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Just FYI, I haven't shared that blog with anyone. I wrote it all in a Word document because I have been thinking of sharing my concerns with my wife, and then I put it in a blog just so it would be available online. I was just toying with different ways to let her read it.

Lehi, you also said "and let him make good on his promise to carry me as his back load (I think those were the words), than to try to enter the Kingdom on my own.." It really sounds like you want Joseph Smith to carry you on his back into the Kingdom. I'm sorry if I misunderstand you. There are many people who don't believe in D&C 132 and are perfectly active in the Church. That's how it works. Well, I'll get out of here. It seems to me that most people here are more interested in being right that in trying to help a brother out. I started writing that blog last Thursday, about a week after I first posted here. My mind was open but I just got criticized.

Lehi, I'd rather rely on Jesus Christ.

I haven't changed my thoughts because no one has presented any evidence that would change my mind. I was interested in the idea that "virgin" can refer to virtuous women but nothing was posted to support that. Did you find anything incorrect in my blog? Are there any questions that are unfair? I came here to only point out that disbelieving in section 132 does not necessarily constitute "wholesale apostasy" and then I was pushed to talk more.

Actually this discussion has helped convince me that Joseph Smith was a fallen prophet. Until, now I have been asking questions and trying to work things out. Thanks for the help. I wrote it on my own.

I read your explanation and responded to it. Jacob 2 does not say "Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord, but I allowed it so it was actually okay." That's an odd interpretation.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe D&C 132 is from God. It specifies the conditions to be met in order to have plural wives and not commit adultery. It's very clear that a plural wife must be a virgin "and have vowed to no other man," meaning she's not married to another man. In answer to that, I have heard only conjecture that "virgin" can mean "virtuous woman." So if Joseph didn't meet those conditions, was he committing adultery?

So let's say God did allow "them of old" to practice polygamy. Let's say that's referring to Abraham and Jacob and maybe some others. That does not change the fact that the scripture says "Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord." Again, no conditions were placed on that statement. It doesn’t say anything like “It was okay for David to have many wives and concubines except Bathsheba.” Then D&C 132:39 says "David’s wives and concubines were given unto him of me, by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power; and in none of these things did he sin against me save in the case of Uriah and his wife..." This doesn't change the fact that God specifically said that David's and Solomon's (not Abraham or anyone else's) practice of having many wives and concubines was abominable. D&C 132:39 says God actually gave David's wives and concubines to him and it was not a sin (not abominable). God says the only was sin was "the case of Uriah and his wife." I still don't see how they are compatible.

Maybe you are thinking of the Partiridge sisters or the Lawrence sisters.

There's no need to apologize. I do see the difference between venerate and worship. I am not saying people worship Joseph Smith as a God, but I think some people come close to worshipping Joseph Smith as a demigod. I am concerned that hyperbole has effectively become official Church doctrine and it causes some people to hold Joseph to an excessively high standard.

Haven’t we been taught through official channels to see Joseph Smith as a hero and place him on a very high pedestal? John Taylor “the Book of Mormon, and this book of Doctrine and Covenants of the church, cost the best blood of the nineteenth century to bring them forth for the salvation of a ruined world…” (D&C 135:6). The hymn says “Death cannot conquer the hero again.” Following are some quotes about Joseph Smith by presidents of the Church found in Teachings of Presidents of the Church manuals: We are taught that no one can have a testimony of Christ without having a testimony of Joseph Smith. We are taught that his character was unimpeachable, he was the most exalted of people, his moral character was without fault, he never wronged anyone, he was God-like, and some people considered him to be a superior being. What concerns me the most is how he was likened to the Savior. When speaking of “a lamb slain before the foundation of the world,” only Jesus Christ should be mentioned.

I guess you and I understand verse 26 differently. It sounds like it’s saying one could commit any sin except murder and then be exalted even if they don’t repent during mortality. If they did repent, they wouldn’t be “delivered unto the buffetings of Satan unto the day of redemption,” right? So it seems that it’s talking about people reveling in sin, not repenting, and not enduring to the end. I am considering scripture from the Book of Mormon, which is translated correctly. If Jacob 2 does not agree with stuff from the Old Testament, doesn’t the Book of Mormon trump it? It’s very simple: Jacob 2 and D&C 132 do not agree, regardless of what the Old Testament says. Sorry, but this just isn’t accurate. Fanny Alger was Joseph’s first plural wife and Emma was completely surprised by it. “For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding” (2 Nephi 31:3). I think God did go along with the language understood in the 19th century, and they understood “virgin” the same way we do. Do you have any support for the idea that it means “virtuous women, not given to licentiousness or low moral repute”?

I think some people come close to worshipping Joseph Smith as a demigod, but not as God. I see what you mean here. People say nice things about a guy and ignore negative things when he dies. But should a eulogy become doctrine? I think it's kind of weird to sing a hymn of praise about Joseph. Here are some other hymns of praise that we sing: -Praise to the Lord, the Almighty -Praise the Lord with Heart and Voice -Praise Ye the Lord -Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow I wonder if singing a hymn of praise makes the word "praise" mean more than to "express warm approval or admiration of." This is a good point. Having excessively high expectations for someone can lead to painful disillusionment. So why do some people place Joseph on a pedestal?

Did someone specifically address the three concerns I brought up? I'm sorry if I missed it.

I guess there are no good answers to my three concerns.