HANK HANEGRAAF:
Should you give them some credit though for having changed some of the really bad doctrines.
RICHARD ABANES:
Well, you know Hank, they have changed some of their really bad doctrines like polygamy which caused all kinds of suffering and trauma to very unfortunate women and children in Utah.
The Truth about Plural Marriage:
- Purpose of plural marriage—Why would the Lord have commanded the 19th century Saints to implement plural marriage? What purpose(s) did polygamy accomplish? (Link)
- Requirement for exaltation—Some Church leaders taught that plural marriage was a requirement for those wishing to enter the highest degree of the celestial kingdom. Because the Church does not currently practice plural marriage, critics claim this means that either the leaders were wrong, or that current members are not destined for exaltation. (Link)
- Early Christians on plural marriage—There is extensive, unequivocal evidence that polygamous relationships were condoned under various circumstances by biblical prophets, despite how uncomfortable this might make a modern Christian. Elder Orson Pratt was widely viewed as the victor in a three-day debate on this very point with Reverend John P. Newman, Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, in 1870. (Link)
