Did you know that Joseph Smith’s first attempt to obey the Lord’s command to him to practice plural marriage ended quite badly and ended up straining his relationships, both with his first wife, Emma, and with his close friend Oliver Cowdery? And have you ever heard that Joseph was sealed to several women who already had living husbands? Was this a scandalous practice or was something else going on? And have you heard that Joseph was also sealed to Helen Kimball, who was only 14 years old at the time? You might be both surprised and relieved to learn the reasons behind this. And have you ever wondered if Joseph had any children with any of his other 35 wives besides Emma? In this episode of Church History Matters, we do a deep dive into all of these topics and more as we trace Joseph Smith’s creative, trial-and-error approach to personally living the practice of plural marriage, including some innovative uses of the sealing power, to accomplish God’s will the best he understood it. This is the second 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.org/podcast-episode/why-did-plural-marriage-begin-in-the-church%e2%80%8b/ 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 May 30, 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.