 After receiving a revelation commanding him to practice plural marriage, Joseph Smith married multiple wives and introduced the practice to close associates. This principle was among the most challenging aspects of the Restoration—for Joseph personally and for other Church members. Latter-day Saints believe that monogamy—the marriage of one man and one woman—is the Lord’s standing law of marriage. 1 In biblical times, the Lord commanded some of His people to practice plural marriage—the marriage of one man and more than one woman. Through the lineage of these 19th-century Saints have come many Latter-day Saints who have been faithful to their gospel covenants as righteous mothers and fathers; loyal disciples of Jesus Christ; devoted Church members, leaders, and missionaries; and good citizens and prominent public officials. At the April 1904 general conference, Church President Joseph F. Smith issued a forceful statement, known as the Second Manifesto, making new plural marriages punishable by excommunication.10 Since President Smith’s day, Church Presidents have repeatedly emphasized that the Church and its members are no longer authorized to enter into plural marriage and have underscored the sincerity of their words by urging local leaders to bring noncompliant members before Church disciplinary councils. The practice was introduced carefully and incrementally, and participants vowed to keep their participation confidential, anticipating a time when husbands and wives could acknowledge one another publicly. Like the participants, we “see through a glass, darkly” and are asked to walk by faith.3 
 
 The Beginnings of Plural Marriage in the Church 
 
 The revelation on plural marriage was not written down until 1843, but its early verses suggest that part of it emerged from Joseph Smith’s study of the Old Testament in 1831. The Lord responded that He had commanded them to enter into the practice.5 
 
 Latter-day Saints understood that they were living in the latter days, in what the revelations called the “dispensation of the fulness of times.”6 Ancient principles—such as prophets, priesthood, and temples—would be restored to the earth. Plural marriage, practiced by ancient patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, was one of those ancient principles.6 
 
 The same revelation that taught of plural marriage was embedded within a revelation about eternal marriage—the teaching that marriage could last beyond death. Church members came to see themselves as a “peculiar people,” covenant-bound to carry out the commands of God despite outside opposition.4 
 
 The Beginnings of Plural Marriage in the Church 
 
 Polygamy had been permitted for millennia in many cultures and religions, but, with few exceptions, it was rejected in Western cultures. Several Latter-day Saints who had lived in Kirtland reported decades later that Joseph Smith had married Alger, who lived and worked in the Smith household, after he had obtained her consent and that of her parents.10 Little is known about this marriage, and nothing is known about the conversations between Joseph and Emma regarding Alger. On April 3, 1836, the Old Testament prophet Elijah appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple and restored the priesthood keys necessary to perform ordinances for the living and the dead, including sealing families together.13 Marriages performed by priesthood authority could link loved ones to each other for eternity, on condition of righteousness; marriages performed without this authority would end at death.14 
 
 Marriage performed by priesthood authority meant that the procreation of children and perpetuation of families would continue into the eternities. Marriage at such an age, inappropriate by today’s standards, was legal in that era, and some women married in their mid-teens.26 Helen Mar Kimball spoke of her sealing to Joseph as being “for eternity alone,” suggesting that the relationship did not involve sexual relations.27 After Joseph’s death, Helen remarried and became an articulate defender of him and of plural marriage.28 
 
 Following his marriage to Louisa Beaman and before he married other single women, Joseph Smith was sealed to a number of women who were already married.29 Neither these women nor Joseph explained much about these sealings, though several women said they were for eternity alone.30 Other women left no records, making it unknown whether their sealings were for time and eternity or were for eternity alone. God declared in the Book of Mormon that monogamy was the standard; at times, however, He commanded plural marriage so His people could “raise up seed unto [Him].”44 Plural marriage did result in an increased number of children born to believing parents.45 
 
 Some Saints also saw plural marriage as a redemptive process of sacrifice and spiritual refinement. According to Helen Mar Kimball, Joseph Smith stated that “the practice of this principle would be the hardest trial the Saints would ever have to test their faith.” Though it was one of the “severest” trials of her life, she testified that it had also been “one of the greatest blessings.”46 Her father, Heber C. Kimball, agreed. During the years that plural marriage was publicly taught, not all Latter-day Saints were expected to live the principle, though all were expected to accept it as a revelation from God. For more than half a century, plural marriage was practiced by some Latter-day Saints under the direction of the Church President. Latter-day Saints are encouraged to trust in our wise Heavenly Father, who loves His children and does all things for their growth and salvation.55 
 
 Resources 
 
 The Church acknowledges the contribution of scholars to the historical content presented in this article; their work is used with permission. Originally published October 2014.
– The Mormon church's big revelations didn't stop with its sacred undergarments: In an online essay titled "Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo," the church for the first time declares that founder Joseph Smith was a polygamist, with a footnote stating that "careful estimates" put his tally of wives at between 30 and 40. The essay explains that Smith was ordered to take multiple wives by an angel who visited him three times between 1834 and 1842; in the last instance, the angel was armed with a sword and threatened a reluctant Smith. The leader, then married to first wife Emma, took his first plural wife, Fanny Alger, in Kirtland, Ohio. Smith and Alger ultimately separated, and the church relocated to Nauvoo, Ill., where he married many more women. The oldest was 56, and the youngest was 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball; some were already married, a revelation the New York Times describes as the "biggest bombshell for some." The essay explains that a number of marriages, including that with Kimball, were sealed "for eternity alone," suggesting sexual relations weren't involved (the ones that did involve sex were "for time and eternity"). What did Emma think of all this? Per the essay, she was none too pleased, though at one time she did accept four of Smith's wives into their home. And what was the reasoning behind what the essay describes as the "wrenching trial" of polygamy? Kimball said Smith told her that "the practice of this principle would be the hardest trial the Saints would ever have to test their faith." Two more essays discuss plural marriage in the church's later years; they're part of an effort the church is making to share "reliable, faith-promoting" info about its past, the church's historian tells the Times. (Part of that effort: an explanation of its undergarments.)