Interview with Whitney Horning, Author of “Joseph Smith Revealed: A Faithful Telling”

Whitney Horning’s book “Joseph Smith Revealed: A Faithful Telling” explores in great detail the truth behind Joseph Smith’s energetic denunciation of polygamy amid the growing popularity of Nauvoo’s troublesome “new order of things.” In this interview, we discuss Whitney’s journey, her life experiences, stories, faith, persecutions, triumphs, insights and findings in regards to her book projects, and address from the audience several of their top questions in regards to the question: Did Joseph Smith teach or practice polygamy?

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Questions Answered by Whitney Horning

• Insights into Whitney Horning’s life, including her childhood, college years, motherhood and family, career, etc.
• What were the earliest origins of this project to write a book?
• Why did you pick this topic?
• Which pieces of history to the contrary (that Joseph Smith did teach polygamy) are the most compelling?
• What reactions have you had from writing this book? Good? Bad?
• What’s the best way to introduce the question of Joseph Smith’s opposition to polygamy?
• If tomorrow you discovered some new evidence that changes your published conclusions, how would you handle that?
• What impact has this project had on your faith in God? The church? Religious leaders? BoM?
• What other projects are you working on these days?

Questions Asked to Whitney Horning During Live Q&A

Origins of LDS Polygamy

• “In your research are you able to pinpoint one particular main source for the origin of lds polygamy. I have heard of the Cochranites and John C Bennett as possibilities. Are those two sources mutually exclusive, or did Bennett possibly see an opportunity to take advantage of women in a community that already had spiritual wifery issues going on?”
• “How did the scholars come up with the names of Joseph Smith’s wives? What is their source material?”
• “Are there any accounts or documents from the Cochranites about their practices and ordinances?  Like the D&C except for cochranites?”

LDS Polygamy

• “How did Brigham Young and others reconcile why some people who were among Joseph’s closest friends weren’t taught polygamy by him like Porter Rockwell and Captain Dan Jones, while others that didn’t seem to be close to Joseph or one of the 12 like Chauncey Webb were privately taught the doctrine?”
• “In your book you talk about James Whitehead testifying that there was a revelation about sealings that was potentially changed into a revelation about polygamy (Sect. 132). If Joseph did receive a revelation about sealings a year before he died why wasn’t it ever made public or published or voted on by the church? What do you make of William Blair’s diary entries stating that Whitehead told him that Joseph taught and practiced polygamy and that Emma knew it and put the hands of the wives in Joseph’s hands?”
• “Did Emma actually push Eliza R. Snow down the stairs causing her to miscarry Joseph’s baby?”
• “Why do you think the church doesn’t come clean on the true history of the church and origins of polygamy?”
• “If Joseph and Hyrum were innocent (and Brigham and the Twelve were guilty), then how do you reconcile the fact that so many who were very much against Brigham EITHER still turned to polygamy themselves (such as William Smith, James Strang, and Lyman Wight) OR simply accused Joseph of originating the practice (like former 1st Presidency members Sidney Rigdon and William Law)? Were all these individuals simply gullible in believing the rumor mill?”

Secret Combinations in the LDS Church

• “When do you think the secret combinations started in the church? Do you think that Brigham and others joined the church with bad intentions or do you think that they joined with good intentions and as they gained more light and knowledge they fell to the temptations of Satan and turned from the light?”
• “What role did the failing Kirtland Safety Society play into people turning against Joseph and do you think this is what enabled Brigham to secretly gain control or was it something else?”

Book available here: https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Smith-Revealed-Exploring-Alternate/dp/1097872726