A follow-up on my comment that "I have little doubt that the > Church of LDS would have maintained polygamy had the > surrounding culture been more tolerant.
At a conference I was at last year, a distinguished LDS law professor said that the basis of the revelation was the Prophet's being told that members of LDS had proven their devotion to God by the suffering they underwent because of their fidelity to the norm of polygamy. Having demonstrated their mettle, they were relieved from its obligation (and the risk of continued persecution). I'm not identifying the scholar because this is my recollection, and I don't want to put words in his mouth about an issue of such theological (and practical) importance If I am correct in my recollection, though, then it does seem that one could confidently say, even if one accepts the possibility of revelation, that no such revelation would have been delivered had persecution not been attached to the practice of polygamy.
sandy
