(Full bibliography available upon request)
Women in the Priesthood
To begin talking about the priesthood as it was given to women we must first speak to the Relief Society. The Relief Society was a group begun for women under the direction of Joseph Smith, Emma Smith and Eliza Snow. In their book, Strangers in Paradox, Margaret (a University of Utah professor) and her husband Paul Toscano, put forth the idea that the Relief Society was established as a way to begin to confer the priesthood to women.
The first Relief Society meeting took place on March 17th, 1842. It was at this meeting that Joseph explicitly compared the Relief Society to the ecclesiastical priesthood within the Mormon Church, which had already been established. Joseph wanted to elect a presidency within the Relief Society and ordain them. Emma was then elected the first president of the Relief Society (Toscano 182).
Emma was called the “elect lady” by Joseph and he said that Emma’s election fulfilled the promise of Doctrine and Covenants 25 (scriptures within the LDS theology considered the word of God given to Joseph Smith through revelation). By reading D & C 25 this means that Emma was; “ordained under his hand to expound scriptures and to exhort the Church according as it shall be given thee by my spirit (Toscano 182-183).”
D & C 25 goes on to say that “he shall lay his hands upon thee, and thou shalt receive the Holy Ghost…” Which means that Emma and other women within the LDS church, and more specifically the Relief Society, are called through the churches founding prophet by the word of God (Spirit) - to expound upon scriptures, teach, learn and write by the fact that they have received the gift of the Holy Ghost (Toscano 182-183).
Joseph Smith spoke to women and the priesthood on a number of occasions, all of which I will not be covering here, but I will give a few more of my favorite examples. In his April 28th of 1842 discourse, Joseph Smith directly spoke to the relationship of women of the priesthood (Toscano 184).
You see at this point women had been giving blessing to each other and many male church members felt that this was wrong because blessings and priesthood were solely within the male domain. In reply to this objection Joseph said that women had the right to administer to the sick because of their ordination and authority they received through the Holy Ghost. He quoted Mark 16:16-18 and explained that casting out of devils, speaking in tongues, laying on of hands are given to all either male or female (Toscano 184).
He continued by saying, “…wherein they are ordained, it is a privilege of those set apart to administer in that authority which is conferr’d on them – and if the sisters should have faith to heal the sick, let all hold their tongues , and let every thing roll on (Toscano 184)”
Joseph had further justification for women’s authority to heal the sick. He said that soon women would have an even greater right to administer in spiritual gifts. He said that he was “turning the key” to them by revelation. He said that, “the time had not been before that these things could be in their proper order – that the Church is not now organiz’d in its proper order and cannot be until the Temple is completed (Toscano 185).”
At that time Joseph was hurrying to finish the Temple in Nauvoo since he had premonitions of his own death. He seemed to be grooming the Relief Society to raise women up to the level of priesthood so that they could fulfill the “will of God” when the Temple was completed. Joseph often referred to delivering the “keys” to the Relief Society which is very significant because in Mormon scriptures and theology the term “keys” implies priesthood rights and presiding authority (Toscano 185).
It’s important to take a moment here to pause and reflect on the seriousness of what Joseph was trying to do. From its beginnings, Mormonism has been a religion of restoration - trying to restore the true church, the true word of God, on earth. It seems that Joseph was called by the Spirit of God to very carefully lay a foundation whereby God was gradually giving women the priesthood.
Why is that if he wanted women to be priestesses he didn’t just come out and announce it to the world? We must think in terms of the 1800’s and the mindset of the time. Women did not have any rights then at all. They were seen by most as subhuman. They did not have the right to an education, they did not have the vote and they certainly did not hold religious positions – in fact, it was thought by some that women did not even have souls.
How radical a notion it would have been to give women the priesthood! Can you imagine how hard it would have been to just come out and declare it? So, in my opinion, Joseph was smart. He worked a little at a time. He set up the Relief Society, he argued for their right to heal the sick and confer blessings upon one another. He made speeches were he said he was about to turn the keys of the priesthood to them.
In the D & C 113 Joseph said that Zion cannot be strong until women were restored as equals (Hanks). We also find church history manuscripts which say that Joseph spoke about showing how the sisters of the church would come into the possession, blessings and privileges and gifts of the priesthood (Toscano 186).
My personal favorite reference to the priestesshood that Joseph was known to have said comes from an account given by Bathsheba W. Smith of Joseph addressing the Relief Society. She writes that Joseph, “wanted to make us, as the women were in Paul’s day, ‘a Kingdom of Priestesses (Toscano 183-184).’”
In an address given in 1842 to the Relief Society Joseph Smith said, “I am glad to have the opportunity of organizing the women, as a part of the priesthood belongs to them (Hanks).” It is amazing to think that upwards of 6 million or so women potentially gather on Sunday across the globe, following the sacrament meeting, for Relief Society within LDS churches – a kingdom of priestesses!
Polygamy
In popular culture many jokes about Mormons surround the once practiced doctrine of polygamy, or plural marriage. As I write these words a popular HBO TV drama called Big Love plays out one modern fundamentalist Mormon family’s trials and tribulations of one man who has three wives. The practice of polygamy within the church is a hot topic among Mormon and non Mormon scholars alike.
It seems that in the 1830’s Joseph Smith secretly began marrying women other than Emma, his first wife. It seems that at first at least, Emma did not know about this. Apparently the practice spread to other members of the church and led to difficulties in Kirtland, OH and later on in Nauvoo, IL, as non-Mormons in the area suffered from moral outrage (Toscano 250).
When the church split, the new LDS Prophet Brigham Young openly practiced polygamy and was even arrested on bigamy charges in 1863 (Toscano 250). Polygamy was widely practiced and even deemed necessary to attain the highest level of heaven at one point in LDS theology. In a general conference of the church on October 6, 1890 the practice was finally put to rest and outlawed. Some fundamentalists Mormon’s, the community of Hildale, Arizona for example, still practice polygamy. For the record, the Community of Christ has never practiced polygamy (www.cofc.org, Official website of the Community of Christ).
Polygamy seems a shocking and unacceptable practice by today’s standards. It seems demeaning to women – and many equate it to slavery. How could a church established on equality of women practice polygamy? Let’s first establish the difference between the practices of Joseph Smith and others who came later in church history.
Joseph Smith was sealed (a Mormon wedding practice which assures the couple will be together in the afterlife (www.lds.org, Official Website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)) to women who were already married and/or sealed to other men. This is not actually polygamy as we understand it today (multiple women married to one man) but is a form of plural marriage which consists of multiple people married to multiple people. It wasn’t until after Joseph’s death when the Saints had moved to Utah that they began practicing the type of polygamy they are infamous for, one man with multiple wives (some as many as forty as in the case of Brigham Young). These women were then not allowed to have other husbands.
What Joseph Smith practiced was not women-oppressing, multiple wife taking, female slavery. He did not even cohabitate with any of his plural wives. Furthermore, there are many examples in the bible of plural marriages, not just in the old testament but Mary, the mother of Jesus herself, conceived a child of God’s while married to Joseph (Toscano 250).
Many people in our culture practice what is known as serial monogamy. While having little tolerance for other marriage practices, we in the West, often get married, commit infidelity, divorce, separate and remarry. According to the anonymous author of the book Spiritual Polyamory (polyamory being a modern term to describe loving more than one person, at one time), the adaption of a more tribal marriage style encourages freedom, honesty, and self empowerment. Not relying on one person to make you whole, you instead rely upon yourself and your inner strength to contend with feelings of jealousy and lack of self worth (Spiritual Polyamory, author remains anonymous).
This type of multiple partnership has gained modern popularity. Articles and books on polyamory can be found, as well as support groups, websites and conferences. It is a lifestyle grounded in free choice and love. The movement even finds itself aligned with modern lifestyle revolutions such as the gay and lesbian movement and transgenderism (Spiritual Polyamory, author remains anonymous).
One can argue that what the LDS church practiced after Joseph’s death was not based in equality for women. Joseph Smith however obviously had no problem with his female partners having other male partners so the arrangement seems entirely equalitarian and not lacking for feminist approval. This is amazing and it is in keeping with the revolutionary aspect of Joseph’s attempt to further spirituality and restore old truths in the modern day.
