Joseph Smith was giving a "revalation" to practice polygamy in 1843. In 1844 was charged with adultery and under oath said the following:
"What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can ony find one." -History of the Church vol. 6, p 411.
Why is he lying. Only a false prophet would like a deny what God command.
Published in "Times and Seasons" on Thursday, Feb 01, 1844 this was written and signed by Jospeh Smith:
"As we have lately been credibly informed, that an Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by the name of Hirum Brown, has been preaching polygamy, and other false and corrupt doctrines, in the county of Lapeer, state of Michigan.
This is to notify him and the church in general, that he as been cut off from the church, for his iniquity; and he is further notified to appear at the Spiecal Conference on the 6th of April next, to make answer to these charges."
2007-07-14 16:52:31 · 3 answers · asked by shadowboxer78 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Pardon my typos.
2007-07-14 18:39:44 · update #1
He denied it publicly, but preached it privately. What's worse is that he couldn't even tell his own wife until 1843 that he had been practicing it since 1831. All that time, she had just thought that the Prophet had cheated on her a few times. She just caught him in the act. It took him 10 years to figure out a good excuse.
When he finally DID tell her, it wasn't him that did it. He actually wrote down the revelation really quickly, gave it to Hyrum, and had her run across the street to his house where Emma was, read it off to her, and run back to Joseph (who was hiding for fear of a fit from his wife) what her response was.
So... to all you wives out there, how would you feel if your husband didn't tell you about his polygamy for 10 years?
2007-07-16 09:44:46 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
After his church was getting established, Smith was getting a reputation of "dipping his wick" into more than a few 'groupies', and needed a ruse to make it sound god-like.
Relying on his nearly memorized KJV bible, he justified it, and slowly created a revelation around it.
Plus, he was a sort of religious nutcase anyway.
2007-07-15 07:47:27 · answer #2 · answered by Dances with Poultry 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
He lied because he was under the spotlight and wanted to save his own ***, like he did many times.
2007-07-14 18:47:33 · answer #3 · answered by Liesel 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋