Pastor Jeff McCullough has just put out his latest video discussing various Latter-day Saint topics. This one is in the form of a conversation with a Church member by the name of David Snell, hosted on another YouTube channel called Saints Unscripted. This video is identified as “Part 1”. At 13:43 into the video Jeff puts the following question to David Snell:
“Does the LDS church still embrace and adhere to plural marriage?”
To which David then gives an incoherent and erratic reply. The correct answer to that question is that polygamy, or plural marriage, is no longer practised in the Church because it was declared illegal by the US government; and we believe in obeying the law (Articles of Faith, 12). But the underlying theology or doctrine of polygamy has never been rescinded. That doctrine is still in the canonized scriptures of the Church (D&C 132), meaning that it is still considered a doctrinally valid principle. Plurality of wives is an extension of the doctrine of the eternity of the marriage covenant, although it is not a sacramental requirement for exaltation. The only thing that is a sacramental requirement is the eternity of the marriage covenant. That means that if a man is sealed in marriage for eternity to more than one wife (because his first wife passed away for example, and he had to remarry), in the resurrection he will remain sealed to both wives in heaven, and will be having more than one wife in heaven. So polygamy is theologically still a valid concept, although currently not practised in the Church.
At 22:10 minutes into the video Jeff raises an objection to the Latter-day Saint doctrine of the eternity of family relationships (and by extension, the eternity of the marriage covenant), as follows:
“If there is one thing that when I am looking at the LDS Church though, that I will pump the brakes on, and be like, Hold on, be careful here. I love family; family is like perfectly the most important thing to me. I think that where I have gotten concerned when I have talked to LDS Church members before is as it pertains to what we are reaching toward in the afterlife. It is almost as though God is a means to immortality so that we can spend eternity with our family; as opposed to, if you go back to what I was saying about what we believe the the biblical narrative is, redemptive narrative: It is that family is important, in so much that it points to the type of unity that we can have with God. This is Ephesians chapter five, marriage specifically. But that heaven is about reconciliation with God, and being in his all-fulfilling presence for eternity; and even if we are not still within our family, we will still be with other believers. So I believe I will still be with my wife and my kids, and all that other stuff; but the point of heaven is God forever. And maybe you, if you want to speak to that you can—as opposed to what is perceived as the point of heaven is, yes, God—so that I can be with my family. So what that does then is that puts me in a position where I wonder in the LDS Church, can family be replacing beautiful virtuous aspects of who God is? In a way that is what I have heard some people say within the Protestant church, that family is kind of an idol in a sense, because it is more important than God.”
The correct answer to that question is that in the theology of Latter-day Saints, salvation in the celestial kingdom of God is a “family affair;” we are saved as “families”. It does not diminish the role of God in the process, but enhances it. Indeed, being sealed to your wife in marriage for eternity is a sacramental requirement for exaltation in the celestial kingdom of God—the highest degree of heaven. In the theology of Latter-day Saints, heaven consists of three levels or degrees of glory. In order to get to the highest, where you will dwell in the presence of God eternally, the eternity of the marriage covenant (i.e. being sealed to your wife in marriage for eternity), is a sacramental requirement. That is how God has ordained it to be (D&C 132). And any children born to such marriages are likewise sealed to their parents for eternity. That is how the system works in that theological framework. None of this “diminishes” the role of God in the salvation process, but enhances it, and God is “glorified” thereby.
When Adam and Eve were married by God in the garden of Eden, they were eternal beings, because death had not yet entered into the world; and their “marriage” likewise was meant to be “eternal”. They were not married “until death do you part,” because there was no “death”. They were married for eternity. That means that in the resurrection, their marriage likewise will be restored for eternity as it was before. That is the purpose of the resurrection, to restore everything as it was before. And according to our theology, likewise their other family relationships will be restored. And all of this is done to further promote the glory of God, not diminish it.
Everything that God does promotes his glory. He created Adam and Eve for his own glory. He married them for eternity in the garden of Eden for his own glory. Then he redeemed and resurrected them for his own glory; and they will remain married for the rest of eternity to come for his glory. And what applies to Adam and Eve, applies equally to the rest of mankind. Adam and Eve are the type, a model for the rest of the human race. That is how God is glorified, or glorifies himself, in heaven and on earth, and in eternity. He is glorified by the creation of eternal human family relationships. I am hoping that the second part of the video is not going to be as boring as this one!
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