by John P. Pratt
21 Mar 2021, 1 Reed (SR), 1 Birth (UV), 1 Psc (S), 1 Aqr (US)
©2021 by John P. Pratt. All rights Reserved.
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1. A Sacred Ceremony 1.1 Instituted of God 1.2 Man and Woman 1.3 No Polygamy! 2. Attacks on Marriage 2.1 Unmarried 2.2 Divorced 2.3 Adultery 2.4 Fornication 2.5 Homosexual Acts 2.6 Cross-Dressing 2.7 Transsexuals 3. Conclusion Notes |
The concepts of marriage and the family are being attacked from all sides by those who preach against traditional marriage. Public schools now teach all manner of practices that are against the concepts taught in the Bible and other LDS scriptures. This article reviews many of the concepts taught in these scriptures, from the viewpoint of the restored Church of Christ in the days of Joseph Smith. The practice of the LDS Church is discussed which has changed from forbidding polygamy, to glorifying it, to again prohibiting it. Modern day attacks on marriage are also reviewed, with relevant scriptures quoted.
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Another important point is that most countries had the strict notion of "legitimate" and "illegitimate" children, based on whether or not they were offspring of a couple which had been married, according to the laws of that country. Most languages have special words for illegitimate children which can be swear words or at least harsh and demeaning, such as the English word "bastard". Do not all children wish to be well born, not wanting to be called harsh names for something their parents neglected to do, namely, getting married? Let us now look at the type of marriage which is considered to be sacred in the sense of conforming to the laws of God.
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One element of the marriage ceremony worldwide has been that a marriage should be public, not secret. Friends and family should all be invited so that all concerned know that this man and this woman are making vows to each other to keep their intimate relationships only for each other, so all will know that the children born to them are indeed part of that family. Any such relationships with others have been considered to be adultery and have been strictly forbidden not only by sacred laws, such as one of the Ten Commandments, but adultery has also been opposed by civil laws throughout most of history, because it destroyed the family, the basis of civilization.
After the Great Flood, the Lord gave seven laws to Noah to be followed by all of his descendants. One of these laws concerned marriage and the family. God gave Noah the same commandment as had been given to Adam and Eve: "And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." (Gen. 9:1). This commandment is not usually listed of one of Noah's seven Laws, but it should be because it clearly refers to all his posterity also. The seven listed in the illustration are my proposed corrections to typical lists which differ somewhat.[1] Note that the only positive commandment is the second: "Marry to have children." That commandment is not repeated in the Ten Commandments because the Seven Laws of Noah were already known for all mankind, whereas the Ten Commandments were given especially to the Israelites and included items specific to them, such as to worship Jehovah and to keep the sabbath day.
In this article, the words "traditional marriage" refers to the marriage of one man to one woman, performed in pubic according to the laws of that land. Even though some countries have allowed lawful marriages between multiple partners, such as polygamy, which is usually understood to be one man being married to more than one woman at the same time, for the purposes of this article those are not traditional marriages.
The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith that marriage is ordained of God and a man should have one wife (D&C 49:15-16), but there were several attacks on the Church claiming that polygamy was being taught openly by Church leaders. To refute these accusations, Section 101 on marriage was added to the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. This was the official scriptural position of the Church not only during the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith, but also during most of the life of Brigham Young, only being replaced by D&C 132, which allows polygamy, approved for inclusion in the D&C in 1876, the year before Brigham died.
There was a section in the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants about marriage to make it clear just what was the Church's official stance on marriage. Because most LDS members have never seen this scriptural declaration about the family, it is presented here in full (emphasis added):
1 According to the custom of all civilized nations, marriage is regulated by laws and ceremonies: therefore we believe, that all marriages in this church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, should be solemnized in a public meeting, or feast, prepared for that purpose: and that the solemnization should be performed by a presiding high priest, high priest, bishop, elder, or priest, not even prohibiting those persons who are desirous to get married, of being married by other authority. We believe that it is not right to prohibit members of this church from marrying out of the church, if it be their determination so to do, but such persons will be considered weak in the faith of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Marriage should be celebrated with prayer and thanksgiving; and at the solemnization, the persons to be married, standing together, the man on the right, and the woman on the left, shall be addressed, by the person officiating, as he shall be directed by the holy Spirit; and if there be no legal objections, he shall say, calling each by their names: "You both mutually agree to be each other's companion, husband and wife, observing the legal rights belonging to this condition; that is, keeping yourselves wholly for each other, and from all others, during your lives." And when they have answered "Yes," he shall pronounce them "husband and wife" in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by virtue of the laws of the country and authority vested in him: "may God add his blessings and keep you to fulfill your covenants from henceforth and forever. Amen."
3 The clerk of every church should keep a record of all marriages, solemnized in his branch.
4 All legal contracts of marriage made before a person is baptized into this church, should be held sacred and fulfilled. Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again. It is not right to persuade a woman to be baptized contrary to the will of her husband, neither is it lawful to influence her to leave her husband. All children are bound by law to obey their parents; and to influence them to embrace any religious faith, or be baptized, or leave their parents without their consent, is unlawful and unjust. We believe that husbands, parents and masters who exercise control over their wives, children, and servants and prevent them from embracing the truth, will have to answer for that sin. — 1835 D&C 101 (replaced in 1876 by D&C 132).
Thus, the principal elements of a marriage are that it should
Thus, this was the official stance of the LDS Church in their scriptures until 1876, even though polygamy was introduced publicly in 1852 by Brigham Young. It was only practiced in the Territory of Utah until terminated as a condition of Utah being allowed to become a state, and hence being required to obey the laws of the land.
So what about polygamy? Is it a higher law which is from God, as Brigham Young taught, which is eventually necessary to live for exaltation?[2] What about D&C 132 which was canonized as scripture in 1876, which states that polygamy is permissible under certain conditions? And if so, why was the practice discontinued, to such an extent that later Church members were excommunicated if they lived it?
Volumes have been written about this, so this section is just a short summary based on the scriptures quoted.
An angel appeared to Nephi's brother Jacob, with a message from the Lord requiring him to give a discourse to the church on this subject. The angel explained that in Old World that the Lord allowed some of his servants to practice polygamy, partly because it was part of the culture so that the practice was common, and partly because none of prophets were perfect anyway. But such would not be allowed in the Promised Land, choice above all other lands, of the Western Hemisphere. In the Americas, the strict rule would be that no polygamy is allowed for the people of God here (Jacob 2:25-27), except in one special case (Jacob 2:30).
The angel also explained that the Nephites used the examples of David and Solomon to justify their practice, but that was not a good reason because what those two men did was an abomination in the sight of God (Jacob 2:23-24)!
So what about D&C 132 which allows the practice? What is ironic and an obvious contradiction to the Book of Mormon is that section uses the abominations of David and Solomon to justify the practice, the very same thing which the Nephites had done! That is, the angel said that the many wives of King David were an abomination (Jacob 2:24), but the D&C says that they were no sin at all, except for Bathsheba (D&C 132:39)! One of them must be wrong! They cannot both be true: either David's wives were an abomination or he did not sin at all in his first plural marriages!
There is another contradiction between D&C 132 with all tradition marriage. In traditional marriages, vows are exchanged that the husband and the wife will keep themselves wholly for each other and from all others during their lives (1835 D&C 101:2, quoted above). When Joseph and Emma were married they no doubt exchanged such vows, as did Brigham Young and nearly all married members of the Church in Joseph's day. D&C 132, however, claims that as long as man continues to marry virgins, that he is not committing adultery because they are also his wives (D&C 132:61). But the marriage vows those men took in their first marriages did not say "keep yourselves wholly for each other unless the husband wants to marry others"! This argument only applies to those who had already been in a traditional marriage when polygamy was introduced. It is interesting to note that in the current LDS temple ceremony, no vows are made to keep themselves wholly for each other, thus allowing polygamy in that church, although it was against the laws of the land at that time.
When one researches the origin of D&C 132, it turns out that there is no original copy and that it was introduced by Brigham Young to give polygamy credence, attributing it to a hypothetical revelation dictated in 1843 by the Prophet Joseph. A careful reading shows that it is riddled with several doctrinal errors.[3] The Prophet Joseph had fought against the practice of polygamy at the end of the Nauvoo period, when several apostles were secretly practicing it and attributing such to the Prophet. Because of what was just pointed out in the last paragraph, polygamy was just one type of adultery, and William Law formally charged the prophet with adultery. On the next day, Sun 28 May 1844 Joseph gave his famous defense, in which he stated, "What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one. I am the same man, and as innocent as I was fourteen years ago; and I can prove them all perjurers." (DHC 6:341). [4]
After the Martyrdom, Church members who knew that polygamy was wrong parted ways with Brigham and eventually created the Reorganized Church. It is interesting that one of the founding members, who had been a polygamist himself, had a revelation that the practice was not of God, but had come from the dark side and that he should preach against it.[5]
So what about the exception to the "No Polygamy" law mentioned by Jacob, namely that there can be an exception if required to raise up seed? That was the justification given by Brigham Young to have 56 children by 16 of his wives. Joseph Smith, on the other hand, whom Brigham claimed had also practiced polygamy, had no children by any woman other than his wife Emma.[6]
The exception to the "No polygamy" rule in the Old Testament is called the Levirate Law in the law of Moses. If a married man dies without having a son, his wife was to marry his brother, even if that brother was already married, in order to "raise up seed" to her deceased husband (Deut. 25:5). Jacob probably expected his readers to recognize that exception by his few brief words.
One final quote seems appropriate to sum up these results. Prophets are only human; they make mistakes. It is wrong to point to what a prophet did and use his actions to justify ourselves in breaking a commandment of God, such as in the case of polygamy. According to the Bible, Abraham was not commanded by the Lord to take Hagar to wife. Sarah offered her handmaid (Gen. 16:2), in something like the Levirate law to raise up seed, even though Abraham had not died. They were impatient because her promised seed had not arrived and she was 75 years old. Hagar's son Ishmael turned out to be trouble, so he and his mother were sent away. And in the case of Jacob, his father-in-law tricked him into marrying the wrong woman. These are not examples to be followed. These events are not a firm foundation on which to base the widespread practice of polygamy!
Here is a quote attributed to Joseph Smith which sums up this principle. Mary Page, wife of Apostle John E. Page, testified that she personally heard Joseph respond to someone who asked about the ancient patriarchs practicing polygamy. He replied, "My sister, polygamy was wrong when practiced by the ancients and it is wrong now!"[7]
The adversary is very real and has attacked the sacred institution of marriage from the very beginning. As stated above, the family is the foundation of God's society and marriage is the foundation of the family. Let's look at some of forces which fight against marriage and the family.
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Another contributing factor is that women have discovered that working in the office is so much easier than being a mother, which is much more than a full time job, requiring a wide variety of skills, unlike the business world.
No new scriptures are quoted here, because the main ones have already been cited: a commandment for all mankind is to marry and raise a family, according to their ability and their local customs and laws.
The graph here shows how much marriage has declined in the fifty years from 1960 to 2010. The percentage of young adults in the age range of 18 to 24 getting married dropped from 45% to 9% in those fifty years. Thus, only one fifth as many young adults are getting married young, and up to age 34 it is still only half as many! Now to that drastic decline, consider the rise in divorce rate on top of that!
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One reason for this increase in the divorce rate is that the concept of "no fault" divorces. Fifty years ago, divorce was illegal in some countries, or only granted in the case of adultery of the spouse. Now a couple merely has to say that they are "incompatible" and they are granted a divorce. It turns out that marriage is difficult for nearly everyone. The couple comes from different families and have different expectations for their spouse based on their previous family. Thus, divorce should be difficult to obtain, so that a couple is compelled to a degree to try to work out differences.
As for scriptures on the subject, in the law of Moses divorce was surprisingly easy in some cases. A husband could give a writing of divorce to his wife for several reasons, including even that "she finds no favor in his eyes" or "he hates her", and then send her away of out house (Deut 24:1,3)!
In the New Testament the Lord Jesus stated that divorce for trivial reasons is not in his new higher law. In fact, adultery is really to only acceptable reason (Mat. 5:31-32).
The vow to each spouse to be faithful to the other is the principal promise that a man and a woman make to each other. Throughout history, it has been against the laws of most countries for either partner to have intimate intercourse with anyone except their spouse. That is called adultery, and is explicitly forbidden by the Ten Commandments. Moreover, it is expressly forbidden in the laws of the restored Church, and can be grounds for excommunication (D&C 42:24). In my youth, the word "adultery" was totally associated with the word "sin". One was shocked that anyone might have committed such a grievous error against both God and spouse. In just my lifetime, adultery is now common, and is sometimes referred to in movies as "an indiscretion"! Hence, it needs to be explicitly stated here that it is still a commandment to be obeyed!
It is also important to understand that the word "adultery" in the King James Bible has two distinct meanings. The first meaning is "to have sexual intercourse with any being other than one's spouse". That is the meaning which has been understood in both the Seven Laws of Moses and Ten Commandments. Thus, it includes premarital sex (often called fornication), homosexual relations and bestiality. No penalty is given in those two sets of laws, but only the knowledge that such practices are forbidden by God. In the details of the law of Moses, the penalties for each of these separate practices is spelled out, but they all were once understood as being against the commandment prohibiting adultery.
The second meaning of "adultery" refers only to the more narrow meaning in English of someone who is married having sexual intercourse with anyone other that their spouse. In the law of Moses, the penalty for that specific type of adultery was death (Lev. 20:10) as exemplified by the woman brought to Jesus who was caught in the very act (John 8:4-5).
We should also remember that what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount is not a set of unattainable goals, but is His law for Christians, which replaces the law of Moses (3 Nephi 15:1,4-5, 10). Within this law is the statement that a man who looks at a woman in order to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Mat. 5:27-28).
Those with a pornography habit might ask themselves if they are guilty of lusting after women in their heart! That habit is also a destroyer of marriages, but it is not discussed separately here. It should also be known that in the law of the Church in D&C 42, it states that one can be excommunicated for looking upon a woman to lust after her (D&C 42:23). One should definitely consider just what that would refer to, and if it would indeed include pornography!
Fornication refers to sexual intercourse by someone who has not made marital vows, although the details of the difference between fornication and adultery differ somewhat in various countries.
In preparing for this article the following question was entered into the Google search engine: "What does the bible say about premarital sex?" Guess what the first article was? Did it say that it is wrong? The first article listed was entitled "Sex Before Marriage is Not a Sin." It begins by saying that the author can find no prohibition in the Bible about sex before marriage, but only that adultery after marriage is a problem. Do you believe that? What if it were your children looking for Biblical evidence that one should keep their virginity until marriage? What if that article were their only source?
The Book of Mormon places the severity of this sin as abominable and roughly equal to adultery, placing it next to murder in severity (Alma 39:3-5). But that is not the Bible. Now let us turn to the law of Moses for what it says. Again, that law is no longer in force for Christians, but in general the laws of Christ are even more strict, such as not looking at a woman to lust after her, whether or not the man or that woman is married.
The penalty in the law of Moses for fornication was not as harsh as for adultery. It states that if an unmarried man and a virgin are guilty of fornication, the penalty is that (1) the man give the father of the girl 50 shekels, (2) that the couple get married, and (3) that the man is not allowed to ever divorce her (Deut. 22:28-29). Note that if the couple is truly in love, such a penalty is not harsh at all, but if they were just "fooling around", it could be a nightmare!
What about the case where the man finds out that his bride was not a virgin at marriage? He has the option to ignore it, but if he brings a formal accusation against her and it is verified to be true, then the penalty for her is that she be stoned to death (Deut. 22:20-21)! Thus, a woman not being a virgin at marriage could bring the same penalty as adultery!
The law of Moses was fulfilled at the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but as the Sermon on the Mount shows, one main difference between the law of the Church and the law of Moses is that there is mercy and repentance in the laws of the Church, whereas there was no such provision in the laws of Moses. If the law of Moses was broken, the penalty was applied! In general, the laws of Jesus were higher and more difficult to fulfill, and hence more need for mercy. For example, it was not just against the law to kill a person, it was also commanded not to be angry at a brother, or even demeaning him, at the risk of hell fire (Mat. 5:21-22).
How many teenagers have ever heard of any of these prohibitions against premarital sex? They won't find them easily on the Internet! Did you know about them? Whether or not we still obey the law of Moses, at least it is important to know that these were real laws lived by God's chosen people at one time. Now the law for Christians is not to even look at a woman to lust after her!
One of these penalties from the law of Moses, shows one application of mercy, not usually part of the law of Moses. If a couple marries where one or both are not virgins and they both know that prior to the marriage, then they could simply forgive each other (if they feel that is needed) and forget about it, and there was no penalty. In other words, there was a sin, but then forgiveness. On the other hand, marriages can fail when undisclosed premarital affairs are discovered.
Homosexuality is defined to be the sexual attraction of either men or women to the those of the same sex, rather than the usual attraction to the opposite sex. There is no problem mentioned in the scriptures to my knowledge with such an attraction. Similarly, there is no problem with the normal heterosexual attraction.
The problem with both heterosexual and homosexual attraction is when it leads to intimate intercourse outside the bounds of marriage between a man and a woman. Homosexual acts were considered an abomination in the law of Moses (Lev. 18:22). The penalty for homosexual intercourse in the law of Moses was the same as for adultery by a married person, whether male or female: death (Lev. 20:13). Thus, there was a huge difference between a mere attraction and acting out on it. It was a matter of life and death, not just coming out of a closet.
No homosexual unions, even though legal and lawful by civil law, even if called a "marriage", are sanctioned by this Church. While the death penalty is no longer enforced, nor any civil penalty at all any more, homosexual acts remain grounds for disciplinary action. If the interaction also involves adultery, meaning that at least one of the two is in a heterosexual marriage, then it could be grounds for excommunication as adultery as discussed above.
All forms of bestiality by both men and women are also forbidden by the law of Moses, and also had a penalty of death for those involved (Lev. 20:15-16).
Did you know that cross-dressing, where people dress in the clothes of the opposite sex, is expressly forbidden in the law of Moses? Yes, it is prohibited, and is referred to as an "abomination": "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God." (Deut. 22:5).
Think about that before transsexuals are discussed, because in the days of Moses this was probably about as close to becoming transsexual as was possible. This commandment alone implies that the clothing used by men and women is to appear different enough that men and women can be easily distinguished even at a distance. Thus, unisex clothing was apparently implicitly forbidden. It is interesting that throughout history in most countries, men and women had very distinct clothing, but now in this unisex age it is common to see waitresses, for example, dressed in white shirts, ties, and pants, exactly the same as the waiters.
There are two distinct words used in this subject, namely transgender and transexuality, at least in some useages of the words. Neither are mentioned in the scriptures known to me because this is a modern problem. Transgender usually refers to someone who identifies with the opposite sex from that of the body they were born into. Transsexual usually means that person has acted on this identification to use some sort of medical assistance such as sex reassignment surgery or hormone replacement therapy to attempt to actually be partially transformed into the opposite sex.
As long as one is simply transgender without acting on the desires to actually be the opposite sex, then there is nothing in the scriptures stating there is a problem with that. It does seem clear, however cross dressing is a step in the direction of becoming a transsexual, and cross dressing was strictly forbidden in the law of Moses. Thus, by extension, since a transsexual is usually a cross dresser gone to the extreme, if cross dressing is a sin, then so would be transsexuality. Moreover, it clearly makes it very difficult for any transsexual marriage to produce offspring, which is usually one of the principal hopes for a marriage union.
If the reader believes in God and recognizes that it was the Creator who created their birth body as a gift to their spirit to be able to progress as a human, then it does appear that rejecting the sex of that body is like rejecting this gift of God. Have we not all been given bodies of different shapes and sizes to learn different lessons of life? Perhaps transgender identification could be gift of God to understand just how the opposite sex feels. Perhaps it was to feel the rejection that people with transgender attributes have felt throughout history. Such learning experiences could be part of an overall human experience, without deciding that one has to actually become transsexual through medical procedures.
In this era of attacks on the sacred ordinance of marriage, this article reviews several scriptures from the LDS standard works on the subject. Marriage is indeed an ordinance which God established from the beginning, to be the foundation of the family, which in turn becomes the foundation of civilization. It has been proposed that "Marry to have children" was one of the Seven Laws of Noah by which all nations should obey.
Evidence is also presented that marriage is intended to be between one man and one woman, with a goal of bringing forth a family. Then the original section in the LDS Doctrine and Covenants about marriage is reviewed, which allowed monogamy only. Then it is compared to the current D&C 132, which replaced it in 1876 and which introduces the concept of polygamy as being approved by the Lord. That newer section is discussed critically and found to have many doctrinal inconsistencies, especially with the Book of Mormon. There is no original copy of the revelation, and many have argued that it was either written or modified by Brigham Young to include polygamy.
Then several attacks on marriage are discussed including remaining unmarried, divorce, adultery, fornication, homosexual acts, cross dressing, and transsexuals. Scriptures relating to each are reviewed, including associated penalties from the law of Moses.
We were given bodies by the Creator. They are a gift from God, a required step in our eternal progression. We will be judged for how well we kept God's commandments, and for all of our actions, including how well we cared for our bodies and appreciated this gift. Moreover, the gift of procreation is perhaps the most Godlike gift that we have been given, so we will be especially judged by how much we have honored that sacred gift in fulfilling the purposes of God in getting married and raising a family, if that opportunity arises in our lives. May we all be grateful every day for all of the marvelous gifts we have received from our Creator!