Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Adultery before 12 July 1843

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Joseph Smith, Jr. Temples

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Criticism

• Critics Lorenzo Snow's testimony in the late-nineteenth century Temple Lot court case between the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS, now Community of Christ) and the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), two groups who did not follow the leadership of Brigham Young and the Twelve after the death of Joseph Smith.

• Critics claim that this testimony shows that anyone who practiced plural marriage before the date that D&C 132 was written (12 July 1843) was guilty to adultery. Since Joseph had entered into plural marriages before that date, they conclude that Lorenzo was essentially admitting that Joseph was an adulterer.

Source(s) of the criticism

• Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Changing World of Mormonism (Moody Press, 1979), 219.( Index of claims )

Response

The relevant testimony reads:

Up to the time of the presentation of that revelation to the church and its acceptance by the church, the law of the church on marriage was the same as you have read, and which I referred to in the 1835 edition of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, Exhibit E. That was the law of the church up to the time of the purported revelation and its acceptance by the church; yes, sir, that is true.

And a man that violated this law in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 edition, until the acceptance of that revelation by the church, violated the law of the church if he practiced plural marriage. Yes, sir, he would have been cut off from the church. I think I should have been if I had.

Before the giving of that revelation in 1843 if a man married more wives than one who were living at the same time, he would have been cut off from the church. It would have been adultery under the laws of the church and under the laws of the State, too.^[1]

Lorenzo Snow is clearly explaining that the Church's marital standard was monogamy until they had received and accepted the plural marriage revelation. Thus, no member of the Church was justified in practicing plural marriage without a direct command from the prophet.

This does not mean, however, that Snow believed that Joseph Smith was an adulterer, or that Snow believed that Joseph could not have been commanded to practice plural marriage prior to making the revelation public. (The critics also err in assuming that 12 July 1843 was the day the revelation was received, whereas it is clear that Joseph had been teaching the doctrine since at least 1831. The revelation was merely put into writing in 1843 at the instigation of Hyrum Smith.)

Lorenzo's attitude to Joseph's marriages before 12 July 1843 is known

The Tanners do not disclose that the same testimony contains Snow's statement about Joseph's plural marriage to his sister, Eliza R. Snow. The questioner tried to draw the same conclusion as the Tanners, and Snow clearly disagrees:

Q. You state now that Joseph Smith was sealed or married to your sister in April, 1843, and this so-called revelation was given in July, 1843?

A. [Lorenzo Snow:] Well, the time I said it, it was all right. According to my understanding of this new covenant, the woman is sealed to the man and not the man to the woman, and I stated that Joseph Smith took my sister for a wife when he had a wife living, and that was prior to the giving of this revelation.

Q. Well, what kind of a position did it put your sister and Joseph Smith in?

A. It put them in a first-rate, splendid condition for time and eternity.^[2]

Furthermore, Lorenzo Snow had been taught the doctrine of plural marriage well before July 1843, as he later swore:

In the month of April, 1843, I returned from my European mission. A few days after my arrival at Nauvoo, when at President Joseph Smith’s house, he said he wished to have some private talk with me, and requested me to walk out with him. It was toward evening. We walked a little distance and sat down on a large log that lay near the bank of the river. He there and then explained to me the doctrine of plurality of wives; he said that the Lord had revealed it unto him, and commanded him to have women sealed to him as wives; that he foresaw the trouble that would follow, and sought to turn away from the commandment; that an angel from heaven then appeared before him with a drawn sword, threatening him with destruction unless he went forward and obeyed the commandment.

He further said that my sister Eliza R. Snow had been sealed to him as his wife for time and eternity. He told me [p68] that the Lord would open the way, and I should have women sealed to me as wives. This conversation was prolonged, I think one hour or more, m which he told me many important things.

I solemnly declare before God and holy angels, and as I hope to come forth in the morning of the resurrection, that the above statement is true.^[3]

Eliza also gave witness about her brother's attitude:

While my brother was absent on this, his first mission to Europe, changes had taken place with me, one of eternal import, of which I supposed him to be entirely ignorant. The Prophet Joseph had taught me the principle of plural, or Celestial Marriage, and I was married to him for time and eternity. In consequence of the ignorance of most of the Saints, as well as people of the world, on this subject, it was not mentioned only privately between the few whose minds were enlightened on the subject.

Not knowing how my brother would receive it, I did not feel at liberty, and I did not wish to assume the responsibility of instructing him in the principle of plural marriage, and either maintained silence, or, to his indirect questioning, gave evasive answers, until I was forced, by his cool and distant manner, to feel that he was growing jealous of my sisterly confidence-that I could not confide in his brotherly integrity. I could not endure this-something must be done. I informed my husband of the situation, and requested him to open the subject to my brother. A favorable opportunity soon presented, and, seated together on the lone bank of the Mississippi river, they had a most interesting conversation. The Prophet afterwards told me that he found that my brother’s mind had been previously enlightened on the subject in question, and was ready to receive whatever the spirit of revelation from God should impart. That comforter which Jesus said should “lead into all truth,” had penetrated his understanding and, while in England, had given him an intimation of what at that time was, to many, a secret. This was the result of living near the Lord, and holding communion with him.^[4]

Conclusion

The critics are attempting to put words in their witness' mouth. Lorenzo Snow never said—and never meant to say—what the Tanners claim.

Endnotes

1. [note]  Lorenzo Snow, cited in The Temple Lot case : complainant's abstract of pleading and evidence, in the Circuit Court of the United States, Western District of Missouri, Western Division, at Kansas City: The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, complainant, vs. The Church of Christ at Independence, Missouri : also decision of John F. Philips, Judge in the Temple Lot case, [Offset copy of the original published in Lamoni, Iowa by Herald Publishing House, 1893] (Independence, Mo : Price Publishing Co., 2003), 320.
2. [note]  Temple Lot Case, 321–322.
3. [note]  Lorenzo Snow affidavit, 28 August 1868; cited by Joseph F[ielding] Smith, Jr., Blood Atonement and the Origin of Plural Marriage: A Discussion (Independence, Missouri: Press of Zion's Printing and Publishing Company, 1905), 67–68.
4. [note]  Eliza R. Snow, Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow, 68-69