Mormon Dilemma 364

God Blessed Abraham for Polygamy

The Seer, pg 13; “Neither god nor his angels reproved Abraham for being a polygamist but on the contrary the almighty greatly blessed him and made promises unto him concerning both Isaac and Ishmael clearly show that Abraham practiced what is called polygamy under the sanction of the almighty now if the father of the faithful was thus blessed certainly it should not be considered irreligious for the faithful who are called his children to walk in the steps of their father Abraham.” – Orson Pratt

http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/NCMP1820-1846/id/18143

Genesis 21:14; “And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.”

The result of Abraham and Hagar’s indiscretion led to problems we’re still dealing with today. At the time this took place the result of Sarah’s nagging at Abraham to go to Hagar led to jealousy and strife. 

While God did promise He’d make a nation out of Ishmael that hardly means He blessed Abraham for what he did. If it was such a great blessing then why did God ensure Sarah would conceive Isaac? The miracle and blessing lies in Abraham and Sarah’s union, not Abraham and Hagar’s.