Plural Marriage Troubles (part 2): Emma’s Fury and Joseph’s Martyrdom​

In June and July of 1843 tensions ran high in the marriage of Joseph and Emma Smith. After she had tried but failed to embrace the principle of plural marriage earlier that May, and after Hyrum Smith had tried but failed to convince her of the rightness of plural marriage even with a copy of Doctrine and Covenants 132 in hand, records indicate that Emma became for a time rebellious, bitter, resentful, and angry. In fact from July through September of 1843 Emma became confrontational to Joseph’s other wives trying (sometimes successfully) to drive them away from him. In this episode of Church History Matters we dive into the details of this challenging time as well as the reconciliatory place Joseph and Emma ultimately seem to come to on this. We’ll also dig into how Joseph’s practice of plural marriage was a major factor behind the conspiracy which ultimately led to his martyrdom. This is the fourth episode of our 6-part podcast series on the history of Plural Marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For a full transcript of this episode, as well as show notes and additional resources, visit our website at https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.o... You can also subscribe to our podcast via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and other platforms, and follow us on popular social media platforms. Visit https://linktr.ee/churchhistorymatters to connect with us. Originally published June 13, 2023 DISCLAIMER: While we try very hard to be historically and doctrinally accurate in what we say on this podcast, please remember that all views expressed in this and every episode are our views alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Scripture Central or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.