John Taylor’s Hidden 1886 Polygamy Revelation

In 1886, then-LDS Church president John Taylor claimed to receive a direct revelation from God reaffirming that plural marriage was an eternal, unchangeable law. This divine directive—written in his own hand—declared that the New and Everlasting Covenant (a.k.a. polygamy) could never be revoked, even under government pressure.

But just a few years later, in 1890, the Church publicly abandoned polygamy to save itself legally and politically. What happened to that revelation? The Church denied it ever existed, even calling it a “pretended” document. But they had it the whole time.

Now, nearly 140 years later, the LDS Church has quietly released the very document it once disavowed. No fanfare. No apology. Just an archival upload. But the implications are enormous: this single page fueled the rise of Mormon fundamentalism, contributed to the excommunication of a prophet’s son, an Apostle himself, and reveals how the Church manages uncomfortable truths—even prophetic ones.

President Taylor’s Revelation

On September 27, 1886, President John Taylor—third prophet of the LDS Church—penned a personal revelation (in pencil) promising that the “New and Everlasting Covenant”, understood to mean plural marriage, could never be revoked. This was during a tumultuous time, as Taylor was leading the Church from hiding under relentless federal anti-polygamy pressure.

Basically, President Taylor asked concerning the New and Everlasting Covenant (plural marriage as polygamy) and specifically how binding it is. He was given the revelation from God that “all commandments … must be obeyed … unless they are revoked … and how can I revoke an everlasting covenant … for I the Lord am everlasting … they stand forever.” Meaning the church should not and would not stop the practice of polygamy.

My son John, you have asked me concerning the New and Everlasting Covenant how far it is binding upon my people.

Thus saith the Lord: All commandments that I give must be obeyed by those calling themselves by my name unless they are revoked by me or by my authority, and how can I revoke an everlasting covenant, for I the Lord am everlasting and my everlasting covenants cannot be abrogated nor done away with, but they stand forever.

Have I not given my word in great plainness on this subject? Yet have not great numbers of my people been negligent in the observance of my law and the keeping of my commandments, and yet have I borne with them these many years; and this because of their weakness—because of the perilous times, and furthermore, it is more pleasing to me that men should use their free agency in regard to these matters. Nevertheless, I the Lord do not change and my word and my covenants and my law do not, and as I have heretofore said by my servant Joseph: All those who would enter into my glory must and shall obey my law. And have I not commanded men that if they were Abraham’s seed and would enter into my glory, they must do the works of Abraham. I have not revoked this law, nor will I, for it is everlasting, and those who will enter into my glory must obey the conditions thereof; even so, Amen.

Church History Catalog: John Taylor revelation, 1886 September 27
https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/record/3aec2ea6-fdeb-4866-9529-47e27f9cd3b9/0

John Taylor dies less than a year after this revelation, in July 1887, and it was apparently never brought before the brethren or the church, even though he never stopped the practice of polygamy. Wilford Woodruff became acting president of the church, and after two years, became the new President of the church in April 1889.

What the revelation says

The “Taylor Revelation,” as it is sometimes known, only grew in significance throughout the 20th century. Although many ideas found in it were featured in President Taylor’s other available documents, including several other revelations from his underground period, this text took on mythic proportions. It came to symbolize polygamy’s eternal nature and its centrality to the faith, etched in a prophet’s own hand — even if, and perhaps especially because, its existence could not be firmly corroborated.

What’s in the revelation released Saturday? Cataloged as MS 34928 and titled “John Taylor revelation, 1886 September 27,” the digitized archival file contains several documents. Besides the long-speculated revelatory text — words in faded pencil that were addressed to “My Son John” — there are several typescripts, as well as a memo signed by First Presidency counselor J. Reuben Clark that details how the revelation came into the church’s possession.

The revelation is clear in its purpose and matches the photographed text that has circulated in the fundamentalist community. “How can I revoke an everlasting covenant,” President Taylor’s God declares, when “my everlasting covenants cannot be abrogated nor done away with.” All who wish to enter into God’s highest glory “must and shall obey my law.”

While these documents do not confirm other key elements of the fundamentalist origin story — most notably, the ordination of a clandestine priesthood council — they confirm the existence of a text fundamentalists have long insisted was real.

As important as the document will likely be to fundamentalists, it raises thorny issues for Latter-day Saints. Was Taylor’s revelation true, and were the prophets who followed him traitors? And what does it mean for Latter-day Saint authority if revelations — and revelators — are fallible?

The church did not attempt to answer these questions. Instead, the documents appeared in the catalog without any comment or explanation. I think it is part of a process in which the First Presidency has been slowly transferring many previously restricted historical documents in its archives to the church historical department, rather than it being any kind of response to current debates about the role of polygamy in church history. But perhaps further analysis is coming.

While these documents exhibit material frailty — faded etchings, ruffled pages, jagged creases — their contents pose lasting meaning. Latter-day Saints cherish their tradition’s revelatory treasures.

Benjamin E. Park, American history teacher at Sam Houston State University, Author of “American Zion: A New History of Mormonism,” President of the Mormon History Association.
Commentary: LDS Church finally publishes a polygamy revelation it insisted for years didn’t exist
Then-President John Taylor wrote that the faith could never give up plural marriage, and then his immediate successor, Wilford Woodruff, did just that.
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2025/06/17/lds-church-finally-releases-an/

The 1890 Manifesto

Church leadership suffered during the end of John Taylor’s presidency, and most church leaders were either in hiding or in jail. Wilford Woodruff, Taylor’s successor, issued the 1890 Manifesto, publicly ending new plural marriages to comply with the law.

Press dispatches… allege that plural marriages are still being solemnized … also that in public discourses the leaders of the Church have taught, encouraged and urged the continuance of the practice of polygamy—

I, therefore, as President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, do hereby, in the most solemn manner, declare that these charges are false. We are not teaching polygamy or plural marriage, nor permitting any person to enter into its practice, and I deny that either forty or any other number of plural marriages have during that period been solemnized in our Temples or in any other place in the Territory.

Wilford Woodruff, 1890 Manifesto – D&C Official Declaration 1
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/od/1

But the religion was so steeped in polygamy at this point that many top church leaders continued the practice.

The 1904 Second Manifesto

Then came the 1904 “Second Manifesto” from the next church President, Joseph F. Smith, backed by disciplinary action, including excommunication for those continuing polygamy. Notably, Apostle John W. Taylor, Taylor’s own son, resisted this wholeheartedly.

Inasmuch as there are numerous reports in circulation that plural marriages have been entered into, contrary to the official declaration of President Woodruff of September 24, 1890, commonly called the manifesto, which was issued by President Woodruff, and adopted by the Church at its general conference, October 6, 1890, which forbade any marriages violative of the law of the land, I, Joseph F. Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, hereby affirm and declare that no such marriages have been solemnized with the sanction, consent, or knowledge of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

And I hereby announce that all such marriages are prohibited, and if any officer or member of the Church shall assume to solemnize or enter into any such marriage, he will be deemed in transgression against the Church, and will be liable to be dealt with according to the rules and regulations thereof and excommunicated therefrom.

LDS Church President, Foseph F. Smith, April 6, 1904, Official Statement “Second Manifesto”
https://archive.org/details/conferencereport1904a/page/74/mode/2up

John W. Taylor’s Secret Polygamy & Excommunication

Differences arose between John W. Taylor, son of President John Taylor and an apostle in the LDS Church, and the Church’s leadership following the 1890 Manifesto issued by Wilford Woodruff and the stricter Second Manifesto declared by Joseph F. Smith in 1904. Taylor openly opposed these shifts, believing they contradicted the divine mandate revealed to his father in 1886, which declared plural marriage an everlasting covenant that could not be revoked. Amid rising tensions, Taylor resigned from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in April 1906 and retreated from public church life to provide for his large family.

Despite stepping away from leadership, Taylor continued to secretly enter into and authorize plural marriages. In March 1911, his refusal to comply with the Second Manifesto led to his formal excommunication. During the disciplinary council, Taylor presented the 1886 revelation as his defense, arguing that a prophetic revelation from his father—then the president of the Church—called for leniency on the side of God.

Taylor based his defense on a previously unknown revelation given to his father, President John Taylor, in 1886. The revelation reaffirmed that plural marriage was an eternal, divine law that could not be revoked. Taylor argued that this directive, though never publicly presented to the Church, was binding and still in force. He maintained that, while Church leaders may have retreated from the practice due to political and legal pressures, individual members were still accountable to God’s command as delivered in that revelation. He also claimed that the responsibility for plural marriage had shifted from the institutional Church to the individual, suggesting that practitioners could continue the principle privately, even if the Church no longer sanctioned it.

The council pushed back, and while they agreed that the doctrine of plural marriage was eternal, they argued that the Lord could suspend the practice and that the Church had made binding promises—particularly through the Manifestos and Utah’s statehood compact—to cease polygamy. President Lyman emphasized that Church presidents Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, and Joseph F. Smith had publicly declared an end to all new plural marriages. He challenged Taylor’s ongoing involvement, asking whether he had received any authorization to continue the practice (a question Taylor declined to answer). The council members also pointed out that the 1886 revelation had never been submitted to or accepted by the Church, and thus could not override more recent, officially ratified prophetic direction.

I do not want to discuss my own case it is up to you and the brethren to pass upon that. I am living among the Philistines and you brethren are among the “Mormons”. There is one thing that is much more serious in my mind than polygamy and I am not mentioning it to aid me in my case at all. When the enabling act was passed there were two things that we promised, one thing was that polygamy would be stopped and the other that Church influence would not be used in politics.

My father received a revelation which, however, was never presented to the Church, and I refer to this not because it is a revelation to my father, I don’t think a revelation because it came through him was any greater than one received through any other president of the Church, but because it seems to pertain to this question.

[Reads 1886 revelation]

There are two things I am drawing your attention to. I am not in politics and very little in the Church, but I do this as a matter of privilege. This revelation is either true or it is false. Assuming that it is true, it seems to me that it would be better to offer leniency on the side of the Lord, if you are going to offer any leniency than on the side of politics. There is a very large number of the people who feel outraged at the way they have been treated with politics in this state. There are men who have reached the point, at this time with the least little agitation would do something rash. I regret exceedingly that others are attacking the Church and I hope you will not mention my name in any way as connected with those men. I loath Frank Cannon, Dubois, Kerns, and those connected with them and look upon them as contemptible curs. I mention these things as one desiring the advancement of the Church, and as one who was at one time closely connected with it.

There is ten times the feeling over the breaking of the compact made with the government regarding Church influence in politics that there is over the polygamous marriages. I mingle among all classes of people which is not the case with you brethren, and therefore believe my impressions are correct. As an illustration, Sister Susa Y. Gates came down to Provo where I am living and called the sisters together and told them that the Brethren wanted them to vote the Republican ticket. I have heard statements made which lead me to believe that some men would take the life of a person with very little provocation on account of the feeling on this question. My own opinion is that the difficulties this people are experiencing is through using Church influence in politics.

---

J. W. Taylor: Brother Lyman, what do you think of the revelation to my father.

President Lyman: If you ask me if I believe in the plurality of wives, I would say that I believe it is true and will always be so, but the Lord may suspend the practice of it and how much of the responsibility remains with the people and with the government, I don’t know. I am living with my wives now all the time, but I don’t hold the Church responsible for it, but shoulder the responsibility myself. In 1900 President Snow said there was
no more marriages. You were present when President Snow was sustained as President of the Church, and he made the statement that there should be no more plural marriages performed with the permission of the President of this Church, and a short time later published to the world through the Deseret News this statement. Have you (to Brother Taylor) been authorized since President Snow’s presidency to perform or authorize any plural marriages?

J. W. Taylor: That I would prefer not to answer, as it would lead to something else. My view is that the Lord was anxious to put everybody upon his own responsibility and take the responsibility from the Church.

President Lyman: That is what the people have done and rejected the law of Plural marriage. Up to the issuance of the Manifesto it was never taught that it would be given up, I didn’t think it would for a minute, still I believed the manifesto of President Woodruff was from the Lord. The law will stand forever, but the practice was discontinued.

J. W. Taylor: I believe it. I do not want to sew up the mouth of the Lord so to speak.

President Lyman: I believe the Lord expects us to keep our word with the government and with the people. (He referred to President Snow’s remarks when he was selected President of the Church, by the Council of the Twelve) I have no fault to find with the revelation.

C. W. Penrose: Do you understand the free agency referred to in the revelation gives any one the privilege of taking a plural wife?

J. W. Taylor: I take it that it refers to the individual and relieved the Church of the responsibility and placed the responsibility upon the individual.

President Lyman: When did you find this revelation?

J. W. Taylor: I found it on his desk immediately after his death when I was appointed administrator of his estate.

H. M. Smith: I have enjoyed the little visit with Brother Taylor and apologize for the injustice I have done him in feeling that he would not come before us if he were summoned.

A. W. Ivins: I would like to inquire what Brother Taylor meant when he said it was a very inopportune time to deal with his case, or the Canadian cases on account of the political situation.

J. W. Taylor: I want to put you clear on that, whatever I have said about politics you can count that out, that had nothing to do with my case. I simply wanted to disbuse (sic) your minds if any of you had the impression, that I was not connected in any way with any of these men who are fighting against the Church. You can do what you think is right with me, you have the authority.

---

President Lyman: Do you think any one can solemnize plural marriages with authority now.

J. W. Taylor: I feel under certain circumstances they could, but it would depend upon the circumstances.

President Lyman: What conditions?

J. W. Taylor: I fully explained that last time.

C. W. Penrose: What are your views with regard to that revelation?

J. W. Taylor: I am not the one to pass upon that revelation, I think you are the ones to do that.

C. W. Penrose: What I desire to get at is as to how you view the matter, whether you have been guided by that in your case. You brought the revelation to us and it has never been accepted by the Church, or presented to it.

J. W. Taylor: I think the only thing to do is to go to the presiding Priesthood of the Lord and get his idea on it and get him to inquire of the Lord what His mind is regarding it.

C. W. Penrose: I don’t think Brother Taylor should come here and tell us what we need to do; but what I wanted to know is what he thought the President meant by that revelation whether the man was placed upon his own responsibility by that revelation and the president and the Church relieved of all responsibility or not.

The Trial of Apostle John W. Taylor, Minutes
https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/John-W.-Taylor-Trial.pdf

John W. Taylor makes a sharp and deliberate contrast between how the Church is enforcing the ban on polygamy while ignoring violations of promised political neutrality, as stated in the Utah statehood “compact.”

Taylor openly criticizes the Church’s selective enforcement of its promises, highlighting what he sees as a troubling double standard. He recalls that when Utah became a state under the Enabling Act, Church leaders made two solemn assurances to the federal government:

1. Polygamy would be stopped.
2. Church influence would no longer be exerted in politics.

Taylor points out that while he is being disciplined for his continued practice of plural marriage (which he justifies through the 1886 revelation), there are others in the Church who have violated the second promise by engaging in partisan political influence, and they have faced no consequences.

He warns the council that among the public—especially those outside the Church’s inner circle—anger over Church political interference is even greater than anger over continued polygamy. This is a practice that continues to this day, where the church meddles in political persuasions, see Prop 8. Taylor protests that if the Church is going to enforce one side of that compact (the end of polygamy) with excommunication and shame, it should be just as concerned about the other. He even notes that the Church’s ongoing political meddling has stirred public resentment to the point that “some men would take the life of a person with very little provocation” over the issue.

Taylor held firm in his belief regardless of institutional policy. However, his refusal to submit to Church authority and continuing defiance of Church policy ultimately led to his excommunication. His appeals were rejected, but the revelation he presented would become a cornerstone for Mormon fundamentalist groups who maintained that the true prophetic line and priesthood authority continued outside the mainstream Church. His case became a key moment in Mormon history—used by Mormon fundamentalists to justify continued polygamy, and by the Church to reinforce centralized prophetic authority. Taylor died estranged from the Church, though his blessings were posthumously restored years later.

The Church’s Denial—And Quiet Possession

For decades, the LDS First Presidency denied the revelation even existed. In a June 17, 1933 statement, they called it a “pretended” document, asserting it was not in any archives.

The First Presidency have recently received letters making inquiry concerning the position of the Church regarding the contracting of polygamous or plural marriages. It is evident these letters, a well as from certain published material—some of it distributed during our last General Conference—that a secret and, according to reputation, an oath-bound organization of misguided individuals is seeking to lead the people to adopt adulterous relations under the guise of a pretended and false polygamous or plural marriage ceremony…

It is alleged that on September 26-27, 1886, President John Taylor received a revelation from the Lord, the purported text of which is given in publications circulating apparently by or at the instance of this same organization.

As to this pretended revelation it should be said that the archives of the Church contain no such revelation; the archives contain no record of any such revelation, nor any evidence justifying a belief that any such revelation was ever given. From the personal knowledge of some of us, from the uniform and common recollection of the presiding quorums of the Church, from the absence in the Church archives of any evidence whatsoever justifying any belief that such a revelation was given, we are justified in affirming that no such revelation exists.

Furthermore, insofar as the authorities of the Church are concerned, since this pretended revelation, if ever given, was never presented to and adopted by the Church or by any council of the Church, and since to the contrary, an inspired rule of action, the Manifesto, was (subsequently to the pretended revelation) presented to and adopted by the Church, which inspired rule in its term, purport, and effect was directly opposite to the interpretation given to the pretended revelation, the said pretended revelation could have no validity and no binding effect and force upon Church members, and action under it would be unauthorized, illegal, and void.

An Official Statement from the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” Deseret News, June 17, 1933
https://bhroberts.org/records/7Xrrkc-WrhUBb/first_presidency_heber_j_grant_anthony_w_ivins_j_reuben_clark_publish_official_statement_denouncing_the_practice_of_plural_marriage_in_the_church

Just weeks later—in July 1933—the church quietly acquired the original documented revelation from Nellie Taylor, one of John W.’s plural wives. Yet from then on, the Church maintained its position of official ignorance.

This paper came into the possession of the First Presidency in the following manner:

After the issuance of the Official statement of June 17, 1933 by the First Presidency, covering the matter of pretended polygamous or plural marriages, President Ivins stated to Presidents Grant and Clark that a report had come to him that Sister Nellie Taylor, one of the plural wives of John W. Taylor, was affirming that she had found among the papers of her husband, John W. Taylor, after his death, a paper on which was something written in the handwriting of President John Taylor. Sister Taylor stated that she had turned over this paper to Brother Frank Y. Taylor.

President Grant spoke to Frank Y. Taylor about the matter, and the latter stated that he had no recollection of ever having seen the paper but that if such a paper existed and had been given to him, he could easily find it as he knew just where he would have placed it.

About July 15, 1933, Frank Y. Taylor brought to President Grant the attached paper encased in the envelope which is attached to the paper.

The date written on the back of the second sheet is the date of John Taylor’s death and was written by President Grant on July 17, 1933.

Memorandum from J. Reuben Clark explaining how the First Presidency came in possession of the Taylor Revelation. July 18, 1933, MS 303, Box 349, Folder 3, J. Reuben Clark Papers, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
https://bhroberts.org/records/0O4NVz-BpcSHj/memorandum_from_j_reuben_clark_explaining_how_the_first_presidency_came_in_possession_of_the_taylor_revelation

What happened to it in the intervening 130-plus years? The revelation was for years in the hands of Taylor’s son, John W. Taylor — a slim, stern man with well-manicured hair, a conservative mustache and a piercing gaze. John W. Taylor was groomed for church leadership and ordained an apostle at age 26 in 1884, four years after his father became the faith’s prophet.

The elder Taylor spent much of his presidency hiding as government officials prosecuted and imprisoned those who practiced plural marriage. He died in 1887, separated from family and out of public sight. John W. Taylor always maintained his father had exhibited profound bravery in his refusal to acquiesce.

While the next church president, Wilford Woodruff, publicly forfeited polygamy in 1890 to ensure the church’s survival, John W. Taylor rejected any such concession: Polygamy, he believed, was an eternal law.

He and a handful of other authorities secretly continued to solemnize plural unions, and the young apostle was sealed to three additional wives. This prompted the church in 1904 to issue a “Second Manifesto,” telling members they must cease all plural marriages for good.

Taylor’s son loses his membership

John W. Taylor refused and lost his place as an apostle, forfeiting his ecclesiastical office instead of betraying his father’s principles.

But that demotion wasn’t the end of his church discipline. After being caught solemnizing more polygamous unions, he was summoned to an excommunication trial. At the hearing, he displayed what he alleged was the 1886 revelation from his late father, written in President Taylor’s own hand, proclaiming polygamy could never be revoked. John W. Taylor was excommunicated. And when he died in 1916, the document crucial to his defense remained within his family.

Over the ensuing two decades, an increasing number of Latter-day Saints became convinced the church had erred in renouncing polygamy. They congregated around men who claimed to have been appointed by President Taylor himself in September 1886 to a priesthood council authorized to continue the principle even if the church strayed. At the heart of their narrative was the revelation that John W. Taylor had displayed at his excommunication trial.

Finally, on June 17, 1933, after years of disputes, the church’s governing First Presidency issued a memo reaffirming the threat of excommunication to anyone who continued to practice plural marriage. The memo explicitly dismissed rumors of a “pretended revelation” from President Taylor and denied the document existed.

Nellie Taylor, the widowed plural wife of John W. Taylor, knew otherwise. She had spent the underground period of the 1880s hiding in Mexico and stood by her husband as they remained committed to the principle. Through an intermediary, she contacted the First Presidency within a month of the memo’s release and alerted them to her father-in-law’s revelation and where they could find it.

By July 15, 1933, the First Presidency held in its possession the document whose existence it vehemently denied. It wasn’t a complete surprise — the church historian’s office had a copy of the text, though not access to the original, as early as 1909.

Instead of correcting the June memo’s assertions, the church instead sequestered the revelation. Church authorities refused to confirm its veracity.

Meanwhile, Latter-day Saints committed to polygamy soon became known as “fundamentalists,” a reference to their devotion to what they believed to be the faith’s founding principle. They continued to stake their claims on President Taylor’s alleged revelation. A photograph of the text, likely taken just before the document was turned over to Latter-day Saint authorities, was frequently shared within the community, though it could never be verified.

Benjamin E. Park, American history teacher at Sam Houston State University, Author of “American Zion: A New History of Mormonism,” President of the Mormon History Association.
Commentary: LDS Church finally publishes a polygamy revelation it insisted for years didn’t exist
Then-President John Taylor wrote that the faith could never give up plural marriage, and then his immediate successor, Wilford Woodruff, did just that.
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2025/06/17/lds-church-finally-releases-an/

Birth of Fundamentalism

News spread, however, and believers in the revelation asserted that Taylor had set aside a select priesthood council to carry plural marriage forward, no matter what the Church did publicly. These claims fueled the emergence of Mormon fundamentalism, a movement that still practices polygamy today, drawing legitimacy from Taylor’s revelation. The church denies the existence of fundamentalist Mormons just as it denied the existence of Taylor’s Revelation.

The 1886 revelation became a foundational text for modern Mormon fundamentalist groups, who believe that President John Taylor’s written reaffirmation of plural marriage as an everlasting covenant overrides later Church policies and manifestos. These groups argue that Taylor set apart select priesthood holders to continue the practice, establishing an unbroken line of authority outside the mainstream LDS Church. This belief underpins the existence of organizations like the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), once led by Warren Jeffs, who is currently serving a life sentence for crimes related to underage marriages. The FLDS and other splinter groups, including those profiled in Jon Krakauer’s book Under the Banner of Heaven and its recent TV adaptation, all trace their legitimacy back to Taylor’s 1886 revelation. They view it as divine proof that the LDS Church abandoned a core principle and broke its covenant with God, while they remained faithful, however extreme their interpretations may be. This lingering divide highlights the enduring power of one page of pencil-written prophecy to fracture a religious movement into opposing claims of divine authority.

130+ Years of Silence—Until Now

After officially stating a denial of the revelation’s existence on June 17, 1933, quietly acquiring said revelation, and quietly holding it in the archives, it wasn’t until 93 years later, on June 14, 2025, that the LDS Church publicly disclosed anything more about the revelation. The church posted scans of the handwritten 1886 revelation in its History Catalog.

While never canonized, it remains non-binding, but its historic authenticity is now undeniable. The authority of various fundamentalist groups continues to be in question, but at least the instigation for some of these offshoots is vindicated. No defense for polygamy, but mentioning because it puts in question all the alleged authority of these splinter Mormon groups, as well as the official church authority. Multiple prophetic revelations with directly different message,s all from the supposed same God.

Reflections on Revelation & Control

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a religion built on modern revelation, perhaps no revelation has caused as much controversy as one attributed to President John Taylor, who presided over the faith in the 1880s during one of its most tumultuous decades.

In 1886, while the federal government sought to stop all Latter-day Saints who practiced polygamy, Taylor allegedly wrote a revelation proclaiming the controversial practice was an everlasting covenant that could never be revoked. Such a command quickly became complicated when the church renounced the practice in 1890. Latter-day Saint authorities then publicly and vociferously denied his document’s existence for over a century.

That is until June 14, when the revelation quietly appeared in the church history library’s catalog.

Benjamin E. Park, American history teacher at Sam Houston State University, Author of “American Zion: A New History of Mormonism,” President of the Mormon History Association.
Commentary: LDS Church finally publishes a polygamy revelation it insisted for years didn’t exist
Then-President John Taylor wrote that the faith could never give up plural marriage, and then his immediate successor, Wilford Woodruff, did just that.
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2025/06/17/lds-church-finally-releases-an/

• Selective Prophecy: Taylor’s revelation offers a rare instance where a prophet since Joseph Smith appears to retract, only to reinforce, a controversial doctrine—yet that revelation never carried institutional weight.
• Information Management: The Church’s 1933 denial, despite archival possession since before even 1911, raises sharp questions about controlling historical narrative versus transparent leadership.
• Rise of Fundamentalism: John W. Taylor’s continued polygamy and use of the 1886 revelation as a defense sparked new movements, their roots deeply entwined in institutional mistrust.
• Modern Reckoning: By making the document public in 2025, the Church preserves historical honesty—but stops short of endorsing Taylor’s message. It neither canonizes the revelation nor acknowledges foundational truth in fundamentalist beliefs.

This long-suppressed revelation, now quietly available for all to see, illuminates the complex interplay of prophetic authority, legal pressures, and institutional messaging within Mormon history. It underscores how revealed truth can clash with public policy, and how controlling access—even silently—shapes faith communities. It’s a sobering reminder: history isn’t just what happened, but what was kept hidden—and why.

Bringing up the 1886 revelation is not an attempt to defend or promote polygamy. Rather, it forces us to reckon with the serious contradictions it exposes within the foundation of Mormon prophetic authority. If John Taylor, as prophet and president of the Church, received a divine mandate declaring that plural marriage is an unchangeable law—only for his successor Wilford Woodruff to receive a contradictory revelation just four years later ending the practice—then we are left with two competing revelations from two prophets, both claiming to speak for the same unchanging God. Which one was wrong? Or was God simply changing His mind?

This pattern isn’t limited to the nineteenth century. In recent decades, we saw the Church fully embrace the nickname “Mormon” under Presidents Gordon B. Hinckley and Thomas S. Monson, even launching the “I’m a Mormon” campaign as a global branding effort. Yet, almost overnight, President Russell M. Nelson reversed course, declaring that calling the Church by anything but its full name is a “major victory for Satan.” If the Church is led by continuing revelation from a consistent and unchanging God, how can its core messaging and doctrine shift so drastically from one prophet to the next? The 1886 revelation casts a long shadow not just over polygamy, but over the entire concept of prophetic consistency. Whether in 1886 or 2025, the Church’s messaging—and its God—seem to evolve based on circumstance, not eternal truth.

The 1886 Revelation and its long suppression highlight deep tensions between prophetic authority, institutional control, and personal conviction—tensions many in the ex-Mormon and post-Mormon communities know all too well. Whether you encountered these ideas growing up in the church, discovered them during your faith journey, or were directly affected by the Church’s evolving stance on polygamy, your story matters.

Have you wrestled with contradictions between official doctrine and hidden history? Did learning about the 1886 Revelation influence your faith transition? We invite you to share your experience on wasmormon.org. Your voice can help others make sense of their journey, because the truth should never have to hide.

• https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2025/06/17/lds-church-finally-releases-an/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormonism_in_the_19th_century
• https://mormonr.org/qnas/vFgD6f/john_taylors_1886_revelation
• https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/3aec2ea6-fdeb-4866-9529-47e27f9cd3b9/0/0
• https://bhroberts.org/records/fbkJxk-j6rrBf/original_handwritten_copy_of_john_taylors_1886_revelation
• https://mrm.org/1886-revelation
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Manifesto
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1886_Revelation
• https://rsc.byu.edu/prophets-apostles-last-dispensation/john-whittaker-taylor
• https://bhroberts.org/records/7Xrrkc-WrhUBb/first_presidency_heber_j_grant_anthony_w_ivins_j_reuben_clark_publish_official_statement_denouncing_the_practice_of_plural_marriage_in_the_church
• https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/1lbob8r/hide_for_100_years_church_finally_published_john/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comments/199xt1b/think_celestial_proving_celestial_marriage/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comments/1lbjd2j/john_taylor_revelation_1886/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypLK9Ur8P1U
• https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/John-W.-Taylor-Trial.pdf