Did Emma Deny Joseph Practiced Polygamy?

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The RLDS Church was founded on the claim that Joseph Smith never practiced polygamy. Even on her death bed, Emma Smith made the startling claim to some that Joseph never practiced polygamy. Conservative bloggers such as Rock Waterman (see his post here) and even Denver Snuffer have made the claim that Joseph Smith was a monogamist. However, current RLDS Church prophet/president Stephen Veazey has made the claim that historical records show that Joseph Smith did practice polygamy. What does Dr. Brian Hales believe about these allegations about monogamy and Joseph Smith?

I have an article that I have been pitching to different people to publish on the denials. To be quite honest with you, there are at least two other denials that clearly were not senility, were clearly not specially phrased questions where Emma just comes right out and they’re fairly well documented, said “Joseph did not practice polygamy.”

How do I deal with that? I don’t know. I do not have a good explanation. I think Emma was an amazing woman. I look forward to meeting her someday. You know in our theology that’s a possibility. She had the worst row to hoe of all the polygamist wives in my view. She did remarkably well. She stumbled, but I believe there’s plenty of forgiveness on these things for her, but I honestly don’t know how she was able to say these things that she said. Hopefully these will be published. I’ve put them together, I just haven’t got them published yet. It’s pretty clear that she just denied it flat out. I don’t know how she made that work for her, but they’re there.

I also asked Brian how he deals with the idea that Joseph practiced only monogamy.

Brian: You know it’s interesting, Rick, that you would bring that up because by the time this interview is aired, The Interpreter {a Mormon history journal} will have published a very long article that I have written where I don’t just give evidence that Joseph did it, but I actually attack the arguments by, I mention Rock Waterman, I mention the Prices, and then Denver Snuffer who is in my view just the latest false prophet. Remember I started looking at Mormon fundamentalism and I documented and wrote articles on men or came as great leaders who came for this reason or that reason and then they just fall by the wayside. There’s a number of these that I talk about in my book. I think Denver is just the latest in all of this type of a pattern.

For those who have questions, the easiest way probably to detect Denver is he said Joseph didn’t practice polygamy, and then just look at the evidence. I outline it all here. It is true that most of the evidence that Joseph practiced plural marriage is from late sources, but not all of it. The Nauvoo Expositor states right in there that Joseph Smith had a revelation. It was read to the high council. We’ve got testimonials from William Law and Jane Law saying that Joseph was teaching polygamy. These are contemporaneous. There are entries in William Clayton’s journal. John C. Bennett clearly had heard some rumors. I don’t know that he was ever in confidence of Joseph with it. But to say that it’s all old is not true. There are some very important contemporaneous sources.

What do you think of the arguments Brian makes against monogamy? (As a reminder, this is part 10 of our conversation with Brian. Check out parts 1–9 to learn the facts behind polygamy.) Look below for a video and transcript.

https://gospeltangents.com/shop/transcripts/emma-denied-joseph-practiced-polygamy/

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Get more information on the people and things discussed in this episode:

Guest: Brian Hales, Denver Snuffer
Theology: Polygamy, Sealing
Historical Mentions Joseph Smith, Mormon History, Prices, Rock Waterman
Tags: Brian Hales, Denver Snuffer, GT Podcast, iTunes, Joseph Smith, monogamy, Prices, Rock Waterman

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Date: July 6, 2017
Guest: Brian Hales, Denver Snuffer
Theology: Polygamy, Sealing
Historical Mentions Joseph Smith, Mormon History, Prices, Rock Waterman
Tags: Brian Hales, Denver Snuffer, GT Podcast, iTunes, Joseph Smith, monogamy, Prices, Rock Waterman
Posted By: RickB

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