Church sources discussing issues with polygamy

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Church sources discussing issues with Polygamy

The practice of plural marriage during Joseph's lifetime

The fact: Plural marriage was instituted during Joseph Smith's lifetime
Where it can be found: Priesthood/Relief Society lesson manual, the Ensign, and the Church's official website

A more complete listing of Church publications during the 20th century that reference plural marriage can be found elsewhere on the FairMormon wiki:

2012

lds.org website

After God revealed the doctrine of plural marriage to Joseph Smith in 1831 and commanded him to live it, the Prophet, over a period of years, cautiously taught the doctrine to some close associates. Eventually, he and a small number of Church leaders entered into plural marriages in the early years of the Church. Those who practiced plural marriage at that time, both male and female, experienced a significant trial of their faith. The practice was so foreign to them that they needed and received personal inspiration from God to help them obey the commandment.

When the Saints moved west under the direction of Brigham Young, more Latter-day Saints entered into plural marriages.
—"Polygamy (Plural Marriage)," lds.org website.

2007

Lesson manual: Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith

This book deals with teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith that have application to our day....This book also does not discuss plural marriage. The doctrines and principles relating to plural marriage were revealed to Joseph Smith as early as 1831. The Prophet taught the doctrine of plural marriage, and a number of such marriages were performed during his lifetime.
—The 2008-2009 lesson manual Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, (2007), pages vii–xiii (emphasis added)

1996

Lesson manual: Our Heritage: A Brief History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

While working on the translation of the Bible in the early 1830s, the Prophet Joseph Smith became troubled by the fact that Abraham, Jacob, David, and other Old Testament leaders had more than one wife. The Prophet prayed for understanding and learned that at certain times, for specific purposes, following divinely given laws, plural marriage was approved and directed by God. Joseph Smith also learned that with divine approval, some Latter-day Saints would soon be chosen by priesthood authority to marry more than one wife. A number of Latter-day Saints practiced plural marriage in Nauvoo, but a public announcement of this doctrine and practice was not made until the August 1852 general conference in Salt Lake City. At that conference, Elder Orson Pratt, as directed by President Brigham Young, announced that the practice of a man having more than one wife was part of the Lord’s restitution of all things (see Acts 3:19–21).
—Our Heritage: A Brief History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1996), 97

1992

Ensign

Her great trial came when the prophet revealed to Emma that they would be required to live the ancient law of Abraham—plural marriage. Emma suffered deeply hurt feelings because of it. While she agreed with this doctrine at times, at other times she opposed it. Years later, Emma is purported to have denied that any such doctrine was ever introduced by her husband.
—Gracia N. Jones, "My Great-Great-Grandmother, Emma Hale Smith," Ensign (Aug 1992): 30.(emphasis added)

1989

Ensign

The Prophet introduced several doctrines relating to the temple including the temple ceremonies and plural marriage, which some could not accept....
—William G. Hartley, “The Knight Family: Ever Faithful to the Prophet,” Ensign, Jan 1989, 43 off-site (emphasis added)

1978

Ensign

How a family accepts members who join it by marriage is, in some ways, analogous to how a Church accepts members who join it by baptism. The experiences of plural marriage make the analogy even closer....the Prophet Joseph Smith recorded a revelation to the Whitneys on plural marriage....The Whitneys gave their daughter into the system of plural marriage and received into their family other plural wives.
—D. Michael Quinn, “The Newel K. Whitney Family,” Ensign, Dec 1978, 42 off-site (emphasis added)

1977

Ensign

Starting during Joseph Smith’s own lifetime but limited to a few dozen families until its official announcement in 1852, plural marriage brought a powerful new challenge to the equanimity of Latter-day Saint family life...
—Davis Bitton, "Great-Grandfather’s Family," Ensign (Feb 1977): 48.(emphasis added)

1973

New Era

The great prophet Elias, whom Joseph Fielding Smith says is Noah..., appeared and bestowed upon their heads the keys of the dispensation of Abraham, or in other words, as Elder Bruce R. McConkie says in Mormon Doctrine...the keys of celestial and plural marriage.
—Jerry C. Roundy, “The Greatness of Joseph Smith and His Remarkable Visions,” New Era, Dec 1973, 7 off-site (emphasis added)

1946

Improvement Era (1946): "Did Joseph Smith Introduce Plural Marriage?...It is also possible, though the Church does not now permit it, to seal two living people for eternity only, with no association on earth"

"Did Joseph Smith Introduce Plural Marriage?," Improvement Era (November 1946):

Several approaches to eternal marriage may be made: Two living persons may be sealed to each other for time and eternity. A living man may be sealed for eternity to a dead woman; or a living woman to a dead man. Two dead persons may be sealed to each other. It is also possible, though the Church does not now permit it, to seal two living people for eternity only, with no association on earth.

Further, under a divine command to the Prophet Joseph Smith, it was possible for one man to be sealed to more than one woman for time and eternity. Thus came plural marriage among the Latter-day Saints. By another divine command, to Wilford Woodruff, a successor to Joseph Smith, this order of marriage was withdrawn in 1890. Since that time the Church has not sanctioned plural marriages. Anyone who enters into them now is married unlawfully, and is excommunicated from the Church.

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"Did Joseph Smith Introduce Plural Marriage?," Improvement Era (November 1946)

Joseph's marriages to young women

The Ensign

The fact: Some of Joseph Smith's marriages were to young women
Where it can be found: The Ensign

• June 1979 Ensign: Although little Don Carlos Smith died a short time later, Emily and Eliza continued to live in the Smith home, where, in the summer of 1842, both girls “were married to Bro. Joseph about the same time, but neither of us knew about the other at the time; everything was so secret” (Emily, “Incidents,” p. 186).
  —Dean Jessee, "‘Steadfastness and Patient Endurance’: The Legacy of Edward Partridge," Ensign (Jun 1979): 41. off-site (emphasis added)

• December 1978 Ensign: How a family accepts members who join it by marriage is, in some ways, analogous to how a Church accepts members who join it by baptism. The experiences of plural marriage make the analogy even closer....the Prophet Joseph Smith recorded a revelation to the Whitneys on plural marriage....The Whitneys gave their daughter into the system of plural marriage and received into their family other plural wives.
  —D. Michael Quinn, “The Newel K. Whitney Family,” Ensign, Dec 1978, 42 off-site (emphasis added)

Joseph Smith Polyandry

The first leaders that seem to have commented on it were John Widtsoe and Joseph Fielding Smith.

John Widtsoe wrote the following in 1946 in the Improvement Era magazine:

Zealous women, married or unmarried, loving the cause of the restored gospel, considered their condition in the here- after. Some of them asked that they might be sealed to the Prophet for eternity. They were not to be his wives on earth, in mortality, but only after death in the eternities. This came often to be spoken of as celestial marriage. Such marriages led to misunderstandings by those not of the Church, and unfamiliar with its doctrines. To them marriage meant only association on earth. Therefore any ceremony uniting a married woman, for example, to Joseph Smith for eternity seemed adulterous to such people. Yet, in any day, in our day, there may be women who prefer to spend eternity with another than their husband on earth. Such cases, if any, and they must have been few in number, gave enemies of the Church occasion to fan the flaming hatred against the Latter-day Saints. The full truth was not told. Enemies made the most of untruth. They found it difficult to believe that the Church rests on truth and virtue.

Widtsoe's discussion there was republished in 1960 under the title Evidences and Reconciliations: one of the most popular apologetic and doctrinal books in the Church for many years after.

The first mention of polyandry on the Church’s website seems to be in 2012.

Some plural marriages occurred after the 1890 Manifesto

LDS.org

The fact: Some plural marriages occurred after 1890, until finally ended in 1904
Where it can be found: lds.org website

• Just as the practice of plural marriage among the Latter-day Saints began gradually, the ending of the practice after the Manifesto was also gradual. Some plural marriages were performed after the Manifesto, particularly in Mexico and Canada. In 1904, President Joseph F. Smith called for a vote from the Church membership that all post-Manifesto plural marriages be prohibited worldwide. — "Polygamy (Plural Marriage)," lds.org website.

Brigham Young's practice of polygamy

The fact: Brigham Young practiced polygamy
Where it can be found: lds.org, the Ensign

Church web site lds.org

• Polygamy — or more correctly polygyny, the marriage of more than one woman to the same man — was an important part of the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for a half-century. The practice began during the lifetime of Joseph Smith but became publicly and widely known during the time of Brigham Young.
  —LDS Newsroom, lds.org off-site

The Ensign

• July 1980 Ensign: In Sunday School someone mentioned Brigham Young and polygamy...
  —Meryl C. Liptrott, “Waking from the Nightmare,” Ensign, July 1980, 54–55 off-site
• February 1976 Ensign: Brigham Young, born on June 1, 1801, at Whittingham, Vermont, was 43 years old when he was called to the leadership of the Church. For over 33 years he lead the Saints, guiding them through some of their heaviest persecution—the exodus from Nauvoo, the crossing of the plains, the colonizing of the desert, the polygamy trials—until his death on August 29, 1877.
  —“Brigham Young,” Ensign, Feb 1976, 80 off-site

Notes