LDS Members/Mormons can you explain this?

Question

When I received my missionary lessons, I would told that the LDS faith is all about eternal families, a man and woman get sealed together for time and all eternity and their whole family is together forever. So what's up with the scripture in D&C about polygamy? I asked my branch president about it and he said that God "commanded us to do it" and that if "done righteously" it's a blessing not a sin. I don't agree with that at all. I don't think god EVER intended for people to be polygamous. When I joined the Church, I thought polygamy was just a stereotype from past Mormon practices, I didn't know they still believed in and practiced it today. This is just scary and an abomination.

Answer 1

We don't practice blood or flesh sacrifices either. Those sacrifices were part of the law of Moses and they were needed to teach the people the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Polygamy also has its place in the gospel, although, not in our current society. There are those who feel that polygamy could be a blessing. As it says in D&C 132, when done correctly, the first wife must approve the second, the first and second must approve the third, etc. In addition, the husband must show that he can support more than one family.



I know this is a struggle for you, you've posted a number of questions about your post-baptism reservations. My advice is to get on your knees and pray about it. Ask God specifically what is true. Write a list of every teaching that you're struggling with if you have to. Make sure you're really ready for the answer, because He won't tell you anything unless you're ready for it, willing to accept and act on what He has to say.

Answer 2

I think I already posted a similar answer to a similar question you had. When it comes to polygamy, it is best to think of it as a TEMPORARY practice, and the word "eternal" does not mean it necessarily lasts forever, but that God commanded it under certain conditions in certain eras. Daisykristina already recommended reading Jacob 2. I have to say that I have two uncles and one male cousin who all died before age 18 and were not married, as well as three or four great-uncles who died in wars and later in life without being married, and I firmly believe that there is someone reserved for each of them, but it may not be worked out until after the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the Resurrection, and the time of the Millennium. It is my opinion that those groups of individuals who are trying to keep living polygamy in southern Utah, Arizona, and other places do not have any sort of divine sanction, but it is more of something they came up with on their own. Official members of the Church follow the principle of having a living prophet, with ongoing revelation, for a reason, because times and seasons change. It's important to have faith in the justice and mercy of God, that every child of God has equal rights and equal opportunities for their blessings, so there is someone for everyone if we live worthy of those blessings. It's a good idea to stop focusing so hard on doctrine and dogma of the 19th century and instead look forward to what you can do to help prepare the world for the Second Coming. As far as your branch president calling polygamy a "blessing" - think of it this way, if it is a sum instead of an equation then you would see how physical and spiritual resources can be shared in a time of need. Hope that helps.

Answer 3

We do not believe in it and practice it today. We practiced it in our past because we were commanded by the Lord. Then we stopped it when he told us to stop. What D&C scripture are you referencing?
If God never intended for us to practice polygamy then he wouldn't have told us too. If you are having moral issues about this kind of stuff you need to sit down with your branch president and have a talk with him. And do some serious scripture reading and praying. Fasting would help too. If you really want to know if it was supposed to happen, God will let you know.


EDIT: I agree with free2bfearless. Polygamy was practiced in the Bible under orders from God, so it isn't as if we pracTICED something that has never happened before.

Answer 4

It is no longer practiced, but it is still an "eternal principal." As a LDS/Mormon, I was always taught that the ladies/girls that didn't marry in this life would become a 2nd or 3rd wife so that they could go to the Celestial Kingdom and still become a goddess. There are many theories as to why the LDS/Mormon church stopped practicing polygamy. One is that it was no longer needed so God did away with it. Another is that to get statehood for Utah, the LDS church could no longer practice polygamy. An interesting example of how polygamy still exists in the LDS/Mormon church is that a man can be sealed to more than one woman while it doesn't work the other way around for the woman. My friends parents were married in the temple, then got divorced. After awhile, they both met someone new, and decided to remarry. The temple "divorce" hadn't gone through one, only the "legal" part of it (sorry, can't think of a better term). Her dad was able to remarry in the temple while her mom could only get civilly remarried. So technically, in the eyes of the LDS church, her dad was married to both her mom and his new wife at the same time for awhile. I hope that makes sense. But seriously, if you think about it, you recall the missionaries telling you that of course the highest level of the Celestial Kingdom is the goal, in which you can't get into if you aren't married. How else would a girl be able to make it if it weren't for polygamy. Just some food for thought.

Answer 5

We don't practice it currently, but it's still believed. And, if done righteously, it is a blessing. It's not for everyone. But even those who didn't practice it, still believed it. There is no reason to think that it's evil in any way. Some people can make a monogamous marriage evil.

When the church did practice plural marriage, only about 5% or less of the men had more than one wife, and most of those had two or at the most, three, wives. Large families like Brigham Young and Heber Kimball were the exception. One of the requirements was that the man had to show that he could afford two families.

Answer 6

I'm a member of the LDS church. When I was first investigasting I asked this same question. First, no members of the LDS church are allowed to practice polygamy. If they do they are excommunicated from the church. The answer I got when I asked this question was that because we believe that familes are together forever in heaven, if a spouse dies and the survivor remarries, then when the family is reunited in heaven the longer living spouse will in affect have a plural marriage there. Some people who are not mormans but share some of the same doctrines are often confused with the true LDS church, some of them practice polygamy, giving many LDS members bad misrepresentations.

Answer 7

What are you talking about?
Mormons don't practise polygamy anymore. FUNDAMENTAL mormons do (FLDS).
Your branch president said "God commanded us to do it"
Do you want to know why?
Because of the persecution back then there were not enough mormon men left (they were murdered). For women it was really hard to live alone back then and especially for mormon women because the persecution was still going on.
So to help out those widows it was decided that polygamy should be ok for a while.
But it's definitely not anymore. In the main LDS church you will get excommunicated for practising polygamy.

Answer 8

Polygamy is not still practiced in the Church. However, it is still believed in. If you read D&C 132, you will read God's answer to Joseph Smith's question about Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon, etc --- all men who had multiple wives.

Since God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, we must ask: Were they righteous, or not? That section of the D&C affirms that they were righteous and that in some circumstances God commands His people to practice plural marriage.

Answer 9

They don't practice polygamy today.

Mormons believe that God is at the head and that he leads the church through revelation.

If God told you to wear an orange hat, would you? If he told you to be a polygamist, would you?

Answer 10

Mormons do practise it when they get divorced because they get a civil divorce but not a temple divorce, so they are still married for all time to their first husband and then their second husband as well, it will be quite confusing in eternity, whose wife, she really belongs to.
As a christian, I do not believe these marriages fo eternity, will actually be binding after this life, so it doesn't bother me if they try to stay married to a husband they divorced ont he earth and marry another.
They claim that King David and Solomon had many wives, but both were corrupt, but great men, both had a problem with lust to.