With the Church’s recent publication of the essays about Polygamy in the Topics section of its website, there has recently been a flurry of criticism both directed at Joseph Smith, and at the Church. I had noticed some common themes in people’s statements that I thought would be good to address. Before I address those five common concerns, let me start with a fictional conversation that will hopefully help you notice a pattern that the Lord has established.

Was Nephi Hiding the Truth From Us?

Imagine you had the following conversation with a friend. (In order for the story to make sense, just know that the “small plates” of Nephi contained a more spiritual history of Nephi’s people. The “large plates” contained a history detailing the wars and other “non-spiritual” events of his people.)

Friend: I am so frustrated right now.

You: I’m sorry to hear that. What’s on your mind?

Friend: I feel like Nephi has betrayed us all. He openly stated that he has left out much the history of his people in the small plates. That means that when we read the Book of Mormon, we aren’t getting the full picture. What do you think he was trying to hide?

You: I don’t really think he was trying to hide anything. He said that he only had so much room to write. He had to focus on the most important spiritual things.

Friend: Can’t history be “spiritual” though? I think there are just as many lessons that can be drawn from history. Are you uncomfortable with what you might find if you read a detailed history of the Nephites?

You: Well, of course I realize that we can draw spiritual applications from history. There are lots of historical events we do focus on: Christ’s life, death, and resurrection; the life of ancient and modern prophets; the apostasy; and the First Vision of Joseph Smith to name a few. So I wouldn’t really say that history makes me uncomfortable. I just trust Nephi that he was doing what the Lord wanted him to do when he decided what to include and not include in the plates.

Friend: If Nephi truly was inspired by God, he certainly would have made sure the large plates had gotten to us, too, right? I mean, why hasn’t he just appeared to a prophet today to reveal the large plates to him?

You: I think that Nephi was still inspired by God. I just think that the Lord had some reason to not make Mormon include the large plates in the Book of Mormon. And I guess Nephi hasn’t given his people’s history to a modern prophet because he’s just doing what the Lord wants him to do right now. The Lord was teaching Nephi that, “some things that are true are not very useful,” as Elder Boyd K. Packer has explained it. Someday we’ll get the entire history of the Nephites, so that brings me peace.

Friend: I guess I just don’t think I’ll be able to feel that way until I know everything about Nephite history.

Don’t Let a Lack of Knowledge Control Our Faith

So I realize that this story is kind of silly, but I think it illustrates an important point: We don’t have to wait until we have 100% knowledge before we can act with 100% faith. God has never guaranteed to us that he will ensure everything makes sense to us before he asks us to follow him. History is important. Nephi was asked to record a history of his people on the large plates. We are supposed to keep personal histories and journals. But it’s important to remember that not all information is “created equal” in the Lord’s eyes. One blogger made a great point:

That said, it is clear that not all information is of equal value to the Lord. Otherwise, He wouldn’t have given Nephi such specific instructions about limiting the amount of historical information [in the plates] … It seems to me that, while some may find a more detailed study of Church history interesting, it’s not a necessity. I tend to favor Nephi’s approach, which does not ignore that there is more historical information out there, but does not choose to focus on all aspects of our history. It seems to me that our worship, church classes, and ministering to one another touches only lightly on those things that aren’t of spiritual import. Our main mission as members of the Church is to focus most attention on the Church’s divinely ordained mission to bring souls to Christ and to preach the gospel to all the world.I think Nephi’s inspired method of handling history is a good and wise one. I’m intrigued by how many times he repeated his purposes and focus in his writing. I can’t help but wonder if perhaps this was included in his small plates so we might learn a little from his example. We don’t need to know all of the detailed history of Nephi and his people to know that he was a prophet who taught (and teaches us) truth. Likewise, we don’t need to know all the details of our latter-day history to know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s restored church on the earth that has consistently been led by prophets of God, beginning with Joseph Smith and continuing to the present day with President Gordon B. Hinckley. We don’t need to know all the particulars of our history to enjoy the blessings of the sacred teachings and ordinances of the Church and to know of their truth and reality.

I’ve never heard of anyone condemn Nephi for not including a detailed history of his people in the Book of Mormon. Likewise, let us view our prophet and apostles in the same way. Let us not reflexively condemn our own apostles and prophets who lead the Savior’s Church. Let us assume the best in them by working from the assumption they are inspired and led by God, just as we assume the best in Nephi’s decisions about what he focused on in his people’s history.

Concern #1: “Why hasn’t the Church acknowledged that Joseph practiced plural marriage?”

The answer to this concern is: the Church has publicly acknowledged this before. This particular concern is simply inaccurate. The Church has officially published this fact often. They’ve published it in the Church’s Doctrine and Covenants Sunday School manual, the Church History Institute manual, Ensign articles (dating back at least several decades), and, most importantly, it is in our scriptural canon (Doctrine and Covenants 132 ).

What this means is that we just need to be better as parents and individuals at directing people to all the many resources that the Church has already published on the topic. And when we come across media on the topic, we need to be “critical consumers of information,” as one blogger pointed out.

Concern #2: “Why hasn’t the Church focused more on this topic?”

The Lord has commissioned the Church to declare doctrine, not history (and of course, there are some historical events that are closely tied to doctrine). I think that’s one reason why, in any given church lesson, the manual spends so much time teaching applications to the brief history it provides—because that’s what members need most.

If we only have three hours per week of instruction about how to become more Christlike, we need to be getting the most relevant information to help us in our journey. One reason people have had issues with the LDS Church posting these essays is because they misunderstand that it has actually never been the Church’s job to be the historians. Criticizing the Church for not publishing every detail of its history is like criticizing the federal government for not publishing more American History text books. It is just not its job. Other people and organizations fulfill that role. And that’s OK. There are many researchers, professionals, and organizations that research and publish things about Church history. Church and Sunday School was never meant to just be a history lesson. There are other LDS historical conferences, LDS scholars and researchers, and external professional gatherings to fill that need. And it is a very different need than the Church fulfills.

Like Nephi, we are also limited in the amount of “space” we have to be officially instructed about the gospel. The difference is that Nephi was limited by physical space (on the plates), and we are limited by time (three hours of Church per week). If we only have a limited amount of Church time to be taught the most important, relevant-to-our-life things about Joseph Smith, polygamy is probably not the most relevant to us today. In Joseph Smith’s case, I was taught about his role in translating the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the priesthood, the re-institution of temple worship, organizing missionary work to the world, etc. Those things are all still relevant to us today: I read the Book of Mormon daily, I experience the power of the priesthood daily, I attend the temple as often as I can, I try to support our full-time missionaries by trying to be a missionary daily. However, polygamy is an obsolete practice. The Lord has never asked that I make it a part of my daily/weekly life like the other things Joseph played an active role in establishing. I think there is wisdom in the fact that the Church focuses on teaching us things that are directly applicable today.

Concern #3: “Joseph Smith was sinning when he instituted/practiced polygamy”

In many of the objections I have read about online, many people have assumed that Joseph’s Smith’s practice of polygamy was a moral failing. I can understand how the idea that Brigham Young or Joseph Smith practiced plural marriage might make someone uncomfortable; it made Joseph, Brigham, and others uncomfortable! But we need to be careful that we don’t let our comfort level gauge whether or not something was commanded of God. God sometimes commands things that are uncomfortable (like Nephi killing Laban ), or things that we have trouble making sense of (like Jesus commanding his apostles to not teach Gentiles , and also later refusing to talk to a Gentile woman ).

One helpful step for someone who is having doubts about this is to see what the Church and other prophets have said on the topic. Nowhere have I been able to find them say that polygamy was an unfortunate mistake, or that Joseph shouldn’t have taken more wives. We know that previous prophets have practiced plural marriage such as Abraham, possibly Isaac, Jacob, David, or Solomon. So polygamy itself is not evil. We should be careful to not be so quick to think that we possess more insight, wisdom, or inspiration than a prophet. It can be too easy to slip into the “guilty-until-proven-innocent” mindset.

Concern #4: “I was taught that Joseph Smith was practically perfect, so how can I reconcile this with his practice of plural marriage?”

In my personal experience, I was taught many times that the Savior was the only one who ever lived perfectly. However, if others have been taught that anyone besides the Savior was perfect, I do feel for them. Thankfully, prophets’ weaknesses do not prevent them from God effectively using them as spokesmen. We can trust that the Lord will never let them lead the Church astray.

But if you think about it, the fact that all prophets are imperfect doesn’t really have anything to do with Joseph practicing polygamy—because polygamy was not a sin. If someone thinks that polygamy is evidence that Joseph was imperfect, then the problem is not that they thought Joseph Smith was perfect (although that does go against Church doctrine); the problem is, is that they didn’t know that polygamy was not a sin.

Imagine that my daughter walks into the kitchen and sees me drinking orange juice. She is visibly shocked and disgusted and says, “Mom, I’m so disappointed in you. I can’t believe you would drink orange juice. I thought you were better than that.” Should my proper response be, “Sweetie, I’m not a perfect person, and I make mistakes, so you can’t expect your mother to be flawless”? Of course not! The problem is not that my daughter thinks I’m perfect; the problem is that my daughter thinks that drinking orange juice is a moral weakness. So my response should be to help her understand that it’s OK to drink orange juice, not to convince her to be OK with my “imperfection.”

Likewise, if a person is bothered that a prophet could make such a big mistake like practicing polygamy, the remedy is not teaching that prophets can make mistakes (although it’s fine to acknowledge that); it’s to show that polygamy itself is not a mistake. We believe the Lord commanded it, and Joseph followed the Lord’s command.

So how Joseph Smith has been presented to someone will not help their concerns. But how polygamy is presented—as a commandment Joseph was following—can resolve their concerns. Polygamy was difficult for Joseph and the other Saints to live, but they were still obedient to the Lord. Just know that you are in good company if the Church’s history of polygamy is something you struggle with. And as we act in faith, like the early Saints, the Lord will bless us with peace.

Concern #5: “I disapprove of the Church’s decision to post the article (or not post it)”

Members of the Church have had access to lots of already-published historical information on Joseph Smith and polygamy, through official Church publications and non-official publications. But now that the Church has recently been in the limelight, it seems like their approach to history is looked at by some as “denial” at best or “deception” at worst. I realize that those opposed to the Church have their favorite topics to write about to “prove” that the Church or a prophet as false, and polygamy is one of those. So someone trying to find faithful and historically accurate information about polygamy will undoubtedly come across many of the non-faithful sites. And often, it’s hard to tell some of the faithful and non-faithful sites apart at first glance. I can imagine the Church wanting to do something to make the correct information more accessible than it already was.

I find it interesting that people have created a Catch-22 for the Church. If the Church publishes a history of polygamy (again) on its website, they get falsely accused of “hiding it for so long.” But they were also being falsely accused of not taking an active approach to explaining detailed history to members. It seems like no matter what the Church does, there will always be those who oppose its efforts. But the work of God will still go forth in spite of those efforts.

I hope that members become familiar with the historical aspects of the Church, including polygamy. The way many articles phrase this issue can be confusing, so we need to make sure we are educated on these topics, as well. And if something causes us pain, like the topic of polygamy might, I hope we can still act with faith in spite of that pain or confusion. After all, that’s what becoming a disciple of Christ really is: acting with faith in the most difficult of circumstances.

You might enjoy these articles on the same topic: A Well-Behaved Mormon Woman: Regardless of What you Think About Joseph Smith and Polygamy Sixteen Small Stones: Some Thoughts for LDS Members Who are Surprised and Upset about Joseph Smith’s Polygamy The Millennial Star: Why didn’t the Church teach me this stuff? Mormon Women: For those who struggle with Mormon history of polygamy We Talk of Christ We Rejoice in Christ: Joseph Smith and Polygamy David Grant: Praise to the Man Even with 40 Wives and Teenage Brides, on LDS.net