Orson Pratt gives first public discourse on polygamy, another example (besides the priesthood ban) of the Church taking a position without concern for popular opinion.
- Type
- Speech / Court Transcript
- Hearsay
- Scribed Verbatim
- Reference
Orson Pratt, "Celestial Marriage," Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. (Liverpool: F.D. and S.W. Richards, 1854), 1:63
- Scribe/Publisher
- F. D. and S. W. Richards
- Audience
- Latter-day Saints
PDF- Transcription
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY ELDER ORSON PRATT, IN THE TABERNACLE, GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, AUGUST 29, 1852
It is quite unexpected to me, brethren and sisters, to be called upon to address you this forenoon ; and still more so, to address you upon the principle which has been named, namely, a plurailty of wives.
It is rather new ground for me ; that is, I have not been in the habit of publicly speaking upon this subject ; and it is rather new ground to the inhabitants of the United States, and not only to them, but to a portion of the inhabitants of Europe ; a portion of them have no been in the habit of preaching a doctrine of this description ; consequently, we shall have to break new ground.
It is well known, however, to the congregation before me, that the Latter-day Saints have embraced the doctrine of a plurality of wives, as a part of their religious faith. It is not, as many have supposed, a doctrine embraced by them to gratify the carnal lusts and feelings of man ; that is not the object of the doctrine.
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