{Critical sources box:Purpose of plural marriage/CriticalSources}}{{blankline}}
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{{endnotes sources}}
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=={{Endnotes label}}==
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<!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->
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[[fi:Mormonismi ja moniavioisuus/Moniavioisuuden päämäärä]]
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#{{note|oaks1}}Dallin H. Oaks, Interview with Associated Press, in ''Daily Herald,'' Provo, Utah, 5 June 1988.
+
[[de:Mormonismus und Polygamie/Der Zweck der Vielehe]]
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#{{note|keller2}}David R. Keller, "Where the Lost Boys Go," FAIR Blog (last accessed 9 May 2008) {{link|url=http://www.fairblog.org/2008/04/27/where-the-lost-boys-go/}}
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[[es:Mormonismo y poligamia/Propósito del matrimonio plural]]
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[[pt:Mormonismo e Poligamia/Propósito do casamento plural]]
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{{FurtherReading}}
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[[Category:Letter to a CES Director]]
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[[Category:MormonThink]]
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{{Articles Footer 1}} {{Articles Footer 2}} {{Articles Footer 3}} {{Articles Footer 4}} {{Articles Footer 5}} {{Articles Footer 6}} {{Articles Footer 7}} {{Articles Footer 8}} {{Articles Footer 9}} {{Articles Footer 10}}
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[[Category:Questions]]
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[[de:Gründe für Polygamie]]
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[[de:Frage: Joseph hat nicht Nachkommenschaft herangezogen. Warum also lebte er in Polygamie?]]
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[[fr:Polygamy/Purpose of plural marriage]]
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[[de:Frage: Was sagen die heiligen Schriften über die Mehrzahl?]]
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[[de:Frage: Welchen Zweck könnte Polygamie vielleicht dienen?]]
 +
[[es:Fuente:Temas del Evangelio:El matrimonio plural y las familias en los primeros días de Utah:Los Santos de los Últimos Días no entendían todos los propósitos de Dios al instituir...la práctica del matrimonio plural durante el siglo XIX]]
 +
[[es:Pregunta: Si el único propósito de la poligamia era "dar descendencia", entonces ¿por qué José no tiene hijos con sus esposas plurales?]]
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[[es:Pregunta: ¿Qué dicen las Escrituras sobre el matrimonio plural?]]
 +
[[es:Pregunta: ¿Qué propósitos podría servir la poligamia?]]
 +
[[pt:Fonte:Tópicos do Evangelho:O Casamento Plural e as Famílias Polígamas nos Primórdios de Utah:Os santos dos últimos dias não entendem todos os propósitos de Deus para instituir]]
 +
[[pt:Pergunta: O que dizem as escrituras sobre o casamento plural?]]
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[[pt:Pergunta: O que fins seria o casamento plural, eventualmente, servir?]]
 +
[[pt:Pergunta: Se o único propósito da poligamia era "levantar semente", por que então Joseph Smith não teve filhos com suas esposas de casamentos plurais?]]

Latest revision as of 19:19, 17 May 2024
Articles about Plural marriage
Doctrinal foundation of plural marriage
Introduction of plural marriage
Notable plural wives of Joseph Smith
Plural marriage in Utah
End of plural marriage


Gospel Topics: Latter-day Saints do not understand all of God’s purposes for instituting, through His prophets, the practice of plural marriage during the 19th century

"Plural Marriage and Families in Early Utah," Gospel Topics on LDS.org:

Latter-day Saints do not understand all of God’s purposes for instituting, through His prophets, the practice of plural marriage during the 19th century. The Book of Mormon identifies one reason for God to command it: to increase the number of children born in the gospel covenant in order to "raise up seed unto [the Lord]" (Jacob 2:30). Plural marriage did result in the birth of large numbers of children within faithful Latter-day Saint homes. It also shaped 19th-century Mormon society in other ways: marriage became available to virtually all who desired it; per-capita inequality of wealth was diminished as economically disadvantaged women married into more financially stable households; and ethnic intermarriages were increased, which helped to unite a diverse immigrant population. Plural marriage also helped create and strengthen a sense of cohesion and group identification among Latter-day Saints. Church members came to see themselves as a "peculiar people," covenant-bound to carry out the commands of God despite outside opposition, willing to endure ostracism for their principles.[1]

What do the scriptures say about plural marriage?

The only scriptural explanations given from the Lord for approved plural marriage are found in Jacob 2:30 and D&C 132

Many have asked what the scriptures say about the reasons the Lord gave for plural marriage. All such reasons are outlined in this article.

Raise Up A Faithful Seed

"For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things."

Here, the Lord gives one reason for plural marriage, "to raise up seed unto me."

Restoration of All Things

As Latter-day Saint scholar Brian Hales has written:

The earliest justification mentioned by the Prophet was as a part of the "restitution of all things" prophesied in Acts 3:19–21. Old Testament prophets practiced polygamy, so it could be a part of the restoration of "all things" (see D&C 132:40, 45).
[. . .]
Joseph Smith was a prophet-restorer, which helps to explain why the command to practice plural marriage has been labeled a "restoration," even though it is not a salvific ordinance.

Making Marriage Available to Everyone

Again from Brian Hales:

The fourth reason Joseph Smith gave for the practice of plural marriage dwarfs the other three explanations in significance because it deals with eternity. The message of D&C 132:16–17 states that men and women who are not sealed in eternal marriages during this life (or vicariously later) "remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity."
In other words, "exaltation," the highest salvation, requires eternal marriage. No unmarried person can be exalted according to Joseph Smith’s teachings.

Multiply and Replenish the Earth

In the only recorded revelation on plural marriage received by Joseph Smith, the Lord further stated (D&C 132:63):

"they [the plural wives] are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified."

This passage suggests that plural marriage served the purpose of multiplying and replenishing the earth.

Abrahamic Test

D&C 132:34-36 reads:

34 God acommanded Abraham, and Sarah gave bHagar to Abraham to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law; and from Hagar sprang many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling, among other things, the promises.
35 Was Abraham, therefore, under condemnation? Verily I say unto you, Nay; for I, the Lord, commanded it.
36 Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac; nevertheless, it was written: Thou shalt not kill. Abraham, however, did not refuse, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.

This scripture suggests that one of the purposes of polygamy was to provide an Abrahamic-like test for the early Saints. Many people recalled how difficult it was to practice polygamy.

Hellen Mar Kimball recalled:

I did not try to conceal the fact of its having been a trial, but confessed that it had been one of the severest of my life; but that it had also proven one of the greatest of blessings. I could truly say it had done the most towards making me a Saint and a free woman, in every sense of the word; and I knew many others who could say the same, and to whom it had proven one of the greatest boons—a ‘blessing in disguise.'[2]

Plural marriage can be a difficult historical fact for people to understand, both members and nonmembers alike

It is often not the Lord's pattern to give a multitude of reasons for His commandments, and we are often left to draw our own conclusions—which may be completely wrong (Moses 5꞉6-8). We often obey when we do not understand why a command has been given—we only know that it has been given. We should remember the caution of Elder Dallin H. Oaks:

...It's not the pattern of the Lord to give reasons. We can put reasons to commandments. When we do we're on our own. Some people [have] put reasons to [commandments] and they turned out to be spectacularly wrong.[3]

Trying to fully understand the purposes behind such a commandment in today's mindset can also make this subject difficult. It is important to note that we do not have all the historical information surrounding the inception and implementation of the practice. Rather than trying to understand the Lord's purposes in retrospect on a limited scope, one should remember the above scriptures in Jacob and D&C 132. Other benefits, although potentially advantageous, are not given as reasons by the Lord.

If the only purpose of polygamy was to "raise up seed," then why did Joseph not have children by his plural wives?

Polygamy was not permitted only for the purpose of procreation

If the only purpose of polygamy, at least in Joseph Smith's case, was to "raise up seed," then why did Joseph not have children by his plural wives? He was certainly capable of having children, as demonstrated by those that he had by Emma, many of whom died. Yet, there is no conclusive evidence to date of Joseph having had children by any of his plural wives, and DNA testing has ruled out most of those who were suspected of being such.

Joseph was commanded to restore the practice of polygamy as part of the "restoration of all things." It was obviously not intended that Joseph use the practice to produce progeny.

Joseph was also sealed for eternity to some women who were already married, but these women continued to have children by their current husbands

Among Joseph's plural marriages and/or sealings, between eight to eleven of them were to women who were already married. Of the eight well-documented cases, five of the husbands were Latter-day Saints, and the other three were either not active in or not associated with the Church. In all cases, these women continued to live with their husbands, most of them doing so until their husbands died. These eternal marriages appear to have had little effect upon the lives of the women involved, with the exception that they would be sealed to Joseph in the afterlife rather than to their earthly husbands. No children from these marriages have ever been identified. These were sealings which would only affect Joseph's association with these women in the afterlife.

See also Brian Hales' discussion
Both modern and 19th century members of the Church have proposed a variety of explanations for the practice of plural marriage. Not all of these suggestions can be supported by the available data.
Joseph identified four reasons for the restoration of plural marriage.
Many are quick to declare that Joseph's polygamy sprang from religious extremism and/or sexual desire. This article explores the difficulties that Joseph had with plural marriage, and evidence for what truly motivated his acts.
Why did early members of the Church practice polygamy? Were they all dupes? Easily manipulated? Religious fanatics who believed Joseph could do no wrong? This article explores the initial reactions and eventual decisions made by the first generation of polygamists in Nauvoo.

What purposes could plural marriage possibly serve?

Save for scriptural accounts, any other "reasons" which we attach, in retrospect, to plural marriage can only be based on supposition and intellectual deduction

Any such list as this is therefore tentative. Any or all of these things could have been intended by the Lord for the benefit of the Church and the Saints. A few of these benefits which have been suggested include:

  1. It was to try (prove) His people. Polygamy stood as an Abrahamic test for the saints.
  2. It was to "raise up" righteous seed.
  3. It served to "set apart" his people as a peculiar people to the world. This social isolation that gave the church space to solidify itself into an identity independent of the many denominations from which the membership was derived.
  4. Polygamy was part of the "restoration of all things."
  5. Numerous family ties were created, building a network of associations that strengthened the Church.
  6. Polygamy created a system where a higher percentage of women and men got married compared to the national average at the time.[4]

Other benefits which we do not yet see or understand could also have been intended. But, it reminds us plural marriage may have accomplished more than we sometimes appreciate.

Source(s) of the criticism:
Critical sources

Notes

  1. ↑ "Plural Marriage and Families in Early Utah," Gospel Topics on LDS.org. (2013)
  2. ↑ Helen Mar Kimball Whitney, Why We Practice Plural Marriage (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1884), 23–24; see also page 8.
  3. ↑ Dallin H. Oaks cited in "Apostles Talk about Reasons for Lifting Ban," Daily Herald, Provo, Utah (5 June 1988): 21 (Associated Press); reproduced with commentary in Dallin H. Oaks, Life's Lessons Learned: Personal Reflections (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Co., 2011), 68-69.
  4. ↑ David R. Keller, "Where the Lost Boys Go," FAIR Blog (last accessed 9 May 2008)
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