Eternal Marriage in Kirtland? (Praise God & the Lamb!)

The catch-all forum for general topics and debates. Minimal moderation. Rated PG to PG-13.
Post Reply
_grindael
_Emeritus
Posts: 6791
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:15 am

Eternal Marriage in Kirtland? (Praise God & the Lamb!)

Post by _grindael »

Preview from "The Irrational World of Brian Hales' Polygamy" Pt. III:

Emma Smith affirmed in 1844 that this Epistle was about polygamy (or the Spiritual Wifeism) being promulgated in Nauvoo. In the Epistle above, Joseph Smith specifically tells the Relief Society that they are to shun anyone who teaches anything “contrary to the old established morals & virtues & scriptural laws, regulating the habits, customs & conduct of society.” Notice he also says that we do not want anyone believing anything as coming from us is contrary to the old established morals, etc. This would include polygamy, which was not the scriptural law, (the law was Doctrine and Covenants Section 101), and it expressly forbid polygamy:

Inasmuch as this Church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy, we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife, and one woman but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.[133]

[133] Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 edition, Section 101; 1844 edition Section 109. FAIRMORMON writes:

In fact, the statement remained in the D&C until the 1876 edition, even though plural marriage had been taught to specific individuals since at least 1831, practiced in secret since 1836, and practiced openly since 1852. The matter of not removing it in 1852 was simply due to the fact that a new edition of the D&C was not published until 1876. (1835 Doctrine and Covenants denies polygamy—D&C 101 (original), online here, Accessed December 31, 2014).

They also claim that Smith supported its inclusion in the Doctrine and Covenants:

While some have suggested that the article [on marriage] was published against Joseph's wishes or without his knowledge, the available evidence suggests that he supported its publication. It was likely included to counter the perception that the Mormon's practice of communal property (the "law of consecration") included a community of wives. (ibid.)

“Community of Wives” was simply wife swapping, which would be adultery (or polygamy as some called it) and fornication if either party was not married to the other.  The Mormons did not practice formal polygamy in the 1830’s though there was a “revelation” from Smith that they could marry the Lamanites, but that would involve leaving the current wife (if married) and would still be adultery. (See Ezra Booth, Letters 8 & 9, Note #30. The purported “revelation” can be found online here, Accessed November 26, 2016).

As Richard S. Van Wagoner writes:

An additional reason the 1835 marriage statement gets little notice despite its status as the present law of the Church is that Joseph Smith was not present during the 17 August general assembly which voted on the measure. Years later, the rumor circulated that Oliver Cowdery had authored the marriage statement against the Prophet's wishes. If Cowdery, as an Assistant President of the Church, did write the statement, most likely it was to protect the Prophet from the rumors that were spreading against him. For whatever reason, Smith planned a brief missionary venture to Michigan to coincide with the 17 August meeting. Statements he and other Church leaders later made, however, as well as the fact that he performed marriages using the ceremony canonized in that 1835 declaration, argue that he approved of the marriage declaration. Furthermore, Smith could have made changes prior to the 1835 printing. A "Notes to the Reader" addendum, page xxv in the 1835 edition, details a change in the article of marriage after it had been canonized.

The 1835 marriage statement was important in several respects. Not only did it deny the practice of Church-sanctioned polygamy, but it also outlined a marriage ceremony which ended by pronouncing the couple "'husband and wife' in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by virtue of the laws of the country and authority vested in him [the person performing the ceremony]: 'may God add his blessings and keep you to fulfill your covenants from henceforth and forever!'"

This statement, the first referring to eternal marriage, together with the Prophet's two 1831 revelatory statements, suggests that Church leaders no longer viewed marriage as a strictly civil contract. But the Church did not officially accept responsibility for solemnizing the marriages of its members until after the 1835 "rules for marriage" had been canonized.

Civil authorities in Ohio did not recognize the license of Church leaders. Sidney Rigdon was arrested in 1835 for marrying a couple, then released when he produced his Campbellite license. This refusal to recognize Mormon priesthood authority was a source of irritation to Joseph Smith; and in a bold display of civil disobedience on 24 November 1835, he performed his first marriage. It was initially intended that Seymour Brunson, who held a valid minister's license, would marry Newel Knight and Lydia Goldthwait Bailey. But as Hyrum Smith began the introductory comments, Joseph stepped forth and declared his intent to officiate. The bride, later noting that "the prevailing law of Ohio did not recognize the Mormon Elders as ministers," added that Smith said at the time of the wedding:

Our elders have been wronged and prosecuted for marrying without a license. The Lord God of Israel has given me authority to unite the people in the holy bonds of matrimony. And from this time forth I shall use that privilege and marry whomsoever I see fit. And the enemies of the Church shall never have power to use the law against me.

Another interesting aspect of the 1835 marriage statement was a clause which held that "all legal contracts of marriage made before a person is baptized into this church, should be held sacred and fulfilled." Despite that explicit directive, Lydia Goldthwait Bailey, though abandoned by her legal husband, was not divorced when the Prophet married her to Newel Knight, a fact well known to all involved.

The polyandrous Knight marriage was one of Joseph Smith's earliest efforts to apply heavenly guidelines on earth despite legal technicalities. Emphasizing the sacramental nature of marriage, he commented at the conclusion of the Knight ceremony "that marriage was an institution of heaven, instituted in the garden; that it was necessary it should be solemnized by the authority of the everlasting Priesthood" (HC 2:320). Viewing temporal and spiritual standards as inextricably intertwined, Joseph Smith began in the fall of 1835 to teach the eternal marriage alluded to in the canonized marriage statement. W. W. Phelps, Smith's scribe in Kirtland, has provided a commentary on the Prophet's marriage teachings of that period. Writing to his wife in Missouri 9 September 1835, Phelps explained: "I have it in my heart to give you a little instruction, so that you may know your place, and stand in it, believed, admired, and rewarded, in time and in eternity." Two weeks later he again wrote:

Br. Joseph has preached some of the greatest sermons on the duty of wives to their husbands and the role of all Women, I ever heard. I would not have you ignorant, Sally, of the mystery of Men and Women, but I cannot write all you must wait till you see me. This much, however, I will say, that you closed your 4th letter to me in a singular manner: really it was done after the manner of the Gentiles: says Sally "I remain yours till death." But since you have seen my blessing I think you will conclude, "if your life and years are as precious in the sight of God as Mine," thus you will be mine, in this world and in the world to come; And so long as you can "remain on earth as you desire." I think you may as well use the word "forever," as "till death".... This is the reason why I have called you at the commencement of this letter, My Only One, because I have no right to any other woman in this world nor in the world to come according to the law of the celestial Kingdom. (italics in original, our bold).

Phelps's understanding of eternal marriage in the "celestial Kingdom' obviously came from Smith, who preached numerous sermons on marriage during the fall of 1835 while Phelps was living in his home and working with him daily. Despite the implication of eternal marriage in both the 1835 canonized ceremony and Phelps's statements, the first Mormon eternal marriage did not take place until 6 April 1841, when Smith was sealed to plural wife Louisa Beaman by Joseph B. Noble. The Prophet had apparently come to view all marriages prior to this time, including his own to Emma Hale, as valid for "time" only. As late as 1840 he was occasionally signing his letters to Emma with the benediction "your husband till death" (Jessee 1984, 454). It was not until a 28 May 1843 meeting of the Endowment Council7 in Nauvoo that Joseph and Emma were sealed for time and eternity through the "new and everlasting covenant of marriage" (Ehat 1982, 2). (Richard S. Van Wagoner, Mormon Polyandry in Nauvoo, Dialogue, Vol. 18, No. 3,  70-73, Online here, Accessed December 1, 2014).

W. W. Phelps was also instructed by Joseph to teach doctrine and publish it in the Church Newspapers he edited. On January 11, 1833 Smith wrote to Phelps and encouraged him to,

…render  the [Evening and Morning] Star as interesting as possable by setting forth the rise progress and  faith of the church, as well as the doctrine for if you do not render  it more interesting than at present it will fall, and the church suffer  a great Loss thereby——(Joseph Smith, Letter to W. W. Phelps, January 11, 1833, Online here, Accessed December 31, 2014, added emphasis).

By this we know that Smith had confidence that Phelps understood and could set forth the doctrines of the Church. But Phelps writes nothing about the concept of "Eternal Marriage" in any of the publications he edited. Some claim that this passage written by W. W. Phelps to his wife speaks of eternal marriage, but it is ambiguous and could be describing something else:

A new idea, sally, If you and I continue faithful to the end, we are certain of being one in the Lord throughout eternity. This is one of the most glorious consolations we can have in the flesh.(W. W. Phelps to Sally Phelps, May 26, 1835)

But take this comment from Phelps written six months earlier:

Beloved, there was a time so perfect, and the union so pure, that the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy! and we do beseech you, to purify yourselves that your names may be written in heaven, for the company of angels to look upon, that they may come down and teach us to purify ourselves for the presence of Jesus, that he may dwell with us, while his glory covers the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise, that we may be one with all the redeemed of the Lamb, and them that are changed in the twinkling of an eye as the heaven and the earth are made now, that the tabernacle of God may be with men, and he with them, that we may hear the sons of Zion from all the creations he hath made, shouting glory and power and honor, to God and the Lamb throughout eternity. (The Evening and the Morning Star, Vol.1, No.2, November, 1834, p.25)

In June, 1835 Phelps wrote,

I am truly glad you have mentioned Michael, the prince, who, I understand, is our great father Adam. New light is occasionally bursting in to our minds, of the sacred scriptures, for which I am truly thankful. We shall by and bye learn that we were with God in another world, before the foundation of the world, and had our agency: that we came into this world and have our agency, in order that we may prepare ourselves for a kingdom of glory; become archangels, even the sons of God where the man is neither without the woman, nor the woman without the man in the Lord: A consummation of glory, and happiness, and perfection so greatly to be wished, that I would not miss of it for the fame of ten worlds....I greatly rejoice at the light of the last days, and sincerely wish all men were fit and willing to receive it, that the glorious day might roll on when we might not only find sacred records by the ministering of angels, but might have the presence of Jesus again on earth; & be living witnesses of that day, when the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the water covers the sea; when all shall know him, from the least even to the greatest; and all the redeemed multitude speak a pure language, according to the promise. Such a glorious prospect of holiness is worth living for, or worth dying for, and I beseech the saints to strive to continue to walk in the way and obtain their crown. (ibid, Vol. 1, No. 9, pg. 130, 131)

The question is, what did Phelps mean by the man is not without the woman in the Lord? Phelps reveals what he means in subsequent letters:

I expect an endowment, I labor to forgive and be forgiven. I have said so in my letters to you and I think you have forgotten to mention it in your letters. If you and I tarry together on earth, and to go the Lord together, we “must be one.” (W.W.Phelps to Sally Phelps, September 11, 1835)

A week later, Phelps clarified what he meant by them being "one" in the world to come:

But I must resume this subject left in my last letter. In that I spoke of men: Now I must hint of women: For the man is not without the woman neither is the woman without the man in the Lord. I wish you to read the seventh of 1st Corinthians and learn for yourself: In Ephesians and Colossians it says—”Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord.” That is keep your husband’s commands in all things as you do the Lord’s. Your husband is your head, and the Lord is his head. Br. Joseph has preached some of his greatest sermons on the duty of wives to their husbands and the rule of all women I ever heard. I would not have you ignorant, Sally, of the mystery of Men and Women, but I can not write all. You must wait till you see me. This much, however, I will say, that you closed your 4th letter to me in a singular manner; really it was done after the manner of the Gentiles: Says Sally “I remain yours till death.” But since you have seen my blessing I think you will conclude “if your life and years are as precious in the sight of God as mine,” thus you will be mine in this world and in the world to come; and so long as you can remain on earth as you desire, I think you may as well use the word “forever,” as “till death.” In this world we have to labor, we have to marry; we have to raise up seed; honor God, &c, but in the world to come, we praise God and the Lamb forever, and ever, and we neither marry, nor are given in marriage—do you now begin to understand: This— is the reason why I have called you at the commencement of this letter, my only one, because I have no right to any other woman in this world nor in the world to come, according to the law of the celestial kingdom. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; And what shall I say of him or her who lives till the Lord comes, and is caught up into the cloud to meet him? O Sally, Sally, be wise I beseech you, for you know not how great things must come to pass after much tribulation! I hope and pray that you give heed to what I write, and I wish you would let me know that you do and mean to: Now what I say unto you, I say unto all: women, or wives must obey their husbands in all things and then they are clear; the husband is responsible, and he being the head, as Christ is the head of the church, must do as much for his wife as Christ did for the church; lay down his life for her, if necessary. This will show that he loves her. If you read the 11th chapter of 1st Corinthians, you may find some good instruction: In old times honest women veiled their faces in public; especially as is mentioned in the 10th verse of this chapter “because of the angels” they probably formed veils then of their hair. I think when I return that my women will generally vail their faces in public and give no one a chance to gaze upon what is not his. This modest way will not lead to temptation, and may be one means of promoting virtue. (W.W.Phelps to Sally Phelps, September 16, 1835, online here, accessed June 21, 2019).

Phelps is claiming that all of the things like marriage and raising up seed, etc. must be done on earth and that even though husbands and wives will be together forever in the Lord, they won't be doing any of those things but simply singing the praises of "God and the Lamb" with the rest of all the redeemed of the Lamb. He also clarifies that heaven would only have monogamous relationships. What Phelps is describing here, is nothing like what Smith taught in Nauvoo, for he claims that marriage in heaven is only monogamous couples being "one" in the Lord together and also one with everyone else that is there. How that was to really work was never explained by anyone. 

FAIRMORMON agrees with Van Wagoner that Joseph knew about and did not oppose the inclusion of the Article on Marriage in the 1935 Doctrine and Covenants:

This statement was not a revelation given to Joseph Smith—it was written by Oliver Cowdery and introduced to a conference of the priesthood at Kirtland on 17 August 1835. Cowdery also wrote a statement of belief on government that has been retained in our current edition of the D&C as section 134. Both were sustained at the conference and included in the 1835 D&C, which was already at the press and ready to be published. Joseph Smith was preaching in Michigan at the time Oliver and W.W. Phelps introduced these two articles to the conference; it is not known if he approved of their addition to the D&C at the time, although he did retain them in the 1844 Nauvoo edition, which argues that he was not opposed to them. (Phelps read the article on marriage, while Cowdery read the one on government.)

Some have suggested that the manner in which the conference was called suggests that Joseph was not the instigator of it, since it seems to have been done quite quickly, with relatively few high church leaders in attendance:

The General Assembly, which may have been announced on only twenty-four hours' notice, was held Monday, August 17[, 1835]. Its spur-of-the-moment nature is demonstrated by observing that a puzzling majority of Church leaders were absent. Missing from the meeting were all of the Twelve Apostles, eight of the twelve Kirtland High Council members nine of the twelve Missouri High Council members, three of the seven Presidents of the Quorum of Seventy, Presiding Bishop Partridge, and...two of the three members of the First Presidency.

However, there is also some evidence that an article on marriage was already anticipated, and cited four times in the new D&C's index, which was prepared under Joseph's direction and probably available prior to his departure. Thus, "if a disagreement existed, it was resolved before the Prophet left for Pontiac. (FAIRMORMON, op. cited.)

It is obvious that Smith did approve the Marriage Article, though FAIRMORMON won’t come right out and admit it. This throws serious doubt on the apologist argument that Fanny Alger was one of Smith’s spiritual wives or that he was teaching anything like it in 1835 or earlier. If Smith did marry Alger, it was done by breaking the laws of the land and would have been considered bigamy. But there is no contemporary evidence for any kind of marriage between Smith and Alger; but there is evidence that it was an adulterous affair.

Pt. III is coming soon....
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door;
Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors.
One focal point in a random world can change your direction:
One step where events converge may alter your perception.
_grindael
_Emeritus
Posts: 6791
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:15 am

Re: Eternal Marriage in Kirtland? (Praise God & the Lamb!)

Post by _grindael »

Another interesting tidbit we discovered...


In the fall of 1841 Smith gave this in a discourse...

Br Joseph then deliverd unto us an edifying address showing us what temperance faith, virtue, charity & truth was. He also said if we did not accuse one another God would not accuse us & if we had no accuser we should enter heaven. He would take us there as his backload. If we would not accuse him he would not accuse us & if we would throw a cloak of charity over his sins he would over ours. For charity coverd a multitude of Sins & what many people called sin was not sin & he did many things to break down superstition & he would break it down. He spoke of THE CURSE OF HAM FOR LAUGHING AT NOAH while in his wine BUT DOING NO HARM.


Now, we know that these comments were used by Walmart. Smith & Bennett to justify sleeping with other men's wives, but what about this Noah thing? What did Ham do? He saw Noah naked, yet Canaan was cursed, Ham's son. Well here are a few scriptures that we are sure Smith must have been aware of:

"The nakedness of your father's wife you shall not uncover; it is your father's nakedness"... -LEVITICUS 18: 8...
"And a man who lies with his father's wife, who has uncovered the nakedness of his father"... -LEVITICUS 20: 11...
"Cursed is he who lies with his father's wife, because he uncovers his father's skirt!"... -DEUTERONOMY 27: 20

What else did Ham do?

…”And in their going out, Ham stole those garments [the garments of Adam] from Noah his father, and he took them and hid them from his brothers. And when Ham begat his first born Cush, he gave him the garments in secret, and they were with Cush many days”... -BOOK OF JASHER 7: 27-28

The Book of Jasher was published by Mordecai Noah in 1840 and Smith had a copy of it (and I think it was motivation to get out the Book of Abraham and where he got the idea of garments from). And Nimrod was given those garments in the BO Jasher, and we have the Book of Ether claiming that those associated with CAIN (and Nimrod) coming over with them to America and then Smith claims that on the Kinderhook Plates we have the history of a descendant of HAM, a king... (but I digress)

Genesis 9:

24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Why were the Canaanites cursed? He was the child of the union of Ham and one of Noah's wives, perhaps Naamah, and so that nation was cursed by God. An interesting observation about why Smith mentioned Noah and Ham in that discourse...
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door;
Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors.
One focal point in a random world can change your direction:
One step where events converge may alter your perception.
_grindael
_Emeritus
Posts: 6791
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:15 am

Re: Eternal Marriage in Kirtland? (Praise God & the Lamb!)

Post by _grindael »

grindael wrote:Another interesting tidbit we discovered...


In the fall of 1841 Smith gave this in a discourse...

Br Joseph then deliverd unto us an edifying address showing us what temperance faith, virtue, charity & truth was. He also said if we did not accuse one another God would not accuse us & if we had no accuser we should enter heaven. He would take us there as his backload. If we would not accuse him he would not accuse us & if we would throw a cloak of charity over his sins he would over ours. For charity coverd a multitude of Sins & what many people called sin was not sin & he did many things to break down superstition & he would break it down. He spoke of THE CURSE OF HAM FOR LAUGHING AT NOAH while in his wine BUT DOING NO HARM.


Now, we know that these comments were used by Walmart. Smith & Bennett to justify sleeping with other men's wives, but what about this Noah thing? What did Ham do? He saw Noah naked, yet Canaan was cursed, Ham's son. Well here are a few scriptures that we are sure Smith must have been aware of:

"The nakedness of your father's wife you shall not uncover; it is your father's nakedness"... -LEVITICUS 18: 8...
"And a man who lies with his father's wife, who has uncovered the nakedness of his father"... -LEVITICUS 20: 11...
"Cursed is he who lies with his father's wife, because he uncovers his father's skirt!"... -DEUTERONOMY 27: 20

What else did Ham do?

…”And in their going out, Ham stole those garments [the garments of Adam] from Noah his father, and he took them and hid them from his brothers. And when Ham begat his first born Cush, he gave him the garments in secret, and they were with Cush many days”... -BOOK OF JASHER 7: 27-28

The Book of Jasher was published by Mordecai Noah in 1840 and Smith had a copy of it (and I think it was motivation to get out the Book of Abraham and where he got the idea of garments from). And Nimrod was given those garments in the BO Jasher, and we have the Book of Ether claiming that those associated with CAIN (and Nimrod) coming over with them to America and then Smith claims that on the Kinderhook Plates we have the history of a descendant of HAM, a king... (but I digress)

Genesis 9:

24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Why were the Canaanites cursed? He was the child of the union of Ham and one of Noah's wives, perhaps Naamah, and so that nation was cursed by God. An interesting observation about why Smith mentioned Noah and Ham in that discourse...
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door;
Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors.
One focal point in a random world can change your direction:
One step where events converge may alter your perception.
_moksha
_Emeritus
Posts: 22508
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:42 pm

Re: Eternal Marriage in Kirtland? (Praise God & the Lamb!)

Post by _moksha »

grindael wrote:If Smith did marry Alger, it was done by breaking the laws of the land and would have been considered bigamy. But there is no contemporary evidence for any kind of marriage between Smith and Alger; but there is evidence that it was an adulterous affair.

On the other hand, the shape of a bale of hay and an LDS sealing altar are somewhat similar, and the religious admonition to "feed my sheep" could benefit from a bale of hay. Since this ceremony in the barn took place during daylight hours, it could be observed that Joseph and Fanny were "making hay while the sun shined".

This apologetic stuff can be rather fun.
Cry Heaven and let loose the Penguins of Peace
Post Reply