Mormon Eternal Marriage

[Sarcelle]

Matthew 22:29 Jesus said to them in reply, You are misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God.

Unfortunately Matthew 22:29 is pertinent here. Matthew 22:30 clearly states that there will be no new marriages in Heaven. But, it does not say that existing marriages will be dissolved in Heaven. And 1 Peter 3:7 states that Eternal Life is obtained jointly as husband and wife.

Likewise, you husbands should live with your wives in understanding, showing honor to the weaker female sex, since we are joint heirs of the gift of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

So how do you answer the question asked to Jesus about the widow and her seven husbands? Who among those seven men is her true husband? Or are they all her husbands? Remember, this woman was married on earth so by your account those marriages should still count and we’re not dissolved in Heaven.

How about Mormon widows and widowers? Are they allowed to marry again given their eternal marriages?

Also if one is single at the time of death, than they do not have eternal life?

Does their soul get extinguished at death without the necessary wedding ring?

 

[Horton]

So how do you answer the question asked to Jesus about the widow and her seven husbands? Who among those seven men is her true husband? Or are they all her husbands? Remember, this woman was married on earth so by your account those marriages should still count and we’re not dissolved in Heaven.

**How about Mormon widows and widowers? Are they allowed to marry again given their eternal marriages? **

Also if one is single at the time of death, than they do not have eternal life?

Does their soul get extinguished at death without the necessary wedding ring?

Regarding the bolded section, a widower may marry again and be sealed to a new wife, however a widow may marry but she has no say as to who she is sealed to. In other words, a man may be sealed to more than one woman while living, but a woman may only be sealed to one man.

 

[Sarcelle]

Regarding the bolded section, a widower may marry again and be sealed to a new wife, however a widow may marry but she has no say as to who she is sealed to. In other words, a man may be sealed to more than one woman while living, but a woman may only be sealed to one man.

This means that polygyny is a possibility for celestial marriages.

So if a woman is sealed to her first husband and he dies and then gets sealed to a second husband and then he dies, and so on and so forth, the widow has no way of knowing which husband she is sealed to?

It’s all a big surprise eh?

Meanwhile men can collect plural wives for the afterlife.

Men seem to be getting a better deal than women in Mormon heaven.

Imagine spending eternity as a concubine.

 

[Marie5890]

This means that polygyny is a possibility for celestial marriages.

So if a woman is sealed to her first husband and he dies and then gets sealed to a second husband and then he dies, and so on and so forth, the widow has no way of knowing which husband she is sealed to?

It’s all a big surprise eh?

Meanwhile men can collect plural wives for the afterlife.

Men seem to be getting a better deal than women in Mormon heaven.

Imagine spending eternity as a concubine.

No, she can remarry after the death of her first husband, who she has been sealed to, but she cannot be sealed to her second husband.

A man can be sealed to several women at the same time. A woman cannot. She can only be sealed to one man

 

[Marie5890]

, a widower may marry again and be sealed to a new wife, however a widow may marry** but she has no say as to who she is sealed to**.

The bold part: Huh? What do you mean she has no say as to who she is sealed to? Of course she does. She would have married and sealed to her first husband, as was her choice.

When he dies, she is still sealed to him. She may re-marry in civil marriage to a second man, but cannot be sealed to him…

So I am not sure what you mean when you say she has no say???

In LDS doctrine, a woman’s free agency (their terminology) is a valid as a man’s

 

[Horton]

The bold part: Huh? What do you mean she has no say as to who she is sealed to? Of course she does. She would have married and sealed to her first husband, as was her choice.

When he dies, she is still sealed to him. She may re-marry in civil marriage to a second man, but cannot be sealed to him…

So I am not sure what you mean when you say she has no say???

In LDS doctrine, a woman’s free agency (their terminology) is a valid as a man’s

As men can cancel sealings, would it not be possible for a man to have a current wife’s sealing canceled in order to have her sealed to him?

I disagree an LDS woman has as much “free agency” as a LDS man in real life.

 

[Marie5890]

As men can cancel sealings, would it not be possible for a man to have a current wife’s sealing canceled in order to have her sealed to him?

No.

If a man wants to have his sealing cancelled, he has to petition the 1st Presidency.
Same for a woman, if she wants to have her sealing cancelled, she has to petition the 1st Presidency.

It’s the 1st Presidency that does the actual cancelation. Not the average lay person. Man or woman.

perhaps a real life example will help.

Marie Osmond: when she divorced her first husband, she petitioned 1st Prez so she could be sealed to 2nd husband, it was granted,

when she divorced 2nd husband, she again petitioned 1st prez so she could be sealed to her 1st husband, who she remarried. it was granted.

this was all done at her request, not those of the men.

 

[gazelam]

So how do you answer the question asked to Jesus about the widow and her seven husbands? Who among those seven men is her true husband? Or are they all her husbands? Remember, this woman was married on earth so by your account those marriages should still count and we’re not dissolved in Heaven.

An extensive discussion of this issue can be found at www.fairmormon.org here: fairmormon.org/answers/Question:Does_Jesus%27s_statement_that_in_the_resurrection_they%22neither_marry_nor_given_in_marriage%22_a_refutation_of_the_Mormon_concept_of_eternal_marriage%3F

Notable is the quote by non-LDS scholar Ben Witherington who states:

The case put forward by the Sadducees is particularly extreme. Not only had six brothers attempted and failed to impregnate the woman in question, but she had also outlived them all and was single when she died. It is perhaps this last fact which prompts the question: Whose spouse will she be in the resurrection?..Jesus stresses that in the age to come people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Notice what Jesus does not say. He does not say there will be no marriage in the age to come. The use of the terms “γαμουσιν” (gamousin) and “γαμιζονται” (gamizontai) is important, for these terms refer to the gender-specific roles played in early Jewish society by the man and the woman in the process of getting married. The men, being the initiators of the process in such a strongly patriarchal culture, “marry,” while the women are “given in marriage” by their father or another older family member. Thus Mark has Jesus saying that no new marriages will be initiated in the eschatological [resurrection] state. This is surely not the same as claiming that all existing marriages will disappear in the eschatological state. (Ben Witherington III, The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 2001), 328.)

How about Mormon widows and widowers? Are they allowed to marry again given their eternal marriages?

Also if one is single at the time of death, than they do not have eternal life?

Does their soul get extinguished at death without the necessary wedding ring?