Comments on: Review: Revelation, Resistance, and Mormon Polygamy

By: Pacumeni

Pacumeni — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 23:44:29 +0000

I read the book and thought it handled John D. Lee and others well. One of the main things it points out is that there was no ready model of how life should be conducted in a polygamous family. Lacking clear guidelines (and the initial secrecy certainly exacerbated the problem of paucity of successful models), each family had to work things out on their own. The structure of Lee’s family reflected his personality (and those of his wives) as did the structure of John Solomon Fullmer’s family and the other families discussed. Some folks did polygamy well, others badly. It wasn’t easy for any of them.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 16:29:14 +0000

Frank, some discussion, which I summarized above with: “Rumors, scandal, and the exploits of John C. Bennett roiled Nauvoo in 1842.”

For a bit more discussion on the topic, see this earlier post at Millennial Star:

http://www.millennialstar.org/the-apostles-and-their-wives/

By: Frank Pellett

Frank Pellett — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 15:09:57 +0000

Was there any mention of treatment of the “strikers” in this book?

By: Fred

Fred — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 15:09:17 +0000

It’s seems that polygamy will never be justified adequately, theologically, because it was always something other than what some wished it was.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 12:17:48 +0000

OM, I guess you’ll have to read the book yourself to make that judgment. If you really think that John D. Lee was “a true zealot” and therefore should not have been entrusted with the permission to practice plural marriage or with power and authority within the Church such as being made a member of the Council of Fifty, then your question probably ought to be why Brigham Young gave him such trust and power in the first place.

By: Old Man

Old Man — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 04:31:36 +0000

I haven’t read this one yet. But I already find one issue possibly problematic. John D. Lee makes for a goofy case study. A true zealot, Lee always seemed to magnify any concept or principal to its most extreme state. He had to be reined in on adoptions and he (with a few others) obviously should have been reined in on plural marriage. Did the author effectively handle the analysis of this zealot?

By: Clark Goble

Clark Goble — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 19:19:02 +0000

I’ve seen others over at JI mention the significance of Joseph Smith Sr’s death as well.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 18:53:48 +0000

Yeah, the book’s been out about two years but hasn’t been noticed much. It is about as neutral an approach to the controversial polygamy topic as I have seen.

By: FarSide

FarSide — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 18:43:17 +0000

Dave, thanks for this review. And just in time for Father’s Day! I’ll put this book on my Amazon “wish list.”