"Polygamy is the exception to God's law," scholar and author Valerie Hudson argued this week at a conference in Utah.
The Mormon Church has not practiced plural marriage for more than 120 years, but in the midst of inaccurate and confusing news coverage of the trial and conviction of FLDS leader and polygamist Warren Jeffs, the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research coincidentally devoted an entire session to Hudson's interpretation of the history of Mormon scriptural teachings regarding plural marriage.
Hudson believes verse 36 is there to remind Joseph Smith, founding prophet of the LDS Church, and others that polygamy is the exception to God's law of marriage, not the rule.