of course, will weary. Though my voice is tolerably good, I feel weary
in making a congregation of from eight to ten thousand people hear
me, I have tried to do so. May God bless you, and may He pour out His
Spirit upon the rising generation among us, and upon the missionaries
who are about to be sent to the United States, and elsewhere, that
the great principles, political, religious and domestic, that God has
ordained and established, may be made known to all people.
In this land of liberty in religious worship, let us boldly proclaim
our rights, to believe in and practise any Bible precept, command or
doctrine, whether in the Old or New Testament, whether relating to
ceremonies, ordinances, domestic relations, or anything else, not
incompatible with the rights of others, and the great revelations of
Almighty God manifested in ancient and modern times. Amen.
DISCOURSE
ON
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE,
DELIVERED BY
PRESIDENT GEO. A. SMITH,
IN THE
NEW TABERNACLE, SALT LAKE CITY, OCTOBER 8th, 1869.
It is a difficult undertaking to address this immense audience.
If a man commences speaking loud, in a short time his voice gives
out; whereas, if he commences rather low, he may raise his voice by
degrees, and be able to sustain himself in speaking some length of
time. But with children crying, a few persons whispering, and some
shuffling their feet, it is indeed a difficult task to make an audience
of ten thousand persons hear. I have listened with pleasure to the
instructions of our brethren from the commencement of our Conference
to the present time. I have rejoiced in their testimonies. I have felt
that the Elders are improving in wisdom, in knowledge, in power and in
understanding; and I rejoice in the privilege, which we have at the
present day, of sending out to our own country, a few hundred of the
Elders who have had experience--who have lived in Israel long enough
to know, to feel and to realize the importance of the work in which
they are engaged--to understand its principles and comprehend the way
of life. They can bear testimony to a generation that has nearly grown
from childhood since the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
The Lord said in relation to those who have driven the Saints that he
would visit "judgment, wrath and indignation, wailing and anguish,
and gnashing of teeth upon their heads unto the third and fourth
generation, so long as they repent not and hate me, saith the Lord your
God."
I am a native of Potsdam, St. Lawrence County, New York--a town
somewhat famous for its literary institutions, its learning and the
religion and morality of its inhabitants. I left there in my youth,
with my father's family, because we had received the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, as revealed through Joseph Smith; and followed with the Saints
through their drivings and trials unto the present day.
I have never seen the occasion, nor let the opportunity slip, from
the time when I first came to a knowledge of the truth of the work
of the Lord in the last days, that I understood it was in my power
to do good for the advancement of this work, but what I have used my
utmost endeavors to accomplish that good. I have never failed to bear a
faithful testimony to the work of God, or to carry out, to all intents
and purposes, the wishes and designs of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I was
his kinsman; was familiar with him, though several years his junior;
knew his views, his sentiments, his ways, his designs, and many of
the thoughts of his heart, and I do know that the servants of God,
the Twelve Apostles, upon whom He laid the authority to bear off the
Kingdom of God, and fulfill the work which he had commenced, have done
according to his designs, in every particular, up to the present time,
and are continuing to do so. And I know, furthermore, that he rejoiced
in the fact that the law of redemption and Celestial Marriage was
revealed unto the Church in such a manner that it would be out of the
power of earth and hell to destroy it; and that he rejoiced in the fact
that the servants of God were ready prepared, having the keys, to bear
off the work he had commenced. Previous to my leaving Potsdam, there
was but one man that I heard of in that town who did not believe the
Bible. He proclaimed himself an atheist and he drowned himself.
The Latter-day Saints believe the Bible. An agent of the American Bible
Society called on me the other day and wanted to know if we would aid
the Society in circulating the Bible in our Territory? I replied yes,
by all means, for it was the book from which we were enabled to set
forth our doctrines, and especially the doctrine of plural marriage.
There is an opinion in the breasts of many persons--who suppose that
they believe the Bible--that Christ, when He came, did away with plural
marriage, and that He inaugurated what is termed monogamy; and there
are certain arguments and quotations used to maintain this view of
the subject, one of which is found in Paul's first epistle to Timothy
(iii chap. 2 vs.), where Paul says: "A Bishop should be blameless, the
husband of one wife." The friends of monogamy render it in this way: "A
Bishop should be blameless, the husband of but one wife." That would
imply that any one but a bishop might have more. But they will say,
"We mean--a bishop should be blameless, the husband of one wife only."
Well, that would also admit of the construction that other people might
have more than one. I understand it to mean that a bishop must be a
married man.
A short time ago, the Minister from the King of Greece to the United
States called on President Young. I inquired of him in relation to the
religion of his country, and asked him if the clergy were allowed to
marry. It is generally understood that the Roman Catholic clergy are
not allowed to marry. How is it with the Greek clergy? "Well," said he,
"all the clergy marry except the Bishop." I replied, "you render the
saying of Paul differently from what we do. We interpret it to mean--"a
bishop should be blameless, the husband of one wife at least;" and "we
construe it" said he "directly the opposite."
Now this passage does not prove that a man should have but one wife.
It only proves that a bishop should be a married man. The same remark
is made of deacons, that they also should have wives. Another passage
is brought up where the Savior speaks of divorce. He tells us that it
is very wrong to divorce, and that Moses permitted it because of the
hardness of their (the children of Israel) hearts. A man should leave
his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife, and they twain
should be one flesh. That is the principal argument raised that a man
should have but one wife.
In the New Testament, in various places, certain eminent men are
referred to as patterns of faith, purity, righteousness and piety. For
instance, if you read the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, the 11th
chap., you find therein selected those persons "who through faith
subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the
mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of
the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight,
turning to flight the armies of the aliens;" and it is said that by
faith Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph, and that he conferred upon
them a blessing to the "uttermost bounds of the everlasting hills."
Who was Joseph? Why, Joseph was the son of Rachel. And who was Rachel?
Rachel was the second wife of Jacob, a polygamist. Jacob had four
wives; and after he had taken the second, (Rachel) she, being barren,
gave a third wife unto her husband that she might bear children unto
him for her; and instead of being displeased with her for giving her
husband another wife, God heard her prayer, blessed her, worked a
miracle in her favor, by opening her womb, and she bear a son, and
called his name Joseph, rejoicing in God, whom she testified would give
her another son. The question now arises--were not Rachel and Jacob
one flesh? Yes. Leah and Jacob were also one flesh. Jacob is selected
by the Apostle Paul as a pattern of faith for Christians to follow; he
blessed his twelve sons, whom he had by four wives. The law of God, as
it existed in those days, and as laid down in this book, (the Bible)
makes children born of adultery or of fornication bastards; and they
were prohibited from entering into the congregation of the Lord unto
the fourth generation.
Now, instead of God blessing Rachel and Jacob and their offspring,
as we are told He did, we might have expected something entirely
different, had it not been that God was pleased with and approbated and
sustained a plurality of wives.
While we are considering this subject, we will enquire, did the Savior
in any place that we read of, in the course of His mission on the
earth, denounce a plurality of wives? He lived in a nation of Jews;
the law of Moses was in force, plurality of wives was the custom, and
thousands upon thousands of people, from the highest to the lowest in
the land, were polygamists. The Savior denounced adultery; He denounced
fornication; He denounced lust; also, divorce; but is there a single
sentence asserting that plurality of wives is wrong? If so, where is
it? Who can find it? Why did He not say it was wrong? "Think not," said
He, "that I am come to destroy the law or the Prophets. I am not come
to destroy, but to fulfil. Not one jot or one tittle shall pass from
the law and the Prophets, but all shall be fulfilled." Of what does the
Savior speak when He refers to "the law?" Why, of the Ten Commandments,
and other rules of life commanded by God and adopted by the ancients,
and which Bro. Pratt referred to yesterday, showing you from the
sacred book that God legislated and made laws for the protection of a
plurality of wives, (Exod. 21, 10) and that He commanded men to take a
plurality under some circumstances. Brother Pratt further showed that
the Lord made arrangements to protect, to all intents and purposes, the
interests of the first wife; and to shield and protect the children
of a wife from disinheritance who might be unfortunate enough not to
have the affections of her husband. (Deut., 21.15.) These things were
plainly written in the law--that law of which the Savior says "not
one jot or one tittle shall pass away." Continuing our inquiry, we
pass on to the epistles of John the Evangelist, which we find in the
book of Revelations, written to the seven churches of Asia. In them we
find the Evangelist denounces adultery, fornication, and all manner
of iniquities and abominations of which these churches were guilty.
Anything against a plurality of wives? No; not a syllable. Yet those
churches were in a country in which plurality was the custom. Hundreds
of Saints had more wives than one; and if it had been wrong, what would
have been the result? Why, John would have denounced the practice, the
same as the children of Israel were denounced for marrying heathen
wives, had it not been that the law of plurality was the commandment of
God.
Again, on this point, we can refer to the Prophets of the Old
Testament--Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others. When God called those
men he warned them that if they did not deliver the message to the
people which He gave them concerning their sins and iniquities His
vengeance should rest upon their heads. These are his words to Ezekiel:
"Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel:
therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him
not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to
save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his
blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he
turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in
his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul." (Ezek. iii.17.18.29.)
How do we find these Prophets of the Lord fulfilling the commandments
of the Almighty? We find them pouring out denunciations upon the heads
of the people--against adultery, fornication and every species of
wickedness. All this, too, in a country in which, from the King down to
the lowest orders of the people, a plurality of wives was practised. Do
they say anything against plurality of wives? Not one word. It was only
in cases where men and women took improper license with each other, in
violation of the holy law of marriage, that they were guilty of sin.
If plurality of wives had been a violation of the seventh commandment
those prophets would have denounced it, otherwise their silence on the
matter would have been dangerous to themselves, inasmuch as the blood
of the people would have been required at their hands. The opposers of
Celestial Marriage sometimes quote a passage in the seventh chapter of
Romans, second and third verses, to show that a plurality of wives is
wrong; but when we come to read the passage it shows that a plurality
of husbands is wrong. You can rend the passage for yourselves. In
the forcible parable used by the Savior in relation to the rich man
and Lazarus, we find recorded that the poor man Lazarus was carried
to Abraham's bosom--Abraham the father of the faithful. The rich man
calls unto Father Abraham to send Lazarus, who is afar off. Who was
Abraham? He was a man who had a plurality of wives. And yet all good
Christians, even pious church deacons, expect when they die to go to
Abraham's bosom. I am sorry to say, however, that thousands of them
will be disappointed, from the fact that they cannot and will not go
where any one has a plurality of wives; and I am convinced that Abraham
will not turn out his own wives to receive such unbelievers in God's
law. One peculiarity of this parable is the answer of Abraham to the
application of the rich man, to send Lazarus to his five brothers "lest
they come into this place of torment," which was--"they have Moses and
the prophets, let them hear them; and if they hear not Moses and the
prophets, neither would they be persuaded though one rose from the
dead." Moses' law provided for a plurality of wives, and the prophets
observed that law, and Isaiah predicts its observance even down to the
latter-days. Isaiah, in his 4th chap. and 1st and 2nd verses, says
"seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, we will eat our own
bread and wear our own apparel, only let us be called by thy name to
take away our reproach. In that day shall the branch of the Lord be
beautiful and glorious and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent."
A reference to the Scriptures shows that the reproach of woman is to be
childless, Gen. c. 30, v. 23; Luke c. 1, v. 25.
We will now refer to John the Baptist. He came as the forerunner of
Christ. He was a lineal descendant of the house of Levi. His father
was a priest. John the Baptist was a child born by miracle, God
having revealed to his father that Elizabeth, who had been many years
barren, should bear a son. John feared not the world, but went forth
preaching in the wilderness of Judea, declaiming against wickedness and
corruption in the boldest terms. He preached against extortion; against
the cruelty exercised by the soldiers and tax gatherers. He even was so
bold as to rebuke the king on his throne, to his face, for adultery.
Did he say anything against a plurality of wives? No: it cannot be
found. Yet thousands were believers in and practised this order of
marriage, under the law of Moses that God had revealed.
In bringing this subject before you, we cannot help saying that God
knew what was best for His people. Hence He commanded them as He
would have them act. The law, regulating marriage previous to Moses,
recognized a plurality of wives. Abraham and Jacob and others had
a plurality. These are the men who are referred to in scripture as
patterns of piety and purity. David had many wives. The scripture says
that David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord and turned
not aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life,
save in the matter of Uriah the Hittite, 1 Kings, 15 chap. 5 vs. "I
have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart which
shall fulfill all my will. Of this man's seed hath God, according to
His promise, raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus." Acts 13 chap., 22
and 23 vs. Did David sin in taking so many wives? No. In what, then,
did his sin consist? It was because he took the wife of Uriah, the
Hittite--that is, violated the law of God in taking her. The Lord had
given him the wives of Saul and would have given him many more; but
he had no right to take one who belonged to another. When he did so
the curse of adultery fell upon his head, and his wives were taken
from him and given to another. We will now inquire in relation to the
Savior himself. From whom did he descend? From the house of David, a
polygamist; and if you will trace the names of the familles through
which He descended you will find that numbers of them had a plurality
of wives. How appropriate it would have been for Jesus, descending as
he did from a race of polygamists, to denounce this institution of
plural marriage and show its sinfulness, had it been a sin! Can we
suppose, for one moment, if Patriarchal Marriage were wrong, that He
would, under the circumstances have been silent concerning it or failed
to denounce it in the most positive manner? Then if plural marriage be
adultery and the offspring spurious, Christ Jesus is not the Christ;
and we must look for another.
All good Christians are flattering themselves with the hope that they
will finally enter the gates of the New Jerusalem. I presume this is
the hope of all denominations--Catholics, Protestants, Greeks, and all
who believe the Bible. Suppose they go there, what will they find?
They will find at the twelve gates twelve angels, and "names written
thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children
of Israel." The names of the twelve sons of Jacob, the polygamist.
Can a monogamist enter there? "And the walls of the city had twelve
foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the lamb;"
and at the gates the names of the twelve tribes of Israel--from the
twelve sons of the four wives of Jacob. Those who denounce Patriarchal
Marriage will have to stay without and never walk the golden streets.
And any man or woman that lifts his or her voice to proclaim against a
plurality of wives under the Government of God, will have to seek an
inheritance outside of that city. For "there shall in no wise enter
into it, anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination
or maketh a lie, for without are sorcerers, whoremongers, and whosoever
loveth and maketh a lie." Is not the man that denounces Celestial
Marriage a liar? Does he not work abomination? "I, Jesus, have sent
mine Angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am
the root and offspring of [the polygamist] David, the bright and the
morning star."
May God enable us to keep His law, for "blessed are they that do His
commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life and may
enter in through the gate into the city." Amen.
DISCOURSE
ON
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE,
DELIVERED BY
ELDER GEORGE Q. CANNON,
IN THE
NEW TABERNACLE, SALT LAKE CITY, OCTOBER 9th, 1869.
I will repeat a few verses in the tenth chapter of Mark, commencing at
the twenty-eighth verse:
Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have
followed thee.
And Jesus answered and said, verily I say unto you, There is no man
that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother,
or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,
But he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time, houses, and
brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with
persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
In rising to address you this morning, my brethren and sisters, I rely
upon your faith and prayers and the blessing of God. We have heard,
during Conference, a great many precious instructions, and in none
have I been more interested than in those which have been given to
the Saints concerning that much mooted doctrine called Patriarchal or
Celestial Marriage. I am interested in this doctrine, because I see
salvation, temporal and spiritual, embodied therein. I know, pretty
well, what the popular feelings concerning this doctrine are; I am
familiar with the opinions of the world, having traveled and mingled
with the people sufficiently to be conversant with their ideas in
relation to this subject. I am also familiar with the feelings of the
Latter-day Saints upon this point. I know the sacrifice of feeling
which it has caused for them to adopt this principle in their faith and
lives. It has required the revelation of God, our Heavenly Father, to
enable His people to receive this principle and carry it out. I wish,
here, to make one remark in connection with this subject--that while
there is abundant proof to be found in the scriptures and elsewhere
in support of this doctrine, still it is not because it was practised
four thousand years ago by the servants and people of God, or because
it has been practised by any people or nation in any period of the
world's history, that the Latter-day Saints have adopted it and made
it part of their practice, but it is because God, our Heavenly Father,
has revealed it unto us. If there were no record of its practice to
be found, and if the Bible, Book of Mormon and Book of Doctrine and
Covenants were totally silent in respect to this doctrine, it would
nevertheless be binding upon us as a people, God himself having given
a revelation for us to practise it at the present time. This should be
understood by us as a people. It is gratifying to know, however, that
we are not the first of God's people unto whom this principle has been
revealed; it is gratifying to know that we are only following in the
footsteps of those who have preceded us in the work of God, and that
we, to-day, are only carrying out the principle which God's people
observed, in obedience to revelation received from Him, thousands of
years ago. It is gratifying to know that we are suffering persecution,
that we are threatened with lines and imprisonment for the practice
of precisely the same principle which Abraham, the "friend of God,"
practised in his life and taught to his children after him.
The discourses of Brother Orson Pratt and of President George A. Smith
have left but very little to be said in relation to the scriptural
arguments in favor of this doctrine. I know that the general opinion
among men is that the Old Testament, to some extent, sustains it; but
that the New Testament--Jesus and the Apostles, were silent concerning
it. It was clearly proved in our hearing yesterday, and the afternoon
of the day previous, that the New Testament, though not so explicit
in reference to the doctrine, is still decidedly in favor of it and
sustains it. Jesus very plainly told the Jews, when boasting of being
the seed of Abraham, that if they were, they would do the works of
Abraham. He and the Apostles, in various places, clearly set forth that
Abraham was the great exemplar of faith for them to follow, and that
they must follow him if they ever expected to participate in the glory
and exaltation enjoyed by Abraham and his faithful seed. Throughout the
New Testament Abraham is held up to the converts to the doctrines which
Jesus taught, as an example worthy of imitation, and in no place is
there a word of condemnation uttered concerning him. The Apostle Paul,
in speaking of him says:
"Know ye, therefore, that they which are of the faith, the same are the
children of Abraham. * * * * So then they which be of the faith are
blessed with faithful Abraham."
He also says that the Gentiles, through adoption, became Abraham's
seed; that the blessing of Abraham, says he, might come upon the
Gentiles through Jesus Christ, shewing plainly that Jesus and all the
Apostles who alluded to the subject, held the deeds of Abraham to be,
in every respect, worthy of imitation.