Current state of polygamy in the Latter Day Saint movement

Mormonism and polygamy
Members of Joseph F. Smith's family, including his sons and daughters, as well as their spouses and children, circa 1900.
Background Origin of Latter Day Saint polygamy Late 19th century Mormon polygamy Modern Latter Day Saint polygamy 1890 Manifesto Second Manifesto (1904) Mormon fundamentalism
Prominent practitioners Joseph Smith, Jr. Joseph Smith's wives Brigham Young Brigham Young's wives List of Mormon polygamists FLDS Church
Related legislation Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act Poland Act Edmunds Act Edmunds-Tucker Act
Related case law Reynolds v. United States LDS Church v. United States
Related articles Celestial marriage Spiritual wifery Polygamy in the United States History of civil marriage in the U.S. Freedom of religion in the U.S.
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According to the consensus of historians, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, Joseph Smith, Jr., privately taught and practiced polygamy. After Smith's death in 1844, the church he established splintered into several competing groups. Disagreements over Smith's doctrine of "plural marriage" was one of the primary reasons the church divided.

The members of the largest group that resulted, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), continued to teach and practice polygamy throughout the 19th century. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, the practice was formally abandoned as the LDS Church came under intense criticism by the United States government. The LDS Church no longer sanctions polygamy and its members do not practice it, although there are still elements of the doctrine in its theology.

The second-largest Latter Day Saint church, the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or RLDS Church), has a history of opposing the LDS Church's practice of polygamy. Other smaller Latter Day Saint churches were also formed as a means of opposing the LDS Church's polygamy. The formal shift in doctrine by the LDS Church later in the early 20th century gave rise to the Mormon fundamentalism movement, which has since fragmented into a number of separate churches, the most well-known being the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS Church). The FLDS Church and other Mormon fundamentalists believe the practice of polygamy should continue and was wrongfully abandoned by the LDS Church.

Current state of polygamy in the LDS Church

See also: Origin of Latter Day Saint polygamy and Latter Day Saint polygamy in the late 19th century

The LDS church considers polygamy to have been a divinely inspired commandment that is supported by scripture^[1], and it is discussed in a lesson on eternal marriage; it should be noted that plural marriage appears as part of the additional information section in the manual and it is explicitly not a focus of the lesson in the Sunday School curriculum in the modern church^[2]. However, the commandment of plural marriage is considered to have been taken back by God. President Joseph F. Smith has explained, "The doctrine is not repealed, the truth is not annulled, the law is right and just now as ever, but the observance of it is stopped"^{[citation needed]}.

The LDS Church has not tolerated plural marriages since the 1890 Manifesto was declared. However, all of the First Presidency and almost all of the apostles at that time continued to maintain multiple families into the twentieth century: they did not feel that they could dissolve existing unions and families. Scholarship beginning in the 1980s has led to estimates that the average incidence of polygamy during the 40 years in which it was a practice of the church was between 15-30%, depending on the years and location,^[3] including virtually all church leadership at the time.^[4] Polygamy was gradually discontinued after the 1904 Second Manifesto as no new plural marriages were allowed and as the older polygamists died off. Since the Second Manifesto, the policy of the LDS Church has been to excommunicate members who enter into or solemnize new plural marriages. The LDS Church does not teach the practice of plural marriage, nor does it have any formal ties with Mormon fundamentalist groups that do.

Relationship of current practices to plural marriage

See also: Mormonism and polygamy: Plural marriage in the afterlife

Sealed marriages ended through death

As of 1998, by proxy "A deceased woman may be sealed to all men to whom she was legally married during her life. However, if she was sealed to a husband during her life, all her husbands must be deceased before she can be sealed to a husband to whom she was not sealed during life."^[5]

Implications

Theological issues are likely to exist when any church endorses the notion that marriage relationships continue into an afterlife, yet endorses people having more than one spouse during life. In this light, a doctrine of multiple marriage relationships in the afterlife does not necessarily imply an endorsement of plural marriage during life.^{[citation needed]}

Current state of polygamy in the Community of Christ

See also: Succession Crisis and Community of Christ

The Community of Christ (formerly the RLDS Church) has rejected the practice of polygamy since its inception and continues to affirm monogamy "as the basic principle of Christian marriage".^[6] Many in this church believe that Joseph Smith, Jr. never taught or practiced polygamy and that the doctrine began with the teachings of Brigham Young in the LDS Church.^{[citation needed]} The Community of Christ does not recognize Smith's 1831 revelation or the 1843 revelation as canonical, and some members regard them as inauthentic.

Although some past leaders of the RLDS Church—most notably Joseph Smith III and others who were descendants of Joseph Smith, Jr.—have strenuously denied that Smith taught or practiced polygamy, the Community of Christ today states that it "does not legislate or mandate positions on issues of history".^[6] The church acknowledges that research into the early Latter Day Saint movement "seem[s] to increasingly point to Joseph Smith Jr. as a significant source for plural marriage teaching and practice", but the church argues that it must be recognized that Smith was not infallible in his teachings.^[6]

Current state of polygamy in the Strangite church

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) have historically taught and, in limited numbers, have practiced plural marriage.^[7] James Strang was married to several women during his leadership of the church. However, the 1843 revelation by Joseph Smith, Jr. is rejected by the church as an inauthentic revelation.^[7] The Book of the Law of the Lord, a part of the Strangite canon, sanctions polygamy, but the church reports that "there are no known cases of polygamy currently in the church".^[7]

Current state of polygamy in the FLDS Church

Main article: Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

The FLDS Church teaches that a man having multiple wives is ordained by God and is a requirement for a man to receive the highest form of salvation. It is generally believed in the church that a man should have a minimum of three wives to fulfill this requirement.^[8] Connected with this doctrine is the concept that wives are required to be subordinate to their husbands.

The FLDS Church currently practices the law of placing, whereby a young woman of marriageable age is assigned a husband by revelation from God to the leader of the church, who is regarded as a prophet.^[9] The prophet elects to take and give wives to and from men according to their worthiness.

Other LDS denominations that practice polygamy

Over time, many of those who rejected the LDS Church's relinquishment of plural marriage formed small, close-knit communities in areas of the Rocky Mountains. These groups continue to practice 'the principle' despite the ostensible opposition, and consider the practice to be a requirement for entry into the highest heaven, which they call the "first degree" of the Celestial Kingdom. These people are commonly called Mormon fundamentalists and may either practice as individuals, as families, or as part of organized denominations.

Notes

1. ^ See Doctrine and Covenants 132 and Jacob 2
2. ^ Lesson 31: “Sealed … for Time and for All Eternity”, Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, 176
3. ^ (Hardy 2005, p. 215).
4. ^ Bachman, Danel W., Esplin, Ronald K. (1992) "Plural Marriage", in Ludlow, Daniel H, Encyclopedia of Mormonism 3: 1095. New York:Macmillan Publishing Co.
5. ^ LDS Church, Church Handbook of Instructions, (LDS Church, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1998). "A deceased woman may be sealed to all men to whom she was legally married during her life. However, if she was sealed to a husband during her life, all her husbands must be deceased before she can be sealed to a husband to whom she was not sealed during life."
6. ^ ^{a b c} "Community of Christ: Frequently Asked Questions".
7. ^ ^{a b c} http://www.strangite.org/Women.htm
8. ^ Coman, Julian (2003-10-19). "Three wives will guarantee you a place in paradise. The Taliban? No: welcome to the rebel Mormons". London: The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1444578/Three-wives-will-guarantee-you-a-place-in-paradise.-The-Taliban-No-welcome-to-the-rebel-Mormons.html. Retrieved 2010-04-30. 
9. ^ Bonnie Ricks. "Review: The Sixth of Seven Wives: Escape from Modern Day Polygamy". The Institute for Religious Research (irr.org). http://www.irr.org/mit/sixth-of-seven-wives-br.html. 

References

• Hardy, B. Carmon (2005). "That 'Same Old Question of Polygamy and Polygamous Living:' Some Recent Findings Regarding Nineteenth and Early Twentieth-Century Mormon Polygamy". Utah Historical Quarterly 73 (3): 212–224. http://history.utah.gov/history_programs/utah_historic_quarterly/table_of_contents/documents/UHQSummerBook.pdf .