Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 9

Chapter 8

A FAIR Analysis of: Criticism of Mormonism/Books A work by author: Jerald and Sandra Tanner

Chapter 10

Claims made in Chapter 9: Plural Marriage

Page	Claim	Response	Author's sources
205	The 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants had a section denouncing polygamy.	1835 Doctrine and Covenants denies polygamy	Doctrine and Covenants (1835), Section 101
207	Section 101 was replaced with Section 132 in 1876	Author(s) impose(s) own fundamentalism on the Saints The Saints believe in on-going revelation—Church policy may change from time to time.	[ATTENTION!]
207	A revelation on plural marriage given in 1831 was "suppressed" which said that the Indians would become "white and delightsome" though intermarriage with the Mormons.	White and delightsome?  Prejudicial or loaded language First teaching about plural marriage	Letter from W. W. Phelps to Brigham Young. August 12, 1861
208	It was taught that the skin color of the Indians would change if they joined the Church.	Church leaders did not realize until 1982 that Joseph Smith had edited a Book of Mormon verse in 1836 to avoid giving this impression.  Author(s) impose(s) own fundamentalism on the Saints: The Saints do not believe in prophetic infallibility.	[ATTENTION!]
209	Spencer Kimball believed that the Indians were becoming a "white and delightsome" people.	Church leaders did not realize until 1982 that Joseph Smith had edited a Book of Mormon verse in 1836 to avoid giving this impression.  Author(s) impose(s) own fundamentalism on the Saints: The Saints do not believe in prophetic infallibility.	Improvement Era, December 1960, pp.922-23
212	Brigham Young believed that the Indians skin would become white through intermarriage.	Church leaders did not realize until 1982 that Joseph Smith had edited a Book of Mormon verse in 1836 to avoid giving this impression.  Author(s) impose(s) own fundamentalism on the Saints: The Saints do not believe in prophetic infallibility.	The Abominations of Mormonism Exposed, Cincinnati, 1852, pp.58-59
214	Church leaders did not approve of interracial marriage.	Church leaders have discouraged any marriage in which the social or cultural differences will prove serious obstacles to a successful marriage. Unfortunately, that was often the case with inter-racial marriages in the United States until quite recently. Interracial marriage condemned?	[ATTENTION!]
215	Oliver Cowdery believed that Joseph had an improper relationship with Fanny Alger.	Fanny Alger—affair or marriage?	Letter written by Oliver Cowdery and recorded by his brother Warren Cowdery; This source is vague and not much help to the reader. The actual source is: Oliver Cowdery to Warren A. Cowdery, "Dear Br. Warren," Far West, Missouri (21 Jan 1838); reproduced in "Letters of Oliver Cowdery." In New Mormon Studies CD-ROM (Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, 1998).
219	Lorenzo Snow said that anyone who had a plural marriage prior to the date of the revelation (July 12, 1843) was living in adultery.	[citation needed]	Temple Lot Case, p.320
219	It is claimed that Mormon leaders say that the 1843 revelation was actually received earlier, but History of the Church says that this was the date the revelation was received.	The revelation was recorded on this date, but it is clear that Joseph knew and was teaching it earlier. First teaching about plural marriage Danel W. Bachman, "A Study of the Mormon Practice of Polygamy before the Death of Joseph Smith" (Purdue University, 1975). Danel W. Bachman, "New Light on an Old Hypothesis: The Ohio Origins of the Revelation on Eternal Marriage," Journal of Mormon History 5 (1978): 19–32.	History of the Church 5:500-501
220	Brigham Young said that he lived "above the law."	[needs work]	Journal of Discourses 1:361
220	Polygamy is forbidden by the Book of Mormon	Misrepresentation of source: Book of Mormon condemns polygamy	[ATTENTION!]
220-221	Joseph F. Smith said that the Book of Mormon forbid polygamy.	Book of Mormon condemns polygamy	Reed Smoot Case, vol. 1, p.480[citation needed]
221	Orson Pratt said that the Book of Mormon condemned polygamy.	Book of Mormon condemns polygamy	See Quote mining—Journal of Discourses 6:351 to see how this quote was mined.
222	Joseph took wives without his first wife's consent.	Joseph Smith and polygamy Emma Smith and plural marriage	[ATTENTION!]
225	It is claimed that LDS leaders were worried that the missionaries would "take the best women."	Misrepresentation of source Leaders worried missionaries "take the best women"? On p. 263, the authors quote Heber C. Kimball in the Deseret News, and attribute it to Brigham Young. They don't tell the reader about the very next sentence, which calls their interpretation of Heber's remarks above into question: I wish more of our young men would take to themselves wives of the daughters of Zion, and not wait for us old men to take them all; go-ahead upon the right principle, young gentlemen, and God bless you for ever and ever and make you fruitful, that we may fill the mountains and then the earth with righteous inhabitants. That is my prayer, and that is my blessing upon all the saints and upon your posterity after you, for ever: Amen."[1]	Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses 6:256.
226	Heber C. Kimball remarked on the "great sorrow" of plural marriage.	Did early Church leaders speak of plural marriage difficulties?  [needs work]	Journal of Discourses 4:178
226	Brigham Young spoke of the "problems" of plural marriage.	Did early Church leaders speak of plural marriage difficulties? [needs work]	Journal of Discourses 9:195
228	Brigham Young offered to let any wife go who wanted to.	Brigham would not keep any woman in a marriage against her will. Utah had some of the most liberal divorce laws in the Union. Many polygamous women who divorced a husband entered into polygamy again.[2]	Journal of Discourses 4:55-57; Deseret News, vol. 6, pp.235-36
230-231	Joseph and Emma fought about plural marriage.	Joseph Smith and polygamy Emma Smith and plural marriage	Journal and autobiography, Joseph Lee Robinson Wilhelm Wyl, Mormon Portraits Volume First: Joseph Smith the Prophet, His Family and Friends (Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1886), 57-58.
231	Joseph had between 27 to "sixty or more" wives.	The higher number is exaggerated. Many women were sealed to Joseph after his death, but he was probably married to around 33 wives in life. Joseph Smith and polygamy Relying on Brodie's figures is foolish; her standard of evidence was low, and she has been shown to be wrong in many cases.	Andrew Jenson, Historical Record, pp.233, 234 Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 434-65. ( Index of claims ) Western Humanities Review, vol. 10, pp.232-33
231	There is a rumor that Emma beat Eliza Snow with a broomstick and caused her to fall down the stairs, preventing her from having Joseph's child.	The story is implausible, and most historians have judged it to be false. Eliza and Emma and the stairs? Joseph Smith and polygamy—Children of polygamous marriages—Snow Maureen Ursenbach Beecher et al., "Emma and Eliza and the Stairs," Brigham Young University Studies 22 no. 1 (Fall 1982), 86–96..	Wilhelm Wyl, Mormon Portraits Volume First: Joseph Smith the Prophet, His Family and Friends (Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1886), 57-58. Intimate Disciple, a Portrait of Willard Richards, 1957, p.407
232	Joseph was sealed to a large number of women after his death.	This is certainly true, and may explain some of the underlying theology of plural marriage—sealing the faithful into one extended family. Joseph Smith and polygamy	Joseph Smith and Polygamy, p.47 Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, Single Volume Edition, 1960, pp.342-43
233	Brigham Young had "fifty or sixty" wives, and boasted of his ability to obtain more.	Brigham Young and polygamy	Journal of Discourses 6:180-81 Journal of Discourses 8:178 Journal of Discourses 5:210 [citation needed]
234	Mormon men believed that they "could have all the wives they wanted." Heber C. Kimball said that in the resurrection, he could have "thousands" of wives.	See Quote mining—Journal of Discourses 4:209 to see how this quote was mined.	Journal of Discourses 4:209 [citation needed]
236	Joseph asked for other men's wives, such as the wife of Heber C. Kimball	The request was a test to Heber and Vilate. Heber and his wife had a miraculous conversion to plural marriage Polyandry—sealing to married women?	Journal of Discourses 2:13-14 Wilhelm Wyl, Mormon Portraits Volume First: Joseph Smith the Prophet, His Family and Friends (Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1886), 70-72. Life of Heber C. Kimball, pp.333-35
237	Joseph married Heber C. Kimball's daughter, Helen.	Marriage to Helen Mar Kimball	Life of Heber C. Kimball, pp.339
239	Joseph married Zina, the wife of Henry Jacobs.	Henry seems to have given his blessing to the arrangement. Zina and Henry Jacobs Polyandry—sealing to married women?	[ATTENTION!]
239	Brigham Young publicly told Henry Jacobs to find another wife?	The author's claim is false: historical evidence does not support this claim. Zina and Henry Jacobs Allen Wyatt, "Zina and Her Men: An Examination of the Changing Marital State of Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs Smith Young," FAIR presentation transcript, 2006. FAIR link	Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 443. ( Index of claims )
239-240	Some women who were associated with Joseph claimed that they did not know who the father of their children were.	The author's claim is false: The source for this is only Ann Eliza Young, who was two years old in Nauvoo at Joseph's death! Children by Joseph in plural marriage	Wife No. 19, 1876, pp.70-71
243	Joseph performed a "pretended" marriage for time for Sarah Ann Whitney to Joseph Kingsbury.	Prejudicial or loaded language: Joseph was sealed to Sarah Ann. Kingsbury agreed to act as a "surrogate" husband to spare Sarah the difficulty of refusing suitors while plural marriage was still a secret in Nauvoo. Plural marriage and secrecy	The History of Joseph C. Kingsbury
245-246	The Bible prohibited a man from marrying sisters or mothers and daughters, therefore Mormon polygamy was not Biblical.	Latter-day Saint plural marriage did not rely on biblical authority or interpretation (though they used biblical parallels to explain and understand the command which they believed they had received from God via a modern prophet.) Marrying two sisters was quite frequent, possibly because sisters had already learned to get along together, which made for more harmonious plural families. One researcher noted: Marriage to the wife's sister, defined as incest only by Anglican canon law, is the only form of polygamous marriage of the [potentially 'incestuous] categories...that occurs in significant numbers.[3] Polygamy not biblical	Millennial Star vol. 19, pp.473-74
246-247	Joseph sealed brothers and sisters together.	History unclear or in error: The authors do nothing to explain this practice. They want it to appear bizarre or repulsive.  Presentism or anachronism: Joseph seems to have used marriage in the way that we know use "sealing." Thus, a "marriage" did not always imply a sexual or marital relationship.	Joseph Smith's diary, October 26, 1843 [citation needed]
248	Brigham said that monogamy was a "fruitful source of prostitution and whoredom"	[needs work]	Journal of Discourses 11:128 [citation needed]
249	Some Mormons believed that Joseph taught that Adam had two wives.	Official doctrine: what is it?	Journal of Discourses 26:115
249-251	Early Church leaders taught that Jesus was married to more than one wife.	Official doctrine: what is it? Was Jesus a polygamist?	Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, pp.345-46 Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, pp.259-60 Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p.210 The Seer, p. 172"
258	Brigham Young said that the "only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy."	The authors are repeating themselves—they've already done this quote mining on p. 29. The only men who become gods are those that practice polygamy? See Quote mining—Journal of Discourses 11:269 to see how this quote was mined.	Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 11:269.
258-259	Polygamy was practiced in secret and denied publicly.	Plural marriage and secrecy	Times and Seasons, vol. 3, p.909 History of the Church 6:354-55 History of the Church 6:411 Times and Seasons, March 15, 1844, vol. 5, p.474 Millennial Star, vol. 3, p.74"
262-263	John Taylor stated that he believed in keeping every law except the law against polygamy.	The Saints regarded polygamy as a religious belief which harmed no one, and which they were thus entitled to practice. Civil disobedience and polygamy Modern legal scholars have recognized that the legal treatment given the Saints was probably improper. Edwin B. Firmage, "The Judicial Campaign against Polygamy and the Enduring Legal Questions," Brigham Young University Studies 27 no. 3 (Summer 1987), 91–113. Stephen Eliot Smith, “The ‘Mormon Question’ Revisited: Anti-polygamy Laws and the Free Exercise Clause” (LL.M. thesis, Harvard Law School, 2005).	Journal of Discourses 20:317
263	Brigham Young said the polygamy would never go away.	Citation error: The speaker is probably Heber C. Kimball, not Brigham Young.  Misrepresentation of source Deseret News 7 Nov 1855 - Polygamy never go away?	Deseret News, November 7, 1855
270-281	Polygamy was practiced after the Manifesto was issued.	Polygamy after the Manifesto Post-manifesto polygamy non-wiki	[ATTENTION!]
289	Modern Church leaders teach that polygamy is not essential for exaltation.	Author(s) impose(s) own fundamentalism on the Saints Polygamy: a requirement for exaltation?	Mormon Doctrine, 1958, p.523

Endnotes

1. [note]  Eugene E. Campbell and Bruce L. Campbell, "Divorce among Mormon Polygamists: Extent and Explanations," Utah Historical Quarterly 46/1 (Winter 1978): 5; citing Box containing nine folders, numbered 1 to 917, plus several ledgers, Archives Division, Historical Department, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City.
2. [note]  Jessie L. Embry, "Ultimate Taboos: Incest and Mormon Polygamy," Journal of Mormon History 18/1 (Spring 1992): 93–113.