Promises and Plural Marriage

One of the greatest Old Testament prophets is Abraham, originally called Abram. The scriptures record that he was one of the most valiant spirits in the premortal world and chosen to be a leader in the kingdom of God before he was born (Abraham 1-5). Forced to leave his homeland after religious persecution threatened his life, Abraham would go on to receive great revelations and a special covenant from the Lord with promises of priesthood, property and posterity "as innumerable as the stars". Hundreds of millions that have and do live on the earth regard Abraham as the "father of the faithful" and many refer to the place of the righteous dead as "sitting down next to Abraham" or "Abraham's bosom" (Luke 16:22-23).

Those who rightfully consider Abraham among the righteous have reason to consider the account given in Genesis 16: "Now Sarai Abrahm's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife" (verses 1-3).

The Lord has commanded the faithful in every generation to keep sexual relations within the bounds of marriage, to not commit adultery, to cleave unto a spouse and unto none else; yet here and hereafter the Lord seems okay with Abraham's plural marriage to not only Hagar but several other women as well. How can this be?

This is the question that the prophet Joseph Smith asked the Lord in the summer of 1843. "Inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines," the Lord responded, "Behold, and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter" (D&C 132:1-2).

The following 64 verses detail the Lord's doctrine of eternal marriage. "If a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law," the Lord instructs, "it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world... to their exaltation and glory" (D&C 132:19). Those married in holy temples by those authorized to exercise the appropriate priesthood keys can expect relationships far beyond the bounds of this life.

With that background, the Lord provided several reasons why righteous women and men obey the principle of plural marriage at certain times. The first is because God has commanded it and made it his law at those times.

"God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law; and from Hagar sprang many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling, among other things, the promises. Was Abraham, therefore, under condemnation? Verily I say unto you, Nay; for I, the Lord, commanded it" (D&C 132:34-35, emphasis added).

The Lord's perspective is different than our own. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9). God's commandments are designed by an omniscient Father to execute his plan for his children and complete his mission for our immortality and eternal life.

At certain times, the Lord's commandment to a particular individual or group may surprise us because it is different from what we would expect it to be under normal circumstances. There are several examples of this in the scriptures including Nephi killing Laban, Moses killing the master builder, and several specific instances of plural marriage. "Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac; nevertheless, it was written: Thou shalt not kill. Abraham, however, did not refuse, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness" (D&C 132:36).

In the case of Abraham and Hagar, the Lord seems to be saying that the fulfillment of his promise to Abraham is of greatest importance. This is a powerful reassurance for us to whom the Lord has promised forgiveness, salvation and exaltation. As promised, the union of Abraham and Hagar has resulted in millions of posterity who revere their father Abraham.

The proliferation of children and grandchildren is another obvious reason for the Lord to command the faithful to practice plural marriage, particularly when their numbers are few. The Lord explained to Jacob: "For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none... 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). 

At such times, plural wives "are given unto [a man] to multiply and replenish the earth, according to [the Lord's] commandment"; but also "to fulfill the promise which was given [to the wives] by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men" (D&C 132:63).

Finally, the law of plural marriage is part of the "restitution of all things" promised before the Second Coming of Christ (Acts 3:20-21, D&C 132:40). As in other dispensations, the Lord required early members of the church in our dispensation to follow this law.

This was not a desirable or easy thing for those required to follow this commandment. Marriage has been weakened and redefined over several decades in modern Western culture; it was much less selfish and much more sacred in the 1840s. Joseph Smith delayed for a decade until the Lord sent an angel with a drawn sword who threatened to remove him from his place if he did not obey. When first taught the principle of plural marriage, Heber C. Kimball "became sick in body [from anxiety], but his mental wretchedness was too great to allow of his retiring, and he would walk the floor till nearly morning, and sometimes the agony of his mind was so terrible that he would wring his hands and weep like a child, and beseech the Lord to be merciful" (as told by Vilate Kimball, wife of Heber C. Kimball, in Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball [1967], 325-38).

President John Taylor recalled, "I had always entertained strict ideas of virtue, and I felt as a married man that [plural marriage] was to me, outside of this principle, an appalling thing to do... It was a thing calculated to stir up feelings from the innermost depths of the human soul... Nothing but a knowledge of God, and the revelations of God, and the truth of them, could have induced me to embrace such a principle as this" (in B.H. Roberts, The Life of John Taylor, Third President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [1963], 100). And Brigham Young summarized, "I was not desirous of shrinking from any duty nor failing in the least to do as I was commanded, but it was the first time in my life that I had desired the grave, and I could hardly get over it for a long time. And when I saw a funeral I felt to envy the corpse its situation, and to regret that I was not in the coffin" (in "Provo Conference," Deseret News, Nov. 14, 1855, 282).

A restricted number of the early Saints were tested and tried by the principle of plural marriage. Those who obeyed the voice of the Lord and his prophet received the promised blessings of posterity, divine power and assistance, hearts full of rejoicing, forgiveness of sin and preparation for exaltation.

"Plural marriage did result in the birth of large numbers of children within faithful Latter-day Saint homes. It also shaped 19th-century Mormon society in may ways: marriage became available to virtually all who desired it; per-capita inequality of wealth was diminished as economically disadvantaged women married into more financially stable households; and ethnic intermarriages were increased, which helped to unite a diverse immigrant population. Plural marriage also helped create and strengthen a sense of cohesion and group identification among Latter-day Saints. Church members came to see themselves as a 'peculiar people,' covenant-bound to carry out the commands of God despite outside opposition" (in Plural Marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, www.lds.org/topics).

We do not know all the reasons why the Lord sometimes requires the faithful to live the principle of plural marriage. We know that it is carefully guarded and governed by priesthood keys: "For I [the Lord] have conferred upon you [the president of the Church] the keys and power of the priesthood, wherein I restore all things... And again, verily I say unto you, that whatsoever you give on earth, and to whomsoever you give any one on earth, by my word and according to my law, it shall be visited with blessings and not cursings, and with my power, saith the Lord, and shall be without condemnation on earth and in heaven" (D&C 132:45, 48). Plural marriage is acceptable only when commanded of the Lord and authorized only through the keys held by the president of the Church. It has been strictly forbidden since 1904.

We are not asked to live the principle of plural marriage today, but we can benefit from the promises given as a result. We can see the Lord's pattern and restoration in modern times and have greater faith in the divine origins of the modern Church. We can see that the Lord always makes a way to keep his commandments and prepare our hearts to hearken to his voice, as Abraham did. Perhaps best of all, we can know and be assured that when we keep the commandments of God, he will always keep his promises.

About Polygamy

Perhaps one of the most talked about (former) practices of the LDS Church is the practice of plural marriage that existed to varying degrees in the Church from 1831 to about 1904. Plural marriage was officially ended in October 1890 with this declaration from then-President Wilford Woodruff:

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 (Official Declaration 1).

President Woodruff's declaration, called the Manifesto, was unanimously accepted by the membership of the Church at that conference. In 1904, finding that some plural marriages had continued to be performed primarily in Mexico and Canada, President Joseph F. Smith called for a prohibition of plural marriage which was also unanimously accepted. Since that time, the Church has not allowed those practicing plural marriage to obtain and/or retain membership.

To understand why God would allow for plural marriage, and why He would subsequently command against it, we must first understand God's law for marriage and the precedent for its plurality. The Lord has taught that "there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none; For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women" (Jacob 2:27-28).

Paul taught the same doctrine in the ancient church when he taught the Corinthians to, "let every man have his own wife, and every woman have her own husband" (1 Cor. 7:2). The Lord revealed the same law to Joseph Smith in 1831:

Whoso forbiddeth to marry is not ordained of God, for marriage is ordained of God unto man. Wherefore, it is lawful that he should have one wife, and they twain shall be one flesh, and all this that the earth might answer the end of its creation; And that it might be filled with the measure of man... (D&C 49:15-16).

The law of God for man is monogamy. Yet the practice of plural marriage is not without precedent. Abraham, the great patriarch, fathered many nations through the practice of plural marriage (Genesis 16:1-3). Jacob, Abraham's grandson who would later be known as Israel, also practiced plural marriage (Genesis 29:23-30). Moses may have practiced plural marriage (D&C 132:38) and the law of Moses contains provisions for the equal treatment of plural wives (Exodus 21:10), suggesting the practice may have been more widespread (though the practice has always been carefully directed by prophets rather than the general practice of the majority). King David and King Solomon also righteously practiced plural marriage on the whole, despite David's sin with Bathsheba (D&C 132:38-39).

Exceptions to the monogamy rule always have specific purpose. After establishing monogamy as the rule, the Lord taught Jacob, "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 [monogamy]" (Jacob 2:30).

So the Lord explained to Joseph Smith:

God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law; and from Hagar sprang many people... Was Abraham, therefore, under condemnation? Verily I say unto you, Nay; for I, the Lord commanded it.

Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac; nevertheless, it was written: Thou shalt not kill. Abraham, however, did not refuse, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.

He continues:

Abraham received concubines, and they bore him children; and it was accounted unto him for righteousness, because they were given unto him, and he abode in my law; as Isaac also and Jacob did none other things than that which they were commanded...

David also received many wives and concubines, and also Solomon and Moses my servants, as also many others of my servants, from the beginning of creation until this time; and in nothing did they sin save in those things which they received not of me.


David's wives and concubines were given unto him of me, by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets... and in none of these things did he sin against me save in the case of Uriah and his wife (D&C 132:34-39).

So if the Lord commanded the early members of the LDS Church to practice polygamy to grow the population of the Church, why would he command for polygamy to stop in 1890?

One obvious possibility is because the Church had grown considerably. Though still relatively small, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates church membership had grown to over 188,000 by 1890.

Perhaps another reason can be found in this verse, given long before the practice of plural marriage created persecutions and political problems for the Church. The Lord taught that:

When I give a commandment to any of the sons of men to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might and with all they have to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold, it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offerings (D&C 124:49).

The Church website includes this statement about the end of plural marriage, or polygamy:

Influenced by rumors and exaggerated reports, the United States Congress, beginning in 1862, enacted a series of laws against polygamy that became increasingly harsh. By the 1880s many Latter-day Saint men were imprisoned or went into hiding.

In 1889 in the face of increasing hardships and the threat of government confiscation of Church property, including temples, Wilford Woodruff, President of the Church at the time, prayed for guidance. He was inspired to issue a document that officially ended the sanction of plural marriage by the Church.

In summary, it is clear that monogamy is the standard for us to live by. Prophets in our day have taught that the family is ordained of God, that marriage is between one man and one woman, and that children are entitled to be reared by a father and mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Throughout history, God has commanded plural marriage as an exception, primarily to allow for rapid population growth. This is done with great care and direction from the Lord himself through the prophets that serve as his mouthpiece. When the goals of plural marriage are accomplished, or when the faithful have done all they can do to be obedient, even if unsuccessfully, plural marriage is again taken from the Church and forbidden by God.

So it is today. The late President Gordon B. Hinckley emphasized that plural marriage is “against the law of God. Even in countries where civil or religious law allows [the practice of a man having more than one wife], the Church teaches that marriage must be monogamous and does not accept into its membership those practicing plural marriage."

Any groups or individuals who teach or practice plural marriage today are not members of nor affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.