Chris-WA:
Or there is the possibility that Joseph Smith introduced polygamy on his own and then invented a threatening revelation to force Emma to accept Joseph’s new wives when she confronted him about it.
That may be a “possibility,” but certainly not the “truth”. I do not accept for one moment that that is a correct explanation of events.
No matter how you slice it, Joseph having multiple wives is an embarrassment to the LDS church, which is why its members are so uncomfortable talking about it.
I don’t accept that at all. I don’t know which members you are referring to, but it certainly does not apply to me. I am neither embarrassed by it, nor uncomfortable to talk about it, because I know that it is the truth, and God had commanded him to do it.
Deep inside I think they know its wrong but can’t bring themselves to find fault with anything done by their founding prophet or his successor. To do so would challenge the very foundations of their religion, which is a place most fear to tread.
Again, you couldn’t be more wrong. It certainly does not apply to me.
I would like to hear the biblical evidence LDS use in support of their position that God permitted polygamy in the Old Testament. I know it happenend, but what makes them think that it was instituted by God?
Polygamy was practiced by all the OT patriarch and many prophets, who were holy and righteous men. We cannot assume that they all practiced it without the approval, if not the commandment of God. Abraham, for example, had two wives, Sarah and Hagar. God not only made special promises to him through his son Isaac, born to Sarah, but also to his son Ishmael, born to Hagar:
Genesis 16:
19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
Thus God acknowledges the validity of his marriage to Hagar. Furthermore, the Bible states that Abraham had many concubines besides his two wives:
Genesis 25:
6 But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.
These concubines were apparently taken in order to “preserve seed” of Abraham, because God had promised him that his seed should number as the stars of heaven for multitude. There are many indigenous peoples in that region, who are neither Jews nor Arabs, but who claim descent from Abraham. Polygamy was also allowed under the law of Moses:
Deuteronomy 21:
15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:
16 Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:
This means that polygamy was also practiced among the Jews at the time of Christ too; but the Lord never condemned it. In fact, polygamy was commonly practiced in ancient times among all people, the Gentiles as well as the Jews; but the NT never condemns it. Indeed, St. Paul even tacitly allows it!
1 Timothy 3:
1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
2 A bishop then must be blameless,
the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
This suggests that it was possible for a church member at that time to have more than one wife. But Paul thinks that if he is going to become a bishop, it would be a good idea if he had only one!—the implication being that it wouldn’t be a big problem if he had more than one, provided the other conditions were fulfilled!
(Continued in the next post…)
amgid
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