Revision as of 15:12, 29 March 2014

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Critics' claimed motivations for Joseph's implementation of plural marriage

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Critics' claimed motivations for Joseph's implementation of plural marriage

• • Did Joseph have "lustful motives" for practicing polygamy?—
    Brief Summary: Neutral observers have long understood that this attack is probably the weakest of them all. One might reasonably hold the opinion that Joseph was wrong, but in the face of the documentary evidence it is laughable to argue that he and his associates were insincere or that they were practicing their religion only for power and to satisfy carnal desires. Those who insist that “sex is the answer” reveal more about their own limited perspective than they do of the minds of the early Saints. (Click here for full article)
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  • Critical claims that Joseph had a youthful struggle with unchastity—
    Brief Summary: Some critics charge that Joseph Smith had youthful struggles with immoral actions. They claim that these are what eventually led him to teach the doctrine of plural marriage. (Click here for full article)
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  • Did Joseph Smith have a long history of "womanizing" before practicing plural marriage?—
    Brief Summary: Critics charge that Joseph Smith had a long history of "womanizing" before practicing plural marriage. This chapter includes Eliza Winters and Marinda Nancy Johnson. (Click here for full article)
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  • Did Joseph Smith send men on missions in order to "steal" their wives while they were gone?—
    Brief Summary: Beginning with LDS dissident John C. Bennett, some have charged that Joseph would send men on missions in order to marry their wives. Does this claim match the historical evidence? (Click here for full article)
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  • Claimed mismanagement of the Lawrence estate—
    Brief Summary: Joseph Smith was appointed the guardian of two daughters, Maria and Sarah Lawrence, and their inheritance. He later married them in plural marriage. The evidence shows that Joseph Smith faithfully discharged his legal duties, despite the claims made by some nineteeth-century and modern critics. (Click here for full article)
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