Posted by:
exmo_wannabe_throwaway
(
)
Date: November 24, 2014 01:44PM
So I was listening to the latest Mormon Expositor episode (Did Members Really Know About Joseph Smith's Polygamy) and something occurred to me. One of the things the church does in the JS polygamy essay is to try to establish that JS had received the polygamy revelation as early as 1831. I believe the main reference is to a letter sent to Brigham Young by William Phelps in which Phelps states that JS had said:
"[I]t is [Jesus Christ's] will, that in time, ye should take unto you wives of the Lamanites and Nephites [i.e., Native Americans], that their posterity may become white, delightsome, and Just, for even now their females are more virtuous than the gentiles."
Later Phelps states:
"About three years after this was given [i.e., about 1834], I asked brother Joseph, privately, how "we," that were mentioned in the revelation could take wives of the "natives" as we were all married men? He replied instantly "In the same manner that Abraham took Hagar and Keturah; and Jacob took Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah; by revelation—the saints of the Lord are always directed by revelation." -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_Latter_Day_Saint_polygamyThis idea of an 1831 revelation is corroborated by an apostate source (Ezra Booth), although there is some debate on the details of what JS actually said. The point being, that there seems to be something to the idea that JS was talking about polygamy as early as 1831, at least in reference to shacking up with the Native Americans.
Anyway...what I'm getting at is the following. DNA research has shown us that Native Americans are NOT Lamanites/Nephites, but rather are descendants of peoples who migrated from Siberia 15,000 - 20,000 years ago.
So, even if JS was saying whacky polygamy stuff back in 1831, how would apologists explain the idea that JS was saying that it was Jesus Christ's will (i.e. revelation) that the 'saints' should hook up with the Natives (i.e. Lamanites & Nephites)? The limited geography model kinda blows this idea out the back door, don't ya think? Of course there are many other problems that apologists have to deal with regarding claims about Lamanites and Nephites being in JS's neighborhood. But that's another topic that's been discussed extensively elsewhere.
So, my conclusion: DNA research with respect to Native American origins disproves that JS received the command to practice polygamy from God or JC.
Thoughts?
TL;DR: DNA research disproves 1831 polygamy 'revelation' because JS referred to marrying Lamanites and Nephites, which of course don't exist.