Samuel R. Carpenter (the then-President of the Central States Mission) wrote an article on the differences between the LDS and RLDS traditions that he published on July 9, 1958. Commenting on RLDS opposition to plural marriage, Carpenter wrote that:
Frequent reference is made to the
second chapter of Jacob in the Book of Mormon where the Lord in no uncertain
terms states: “Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines,
which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord. Wherefore, I the Lord God
will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old. Wherefore, my
brethren hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any
man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none. For
I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an
abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts. Wherefore, this people
shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Hosts, or cursed be the land for
their sakes.”
Did Abraham and Jacob violate the
chastity of women or commit whoredoms by having more than one wife. I have not
found any such indication or suggestion in the scriptures. We then must ask why
is their situation so different from that of David and Solomon that the Lord
would say that the latters’ wives were abominable unto Him. Again, let us look
at the scriptures as contained in the inspired version.
The 18th chapter of I Samuel says
that after David had become a great man and when Saul the king became jealous
and sought to kill him, “David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the
Lord was with him.” David married Saul’s daughter, Michal, and scripture says
of that union (18:28), “And Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David and
that Michal Saul’s daughter loved him.” Then, thereafter, Saul again sought to
kill David the Lord protected him. David married Abigail who had been the wife
of Nabal (25:42). He also married Ahinoam (25:43). But the Lord continued to
protect him and inspired him as to the things he should do (30:8). After these
marriages he was anointed king of Israel and the scripture says (II Samuel
5:10) that David “grew great, and the Lord God of Hosts was with him.” So it
cannot be said that the Lord unconditionally rejects a servant who lives in
plural marriage or that plural marriage is “contrary to the scriptures.” We
have seen that Abraham, Jacob, and David are clear examples of people who lived
in plural marriage and still the Lord was with them and they continued to be
among his chosen people. After David was made king he took other wives (5:13)
but the record does not disclose that the Lord rejected him.
But then he did do something that
displeased the Lord and shows that even the great and chosen people of the Lord
cannot violate His commandments and not be punished. He committed adultery with
Bathsheba and had Uriah, her husband, put in the front lines of the battle
where he was killed. The scripture says “The thing David had done displeased
the Lord.” Then what follows shows why David’s wives became an abomination
before the Lord.
The record says (Chapter 12) that
the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to David to tell him the story of the rich man
with many flocks and herds and the poor man who had but one little lamb.
Instead of using one of his own flock to feed the guest, the rich man took the
poor man’s single lamb and dressed it for the feast. When David heard the story
he was angry and said the rich man should surely die. Then Nathan said to David
“Thou are the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over
Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; and I gave thee thy
master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the
house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would
moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou
despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? Thou hast killed
Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and
hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword
shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast
taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the Lord,
Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will
take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he
shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly;
but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.”
So it is clear that after David
was living in plural marriage he was protected by the Lord, and was made King
of Israel and Judea, and “if that had been too little” the Lord would have
given him more. Yet when he chose to commit murder, and adultery with someone
not given him by the Lord, he became rejected and the things the Lord had given
him passed to another. It is clear, therefore, that it was not because he lived
in plural marriage with the wives given him by the Lord that his wives were
abominable to the Lord. Rather, it was because he committed one of the most
heinous sins in the category of crimes that rendered him unworthy and made his
wives abominable and caused the Lord to take them from him.
Now let us look at the record of
Solomon. He was the second of David’s sons born of Bathsheba. The scripture
says (12:24), “and the Lord loved him.” Chapter of I Kings tells us that after
he married a daughter of the King of Egypt which displeased the Lord, Solomon
“began to love the Lord” (3:3) and the Lord gave him both riches and honor
(3:13) and a promise (3:14) that “if thou will walk in my ways to keep my
statutes, and keep my commandments, then I will lengthen thy days, and thou
shall not walk in unrighteousness as did thy father David.” “And God gave
Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much and largeness of heart, even as
the sand that is on the sea shore.” After he had finished the temple the Lord
appeared to him a second time and accepted the temple, again promising Solomon
that if he would do what the Lord had commanded the throne of Israel would be
established forever, but that if he should turn from the Lord and fail to keep
his commandments, he would “Cut off Israel out of the land which I have given
them, and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my
sight.” Not only did the Lord bless Solomon with great wisdom and also with
great riches, but with greatness as the king of Israel until he “exceeded all
the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.” (10:23)
But then Solomon made the same
mistake as his father. The record says in the 11th Chapter of I Kings that
Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, of the
nations concerning which the Lord said, “Ye shall not go in unto them, neither
shall they come in unto you, for surely they will turn away your heart after
their Gods.” But Solomon clave unto them in love and his wives turned away his
heart after other gods. His heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, and it
became as the heart of David his father. And the Lord was angry with Solomon.
It is for this reason that the wives and concubines of Solomon were, as stated
in the Book of Mormon, an abomination in the sight of the Lord.
So it is not correct to say that
plural marriage is contrary to the scriptures in any and all circumstances and
that it is contrary to the laws of God. Nor can we say that no matter who the
human author of the doctrine is that it was lawful in every sense of the word
and is yet. If we take that position then we must condemn Abraham, Jacob, and
even David when the wives he was living with were given him by the Lord.
Furthermore, the position of the Utah Church is that there is no human author
of the doctrine as taught by the Church because the revelation came from the
Lord.
But the question might now be
asked: Why did the Lord tell the Nephites in the Book of Mormon that they
should have only one wife when he permitted the patriarchal fathers of the Old
Testament to have more than one. It seems to me there is an answer to that
question and also proof of the fact that in some situations the Lord will
direct at least some of his children to live in plural marriage. Following the
verses quoted above in which the Lord told the Nephites that they should have
only one wife, He added this significant statement (Jacob 1:30): “For, if I
will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people;
otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.” (Samuel R. Carpenter, “Differences
Between the Reorganized Church and the Utah Church” [Washington, D.C.:
Self-Published, July 9, 1958], pp. 4-6; Community of Christ Library, Call no.:
UP C226, copy in my possession)