Here are more comments that we have received from readers of this website blog:
Comment #1: “Joseph Smith was sinning when he instituted/practiced polygamy.” I was taught that Joseph Smith was practically perfect, so how can I reconcile this with his practice of plural marriage?” Carlie S.
Response: In different periods of time the Lord has instituted the law of polygamy, or multiple wives, for what purpose he does not always reveal to us. Abraham had multiple wives (Genesis 11:29; 25:6; 16:3; 25:1, I Chronicles 1:32), as did Jacob (Genesis 29:23-30; 30:4-9; 32:22), and Moses (Exodus 2:21; Numbers 12:1; Judges 4:11), Gideon (Judges 8:30), Lamech (Genesis 4:19), Elkianah (1 Samuel 1:1-2) and several other prominent men in the Old Testament, such as David and Solomon.
In fact, in speaking through the prophet Nathan, the Lord said that if David’s wives and concubines were not enough, He would have given David even more (2 Samuel 12:7-8). Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines (wives of a lower status) 1 Kings 11:3). Under the Levirate Law, the law of God given to Moses, which Jesus said is eternal and would never go away (Matthew 5:17-18, Luke 16:17), never ever cited or mentioned a ban against polygamy to the great, humble men of God.
This same law, given Moses as an eternal guideline of right and wrong to the world, sets forth provisions from God for polygamy, even provisions for the children in the cases where a man had two or more wives. “If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated: Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn: But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his” (Deuteronomy 21:15-17).
The Word of God plainly makes it clear that all the children of such marriages are not illegitimate, but rather, are very legitimate. In fact, God’s law of right and wrong actually commands a man to be a polygamist under the Levirate Law. If a man dies without a son, his brother, or near relative, must inherit the widow and raise up children for the deceased husband. Two well-known instances of the Levirate are found in the book of Ruth, and in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 12, proposed by the Sadducees to Jesus.
Although a man might wish to remain monogamous, yet God’s law of Levirate inheritance might easily convert him into a bigamist, if he were already married, by God’s law of right and wrong commanding him to marry his brother’s widow, if the brother had died without leaving a son. Among the Hebrews, this was a frequent cause of polygamy.
The world has no right to condemn any of God’s Word, including polygamy, which even Christ did not condemn in the case of the patriarchs, Old or New Testament. That Joseph Smith was commanded to live and introduce the law of polygamy is well recorded. Why it was introduced until the law of the land forbid it, is a matter for the Lord to know and us to accept in faith.
Comment #2: “It seems to me that if the land of promise was in South America as you claim, some examples of Book of Mormon events would be seen there today” Charles R.
Response: There are signs all over Peru of Book of Mormon events. Just to name two, the Andes mountains “whose height is great” which Samuel the Lamanite foretold, and which, with scores of peaks over 18,000 feet high, the highest ranges of mountains in the Western Hemisphere; another is the tower built next to the temple that king Noah built and whose foundation is seen at Sacsayhuaman, and which the Spanish found, and later torn down.
The mound, known locally as Montegrande, spans more than two acres at its base and stands as tall as a five-story building. It sits today amid rice paddies and cow pastures outside the Peruvian city of Jaén. Although it was overgrown with bushes and taken for a natural hill by people living nearby, the few archaeologists who had ventured to this remote corner of the western Amazon basin could not ignore the fact that it bore the features of an ancient burial mound: It had steep sides and a round shape, and there are no other hills around it. There was also the buried city of Moronihah, which was covered with earth, and the discovery of an ancient city uncovered having been buried beneath a hill in Peru claimed to be of the ancient Lambayeque culture.
“And behold, the city of Gadiandi, and the city of Gadiomnah, and the city of Jacob, and the city of Gimgimno, all these have I caused to be sunk, and made hills and valleys in the places thereof; and the inhabitants thereof have I buried up in the depths of the earth, to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints should not come up any more unto me against them” (3 Npehi 9:8, emphasis added). Another is a recent fulfillment of 3 Nephi 9:5, where we find that the city of Moronihah was buried.
As we find in the Book of Mormon, “And behold, that great city Moronihah have I covered with earth” (3 Nephi 9:5); “And behold, the city of Gadiandi, and the city of Gadiomnah, and the city of Jacob, and the city of Gimgimno, all these have I caused to be sunk, and made hills and valleys in the places thereof; and the inhabitants thereof have I buried up in the depths of the earth, to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints should not come up any more unto me against them” (3 Nephi 9:8).
Comment #3: “I just finished reading your book on scientific fallacies, and really enjoyed it especially the chapters on radiocarbon dating, the creation, and the flood. I've never understood our earth like this and the way our Heavenly Father works, and highly recommend it. I also recently read your book on "who really settled Mesoamerica, with outstanding chapters on the Jaredites-their origin, their journey, etc., another must read. Thank you for your incredible work, you have made my already strong testimony stronger, and made my love of the Book of Mormon stronger.” David K.
Response: Glad you liked them. Thank you.
Comment #4: “Why is it that certain explanations, that would make understanding greater, are left out of his writing by Mormon. A case in point is the controversial statement: “And now, it was only the distance of a day and a half's journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea” (Alma 22:32), which you interpret to mean from the east sea to the west sea” Monty H.
Response: There is a part of grammar that is called an “Elliptical Clause” (truncated clause) of which we have written about before in these pages, which is described as: “An elliptical clause is a clause in which some words have been left out. Because of the pattern or logic of the entire sentence, it is clear what the missing words are. An elliptical clause may be either independent or subordinate.” It is “marked by the use of few words to convey much information of meaning,” which means “An elliptical construction is a construction that lacks an element that is recoverable or inferable from the context.”
This obviously means that you do not always have to be redundant and state the same thing over again,” and “marked by the extreme economy of speech or writing,” i.e., the sentence you indicated: “And the land of a Nephi did run in a straight course from the east sea to the west (sea).” It is the same ellipt writing as in “in the borders by the seashore, and on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance, and thus bordering along by the (West) seashore” (Alma 22:28), and in “it was only the distance of a day and a half's journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation, from the east (sea) to the west sea” (Alma 22:32), and in “the Nephites had inhabited the land Bountiful, even from the east (sea) unto the west sea, and thus the Nephites in their wisdom, with their guards and their armies, had hemmed in the Lamanites on the south…” (Alma 22:33). Another example of ellipsis in the book of Mormon is: “I am commanded to stand and (I am commanded to) testify unto this people.”
And to show that is the meaning, we come back to Mormon’s insertion in Alma 22, when he describes the Land of Nephi, i.e., the land controlled by the Lamanite king “ran from the East Sea to the West Sea” (Alma 22:27).
Carlie S. The Prophet Joseph did not sin when he practiced plural marriage. SOME men do sin when living polygamy. The prophet Joseph tried to live what used to be known as THE MOST HOLY PRINCIPLE.
ReplyDelete