Plural Marriage

The Bible and the Book of Mormon teach that monogamy is God’s standard for marriage unless He declares otherwise. In limited, specific cases the Lord has commanded His followers to practice plural marriage. Some of these cases occurred in biblical times.

From the early 1840s to about 1890, in response to revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints taught the practice of plural marriage, also called polygamy. Over a period of about 50 years, 20 to 30 percent of Latter-day Saint men, women, and children lived in families that practiced plural marriage.

This practice required faith and sacrifice from both men and women. It was also a cause of significant opposition toward the Church for many years. And yet the Saints were committed to keeping God’s commands and trusted that God would bless them for their obedience. Eventually, the Lord directed the Saints to discontinue the practice.

No. Latter-day Saints do not practice plural marriage today. In 1890, Church President Wilford Woodruff received a revelation prompting him to issue a statement known as the Manifesto, which instructed the Saints not to enter into more plural marriages. The ending of plural marriage took some time, but since the early 1900s, people who enter plural marriages or promote its practice cannot remain members of the Church.

Some Church members did not accept the end of plural marriage, and several small groups split off from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, forming new churches with their own leadership. Their teachings and practices do not reflect those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

No. The purpose of Heavenly Father’s plan is the eternal happiness of His children. God will not force anyone to enter or remain in a marriage relationship he or she does not want.

A man whose wife has died may be sealed to another woman when he remarries. Moreover, deceased men and women who were married more than once can be sealed vicariously to all of the spouses to whom they were legally married. The Church teaches that these family arrangements will be worked out in the eternities according to the justice, mercy, and love of God and the agency of those involved.

No. No scripture or revelation teaches that plural marriage is a requirement for exaltation nor has this been an established doctrine of the Church. In the 19th century, some Church leaders taught this idea. Since that time, however, the consistent, unanimous teaching of Church leaders is that only monogamous temple marriage is necessary for exaltation. They have also emphasized that such a marriage will eventually be available to all who worthily seek it.

Early Latter-day Saints practiced plural marriage in obedience to revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Both women and men testified of receiving powerful spiritual witnesses that it was God’s will for them to participate in this practice.

The Lord did not reveal His reasons for restoring plural marriage. However, the Book of Mormon, while prohibiting polygamy generally, explains that God sometimes commands it in order to “raise up seed unto [Him].” Plural marriage among the early Saints did result in the birth of many children into faithful Latter-day Saint families in a relatively short time. This helped to strengthen the early Church, and many Latter-day Saints today can trace their roots to those families.

Some evidence suggests that the Prophet Joseph Smith first received a revelation in the early 1830s regarding plural marriage. The revelation, written down in 1843, states that Joseph prayed to know why God justified some biblical figures in having many wives. The Lord responded that He had commanded them to do so.

The Lord also commanded Joseph Smith to practice plural marriage. Evidence suggests he married a second wife, Fanny Alger, in Kirtland, Ohio, in the mid-1830s after he had obtained her consent and that of her parents.

By the time of his death in 1844, Joseph Smith had been sealed to over 30 women. Some of these sealings were understood to take effect only after this life, while some were viewed as constituting marriage relationships in this life as well as the next.

Under Joseph Smith’s direction, other Latter-day Saints also began practicing plural marriage during his lifetime. It was among the most challenging aspects of the Restoration—for Joseph personally and for other Church members. The Saints were encouraged to seek a personal spiritual confirmation before participating.

Because plural marriage was introduced quietly, participants largely kept it private. Therefore, the sources for understanding early plural marriage are limited, and some things about it may never be fully understood.

For more on this topic, see the Gospel Topics essay “Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo.”

Joseph Smith introduced the practice, not Brigham Young. Credible contemporary sources document Joseph’s practice of plural marriage. Later, many faithful men and women who knew of Joseph’s practice of plural marriage gave sworn testimony of it.

Rather than deny this historical practice, we can apply the principles outlined in “Seeking Answers to Questions” to help us better understand it.

Emma did not leave any contemporary record of her own thoughts, feelings, or experiences related to plural marriage. According to accounts of others, Emma opposed plural marriage except for a short period of time when she consented to at least four of her husband’s plural sealings. Ultimately, she rejected the practice. Despite emotional turmoil in their marriage over this practice, Emma and Joseph remained deeply committed to one another.

Emily Partridge, who was an early plural wife of the Prophet Joseph Smith, reflected toward the end of her life on Emma’s complicated feelings about plural marriage: “I know it was hard for Emma, and any woman, to enter plural marriage in those days, and I do not know as anybody would have done any better than Emma did under the circumstances.”

The experience of living in plural marriages was different for each woman involved. Some found happiness and fulfillment while others struggled. When considering marriage practices in the past, it is helpful to remember that expectations about marriage have changed considerably since the 19th century. This is true for both polygamy and monogamy.

Participants in plural marriage understood it to be a religious practice, and they often entered it for spiritual and practical reasons. Women were free to choose whether to enter into a plural marriage. Church leaders, recognizing the challenges faced by women in plural marriages, expedited the granting of divorces to women whose marriages were unhappy.

Some women reported that plural marriage was lonely and difficult. At the same time, it allowed some to pursue education and find financial independence, often with assistance from other wives in their plural families. Ultimately, all who practiced plural marriage made sacrifices to live according to what they believed to be a commandment from God.

The ending of plural marriage was a gradual process. In 1862, the United States government began enacting a series of increasingly harsh antipolygamy laws. As a result of these legal actions, the Church faced disincorporation by 1890 and was about to lose most of its properties, including its temples.

In September 1890, after diligently seeking the Lord’s will, President Wilford Woodruff received a revelation. Following the Lord’s instructions, he issued a statement known as the Manifesto, which began the process of ending plural marriage in the Church.

Evidence suggests that only about 200 plural marriages were performed after the Manifesto. In 1904, President Joseph F. Smith issued a statement known as the Second Manifesto that affirmed the Church’s commitment to ending plural marriage. President Smith later authorized local Church leaders to seek out and withdraw the membership of those who continued to enter into or perform plural marriages.

Read more on the end of plural marriage in the Gospel Topics essay “The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage.”