Interestingly the Church confirms in thie introduction to the relevant section of the Institute Student Manual, that Joseph Smith kept polygamy a secret for his entire life.
The revelation was not made public until Elder Orson Pratt, under the direction of President Brigham Young, announced it at a Church conference on 29 August 1852. The revelation was placed in the Doctrine and Covenants in 1876.
Why would the Prophet keep secret something that was essential to the Members exaltation?
“We look to not only the spiritual but also the temporal, and we believe that a person who is impoverished temporally cannot blossom spiritually.” Keith McMullin - Counsellor in Presiding Bishopric
"One, two, three...let's go shopping!" Thomas S Monson - Prophet, Seer, Revelator
Drifting wrote:Interestingly the Church confirms in thie introduction to the relevant section of the Institute Student Manual, that Joseph Smith kept polygamy a secret for his entire life.
The revelation was not made public until Elder Orson Pratt, under the direction of President Brigham Young, announced it at a Church conference on 29 August 1852. The revelation was placed in the Doctrine and Covenants in 1876.
Why would the Prophet keep secret something that was essential to the Members exaltation?
1. Because it IS NOT "essential" to a Members exaltation. Only those who are under the command, which is entirely voluntary by the way, not forced like Cults do.
2. Plural Marriage i.e. "Sealings" were kept private. Polygamy had not yet started. In fact, the manual even makes that distinction. Further, why is anything kept private for a time until it is finally revealed? To train and prepare people. Nothing sinister can be claimed here, since it was always SUPPOSED to go public when the time was right.
Joseph also didn't lie when he said he and the Church wasn't practicing Polygamy. They were practicing marriage "sealings" ONLY, at the time he said those words. Sealing Ordinances are not Polygamy, whether of the marriage type or otherwise.
"Socialism is Rape and Capitalism is consensual sex" - Ben Shapiro
ldsfaqs wrote:1. Because it IS NOT "essential" to a Members exaltation. Only those who are under the command, which is entirely voluntary by the way, not forced like Cults do.
2. Plural Marriage i.e. "Sealings" were kept private. Polygamy had not yet started. In fact, the manual even makes that distinction. Further, why is anything kept private for a time until it is finally revealed? To train and prepare people. Nothing sinister can be claimed here, since it was always SUPPOSED to go public when the time was right.
Joseph also didn't lie when he said he and the Church wasn't practicing Polygamy. They were practicing marriage "sealings" ONLY, at the time he said those words. Sealing Ordinances are not Polygamy, whether of the marriage type or otherwise.
I don't remember God saying "Thou shalt dissemble." Why do you think it's OK to lie and distort to defend "the truth"?
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS
"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado
ldsfaqs wrote: 1. Because it IS NOT "essential" to a Members exaltation. Only those who are under the command, which is entirely voluntary by the way, not forced like Cults do.
2. Plural Marriage i.e. "Sealings" were kept private. Polygamy had not yet started. In fact, the manual even makes that distinction. Further, why is anything kept private for a time until it is finally revealed? To train and prepare people. Nothing sinister can be claimed here, since it was always SUPPOSED to go public when the time was right.
Joseph also didn't lie when he said he and the Church wasn't practicing Polygamy. They were practicing marriage "sealings" ONLY, at the time he said those words. Sealing Ordinances are not Polygamy, whether of the marriage type or otherwise.
Rather than respond to this post (because what's the point, really?) might I instead just suggest that your defence of the Church and its practices and history would be more effective if you just put your fingers in your ears and hum "Follow the Prophet" until we all go away.
“We look to not only the spiritual but also the temporal, and we believe that a person who is impoverished temporally cannot blossom spiritually.” Keith McMullin - Counsellor in Presiding Bishopric
"One, two, three...let's go shopping!" Thomas S Monson - Prophet, Seer, Revelator
Drifting wrote:Rather than respond to this post (because what's the point, really?) might I instead just suggest that your defence of the Church and its practices and history would be more effective if you just put your fingers in your ears and hum "Follow the Prophet" until we all go away.
People who are willing to lie (ldsfaqs and Joseph Smith for example) to defend their beliefs cannot be reasoned with. It's sad to see how easily people give up their integrity for an ideology.
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS
"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado
ldsfaqs wrote:1. Because it IS NOT "essential" to a Members exaltation. Only those who are under the command, which is entirely voluntary by the way, not forced like Cults do.
How can a "command" be voluntary? In any case, this doesn't sound very voluntary to me:
Zina [Huntington Jacobs] wrote that within months of her marriage to Jacobs, Smith sent word to her that he had "put it off till an angel with a drawn sword stood by me and told me if I did not establish that principle upon the earth I would lose my position and my life."
Likewise this also doesn't sound like someone who will take "no" for an answer:
Brigham Young spoke in this wise, in the hearing of hundreds: He said it was time for men who were walking in other men's shoes to step out of them. "Brother Jacobs," he says, "the woman you claim for a wife does not belong to you. She is the spiritual wife of brother Joseph, sealed up to him. I am his proxy, and she, in this behalf, with her children, are my property. You can go where you please, and get another, but be sure to get one of your own kindred spirit."
