'I can only find one,' while sealed to thirty

Admitted

Their own church publications admit these facts. You can make this point from LDS sources alone.

What he said in public

On 26 May 1844, a month before he died, Joseph Smith preached this. "What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one." It is in History of the Church 6:411.

Where he stood that month

He had been sealed to more than thirty women.

It was not one sermon

The 1835 Article on Marriage declared one man and one wife. It stayed in the Doctrine and Covenants until 1876.

Church papers denied "spiritual wifery" right through the Nauvoo years, while the practice spread quietly among the leaders.

Their answer, at full strength

FAIR says the denials were carefully worded. He denied adultery.

He denied John C. Bennett's freelance "spiritual wifery." He did not deny celestial marriage given by God.

He had one legal wife, so "I can only find one" was technically true. Telling the truth openly would have brought mobs and prosecution, as the Expositor affair proved.

Concealment protected the community. Apologists compare Abraham's misdirection about Sarah.

And the church's own essay grants the secrecy, and says those involved found it agonising.

How strong is this argument?

They admit the facts and defend them as justified. That is the whole argument.

But a carefully worded statement meant to leave a false impression is still deception. Proverbs 12:22 and Ephesians 4:25 are the measures, and that is what is being weighed here.

What to say

"He said he could only find one wife. How many was he sealed to that month?"

The building that housed the Nauvoo Expositor, whose single issue reported the plural marriages

Louisa Beaman, sealed to Smith in 1841, three years before the public denial

How they answer this — at its strongest

The denials were worded with care: he had one legal wife, and mobs were real.

FAIR argues that the denials were worded with care. Smith denied adultery. He denied John C. Bennett's freelance 'spiritual wifery'. He did not deny the celestial marriage he believed God had given.

He had only one legal wife. So 'I can only find one' was true in a narrow sense.

Telling the truth openly would have brought mobs and charges. The Expositor affair proved it. So keeping it quiet shielded the community. Apologists point to Abraham, who misled a king about Sarah.

And the church's own essay grants the secrecy. It says those involved found it agonising.

The verdict

They admit the facts: a true sentence meant to mislead is still deception.

The denials and the marriages that ran alongside them are both documented beyond dispute. On 26 May 1844 he said he could find only one wife. He had been sealed to more than 30 women.

Their defence concedes the deception and argues that it was justified.

A carefully worded statement made to create a false impression is still deception, by any ordinary or biblical measure. Proverbs 12:22 and Ephesians 4:25 are the texts. That is the claim being graded here.

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