The first 3 sections of this set are fun answers to gospel questions that expanded the view of eternity and the understanding of God the Father.
Section 129
This section outlines how to identify a holy angel vs. a minister of the devil. Although this counsel seems odd to us today, it was necessary in 19th century. Within a few years, Spiritualism, or the belief in communication with the dead through rappings on tables, seances, or written communications became extremely popular in U.S. cities.
By 1869 a group of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City would form their own spiritualist splinter group that rejected the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants, the doctrine of God as our Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ's atonement and resurrection. Their initial frustration with the church was not doctrinal, however, but financial, as is so often the case in church history.
By the 1890s, all that was left of this "church" was their newspaper, today's Salt Lake Tribune. (See Church History Topic: Godbeites.)
Section 130
1 When the Savior shall appear we shall see him as he is. We shall see that he is a man like ourselves.
2 And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.
This revelation teaches us something that almost no religion of the day taught: When we die, we don't float into heavenly bliss as individuals or lose our personalities and knowledge as we become sucked into a spiritual conglomorate. Heaven is social! (Sorry, introverts; we will all have to become social.) Heaven is relationships! Heaven is being connected to other individuals! Heaven is active love!
This section also contains some information about heaven that I don't understand but apparently Joseph Smith did. And then suddenly there is a prophecy about the American Civil War (which we won't go into today). And then this delightful information about the benefits of learning. Not only will our secular and spiritual education and experience help us in this life, it will be important in the next!
18 Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.
19 And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.
I really hope we have perfect recall then, because I've forgotten an awful lot of the stuff I have learned in my life.
Section 132
And this is where it gets really fun. (Except for the polygamy part, but more on that later...)
18 And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make a covenant with her for time and for all eternity, if that covenant is not by me or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed and appointed unto this power, then it is not valid neither of force when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me, saith the Lord, neither by my word; when they are out of the world it cannot be received there, because the angels and the gods are appointed there, by whom they cannot pass; they cannot, therefore, inherit my glory; for my house is a house of order, saith the Lord God.
19 And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them—Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection...they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.
This was in direct contrast to most Christian belief systems, who considered that marriage did not carry into the next life.
TEMPLE WORSHIP IN THE WEST
In 1871, a temple in St. George was announced. The saints had not had a real temple since they left Nauvoo, although ceremonies had taken place outside the temple as needed. The Salt Lake Temple was only halfway complete; the St. George Temple's construction would only take a few years. It would be the first functioning temple since Nauvoo.
(For more of the fascinating history of this temple's construction, please go to this previous post.)
The St. George Temple was dedicated on the first day of the year 1877.
One year previous to this a new edition of the Doctrine and Covenants was published that included several revelations that were known of by the saints but had not been canonized or published as scripture. You will be shocked to see what hadn't actually made it into the Doctrine & Covenants by this point:
- Section 2: Malachi's prophesy on turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers
- Section 13: The restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood by John the Baptist
- Section 109: The dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple
- Section 110: The account of the visit of Moses, Elias, and Elijah to the Kirtland Temple
- Sections 121-123: The marvelous revelations on priesthood received while Joseph Smith was in Liberty Jail
- Section 132: Celestial marriage and the principle of plural marriage
Having been away from a temple for decades now, it was time to bring the people back to temple-consciousness. These newly-canonized revelations "became the touchstone of temple-related discourse and provided the necessary intellectual, doctrinal, and scriptural justification and framework for those new temple ordinances now to be injoined" (Richard E. Bennett, Temples Rising: A Heritage of Sacrifice, p. 226).
Although baptisms and sealings for the dead had happened previously, this was the first temple in which endowments for the dead took place. The endowment ceremony was revised, written, and standardized from beginning to end by a team led by Wilford Woodruff at the request of President Young. Large groups of people could now do endowments for the dead together in one session.
One month into this temple's service, Wilford Woodruff, the temple president, and Lucy Bigelow Young, one of Brigham's wives and a leading female ordinance worker, decided to dress entirely in white to symbolize the purity and holiness of temple worship, a practice which has since been adopted everywhere.
This was the first temple in which deceased children were sealed to their deceased parents.
"What began in St. George was family-centered temple work" (Bennett, p. 213). Before this, temple work was for the individual, although they may be sealed into a general authority's family if their own family were not members. The St. George Temple practice taught the people that the basic unit of the Kingdom of God was the family.
Women could not serve proselyting missions as their husbands and brothers did. Serving in the St. George Temple became a way for sisters to devote themselves to God. Dozens of female ordinance workers showed their dedication to the Lord through temple service.
Prior to this time, members could do baptisms for dead relatives and friends, but no one knew their own family names beyond a couple of generations. You did your family's work and you were done with the temple ceremonies. By the late 1870s, though, genealogical societies began to flourish and Americans could find out details about more of their ancestors and do their work. This meant that for the first time, people could make temple attendance a regular part of their worship, a place that you could return again and again and hear your blessings repeated and restate your covenants. This helped the saints keep their personal dedication formost in their minds. Also, in temple worship, consecration had to be proved by paying tithing, always a requirement for any temple ordinance. (The first "temple recommend" before the St. George Temple was just your tithing receipt.)
The saints were elevated spiritually by striving to be temple worthy and the Church would never again be the same.
Now, about polygamy...
For understanding the practice of plural marriage in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I point to contributions by three women scholars--one in a written essay, one in an audio podcast, and one in a YouTube video. All three have come to the same conclusion after their studies on the subject--that polygamy was a temporary exception to the Lord's law of monogamy, an "Abrahamic sacrifice"--and I invite you to choose any one of the three to read, hear, or watch.
Valerie Hudson Cassler, "Polygamy," Square Two Journal: Volume 3, Number 10, Spring 2010
Kate Holbrook, "Follow Him" podcast, with Hank Smith & John Bytheway, November 6, 2021
Lynne Hilton Wilson, "Hard Questions in Church History, Episode 46b: The Law of Plural Marriage," Doctrine & Covenants Central, October 28, 2021
I have great-grandmothers in my family tree who were second or third wives in polygamous families. Their lives were very difficult, but they still experienced the blessings of the gospel and the joy of the Saints. Their children were great blessings to them and grew to live righteous and faithful lives. These women lived as they believed and were blessed by the Lord for their sacrifices. I honor their lives. I wouldn't trade places with them, however I'm not sure they would trade places with me. Each of us has our own challenges in this life, but one thing is sure: the Lord blesses us as we seek to obey his commandments.
I'm grateful that today the New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage has reverted to the standard of one man and one woman, and I'm grateful for the sealing power of the temple in making those marriages eternal. I recently discovered this darling photograph in my mother-in-law's photo album, depicting my husband (the oldest child) and his family just after they were sealed in the Logan Temple. They lived in Delaware and had to travel over 2,000 miles to the closest temple.
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