The CES Letter argues that Joseph Smith's "modus operandi" related to polygamy was "deceptive" and "disonest."

Date
Oct 2017
Type
Book
Source
Jeremy Runnells
Resigned
Critic
Hearsay
Direct
Reference

Jeremy Runnells, CES Letter: My Search for Answers to my Mormon Doubts, self-published online, 2017, p. 57-58

Scribe/Publisher
Jeremy Runnells
People
Jeremy Runnells
Audience
Reading Public
Transcription

The secrecy of the marriages and the private and public denials by Joseph Smith are not congruent with honest behavior. . .

What does it say about Joseph Smith and his character to include his plural wife and associates – who knew about his secret polygamy/polyandry – to lie and perjure in a sworn public affidavit that Joseph was not a polygamist?

Now, does the fact that Joseph Smith practiced polygamy and polyandry while denying and lying to Emma, the Saints, and the world over the course of 10+ years of his life prove that he was a false prophet? That the Church is false? No, it doesn’t.

What it does prove, however, is that Joseph Smith’s pattern of behavior or modus operandi for a period of at least 10 years of his adult life was to keep secrets, to be deceptive, and to be dishonest – both privately and publicly.

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