Wikipedia: Mormonism and Polygamy

[ELF1024]

Palerider:

Here is how my copy of the KJV of the Bible reads.

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

Good, means I'll never be Bishop! Everyone, including me, can breathe a sigh of relief.

[california boy]

The basic facts - that there was a man named Jacob Cochran, that the group he formed practiced polygamy, and that there were many converts from his group to the Church including members of the Twelve - may very well be correct. It is the inferred causality - that this is where the Church picked up the practice from - that is shoddy article writing.

Yes they do. The section it appears in is titled "the origin of plural marriage", and it is the only explanation that appears in that section. There is not a word from Joseph Smith or Brigham Young for how they believe plural marriage originated.

I don't disagree with you entirely, but given historical events, Joseph Smith was not the first one in the area to teach polygamy. Hence, the origin of modern polygamy did not start with Joseph Smith. The Cochran group started practicing it first. Maybe there were even others, I don't know. The only factual statement you can make is that Joseph Smith introduced the idea to the Mormon church and testified that the directive came from God.

In any event, it still seems like a picky point and hardly a reason to trash wikipedias entire statement on Mormons. The article and church is more than just about the origins of polygamy. I guess part of me is coming from a time growing up where virtually every article contained serious errors on Mormon doctrine. This is not one of them.

[Jason]

I don't disagree with you entirely, but given historical events, Joseph Smith was not the first one in the area to teach polygamy. Hence, the origin of modern polygamy did not start with Joseph Smith.

But the article isn't supposed to be about the origins of modern polygamy - it's supposed to be about the origin of plural marriage in Mormonism. The Cochran group and its history is irrelevent to that unless the article is stating that the Church took the practice from them.

The only factual statement you can make is that Joseph Smith introduced the idea to the Mormon church and testified that the directive came from God.

A statement which does not appear in the wikipedia article.