The Doctrine of Eternal Marriage
When Joseph Smith dictated Section 132 of the Doctrine & Covenants, he did so once, without any corrections, verifying at the end of the dictation that it was correct and needed no revisions. He either received the complete revelation at that moment, or as is probably the case, had received it long before and memorized it, bringing it to mind as prompted by the Holy Spirit. This revelation is considered to be the revelation on plural marriage, but more explicitly, it is the revelation on “eternal marriage.”
Joseph Smith received revelations regarding temple work, and the ordinances meant for the temples, line upon line, and precept upon precept. Thus, the fullness of temple worship was not had at the time the Kirtland Temple was built, and only became complete when the Nauvoo Temple was completed, and the Saints were about to be driven from Nauvoo, Illinois. The prophet had just described baptism for the dead, along with the doctrine that the spirit lives on after death, and that spirits awaiting resurrection and judgment have agency, personality, and volition to choose or reject the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It has long been said among all Christian sects that those who attain heaven will inherit “all that Christ has.” The Apostle Paul said, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:17). But no modern Christian theologian or leader has come close to describing what that means. What does Christ have? Dominions? Mansions? Glory? It is difficult for the mortal mind to fathom all that Christ has and that the righteous can inherit.
Ancient theologians, however, had been taught by Christ’s apostles and had some concept of our eternal destiny. They understood more of what Christ had to give us—God the Father and Jesus Christ have the power to create, and because of that, their creations increase and enlarge throughout eternity. Because of this eternal enlargement, along with their perfect knowledge, perfect love, and perfect power, they are gods. Godhood is defined by these qualities. Therefore, an eternal being with these qualities is defined as a god. This doctrine is called theosis, and is what the ancient Christian theologians understood.
Saint Irenaeus (ca. 115-202 A.D.) said,
We were not made gods at our beginning, but first we were made men, then, in the end, gods. How then will any be a god, if he has not first been made a man? How can any be perfect when he has only lately been made man? How immortal, if he has not in his mortal nature obeyed his maker? For one’s duty is first to observe the discipline of man and thereafter to share in the glory of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, of his boundless love, became what we are that he might make us what he himself is.”
Clement of Alexandria (150-215 A.D.) said the following:
“…yea, I say, the Word of God became a man so that you might learn from a man how to become a god. Those who have been perfected are given their reward and their honors. They have done with their purification, they have done with the rest of their service, though it be a holy service, with the holy; now they become pure in heart, and because of their close intimacy with the Lord there awaits them a restoration to eternal contemplation; and they have received the title of “gods” since they are destined to be enthroned with the other “gods” who are ranked next below the savior.”
Origen (ca. 185-251 A.D.) said,
“The Father, then, is proclaimed as the one true God; but besides the true God are many who become gods by participating in God.”
Justin Martyr, who died in A.D. 163, said,
“…to prove to you that the Holy Ghost reproaches men because they were made like God, free from suffering and death, provided that they kept His commandments, and were deemed deserving of the name of His sons… in the beginning men were made like God, free from suffering and death, and that they are thus deemed worthy of becoming gods and of having power to become sons of the highest….”
Similar statements were made by Hippolytus, Athanasius, St. Augustine, and Jerome. According to Christian scholar G.L. Prestige, the ancient Christians “taught that the destiny of man was to become like God, and even to become deified” (G.L. Prestige, God in Patristic Thought, London Press, 1956, 73).
In Sections 131 and 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord explains that a prerequisite to this glorification and ascendancy to God’s kingdom is “eternal marriage” performed by someone with priesthood authority. The promise and covenant of eternal marriage necessitates personal worthiness, membership in God’s kingdom on earth, and a commitment to the marriage covenant throughout mortality and throughout eternity. Perhaps it is the refining effort that long-lived marriage requires, plus purity, charity, and perseverance that qualifies couples for eternal life in God’s heavenly kingdom.
Husbands and wives who enter into the covenant of eternal marriage and continue in love and worthiness qualify for the celestial kingdom and to have “eternal increase.” This means that they can create “spirit children” who will someday inhabit an earth, obtain physical bodies, experience death, gain resurrection, and have an opportunity themselves in immortality to be glorified.
Joseph Smith taught that unless a man and a woman enter into the covenant of eternal marriage, “they will cease to increase when they die; that is, they will not have any children after the resurrection.” Those who do enter into this covenant and remain faithful “will continue to increase and have children in the celestial glory” (History of the Church, 5:391).
For Elder Parley P. Pratt of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a knowledge of this doctrine deepened his love for his family:
It was Joseph Smith who taught me how to prize the endearing relationships of father and mother, husband and wife; of brother and sister, son and daughter. It was from him I learned that the wife of my bosom might be secured to me for time and all eternity; and that the refined sympathies and affections which endeared us to each other emanated from the fountain of divine eternal love. It was from him that I learned that we might cultivate these affections, and grow and increase in the same to all eternity; while the result of our endless union would be an offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, or the sands of the sea shore….I had loved before, but I knew not why. But now I loved—with a pureness—an intensity of elevated, exalted feeling, which would lift my soul from the transitory things of this groveling sphere and expand it as the ocean….In short, I could now love with the spirit and with the understanding also (Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, pp. 297-98).
Some friends of other faiths have derided the doctrine of eternal lives, have accused Mormons of diminishing God, and have called them the “Godmakers.” To the contrary, the doctrine of eternal lives manifests God’s great love for mankind, that He stands ready to exalt us and bestow upon us all that He has. These promises are in the Bible. Why limit what God is willing to give those who are faithful to Him? In response to those who claim that the doctrine diminishes God is the following:
The Father is the one true God. This thing is certain: no one will ever ascend above Him; no one will ever replace Him. Nor will anything ever change the relationship that we, His literal offspring, have with Him. He is Elohim, the Father. He is God. Of Him there is only one. We revere our Father and our God; we worship Him (Boyd K. Packer, “The Pattern of Our Parentage,” Ensign, November 1984, 69).
A belief in human deification does not mean that the LDS believe their worship is or will be properly directed at anyone but God the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. We believe that the apostle Peter’s biblical reference to partaking of the divine nature and the apostle Paul’s reference to being ‘joint heirs with Christ’ reflect the intent that children of God should strive to emulate their Heavenly Father in every way. Throughout the eternities, Mormons believe, they will reverence and worship God the Father and Jesus Christ. The goal is not to equal them or to achieve parity with them but to imitate and someday acquire their perfect goodness, love and other divine attributes (Fox News, “21 Questions Answered About Mormon Faith,” 18 December 2007).
