History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

MARRIAGE AND SEALING.
joined can never be divorced, except by the power of
God. If a man's wife dies and he marries another, and she
dies and he marries a third, believing in resurrection
and a life of purity beyond the grave but repudiating
polygamy, how will he manage with his plural wives
in heaven 1 She who dies unmarried cannot enter into
the full enjoyment of God; but as a man may be baptized
for the dead and so save their souls, so he may be
sealed to a husbandless woman in heaven. There is a
difference between marriage and sealing; the former is
secular, and the latter both secular and celestial, as it
may be either for time or for eternity, in person or
by proxy, and with the living or with the dead. A
woman *may be sealed to one man for time and to
another for eternity, the former being still living. 16
16 Gentile marriage and divorce are not recognized as valid in the Mormon
church. In its early days, the church had no marriage ordinances of its own,
and the requirements, conditions, and ceremonies incident to the rite were
similar to those of the various protestant sects. Nor had it officials legally
qualified to marry, other, perhaps, than a few such men as Sidney Rigdoii,
who, having been duly appointed to preside over churches of other denominations,
were still competent to join in legal marriage. In 1S3G, when the
church was three years old and the Kirtland temple about to be dedicated,
we find Joseph petitioning the court of Medina county, Ohio, for licenses
permitting his elders to perform marriage ceremonies, which authority had
been refused them by the Geauga county court. Mil. Star, xv. 708.
Later, when the church had gained power, the result of more complete
organization, Joseph announced, as its belief respecting marriage, that it
' should be solemnized in a public meeting, or feast, prepared for that purpose,'
and that the celebrant should be 'a presiding high-priest, bishop, elder,
or priest.' But no prohibition was issued against marriage by any other
authority. Neither were church-members forbidden to marry out of the
church, though any so doing would be considered weak in the faith. In the
edition of Doctrine and Covenants, published at S. L. City in 1876, a revelation
of the prophet's purporting to explain 1st Cor., vii. 14, is construed as
forbidding marriages between believers and unbelievers. Ann Eliza Webb,
who was twice married according to Mormon practice, once by Brigham, and
afterward to him, thus describes the ceremonies: After registration, which
'
includes name, age, place of birth, with county, state, or country, we went
'
before Brigham Young, who was waiting for ns,' and who asked, Do you,
Brother James Dee, take Sister Ann Eliza Webb by the right hand, to receive
her unto yourself, to be your lawful and wedded wife, and you to be
her lawful and wedded husband, for time and eternity, with a covenant and
promise on your part that you will fulfil all the laws, rights, and ordinances
pertaining to this holy matrimony, in the new and everlasting covenant, doing
this in the presence of God, angels, and these witnesses, of your own free
will and accord?' 'Yes.' 'Do you, Sister Ann Eliza Webb, take Brother
James Dee by the right hand, and give yourself to him, to be his lawful and
wedded wife, for time and for all eternity, with a covenant and promise on
your part that you will fulfil all the laws, rights, and ordinances pertaining
to this holy matrimony, in the new and everlasting covenant, doing this in
Hist. Utah. 23
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