Skip to main content

So... Joseph Smith Had Several Wives... Now What?

Finally. Mormons are admitting to the polygamous lifestyle of their founder, Joseph Smith. According to the NY Times, some of the members’ reaction to the news is very disturbing, revealing a loss of hope (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/us/its-official-mormon-founder-had-up-to-40-wives.html?smid=fb-share).

The “transparency” of the LDS in this case might just be the straw that broke the camels’ back for many Mormons across the globe. For many of the members of the LDS, they were unaware of the polygamous status that Smith had. It seems that the LDS has covered this up—well—from their members for several decades. Because of this, there are definitely a few questions that this “transparency” of the LDS will create.


For one thing, what else will they admit about their history? Will they admit that Joseph Smith made up the language of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics? Will they admit that the wars in the Book of Mormon never took place since there is no real evidence archaeologically speaking?
“No city in the book of Mormon has ever been located archaeologically. Not one speck of evidence. The cities mentioned in the Bible however, can be visited today.
No ancient inscriptions in Hebrew or "reformed Egyptian" that predate Columbus have ever been found in America. No copies of the book of Mormon have ever been found that predate 1830 when Smith "found" and "interpreted" the tablets. In any event, no archaeological evidence exists that demonstrates that the book of Mormon is true.
In Mormon, chapter six, “hundreds of thousands are slain with the sword,” in Manchester, New York. If this were true, there would be millions of weapons, coins, shields, swords, etc., but nothing has been found” (https://apologeticsandevidence.blogspot.com/2013/09/12.html).

The deal is, even if they don’t admit to it, it doesn’t mean that it is not true. They didn’t admit that Joseph Smith had several wives for over a century, and that is clearly true (and has been for over a century). So what else are they trying to hide from the members of the LDS?

A second question comes to mind: What does this say about the founder of Mormonism? Joseph Smith is clearly misled on several issues concerning husband and wife, so what else was he misled on? It is not like, as he got older and wiser, he realized that he was doing wrong and stopped, he accumulated wives! In other words, he didn’t spend his time hearing the Word of God. He spent his time convincing women that this was the right way. In any event, if the founder of Mormonism is so clearly off balance on this, what other subjects is he far off of? His revelations? Real salvation? The way to eternal life?

Gamaliel, a Pharisee during the time of Jesus, defended the true followers of Christ and said “For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail” (Acts 5:38). In other words, if something is false it will not last because it will either crumble or stand strong under the weight of the truth. Mormonism is crumbling like the ruins of the ancient Greek and Roman Gods.

Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). Jesus is the truth (John 14:6)! Let Him set you free.


For more, see my book on Mormonism: 

https://www.amazon.com/Mormonism-Refuting-Fundamental-Apologetics-Latter-Day/dp/1662885377/ 



Written by Nace Howell through the grace of the Lord Jesus

© Nace Howell, 2014

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Evidence and Power of Testimony: The Apostolic Witness

What to say to People who Demand more Evidence for God. Why is there something rather than nothing? Glacier National Park. © Nace Howell, 2018. The question is, how much evidence do you require? Would Jesus have to come back and slap you in the face with evidence that He is God? It seems to me that there is a line we must draw. We do this in all other areas of our lives, so why would we treat theism any different? When a court convicts, they do so “beyond a reasonable doubt.” I would like to take a few moments to explore this a bit. But before we get to that, I want to pose a question, which is… why are you the standard? What makes you think He has to prove His existence to everyone individually? He already created the universe from nothing. In the beginning, there was a big bang. Seriously… do you believe your mom when she tells you a story about her day? Did you believe the reports of 9/11 when they were happening? Do you accept the testimony of anything you hear on social ...

The God of the Killdozer Operator, Marvin Heemeyer

While working toward becoming an apologist and a pastor, I was a heavy equipment operator. I have over 15 years’ experience in the field, focusing on hydrological restorations (stream bank and river restoration and water dam removals) and site development for building pads (ranging from houses to one million + sq. ft. warehouses). I say this because I want to show where the heart for writing article this came about. Marvin Heemeyer purchased a bulldozer from an auction which was a Komatsu D355A with an operating weight of 97,907 lbs. (this does not include the weight of Heemeyer’s fabricated addition). In the picture above, I am operating a Komatsu D155AX which has an operating weight of 89,300 lbs. (If I remember correctly, we were developing the site for a 550,000 sq. ft. warehouse building pad). Heemeyer then went on a rampage in his armored bulldozer in Granby, CO. I don’t want to go into great details about what led up to Heemeyer doing what he did, nor do I want to go into great ...

Using Guilt to Guide to the Truth

While taking a cultural apologetics class in my doctorate, I rambled along in a 30-page paper and in it, I wrote that, “I define religion as an anthropological system consisting of worship which is often filled with specific sacred rituals that seeks to appease or eradicate guilt.” My professor red-penned this and said that I am not yet in an authoritative position to make such definitions. But I was never asked how I came up with such a partial definition. The thing is, working on my second post-graduate degree in apologetics, studying many other religions on a deeper level was inevitable, and  by this, I noticed a pattern in all of them which was the fact that they all seek to appease or eradicate guilt, including   Buddhism , even though   many adherents of Buddhism claim that it is not a religion . The point is that all religions seek to eradicate guilt on some level, because   guilt crosses all cultures and times, to all people .   Guilt transcends all peop...

Defending Christianity against Jehovah’s Witnesses

Defending Christianity against Jehovah’s Witnesses Using much of their “bible” to refute them “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect ” (NIV 1 Peter 3:15). In other words, LOVE THEM . Jehovah’s Witnesses                                       Biblical Truths Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in the Trinity. J.Ws. believe that Jesus was a “little god” (lower case g). J.Ws. believe in a different “ Jesus ” because of the NWT accounts. J.Ws. call themselves “Christians.” J.Ws. believe Jesus is not to be worshiped. J.Ws. believe that Jesus was once, and is again, Michael the archangel. Genesis 1:26 says, “Let Us crea...

Defending Christianity against Mormonism

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect ” (NIV 1 Peter 3:15). In other words, LOVE THEM . Mormons                                                             Biblical Truths Mormons are monolaters, meaning, they believe in many gods, yet worship only one. LDS believe that “As man is, God once was; and as God is, man may become.” LDS do not believe in Hell. LDS believe God is flesh and bones. LDS believe in baptism for the dead. LDS believe Jesus and Satan are created brothers. L...

Joseph Smith had the same Demon that influenced Muhammad

What does Islam have in common with Mormonism? Seriously, the similarities are uncanny. Like human beings, demons are creatures of habit . The Bible does not tell us much about them, but from what it does tell us, we can learn a lot. Jesus reveals to us some things about their behavior: When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first… [1]   Jesus clearly knows that demons have typical behaviors. He has seen it many times before. He lets us know that a typical behavior for a demon is that home is where the heart is . When your house crumbles to the ground, you move to a new one. Likewise, when a person dies, the demon ...

In Defense of Charlie Kirk: and other Failed Arguments that Mormons Should Be Called Christians

There has been a greater push in how to reference Mormons and Mormonism in recent times ever since former Mormon President Nelson said that Mormons should be called Christians instead of Mormons. [1]     “We worship the same Jesus!” “’Jesus Christ’ is literally in our name!” “There is only one Jesus!”    These and other arguments have been made by Mormons to argue that they should be called Christians, which I will address these throughout this article, but I do want to look at the last one in this short list above first, since it is biblically evidenced. [2]  2 Corinthians 11:4 says,    “For if someone comes and proclaims  another Jesus  than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” [3]   Here, Paul is telling the Corinthians that when another Jesus is preached to them, they erroneously accept ...

Response Letter to a Jehovah's Witness (Part 2)

“Loretta” replied to my response to her first letter (the reason I put her name in quotes is because I don’t believe it is her real name, since some of my friends have received similar letters from the same P.O. Box address under a different female name. But even if it is, her identity is clearly protected). As discussed in the first entry concerning this, I received a letter from a Jehovah’s Witness ( JW ) in the mail and a tract from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society ( WBTS ), which is the organization of the JW’s. Please look at the first article concerning this conversation , because it is important to know what I replied, and how she responded (below). Notice that none of my questions to her were acceptably answered . Before we get to the letter, it should be noted that I have included the grammatical errors (in this hand-written letter) because I think that it gives strength to the statistics revealing the education levels of JW’s. They are told to not attend higher edu...

Three reasons Christians are shying away from teaching their kids to believe in Santa Claus.

I grew up believing in Santa Claus. I have some experiences that I now look back on with bewilderment. One time when I was very young, I was going outside in the winter to help throw corn on the roof of the house in order to feed the reindeer (I was young, and assumed that it was so they could eat while Santa was busy stuffing himself through the chimney). There we were, throwing corn on the roof in the snow. I remember seeing several of the cobs rolling down into the gutter, but some of them stayed where they landed. In any event, it hadn’t crossed my mind that Santa was a fraud at this time in my life. Every time I saw a jet fly way above our house, I thought it was Rudolph, the red-nosed-reindeer because all I saw was a blinking red light.  In any event, reflecting on my past experiences and the experiences of others is how this article came about.  Three reasons Christians are shying away from teaching their kids to believe in Santa Claus: 1 . Because it distracts...

How to Show a Jehovah's Witness That Jesus Was—and Still Should Be—Worshiped

Jehovah’s Witnesses  (JW’s) have a severe problem with the question of worship when it comes to Jesus. They say that Jesus is not God, and that because of the First of  the Ten Commandments , we should not worship Him. Is this correct thinking biblically speaking? In this article, I will argue why it is not correct, and I will do this from the New World Translation (NWT) which is the  Jehovah’s Witness corrupted version of the Bible . Allow me to briefly say here that they believe that Jesus is a “lower case g” god, which immediately has scriptural issues in their own translation with the First of the Ten Commandments, namely that they would have “other gods besides me” (NWT of the First of the Ten Commandments).   First, since I have argued in multiple places concerning John 1:1 that Jesus is God, which implies our worship of Him, I will direct you to those articles  HERE ,  HERE , and  HERE .  Moving forward, I want to look at three specific pri...