Joseph Smith

[Nurse]

Hi this is my first post on this website. I have been investigating the Church for over a year now. There are so many things that I like about the Church but I am the type of person who feels the need to thoroughly learn about everything before I can commit. One hangup that I am having right now is about Joseph Smith. I understand the concept of polygamy and how it had its place, but I'm confused on why Joseph Smith would take other mens (who were in good standing with the church, some even missionaries at the time) wives in marriage. Esther Dutcher, Patty Sessions, Marinda Hyde, and Zina Jacobs are a few examples. I appreciate the feedback!

[Just_A_Guy]

Hi Nurse -

I don't think there is one single answer as to why Joseph Smith would marry the wives of other men. I think that, depending on circumstances, there are several possibilities--any one, or more than one, of which may applied in any particular case:

--In some cases, marriages were intended to apply in the eternities, not in mortal life; and the unions were never consummated.

--In some cases, the women had actually left (or been abandoned by) their husbands and believed themselves (or at least, Joseph believed them to be) divorced.

--In some cases, the women were flat-out lying (e.g., Sarah Pratt). In other cases, some women may have been led to confabulate a bit about the nature of their marriages (platonic versus sexual) due to legal pressures and other circumstances under which their affidavits/depositions were obtained.

--Researcher Meg Stout is currently fine-tuning a theory that Joseph Smith may have married some women either to salvage the honor or provide some measure of spiritual/social protection to the women who may have been victims of John C. Bennett, who had organized an unauthorized (and wholly despicable) wife-swapping ring in Nauvoo that was exposed just as Smith was beginning to teach polygamy to a few trusted confidants; and suggests that these marriages, too, may have been platonic.

None of this, of course, offers any hard-and-fast proof of anything. Records from the period are vague (the Dutcher marriage is attested only by hearsay contained in a single letter written forty years after the fact, for example); and Victorian women didn't tend to say much about their sex lives--the best confirmation one could have would be a child between Smith and one of his already-married wives; and DNA evidence has failed to confirm the existence of any such children. Some of the primary sources are also problematic (i.e., much of what we have about Zina Jacobs is gossip that came through Ann Eliza Young).

You can learn more about this by visiting http://josephsmithspolygamy.org/ (especially here), but for me--here's what it boils down to:

I have applied Joseph Smith's teachings to my own life. The result is that my life has come out significantly, improbably, and spectacularly better off than it otherwise would have. My affiliation with Mormonism has resulted in my having spiritual experiences and an overall relationship with Divinity that, I am satisfied, I would never have received through an affiliation with any other religious organization. My research and spiritual witnesses have led me to conclude that Smith was, though gratingly imperfect, nevertheless a good, honest, and fundamentally honorable man.

Just as I believe that Jesus was not an adulterer or fornicator--even though He was frequently seen in the company of harlots; just as I believe He was not a drunkard--even though some who knew Him claimed that He was; just as I believe he did not have corrupt relationships with bureaucrats who lived and died by graft--even though he frequently dined with them: I also believe that Joseph Smith did not deliberately or knowingly commit adultery (as defined by D&C 42 and D&C 132) even though he did participate in sealing rituals with women who had already been legally married to other men.

[The Folk Prophet]

This Ask Gramps article addresses Joseph Smith's polyandry somewhat:

 

http://askgramps.org/25342/eliza-r-snow-early-leader-church

[estradling75]

In some ways I see the whole polygamy issue as a type of Abrahamic test.  Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Issac.  We don't really know what kind of personal struggle that involved, but we can imagine it was great.  But in the end he did it right up to the point he was commanded to stop.

 

The records show that Joseph Smith struggle with polygamy.  That Emma and the other people close to him struggled with it.  The historians that I have read all seem to point to polygamy as the overarching reason Joseph Smith got killed.  And it didn't end with him.

 

The Church seeing what got their leader killed could have abandon it, in fact in many cases it might have been seen as a wise course.  Instead they got driven out.  The Church continued practice polygamy right up to the point of total disruption, before the Lord commanded it to be stopped.

[Nurse]

Thanks for all the responses! I've been trying not to get caught up on things like this because I really do feel like the Book of Mormon is true.

[notquiteperfect]

I really do feel like the Book of Mormon is true.

 

That's all that matters.

[Guest MormonGator]

That's all that matters.

Amen! 

[omegaseamaster75]

Ours is a religion of faith, if the Book of Mormon is true then Joseph Smith was/is a prophet of God. He restored the gospel to this dispensation and with it the authority, keys and power of the priesthood. Through him and only him we find these things. We cannot "prove" anything that however does not make it untrue.

[Jane_Doe]

Here's my logic:

 

1)  Was the Book of Mormon inspired by God?  Yes.  

2)  So was Joseph Smith was a prophet?  Yes, as he translated the BoM.

3)  If Joseph Smith was a prophet, does that make him perfect?  Heck no!!

4)  Did Joseph Smith do somethings wrong?  Yes, he was imperfect.

5)  Do I need to make a list of all the things Joseph Smith did wrong?  Nope, I'm not his judge.

[The Folk Prophet]

1) Did Joseph Smith do some things wrong? Yes, he was imperfect.

2) Did those wrong things include adultery and/or other sexual perversions, and yet he was allowed to retain his prophetic role and good standing with the Lord? No! Give me a break.

[omegaseamaster75]

1) Did Joseph Smith do some things wrong? Yes, he was imperfect.

2) Did those wrong things include adultery and/or other sexual perversions, and yet he was allowed to retain his prophetic role and good standing with the Lord? No! Give me a break.

1) I agree

2) "Technically"  I suppose you are right. This was his argument as well