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September 26, 2019 5:36 am
I'm prepared to engage Mormon missionaries may knock on your door. Perhaps the book is 101 will help Mormonism 101 published at your favorite Christian bookstore .1 examines the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from a perspective view .1 Mormonism sponsored by Mormonism research ministry since 1979 Mormonism research ministry has been dedicated to equipping the body of Christ with answers regarding the Christian faith in a manner that expresses gentleness and respect. And now, your host for today's viewpoint on Mormonism welcome to this addition to viewpoint on Mormonism. I'm your host, Bill McKeever, founder and director Mormonism research ministry and with me today is Eric Johnson.
My colleague at RM yesterday. We introduce to you an article that was written by a Mormon woman by the name of Rachel Gruner. That's how she pronounces her name it's B are you an ER for mispronouncing that I apologize.
She wrote an article titled what to do when you do not want your spouse for eternity. And as I explained yesterday. This certainly would not be a dilemma that an evangelical would find themselves wondering about, because certainly in our theology because we base our theology on what the New Testament says on and don't like to add to what it doesn't say this idea being married for time and eternity is not something that we would withhold to because the Bible doesn't talk about it and yesterday Eric. We were mentioning the fact that one of the things that frustrates us as people who research Mormonism, and as I mentioned yesterday quite bluntly and I'll say it again today. I think the biggest lie ever perpetrated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Is this notion that it is a restoration of what Christianity look like in the first century or Christianity as Jesus wanted it set up.
We hear this a lot from Latter Day Saints. They would say that our view of Christianity is apostate Y because it does not fall within the parameters set down by Joseph Smith, their latter-day profit. If you believe he was a true prophet, so we would say no it isn't not a restoration of Christianity. It is unique to Mormonism. It's unique in many cases to the ideas of Joseph Smith and those who succeeded him as leaders of the church, but in this particular area as we been talking off air.
This gets so complicated so quickly. It just makes you wonder how in the world, even the Latter Day Saints tries to figure all this out, especially when it involves a couple who was sealed for eternity but then ends up getting a civil divorce. I think that's a great point you're making and just consider if we have Latter Day Saints who are listening who have been through a divorce and maybe that female is thinking that she's done with that man forever, but as were going to be reading here and discussing this, that it really isn't over unless she gets remarried and has her previous marriage canceled if there is a procedure to it that I think is so complicated that probably a lot of Latter Day Saints don't know about this will let's talk about that because yesterday we ended our show with Rachel Brenner saying that it should not be called the temple divorce that when you get your marriage that was originally intended to last throughout eternity and the marriage comes to an end in this mortality. She said you can get it canceled. But it's not a divorce and as I read yesterday. The definition of a divorce is very simple. The action or an instance of legally dissolving the marriage, and since a temple marriage is a marriage and a temple marriage is often for eternity. Why wouldn't it be called a divorce now. I've heard Latter Day Saints referred to it as a temple divorce and as I mentioned yesterday, I was the under the assumption that that wasn't a problem. I've heard Mormon said I vertex Mormon say it. That's how they understood it, but Rachel Brenner is saying it should not be called a temple divorce. What is she going to say after that a cancellation of a temple sealing should not be called a divorce. It is similar in some ways to legal divorce because a prior marriage is an old however the term divorce should not be used. It is misleading and inaccurate when applied to this process. So let me stop you there because I'm thinking through what she's written here and I'm wondering wait a minute you said it is similar in some ways to a legal divorce, but then she says the term divorce should not be used because it's misleading and inaccurate, but yet when we look at the definition of what a divorce is it seems to fall within the guidelines of that definition. So what's the problem here, and as I said yesterday, I think this is a semantical game that is being played on us here.
They don't want to call that but technically it seems to be exactly that and that's probably why so many Latter Day Saints themselves don't have a problem referring to it as a temple divorce. She goes on and writes a temple sealing cancellation occurs after a couple is divorced but not until the woman is ready and worthy to be sealed to a new husband or a man seeks to be sealed to a new wife. Genders are currently treated differently in this process, let's examine what she's just said there a temple sealing cancellation occurs after a couple is divorced but not until the woman is ready and worthy to be sealed to a new husband or a man seeks to be sealed to a new wife. What is that say will it appears to say, and we've checked with personal authority on this that we know and will the way we understand this to read is when a couple who is been sealed for time and eternity go through a civil divorce.
In other words, legally ending that marriage. The woman is still going to be a part of that man's eternity until she goes through the process of having her marriage for eternity canceled and the way this reads she does not do that until she is about to be married to another man so that raises a question what is this individual woman doesn't get married to another man. It sounds like to Maybelle that she is going to be called by the first husband and what if she can't stand that guy. What what if the guy was a abusive person. What if he was just a womanizer. He had affairs and somehow was under the radar and was still able to get sealed to another woman. Someone didn't catch all this and so she's going to spend her eternity with this guy because she never went through this process of getting her marriage for time and eternity canceled. That puts a whole new spin on families are forever and that marriage is continue on. It sounds so romantic. But when you're in a situation like this.
And how many people get themselves into situations where divorce is what takes place and that woman is knocking to be released until she's ready to get married and then she goes and gets a cancel that I think a lot of single latter-day St. women out there who have been married before got divorced may not know this, you and I being evangelicals look at this is a bunch of nonsense but you have a lot of Latter Day Saints to take their faith very seriously. It makes me wonder. There has to be some women out there who went through a horrible divorce and again as I mentioned yesterday, divorce is a horrible thing but there's probably a lot of women out there who are still members of the LDS church who have been divorce civilly but were sealed to another individual for eternity and then remarried and never bothered to go through this cancellation process. Are they aware that in the dictates of their church that they're still going to be sealed to that first husband whether they like it or not, he still has the authority if he's a priesthood holder to call that woman up on resurrection day because that's how it works and Mormonism you get a special name when you go through the temple endowment ceremony that husband is supposed to call his wife up by that temple name so he calls her by that name. She's going to be with that individual for eternity. I have to wonder is that really going to be heaven for her if it wasn't really heaven for her in this lifetime. I doubt it's going to be heaven for her in the next life.
So for eternity. She's gotta be sealed to this individual that she didn't want to be with during mortality. How is that really heaven.
How is that a positive thing in the context of Mormonism and how is it fair what you do with the situation of a widow whose husband dies and leaves her behind, having been married for eternity in the temple and they had children, so they were an eternal family and then later that widow gets married to another man. Now she can get married for time, but you can't get married for eternity. That man who comes in that second husband is not going to be able to see her into eternity's not going to see the children that the first husband had ending any children that they have together are going to be with the first husband. So how is that fair what what you just described was the marriage relationship between Horace Whitney and Helen Moore Kimball who was a plural wife of Joseph Smith, Helen Moore Kimball.
She was the 14-year-old that Joseph Smith married and not long after he marries Helen Moore Kimball. He's killed at Carthage jail. She was sealed for eternity to Joseph Smith. They never had any children.
After Joseph Smith died she marries Horace and they end up having several children together. What you just described is exactly what's going to happen if Mormonism is true, which of course is not, but told his children that Horace had with Helen are going to be Joseph Smith's children in the hereafter. Not Horace is in fact Horace isn't even going to be married to Helen Moore Kimball in the next life he was married polygamist Lee to another woman so probably be with her, but he will not be with Helen Moore Kimball for eternity. So that's exactly what you just described.
Now you see folks how complicated this gets where in the world. We see any such notion in the New Testament, there is nothing like this.
In fact, Jesus made it very clear there is no marriage in the hereafter, but were like the angels are angels married, not even Mormonism are angels married. How do you draw this conclusion you draw the conclusion because it's based on the teachings of a guy like Joseph Smith. It's not found in the New Testament. Therefore we would argue this cannot be a teaching that is been restored was a part of the early Christian church.
I just find it amazing that during that time. After the civil divorce a woman is still kind of hanging. There are still attached to this other individual. For whatever reason they got a divorce obviously didn't think they were compatible but yet she still going to be his wife. Throughout eternity. Assuming I guess if she stays in the Mormon church because if she leaves the Churchill's sake, let's say, should the reason why the divorce took place was because she became a Christian.
Let's say she doesn't qualify to go to the celestial kingdom anyway so you think that would cancel and if she's going to spend eternity with that first husband and let's say he had been remarried to a woman that she abhorred she can have to spend eternity with his other wives. What if he had an affair with that woman.
And then after certain time. The church allowed him to be sealed to that woman. Eventually, yeah, she's good to be a sister wife to that woman that he was having an affair with. You can see folks out just crazy. This gets it sure doesn't sound like heaven to me. Thank you for listening. If you would like more information regarding his research ministry.
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