In the BOM at page 111, verses 23-24, Smith wrote the following which he said was a translation of inspired revelation from God:
For, behold, thus saith the Lord: This people begin to wax in iniquity; they understand not the scriptures, for they seek to excuse themselves in whoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning David, and Solomon his son.
Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord.

Another authoritative source for the LDS is Doctrine and Covenants (D&C), which was first published in 1835. Section 109 dealt with marriage, and subsection 4 therein stated the following:
Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife; and that one woman, but one husband, except in the case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.

The language in Section 109(4) was printed in every issue of D&C until 1876, when LDS leaders simply removed it and inserted a new section 132, which requires that LDS members seek a number of wives. The new Section 132 was based upon the prophecy Smith claimed to have received on July 12, 1843 - - 33 years earlier. In his alleged new law, Smith declared the following:
Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines -
Behold and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter.
Therefore prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give you; for all those who have obeyed this law revealed unto them must obey the same.
For behold, I reveal unto you a new and everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then ye are damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory . . . .

Smith proclaimed a revelation requiring him and other LDS to have plural wives. He purported to justify this by referring to the wives and concubines given to David, Solomon and other Old Testament patriarchs. This was the very thing Smith had earlier said that God in the BOM revealed was "abominable" to Him. Notwithstanding this clearly contradictory prophecy, the LDS church inserted it in Section 132, claiming that God had given a new and everlasting covenant which must be obeyed. Any who disobeyed this everlasting covenant would be damned, according to Smith and the LDS. The rest of Section 132 explained the new covenant to require plural marriages/ polygamy. In the alleged instructions from God, Emma Smith, Joseph's first wife, was instructed to receive all of the other wives given to her husband.

Brigham Young, the second LDS President stated, "Now if any of you will deny the plurality of wives and continue to do so, I promise that you will be damned; and I will go still further, and say, take this revelation, or any other revelation that the Lord has given, and deny it in your feelings, and I promise that you will be damned." (Deseret News, November 14, 1855) There is no ambiguity there.

The hypocrisy of this situation is obvious. The LDS members, at least in principle, were to operate under old Section 109(4) of D&C until 1876, which with the BOM declared polygamy an abomination to God. It was not until 32 years after Smith's death in 1844 that the LDS leaders inserted Section 132 based upon Smith's self-serving prophecy in 1843 and removed Section 109 which had required monogamy. The fourth and fifth Presidents of the LDS, Wilford Woodruff and Lorenzo Snowden, were asked why Section 132 was inserted and 109 removed, and neither could explain. As Brigham Young was the LDS President during 1876, presumably, it was done under his authority.

It later was revealed that Joseph Smith had "sealed" himself to other wives even prior to his 1843 revelation. Issues of D&C until at least as late as 1890 stated that Smith received the revelation in 1843. This means that Smith practiced polygamy, which was condemned by Section 109, before he allegedly received the revelation allowing him numerous wives. The LDS tried to deal with this major discrepancy by revising later editions of D&C to state that Smith's "new and everlasting covenant" was not recorded until 1843. Smith himself in The History of the Church had refuted this when he wrote that the revelation was "received" by him on July 12, 1843. Those who distort truth are often hoisted by their own petard.

The practice of polygamy by the LDS was contrary to the federal and state criminal laws, which supported the Christian doctrine of monogamy. LDS members were prosecuted for violating the laws against polygamy. In 1878 the United States Supreme Court in Reynolds v. United States affirmed an LDS conviction for polygamy, finding that the Mormon practice of polygamy was not protected by the first amendment protection of religious liberty. The criminal laws compounded the dilemma for the LDS. Section 58(21) of D&C expressly states thusly:
Let no man break the laws of the land, for he that keepeth the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the land.

The courts of the land had declared that polygamy was contrary to the law of the land. The faithful LDS were faced with a serious conundrum. The BOM informed them that polygamy was considered abominable by God. Original Section 109 forbade polygamy, but new Section 132 based upon Smith's alleged revelation in 1843 required polygamy and said it was an everlasting covenant. Those who failed to practice polygamy would be damned. Brigham Young adamantly re-affirmed the damnation of those who opposed polygamy. The third LDS President, John Taylor, said in 1879 that he would obey all of the laws of the United States except those against polygamy. Journal of Discourses, (J&D) Volume 20, page 317. Taylor said that the commandment for polygamy came from God, because Joseph Smith had so assured him. Taylor said that anyone who opposed this revelation was apostate. J&D, volume 11, page 221.

The (soon-to-be) fourth LDS President, Wilford Woodruff, said in 1869 that, if the LDS did away with polygamy, it might as well do away with the prophets, apostles, revelations, and the gifts and graces of the Gospel. He supported the eternal nature of the doctrine, saying "we shall obey him in the days to come as we have in days past." J&D, volume 13, page 166. This proved false. As the government intensified its prosecution of LDS members committing polygamy, there was an increasing demand among the LDS membership that the church leadership receive a revelation suppressing polygamy. That is exactly what happened. In 1890, the eternal doctrine of polygamy which threatened damnation to any who opposed it came to an abrupt end. LDS President Woodruff recanted his position and that of his predecessors in the issuance of The Manifesto, which was adopted by overwhelming vote of the LDS members. The Manifesto suspended the general PRACTICE of polygamy while not affecting its status as an "eternal" doctrine.

Notwithstanding the Manifesto, LDS leaders continued to practice polygamy. John Stewart, a LDS writer, in his book Brigham Young and His Wives, stated that 7 of the first 9 LDS Presidents had plural wives. There are many more details of the practice and concealment of polygamy, which are not addressed herein. Smith's "revelation" created an indefensible chapter in the history of the LDS.

This article is only one more example showing that Joseph Smith was not a prophet of God. Any religion founded upon this false prophet has no foundation in truth and is a sham. One rightly must question whether Smith's so-called revelation was anything other than a self-serving act to allow him access to numerous women. The evidence points overwhelmingly to that conclusion.
The Lord stated unequivocally, "For I am the Lord, I do not change . . . ." Malachi 3:6. The same cannot be said for Joseph Smith and other Presidents of the LDS. A doctrine is either eternal, or it is not. One who opposes it will either be damned, or he will not. Contrary to Humpty-Dumpty's assertion, words do not mean what one individual chooses them to mean. Any religion based upon such shifting sands as on the LDS beach is manmade and false. Clearly, Joseph Smith was a false prophet. May God give all entrapped by this false religion the grace and wisdom to be set free by the truth. May they heed the words of the One Who is the way, the truth and the life. John 14:6.

Milton Dale Peacock September 25, 2002 (revised)

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