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PrevPrevious EpisodeDenver’s Outreach to Hebrews/Native Americans (Part 3 of 7)
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Why Denver Changed on Joseph’s Polygamy (Part 4 of 7)

Table of Contents: Why Denver Changed on Joseph’s Polygamy (Part 4 of 7)

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In Denver Snuffer’s book, Passing the Heavenly Gift, he argued that Joseph Smith practiced polygamy.  Since that book was written, Denver has changed his mind and now believes Joseph was a monogamist.  How did he come to change his mind?

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Denver:  The Fanny Alger stuff, and you’ve got all of these points to triangulate from. What do you make of it? I can tell you that story and make Joseph Smith an adulterer, and a plural marriage practitioner, or I can tell you that story, and I can make Joseph Smith absolutely chaste, and that what happened there was not by any stretch, a sexual liaison. Fanny Alger would have nine children from a husband.

Denver:  Joseph Smith fathered eight children through Emma Smith. They were both at the peak of their fertility when the two of them had something going on, and yet there was no progeny. There was no child. In fact, there’s no child born, that was fathered by Joseph Smith, other than the children that came through Emma Smith. So if you’re going to turn Joseph Smith into something that is akin to the narrative tour by the LDS Church, one of the questions that ought to enter into your balancing of what happened, is the absence of any progeny when you’ve got a fertile man, and you’ve got fertile women who bore children to other men, but never bore a child for Joseph Smith.  What effect ought that have on your thinking and interpretation of the historical events?

…

Denver: You consider nothing that got written down or got introduced after June 27, 1844. You are limited, absolutely, to the material that got its existence, put pen to paper before that date. Okay. What do you have? What do you have to support Joseph Smith practicing plural marriage with sexual relations with other women than Emma?

While I understand that Denver is a lawyer, it seems inapproprate to throw out all evidence after the death of Joseph Smith.  Do you agree or disagree?  Check out our conversation….

Denver changed on polygamy - Why Denver Changed on Joseph’s Polygamy (Part 4 of 7) - Mormon History Podcast
Denver Snuffer explains why he now believes Joseph didn’t practice polygamy.

Don’t miss our other conversations with Denver!

439: Denver’s Outreach to Hebrews/Native Americans

438: Is Trinity in Lectures on Faith/Book of Mormon?

437: New Scriptures in Remnant Movement

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More Podcasts with these Guests:

  • Examining Polygamy Skeptics Claims (Part 1 of 10 Mark Tensmeyer)
  • John Pratt's Spiritual Journey with Snuffer (Part 4 of 9)
  • *Why Remnant is Attractive (Part 7 of 7)
  • Remnant Movement is not a Church! (Part 6 of 7)
  • Denver's Outreach to Hebrews/Native Americans (Part 3 of 7)

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

  • Guest: Denver Snuffer
  • Denomination: Remnant Movement
  • Theology: Doctrine & Covenants, Mormon Scripture, Polygamy, Theology
  • Historical Mentions Mormon History
  • Tags: Church History, GT Podcast, iTunes, monogamy, Mormon schisms

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PrevPrevious EpisodeDenver’s Outreach to Hebrews/Native Americans (Part 3 of 7)
Next ExpisodeAscension of Brigham Young (Part 5 of 7)Next

6 Responses

  1. Brian C. Hales says:
    September 14, 2020 at 8:36 am

    Denver Snuffer’s franksness regarding his flip-flop on JS and plural marriage is curious. Snuffer turns to reductionism, that is, reducing the question of whether JS practiced plural marriage to quotes from Emma Smith and observations of no known offspring. How much better it would be if Snuffer were a transparency-ist who sought documentary transparency regarding this topic. Looking at it transparently reveals hundreds of historical evidences supporting JS introduced plural marriage among the Latter-day Saints and practiced it himself. Anyone teaching otherwise is a false teacher. Let’s not fight transparency on this subject.

  2. RickB says:
    September 14, 2020 at 11:09 am

    Thanks for weighing in on this Brian! I just shake my head when people try to defend Joseph as a monogamist. It makes no sense to me.

  3. D says:
    September 16, 2020 at 11:44 am

    Denver has to make Joseph a monogamist because he doesn’t want to introduce polygamy into his movement, but his movement is built on the idea that the people need to return to what Joseph taught and get away from modifications introduced later by Brigham Young and others. That idea wasn’t as important when he wrote the book because he was still part of the main church and didn’t have a movement yet. It has the added benefit of making Brigham Young look more radical if it wasn’t originally Joseph’s idea. Denver is not the only one who’s made this case, but that’s his motivation and why he flip flopped. He (very understandably) has no desire to start teaching it so it solves a lot of problems if he just says Joseph was a monogamist.

  4. M says:
    September 17, 2020 at 8:07 am

    Brian, to accuse Denver of fighting transparency seems odd being that he has referenced your books on this topic (in other instances). Your books are very well documented and transparent. If he was fighting transparency, he wouldn’t mention your books! He applauds your work, and just disagrees with your conclusion.

    It takes a degree of humility to allow one’s views to evolve. It takes a degree of humility to suggest that the opposing point of view could be equally persuasive. Denver never suggests that his view is the only one that makes sense. He merely suggests that there is enough plausibility to allow Joseph not be considered a sexual fiend. He champions (in other talks/writings) Joseph as such a dispenser of heavenly truth that to his mind it makes more sense that the marriages/sealings/adoptions/whatever weren’t about sexual consummation.

  5. Jared says:
    October 9, 2020 at 2:53 pm

    Denver reminds me of every guy in High Priest group who thinks he knows all the ways “the leaders are wrong” on any topic from doctrine to politics.

  6. Samuel says:
    October 6, 2021 at 2:12 pm

    Consider this. Joseph Smith did practice plural marriage in the following ways, all directed by the Lord.
    Emma was 1. temporal 2. eternal 3. consumatory and 4. Sealed (keys of eternity given)
    There are four parts of a marriage. It is well known that the symbols and rights of freemasons pertain to the temple unfoldments and that keys, tokens and names etc are part of such rights. For the case of allegory lets say a fraternity has within its ranks the keys of deciphering scripture and the master of that fraternity is giving the keys to those worthy. It does not mean that those receiving the keys are only deciphering the masters scriptures. They are given the “keys” by the master, and can be used elsewhere. This is the fourth part of marriage…..Joseph gave single and married women these keys…they were previously excluded from any such fraternal rituals but in the LDS Church women were given the eternal keys of married and “sealed-meaning a line of authority, to Joseph Smith , prior to all four parts of marriage being only allowed together. Line upon Line. My pen-name is Samuel Thomas Xavier . This has never been revealed. All four of these types of marriages together and singularly explain all activities by JS as righteous, and explain the lack of pronogy (children) the marriage to other mens wives (the keys to eternal marriage) the sealings and to who(the master originally performed sealings for all, even married wives-allowing them to participate in the rituals of eternity, later being clarified for the public to all in one marriage for the sake of clarity being unfolded to Joseph line upon line.

  • Date: September 13, 2020
  • Guest: Denver Snuffer
  • Denomination: Remnant Movement
  • Theology: Doctrine & Covenants, Mormon Scripture, Polygamy, Theology
  • Historical Mentions Mormon History
  • Tags: Church History, GT Podcast, iTunes, monogamy, Mormon schisms
  • Posted By: RickB

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Rick Bennett is the friendly, independent historian at the heart of Gospel Tangents LDS Podcast: The Best Source for Mormon History, Science, and Theology. When he isn't interviewing Mormon scholars, prophets, and others, he is teaching math and statistics at Utah Valley University. He also freelances as a research biostatistician in the fields of Dermatology and Traumatic Brian Injuries, as well as in the network television/cable T.V. industries as a sports statistician. Rick holds a Master of Statistics Degree from the University of Utah.

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