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Gramps,
I heard that when plural marriage was practiced by the church in the early
days, that in order to do that, one had to be approved by the President of
the church. Is this true? If not, then who then had the authority to decide
that? From what I understand, no one could just decide this on their own, it
had to be approved. FH, from California |
Dear
FH,
You
are correct. In order to be valid a plural marriage was required to be
authorized by the President of the Church. We read the following in the
Encyclopedia of Mormonism.
“Plural
Marriage: The doctrine that a man may be authorized by revelation from God
through the living prophet to have more than one living wife” (Encyclopedia of
Mormonism, Vol.4)
Here
is an interesting statement on plural marriage that was released by President
Joseph F. Smith shortly after the Manifesto was issued in 1890.
“We
have announced in previous conferences, as it was announced by President
Woodruff, as it was announced by President Snow, and as it was re-announced by
me and my brethren and confirmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, plural marriages have ceased in the Church. There isn’t a man today in
this Church or anywhere else, outside of it, who has authority to solemnize a
plural marriage—not one! There is no man or woman in the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints who is authorized to contract a plural marriage. It
is not permitted” (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p.280).
Gramps