Question 3 – More Blessed With More Wives

Brian Hale’s question 3 is “Mormon Fundamentalists believe that the more wives they marry in mortality, the greater their eternal reward.  Is this a true doctrine?”

One might as well say “Mormons believe that having larger families brings them greater blessings.  Is this a true doctrine?”  If we say no, then we are saying God divides His blessings amongst the children of a family (in a family of 5 they would have a 5th of a blessing each), if we say yes, we are saying that God multiples his blessings among the children in a family (in a family of 5 there are 5 children blessed).

It must be remembered though that a man may have a ten wives and prove unworthy of them all for treating them badly, whilst another man with two wives may find a multitude of women wanting to join his family because he lived a life of integrity.  Having said this if I were a wife I would hope my husband would consider me an additional blessing to his family in this life.

The idea a faithful man with more wives could be the recipient of greater blessings comes from Joseph Smith (as we will see from the article below), and is not just a modern Mormon Fundamentalist teaching.

Differences & Similarities Between Fundamentalist Mormons and the LDS Church

A response to a recent LDS press release:

Despite differing in many respects now from its earlier teachings and practices, the LDS Church still has much in common with Mormon Fundamentalism (which is founded in early Mormonism).

Both groups share a belief in the same set of scriptures – the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price.

They revere many of the same prophets, including Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and John Taylor. They accept all of their teachings notwithstanding the LDS Church’s later denunciation of many of them. They both believe in the necessity of Priesthood authority.

A Worldwide Movement

* Fundamentalist Mormonism is a global movement. It has tens of thousands of adherents, including many in other countries.

Update

In order to get back to the original purpose of this website – I am going to concentrate on answer specific questions and issues brought up by Brian Hales in his latest book.  So I will be putting off responding to comments until I begin to make progress in this.

Most of Hales’ questions reflect the responses that are being made anyway, but posting a full article for each with documentation and references seems like it will be a more constructive way of covering the issues, rather than expecting people to keep up with brief discussions in past postings.

Once Hales’ book has been dealt with, I will take suggestions for areas that might not have been covered at all or adequately enough.

I am also considering a series of online debates (like this Mormon / Catholic one) and am interested in what others think the main topic should be.

The Last Prophecies of John Taylor – 6

Prophecy Six

President Cannon, made another important prophesy that has been fulfilled, when he said: “The day will come when men’s Priesthood and authority will be called into question, and you will find out that there will be hundreds who have no Priesthood, but believe they hold it, they holding only an office in the Church.”(1) His remarks it seems followed on from the prediction of President Taylor (which Brother Cannon would have heard firsthand, he also being at the meeting at which he spoke), “I would be surprised if ten percent of those who claim to hold the Melchizedek Priesthood will remain true and faithful to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, at that time of the seventh President, and there would be thousands that think they hold the Priesthood at that time, but would not have it properly conferred upon them.”(2)  It is interesting that he said that these things would happen in the time of the seventh President of the Church, who of course was Heber J. Grant.

What might cause the Priesthood to cease amongst so many men, or could change so drastically as to prevent it being passed on? Certainly the attitude of members against Celestial Plural Marriage qualifies as one of those areas in which many might lose God’s favor and even bring the authority of some who fought against it into question. As an editorial from the Church’s own newspaper warned, “The entire Church and all of its Priesthood, with the Presidency at the head of it might motion and vote against this principle until doomsday with just one effect, (namely) to vote themselves away from the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, from the possession of their Priesthood.”(3) As has been pointed out, such a vote did take place, and it was not without consequence.

The Last Prophecies of John Taylor – 5

Prophecy Five

This being the last dispensation the Lord has restored the Gospel, with all its features and functions, never to be taken away again from the earth. As we have seen, however, this does not mean that the Church is obliged to promote laws the majority of members don’t want to live or are unworthy of, or doctrines they don’t understand or accept. The responsibility to keep such beliefs and ordinances alive still remains though, and there must be a group with sufficient authority, and at least a few worthy enough to see to it that His work in such areas is still carried on. This is in line with precedent and in fulfillment of prophesy.

What of those who keep such commandments alive? Who make the personal sacrifice of living God’s laws in opposition to the world, what are the Saints to make of such men and women the Lord has called to that work? Sadly, the majority of them – no longer being familiar with the principles they uphold, nor being aware of the Lord’s approval of their actions – would be more likely to condemn those Mormons who maintain Mormonism as Joseph and Brigham taught and lived it. Even many of the modern Authorities, whose time is taken up with dealing with the problems amongst members throughout the world, are very often unaware that a higher Priesthood organization exists and operates, that was set up under the direction of a prophet and President of the Church. This has led to misunderstandings, even to persecution and excommunication. Just as Brother John Taylor foresaw: “Some of you will be handled and ostracized and cast out from the Church by your brethren because of your faithfulness and integrity to this principle, and some of you may have to surrender your lives because of the same, but woe, woe, unto those who shall bring these troubles upon you.”(1)

The Last Prophecies of John Taylor – 4

Prophecy Four

President Taylor foresaw that the Church would undergo a mighty change – not just of emphasis – but of altering principles, ordinances, and teachings in order for the Church’s beliefs and practices to be less offensive to the world. There was a time when friendship with the world was looked upon as undesirable(1), for as James taught, “friendship of the world is enmity with God”(2). Whereas when Brother Heber J. Grant took the reins of Church leadership he seemed to see securing a good relationship with the world as a lofty goal to be sought after. Said he, “My greatest happiness I find in the goodwill and friendship that has developed among all classes of people at home and abroad toward the LDS church during my lifetime. In place of early-day persecution and bitterness we now enjoy high regard and happy associations with all denominations.”(3) He was undoubtedly eager to avoid the persecution which plagued the Church in the previous century, just as the general membership was all too eager to jettison those elements which left them too peculiar to have entered the American mainstream. The cost of such a move was a great one, however, as John Taylor prophesied, “in the time of the seventh President of this Church, the Church would go into bondage both temporally and spiritually.”(4)

Likewise Heber C. Kimball related to Amanda H. Wilcox in May 1868 that, “A spirit of speculation and extravagance will take possession of the Saints, and the result will be financial bondage.” Orson Pratt similarly warned that, “This people, at some future time – may be possible be in bondage greater than they are at the present time.”(5)

The Last Prophecies of John Taylor – 3

Prophecy Three

The Lord made provision though that his sacred law (of plural marriage) would continue amongst those worthy to live it, that their children would be born in that holy covenant of Celestial (plural) Marriage, and that the authority would remain upon the earth until the return of Christ. He, Himself, said “I have not revoked this law, nor will I!”(1), and that the principle was to continue, is a truth all of the prophets from Brigham Young to Joseph F. Smith prophesied of:

“For so God help us, we will never give up that holy law that noble prophets laid down their lives to maintain.” Brigham Young(2)

“It is an eternal part of our religion, and we will never relinquish it – We cannot withdraw or renounce it – He has promised to maintain it.” John Taylor(3)

“We wont quit practicing Plural Marriage until Christ shall come.” Wilford Woodruff(4)

“Though I go to prison, God will not change His law of Celestial Marriage.” Lorenzo Snow(5)

“There are, however, enough witnesses to these principles to establish them upon the earth in such a manner that they never can be forgotten or stamped out. For they will live;…they are bound to prevail, because they are true principles.” Joseph F. Smith(6)

John Taylor began both the means through which those prophecies would be fulfilled, and also made a further prophesy at that momentous time, as Lorin Woolley, a witness relates, “He then set apart and placed us under covenant that while we lived we would see to it that no year passed by without children being born in the principle of Plural Marriage. We were given authority to ordain others if necessary to carry this work on, they in turn to be given authority to ordain others when necessary, under the direction of the worthy senior (by ordination), so that there should be no cessation in the work.”(7)

The Last Prophecies of John Taylor – 2

Prophecy Two

Such choices (as giving up plural marriage) are not without consequence, however, and where a law of God is rejected by the majority of Church members, they cannot hope to receive the blessings attached to living such a law, and they allow the adversary to greater influence over their lives. One aspect of the law of Plural Marriage was that it minimized the temptation to commit adultery, offered to every woman the chance to marry, to have a greater degree of freedom to women (who shared responsibilities with their ‘sister-wives’), and therefore eliminated many of the causes of children being born out of wedlock.

The outcome of relinquishing such a responsibility for a more worldly system of marriage has led to more worldly problems being prevalent amongst the Saints. This outcome was anticipated by President Taylor who warned, “the day will come when a document similar to that (manifesto) then under consideration would be adopted by the Church, following which “apostasy and whoredom would be rampant in the Church.”(1) Another Church President, almost a hundred years later would state, in fulfillment of President Taylor’s words, “the sin of adultery is running rampant through the Church.”(2)

Sadly such problems began almost immediately after the turn of the century, as a son of President Heber C. Kimball related, “I remember very accurately what my father told this people in the old Bowery. Said he, ‘You men and you women that lift up your voices against that holy principle (plural marriage) that has been introduced among this people, the time will come when your daughters will run these streets as common harlots, and you can’t help yourselves.’ I think some have been guilty of lifting up their voices, and if there is any one thing that some people are glad and happy it is done away with, it is that principle. I remember hearing another statement my father made: ‘When you stand on the street corners of this great city and you cannot tell a Mormon from a Gentile, then look out for trouble.’ Well, it has come. The trouble has not come to us in the way of tornadoes, or cyclones; but it has come to us and to our sons and daughters in the way of temptations.”(3) Elder Matthias F. Cowley, also sadly admitted, “I want to say that that prediction, sorrowful though it may seem, has had its fulfillment.”(4)

That such an attitude towards the principle as a great number of Saints had at the time constitutes their apostasy from the Gospel, is clear from the observation of President Heber C, Kimball, who lamented, “Many of this people have broken their covenants by finding fault with the Plurality of Wives and trying to sink it out of existence.”(5) In failing to defend their rights or uphold the right of the faithful who lived a higher law, such members were not only pleasing the government, but also the more malevolent power which inspired the persecution against the elect of God. In answer to the question of President Penrose of, “What would be necessary to bring about the result nearest the hearts of the opponents of ‘Mormonism’, more properly termed the Gospel of the Son of God? Simply to renounce, abrogate or apostatize from the new and everlasting covenant of marriage in its fullness.”(6)

Additional Quotes -

“President Kimball once prophesied to this people, and especially to the mothers, that if they spoke disrespectfully of a certain principle of the Gospel and fought against it, the day would come when their daughters would turn aside and lose their virtue, and become objects of immorality upon the streets of Salt Lake City.  I want to say that that prediction, sorrowful though it may seem, has had its fulfillment.”  (Matthias F. Cowley, Deseret News, 9 Aug. 1902)

The third part of this series will be posted tomorrow

The Last Prophecies of John Taylor

Lorin Woolley’s account of John Taylor’s 1886 prophecies have come under suspicion, because – it is argued – they were written after the events came to pass.  However, as this series of articles will show, similar prophecies predate Woolley’s account, and the prophecies themselves – which conflict with modern LDS Church views – have been fulfilled very literally, thus again substantiating Woolley’s account.

“I have saved my servant John Taylor for a wise purpose in me,”(1) revealed the Lord to Wilford Woodruff in 1880. Yet most of that decade the Church President spent his days in hiding from the government that was imprisoning those Latter-day Saints who lived the principle of Celestial Plural Marriage, and his life during that time remains a mystery to most Church members, who are unaware of the great purpose he was to fulfil. During his stay in the home of John W. Woolley in Centreville, Utah, he was visited by the resurrected Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith, who instructed him how to ensure that the Priesthood of God and its highest ordinances continued, no matter what persecution may come and notwithstanding the direction others Latter-day Saints might take. He called together his most faithful associates and laid this great responsibility upon them, with all the authority they would require to carry out God’s work. After which, he foretold the future of those who had received this commission and those who would yet fulfill it, as well as the Church and the course it would take.(2)

Prophecy One

The Saints had been warned repeatedly that their enemies wanted them to give up the law of Patriarchal Marriage, as President Charles Penrose told them, “What would be necessary to bring about the result nearest the hearts of the opponents of ‘Mormonism’…? Simply to renounce, abrogate or apostatize from the new and everlasting covenant of marriage in its fullness.”(3) However, the Gentile world was but a puppet for a more malevolent power: Satan himself, who personally was on a campaign to have the Church members relinquish their “most holy principle”(4). As Brigham foresaw, “the powers of hell will do their utmost to get this people to give up that holy law which God designs to maintain.”(5)

However, President Taylor’s actions ensured that there would always be a group of righteous Latter-day Saints maintaining this principle, so that the Devil would be ultimately thwarted in his plans. Yet, he also foresaw that the majority of Saints would seek an easier road, even if it meant a lesser glory, as he prophesied, “one half of this people will apostatize over the principle for which we are now in hiding, yea, and possibly one half of the other half.”(6) Sadly, this regrettable outcome was the only prophesy he would see fulfilled prior to his death.

Holding the Keys Requires a Continuation of Laws

From “Who Holds The Keys” -

The Prophet Joseph clearly taught the Saints that all the ordinances of the Gospel were “instituted in heaven before the foundation of this world in the Priesthood for the salvation of man,” that they were “not to be altered or changed,” and that “all must be saved upon the same principles.” He added that they “must be kept in the very way God has appointed; otherwise their Priesthood will prove a cursing instead of a blessing.”⁵

Even Joseph Smith’s Priesthood authority was dependent upon him receiving all of the ordinances in the manner that God restored them, as we can see from the Lord’s promise to him that “the keys of the mysteries of the kingdom shall not be taken from” him “while he liveth, inasmuch as he obeyeth mine ordinances.”⁶

If this was a condition upon which Joseph’s authority rested then it would also be a test by which we can judge anyone who claims to be his successor and hold the keys he did. Have they received all the ordinances, and kept them “in the very way God has appointed,” or are there ordinances they have not received or changes they have tried to make to those they have? Could any man ever have the right to perform an ordinances he had not received? Brigham Young posed this same question to the Saints of his day:

“Can any man or set of men officiate in dispensing the laws and administering the ordinances of the Kingdom of God or of the kingdoms and governments of the world legally, without first obeying those laws and submitting to those ordinances themselves? … do not forget that no man has authority to officiate in the ordinances of heavenly or earthly governments only so far as he has obeyed them himself.”⁷

That keeping alive such ordinances is necessary to hold and exercise the keys of the Priesthood is something Joseph Smith explained very plainly in his day:

“The spirit, power, and calling of Elijah is, that ye have power to hold the key of the revelation, ordinances, oracles, powers and endowments of the fullness of the Melchizedek Priesthood and of the kingdom of God on the earth; and to receive, obtain, and perform all the ordinances belonging to the kingdom of God”⁸

He was also by the Lord that if he did not introduce a principle he would lose any authority he already had:

“An angel of God … told him that, unless he moved forward and establish plural marriage, his Priesthood would be taken from him.”⁹

Likewise Heber C. Kimball was told by the Prophet that if he did not take another wife “he would lose his Apostleship.”¹⁰ This was not just a condition placed upon Brothers Joseph and Heber, but upon all the Apostles:

“When this commandment was given, it was so far religious, and so far binding upon the Elders of this Church, that it was told them if they were not prepared to enter into it, and to stem the torrent of opposition that would come in consequence of it, the keys of the kingdom would be taken from them and given to others.”¹¹

The necessity of living this high and holy law to be able to preside over the Priesthood was repeated again by the Lord to his servant John Taylor in 1882, in which He said:

“Thus saith the Lord to the Twelve, and to the Priesthood and people of my Church: … You may appoint Seymour B. Young to fill up the vacancy in the presiding quorum of Seventies, if he will conform to My law: For it is not meet that men who will not abide My law shall preside over My Priesthood; … For my Priesthood, whom I have called and whom I have sustained and honored, shall honor one and obey my laws, and the laws of my Holy Priesthood, or they shall not be considered worthy to hold my Priesthood, saith the Lord.”¹²

Some might ask, as undoubtedly some of the Saints did during President Taylor’s tenure, “apart from the exalting purpose of this divine law, why was it so essential to the issue of Priesthood authority?” To this he plainly answered that “a man obeying a lesser law is not qualified to preside over those who keep a higher law.”¹³

… When assessing the claims of those who would call themselves Joseph Smith’s successor as head of the Priesthood and holder of its keys, we have a right and responsibility to ask ourselves if they meet the criteria given in the scriptures and teachings of the prophets. Can they show:

• A continuation of administering all the same ordinances unchanged
• A continuation of maintaining the same laws, and living them
• A continuation of living and keeping alive Celestial Plural Marriage

5Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 168-9, see Heb 7:12

6Doctrine and Covenants 64:5

7Manuscript Addresses of Brigham Young, October 8th, 1854

8History of the Church 6:251

9Eliza R. Snow, Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow, p. 69-70

10Life of Heber C. Kimball, Orson F. Whitney, p. 336 (1888 edition)

11John Taylor, 7 June 1866, Journal of Discourses 11:221-222

12Revelation to John Taylor, 13 October 1882, Unpublished Revelations 83:4-5,15

13John Taylor, Life of Wilford Woodruff, Matthias F. Cowley, p. 542