Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo

The Mormon Church have recently released an essay acknowledging for the first time ever that Joseph Smith engaged in polygamy, and took up to 40 wives. Having grown up a Mormon for my first twenty years, I was taught strictly that Joseph Smith was not a polygamist. In fact, he condemns it in the Book of Mormon. For years those who studied the religion – as myself after I left – found out that he indeed was a polygamist. However, the LDS Church did everything they could to conceal it. Most who addressed it were met with the cynical response that it was just propaganda used to discredit the Mormons.  This is big. It will likely shake up the faith of many LDS members, while others may simply sidestep it and choose not to care. Error and lies will always expose themselves. The honest student will not overlook it when it happens. I am curious to see how many will handle this “bombshell.” It is not small, as this adds depth to the dishonorable character of a man the Mormon Church exalts as high as Jesus Christ. The Mormon leaders and apologists will as expected try to reason it, but lies are lies and deception is still deception. My hope is that those affected as they begin to question a religion so tangled in its own web of edited history do not lose hope that the truth is available in the Bible, which has never faltered.

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