Orson Pratt

“ If it was a good, moral, and righteous act, before Christ to remember the dead who left no posterity, it was equally so after Christ, unless we can find something in Christ’s doctrine abolishing the law of marriage in behalf of the dead. What is there in the gospel that conflicts with the idea of the widows of several brothers that are dead, marrying the only surviving brother, and the firstborn of each being called after the name of the dead, that his name and lineage might be perpetuated to future generations? ”

“ If, indeed, it be true doctrine that in the Lord the man is not without the woman, nor the woman without the man, then it is of the utmost importance that each should secure a companion in the Lord, that is, be joined together by the authority of God as one flesh, not only for this life, but for that which is to come. ”

“ Thousands of the Israelites, then, were compelled, through fear of the curse of disobedience, to marry a plurality of wives, and these thousands of Polygamists were compelled by the gospel not to divorce their wives only for the sin of adultery. Therefore either the Christian Church must have tolerated Polygamy, or else they must have been under the necessity of unlawfully divorcing that which God had joined together, or else they must have considered that all such, because of their faithfulness to the law in behalf of the dead, had place themselves beyond the reach of Gospel mercy. ”

“ A man that leaves one wife for the gospel’s sake, receives a hundred wives in return for his sacrifice: a man that leaves three or four children for the kingdom of God’s sake, receives three or four hundred children as a reward “now in this time.” But how does he get his hundred fathers and mothers? These would naturally come along as he obtained his hundred fold of wives: for the parents of each of the hundred wives, he would lawfully claim as father and mother. And the brothers and sisters of each of his wives he would naturally claim as his brothers and sisters. ”

“ This divine institution being properly taught and understood, it will be considered a reproach for any man or woman to remain in a single state, and not comply with the ordinance of God, by which they can legally in their immortal state “multiply and replenish” the New Earth with an immortal offspring. In order that this reproach may be taken away, “seven women shall take hold of one man.” They will understand that without a husband, they never can fulfil that great command which was given to immortal beings ”

“ Among all the people of Israel, the Lord chose Gideon, a man having many wives and children, to redeem His people from bondage. To this Polygamist He sent His angel, and showed him great signs and wonders, and gave him many revelations how to deliver Israel.
The Psalmist says, “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His reward. Happy is the man that hat his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” ”

“ When nation rises against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and the sword devours from one end o the earth to the other, as the prophets have predicted should be the case in the last days, many millions of fathers and brothers will fall upon the battle field, while mothers, and daughters, and widows, will be left to mourn the loss. What will become of these females? Answer—The gospel will be preached to many of them, and they will flee out from among the nations, and be gathered with the Saints to Zion. ”

“ The first alternative alone remains, namely to tolerate the plurality system as a divine institution; to admit Jewish Polygamists into the Christian Church, with all their wives, through their faith and obedience to the gospel. ”

“ No man can be “in the Lord,” in the full sense of this passage, that is, he cannot enter into all the fullness of his glory, “without the woman.” And no woman can be “in the Lord,” or in the enjoyment of a fullness, “without the man.” ”

“ Well did he say that the Lord should make for the poor man, “families like a flock;” an hundred fold of families, dwelling in a hundred houses, certainly would have very much the appearance of a “flock.” ”

“ A may die before his wife B; his widow marries a young man C for this life only, as she is already bound to her deceased husband for eternity. Question—When Mr. A claims his wife in the resurrection, what will Mr. C do for a wife? Answer—He must ether do without one, or else be married to a second one in this life; in the latter case, he would have tow living in this life at the same time. Therefore, if marriage for eternity be a divine institution, as we have abundantly proved it to be, then the plurality of wives is a divine institution also ”

“ Having proved the eternity of the marriage Covenant, and illustrated the design of this divine ordinance, it may not be improper to carefully examine some of the results which necessarily flow from this sacred institution. All who admit the eternal union of husband and wife are obliged to admit as a necessary consequence a plurality of wives ”

“ The calamities of war will be so great in that day, that the females will be for more numerous than the males; hence, the Lord says, “I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.”—Isaiah xiii, 12. In that day the long established custom of the male’s first making the proposition ofmarriage to the female, will, in some measure, be reversed. Instead of a man’s seeking to obtain the consent of seven women to become his wives, they will importune him to grant them that privilege ”

“ A woman with one husband can fulfil this command, with greater facilities, than if she had a plurality; indeed, this would, in all probability, frustrate the great design of marriage, and prevent her from raising up a family. ”

“ Those who are not righteous and are not wise, and will not observe what the Psalmist says, will no doubt think that a strange thing is happened in the land, when they hear of a poor man’s having “families like a flock.” ”

“ This law as we have seen necessarily includes a plurality of wives.
In a nation as numerous as Israel there would naturally be many thousands of instances throughout all their generations where husbands would die without children; and there also would be many thousands of instances where the living brother or next kinsman, though already married, would be required by the law to marry the widow. ”

“ To have the chain of posterity broken by death was considered a great calamity, therefore the Lord made strict provisions for such cases. If the deceased had no brother living, it then fell upon the nearest kinsman to marry his widow. ”