I am going to refer to one of Thaddeus’ previous comments and say this, God has commanded or allowed a man to have more than one wife in many instances Biblically, I think that Jacob or Israel is a very good example of this practice. We believe firmly that Jesus Christ guides this church through his prophet, just as he guided Moses and the children of Israel in the wilderness. We obey his commandments and live our lives accordingly. I am not ashamed that Joseph Smith taught and practiced the doctrine of plural marriage, rather I am proud that he was obedient to the commandments he was given. You may be right, if it were legal in the US, it may still be practiced, but all I know is that God doesn’t want plural marriage to be in practice currently and we hold to that. Thanks for your comment. Posted below is Thaddeus’ comment:

“Heidi,

Thanks for your comments. In D&C 132, I don’t get any kind of message that eternal marriage = plural marriage. The first 30 or so verses explain that marriage (not plural marriage) is required for exaltation, or they ‘remain separate and singly…’ vs. 17 I see that whole discussion as a preface to understanding the institution of polygamy outlined in the rest of the chapter.

Plural marriage is not a principle of the gospel. It is a practice that the Lord commands when He deems it expedient (like food storage, or hometeaching), and only those who receive the command are authorized and expected to participate.

The Book of Mormon puts it so plainly: “Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none;” Jacob 2:27

Thus, monogamy is the rule. But he goes on… “For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.” Jacob 2:30

Plural marriage may become necessary from time to time to further the work of the Lord and to aid us in our efforts to keep that early commandment: multiply and replenish the earth.”

With all respect, I understand The LDS church does not practice polygamy because in the USA it is illegal — your belief system comes from the fact that polygamy is a civil crime in this country.

If polygamy were legal would the LDS practice it? That’s the real question.

I think the answer is yes it would be permitted.

Some women are unable to raise all their children to maturity, because their children die at an early age. The Prophet Joseph taught that many of these children were too pure and lovely to live in the corruption on earth. Even as we mourn their present loss to us, we have reason to rejoice because they have been delivered from evil. (See Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 196–97.) He also taught that those who die before the age of eight are saved in the celestial kingdom (see D&C 137:10). The mothers of these children, if they live faithfully, will raise them to maturity during the Millennium (see Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 455–56).

I’m not aware of any specific revelation regarding the “perfect” age of a resurrected body. Regardless of our age, I believe we will be healthy and strong and good-looking. It’s one of the things I eagerly anticipate.

An LDS friend of mine told me couples who were childless on earth will be able to have children in heaven- another beautiful concept, and I wonder about their children. Will they age just as they do on earth? And I assume then that the adult’s age- to what point? When do we stop? What’s the ‘perfect” age we will be stuck at for forever? And will those children born in heaven have an opportunity to marry and have their own families?

Just some questions!

I appreciate your feedback regarding the Mormons and Polygamy website. I was able to access this site so quickly because my brother works for the Church and directly with Newsroom.lds.org (one of the LDS Church’s official websites), the mother site for this micro-site. He sent it to me as a point of interest that day and I posted it to the blog.

This is a fairly unique type of site for the Church at the moment. The site is designed to be easily found in search engines, with the purpose of trying to get the truth out there to as many people as possible.

You are correct in that it was fairly inexpensive to create, but again the purpose is to try to get the truth out, and the Church is beginning to take advantage of micro-sites to do it. Also, there are people who better trust sites that are not so official-looking, and it has been found that YouTube is a very powerful tool, which can reach many people. (Newsroom.lds.org does talk about Mormons and polygamy in a more official-looking manner as well: Clarifying Polygamy Confusion. Again, the church is trying to reach as many people as possible.)

This micro-site is not the first of its kind. GordonBHinckley.com and ThomasSMonson.com were the first, and there are likely to be more to come.

I told my brother about the Church logo being blurry, and he will pass that feedback along. Thank you! Please know that no one can legally use that logo and copyright on their website unless it is from the Church so you can be sure that it is official.

You do raise some good questions about why the site used “NO.” to start the page, and why it refers to the members of the church as “Mormons” and not “Latter-day Saints.” I believe that the purpose of this site is to make it absolutely clear that members of the LDS Church do not practice polygamy. There is so much confusion out there regarding this because many in the media and on the internet refer to those in the FLDS church and other polygamous groups as Mormons. We want to make it very clear that this is incorrect. We are in no way affiliated with these groups.

In regards to using the term “Mormons”: It is true that we refer to be called Latter-day Saints or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Yet, the fact is most people know us as mormons. It is not an offensive or derogatory nickname, but we understand that many do not feel that we worship Christ because of that name and so we often try to clarify. With that said, we know that we will reach more people if we use that name because that is how they know us – and truly we want people to know the truth. Thus, the site http://www.mormon.org is also an official website of the Church. If there are some that reject these truths because of the use of our nickname, that is their choice. The Church teaches that people have a God-given freedom to believe as they choose. That is one of our core beliefs, to let people worship according to their own conscience. (Article of Faith 11)

Now in response to your other question: Do members of the Church believe in the existence of polygamy in the afterlife? Such questions arise from time to time even among Mormons, and the questions tend to near the realm that distracts from the core doctrines that are pertinent to our salvation.

Let me illustrate. We believe in the eternal nature of the family). That is a core doctrine that is pertinent to our salvation. Now, one can reason that Jacob’s twelve sons – who became the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel – would not be separated in the eternities from their respective mothers (of whom there were four) by a just God simply because they shared a single father. That said, does that have any pertinence to whether or not I will be with my family in the eternities? No. Whether or not Jacob and his family will be together in the life to come is between them and God, just like whatever happens to me in the eternities to come is between God and me; and, the same goes for you and everyone.

What’s important is that we’re all drawing closer to God. His Son, Jesus Christ, has made that possible for each of us. When we hear things about doctrine that we aren’t sure about, we are encouraged to study it out and pray about it. If it’s important to our salvation, we will gain further knowledge about it. If not, then we simply must trust that when it does become important for us to know, we’ll be given to understand, most likely in a future moment of study and prayer.

In the meantime, these things we do know and hold to be true: that God lives. He is our Heavenly Father, and through his Only Begotten Son, we can return to live with Him one day. And there we can be with our family members who have gone before. That is our faith. That is the message of hope rooted in the doctrine of the Gospel, or “Good News,” of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I hope you will forgive a personal story. A family with three children, with whom we are good friends, lost their middle child, a two year-old daughter, who drowned in their backyard pool. I know of no more a poignant definition of the word “tragedy” than when that dear mother, who had just been talking to her daughter minutes before, found her in that swimming pool. It is from such experiences that we hold fast to our hope that this mother and daughter will embrace once again. They’ll talk and laugh and play as they once did. That is what it means when we say that we believe in the eternal nature of the family. And that’s an important, true, and core doctrine that is pertinent to our salvation: if we are true and faithful to our Savior, Jesus Christ, He will lead us in His path, and we can and will be with our families forever.

Style guide note: When reporting about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, please use the complete name of the Church in the first reference. When referring to Church members, the term Latter-day Saints” is preferred, though “Mormons” is acceptable.

If Latter-day Saints is preferred (and that is the case) why would an “official” website title itself “Mormons and Polygamy” and why would the use of “mormons” be so prevalent in the post as opposed to Latter-day Saints?

First, I think most of the general debate (not just on this blog but in other areas of discussion as well) surrounding Polygamy and the LDS church is NOT about whether polygamy is practiced here and now, but the whether polygamy is practiced beyond this life.

Second, I have to admit I was a bit suspicious that this website was an “official” LDS website. First off, the giant NO does not match with the positive, soft tone found in most LDS writings. Also, the footer at the bottom of the page is blurred suggesting it was copied and pasted from an official LDS website. In addition, the footer has a hyper link in it where none of the other footers from the official LDS websites have one. The color scheme of the LDS website does not match the color scheme of this one. The font size and type do not match as well. For anyone who has worked in any sector where “official” publications are distributed, writing standards and consistency is a key to branding. The “share this page” feature on your referenced page is not found on any other LDS page, all the LDS sites have an image in the browser tab next to the page name of Jesus, this site leaves an image of a paper, and finally, the church has NO other YouTube videos on their site because they edit, host, and stream their own.

I must say it is a bit odd as well that this website was only created on June 26th, 2008. In that time (about a week) the site has been created, posted, and has had enough attention drawn to it that it is being passed around online? That makes me a bit curious. Although, that may also explain why this website looks so cheaply done and why it doesn’t match the look and feel of the other “official” LDS websites.

For an organization really trying to make a statement about its stance on polygamy, I would expect something better from its “official” website on the issue.

Mormons and Polygamy