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
1. Woolley affidavit, see fn. 2.
2. Harold B. Lee, Ensign 4:7:101.
3. Conference Report, Oct. 1901, p. 32.
4. Deseret News, August 9, 1902.
5. Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses 4:108.
6. Charles W. Penrose, Deseret Evening News, April 23rd, 1885.
The Last Prophecies of John Taylor – 2
Filed under: Thoughts & Commentary |
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 -
The third part of this series will be posted tomorrow
1. Woolley affidavit, see fn. 2.
2. Harold B. Lee, Ensign 4:7:101.
3. Conference Report, Oct. 1901, p. 32.
4. Deseret News, August 9, 1902.
5. Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses 4:108.
6. Charles W. Penrose, Deseret Evening News, April 23rd, 1885.