Digging Deep: Seer Stones and Polygamy

At this point, I knew I'd reached the end of believing in most LDS doctrine. Here's the logical fallout:


If Joseph Smith didn't translate the Book of Abraham from the papyri, which he specifically stated he did, even kind of closely, he was not a prophet. Right? If he was not a prophet, then none of the restored gospel was actually a restored gospel, just one man's views on what a correct religion should be. Which means, especially, no priesthood, no doctrinal theology exclusive to Mormons (like the Word of Wisdom), and no temple ordinances. For days and weeks I looked for a good argument around that. Could he have been a prophet and just made a mistake? 


I really didn't want to make an error here and ruin my eternal salvation. I needed to investigate the prophet of the restoration in an objective way. In my digging, I decided to look at Joseph Smith's character based on his actions and words that were recorded by people who believed in him. Again, I chose careful sources to read. Documented, not embittered sources who stated facts that could be found in multiple places. 


First, the seer stone issue. There is not a single source that testifies Joseph Smith ever used the gold plates in the translation process. Sometimes there was a curtain drawn between him and the scribe, sometimes not, but no gold plates were ever stated to be in the room. Sometimes they were stated to definitely not be in the room. Instead, Joseph Smith used a seer stone, usually placed in a hat, to view the translated text. He said that he would see a segment of the Reformed Egyptian and then the translation in English next to it. 


Let's examine the issues I have with this.


1. If this is the case, why aren't we taught this history? Is it something to hide? It's clearly a more mystic method than just the thought of God giving him the light in his mind to understand the symbols, and we're taught that anything mystic is of the devil, so that's a bit of a conundrum and a good possible reason to hide this truth. Should we believe in mysticism, then, as good Latter-day Saints? Or only if it's from our prophet? That's how Joseph Smith started into this work. And, by the way, the LDS Church apparently still has this seer stone in their possession (see here, footnote 20, JFS). I guess it's what made Joseph a seer?


2. Apparently he didn't use the Urim and Thummim for translating the majority of the time, which can also be called seer stones of sorts. He used them for a while, but then returned to a stone he found in a well long before he got the plates because it worked better for him. And no, I'm not documenting all of this as I go along because that's not the point of this blog and you can do your own research. It's all over the place. But just comment if you need to know where I got any information. 


3. This seer stone he used for translating the Book of Mormon was the same one he used on several occasions to help others try to locate buried treasure to dig up, a common practice at the time because of old stories passed around. He was never successful. (There are court records stating he was a glass-looker, from when he was charged for falsely claiming he could find treasure. Somewhere between 1826-1830.) So if the seer stone works for revelations, why wasn't he able to get any treasure? If it doesn't, why did he use it to write the Book of Mormon. Confusing? Yes. A little infuriating, actually. Still, not grounds for dismissal by itself.


Next I decided to enter into the unpleasant research of polygamy in the Church. I've never cared for this doctrine, along with many other members, but had just chosen to ignore it, so I didn't know the full history. This is the whole of what I'd been taught: Joseph Smith had been given a revelation that said he needed to teach and practice polygamy, but he was reluctant (out of his love for Emma, most likely). He neglected this practice until an angel came with a sword and threatened to destroy him and take the church from his hands or the earth unless he started practicing it. Also, some women were sealed to him after he died.


So, to test my knowledge, I began reading. I'd accidentally stumbled upon this gem of a story in my early searching, but it seemed not only sensational but too unreliable to trust, so I hadn't weighed it in my earlier evidence against Joseph Smith. It's probably that article that got me thinking I should return to the topic. (By the way, there is insufficient evidence to absolutely state that Lucinda Morgan Harris was one of Joseph Smith's plural wives.)


Here's some of what I discovered:


1. Joseph Smith was married to between 28 and 53 women while he was alive (depending on the source), Emma Smith being one of them. There are records of marriages and sealings on the Church temple records, as well as affidavits by early members of the Church. Emma denied to her dying day (including on her deathbed) that Joseph Smith was engaged in polygamy, and stated, 

No such thing as polygamy, or spiritual wifery, was taught, publicly or privately, before my husband's death, that I have now, or ever had any knowledge of...He had no other wife but me; nor did he to my knowledge ever have.

She said she learned about it from Orson Pratt's 1853 book The Seer, 9 years after her prophet-husband had died.


2. The reason Emma Smith could possibly have been justified in saying this is that polygamy was only practiced in secret during Joseph Smith's lifetime, and by very few, and Joseph Smith publicly declared it to be a false doctrine several times to the general public. This statement was published in the Times and Seasons in October of 1842:

All legal contracts of marriage made before a person is baptized into this church, should be held sacred and fulfilled. 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 one woman, but one husband, except in the case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.

3. Some of Joseph Smith's plural wives were already married to other men when he told them he'd been commanded by God to marry them. By some, I mean at least 5. He also "tested" some of the Twelve by commanding them to let him marry their wives. When they finally agreed, he would tell them he didn't need to, but he'd needed to see where their loyalty was. (I always wondered why Brigham Young was known for doing things like this later and always found it despicable.)


4. Many of Joseph Smith's wives were teenagers when he married them, the youngest being Helen Mar Kimball, who was told she was ensuring the exaltation of all of her family. She was 14 and Joseph Smith was 37 at the time. Several other wives were 16 or 17 when they were married to him. Some were much older.


5. Some of Joseph Smith's plural wives were married to Brigham Young or other leaders in the Church once they traveled to Utah.


6. The general membership of the church was unaware of any revelation on polygamy until Brigham Young announced it at a general priesthood meeting in August of 1852. He said he had a copy of the 1843 revelation declaring the principle, but that the original had been burnt by Emma Smith, who he said was against the practice. 


7. Some LDS historians believe the revelation was actually given in 1831, which more comfortably precedes any polygamist actions by at least two and maybe seven years. However, this controversial (and as yet, to my ability, unsubstantiated) revelation declares that the leaders of the church ought to be marrying the descendants of the Nephites and Lamanites through the use of polygamy.


So, did Joseph Smith actually declare a revelation or write one down somewhere, or did Brigham Young pull one out of his hat to continue the practice that had begun? Why were so many 16 year olds the ones chosen of the Lord to be given to Joseph Smith? Why did he keep them all secret from Emma, especially when the 1843 revelation states that the first wife has to accept them (but also states her soul is damned if she doesn't)? Why did they all have to be secret when the members had already proven they would follow Joseph Smith and his teachings through anything? There's one story of Emma catching Joseph Smith "in the act" in the barn, and another letter of Joseph's (that was supposed to get destroyed) to one of his other wives, telling her to come over secretly that night if Emma was gone. Debatable evidence, but believable with the picture as a whole.


It was allegations of polygamy that led to Joseph Smith's death at Carthage. Someone had printed it, Joseph ordered that printing press to be destroyed, then Joseph Smith was arrested. 


Between the seer stones and the ugly mess of polygamy, Joseph Smith's character was obvious to me. He was obviously a religious man, raised in a family that believed strongly in God and in the Bible, but he got carried away with his own mysticism and power until it destroyed him and many lives around him.


I didn't wonder if there was a way for him to have messed up with the Book of Abraham anymore. That argument never made sense to me in the first place, but I felt the need to cover my bases. It's very emotional to decide against all you've ever been taught: temple sealings for eternal families, a prophet that speaks for God and guides us (nothing against the good, humble men who lead the Church today... most of them are just teaching us to be nice to each other and love God anyhow), an extra book that teaches us about Christ's ministry in the Americas, the comfort of knowing some of what was in store when we reach heaven, and what's going on there now. 


I was willing to give it up because I'm a firm believer in knowing the truth, but it was like being cut in half. Emotionally, that's what it felt like. So I dug deep. And I cried. And Jack and I talked a lot. And it was okay, even if it still hurt.