ENTRY 43 JOSEPH FOUGHT POLYGAMY

It is entirely within the realm of possibility that Joseph did not teach polygamy. I think that because of the following:

1. The Book of Mormon teaches against polygamy, calling it an abomination.

 2. The one single verse used as a “loophole” in Jacob’s sermon must be read out of context to support the reading of it in an interpretation that would allow for polygamy.

 3. Doctrine and Covenants 1835 Edition Section 101 declares unmistakably that one man should have but one wife. This was the D&C of Joseph’s lifetime.

 4. All public statements made by Joseph Smith during his lifetime flatly condemned polygamy. All statements attributing it to him are presented after his death when he could not rationalize for nor defend against the statements.

 5. Section 132’s origins are highly suspicious. If Brigham had “the keys” than he should have been able to receive his own revelation instead of borrowing authority from a dead prophet by claiming he had this hand-me down revelation that contradicts the Book of Mormon.

 5. Emma’s personal statements denied Joseph was unfaithful to her. A broken hearted wife is the first to throw a cheating bum out on the street. Her testimony of his innocence has a lot of weight.

 6. Accounts of Emma fighting against Joseph’s polygamous relationships all come from polygamous Utah Mormons who had a vested interest in discrediting her.

 7. Joseph’s sons defended their father’s name against polygamy charges.

 8. The two affidavit books collected in Utah are statements given by women who were vested in defending the polygamous lifestyle they had lived by for decades. They gave these statements long after Joseph was gone and was unable to give a response to.

 9. William Clayton’s journal describes Joseph teaching polygamy…however, he wrote two journals covering the Nauvoo time period…the journal entries are published chronologically but I believe the second journal was written later, for example during his Utah years when he was also re-writing the official History of the Church under the direction of Brigham Young.

 10. Beyond direct source material such as publications printed during the lifetime of the individual or journal entries that can be proven to be legitimately written by a person directly involved, everything else is just a repeat of what someone else said…second and third hand accounts that are unreliable. Just about all of the material we have available to us has been tampered with in some way over the years.

 11. Of course, I hold the possibility open that I could be wrong about these things, but I think there is reason to believe that Joseph Smith was not teaching anything like what we have been told.

 12. And last of all, “do unto others as you would have done unto you.” And “inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, ye have done it unto me.” These teachings of Christ are sufficient alone for a man to understand that if he doesn’t want to share his wife with another man, then he ought not to ask her to share him with another woman. So, if Joseph was teaching such a doctrine, and publicly lying about it…then it really does not look like anything of Christ to me.

I recommend the following book for your consideration:

JOSEPH FOUGHT POLYGAMY