Elder Jensen Quote
Elder Jense on Polyandry
Church Historian Elder Marlin K. Jensen and unofficial apologists like FairMormon do not dispute the polyandry.
CES Letter, Page 52
The CES Letter provides a link to a short audio quote of Elder Jensen acknowledging that Joseph Smith was sealed to legally married women and therefore practiced "polyandry." What it doesn't do is explore what that really means.
It appears that The CES Letter is not interested in learning the truth about these sealings, but instead seeks a sensational soundbite and then allows the listener to draw conclusions that are not supportable from a documentary standpoint.
The women had each experienced two marriage ceremonies and from a ceremonial standpoint, they had two husbands. However, there is no credible evidence supporting that they ever had two husbands practically or sexually.
Joseph Smith taught that marriages for “time and eternity” were part of the “new and everlasting covenant” (D&C 132:4) and that the new and everlasting covenant causes “all old covenants” to be “done away” (D&C 22:1).
A marriage in the new and everlasting covenant would have caused a civil marriage (the “old marriage covenant”) to have been “done away” creating the equivalence of a Church divorce.
No woman could simultaneously have a legal husband and a different sealed husband at the same time in Joseph's teachings. Nor is there any evidence that this ever occurred.
Most of the sealings were "eternity only," meaning only after death. Technically speaking, the women sealed for eternity-only were not his wives during mortality.
A few women were sealed for "time and eternity," or for this life and the next, but there is no evidence they experienced conjugal relations with their husbands after the sealing. Apparently the women chose Joseph as their husband over their legal spouse. While strange, it is unexplainable without additional documentation, which is absent.
A review of the historical documents from Nauvoo demonstrates that none of the women complained, reported, or defended sexual polyandry. None of the husbands, none of the officiators, none of the family members, and even none of the anti-Mormons mentioned it in any way. Historical records from Nauvoo polygamists read as if sexual polyandry did not exist in any way.
See:
FairMormon: Joseph Smith and Polyandry
Occam’s Razor and Joseph Smith’s Alleged Sexual Polyandry
Additional Resources:
12 Myths Regarding Joseph Smith’s Polygamy
“Plural Marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” LDS.org Essay
“Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo” LDS.org Essay
“Plural Marriage and Families in Early Utah” LDS.org Essay
“The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage” LDS.org Essay
“Mercy Thompson and the Revelation on Marriage: D&C 132″ by Jed Woodworth
“Joseph Smith DNA Revealed: New Clues from the Prophet’s Genes” (2008 FAIR Conference) by Ugo Perego
A Reconciliation of Polygamy by Valerie Hudson
“O that my voice could reach the ears of those uninformed and misinformed” by Suzanne Armitage
“Ask the Apologist: Contradiction between Jacob and DC 132“
“The Fallacy of Fundamentalist Assumptions” (2005 FAIR Conference) by Blake T. Ostler
“A Response to Grant Palmer’s ‘Sexual Allegations against Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Polygamy in Nauvoo’” by Brian C. Hales and Gregory L. Smith
“Separated but not Divorced: The LDS Church’s Uncomfortable Relationship with its Polygamous Past” byCraig L. Foster
“Hagar in LDS Scripture and Thought” by Andrew C. Smith
“Stretching to Find the Negative: Gary Bergera’s Review of Joseph Smith’s Polygamy: History and Theology” byBrian C. Hales
Does God Have a Wife? – by Alyson Skabelund Von Feldt
Plural Marriage and the Half-Empty-Glass School of Historiography – by Allen L. Wyatt
Prologue to the Study of Joseph Smith’s Marital Theology – by Danel W. Bachman
The Prophet Joseph Smith and His Plural Wives – by Richard Lloyd Anderson, Scott H. Faulring
Articles of Faith 3: Craig L. Foster on Polygamy and its relationship to the LDS Church, Craig L Foster, 0:33:04
Best of Fair 12: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Plural Marriage* (*but were afraid to ask), Dr. Greg Smith, 1:02:38
Articles of Faith 1: Brian C. Hales Interview – Articles of Faith Show, Brian C Hales, 0:25:27
FairMormon Frameworks 4: Brian Hales Polygamy, Brian Hales, 1:08:58
Mormon FAIR-Cast 85: Foundations of fundamentalist polygamy, Martin Tanner, 0:19:55
Mormon FAIR-Cast 187: Polygamy Roundtable, Gregory L. Smith, 1:25:20
RiseUp Podcast: Polygamy and Joseph Smith, Dr. Greg L. Smith, 0:21:42
Polygamy and Joseph Smith with Greg Smith
FAIR Examination 9: Polygamy as an Abrahamic Sacrifice–Dr. Valerie Hudson, Dr. Valerie Hudson, 1:00:07
Polygamy and its relationship to the LDS Church- Craig Foster
Mormon FAIR-Cast 85: Foundations of fundamentalist polygamy
Joseph Smith’s Polygamy –Dr. Brian Hales– Fair Mormon Podcast
Polygamy as an Abrahamic Sacrifice–Dr. Valerie Hudson– Fair Mormon Podcast
Plural Marriage and Maintaining Faith- Dr. Gregory Smith- Fair Mormon Podcast
The Naturalistic vs. Faithful View of Joseph Smith’s Polygamy by Brian Hales
12 Myths Regarding Joseph Smith’s Polygamy by Brian Hales
pt 1 “Zina and her Men” 2006 FAIR conference address by Allen Wyatt
pt 2 “Zina and her men” 2006 FAIR Conference address by Allen Wyatt
pt 3 “Zina and her men” 2006 FAIR Conference address by Allen Wyatt
pt 4 “Zina and her men” 2006 FAIR Conference address by Allen Wyatt
pt 5 “Zina and her men” 2006 FAIR Conference address by Allen Wyatt
Pt 1, “Joseph Smith’s DNA Revealed: New Clues from the Prophets Genes” by Ugo Perego
Pt 2, “Joseph Smith’s DNA Revealed: New Clues from the Prophets Genes“
Pt 3, “Joseph Smith’s DNA Revealed: New Clues from the Prophets Genes“
Pt 4, “Joseph Smith’s DNA Revealed: New Clues from the Prophets Genes“
Pt 5, “”Joseph Smith’s DNA Revealed: New Clues from the Prophets Genes“
Pt 6, Joseph Smith’s DNA Revealed: New Clues from the Prophets Genes“
“Reconciling Belief with Polygamy” by Brian Hales
“Testimony of Early Polygamous Wives: Mary Elizabeth Rollins“
“Testimony of Early LDS Polygamous Wives: Margaret Cooper West“
“Testimony of Early LDS Polygamous Wives: Elizabeth Whitney“
“Testimony of Early LDS Polygamous Wives: Phoebe Carter Woodruff“
“Testimony of Early LDS Polygamous Wives: Vilate Kimball“
“The Wives of Joseph Smith and Their Testimony- Zina Huntington“
“The Wives of Joseph Smith and Their Testimony–Lucy Walker
Did Joseph Smith Marry Young Women? Fair Mormon Answers“
“LDS and Popular Polygamy Stereotypes by Craig Foster“
“Zina and Her Men: An Examination of the Changing Marital Status of Zina Huntington“
“Joseph Smith’s DNA revealed: New Clues to the Prophet’s Genes” by Dr. Ugo Perego
“Controversies of Joseph Smith’s Polygamy” by Brian Hales
“Joseph Smith DNA Revealed: New Clues from the Prophet’s Genes“
“A Refutation of Grant Palmer’s Treatment of Sexual Allegations Against Joseph Smith” by Brian Hales