{"id":17914,"date":"2016-04-14T00:18:18","date_gmt":"2016-04-14T04:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/?p=17914"},"modified":"2016-04-14T00:18:18","modified_gmt":"2016-04-14T04:18:18","slug":"when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2016\/04\/when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married\/","title":{"rendered":"When the Mormon Jesus Was Married"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It is a staple of anti-Mormon literature (and evangelical countercult literature more generally) that the Mormon Jesus is not the Christian Jesus.<\/p>\n

One subject that repeatedly surfaces in such arguments is that nineteenth-century Mormon leaders believed that Jesus married, married more than once, and had children. As the film\u00a0The God Makers<\/em> explains,\u00a0\u201cMormon apostle Orson Pratt taught that after Jesus Christ grew to manhood, he took at least three wives, Mary, Martha, and Mary Magdalene. Through these wives, the Mormon Jesus, from whom Joseph Smith claimed direct descent, supposedly fathered a number of children.\u201d\u00a0It\u2019s an effective critique of Mormonism<\/a>, as most Christian viscerally recoil from the idea of a married Savior, let alone a polygamous Jesus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to know how common these ideas were\u00a0among nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints. In my research for The Mormon Jesus: A Biography<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0I discovered that the notion was rather common and apparently uncontroversial within the church. Leaders who taught that Jesus was married included:\u00a0Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, Jedediah Grant, Brigham Young, Joseph F. Smith, George Q. Cannon. I could not find any example of church leaders opposing the idea, though it\u2019s quite possible some did.<\/p>\n

Orson Hyde (longtime President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) was among the most persistent exponents of a married Jesus. For Hyde, as for many other church leaders, Jesus himself was the bridegroom at Cana, the wedding at which he turned water into wine. Why else would Jesus have been so concerned about the wine shortage? Hyde claimed to know his scripture. Indeed, he bragged of having memorized the Bible in English, German, and Hebrew, and he insisted that the Bible taught that Jesus had fathered children, fulfilling the prediction of Isaiah that \u201che shall see his seed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hyde, Pratt, and other Latter-day Saint leaders used other arguments from scripture, but they also reasoned that Jesus Christ would have fulfilled all of the commands given by God for the salvation of men. Joseph F. Smith once said that he did not think \u201cthat Jesus who decended through Polygamous families from\u00a0 Abraham down & who fulfilled all the Law even baptism by immersion would have lived and died without being married.\u201d And Jesus had set an example for future generations by marrying a number of women. The Latter-day Saints, or at least some of them, were among their Savior\u2019s descendants.<\/p>\n

Where does the story go from here? After the abandonment of additional plural marriages in the LDS Church<\/a>, Latter-day Saint leaders publicly dropped the idea of a married Jesus, quickly.\u00a0It was a potential source of embarrassment. Some church leaders taught the idea privately over the course of the twentieth century.<\/p>\n

By contrast, the idea of a married and polygamous Jesus persisted among those Latter-day Saints who persisted with polygamy. Ogden Kraut, for example, published a book in 1969 titled Jesus Was Married<\/em>.<\/p>\n

No doubt some percentage of contemporary Latter-day Saints continue to believe in a married Savior. But especially as the church expands internationally, the idea is probably increasingly uncommon.<\/p>\n

What should one make of this? There isn\u2019t time for a full discussion here, but here are a few thoughts:<\/p>\n

1. The New Testament and early Christian writings lead me to believe that Jesus was probably not married.\u00a0Clement of Alexandria, writing in the late second century, observed that some Christians \u201cproudly say that they are imitating the Lord who neither married nor had any possession in this world.\u201d For a full discussion of the subject, see Anthony Le Donne\u2019s helpful\u00a0The Wife of Jesus<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

2. That Latter-day Saints preached this in the nineteenth century is not surprising. In that century and in the twentieth, several Mormon leaders commented that Jesus would have performed all of the ordinances that God requires for human exaltation. Those ordinances, for Latter-day Saints, include sealing in marriage. Thus, Jesus would have married, just as Jesus submitted to baptism. More basically, it\u2019s not surprising that nineteenth-century Mormons<\/a> partly remade Jesus in their own image. Many other groups of Christians have done the same.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0When discussing Mormon beliefs<\/a>, it is important to distinguish between the statements of nineteenth-century church leaders and the beliefs of contemporary church members (or leaders). Given the high regard in which Latter-day Saints hold their former leaders, those statements are not irrelevant, but they are not simple guides to contemporary beliefs or teachings. Indeed, contemporary Latter-day Saint beliefs about Jesus Christ far more closely resemble those of Protestant or Catholic Christians than\u00a0was the case in the second half of the nineteenth century.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0While I do not think there is solid biblical evidence for a married Jesus, I don\u2019t think Christians need to reflexively recoil from the idea. Most Christians imagine an entirely asexual Savior, which is not easy to square with the Christian belief that Jesus \u201cin all things\u201d was \u201cmade like unto his brethren,\u201d that Jesus is both \u201cperfectly God\u201d and \u201cperfectly human.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is a staple of anti-Mormon literature (and evangelical countercult literature more generally) that the Mormon Jesus is not the Christian Jesus. One subject that repeatedly surfaces in such arguments is that nineteenth-century Mormon leaders believed that Jesus married, married more than once, and had children. As the film\u00a0The God Makers explains,\u00a0\u201cMormon apostle Orson Pratt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1008,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[500,263,8,15],"tags":[2886],"class_list":["post-17914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-religious-history","category-books-2","category-john-turner","category-mormonism","tag-mormon-jesus"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen the Mormon Jesus Was Married<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It is a staple of anti-Mormon literature (and evangelical countercult literature more generally) that the Mormon Jesus is not the Christian Jesus. One\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2016\/04\/when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When the Mormon Jesus Was Married\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is a staple of anti-Mormon literature (and evangelical countercult literature more generally) that the Mormon Jesus is not the Christian Jesus. One\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2016\/04\/when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Anxious Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-14T04:18:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"johnturner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"johnturner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2016\/04\/when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2016\/04\/when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married\/\",\"name\":\"When the Mormon Jesus Was Married\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-14T04:18:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-04-14T04:18:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#\/schema\/person\/976685779e3256328b03af5f2c9d69ca\"},\"description\":\"It is a staple of anti-Mormon literature (and evangelical countercult literature more generally) that the Mormon Jesus is not the Christian Jesus. One\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2016\/04\/when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2016\/04\/when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2016\/04\/when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When the Mormon Jesus Was Married\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/\",\"name\":\"Anxious Bench\",\"description\":\"The Relevance of Religious History for Today\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#\/schema\/person\/976685779e3256328b03af5f2c9d69ca\",\"name\":\"johnturner\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f393838d8f979f64dbee7fd63fd8bfdc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f393838d8f979f64dbee7fd63fd8bfdc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"johnturner\"},\"description\":\"In the fall of 2012, I will become Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University. I study, teach, and write about the history of religion in the United States. My primary interests revolve around mainline Protestantism, evangelicalism, and -- more recently -- Mormonism. I am the author of Bill Bright and Campus Crusade for Christ (2008) and Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet (2012).\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/author\/johnturner\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When the Mormon Jesus Was Married","description":"It is a staple of anti-Mormon literature (and evangelical countercult literature more generally) that the Mormon Jesus is not the Christian Jesus. One","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2016\/04\/when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When the Mormon Jesus Was Married","og_description":"It is a staple of anti-Mormon literature (and evangelical countercult literature more generally) that the Mormon Jesus is not the Christian Jesus. One","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2016\/04\/when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married\/","og_site_name":"Anxious Bench","article_published_time":"2016-04-14T04:18:18+00:00","author":"johnturner","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"johnturner","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2016\/04\/when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2016\/04\/when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married\/","name":"When the Mormon Jesus Was Married","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-04-14T04:18:18+00:00","dateModified":"2016-04-14T04:18:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#\/schema\/person\/976685779e3256328b03af5f2c9d69ca"},"description":"It is a staple of anti-Mormon literature (and evangelical countercult literature more generally) that the Mormon Jesus is not the Christian Jesus. One","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2016\/04\/when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2016\/04\/when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2016\/04\/when-the-mormon-jesus-was-married\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When the Mormon Jesus Was Married"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/","name":"Anxious Bench","description":"The Relevance of Religious History for Today","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#\/schema\/person\/976685779e3256328b03af5f2c9d69ca","name":"johnturner","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f393838d8f979f64dbee7fd63fd8bfdc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f393838d8f979f64dbee7fd63fd8bfdc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"johnturner"},"description":"In the fall of 2012, I will become Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University. I study, teach, and write about the history of religion in the United States. My primary interests revolve around mainline Protestantism, evangelicalism, and -- more recently -- Mormonism. I am the author of Bill Bright and Campus Crusade for Christ (2008) and Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet (2012).","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/author\/johnturner\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17914\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}