“Sealed … for Time and for All Eternity”
No human relationship is as focused on, celebrated, and debated as marriage. But what is the relationship between our marriage now and union in the eternities? What was the development between marriage in the Bible, early Church, and present day? Get ready for one of the most interesting episodes ever as a unique class discusses:
- Marriage in historical context
- Marriage and the Bible (with a focus on polygamy)
- Polygamy in the early Church
- D&C 132
- Early Polygamy
- The issue of polyandry
- Later polygamy
- The Manifesto and after
- Polygamy in current Mormonism
- Fundamentalism
- Temple sealings
- Church member opinions
- Reflections on the nature of relationships in heaven and marriage on earth
One Time Donations:
Recurring Donations:
Class Member Reading: Doctrine and Covenants 131:1–4; 132:4–33; 1 Corinthians 11:11; Genesis 2:18, 24
Additional Teacher Reading: D&C 49:15; D&C 42:22; Jacob 2:27, 30
Prepare yourself for an open, challenging, and satisfying discussion with Andrea, David, and sister wives Pauline and Kate. And be sure to listen carefully all the way to the end.
You can access my Reading Notes here.
You can access my Lesson Notes here.
Continue the conversation by posting your comments and questions here, in the facebook group, or email them to me at MormonSundaySchool at gmail.
Resources
- Plural Marriage article in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism
- BYU Religious Studies reprint of an article on Joseph’s youngest wife
- An overview of Joseph’s 33 wives
- An interview with Brian Hales about Joseph’s polygamy
- Brian Hales’ site about Joseph’s polygamy
- Some insights into early polygamy in a Sunstone article by Devery Anderson
- Polyandry in Nauvoo
- Book review on polygamy in the Nauvoo period
- Book review addressing post-manifesto polygamy
- Some thoughts on the question of Celestial Polygamy
- Eugene England’s speculative article on monogamy in heaven
- Carol Lynn Pearson’s call for stories about feelings regarding Celestial Polygamy
- Dialogue article on the theology of sex and marriage in the afterlife
- Polygamy between the manifestos, 1890-1904
- Dialogue article on post-manifesto polygamy
- Lively email turned blog discussion of polygamy
- A thoughtful post on the question of polygamy in heaven
- Why we need to talk about polygamy
- The first post of a series on Joseph Smith’s wives
- An 1874 discussion of women’s rights and polygamy from Women’s Exponent
- An “Ask fMh” post on the question of polygamy in heaven
- Podcast episode on the History of Marriage (audio)
- Stephanie Coontz on marriage (video)
- An anthropological article on the benefits of monogamy
- New York Times article on the changing role of marriage in historical perspective
- The World Historical Transformation of Marriage
- 10 Key Moments in the History of Marriage, BBC
- Review of Marriage, A History
- Marriage, A History (You can read the first chapter here)
- A 2010 map of world polygyny
- Resources about the evolution of marriage
- A podcast version of the same
Books
- Compton, In Sacred Loneliness
- Sam Brown, In Heaven as it is on Earth
- Kathryn Daynes, More Wives than One
- Hardy, Doing the Works of Abraham
- Hardy, Solemn Covenant
- Turner, Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet
Many thanks to Devin Roth for the beautiful bumper music. Check out his arrangement of hymns and other work at DevinRothMusic!
Thanks to James Estrada of Oak Street Audio for his quality post-production, even while on vacation, and to Trent Oliphant for updating the episode.
Engaging Gospel Doctrine 
Jared:
I was listening to Lesson 31.2 at church yesterday and I remember looking up several references to William Law regarding polygamy and Joseph Smith’s request for the hand of his wife. I think it was in the lesson notes as a resource and the hyperlink directed me to a BUY Studies website but I got an error message saying the item was not available. Do you have the resource reference for this? I can’t find it now for the life of me!
I enjoy your podcast so much.
Thanks,
Kyle
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No luck yet. I wish I had thought to write down the title! I’ll let you know if I track it down.
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This was wonderful. After 30 years in the church I’m finally confronting my discomfort surrounding polygamy. I find it interesting as I read historical accounts and as I listened to this podcast that I am learning things that are very concerning to me and only increase my negative feelings about the practice, but at the same time I feel a growing understanding of the “why” behind it all and the role it might play in the eternal scheme of things. I appreciated your thought that perhaps Joseph implemented it in a way that is contrary to God’s way. I can absolutely accept that, and perhaps counter-intuitively, it actually increases my faith as I come to terms with the full humanity of our prophet(s). I’m not quite to the point where I totally “get it” or accept polygamy, and I don’t know if that will ever happen in this life. But I’m on the path of understanding and testimony, and am grateful for the many wonderful resources that you and others have made available. It is so nice to know that there are faithful, but honest discussions taking place. I feel uplifted and hopeful after listening. So thanks!
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