Catholic apologists have really embarrassed themselves this week. First, we had Jimmy Akin/Matt Fradd show their true colors by wanting a proposed debate to be a gish gallop on the Catholic side (see here), and today we have another Catholic apologist who shows he has never read any LDS historians or apologists on various issues, including Joseph Smith and his purported polygamy denials.
The article on the topic (and one really
should deal with if they want to be taken seriously by Latter-day Saints) is
that of:
Brian C. Hales, "'Denying the Undeniable':
Examining Early Mormon Polygamy Renunciations," Journal of Mormon
History 44, no. 3 (July 2018): 23-44
Brian has also authored the 3-volume set, Joseph Smith's Polygamy (Greg Kofford, 2013); he has also put all the sources he and Don Bradley (his then-research assistant) referenced online at Mormon Polygamy Documents.
The B. H. Roberts Foundation has two relevant
articles (and related primary sources):
Polygamy
(Joseph Smith Era) (click
here for the primary sources)
Joseph Smith
and Fanny Alger (click
here for the primary sources)
If Catholic apologists want to be taken seriously by informed Latter-day Saints, they really need to up their game on this and other topics (e.g., the nature of God in LDS theology, esp. in light of modern scholarship; the Book of Abraham [e.g., its onomasticon]) instead of repeating arguments from the likes of the Tanners. Judging by those considered to be the most popular apologists at the moment within Catholicism, I am not holding my breath.
