Journal of Discourses 4:224; “Do you suppose that Joseph and Hyrum and all those good men would associate with those ancient worthies, if they had not been engaged in the same practices? They had to do the works of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in order to be admitted where they are;-they had to be polygamists in order to be received into their society. God knows that I am not ashamed of those good men now, and how much more I shall prize my associate polygamists, when I am further advanced in knowledge, I do not know. I am talking in earnest, and from the experience I have had.” – Heber C. Kimball, Salt Lake City, February 8, 1857
Deuteronomy 17:17; “Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.”
Leviticus 18:18; “Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.”
When did God ever commend one of these biblical men for their polygamous lifestyles? Was there ever a time that God commanded men to find more wives for themselves and if so where in His word does it say this?
As we see in the biblical texts above God specifically denounces the idolatrous ways of polygamy and as we’ve seen in many of the Church’s texts they have no problem with adding wives to their fold, including the practice of marrying mothers and daughters.
Five months after Mr. Kimball stated it was a righteous endeavor to practice polygamy, the Church issued a public statement declaring they never engaged in doing so. Joseph Smith married his first polygamous wife, Fanny Alger, in 1833.
Polygamy Denial/No Authority to Practice it
Millennial Star, No. 30, v. 19, pg 475;”The Latter-day Saints, from the rise of the Church in 1830, till the year 1843, had no authority to marry more than one wife each. To have done otherwise, would have been a great transgression.”
July 25, 1857
Click here for a comprehensive list of other polygamy denials made by the LDS Church
Another reason they’ve denied the Lord in this subject and the way they ran the Church is found in Paul’s admonition that bishops should only have one wife – 1 Timothy 3:2. It’s kind of hard to misinterpret that verse…
“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach.”
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