Ready Always / Who we are / Myths & mix-ups

Do you guys have multiple wives?

1

The hallway answer

About 15 seconds

“No. The Church stopped that back in 1890, and anyone who practices it today can’t be a member. The groups you see on TV are different churches that split off a long time ago.”

Then ask them: Was it the TV show? A lot of people think that’s us.
I want the real answer ↓
2

The real answer

About 5 minutes

The Church’s Topics and Questions page answers it directly: “Latter-day Saints do not practice plural marriage today.” In 1890, President Wilford Woodruff issued the Manifesto after receiving revelation. Since the early 1900s, “people who enter plural marriages or promote its practice cannot remain members of the Church.”

The same page explains that small groups who didn’t accept the change “split off” and formed their own churches, and “their teachings and practices do not reflect those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Those are the groups that usually appear in documentaries and reality TV.

It is true that early Latter-day Saints practiced plural marriage from the 1840s to about 1890. The Church teaches that monogamy is God’s standard unless He commands otherwise, as He did in some Bible times. If you or a friend want the full history, it’s on the Going Deeper shelf.

Scriptures to know. Tap to read.

Jacob 2:27-30Monogamy is the standard unless God commands otherwise
27Wherefore, 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; 28For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts. 29Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Hosts, or cursed be the land for their sakes. 30For 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. Read in Book of Mormon, Connected →
Genesis 16:1-3Abraham and Hagar
1Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. 3And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. Read in Old Testament, Connected →
3

Go deeper

Research room

What’s behind the question

Reality TV and news stories about polygamist groups make this the single most common mix-up. Friends usually aren’t trying to offend.

OfficialTopics and Questions: Plural Marriage ↗Answers ‘Do members practice it today?’ and moreOfficialGospel Topics Essay: The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage ↗ScriptureOfficial Declaration 1 (1890), in Doctrine and Covenants, Connected →

Source labels: Official = published by the Church. Scripture = the standard works. Faithful scholarship = independent Latter-day Saint researchers. Helpful, but not official.

Want the full history? Why did early Latter-day Saints practice plural marriage? is on the Going Deeper shelf.
4

For me

Think it through
  1. How do I answer a joke with facts and kindness?
  2. When I come across hard history, what would help me study it with faith?
  3. Who could I talk to if I have questions about this?
Act in faithWhat do I already know and believe here?
Eternal perspectiveHow does God’s plan change how I see this?
Good sourcesWho could I ask: a parent, a leader, the scriptures?

Notes stay on this page while it’s open and aren’t saved or sent anywhere.

5

Practice this one

Pick a reply

Friends also ask

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Weak Things is an independent site, not an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Answers are written to match the Church’s published teachings, and every answer links to its sources.

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