Current Church Position on Polygamy/Plural Marriage

[inquiringmind]

What is the current Church position on Polygamy/Plural marriage (and am I asking one question, or two questions here)?

[Fly Fisherman]

How about this, as a start:

http://lds.org/study/topics/polygamy-plural-marriage?lang=eng&query=polygamy

[kolipoki09]

What is the current Church position on Polygamy/Plural marriage (and am I asking one question, or two questions here)?

Anyone found to be married to more than one living person is excommunicated, no questions asked.

Temple sealings can still be plural for males. If a woman dies after previously entering into a temple marriage with her husband, the husband can marry again and be sealed to both women. For women however, if their husbands die before them they cannot be sealed to another man (though they can remarry outside of a sealing).

Also, if a husband and wife get a divorce after a temple marriage, the husband can remarry in the temple whenever he wants without approval from the First Presidency to break his previous sealing. In this sense, he's married to only one woman, but "spiritually" married to two. The breaking of a temple sealing requires a sanction from the First Presidency, and is necessary if a divorced woman who had previously been sealed, to be sealed to another man.

As for me, I'm happy with the wife I have and the time that I get to spend with her (it beats the heck out of staying on the boards all day like some people do). I have a testimony of the power and goodness that comes into one's life after entering into the New and Everlasting Covenant.

[kolipoki09]

How about this, as a start:

http://lds.org/study/topics/polygamy-plural-marriage?lang=eng&query=polygamy

And Fly Fisherman gets the award for having the coolest signature of all time. That's "of all time" for all the Kanye West fans on the board.

Anyway, Ima letchu finish....

[bluebell]

Also, if a husband and wife get a divorce after a temple marriage, the husband can remarry in the temple whenever he wants without approval from the First Presidency to break his previous sealing.

I have a personal friend who just married a previously divorced man who had been sealed in the temple and they had to wait for first presidency approval for him before they could get sealed.

It took a few months.

[sjdawg]

How about this, as a start:

http://lds.org/study...&query=polygamy

Here is a quote from the linked article. I wonder if Warren Jeffs says the same thing about polygamy?

Those who practiced plural marriage at that time, both male and female, experienced a significant trial of their faith. The practice was so foreign to them that they needed and received personal inspiration from God to help them obey the commandment.

[inquiringmind]

it beats the heck out of staying on the boards all day like some people do

I'm sure it does..

I'm unmarried, my father had a stroke three months after mom died, and I care for him here.

I am more or less homebound (housebound really, because this hasn't felt like home since mom died), but I'm not always "on the boards" (even if I don't always log out when I'm doing something else)

Also, if a husband and wife get a divorce after a temple marriage, the husband can remarry in the temple whenever he wants without approval from the First Presidency to break his previous sealing.

What is grounds for divorce in the LDS Church?

Also, does one have to be married (or sealed) to get to the Celestial Kingdom?

[kolipoki09]

What is grounds for divorce in the LDS Church?

Also, does one have to be married (or sealed) to get to the Celestial Kingdom?

Latter-day Saints often divorce for the same reasons other people do -- infidelity, financial difficulties, irreconcilable differences, etc.

You don't have to be sealed in the temple to get to the Celestial Kingdom, but in order to obtain the highest degree of glory (exaltation) within the Celestial Kingdom, temple marriage is necessary (see D&C 132: 15-25).

More especially on those who are not married in the temple, but who are otherwise faithful:

"For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever (D&C 132:17)."

[LeSellers]

I'm unmarried, my father had a stroke three months after mom died, and I care for him here.

You have my condolences. I can only imagine the hardship.

What is grounds for divorce in the LDS Church?

This is two different questions, really.

Any Saint can get a divorce for any reason the local jurisdiction allows. The Church does not encourage (in fact, actively discourages) divorce in most cases, the chief exception being domestic violence. One thing that is not one of those exceptions is apostasy.

For a "Temple Divorce" the criteria a much more stringent. First a civil divorce is requisite. Second, the party seeking the "cancellation of sealing" (the official terminology) must be on the verge of a new sealing. Third, the reason for the civil divorce must be serious, including adultery or something of equal magnitude.

There may be other criteria. I do not pretend to have all the information.

does one have to be married (or sealed) to get to the Celestial Kingdom?

Not to get into the Celestial Kingdom, but to receive exaltation (the highest order of the Celestial), yes you must be sealed to your spouse. See Doc&Cov 131, 132.)

Lehi

[kolipoki09]

Here is a quote from the linked article. I wonder if Warren Jeffs says the same thing about polygamy?

Those who practiced plural marriage at that time, both male and female, experienced a significant trial of their faith. The practice was so foreign to them that they needed and received personal inspiration from God to help them obey the commandment.

Being accused of crimes (that he may have, or may not have committed), along with being imprisoned and loathed worldwide is (for me at least) grounds to assume that Jeffs might find merit in the above statement as being a "significant trial of [his] faith."

I've heard it said among fellow Latter-day Saints that Joseph Smith must have "really believed he was called of God," else why would he go through instances like Liberty Jail and other faith-trying times? I've said it now and I'll say it again.

I don't believe persecution per se is evidence of the truthfulness of anything. Hence, why I went from teaching Sunday School to working in the Clerk's office.

[Brade]

How about this, as a start:

http://lds.org/study/topics/polygamy-plural-marriage?lang=eng&query=polygamy

From the article:

In obedience to direction from God, Latter-day Saints followed this practice for about 50 years during the 1800s but officially ceased the practice of such marriages after the Manifesto was issued by President Woodruff in 1890.

What is meant by 'officially ceased the practice of such marriages after the Manifesto'?

[kolipoki09]

From the article:

What is meant by 'officially ceased the practice of such marriages after the Manifesto'?

"We made a decision to start phasing out the practice, which continued until its demise 20 years later."

[BCSpace]

What is the current Church position on Polygamy/Plural marriage (and am I asking one question, or two questions here)?

In a nutshell, the official doctrine of the Church is that God authorized plural marriage happened in the past, both in LDS early history and anciently. Currently there is no God authorized plural marriage. And in the future, there may or may not be God authorized plural marriage. As for the afterlife, the Church has not invalidated, recinded, condemned, or distanced themselves from any authorized plural sealings that took place in the past or continue to take place now (after the previous wife has passed away).

[blackstrap]

If polygamy became a fully legal form of marriage, would it be then difficult for the Church to refuse baptism to a person wishing to join if that person were married to 2 or more women ? What is done in the African nations that allow polygamy?

[kolipoki09]

If polygamy became a fully legal form of marriage, would it be then difficult for the Church to refuse baptism to a person wishing to join if that person were married to 2 or more women ? What is done in the African nations that allow polygamy?

They have to legally separate from their plural marriages before being baptized. In other words, an African man would have to choose his favorite wife and divorce the other ones. Roman Catholicism and to some extent, the Community of Christ, allows plural marriage among African converts where it is legal. In a sense, Jon Krakauer is right. "Nobody cracks down on polygamy like the LDS Church." (source)

[sjdawg]

Being accused of crimes (that he may have, or may not have committed), along with being imprisoned and loathed worldwide is (for me at least) grounds to assume that Jeffs might find merit in the above statement as being a "significant trial of [his] faith."

I've heard it said among fellow Latter-day Saints that Joseph Smith must have "really believed he was called of God," else why would he go through instances like Liberty Jail and other faith-trying times? I've said it now and I'll say it again.

I don't believe persecution per se is evidence of the truthfulness of anything. Hence, why I went from teaching Sunday School to working in the Clerk's office.

agreed

[LDS Guy 1986]

If polygamy became a fully legal form of marriage, would it be then difficult for the Church to refuse baptism to a person wishing to join if that person were married to 2 or more women ?

No it wouldn't be hard for the Church to refuse to baptize someone that has multiple spouses, the Church forbids polygamy and will not baptize anyone that currently practices polygamy in any way shape or form.

What is done in the African nations that allow polygamy?

I assume that the same thing happens there with polygamous investigators as happens with investigators in the US who drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, or live with a significant other out of wedlock, the Mission President will not approve there baptism until they are in compliance with the standards of the Church.

[LDS Guy 1986]

What is grounds for divorce in the LDS Church?

There is no such thing as a divorce in the church, you can have a civil divorce or annulment but if one seeks to have there sealing to there spouse removed then they must get approval from the First Presidency. This is taken on a case by case basis, usually it there is a standing divorce decree the First Presidency will grant a unsealing.

Also, does one have to be married (or sealed) to get to the Celestial Kingdom?

No, to get into the Celestial Kingdom all that one needs is Baptism and Confirmation by the Proper Priesthood Authority. But there is three degrees of glory in the Celestial Kingdom, those who are sealed to there spouse and that endure to the end can receive the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom which is exaltation or Godhood.

[WalkerW]

I don't believe persecution per se is evidence of the truthfulness of anything. Hence, why I went from teaching Sunday School to working in the Clerk's office.

When did that happen?

By the way, I agree. At the most, it possibly demonstrates they at least believed X, Y, Z. Determining why they believed such things in light of persecution is the real question.

[kolipoki09]

When did that happen?

By the way, I agree. At the most, it possibly demonstrates they at least believed X, Y, Z. Determining why they believed such things in light of persecution is the real question.

It happened about a month ago. But at least now I can dig up everyone's personal records and update my Danite hit list address book.

My wife and I have enjoyed going to Marriage and Family Relations instead. At least there I'm not made to feel like I'm an apostate for quoting the Greek mss. I guess it's the latest way for me to get the most out of my Church meetings.

[WalkerW]

It happened about a month ago. But at least now I can dig up everyone's personal records and update my Danite hit list address book.

My wife and I have enjoyed going to Marriage and Family Relations instead. At least there I'm not made to feel like I'm an apostate for quoting the Greek mss. I guess it's the latest way for me to get the most out of my Church meetings.

Any juicy details? Just PM if you don't want to post them.

[zelder]

Anyone found to be married to more than one living person is excommunicated, no questions asked.

Temple sealings can still be plural for males. If a woman dies after previously entering into a temple marriage with her husband, the husband can marry again and be sealed to both women. For women however, if their husbands die before them they cannot be sealed to another man (though they can remarry outside of a sealing).

Also, if a husband and wife get a divorce after a temple marriage, the husband can remarry in the temple whenever he wants without approval from the First Presidency to break his previous sealing. In this sense, he's married to only one woman, but "spiritually" married to two. The breaking of a temple sealing requires a sanction from the First Presidency, and is necessary if a divorced woman who had previously been sealed, to be sealed to another man.

As for me, I'm happy with the wife I have and the time that I get to spend with her (it beats the heck out of staying on the boards all day like some people do). I have a testimony of the power and goodness that comes into one's life after entering into the New and Everlasting Covenant.

In addition to this, the church now allows deceased women to be sealed to all husbands to whom they were legally married.

http://familyhistory...edu/Lesson1.php

[NauvooSaint]

Community of Christ - baptism of foreign polygamists:

In the 1970s, this issue came up in relation to people from a tribe in India that wished to join the church. Their culture completely alienates women who are divorced/seperate from their husbands & creates problems as well for the children. Traditional/conservative RLDS members did not support this change in policy inspite of the issues raised regarding the women/children of such possible converts. It's my understanding that once these Indian polygamists joined the church, there were no new plural marriage done by them or their children later. I don't know of all the details, but would assume the husbands did not continue intimate relations with their wives, but were required to continue supporting them & the children without the stigma of divorce/seperation involved. It would be interesting to know how the LDS/Mormon church has dealt with this issue in places like India & the support of these women/children.

A similar connection could be made regarding those LDS/Mormons in Utah after the Manifesto. Polygamist men still provided for the support of their wives/children, but were not to 'cohabitate' with them. Some LDS individuals (including those in leadership)(ex. Joseph F. Smith, B.H. Roberts - Reed Smoot Hearings)ignored the First Manifesto & not only continued to live with (cohabitate with) their plural wives & bare more children with them, but also performed new plural marriages until the Second Manifesto. One of the conditions for the confiscated church property to be returned (of the 'Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints') was the promise by the church that polygamy was not to be continued. The church incorporated under a new name (terminology) since the earlier Utah corporation had been desolved by the Federal Government at the time. see http://supreme.justia.com/us/136/1/

[erichard]

What is the current Church position on Polygamy/Plural marriage (and am I asking one question, or two questions here)?

Hi,

In my opinion, the term "polygamy" is really no good. It can mean any kind of group marriage. "Plural marriage" is not as bad.

The Old and New Testaments clearly teach Patriarchy-- "the man is the (political) head of the woman". Polygyny is a natural aspect of Patriarchy and reinforces it. The restored church has never taught anything but patriarchal polygyny, and only when commanded by God.

Here are recent Mormon but non-LDS revelations concerning the matter. I believe these revelations, and believe that the Lord's Gentile church (LDS) will eventually accept them.

Richard

[thesometimesaint]

NauvooSaint:

We LDS prohibit polygamists from joining. We simply tell them to be the best husband to their wives as possible.