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"Should I warn others about a particular propaganda that altered my relationship with some of my family members as well as with a few of my friends or should I continue on protecting the identity of the propagators?"
I believe many of the books I quoted from will soon become collection
items
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Some of my letters addressed to President
Gaudreau: |
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Jan. 15, 2002 Feb. 06, 2002 Feb. 4, 2002 Aug. 20, 2001 Aug. 17, 2001 Juy. 23 2001
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President Gaudreau's Answers:
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Aug. 28, 2001 Aug. 27, 2001F Aug. 24, 2001 Aug. 23, 2001A Aug. 23, 2001 Aug. 21, 2001A Aug. 20, 2001 Aug. 20, 2001B Aug. 17, 2001
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My first
letter to President Hinckley |
November 27, 1997 |
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Letter Exchange Concerning my Excommunication |
Disciplinary Council, Letter 1
Disciplinary Council, Letter 2
My Reply
Disciplinary Council Confirmation

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Introduction:
Questions that no Latter-Day Saints will honestly answer by yes or no
If you are a book collector I suggest that you take a close look
at the books from which I quoted, for only one believe will
survive and the rejected books will surely become collector's
items.
Millions of good Church members do not grasp shocking controversies
In 1887, the U. S. Congress forced the
Church to terminate the practice of plural marriage
.Abraham had 3 wives
INTRODUCTION:
Any honest Latter-Day Saints
must come to the conclusion that if today's Church
leaders are God's chosen people to lead His
children here on earth, Joseph Smith founder of
The Church as well as the first seven prophets of
the Church deceived the world when presenting DC
132 as the Lord's words.
Unexpected
but well appreciated, after approximately sixteen years, on
Sun, 15 Apr 2001 22:05:38 -0400, I received a very pleasant
e-mail letter from President Robert Gaudreau. Robert told me
that he met one of my sisters at the Montreal Temple two days
prior to writing that letter and thought about me as he saw
her. In his letter Robert wished me a happy Easter, giving me
an update concerning his children that I have not seen for
approximately sixteen years also. After this e-mail a few
other letters where exchanged and by May 9th, 2001, showing
consideration and mutual respect, we where already talking
about the very basic issues that may have initiated Robert's
sudden concerns for me, (my website in which I question many
of the new Church philosophies)
My
religious background:
I was born, raised
and lived as a Catholic for approximately
twenty-five years. I was an active member of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for
seven years. I had discussions with the Baptist,
the Pentecostal and other Reformed Christian
Churches for approximately ten years. I have
studied with the Jehovah Witnesses for
approximately seven years. I believe in God, I
believe that Jesus was the Christ promised to the
Jews but I now take no part in any of the above or
any other religious groups.
I am concerned
with the teachings of many religions and I believe
that based on good intentions, some of today's
leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints preach a gospel unrelated to the
scriptures they are using. I believe in freedom of
expression but also believe that false teachings
should be exposed when expressed as true facts.
This work is not focusing on my beliefs,
my personal opinion, or my own interpretation of
the Scriptures used by this Church, but it is an
analysis, an assessment of their own
interpretation of the same scriptures put together
by some of today's Church leaders.
If you
read copies of my own letters addressed to Robert
and President Hinckley, you will notice that at
the beginning of the debate, though I denounced
flagrant dishonesties among some modern-day Church
leaders, yet I was advocating for the Church in
general. Seven years of highly compelling
indoctrination doesn't vanish from our mind like a
breeze, and it took me a few years to realize how
powerful was the influence they had on me.
Now as I put together all the information
I accumulated during the last eight years, finally,
I have a
different view of that Church and today I can say
that doing this work made me realize how easy it
is for anyone of us to confuse idealism for
reality, and forgery for the truth.
It is with mixed
feelings that I present this work; I met and worked with many
good people during that period of time and more
than a few of them became very close friends. On
one hand I feel that I must tell you about what I
found to be extremely important inconsistencies in
their theology, and on the other I know that I may
hurt the feelings of some of my friends.
I
understand that they where placed in a difficult
situation when through the Edmunds-Tucker Act of
1887, the U. S. Congress forced the Church to
terminate the practice of plural marriage, but I
can't fully understand the reasons that would
motivate today's prophets to lie to the general
public and to the Church on fundamental doctrines
established by the seven first prophets, who as a
matter of fact would have re-established in its
fullness the original Church of Jesus the Christ
in the 1830s,
For
the last eight years, through e-mails, I asked
hundreds of members to give clear answers to my
questions, but I found that contradictions,
fabricated supporting statements, overlooking
important statements of their contemporary and
ancient Church leaders and of the Bible,
plain lies were normal replies to my
questions.
Here I chose to show many
registered letters addressed to President Hinckley
himself and a one-year debate; an exchange of
approximately two hundred e-mail letters between
myself and a Church leader, President Robert
Gaudreau.
I have high regards for Robert,
for he, along with the missionaries converted me to
the faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints many years ago. I became an
active member for approximately seven years, but
we lost track of each other a few years after I
left the Church in 1980.
I want to show you
that even if his answers where made of good
inspiring references, Robert was unable to answer
any of my questions by yes or no or by any type of
short answer without approving what I said.
Relying on his integrity, I asked him if he would
tell the truth, if he would admit to my sister and
to many other people that I know, his inability to
answer my questions without approving what I said.
Robert keenly rejected the idea and told me that
he had already clearly answered all my questions,
and that my sister had done all she could to bring
me back in the right path.
As the Hamilton
Ontario Stake President, Garry Rayner, and Bishop
Nantais acted with their authority to deprive
their members from accessing my website, by
keeping them in ignorance of its existence and by dissuading
those already informed from looking at it. Robert
discouraged my sister and his entire congregation
not only from reading it but also from talking to me on
the pretext that they may not be strong enough in
their faith to view or listen to such evil work. I could say
with very little chance to be wrong, that after
such warning from their leaders not one of the
worthy members will attempt to read it, for that particular reason and also
because they might not even want to know the truth
for they can't bear in mind the possibility of
loosing their mental refuge in the Church's
sanctuary.
I am concerned about the
consequences of such power if placed in wrong
hands. Today's members would follow a Adolf Hitler or a Bin
Laden at the direction of the Church without
asking a single question on the pretext that their
leaders where chosen by the Lord himself and He
would destroy any such people that would by error
access to the direction of the Church.
If
the Lord through Joseph Smith established this
Church as they claim, imagine what He and
Joseph Smith would say today about the modern
prophet's disagreement with the original
faith.
I wonder what may drive us human
beings to overlook undeniable facts and even lie
sometimes to defend our convictions despite if
they are of religious or political sources. I
remember doing exactly that myself when trying to
convert people to the Mormon faith.
I
believe that Robert is a clever man, and many
times foolishly answered my questions simply
to defend today's ridiculous concept that opposite
teachings can be made into one accord, and also to
avoid lying to me instead of approving what I said
all along. Because he is a public preacher that
through my sister, will try to convert other
members of my family and friends, and because I
feel that his method is unfair, I have chosen to
expose his inability to answer my questions
without lying to me or approving what I
say.
QUESTIONS:
Here are a few of my questions that
no Latter-Day Saints will honestly answer by yes
or no without either contradicting modern or
conventional Church philosophy
All
this controversy occurred after the U. S. Congress
forced the Church to terminate the practice of
plural marriage in 1890. Perhaps by fear of
government retaliation, some of the subsequent
Church leaders steered the Church into incoherent
teachings. They used a few controversial words of
Jacob (from the Book of Mormon) to support their
new perception.
Jacob
2:30, 30 For if I will, saith the Lord of
Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my
people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these
things.
Did not the Lord previously, raise up a
seed unto Himself through Abraham? According to
Jacob the Lord did not at that particular time,
have seed risen unto Him; was the Lord's promise
made to Abraham revoked before Jacob's time?
Why today's Church leaders present Brigham Young, as been
married to only two wives, Miriam Works, and after
Miriam's death he married Mary Ann Angell in 1834,
(one wife at a time), when older Church Records
shows that he had 55 wives and 56 children in
plural marriage during his life?
Do you know that D & C
132:1-28, and D&C 132:7, 29-66 is not telling
us that Plural marriage is not essential to
salvation or exaltation, and that in our day, the
Lord summarized by revelation the whole doctrine
of exaltation and predicated it upon the marriage
of one man to one woman as Elder Bruce R.
McConkie said when trying to back up Jacob's
contradicting teachings?
Because President Hinckley was a Church
member all his life it is impossible that he
did not know what every other Church member knew
about the personality of God, revealed and made
very clear by Joseph Smith. He is also aware of
what his predecessor President Spencer W. Kimball,
with whom Gordon B. Hinckley worked in the Church
for many years said on that matter. When asked:
Was God once a man, Hinckley said: I don't know... I wouldn't
say that... I don't know that we teach
it...? Do you know that D&C 63:64 does
not instruct us not to speak publicly of personal
revelations as Elder Oaks said when trying to back
up Hinckley's new theory?
? Do you realize that the Lord would
have been lying to one or the other when telling
Jacob that plurality of wives and concubines is an
abomination, and after that statement tell Joseph
Smith that it is not an abomination, but it is the
law of his eternal unchangeable holy priesthood
established before the world was? Please, yes or
no? Referring to: Matt. 19: 9 "And I say
unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife,
except it be for fornication, and shall marry
another, committeth adultery..." President Gaudreau told
me: "IT IS (CLEAR) from this passage that
from Moses to Jesus-Christ it was the law that
anyone had to divorce from his wife (or put her
away or repudiate her) before he could marry
another women. So it seems QUITE (CLEAR) that they
could have but one wife. If they could have
many... why repudiate one before they could marry
another one...To marry another women after having
divorced from the first wife without a good reason
was considered by Jesus as comitting adultery...
which is an
abomination." My answer to him was: Now I
would like to tell you what I grasp from this
verse. I believe that Matt. 19:9 tells us that
Whosoever, Whomever, Anyone that puts away,
repudiates or rejects his wife, with the exception of,
except if, she has committed fornication, and
would marry another, commits adultery... OR:
Anyone that would reject his wife, except if
she has committed fornication (of course), and
would marry another would commit
adultery….?
In other words; anyone
that would not put away, repudiate or reject his
wife BUT WOULD (KEEP) HIS WIFE, except if she has
committed fornication (of course), and would marry
another would not commit adultery….
Robert, do you still believe that this
verse IS (CLEAR) TO YOU, and that this verse is
telling us that from Moses to Jesus-Christ it was
the law that anyone had to divorce his wife
before he could marry another women? Please, yes
or no? Click here to see D & C 132:
COLLECTOR'S ITEMS:
From direct contradictions
to pure lies, today's Church leaders have used
them all to adjust their new perception to the
former seven Church prophet's declarations. But,
who can blend into one, two conflicting theories?
And what will they do with the writings of Joseph
Smith, Brigham Young, Joseph F. Smith, John
Taylor, Wilford Woodruff and many others that they
bluntly discredit? If you are a book collector I
suggest that you take a close look at the books
from which I quoted, for only one belief will
survive and the rejected books will surely become
collector items.
From November 27, 1997
to this day I sent more then twenty registered
letters to Gordon B. Hinckley President, Prophet,
Seer & Revelator of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, to inform him of my concerns,
but up to this day not one of my letters was
acknowledged by him or by anyone from the
First Presidency or by any other ranking Church
members.
On October 23, 1998, I received a
voice message from bishop Nantais concerning my
letters to President Hinckley. I was completely
shocked to hear that bishop Nantais was instructed
by the first Presidency to tell me that they would
not answer any of my letters because I am an
excommunicated member. He said that I am turning
to fight against the Church, and that my letters
are simply going to the garbage (at Salt Lake's
point). He said that I am probably turning the
hearts of those other people and these particular
things will be up on my head as condemnation. When
I returned his call he told me that the
information that I am pumping out doesn,t do any
good, and that I am trying to justify my decision of
the past. He told me that I am wrong in my
statements, that I am not obedient to the seers
and revelators of the Lord, that I am fighting
against the First Presidency, that I am going
against the order of the priesthood government in
the Church. But when I asked him to show me one of
my wrong statements, he could not relate to one
particular phrase.
When I asked him if the
first presidency were indeed throwing my letters
in the garbage he said: "Yes, o yes, I mean, Real!
They have said it for fifty or sixty years, don't
write to the first Presidency! They will return
them to the stake presidency, (who in this case
was President Rayner), he is handling it, you are
not a member of the Church, you are out of
harmony, you have lost the Holy Ghost…". I said
should I call President Rayner? He said: "No,
don't waste your breath, he is not keeping the
letters."
In
1997, President Gordon B. Hinckley and the First
Presidency of the Church (the Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles,) published a manual entitled:
"Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham
Young", in which they have altered the
teachings of Joseph Smith, and of the seven first
prophets of the Church. They present Brigham
Young, as been married to only one wife at the
time, when older church records show that he had
55 wives in plural marriage. Why where
President Gordon B. Hinckley and the First
Presidency of the Church not telling the
truth?
Elder Oaks said: "Visions do
happen. Voices are heard from beyond the veil. I
know this. But these experiences are exceptional.
And those who have these great and exceptional
experiences rarely speak of them publicly because
we are instructed not to do so (see D&C 63:64)
and because we understand that the channels of
revelation will be closed if we show these things
before the world." But in all the books use by
the Church we won't find any references supporting
Oaks's declarations and D&C 63: 64 do not
instruct us not to speak publicly of these
experiences mentioned above.
Here is a quote from Elder Bruce
R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, Pg.578 PLURAL
MARRIAGE "Plural marriage is not
essential to salvation or exaltation. Nephi
and his people were denied the power to have more
than one wife and yet they could gain every
blessing in eternity that the Lord ever offered to
any people. In our day, the Lord summarized by
revelation the whole doctrine of exaltation and
predicated it upon the marriage of one man to one
woman. (D. & C. 132:1-28.) Thereafter he added
the principles relative to plurality of wives with
the express stipulation that any such marriages
would be valid only if authorized by the President
of the Church. (D. & C. 132:7, 29-66.)"
Except for a few words of Jacob that I
question in this work, there is no other
references (In none of the books used by the
Church), where we may find that Nephi and his
people were denied the power to have more than one
wife. And (D. & C.
132:1-28.) - (D. & C. 132:7, 29-66.)
disputes McConkie's statement.
Every Church members learned that throughout history it was the
Lord's custom to periodically permit and forbid plural
marriage, and it would have simply pleased the Lord to
authorize plural marriages in the 1830s and outlawed it in the
1890s.
Based on (D&C), section 56: 4-7, members
have been instructed by today's Church leaders that through
the mouth of His living prophets the Lord may command
and revoke any laws as He sees fit.
They
also have been misinformed on the Bible's words concerning that
matter. "Otten & Caldwell, Sacred Truths of the
Doctrine & Covenants", Vol.2, Pg.356, "2. The principle
and practice of plural marriage" says that anyone who
accepts the Bible as a depository of revealed truth
acknowledges that, on occasion, the Lord has sanctioned
plural marriage. At various times in certain dispensations,
the Lord has commanded that this principle should be put into
practice. (See D&C 132:34-39; Bible, Genesis 25:1-6;
Genesis chaps. 29 & 30; II Samuel 12:7-8) and on
other occasions, He has forbidden this practice.
Among many others, this is an
incorrect interpretation of D&C 132:34-39; Genesis 25:1-6;
Genesis chaps, 29 & 30; II Samuel 12:7-8. Nothing in the
above quotes suggests that on occasion, the Lord has at
various times in certain dispensations forbidden the practice
of plural marriage. For those who don't have easy access to
the above quotes, you may see by yourself that they don't.
Others, please simply skip it.
D.&C. 132:
34-39 34: God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar
to Abraham to be his wife. And why did she do it? Because this was
the law; and from Hagar sprang many people. This,
therefore, was fulfilling, among other things, the
promises.
35: Was Abraham, therefore, under
condemnation? Verily I say unto you, Nay; for I, the Lord,
commanded it.
36: Abraham was commanded to offer his
son Isaac; nevertheless, it was written: Thou shal not kill.
Abraham, however, did not refuse, and it was accounted unto
him for righteousness.
37: Abraham received
concubines, and they bore him children; and it was accounted
unto him for righteousness, because they were given unto him,
and he abode in my law; as Isaac also and Jacob did none other
things than that which they were commanded,,,,,
38:
David also received many wives and concubines, and also
Solomon and Moses my servants, as also many others of my
servants, from the beginning of creation until this time; and
in nothing did they sin save in those things which they
received not of me.
39: David's wives and concubines
were given unto him of me, by the hand of Nathan, my servant,
and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power; and
in none of these things did he sin against me save
in the case of Uriah and his wife; and, therefore he hath
fallen from his exaltation, and received his portion; and he
shall not inherit them out of the world, for I gave them unto
another, saith the Lord.
40: I am the Lord thy God,
and I gave unto thee, my servant Joseph, an
appointment, and restore all things. Ask what
ye will, and it shall be given unto you according to my word.
Genesis 25:1-6; 1, Then again Abraham took
a wife, and her name was Keturah. 2, And she bare him
Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and
Shuah. 3, And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons
of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. 4, And
the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida,
and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. 5, And
Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. 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.
It is unnecessary to
include the 35th and 43rd verses of Genesis chapters. 29 & 30,
for they as well don't in anyways suggest that on other
occasions, the Lord has forbidden this practice.
As for II Samuel 12:7-8, the Lord reprimanded King
David for killing Uriah for the unique purpose
of obtaining Uriah's wife for himself. So the Lord rose up
evil against David in his own house, and took his wives and
gave them to his neighbor (verse 11). "Otten
& Caldwell, Sacred Truths of the Doctrine &
Covenants", Vol.2, Pg.356," is misleading the readers when
saying that II Samuel 12:7-8 sugest that, on occasion, the
Lord has commanded that this principle should be put into
practice and on other occasions, He has forbidden this
practice of plural marriage. How could the Lord have
forbidden the practice of plural wives and concubines in those
verses when the Lord's action simply increased the number of
wives of David's neighbor?
8, And I gave thee thy
master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and
gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had
been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such
and such things. 9, Wherefore hast thou despised the
commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast
killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his
wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the
children of Ammon. 10, Now therefore the sword shall never
depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and
hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy
wife. 11, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil
against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy
wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy
neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the
sight of this sun.
Doing this work led me into a
serious investigation of what could have lead me also to
accept as true such contradictions for a period of seven
years. During that time, being a Church member myself, having
read the same Scripture hundreds if not thousands of times, I
understood them the same way eleven million members do today.
Was it that I was so eager to seek after a true Church of God
here on this earth that after being convinced that the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the true Church of
God, I didn't want to see any error in their philosophies? Or
was it persuasion from their part? Or was it a mixed of both?
Or was it something else? What I know for sure now is that
many of us are vulnerable to the words of anyone selling
eternal life concepts.
Millions of good Church members do not grasp shocking controversies:
Based on the following
teachings of the 6th President of the Church, Joseph F. Smith:
"Some people have supposed that the doctrine of plural
marriage was a sort of superfluity, or nonessential to the
salvation of mankind. In other words, some of the Saints have
said, and believe that a man with one wife, sealed to him by
the authority of the Priesthood for time and eternity, will
receive an exaltation as great and glorious, if he is
faithful, as he possibly could with more than one. I want here
to enter my protest against this idea, for it is false…
Therefore, whoever has imagined that he could obtain the
fullness of the blessings pertaining to this celestial law, by
complying with only a portion of its conditions, has deceived
himself, he cannot do it. When that PRINCIPLE WAS REVEALED to
the Prophet Joseph Smith,... HE DID NOT FALTER, although it
was not until an angel of God, with a drawn sword, stood
before him and commanded that he should enter into the
practice of that principle, or he should be utterly destroyed,
or rejected.... " IF THEN THIS PRINCIPAL WAS OF SUCH GREAT
IMPORTANCE that the Prophet himself was threatened with
destruction,... IT IS USELESS to tell me that there is no
blessing attached to obedience to the law, OR THAT A MAN WITH
ONLY ONE WIFE CAN OBTAIN AS GREAT A REWARD, glory or kingdom
as he can with more than one,... I UNDERSTAND THE LAW of
celestial marriage to mean that EVERY MAN in this Church, who
has the ability to obey and practice it in righteousness and
will not, SHALL BE DAMMED, I say I understand it to mean this
and nothing less, AND I TESTIFY IN THE NAME OF JESUS that it
does mean that." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 20, pp.
28-31)
And because the seven first Presidents of the
Church, Joseph Smith included had similar views on plural
marriage, as I did with hundreds of other Church members
before him, I asked Robert why for example, would the most
quoted and most popular modern writer of the Church, Elder
Bruce R. McConkie, in many occasions bluntly contradicted the
original teachings. In one occasion Elder McConkie said:
"Plural marriage is not essential to salvation or exaltation."
Because he dedicated his life to a cause he must have
believed in, I have much respect for Elder McConkie who
completed a mission for the Church in the eastern United
States from 1934 to 1936. In 1946, at the age of thirty-one,
he left a legal career when called to serve as a member of the
First Council of the Seventy. Previously he had served four
years during World War II as a U.S. Army security and
intelligence officer. From 1961 to 1964 he was president of
the Southern Australian Mission. A student of the scriptures
from his youth, Elder McConkie became an energetic and
insightful writer and was the author of several challenging
books on gospel-related subjects. Elder McConkie had battled
cancer for over sixteen months. After surgery in January 1984,
doctors told him he had only a short time to live. Elder Bruce
R. McConkie, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
from 1972, died April 19, 1985, at his home.
Though I
respect very much the fact that he may have dedicated his life
to the Church and done many good deeds for many people,
however, some of Elder McConkie's writings contradict Joseph
Smith's.
In the same manner hundreds of other Church
members in the past reacted to my questions, President Robert
Gaudreau could not accept that Elder Bruce R. McConkie may
have been contradicting the teachings of the seven first
prophets of the Church.
Not only D.&C. 132: 29-66
don't support McConkie's theory but certainly challenges it.
It predicates, it proclaims the law of plural marriages and
concubines, as been the eternal and unchangeable law of the
priesthood of God, established before our world was. According
to D.&C.: 132, the law of plural wives and concubines was
in force from the beginning of the creation to the time of
Joseph Smith.
In D. & C. 49: 15_17, Joseph Smith
did not suggest that a man should have only one wife at a
time, unless by revelation the Lord commands plurality of
wives in the new and everlasting covenant, as Elder McConkie
understood but simply declare that whoever prohibit or
interdict to marry is not ordained of God, because marriage is
ordained of God unto man, verse 16: "Wherefore, it is
lawful,(it is legal) that a man have one wife". And for what
Joseph said in DC. 132, one wife should be a minimum not a
maximum.
According to Joseph Smith, Doctrine and
Covenants Section 132, was given to him as an answer
subsequent to his long investigation to know and understand
wherein the Lord, justified His servants Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, as pertaining to the
principle and doctrine of having many wives and concubines.
(Verses 1-2). D.&C.: 132 is the eternal law of the
priesthood of God regarding plural marriage; this law was
ordained by Christ and His Father before the world was, and
like requested for any other covenants, contracts, bonds,
obligations, oaths, vows, etc., to be valid for all eternity
plural marriage should be sealed by that new and everlasting
covenant, by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is
anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity.
Only one can be right, is it Joseph Smith or Jacob? It
is inconceivable that a perfect God will command His people,
to do an abomination on a regular basis. And its obvious that
the Lord will not contradict himself, He would not tell Jacob
that plurality of wives is an abomination and then tell Joseph
Smith that it is not an abomination except in cases like the
case of Uriah and his wife (for David), and for the forbidden
women of Solomon.
Joseph Smith, Jun., was born
December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont. During
his early life he moved with his family to Manchester, in
western New York. It was while he was living near Manchester
in the spring of 1820, when he was fourteen years of age, that
he experienced his first vision, in which God, the Eternal
Father, and his Son Jesus Christ would have visited him in
person. Joseph would have been told in this vision that the
true Church of Jesus Christ that had been established in New
Testament times, and which had administered the fullness of
the gospel, was no longer on the earth. Other divine
manifestations followed in which he would have been taught by
many angels; according to Joseph, it was shown to him that God
had a special work for him to do on the earth, and that
through him the Church of Jesus Christ would be restored to
the earth.
In the course of time Joseph Smith would
have been enabled by divine assistance to translate and
publish the Book of Mormon. Again according to Joseph, in the
meantime he and Oliver Cowdery were ordained to the Aaronic
Priesthood by John the Baptist in May 1829 (D&C 13), and
soon thereafter they were also ordained to the Melchizedek
Priesthood by the ancient apostles Peter, James, and John
(D&C 27: 12). Other ordinations followed in which
priesthood keys were conferred upon them by Moses, Elijah,
Elias, and many ancient prophets (D&C 110; 128: 18, 21).
These ordinations would have been, in fact, a restoration of
divine authority to man on the earth. On April 6, 1830, under
heavenly direction, the Prophet Joseph Smith organized the
Church, and thus the true Church of Jesus Christ would be once
again operative as an institution among men, with authority to
teach the gospel and administer the ordinances of salvation.
(See Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith-History 1: 1-75;
D&C 20.)
Several of the earlier sections involve
matters regarding the translation and publication of the Book
of Mormon (see Sections 3, 5, 10, 17, 19). Some later sections
reflect the work of the Prophet Joseph Smith in making an
inspired translation of the Bible, during which many of the
great doctrinal sections were received (see, for example,
Sections 37, 45, 73, 76, 77, 86, 91, and 132, each of which
has some direct relationship to the Bible translation).
In the revelations the doctrines of the gospel are set
forth with explanations about such fundamental matters as the
nature of the Godhead, the origin of man, the reality of
Satan, the purpose of mortality, the necessity for obedience,
the need for repentance, the workings of the Holy Spirit, the
ordinances and performances that pertain to salvation, the
destiny of the earth, the future conditions of man after the
resurrection and the judgment, the eternity of the marriage
relationship, and the eternal nature of the family and much
more.
A number of the revelations were published in
Zion (Independence), Missouri, in 1833, under the title "A Book
of Commandments for the Government of the Church of Christ".
Concerning this publication the elders of the Church gave
solemn testimony that the Lord had borne record to their souls
that these revelations were true. As the Lord continued to
communicate with his servants, an enlarged compilation was
published two years later in Kirtland, Ohio, with the title
"Doctrine and Covenants" of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
But D.&C. don't reveal that plural marriage is not
essential to salvation or exaltation as McConkie informed the
Church, and in all their writings, Nephi and his people never
mentioned that they were denied the power to have more than
one wife and yet could have gained every eternal blessing that
the Lord ever offered to any of His people as McConkie said.
Nowhere in D.&C. 132:1-28, or in D.&C. 132: 29-66 we
will come across declarations that could lead us to believe
that in our day, the Lord summarized by revelation the whole
doctrine of exaltation and predicated it upon the marriage of
one man to one woman, as Elder Bruce R. McConkie inform the
Church.
In 1887, the U. S. Congress forced the
Church, to terminate the practice of plural marriage:
All that confusion emerged after some leaders
became confused by two conflicting responsibilities after
1890. On one hand they had to teach members to obey a new
legislative law established by the US government and on the
other they felt obligated to obey the Lord's words in D &
C 132. And they found Jacob 2: 26-30, the one and only prophet
that from all the Scripture used by the Church may have, (in
four lines only), brought the ultimate solution to their
problem.
In 1887, the U. S. Congress forced the
Church, to terminate the practice of plural marriage, and in
1890, President Wilford Woodruff presented the manifesto,
which forced the Church members to comply with the new law
imposed by the U. S. Congress. Soon after, perhaps by fear of
government retaliation, a small number of the succeeding
leaders of the Church lead the Church into ambiguous
teachings, that created confusion among the members to the
point that today, it is almost impossible to find a Church
member that will openly talk about it.
"The Manifesto"
of 1890 was a proclamation by President Wilford Woodruff that
declared that under the inspiration of God, the Church had
discontinued plural marriage. It ended a decade of persecution
and hardship in which Latter-day Saints stubbornly resisted
what they saw as unconstitutional federal attempts to restrain
polygamy. While today's Church members often refer to the
Manifesto as a simple revelation that resulted from the
goodwill of God, the declaration was actually a press release
that followed the unbearable situation produced by the
application of the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887.
The
United States government has constitutional power to enact
laws governing territories, and under that authority Congress
enacted the Morrill Act (1862), making bigamy in a territory a
crime punishable by a fine and five years in prison. The
statute was upheld in Reynolds v. United States (1879),
although the defendant argued that the law violated the First
Amendment guarantee of the free exercise of religion.
The U.S. Congress passed the Edmunds-Tucker Act in
February 1887. This statute disincorporated the Mormon Church
and seized its property with the exception of buildings used
exclusively for worship and even threatened seizure of its
temples. (Edmunds-Tucker also tied up several minor loopholes
from the Edmunds act). The church sponsored many business
ventures during this time period. Most of its property where
business, so this new law was a deadly blow to the church. On
May 19, 1890, the Supreme Court upheld the Edmund-Tucker Act
in a lawsuit aptly named "The Late Corporation of the Mormon
Church v. United States." It became clear that plural marriage
was leading toward the economic and political destruction of
the Church.
About 1,300 LDS men who had practiced
plural marriage were jailed by federal officers pursuant to
the Edmunds Act (1882) and many women were found "in contempt
of court" and jailed in the Utah penitentiary in 1885, for
refusing to testify against their husbands.
Few
Mormons were prosecuted for bigamy because the government had
difficulty obtaining testimony about plural wedding
ceremonies. Rather, they were charged with bigamous
cohabitation, a misdemeanor created by the Edmunds Act (1882).
Proving cohabitation was easy enough, and over 1,300
Latter-day Saints were jailed as "cohabs" in the 1880s.
Women had lost their right to vote under provisions of
the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887 and would not regain it until
ratification of the new state constitution in the fall of
1895.)
Following the passage of the Edmunds-Tucker Act
in 1887, the Church found it difficult to operate as a viable
institution and after the new U. S. Congress law the Church
terminated the practice of plural marriage. Soon after, some
Church leaders led the members to believe that plurality of
wives ended not through the new law imposed by the U. S.
Congress but through the good will of God, whom can revoke any
laws as he pleases.
Abraham had 3 wives:
A faithful friend of God and
father of the Hebrew nation; Abraham had 3 wives - Sarah,
Hagar and Keturah. "Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no
children: and she had an Egyptian handmaid, whose name was
Hagar." Genesis 16:1
"And Sarai Abram's wife took
Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years
in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be
his wife." Genesis 16:3
"Then again Abraham took a
wife, and her name was Keturah." Genesis 25:1
Did not
the Lord already command His servants to have many wives and
concubines? Did He not already rise up a seed for himself by
the means of Abraham's and his descendant's and their many
wives and concubine's seeds? Seeds that were to continue as
long as they were in the world; and out of the world, and as
innumerable as the stars. DC. 132.
The book of Abraham
as restored by Joseph Smith autobiographically recounts
Abraham's early life, explaining why he was singled out as the
main recipient of divine promises for the blessing of mankind.
Not only had he been foreordained in premortal life (Abr.
3:23; cf. Apocalypse of Abraham 22:1-5) but as a young man in
Ur he opposed idolatry and human sacrifice.
After
marrying Sarah and learning of his lineal right to the
patriarchal order of the priesthood as disclosed in the
"records of the fathers" (Abr. 1:2-4, 26, 31; 2:2; Jubilees
12:27; cf. D&C 107:40-57), Abraham traveled to Haran,
where he apparently received his ordination (Abr. 2:9-11; WJS,
pp. 245, 303). He also saw the Lord, who gave him remarkable
promises: Abraham would be blessed above measure; his
posterity would carry the gospel to all nations; and all who
received it would bear his name, be accounted his posterity,
and bless him as their father (Abr. 2:6-11; cf. Gen. 12:1-3).
Accompanied by their converts, Abraham and Sarah proceeded to
Canaan (Abr. 2:15; Genesis Rabbah 39:14). Famine soon forced
them to Egypt, but not before God commanded Abraham to ask
Sarah to pose as his sister (Abr. 2:22-25; Genesis Apocryphon
19:14-21), and then showed him a vision of the cosmos and
creation so that he could teach these things to the Egyptians
(Abr. 3- 5; cf. Sefer Yetsirah).
DC 132:30 30
Abraham received promises concerning his seed, and of the
fruit of his loins--from whose loins ye are, namely, my
servant Joseph--which were to continue so long as they were in
the world; and as touching Abraham and his seed, out of the
world they should continue; both in the world and out of the
world should they continue as innumerable as the stars; or, if
ye were to count the sand upon the seashore ye could not
number them.
DC 132:37 37 Abraham received
concubines, and they bore him children; and it was accounted
unto him for righteousness, because they were given unto him,
and he abode in my law; as Isaac also and Jacob (from the Bible) did none other
things than that which they were commanded; and because they
did none other things than that which they were commanded,
they have entered into their exaltation, according to the
promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are
gods.
When and where in the Bible or in the Book of
Mormon or in any other books used by the Church do we find
that the Lord has revoked His promise to Abraham concerning
raising up a seed for himself by the means of Abraham and his
descendant's many wives and concubines, as McConkie and other
modern prophets teach? There is no Scriptures
supporting this idea.
Brigham Young, the second
spiritual leader and President of the Church and the governor
of the State of Utah when it was admitted to the United States
made this statement on August 19, 1866: "THE ONLY MEN who
become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into
polygamy." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 11, page 269)
On another occasion President Brigham Young warned the
members: "NOW IF ANY OF YOU WILL DENY the plurality of wives
and continue to do so, I PROMISE THAT YOU WILL BE DAMMED. . .
" (Deseret News, November 14, 1855.
After firmly
declaring that he find no contradictions in the teachings
mentioned above, like most of today's Church members President
Robert Gaudreau bluntly supports Elder Bruce R. McConkie's
teachings over the teachings of Joseph Smith, Joseph F.
Smith's and Brigham Young's mentioned above.
I fully
understand and endorse the fact that Church members should
obey the law of the land until plural marriage and concubines
become legal practice in the America (if it ever happenes) but
fidelity to the teachings of Joseph Smith is a must for the
Church if they believe Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God.
I understand that they may find themselves in a very strange
situation but completely repudiate the doctrine of polygamy as
they are today is to deny Joseph Smith's integrity. I hope
they are not contemplating to removing the revelation (DC:
132) from the Doctrine and Covenants because it would be
admitting that Joseph Smith was a deceiver, and that the
church was founded on fraud.
They may believe that
vigorously defending Joseph Smith's teachings would probably
encourage Church members to enter into the practice, which
would bring disgrace upon the church. I understand that they
maybe in a very strange situation for on the one hand, they
must teach the members to obey the law of the land, but on the
other, they must protect the teachings of Joseph Smith.
Altering or overlooking the teachings of Joseph Smith is
certainly not the solution if they wish to maintain Joseph
Smith's credibility. According to me, deliberately attempting
to mask the first seven presidents of the church that
practiced polygamy is an absolute unnecessary reaction. I
believe that if they were informed, if members knew the truth
about what really happened to the practice of plural marriage,
Church members would abide by the US government's law.
If, as they proclaim, the leaders of the Church believe Joseph Smith was
one of the great prophets of God, how after reading DC. 132,
could they say that they don't understand why the Lord
commanded the practice of plural marriage? How can they
believe that the law of plural marriage was given to Joseph
Smith as a means of trying and refining the people via the
persecution that followed?
John A. Widtsoe, Evidences
and Reconciliations, Pg.393 "We do not understand why the
Lord commanded the practice of plural marriage. Some have
suggested that it was a means of trying and refining the
people through the persecution that followed".
Instead
of supporting Joseph Smith, they led the members to believe
that Joseph made a shameful mistake when establishing the law
of plurality of wives. Don't they believe that the Lord
himself gave Joseph the law of His Holy Priesthood as
himself and His Father ordained it before the world was? In
verse 29, Joseph said that Abraham received all things,
whatsoever he received, including his many wives and
concubines by revelation and commandment. Speaking to Joseph the Lord said:
Verse 32 accordingly, go and do the works of Abraham; enter
into my law (receive many wives and concubines!) and you shall
be saved. 33 But if you enter not into my law, (if you do not
take many wives and concubines), you cannot receive the
promise of my Father, which he made unto Abraham.
John
Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom,
Pg.87 said: "As the gospel is a principle that emanates from
God, like its author, it is "the same yesterday, today, and
for ever -- "eternal and unchangeable."
To revoke, to cancel and to restore an eternal and
unchangeable law is a paradox. If the law of the priesthood
that governs the practice of plural marriage as stated in
D&C 132, could be revoked it would not be the same
yesterday, today, and forever. If it could be restored, it was
not there yesterday and might not be there tomorrow and
forever, consequently would not be eternal and unchangeable.
During the seven years I was an active member of the
Church, I never heard anyone giving the actual reason why the
Lord revoked the law of plural wives. The Church teaches that
it ended through a revelation from the Lord, that the Lord
brought an end to this program, that the Lord officially
outlawed polygamy. They lead the members to believe that God
ended plural marriage because it simply pleased Him. Although
according to some leaders plural marriage would have been an
abomination before the Lord, they teach that from Adam to this
day, at various times in certain dispensations, the Lord
permitted plurality of wives otherwise it was prohibited. No
wonder the members are confused, no wonder they will not
openly talk about it.
President Wilford Woodruff gives the true reason for removing the practice of plural marriage:
President Wilford Woodruff said
that he revoked the law of plural wives under God's
inspiration. He saw by the inspiration of Almighty God what
would have happened to the Church if he did not put an end to
plural marriage. He knew that something had to be done to ward
off the affliction that he saw approaching. He said that he
might have let happen what God showed him by revelation and
vision. He might have lived in the flesh and permitted these
things to happen; he might have let the temples go in the
hands of the enemies; let every temple and all Church property
be confiscated by the government. Let the people - prophets
and apostles be put in jail, and the wives and children
scattered to the four winds of heaven, if Almighty God had not
commanded him to do what he did, but President Woodruff was
clear, the Lord was not pleased to terminate the practice of
plural marriage.
After the abolition of plural
marriage, the confiscated properties of the Church were
restored. Utah became a state of the Union. The growth of the
Church increased.
Why can't they say the truth, why
can't they say that (under the inspiration of God), after
foreseeing the destruction of the Church President Woodruff
put an end to plural marriage? Why can't they say that
President Woodruff could not let every temple and all Church
property be confiscated by the government, let the people -
prophets and apostles be put in jail, and the wives and
children scattered to the four winds of heaven. Here are the
exact words of Wilford Woodruff:
The Discourses of
Wilford Woodruff, Pg.217 FROM THE SERMON BY PRESIDENT
WILFORD WOODRUFF AT THE FOURTH SESSION OF DEDICATION
SERVICES OF THE SALT LAKE TEMPLE APRIL, 1893:
"I feel
disposed to say something with regard to the Manifesto. To
begin with, I will say this work was like a mountain upon me.
I saw by the inspiration of Almighty God what lay before this
people, and I knew that something had to be done to ward off
the blow that I saw impending. But I should have let come to
pass what God showed me by revelation and vision; I should
have lived in the flesh and permitted these things to come to
pass; I should have let this temple go into the hands of our
enemies; I should have let every temple be confiscated by the
hands of the wicked; I should have permitted all Church
property to have been confiscated by our enemies; I should
have seen these people -- prophets and apostles -- driven by
our enemies, and our wives and children scattered to the four
winds of heaven. I should have seen all this had not Almighty
God commanded me to do what I did."
"Inasmuch as laws
have been enacted by Congress forbidding plural marriages,
which laws have been pronounced constitutional by the court of
last resort, I [President Wilford Woodruff] hereby declare my
intention to submit to those laws, and to use my influence
with the members of the Church over which I preside to have
them do likewise."
In the course of a sermon
immediately following the proclaiming of the manifesto,
President Woodruff said regarding the action taken: "I have
done my duty, and the nation of which we form a part must
be responsible for that which has been done in relation to
that principle"
Excerpts from Addresses by
President Wilford Woodruff Regarding the Manifesto
The
Lord has told me to ask the Latter-day Saints a question, and
He also told me that if they would listen to what I said to
them and answer the question put to them by the Spirit and
power of God, they would all answer alike, and they would all
believe alike with regard to this matter. The question is
this: Which is the wisest course for the Latter-day Saints to
pursue--to continue to attempt to practice plural marriage,
with the laws of the nation against it and the opposition of
sixty millions of people, and at the cost of the confiscation
and loss of all the Temples, and the stopping of all the
ordinances therein, both for the living and the dead, and the
imprisonment of the First Presidency and Twelve and the heads
of families in the Church, and the confiscation of personal
property of the people (all of which of themselves would stop
the practice); or, after doing and suffering what we have
through our adherence to this principle to cease the practice
and submit to the law, and through doing so leave the
Prophets, Apostles, and fathers at home, so that they can
instruct the people and attend to the duties of the Church,
and also leave the Temples in the hands of the Saints, so that
they can attend to the ordinances of the Gospel, both for the
living and the dead? The Lord showed me by vision and
revelation exactly what would take place if we did not stop
this practice. If we had not stopped it, you would have had no
use for...any of the men in this temple at Logan; for all
ordinances would be stopped throughout the land of Zion.
Confusion would reign throughout Israel, and many men would be
made prisoners. This trouble would have come upon the whole
church, and we should have been compelled to stop the
practice. Now, the question is, whether it should be stopped
in this manner, or in the way the Lord has manifested to us,
and leave our Prophets and Apostles and fathers free men, and
the temples in the hands of the people, so that the dead may
be redeemed. A large number has already been delivered from
the prison house in the spirit world by this people, and shall
the work go on or stop? This is the question I lay before
the Latter-day Saints. You have to judge for yourselves.
I want you to answer it for yourselves. I shall not
answer it; but I say to you that that is exactly the
condition we as a people would have been in had we not
taken the course we have. ...I saw exactly what
would come to pass if there was not something done.
I have had this spirit upon me for a long time. But I
want to say this: I should have let all the temples go
out of our hands; I should have gone to prison myself, and let
every other man go there, had not the God of heaven
commanded me to do what I did do; and when the hour
came that I was commanded to do that, it was all clear to me.
I went before the Lord, and I wrote what the Lord told me to
write... I leave this with you, for you to contemplate and
consider. The Lord is at work with us. (Cache Stake
Conference, Logan, Utah, Sunday, November 1, 1891. Reported in
Deseret Weekly, November 14, 1891.)
Antipolygamy
legislation also put pressure on the Church by threatening
members' civil rights and Church property rights. The Edmunds
Act barred persons living in polygamy from jury service,
public office, and voting. The Edmunds-Tucker Act (1887)
disincorporated both the Church and the Perpetual Emigrating
Fund on the ground that they fostered polygamy. Furthermore,
it authorized seizure of Church real estate not directly used
for religious purposes, and acquired in excess of a $50,000
limitation imposed by the Morrill Act. In the Idaho Territory
a test oath adopted in 1885 was used to ban all Mormons (and
former Mormons) from voting because of the Church's position
on polygamy.
Congress passed a final federal
antibigamy provision in 1892, which excluded polygamists from
immigration into the United States. This exclusion remains
part of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Code. Utah,
Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona incorporated antibigamy
provisions into their turn-of-the-century state constitutions
as required by Congress for admission to the Union. Idaho's
Constitution not only outlaws bigamy but also bars polygamists
and persons "celestially married" from public office and
voting. However, that was interpreted in Budge v. Toncray by
the Idaho court not to include monogamous Mormons married in
an LDS temple.
Federal and state governments have
prosecuted other polygamists under a variety of general
statutes. Federal officials have filed cases against
polygamists charging unlawful use of the mail service to proselytize
for polygamy and alleging that moving plural wives across
state boundaries violates laws against interstate kidnapping
and interstate transportation of women for immoral purposes.
Polygamists have also had legal troubles with state laws about
adoption, inheritance, and government employment. Changing
social attitudes about unconventional personal relationships
may undermine the use of legislation in this way. For example,
in 1988 an Arizona court held that it was illegal to deny a
law enforcement security bond to an admitted polygamist merely
because of his marital status.
Who wrote the
Manifesto? When asked about it at the witness stand, a
secretary in the First Presidency's office, George Reynolds,
testified in 1904, "I assisted to write it," in collaboration
with Charles W. Penrose and John R. Winder who "transcribed
the notes and changed the language slightly to adapt it for
publication." Moving far beyond that statement, John W.
Woolley told his polygamist followers in the 1920s that "Judge
Zane [a non- Mormon] had as much to do with it [the Manifesto]
as President Wilford Woodruff except to sign it," and Lorin C.
Woolley told Mormon Fundamentalists that President Wilford
Woodruff was not the author of the Manifesto but that it was
actually written by Charles W. Penrose, Frank J. Cannon, and
"John H. White, the butcher," revised by non-Mormon federal
officials, and that President Woodruff merely signed it.
Moreover, Woolley and his Fundamentalist followers have
accused George Q. Cannon of pressuring Presidents Taylor and
Woodruff to write a manifesto abandoning plural marriage, and
at least one Fundamentalist called him "The Great Mormon
Judas."
Personally I never found any declarations made
by President Woodruff that would state that he himself had
written or even dictated all the words of the Manifesto. The
following words of President Woodruff speaks clear and loud:
"I have done my duty, AND THE NATION OF WHICH WE FORM A
PART, (MUST) be responsible for that which has been done in
relation to this principle" (i.e., plural marriage).
Not once in the Bible, in the Old Testament or the New
Testament, the Lord revoked the law of plural wives and
concubines given to the old prophets. Paul said that a bishop
must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober,
of good behavior etc. Some believe that in that verse Paul
instructed Timothy that a bishop must have only one
wife, but if Paul wanted to say the word only he would
have said it, but did not. Paul said: "A bishop then must be
blameless, the husband of one wife. The same for verse 12,
instead of saying: Let the deacons be the husbands of one
wife, Paul would have said: Let the deacons be the husbands of
only one wife. And also in Titus 1:6. Anything else is
pure speculation.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie gave one of
the best statements supporting the unchangeable eternal laws
of the priesthood of God, when he said that no one should
believe that an eternal and unchangeable God saves one soul on
one set of standards and save another soul in some other
standards. The Promised Messiah, Pg.286 - Pg.287
When interviewed by Larry King on his position
concerning what should be done now, today, to the principle of
plural marriage (that according to the Church), was
established by the Lord Himself true His Prophet Joseph Smith,
Hinckley spoke vaguely. When asked by King if he condemns it;
dodging, he erroneously said yes, as a practice, or in other
words: Yes I condemn it, when put into practice, because I
think plurality of wives is not doctrinal. Did
anyone yet condemned plural marriage when it was not put into
practice?
Larry King: You condemn it. Gordon B.
Hinckley: I condemn it, yes, as a practice, because I think it
is not doctrinal. It is not legal. And this church takes the
position that we will abide by the law. We believe in being
subject to kings, presidents, rulers, magistrates in honoring,
obeying and sustaining the law.
Hinckley is absolutely
right, the Church took the position of being subject to kings,
presidents, rulers, magistrates etc. and obeying and
sustaining the law of the land, but unless Henckley has
already rejected Section 132 of the Book of Doctrine and
Covenants, he is incorrectly interpreting the doctrinal part.
See what D&C says concerning the eternal and unchangeable
law of the priesthood on the doctrine of plural marriage:
61 And again, as pertaining to the law of the
priesthood-if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to
espouse another, and the first give her consent, and if he
espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no
other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for
they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with
that that belongeth unto him and to no one else. 62 And
if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law,
he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they
are given unto him; therefore is he justified.
DEFINITIONS. Joseph Smith defined the priesthood as
an everlasting principle, [which has] existed with God from
eternity, and will to eternity, without beginning of days or
end of years….
As long as Hinckley will reject the
basics teachings of the founders of what he believe to be the
only true Church of God established by Christ Himself true His
Prophet Joseph Smith, no wonder he will avoid questions like:
"Do human become gods and was God the Father once a man?"
In the case of loosing their argument
against Joseph Smith's declaration they could always blame The
U. S. Congress for their actions. But remember that The U. S.
Congress never forced the Church to deny the teachings of
Joseph Smith but simply forced them to obey the law of the
land concerning the practice of plural marriage.
I
trust that many of the books from which I took quotes from
will become collection items for it's now only a matter of
time, and they will be altered or removed from the Church
bookstores.
Because when answering my
questions Robert spend much of his valuable time writing long
letters full of inspiring but irrelevant materials and
referring to the same irrelevant materials every time he kept
repeating that he had already answered my questions, I asked
that he give me shorter and clearer answers, even by a simple
yes or no when it is possible.
Knowing the true is
essential before handing over a large portion of our life as
requested by that Church. The philosophy of "the truth"
consists in some form of correspondence or association between
proposition, belief, and so on. If I say that the earth
revolves around the sun you may trust my words and never know
for yourself if it is true or not or you may put together your
own scientific research and prove it to be factual. If I say
snow is white, unless you never saw snow you will trust my own
words for it is obvious. I believe knowing the truth of one
particular object establishes a feeling of self-assurance in our
progression toward more knowledge.
Henry D. Moyle,
Conference Report, April 1963, Pg.45 Whatever the
population may be now or hereafter, truth will remain
constant. To know the truth will make us free. Truth is
eternal. We must seek truth at its source. Truth emanates from
God....
Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, October
1961, Pg.74 Third, we should help those who have been
deceived or who are misinformed to find the truth. Unless each
person who knows the truth will "stand up and speak up" it is
difficult for the deceived or confused citizen to find his way
back.
I believe that sooner or later the Church will
openly reject many viewpoints of the founders, Joseph Smith
and the first seven prophets that presented D&C 132, as
the Lord's true words, and clearly recognize modern Church
leaders or, they will agree with the seven first prophets and
reject some of the modern philosophy, for only one theory will
survive this dispute.
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