Evidence · Case 11 · Mormonism
“The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage,” Gospel Topics Essays
One exhibit from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
The church’s own essay states that plural marriage began by revelation through Joseph Smith and ended by revelation through Wilford Woodruff, calling the end a process rather than a single event.
Sources
Objections & responses
- The fact of the change is not in dispute, and the church says both the start and the end came by revelation. So what is the Christian objection actually?
The concern is twofold. Doctrine and Covenants 132 is still canonized and still teaches plural marriage as an eternal principle: the practice ended, the doctrine did not. And the Manifesto followed federal legal pressure (the Edmunds-Tucker Act and the threat of losing the temples), which invites the question of whether the revelation was a response to God or to Washington. The church’s own essay addresses this and argues the timing was providential. Both accounts are laid out, and you should weigh them yourself; the church’s is stated first on purpose.