🕊️ Polygamy, the Book of Mormon… and the Question That Won’t Go Away
🕊️ Polygamy, the Book of Mormon… and the Question That Won’t Go Away
There are good men I love—men who have studied deeply—who feel there is overwhelming historical evidence that Joseph Smith practiced polygamy.
I understand that position.
I really do.
Some of them have spent years in original documents, journals, and the Joseph Smith Papers Project.
And I respect that work.
But for me…
this question didn’t stay in the realm of history.
It became something deeper.
📖 When History Meets Scripture
At some point, I had to ask a different question:
👉 Does this line up with the Book of Mormon?
Because the Lord speaks very plainly there.
In Book of Mormon, Jacob chapter 2, the command is direct:
- One wife
- No concubines
- No justifying it by tradition or kings
And then comes the warning:
“For they seek to excuse themselves… because of the things which were written concerning David and Solomon.”
That stopped me in my tracks.
Because that sounds exactly like the arguments we still hear today.
🔍 A Different Kind of Tension
So now we have a tension:
- Historical records that seem to point one direction
- Scripture that speaks very clearly another direction
And that creates a real question:
👉 Which one defines truth?
For me, I couldn’t ignore that tension.
🕊️ The Character of Christ
Then it became even more personal.
I had to ask:
👉 Does this reflect the character of Jesus Christ?
The Christ I’ve come to know:
- Lifts women
- Protects families
- Teaches purity of heart
- Invites unity—not division in marriage
So I had to sit with that.
Not in anger.
Not in accusation.
But in quiet prayer.
🌿 Where I’ve Landed (For Now)
I’m not here to force a conclusion on anyone.
Good people see this differently.
But for me, I’ve come to trust:
👉 The plain teachings of the Book of Mormon
👉 The voice of the Savior as I’ve come to know Him
More than any later interpretation of history.
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🌎 A Witness Beyond One Record
Something else that has added to my reflection over time…
is that this same pattern isn’t just found in one place.
In records like the Nemenhah, the warning is even more direct—that practices like polygamy are not just discouraged, but can lead people away from the Lord when justified in His name.
That doesn’t prove anything on its own.
But it does echo something I’ve already seen clearly in the Book of Mormon:
👉 When men begin to justify what the Lord has forbidden…
it rarely leads to Zion.
For me, that consistency across different witnesses made me slow down and take this question more seriously.
🔥 What Matters Most
At the end of the day, I’ve learned something that matters even more than getting every historical detail right:
👉 Coming to Christ
👉 Hearing His voice
👉 Receiving that mighty change of heart
Because when that happens…
Everything else starts to come into alignment.
🔗 If You Want to Go Deeper
I’ve written quite a bit on this topic—polygamy, early church history, and how it compares to the Book of Mormon.
If you want to explore it for yourself, you can go straight to those posts here:
👉 https://thetrueremnantblog.blogspot.com/search?q=polygamy
🕊️ Final Thought
This isn’t about proving someone wrong.
It’s about being willing to ask:
👉 “Lord… what is true?”
And then being humble enough to follow wherever He leads.
🔗 Start here:
👉 https://thetrueremnantblog.blogspot.com
(Then use the 🔍 magnifying glass at the top to search any topic.)
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