While I rejoice in the detailed scholarship and carefully reasoned insights Brother Smith offers on this topic, I am especially intrigued by the approach he took in dealing with the issue. The long-terminated practice of polygamy offered much that bothered Brother Smith, such as charges from critics that Joseph was a sexual predator. As he struggled with the issue, yearning for answers and wondering if he should delve into all the historical details to come to his own conclusions, he turned to God in prayer.
But, the problem was, in that moment, when I first approached God with this, was that my spiritual life did not have four or five years, which is how long I've been doing this now, to sit in the church archives. My spiritual life could not be put on hold for that long. How long could I halt between two opinions? If Joseph be Baal or a sexual predator, don't follow him. Jesus called the apostles and did not tell them to spend three or four years with the primary sources before deciding to answer the call to "Come, follow me."Some will assume that a "consecrated brain" means making up your mind and ignoring the evidence, but that would be gross injustice to the complex grappling with history and detailed scholarship that Greg Smith has put into this issue. It has been a journey of discovery and new insights, not a close-minded reiteration of what he thought he already knew. Trusting God as we open our minds and do the heavy lifting of studying and thinking is not weakness but brings intellectual and spiritual strength.
And for me, ultimately, the question (I see now) had nothing to do with plural marriage at all. Plural marriage was only the catalyst for a much more fundamental question and that question was, "Do I trust Father?" And I see now, by the grace of God, that my instinctive reaction was to do that, to express my trust and, amazingly, to mean it. I did not realise it at the time, but what I effectively chose to do, if I can put it crudely, is I chose to "consecrate my brain." I value my brain—we all do—nobody likes to be thought foolish or naïve or ill-informed or duped or cognitively dissonant or any of the other labels people can put upon us.33 I'm a doctor, I'm regarded as a reasonably smart person, I love science, I love evidence, I'm a sceptic, I'm a rationalist. I say all this about myself—I am all those things, that's part of how I conceive of myself.
I could have gone before God and I could have demanded answers, I could've told him I want the evidence and I want it now, I want closure. I could've issued him ultimatums. I could've told him that if this didn't work out, I was quitting. But, I chose instead, to consecrate my brain. I was willing to sacrifice my self-image, my years of learning, my intellectual effort and my social respectability on the internet (which I'm sure is crashing as I speak!) because I trusted Father.
But, you know, it's the funny thing about consecration, you always get back everything you consecrate, with interest. Once my Father and I had an understanding which took, maybe, 10 minutes, I was back to thinking again. And immediately, I began to get more answers and perspective that I know what to do with, and it hasn't stopped yet. It's like trying to drink from a fire hose and I apologize for spraying you all but I haven't exactly got it controlled yet.
I got "good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over" (Luke 6:38). I cast my bread upon the water and God sent back an aircraft carrier with a bakery on top.
My only fear in saying all this is that some people will think I'm offering a pat answer—I'm not. Abraham was asked to consecrate Isaac. And with Isaac went all the precious promises, everything that made Abraham, Abraham. But he put his son on the altar and he got him back and so much more. We know how Abraham's story ends but Abraham did not. And as Elder Maxwell observed, even when we know it's a test, we can't say, "Look ma, no hands."34 You can't consecrate your brain while crossing your fingers and hoping that we can somehow trick God by going through the intellectual motions and that he will support our demand for proof. You can't ask for a sign, but I bear you my witness that "signs follow them that believe," in this as in everything (D&C 63:9).
And so, I've tried to answer some questions today but I will leave you with one. And that question is, "Do you trust Father?" If you do, I have no worries, and if you do not, or if you've forgotten how, or you fear you may be starting to, you must start there because no answer from me or anyone else will satisfy you on a historical matter. And if plural marriage doesn't trip you up, something will. Settle it up with Father and then you and I can talk.
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