A response made to a church scholar on mormon polygamy today:
Those affidavits (made by church members stating Joseph Smith was living polygamy) are based on the beliefs and opinions of members fed with the "follow the prophet or be apostate" teachings of Brigham Young on that topic. He made himself the "one man" with the "keys" to say who gets to have plural wives or anything else. He abused his authority as a head priest and as king of the land. Joseph was doing after this life sealings. Not expanding his carnal marital options. He had no seed with other sealed women, tho a fertile man. Later he learned to do law of adoption sealings and he did those instead of marital sealings. The Tanners and others have much success, because the church and it's scholars still teach that Joseph was doing exactly what they preach is wrong. Joseph's name is being cleared after all this time. By God's real servants in our day. His new covenant people who will be used to redeem Zion soon to come. Joseph was not expanding carnal opportunity. He was not making underaged teenagers his carnal wives. He was not sealing other men's wives to share them. He was not trying to impregnate anyone else but Emma. Eliza said she did not consider herself a carnal wife, and I trust what she said. Those women were not carnal wives like those of old who were reluctantly and temporarily allowed to live something that is foreign to Marriage in the heavens. Foreign to the ideal marriage intended for us in this life, the only type that can be made eternal. John Bennett took Joseph's misunderstood and totally innocent and actually exalting, afterlife sealings, and expanded his carnal desires and opportunities. Brigham took what Joseph was doing, to expand his carnal sexual opportunities, and to preach that a man with a plurality of wives is absolutely required by all to become exalted. With 50+ wives, he certainly did expand his options, teaching by word and example.
The church has been under condemnation since 1832 according to the D&C. The Lord tried to bring it out in Kirtland and Nauvoo. Tried to endow them with power from on high. Tried to give them a chance at Zion for the last time to happen in their day. Joseph was taken early. Temple lost and fully destroyed by fire eventually. The members were cast out completely, coming to the deserts of mexico/salty lake valley. Displacement, death and sickness and loss of land and property. Those are covenant curses. A people given an opportunity for so much and failed and received the penalties they themselves agreed to receive if they did. Brigham Young, and all the errors, false teachings from teaching polygamy is the more exalted way, the only way to be exalted, blood atonement suicide nonsense, oaths or revenge to the killers of Joseph in temple rituals, indian wars to assist the darkness already going on in the USA displacing those who were rightful owners, and unjustified murders of their men, women and children in Mountain Meadows and Utah Indian war and others... all of it, is a sure sign that failure occurred, curses and penalties happened. And all that was followed up with confusion, contradiction and misunderstood teachings on important things like marriage and sealing and fullness of priesthood, not to mention the heavens as brass lack of revelation and divine communication, lack of prophecy, lack of anything that even closely resembles what Joseph Smith actually was... and all those dudes that line our books of scripture were.
Denver, however odd it may appear, has been called of God to do what he is doing. There are thousands of awakened, repentant, truth seeking LDS, preparing the way for the redemption of Zion at last. While the heads of the church see not, prophecy nothing, seer no new scripture into place, and have no idea how or when God is going to redeem Zion. In fact, they cast out the righteous from within the church, who are reconnecting with the Lord, a church that should have welcomed such things. And one leader went so far to actually teach that such things are not necessary and shouldn't actually be sought after. Tho it still teaches thru it's temple ordinances to do those very things that Denver and others have experienced. They abuse their authority be saying stop writing your books, sharing your measage or else. God says do, leaders say don't. Man obeys God and suffers removal from a church he loved. Then they reject his pleadings to stay, all the way to the top. Then they cast out any who simply reads his writings and agrees with his view of history. A people who actually care sooo much about their religion. The truth. God and being and doing what He needs.
I will admit I don't even like how Denver says what he says about church scholars on the PM topic. But it is necessary to get attention. I don't like how scholars respond in defense. It all can level out eventually. This is a serious thing that needs understood at last. It has caused so much chaos since the seed of cain first lived it. Especially among the LDS. Simply opening the mind and the heart and deeply analyzing it all, and expecting the Lord's impressions or words to the mortal mind, both can reveal the truth to us now. Give us the proper conclusions and understandings. Simply putting yourself in the shoes of a humble, meek wife being taught she needs to accept and live it, despite everything within her telling her she cannot accept it, imagining how her heart is broken within for doing so, should be enough. How can anyone ever be used to redeem Zion if they fail to clearly see all the many ways that have destroyed it from remaining or being restored in times past? How can we ever see eye to eye without doing the work to reason it out to get there? We must clearly see all the failures of the past, so that the risk of failure this time around is minimized as much as possible.
So many things in history. So many errors. Surely when God puts His spirit in men/women, if they are meek and humble and open like a child to accept truth, God can show all the many ways error and failure creeps in to destroy. In families, relationships, organizations, Zion prep group, etc.
This is one of the greatest errors in Mormonism. It opened the window to greater errors. Our history is ugly. It was wrong. It deserves apologies given to the world. Not defended or ignored or continued. We need to defend Joseph Smith's legacy, to challenge the Tanners and other critics, not keep giving them reason to keep pointing their fingers.
Plural marriage was reluctantly allowed for rare situations, in times of old, as stated in different revelations that are found in the first part of D&C 132. But it is not what is required for exaltation. It is not the original intent. Not the way of eternity. 1 wife, sealed with 1 husband, is. D&C says A wife, A wife in 132... a sealed wife is required. The equal ying/yang to completion. Equal, fair, complete. That is the Image of God. The alterations in D&C132 by Brigham in the1852 D&C addition, about a wife being "destroyed" somehow, if her husband teaches her all about polygamy and she still rejects it... is not valid scripture. It is unrighteous dominion and manipulation to control women. Emma was an amazing woman. She was not what Brigham tried to portray her as. She was one of the Elect then and she is now, with her husband. No one should speak evil of the elect of God, male or female.
The Church lost the seals, the sealing power that can continue Father to son, at the death of Joseph and Hyrum, lost there. That was allowed. Joseph went in knowing what would occur. Their failure for Zion and to the Lord, and probably some of his own, broke his heart. That is the reason for his tears with hands to his face. He was tired of false accusations and friends turning against him. So much was lost there. And failure and false assumptions and pride has been our problem ever since. Not to mention the adultery, murder and lies the BoM clearly teaches the readers of the book in the last days to avoid and would end up doing. Our org is the only that could be polluting the Holy Church of God in the last days. God gave the adopted seed of Joseph, the modern church, an opportunity to listen and repent and return since Nauvoo. The train continued onward on its own course.
Arms of flesh cast out the righteous from among us. So displaced from the hearing the truth and the message that Christ Himself wanted them to hear and accept. To the point of also losing God honoring aaronic priesthood and ordinances in the church.
I don't like any of it. I loved my days in the church. It was part of my identity. But the error is growing and continuing. It's plain to see for those that see and hear. Repentance is ignored and those sharing the message are given the finger of scorn, when they deserved a listening ear and care. They deserved your arms of compassion.
I once thought like you Brian. I researched for so many years. I read your stuff and that of many other historians. My wife (now ex thanks to church history actually) thought I was crazy for being so consumed in our own history. I was. It was that serious to me. I thought I had our strange history all figured out. But it only became worse the more I researched and prayed for answers. It boggles my mind that so many stalwart members could write up those affidavits about what they tried to show Joseph was up to, but they were under priestly pressure to do so. And in Mormonism, if you don't follow your leader, you are considered apostate and worthy of the finger of scorn and shunning. God wanted the USA to force the mormon ways of polygamy from them. He did not want Taylor setting apart secret priesthood leaders to continue plural marriages like fundies claim. Or Woodruff secretly keeping some leaders in Mexico continuing plural marriages even after the manifesto stunt. Not only was plural marriage being lived wrong in the polyg days of the church, it was lived without any man, including Brigham, having any higher authority or allowance from God to do so, which equates to unsanctioned polygamy or worse.
The errors are clear to me. They can become such for anyone. Yes, we need that discernment... without all the judgement and emotional responding.
Pres Benson gave talks to turn to Love the BoM to come out from under condemnation. Nibley and so many others tried to wake the church up to see error and analyze ourselves. Zion was lost. The power to redeem it was lost. It never came back since. The opportunity to come out from it was granted for a time. God did try to wake up the church with good servants within. He tried to clean things up with the force of the USA government before that. So many blindly assume all is well. Pacified. They like the social structure. They want what they want. While the truth, and the messengers trying to share it, are ignored or labeled and discarded. God chose a regular dude, a regular tho stalwart member among us with actual 40 yrs of prep by Angels, and 15 or so years of prep by the Lord Himself to continue the failed restoration, only after continued failure and ignoring of messengers within before him. The Lord obviously knew what the outcome would be when he sends a lowly member, with His message instead of those who sit in high seats. So he prepped a man for 40+ yrs, and that man not even knowing what the Lord would eventually do with him. The Lord would take 40 yrs to prep the man, because he foresaw the response when restoration like experiences and claims began again among members, especially when those things are sorely lacking among GA's. Everything Denver wrote in his books to the LDS people, are exactly what we needed to hear and learn from. Our prized org failed the Lord long ago. And we need to understand and repent and return to how things were in Joseph's days, or like among the many in our scriptures. We need to turn to the ways of our Fathers and DO THEM. I so worry that like those who cast out the righteous in the BOM, makes those once righteous claiming people ripe for future destruction. The last days destructions are close. This continent is going to suffer and endure so much, as well as all others. I want to be found in Zion. Not in the wake of destruction coming. I want to see as many repentant LDS people there. We need to clearly see all the error and come out of it and avoid any more of it. We are imperfect people full of emotions and weaknesses. We need to always remain humble, seeking for truth and understanding, and the mercy and presence of the Lord in all ways possible.
The Lord is beginning the strange act of the Father. The final act for the ending of this cycle of time. It's strange, but similar to the same ways as done in scripture before. Those who know their scriptures will be open to it, simply because it was before. Those who care enough, will listen. They will search and study and spend serious knee time before God. I know it seems strange and is hard to hear. But hear it, see it, and hopefully we can end up in the Lord's coming Zion, seeing eye to eye then, at last.
