The Essential James E. Talmage (CLASSICS IN MORMON THOUGHT SERIES) - Hardcover

Talmage, James E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1560850183 ISBN 13: 9781560850182

Publisher: Signature Books, 1997

Synopsis

 Latter-day Saints were stunned in 1911 to learn that the interior of the Salt Lake temple had been secretly photographed and that perpetrators were demanding a $100,000 ransom for the photos. As church leaders considered their options, former University of Utah president James E. Talmage proposed that the First Presidency commission its own photos, which they did, authorizing Talmage to write his landmark House of the Lord. As the manuscript and photos were being readied for press, the presidency appointed the forty-nine-year-old educator to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.

This was not the first time that Talmage had been of service to his church. As a geology professor, he was consulted about underground ventilation options for the Salt Lake Tabernacle and about the scientific evidence for organic evolution, which he cautiously promoted. At the church president’s request, Talmage also delivered a series of lectures on church theology which would form the basis for his later influential books.

Not that Talmage was unaccustomed to controversy. When his book, The Articles of Faith, first appeared, he was accused of “apostasy” and narrowly escaped church sanction. When he read from an advance text of Jesus the Christ in general conference, some leaders objected to the doctrinal content and had the offending paragraphs excised from the published conference proceedings.

Scholars have noted that much of Talmage’s work reflects the thinking of his day, particularly in his reliance on Frederick Farrar’s Life of Christ and in his portrayal of a so-called “Victorian Jesus.” But as James P. Harris observes, Talmage also “supplemented the biblical narrative with modern revelation” and produced “a source of information and inspiration to church members worldwide.”

The Essential James E. Talmage includes some of the apostle’s lesser-known works. For Talmage’s more popular writings, the editor has included relevant diary entries and material omitted from later editions. Readers will appreciate the process by which these seminal works were produced and the character of the man who composed them.

About this title

About the Author

 James P. Harris, M.A., sociology, State University of New York, works for the New York State Division of Child Support Enforcement in Albany. He filled an LDS mission to Brazil and now serves as the Sunday School President in the LDS Kingston Ward of the Newburgh Stake. He lives in Saugerties, NY with his son. The Essential James E. Talmage is his first book. Harris has also written the forward to The Articles of Faith, a reprint of Elder Talmage’s original 1899 edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

 Chapter 10

“Items on Polygamy—Omitted from the Published Book,”
Undated, Written for Inclusion but Not Published in The Articles of Faith, First Edition
(from James E. Talmage Papers, Archives and Manuscripts, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah)

Polygamy,—An Ancient Practice—As made known in the revelation (Doc.& Cov. 132) concerning the eternity of the marriage covenant, the order of celestial marriage may include a plurality of wives. While the practice of polygamous (Note) marriage has been condemned by christian sects in general, it was doubtless the system under which (by most of) the patriarchs of old: and in view of this fact, it is known in the Church today as the system of patriarchal marriage. The custom has survived the lapse of time, and is still a traditional and common practice amongst a large proportion of the human family.

The Jewish scriptures conclusively prove that polygamy was not merely tolerated by the Lord, but positively approved by the Lord in olden times. Abraham was a polygamist, yet the Lord treated him with spiritual favor, established with him a covenant for all time (Gen. 17: 1-4), and moreover bestowed upon his polygamous child a special blessing (Gen. 17:20). Jacob, whose God-given name-title Israel is still the honored designation of the chosen people, was the husband of four living wives; yet unto him the Lord confirmed the covenant made with his grandfather Abraham (Gen. 28:13), and granted special blessings to his polygamous wife Rachel (Gen. 30:22-23), and also to Leah the first wife for having given another woman to her husband (Gen. 30:17-18). Moses also possessed a plurality of wives (Exo. 2:21; Numb. 12:1; Judges 4:11), yet he was made the mouthpiece of God unto Israel, and through him the laws of the people were established, but in no instance do we find the polygamous relationship denounced; on the contrary special provision was made for the treatment of polygamous children (Deut. 21:15-17).

Through another enactment, polygamy was made compulsory among the Israelites under certain conditions, and the penalty of lasting disgrace was decreed against him who refused to meet the requirement. The law was to the effect, that if a married man died without children, it should be the duty of the brother of the deceased to take the widow to wife, in order that he might have a posterity in his dead brother’s name; no distinction was made as to the single or married state of the surviving brother; and compliance with the law might necessitate a polygamous relationship (Deut. 25:5-10). Samuel, a favored prophet of God (I Sam. 3:19-21) was the offspring of plural marriage (I Sam. 1:1-2, 19-20). David, Israel’s mighty king, specially chosen of God, had many wives and concubines (I Sam. 25:42-43; II Sam. 5:13; 12:7-8); yet of him we read that he “did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (I Kings 15:5). The exception here noted in David’s righteous life was a grevous sin; for he had committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of another; and moreover planned the death of her husband. The child resulting from this sinful association was smitten with death in spite of David’s earnest supplications (II Sam. 12:15-23): yet another child, Solomon, which Bathsheba, as David’s polygamous wife bore to him, was loved of the Lord (II Sam. 12:24), became the recipient of unprecedented blessings (I Kings 3:5-15; 4:29-34) and succeeded his father on the throne of undivided Israel (I Kings 1:13). Moreover, he was honored in being permitted to build a temple to the Lord (I Kings 5:5) a privilege denied to his father David (I Chron. 22; 28:3), and on the completion of the sacred structure, the Lord made known his acceptance of this work of a polygamous son, by miraculous manifestations (I Kings 8:10-11; 9:1-3; II Chron. 7:1-3, 12). Solomon also was a polygamist (I Kings 11:1-3); for this he was not accounted a sinner, but for having married women of idolatrous nations, and in sanctioning their god-less practices (Verses 4-13).

The instances cited may suffice to show that the seal of divine approval as set upon the polygamous system, which characterized the history of ancient Israel, and while illegitimate children were stigmatized as objects of shame (Deut. 23:2), the issue of polygamous marriage were in many instances the recipients of special honors as has been shown. As a crowning example, let it be remembered that according to New Testament authority, Christ himself was born in polygamous lineage, among his earthly progenitors there were many polygamists, and children of such, including even Solomon, the son of Bathsheba (Matt. 1).

Plurality of wives in this dispensation. The Latter-day Saints do not base their defense of the doctrine of polygamy as it was taught and practiced for a time within the Church upon the scriptural justification of the system which existed of old; nor upon arguments as to the propriety and expediency of the practice, some of which have been urged by those who would make it appear that plural marriage best subserves the interests of society. The sole and sufficient reason which led the church to promulgate the doctrine was that the Lord had by revelation taught it and had commanded its acceptance in the present dispensation. The revelation here referred to was given to Joseph Smith in 1831; but for several years after that time it was made known to a few of the leading officials of the Church only; and not until 1841 did the prophet allow its practice or introduce it by his own example. The written revelation was published to the Church under date of July 12, 1843 (Doc.& Cov. 132). In this declaration of the divine will, the Lord justified Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and other holy men of old in their marriage relations, declaring that they had all received their wives, by command of God, and under the conditions of the celestial covenant, and that in this thing they sinned not, except as some of them, David and Solomon for example, took wives not given of God. The command to re-establish the sacred ordinance of celestial marriage, including plurality of wives was definite and binding on the Church. The people received it as a divine requirement, and entered upon its practice with the sentiment of the Christian world and their own traditional conceptions of propriety in full opposition.

The story of their fidelity to this principle in the face of sectarian persecution of the bitterest kind, under the harasments of hostile, and as the people truly believed, unconstitutional legislation, is more a matter of history. The first anti-polygamy enactment by the Congress of the United States became a law July 1, 1862; for twenty years however the statute was practically a dead letter; it was held by eminent legal authority to be unconstitutional and therefore void, and little effort was made to enforce its provisions. In 1882, and again in 1887, additional laws were framed against the practice of plural marriage, and when the Supreme Court finally decided that the laws were valid, the people could but submit (See page—[no reference indicated]). The discontinuance of plural marriages was decreed by the Church, through a manifesto issued by the presiding authority and adopted by the people October 6th 1890. Note [no reference indicated].

Edition details

• Publisher: Signature Books
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1560850183
• ISBN 13: 9781560850182
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 289
• Editor: Harris James