FAQ: Why don’t Mormons practice polygamy now?

We recently received this question from a reader. Maddie writes:

Do Mormons believe that God never changes? If so, I have a question: For a long time Mormons encouraged if not required polygamy. Why have you changed and now say that practice is not permissible? If God doesn’t change His mind, would you say that your early leaders were wrong? If so, couldn’t they have been wrong about many other things?

Maddie, this is a question that I think a lot of people have, so thanks for asking it.

I think the short answer to your question is that we believe in living prophets. But following is a longer response that I hope can explain a little about what that means to us as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and how that relates to your question.

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