Another View of Plural Marriage
Discussion:
We started by discussing Eve and Adam's story — each had their assignment — and there is no record of God commanding Eve not to partake of the fruit. It appears that the assignment to transgress the boundaries of Eden was Eve’s assignment, not Adam’s.
The creation story and plural marriage go together—if we believe God is merciful, plural marriage is not the norm—It is Eve and Adam, one woman and one man. This is the story that begins humanity and serves as the model for God’s law of marriage.
Some are uncomfortable with the secrecy of the Nauvoo period — it is so messy—God wants to bless his people, and he does it through humans—in some instances, the humans get it wrong, but we will still be blessed. The question: is this what is required of me to gain this blessing?
No evidence that Joseph Smith had any kids from plural marriages
Sealing wasn’t viewed as just a sealing to God—it was believed to be horizontal
Sealing transferability would work
Sealings are complicated
When families are hard, friends can save us
Has had to pray her way through it
Those sealings will work in heaven, but it is up to each of us to be living our covenants and following Christ
All justifications of plural marriage feel wrong
We are trying to figure it out and trying to reconcile it
Glad to have so many essays to read that help us work through it
Will never understand—has learned to be comfortable with being uncomfortable
Brittany Chapman Nash - we don’t have to have a testimony of plural marriage
Elder Quentin L. Cook - https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2020/07/church-history-a-source-of-strength-and-inspiration?lang=eng “And third, in the senior councils of the Church, there’s a feeling that plural marriage, as it was practiced, served its purpose. We should honor those Saints, but that purpose has been accomplished.”
God works His purpose through imperfect people, and we muck it up
This is who the Lord has to work with—imperfect, flawed human beings
God offers us something greater—we believe in God and his promises in our lives—our lives don’t look the same, but we all have promises from God
Through Jesus Christ, we can work around all the obstacles along the way
The Early Development of Latter-day Saint Women’s History— An Interview with Jill Mulvay Derr by Cherry Bushman Silver
“I remember sitting down with Maureen at one point and saying, “I don’t know how we are going to present this history with its ups and downs as something comprehensible to our women readers. Why do women stay committed to an institution that from time to time disappoints them keenly?” We talked about how faith was an essential principle for women and that their covenants were an anchoring principle, and that’s how we came up with the title Women of Covenant.”
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5188&context=byusq