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HBO's 'Big Love' is a Big Problem 26 March 2006 By: Todd Bauerle
Page 2 of 12 A Brief History of the LDS Church and Polygamy On a spring day in 1820, Joseph Smith, Jr., a 14-year-old farm boy in upstate New York entered a grove of trees near his home, determined to seek out guidance from his Heavenly Father to sort out the religious confusion of the day. Fueled by the Bible, specifically the passage of James 1:5, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him," he set out to ask God which church he should join. His prayers were answered with a glorious vision. In his own words; "I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"1 The response to his question came that he was to join none of the creeds of the day, as they were all teaching incorrect doctrines, and that the fullness of His gospel would be revealed unto him at a later time. Over the years, Joseph Smith was visited by other messengers, and eventually received an ancient record, engraved upon gold plates that he was to translate by the power of God. That book was eventually published as The Book of Mormon (allowing for the common name of 'Mormons'). Members of the LDS Church and those who believe in the account of the first vision, believe that Joseph Smith was a newly 'called' Prophet of God, one to hail in the 'restoration' of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through Joseph and his successors, new revelation was given to the world. One such revelation from the Prophet Joseph, directly related to this conversation, is regarding 'eternal' marriage and the plurality of wives, as found in the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 132. It should be stated that 'eternal' marriage is a marriage for "time and all eternity,"2 with husband and wife sealed together in the LDS Temples. This is a marriage that lasts beyond death, and the ordinance is required to enforce a marriage in the hereafter. In Section 132, plural marriage is set forth as a Godly law by establishing the Lord's commandment to Abraham3, David, Solomon, and Moses4 to take plural wives. Then, very explicitly: "I am the Lord thy God, and I gave unto thee, my servant Joseph, an appointment, and restore all things."5 This is an important key, as a true 'restoration of the Gospel' requires a complete restoration of God's laws, plural marriage being one of those laws. The specific passage relating to the law of plural marriage is set forth in verse 60 of the same section: "And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood—if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else." Now the purpose of the law is also clearly given in The Book of Mormon, the book of Jacob, Chapter 2, verse 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." Simply put, plural marriage is doctrine intended to 'raise up' righteous seed unto the Lord...and only when the Lord commands it. The Lord explicitly commanded this law be restored when the 132nd Section of the Doctrine and Covenants was recorded on July 12, 1843. From that point on the Lord commanded it, and the majority of those who lived the law were specifically 'called' or asked to live it. Many, including the Prophet Joseph, his wife Emma, and his successor Brigham Young, found this a very difficult law to live. Needless to say, the early LDS Church received a monumental amount of criticism for it's divine origins, the claim and belief that Joseph was a Prophet of God, and obviously the doctrine of plural marriage. The Saints were driven from state to state, ordered to be exterminated by the Governor of Missouri, and finally had their Prophet and founder, Joseph Smith, murdered in 1844. 1. Joseph Smith History 1:17. The Pearl of Great Price. 2. Section 132:18. The Doctrine & Covenants. 3. Section 132:34. The Doctrine & Covenants. 4. Section 132:38. The Doctrine & Covenants. 5. Section 132:40. The Doctrine & Covenants.
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