The Seer was an official periodical ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) which first appeared in 1853 and was published throughout 1854.[1]
After the LDS Church publicly acknowledged that it was teaching and practicingplural marriage at its September 1852conference, LDS ChurchpresidentBrigham Young dispatchedapostleOrson Pratt toWashington, D.C., where he was asked to publish anapologetic magazine targeted at non-Mormons. The primary purpose of the magazine would be to explain and defend the principles ofMormonism.
The first edition ofThe Seer was published in January 1853, with future editions being produced monthly. The contents ofThe Seer were composed almost entirely of original writings by Pratt. Throughout its publication history, the majority of Pratt's writing stressed the rationality of the doctrine ofplural marriage.[2] For example, Pratt dedicated 107 of the 192 total pages ofThe Seer to a twelve-part exposition on what he calledcelestial marriage.
The Seer was published in Washington, D.C., until July 1854, when publication was shifted toLiverpool,England. After only 18 issues, Pratt was forced to cease publication due to mounting financial losses. Circulation peaked at 400 copies in late 1853. "The world will not subscribe for nor readThe Seer,"[3] Pratt lamented to his brotherParley.
In 1865, a majority of theFirst Presidency and theQuorum of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church officially condemned some of Pratt's doctrinal declarations contained inThe Seer regarding the nature of the Holy Ghost, the Godhead (the term Latter-day Saints use to refer to the Trinity), and intelligence:
"The Seer [and other writings by Pratt] contain doctrines which we cannot sanction, and which we have felt impressed to disown, so that the Saints who now live, and who may live hereafter, may not be misled by our silence, or be left to misinterpret it. Where these objectionable works, or parts of works, are bound in volumes, or otherwise, they should be cut out and destroyed."[4]
Despite the failure ofThe Seer and the controversy that resulted from some of its contents, many of the traditional explanations and justifications forMormonpolygamy had their beginning in Pratt's writings in the magazine.
