Meridian Article on Polygamy

[Anonymous]

cwald: “

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Meridian Magazine” and “good article” in the same post?

I know! I was absolutely shocked!

[Anonymous]

hawkgrrrl wrote:

Roy: The only issue with this theory about the Law of Adoption is that it then postpones the problem until Brigham Young. His version of polygamy wasn’t in any way shape or form related to the law of adoption.

I agree. And we have many that can understand Polygamy under BY but have no idea what JS was doing (particularly about marrying other men’s wives). Even Bro. Hales seems to use as his chief argument that polygamy is necessary to provide marital partners to all. JS did not seem to be playing exactly by that set of rules.

We can argue that Joseph was improvising or figuring things out and that it was later perfected under BY. But maybe not. Maybe polygamy under JS was loosely based on the law of adoption. Maybe polygamy under BY was loosely based upon polygamy under JS and two steps removed from the law of adoption. Now we have temples and eternal families that are loosely based upon the building blocks of polygamy and the law of adoption without understanding either one. We act as if all you need now is to be sealed to your spouse and have your kids born into the covenant (….and maybe do some genealogy work when you are too old to be useful in any other capacity).

We see that in practice eternal families can operate independently. It does not require those concepts that proceeded it in order to be meaningful or effective but instead can stand alone on its own merit.

Conversely, I do not feel that I can understand polygamy (of either JS or BY) when viewed through the lens of the current nuclear eternal family. It is too foreign and in-congruent. My theology rejects it as if it were a bad organ transplant. I feel that I must lay my temple marriage aside and put on my anthropologist hat and try to understand it as it was understood by JS and some of his contemporaries independent of how it was interpreted by those that followed (I don’t care so much about BY right at the moment). Then I feel that I can begin to make out a clearer picture of what they may have been trying to do (even if it would be 100% crazy :crazy: by current church standards).

[Anonymous]

Let’s consider what President Woodruff said about the law of adoption:

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When I went before the Lord to know who I should be adopted to (we were then being adopted to prophets and apostles), the Spirit of God said to me, “Have you not a father, who begot you?” “Yes, I have.” “Then why not honor him? Why not be adopted to him?” ‘Yes,” says I, “that is right.”

I was adopted to my father, and should have had my father sealed to his father, and so on back; and the duty that I want every man who presides over a temple to see performed from this day henceforth and forever, unless the Lord Almighty commands otherwise, is, let every man be adopted to his father…That is the will of God to this people…

What business have I to take away the rights of the lineage of any man? What right has any man to do this? No; I say let every man be adopted to his father; and then you will do exactly what God said when he declared he would send Elijah the prophet in the last days. Elijah the prophet appeared unto Joseph Smith and told him that the day had come when this principle must be carried out. Joseph Smith did not live long enough to enter any further upon these things.

(Wilford Woodruff, April 8, 1894 General Conference, printed in Millennial Star Vol. 56, No. 22, May 28, 1894.)

http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/MStar/id/20113/rec/56

No one had any business or right to seal anyone to someone outside of their family. It was a mistake. They were doing it wrong. It’s interesting that the angel with the flaming sword didn’t care to tell Joseph what type of sealings should be done. Why didn’t the angel tell him to leave married women alone? It’s odd that the Doctrine and Covenants contains many detailed revelations, yet Joseph wasn’t provided any details on how to implement sealings or polygamy. We are to believe that he was left to fiddle around while trying to figure it out on his own.

Also, Elijah’s appearance occurred in 1836 (allegedly), so Joseph lived long enough to get it right.

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