BC wrote:Take 2 Samuel 12:7-11 for example. This is where the prophet Nathan, in chastising David for his sin with Bath-Sheeba and the subsequent murder of her husband (by David's command), delivers a message from the Lord stating that the Lord, who had given David his current set wives, would have given David more wives he he had but asked instead of just taking whom he pleased and without authorization.
You have used this example before, and this is why I have problems with it.
David was a king. Kings during that era in history had many wives. It was part of the culture. Since the Lord allowed David to become king, the wives were, during that era, "part of the package". Women were identified through the social standing of their husbands. Murder was clearly against the law, and that is what Nathan was chastising David about.
I think that it is quite a leap from this scripture to conclude that God authorized plural marriage as the preferred norm.
It also bothers me that D&C 132 tells a completely different story about what happened with Abraham and Sarah. In the Old Testament, it is Sarah who offers Hagar, her handmaiden to Abraham, in order for the lineage to continue. In section 132, it states that God commanded Abraham to lie with Hagar. Very different accounts.