Polygamy and Polyandry

A Difficult but Necessary Conversation

Few topics in Mormon history are as sensitive—or as significant—as plural marriage. For over a century, the LDS church minimized Joseph Smith's involvement in polygamy, sometimes suggesting that Brigham Young introduced the practice. Today, the church has acknowledged that Smith married approximately 30-40 women, some already married to living husbands, and some as young as fourteen. This acknowledgment has shaken many faithful Latter-day Saints who were taught a sanitized version of their own history.

Why does this matter for gospel witness? Because the character of a prophet matters. If Joseph Smith claimed divine revelation to justify what appears to be serial adultery, manipulation, and deception of his own wife, this bears directly on his prophetic credentials. We must approach this topic with pastoral sensitivity—many Mormons are deeply troubled by this history—but also with honest acknowledgment of the facts.

The Revelation on Plural Marriage

Doctrine and Covenants 132

The primary scriptural basis for Mormon polygamy is Doctrine and Covenants 132, recorded on July 12, 1843. This revelation presents plural marriage not as a temporary accommodation but as an eternal principle—part of the "new and everlasting covenant" essential for exaltation in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom.

The revelation claims that God commanded Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and Solomon to practice polygamy and that these men were not condemned for their multiple wives (though David and Solomon were condemned for other matters). It then extends this principle to Joseph Smith and his followers, declaring that those who have the "law revealed unto them" and do not obey it will be damned.

Significantly, the revelation includes a direct threat to Emma Smith, Joseph's first wife, who had resisted her husband's polygamous activities:

Earlier Than Recorded

Although D&C 132 was recorded in 1843, the revelation was not new. Joseph Smith had been practicing plural marriage secretly for years before this date. His first plural wife, Fanny Alger, was likely sealed to him around 1833-1835—nearly a decade before the revelation was officially written down. When Oliver Cowdery discovered the relationship, he called it a "dirty, nasty, filthy affair," leading to his eventual estrangement from Smith.

This timeline raises an important question: Was the revelation the source of the practice, or was the practice later justified by a revelation? The evidence suggests that Smith was engaging in plural relationships before any recorded revelation commanded him to do so.

The Scope of Joseph Smith's Marriages

The Numbers

The LDS church's own Gospel Topics Essay on plural marriage acknowledges that Joseph Smith was sealed to approximately 30-40 women during his lifetime. These included:

Teenagers: Several of Smith's wives were teenagers. The youngest documented was Helen Mar Kimball, who was fourteen years old when sealed to Smith. Her father, Heber C. Kimball (later an apostle), arranged the marriage. Helen later wrote that she had been promised that the sealing would ensure the salvation of her entire family. The LDS church's own essay acknowledges that "the youngest was Helen Mar Kimball... who was sealed to Joseph several months before her 15th birthday."

Women already married: Perhaps the most troubling category is Smith's marriages to women who were already legally and ceremonially married to other living men. This practice is called polyandry—one woman having multiple husbands simultaneously.

Pairs of sisters and mothers with daughters: Smith was sealed to multiple pairs of biological sisters, as well as to at least one mother-daughter pair (Patty Bartlett Sessions and her daughter Sylvia Sessions Lyon).

The Polyandrous Marriages

At least eleven of Joseph Smith's plural wives were simultaneously married to other living husbands at the time of their sealing to Smith. These men included both faithful Latter-day Saints and non-members. Some husbands knew of and consented to the arrangement; others apparently did not.

Zina Huntington Jacobs provides a well-documented example. She married Henry Jacobs in March 1841 and was sealed to Joseph Smith in October 1841— seven months into her first marriage. She was pregnant with Henry's child at the time. After Smith's death, she became a plural wife of Brigham Young while still legally married to Henry Jacobs. Henry remained a faithful member of the church throughout, serving missions while Young took his wife.

The theological justification for polyandry remains obscure. D&C 132 explicitly condemns a woman for being with another man if she has been given to one husband. Yet Smith practiced the reverse—sealing women to himself who had already been given to other husbands.

Methods of Persuasion

Angelic Commandment and Drawn Swords

Joseph Smith told several women that an angel had appeared to him with a drawn sword, commanding him to practice plural marriage or be destroyed. This claim appears in multiple affidavits and journals from women who were approached by Smith. Zina Huntington recalled Smith telling her that "an Angel with a drawn sword had stood over him and told him that if he did not establish polygamy, he would lose his position and his life."

The sword-bearing angel served as powerful leverage. Women were being asked not merely to marry a man but to help him obey a divine command on pain of death. Refusal became not just rejection of Smith but disobedience to God himself. This dynamic—where a religious leader claims divine compulsion for his sexual relationships—is a pattern that appears throughout history in contexts now recognized as abusive.

Promises of Exaltation

Smith also promised extraordinary spiritual blessings to women who agreed to plural marriage. Helen Mar Kimball, the fourteen-year-old, was told that her sealing to Smith would guarantee the salvation of her entire family. Other women were promised that they and their families would be exalted to the highest degree of the celestial kingdom.

Lucy Walker, another plural wife, described the intense pressure she faced:

"He asked me if I believed him to be a Prophet of God... 'I have a message for you. I have been commanded of God to take another wife, and you are the woman.' My astonishment knew no bounds... I was tempted and tortured beyond endurance... He said, 'I will give you until tomorrow to decide this matter. If you reject this message the gate will be closed forever against you.'"

Secrecy and Deception

Plural marriage was practiced in strict secrecy, with participants sworn to confidentiality. This secrecy extended to public denials. In 1835, the Doctrine and Covenants included a statement (since removed) declaring that the church believed in monogamy and that "one man should have one wife." In 1842, Joseph Smith signed an affidavit stating: "We are charged with advocating a plurality of wives... Now this is as false as the many other ridiculous charges which are brought against us."

At the time Smith signed this denial, he was already married to multiple women. In the LDS newspaper Times and Seasons, official church statements repeatedly denied that polygamy was being practiced—statements that we now know were false. This pattern of public denial while privately practicing raises serious questions about prophetic integrity.

Emma Smith: The First Wife's Anguish

A Marriage Under Strain

Emma Hale Smith, Joseph's legal wife and the mother of his children, had a tumultuous relationship with plural marriage. According to multiple accounts, she alternately accepted, rejected, and struggled with her husband's other relationships. D&C 132 suggests she had destroyed a previous written copy of the revelation and repeatedly resisted the practice.

At times, Emma apparently participated in arranging some of her husband's marriages, only to later demand that the women leave. William Clayton, Smith's secretary, recorded in his journal: "Emma was very bitter and full of resentment and anger... She insisted on the women being sent away."

The LDS church's Gospel Topics Essay acknowledges the difficulty: "Emma approved, at least for a time, four of Joseph Smith's plural marriages... However, Emma likely did not know about all of Joseph's sealings." This understated admission confirms that Smith married women without his wife's knowledge or consent.

Emma's Later Denial

After Joseph's death, Emma remained in Nauvoo and eventually joined the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now Community of Christ), led by her son Joseph Smith III. This branch of Mormonism rejected plural marriage and denied that Joseph had practiced it. For the rest of her life, Emma insisted that her husband had never been a polygamist—a claim we now know was false.

Emma's denial is psychologically understandable. Acknowledging the full extent of her husband's secret marriages would have meant admitting that she had been systematically deceived by the man she loved and trusted. But her denial also contributed to generations of confusion about Mormon history.

Biblical Evaluation

The Old Testament Precedents

D&C 132 claims biblical warrant for polygamy by pointing to Abraham, Jacob, and other patriarchs who had multiple wives. This argument requires careful examination. Scripture does record that these men practiced polygamy, but recording is not the same as approving.

When we examine the biblical narratives closely, we find that polygamy consistently produced conflict, jealousy, and dysfunction. Abraham's marriage to Hagar led to strife with Sarah and the eventual expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael. Jacob's marriages to Leah and Rachel produced intense rivalry that affected their children for generations. Solomon's many wives "turned his heart after other gods" (1 Kings 11:4).

God's original design for marriage is clear: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). Note the singular: "wife," not "wives." Jesus explicitly affirmed this standard when questioned about marriage and divorce, pointing back to God's original creation design (Matthew 19:4-6).

Prophetic Character

Beyond the question of polygamy itself, the circumstances of Joseph Smith's plural marriages raise questions about prophetic character. Consider:

Deception: Smith repeatedly and publicly denied practicing what he was in fact practicing. He instructed others to lie about it as well. Yet Scripture says, "Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD" (Proverbs 12:22).

Coercion: The pressure applied to reluctant women—threats of divine destruction, promises of family salvation, claims of angelic compulsion— resembles manipulation more than courtship. A true prophet would not need such tactics to accomplish God's will.

Violation of trust: Marrying women behind his wife's back, marrying women already married to other men—these actions violate basic standards of faithfulness and integrity, regardless of claimed revelation.

Speaking the Truth in Love

This is difficult material. Many Latter-day Saints are learning these facts for the first time as the church has become more transparent about its history. Some are devastated to discover that the sanitized version they were taught differs so dramatically from the documented record. Others work to integrate this information into their existing faith. Still others conclude that Smith was not what he claimed to be.

As Christians engaging with our LDS friends, we must hold together truth and compassion. We cannot pretend that the facts don't matter or that they don't bear on Smith's prophetic claims. But neither should we weaponize this information to wound rather than help. Our goal is not to win arguments but to point people toward the true Jesus of Scripture.

The contrast between Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ is stark. Jesus never used his position to exploit others. He came not to be served but to serve. He told the truth even when it cost him everything. He treated women with dignity in a culture that marginalized them. He is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep—not a shepherd who uses the sheep for his own purposes.

When Mormon friends struggle with this history, we can acknowledge the pain of discovering that trusted leaders have misled them. We can point them to a Savior who will never disappoint, who has no hidden past that needs explaining away, whose character is unimpeachable. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). In him, there is no deception, no manipulation, no secret sins—only grace and truth.