According to one of the holy books of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) those who get married in the temple
and who continue to live faithful to the church have a celestial marriage. This
means that they will be eternally married and as Gods in the Celestial Kingdom
they will eternally procreate spirit children. Celestial Marriage is “often
referred to in our day as temple marriage. Such marriages are performed in
temples . . . by authorized priesthood holders . . . Worthy couples who are
thus married, and who continue to live the gospel faithfully will be married to
each other in the next life and continue as a family unit eternally” (Doctrine& Covenants 132:19 & 20).
But are the husband and the wife both raised equally to this
state of eternal bliss? Indeed they are not. The men are raised to glory, by Christ, as
Gods in the Celestial Kingdom but their earthly wives are not raised at the same
time or in the same manner. In order for the wife to be raised to Celestial
Glory as the Goddess wife of her (now deified) husband she must be called forth
in the resurrection of women by her husband. She remains un-resurrected until
and unless her husband chooses to call her forth into the resurrection by
calling her by the secret name which was given to her at the time of her temple
endowment. If the husband chooses not to call her up by her secret temple name
she will still eventually be resurrected but to a lesser glory, and not as a
Goddess nor as the wife of her now glorified husband. She will experience
lesser glory eternally because she did not please her husband sufficiently for
him to elect to call her forth at the resurrection.
“One must be married in the LDS
temple and then obey all of the Mormon regulations to get to the highest degree
of heaven. The first time a Mormon attends the temple endowment ceremony he or
she will be given a new name (usually a Bible name like Peter or Mary or the
name of European royalty). These will be their names in eternity.
The wife must tell her husband her new name, and no one else, as he is supposed
to call her up in the resurrection. If he does not call her up she would still
resurrect, but not as his wife” (Tanner, S. undated. How the LDS Husband Hopes to Resurrect his Wife, p. 1)
This makes the Mormon husband, rather than Christ, the savior
of the Mormon wife. “. . . the Mormon husband is the . . . savior of the Mormon
woman. He alone has the authority to call her forth in the resurrection” (Anderson, E. 1973. Inside Story of Mormonism. p. 89).
Is this idea biblical? It is not on two grounds. In Matthew
22:30 Christ said, “For in the resurrection they neither marry
nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” Christ excludes the
idea of Celestial Marriage. Furthermore St. Paul wrote to the Galatians that
Christ values all equally and does not give preference to anyone based on
gender or anything else. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ (3:28)." Although
the Bible certainly does recognize different roles for man and for women in the
home and in the church, there is no place in Christian theology for valuing
women as being less to God than men are.
Can you imagine the emotional blackmail
power this gives the Mormon husband over his wife if he is inclined to use it?
His wife must live with the constant knowledge that unless she pleases her husband
sufficiently, so that he will choose to call her forth in the resurrection, she
will eternally pay the price for this failure as a wife. This is not biblical.
This
and many more topics are discussed in my new book Mormonism and the Bible.
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