Why does God gives us His commandments? Do we always know the purpose of His commandments? Do we need to know every detail before we decide to obey Him?
"The Bible and the Book of Mormon teach that monogamy is God’s standard for marriage unless He declares otherwise (see 2 Samuel 12:7–8 and Jacob 2:27, 30). Following a revelation to Joseph Smith, the practice of plural marriage was instituted among Church members in the early 1840s (see section 132). From the 1860s to the 1880s, the United States government passed laws to make this religious practice illegal. These laws were eventually upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. After receiving revelation, President Wilford Woodruff issued the following Manifesto, which was accepted by the Church as authoritative and binding on October 6, 1890. This led to the end of the practice of plural marriage in the Church.
To Whom It May Concern:
Press dispatches having been sent for political purposes, from Salt Lake City, which have been widely published, to the effect that the Utah Commission, in their recent report to the Secretary of the Interior, allege that plural marriages are still being solemnized and that forty or more such marriages have been contracted in Utah since last June or during the past year, also that in public discourses the leaders of the Church have taught, encouraged and urged the continuance of the practice of polygamy—
I, therefore, as President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, do hereby, in the most solemn manner, declare that these charges are false. We are not teaching polygamy or plural marriage, nor permitting any person to enter into its practice, and I deny that either forty or any other number of plural marriages have during that period been solemnized in our Temples or in any other place in the Territory.
One case has been reported, in which the parties allege that the marriage was performed in the Endowment House, in Salt Lake City, in the Spring of 1889, but I have not been able to learn who performed the ceremony; whatever was done in this matter was without my knowledge. In consequence of this alleged occurrence the Endowment House was, by my instructions, taken down without delay.
Inasmuch as laws have been enacted by Congress forbidding plural marriages, which laws have been pronounced constitutional by the court of last resort, I hereby declare my intention to submit to those laws, and to use my influence with the members of the Church over which I preside to have them do likewise.
There is nothing in my teachings to the Church or in those of my associates, during the time specified, which can be reasonably construed to inculcate or encourage polygamy; and when any Elder of the Church has used language which appeared to convey any such teaching, he has been promptly reproved. And I now publicly declare that my advice to the Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land.
Wilford Woodruff
President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
President Lorenzo Snow offered the following:
“I move that, recognizing Wilford Woodruff as the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the only man on the earth at the present time who holds the keys of the sealing ordinances, we consider him fully authorized by virtue of his position to issue the Manifesto which has been read in our hearing, and which is dated September 24th, 1890, and that as a Church in General Conference assembled, we accept his declaration concerning plural marriages as authoritative and binding.”
Salt Lake City, Utah, October 6, 1890.
Excerpts from Three Addresses by
President Wilford Woodruff
Regarding the Manifesto
The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty. (Sixty-first Semiannual General Conference of the Church, Monday, October 6, 1890, Salt Lake City, Utah. Reported in Deseret Evening News, October 11, 1890, p. 2.)
It matters not who lives or who dies, or who is called to lead this Church, they have got to lead it by the inspiration of Almighty God. If they do not do it that way, they cannot do it at all. …
I have had some revelations of late, and very important ones to me, and I will tell you what the Lord has said to me. Let me bring your minds to what is termed the manifesto. …
The Lord has told me to ask the Latter-day Saints a question, and He also told me that if they would listen to what I said to them and answer the question put to them, by the Spirit and power of God, they would all answer alike, and they would all believe alike with regard to this matter.
The question is this: Which is the wisest course for the Latter-day Saints to pursue—to continue to attempt to practice plural marriage, with the laws of the nation against it and the opposition of sixty millions of people, and at the cost of the confiscation and loss of all the Temples, and the stopping of all the ordinances therein, both for the living and the dead, and the imprisonment of the First Presidency and Twelve and the heads of families in the Church, and the confiscation of personal property of the people (all of which of themselves would stop the practice); or, after doing and suffering what we have through our adherence to this principle to cease the practice and submit to the law, and through doing so leave the Prophets, Apostles and fathers at home, so that they can instruct the people and attend to the duties of the Church, and also leave the Temples in the hands of the Saints, so that they can attend to the ordinances of the Gospel, both for the living and the dead?
The Lord showed me by vision and revelation exactly what would take place if we did not stop this practice. If we had not stopped it, you would have had no use for … any of the men in this temple at Logan; for all ordinances would be stopped throughout the land of Zion. Confusion would reign throughout Israel, and many men would be made prisoners. This trouble would have come upon the whole Church, and we should have been compelled to stop the practice. Now, the question is, whether it should be stopped in this manner, or in the way the Lord has manifested to us, and leave our Prophets and Apostles and fathers free men, and the temples in the hands of the people, so that the dead may be redeemed. A large number has already been delivered from the prison house in the spirit world by this people, and shall the work go on or stop? This is the question I lay before the Latter-day Saints. You have to judge for yourselves. I want you to answer it for yourselves. I shall not answer it; but I say to you that that is exactly the condition we as a people would have been in had we not taken the course we have.
… I saw exactly what would come to pass if there was not something done. I have had this spirit upon me for a long time. But I want to say this: I should have let all the temples go out of our hands; I should have gone to prison myself, and let every other man go there, had not the God of heaven commanded me to do what I did do; and when the hour came that I was commanded to do that, it was all clear to me. I went before the Lord, and I wrote what the Lord told me to write. …
I leave this with you, for you to contemplate and consider. The Lord is at work with us. (Cache Stake Conference, Logan, Utah, Sunday, November 1, 1891. Reported in Deseret Weekly, November 14, 1891.)
Now I will tell you what was manifested to me and what the Son of God performed in this thing. … All these things would have come to pass, as God Almighty lives, had not that Manifesto been given. Therefore, the Son of God felt disposed to have that thing presented to the Church and to the world for purposes in his own mind. The Lord had decreed the establishment of Zion. He had decreed the finishing of this temple. He had decreed that the salvation of the living and the dead should be given in these valleys of the mountains. And Almighty God decreed that the Devil should not thwart it. If you can understand that, that is a key to it. (From a discourse at the sixth session of the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple, April 1893. Typescript of Dedicatory Services, Archives, Church Historical Department, Salt Lake City, Utah.)" (Official Declaration 1)
"27 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;
30 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: 27, 30)
"The Bible and the Book of Mormon teach that monogamy is God’s standard for marriage unless He declares otherwise. In limited, specific cases the Lord has commanded His followers to practice plural marriage. Some of these cases occurred in biblical times.
From the early 1840s to about 1890, in response to revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints taught the practice of plural marriage, also called polygamy. Over a period of about 50 years, 20 to 30 percent of Latter-day Saint men, women, and children lived in families that practiced plural marriage.
This practice required faith and sacrifice from both men and women. It was also a cause of significant opposition toward the Church for many years. And yet the Saints were committed to keeping God’s commands and trusted that God would bless them for their obedience. Eventually, the Lord directed the Saints to discontinue the practice.
Do members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints practice plural marriage today?
No. Latter-day Saints do not practice plural marriage today. In 1890, Church President Wilford Woodruff received a revelation prompting him to issue a statement known as the Manifesto, which instructed the Saints not to enter into more plural marriages. The ending of plural marriage took some time, but since the early 1900s, people who enter plural marriages or promote its practice cannot remain members of the Church.
Some Church members did not accept the end of plural marriage, and several small groups split off from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, forming new churches with their own leadership. Their teachings and practices do not reflect those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Will there be unwanted marriage arrangements in the next life?
No. The purpose of Heavenly Father’s plan is the eternal happiness of His children. God will not force anyone to enter or remain in a marriage relationship he or she does not want.
A man whose wife has died may be sealed to another woman when he remarries. Moreover, deceased men and women who were married more than once can be sealed vicariously to all of the spouses to whom they were legally married. The Church teaches that these family arrangements will be worked out in the eternities according to the justice, mercy, and love of God and the agency of those involved.
Does the Church teach that plural marriage is required for exaltation?
No. No scripture or revelation teaches that plural marriage is a requirement for exaltation nor has this been an established doctrine of the Church. In the 19th century, some Church leaders taught this idea. Since that time, however, the consistent, unanimous teaching of Church leaders is that only monogamous temple marriage is necessary for exaltation. They have also emphasized that such a marriage will eventually be available to all who worthily seek it.
Why did the Church teach and practice plural marriage in the 19th century?
Early Latter-day Saints practiced plural marriage in obedience to revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Both women and men testified of receiving powerful spiritual witnesses that it was God’s will for them to participate in this practice.
The Lord did not reveal His reasons for restoring plural marriage. However, the Book of Mormon, while prohibiting polygamy generally, explains that God sometimes commands it in order to “raise up seed unto [Him].” Plural marriage among the early Saints did result in the birth of many children into faithful Latter-day Saint families in a relatively short time. This helped to strengthen the early Church, and many Latter-day Saints today can trace their roots to those families.
What is known about the beginning of plural marriage in the Church?
Some evidence suggests that the Prophet Joseph Smith first received a revelation in the early 1830s regarding plural marriage. The revelation, written down in 1843, states that Joseph prayed to know why God justified some biblical figures in having many wives. The Lord responded that He had commanded them to do so.
The Lord also commanded Joseph Smith to practice plural marriage. Evidence suggests he married a second wife, Fanny Alger, in Kirtland, Ohio, in the mid-1830s after he had obtained her consent and that of her parents.
By the time of his death in 1844, Joseph Smith had been sealed to over 30 women. Some of these sealings were understood to take effect only after this life, while some were viewed as constituting marriage relationships in this life as well as the next.
Under Joseph Smith’s direction, other Latter-day Saints also began practicing plural marriage during his lifetime. It was among the most challenging aspects of the Restoration—for Joseph personally and for other Church members. The Saints were encouraged to seek a personal spiritual confirmation before participating.
Because plural marriage was introduced quietly, participants largely kept it private. Therefore, the sources for understanding early plural marriage are limited, and some things about it may never be fully understood.
For more on this topic, see the Gospel Topics essay “Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo.”
Did Joseph Smith practice plural marriage, or was it introduced by Brigham Young and others?
Joseph Smith introduced the practice, not Brigham Young. Credible contemporary sources document Joseph’s practice of plural marriage. Later, many faithful men and women who knew of Joseph’s practice of plural marriage gave sworn testimony of it.
Rather than deny this historical practice, we can apply the principles outlined in “Seeking Answers to Questions” to help us better understand it.
What did Emma Smith know about Joseph’s practice of plural marriage?
Emma did not leave any contemporary record of her own thoughts, feelings, or experiences related to plural marriage. According to accounts of others, Emma opposed plural marriage except for a short period of time when she consented to at least four of her husband’s plural sealings. Ultimately, she rejected the practice. Despite emotional turmoil in their marriage over this practice, Emma and Joseph remained deeply committed to one another.
Emily Partridge, who was an early plural wife of the Prophet Joseph Smith, reflected toward the end of her life on Emma’s complicated feelings about plural marriage: “I know it was hard for Emma, and any woman, to enter plural marriage in those days, and I do not know as anybody would have done any better than Emma did under the circumstances.”
How did women experience plural marriage in the 19th century?
The experience of living in plural marriages was different for each woman involved. Some found happiness and fulfillment while others struggled. When considering marriage practices in the past, it is helpful to remember that expectations about marriage have changed considerably since the 19th century. This is true for both polygamy and monogamy.
Participants in plural marriage understood it to be a religious practice, and they often entered it for spiritual and practical reasons. Women were free to choose whether to enter into a plural marriage. Church leaders, recognizing the challenges faced by women in plural marriages, expedited the granting of divorces to women whose marriages were unhappy.
Some women reported that plural marriage was lonely and difficult. At the same time, it allowed some to pursue education and find financial independence, often with assistance from other wives in their plural families. Ultimately, all who practiced plural marriage made sacrifices to live according to what they believed to be a commandment from God.
How did plural marriage end in the Church?
The ending of plural marriage was a gradual process. In 1862, the United States government began enacting a series of increasingly harsh antipolygamy laws. As a result of these legal actions, the Church faced disincorporation by 1890 and was about to lose most of its properties, including its temples.
In September 1890, after diligently seeking the Lord’s will, President Wilford Woodruff received a revelation. Following the Lord’s instructions, he issued a statement known as the Manifesto, which began the process of ending plural marriage in the Church.
Evidence suggests that only about 200 plural marriages were performed after the Manifesto. In 1904, President Joseph F. Smith issued a statement known as the Second Manifesto that affirmed the Church’s commitment to ending plural marriage. President Smith later authorized local Church leaders to seek out and withdraw the membership of those who continued to enter into or perform plural marriages.
Read more on the end of plural marriage in the Gospel Topics essay “The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage.”" (Church and Gospel Questions Plural Marriage)
And here's the end part of the commentary entitled: "Plural marriage is acceptable to God only when He commands it." :
"Marriage between one man and one woman is God’s standard of marriage (see the section heading to Official Declaration 1; Jacob 2:27, 30). However, there have been times when God has commanded His children to practice plural marriage.
The early years of the restored Church were one of those periods of exception. If you want to learn more about plural marriage among the early Saints, see “Mercy Thompson and the Revelation on Marriage” (in Revelations in Context, 281–93); Saints, 1:290–92, 432–35, 482–92, 502–4; Topics and Questions, “Plural Marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” Gospel Library; “Why Was It Necessary for Joseph Smith and Others to Practice Polygamy?” (video), ChurchofJesusChrist.org."
If I was living during that time when God commanded the saints to practice plural marriage, it would be a challenge for me to accept in live it. I'm glad it's an axception, not the rule. The rule in monogamous marriage. And I didn't live during that time when it was God's commandment to practice plural marriage. I know God knows each of His children and He allows us to go through challenges for our own good. And when He gives us a commandment, He prepares a way for us to be able to accomplish it. Each of the commandments He gives us has a purpose. Plural marriage was given from time to time as a commandment and it has a purpose under God's eternal plan.
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