AN ESSENTIAL
                                     FOR
                                  EXALTATION



                          CELESTIAL PLURAL MARRIAGE
                              ESSENTIAL FOR THE
                                HIGHEST DEGREE
                                    OF THE
                              CELESTIAL KINGDOM


                              Table of Contents


                                  Anne Wilde


                                February 1998

                                   PREFACE

	Ever since plural marriage was introduced in this dispensation by Joseph
Smith, there has been considerable confusion over the terms "Celestial
Marriage," "Patriarchal Marriage," "New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage,"
and "Plural Marriage." In the first few pages of this publication, there are
comments by early leaders showing that these terms were used
interchangeably--until about the mid-1880's. At that time public statements
began to appear explaining that plural marriage was not a requirement for a
celestial marriage after all, and that a monogamous temple marriage was
sufficient--thus laying the groundwork for the Manifesto.

	The main part of this pamphlet, however, is a collection of quotations by
nearly 30 early Saints (arranged alphabetically), all of whom lived plural
marriage themselves and spoke from revelation, inspiration, and/or personal
experience. The wording in most of these references is very explicit--that
indeed celestial plural marriage is essential to obtain the fullness of God's
glory and the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom. Other selections,
though not quite as direct, still add much in helping to arrive at this
conclusion.

	The final pages discuss when celestial plural marriage should be lived so
as to qualify for exaltation.

								--Anne Wilde, author/compiler

                               ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

	The author/compiler expresses sincere gratitude to Ogden Kraut, who
encouraged her to enlarge a much smaller compilation of quotes on this subject
and arrange the information in booklet form. His knowledge and understanding
of the Gospel are invaluable. He and Gurnie Cook were very helpful in
providing some of the references used herein.


                                   CONTENTS

 INTRODUCTION:
	Definition of Terms								1

 COLLECTION OF QUOTES:
	Plural Marriage--Essential for Exaltation					8

 CONCLUSION:
	When Should Plural Marriage Be Lived?					44


                                  * * * * *
                                    * * *
                                      *


                                   SOURCES

Doctrine and Covenants Sections 131 & 132

B. Harvey Allred
George M. Cannon
George Q. Cannon
Abraham Hunsaker
Benjamin F. Johnson
Heber C. Kimball
Laura Pitkin Kimball
Vilate Kimball
Millennial Star articles
Amos Milton Musser
Charles W. Penrose
Orson Pratt
George Reynolds
Byron Sessions
Bathsheba Smith
Eliza R. Snow Smith
Hyrum Smith
Joseph Smith
Joseph F. Smith
Erastus Snow
Lorenzo Snow
Orson Spencer
Annie Clark Tanner
John Taylor
George Teasdale
Wilford Woodruff
Brigham Young
Newell K. Young

A Protest   (to U.S. Congress, 1870)
Petition for Amnesty   (to U.S. President, 1891)


[1]                             INTRODUCTION:
                             Definition of Terms

	To help in understanding the terms used by the early leaders when they
talked about plural marriage, a few representative quotations are included
under the three following subtitles:

Celestial Marriage = Plural Marriage
Patriarchal Marriage = Plural Marriage
New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage = Plural Marriage

	A fourth section will present additional quotes representing the Church's
position today, which started evolving in the mid-1880's, showing that these
terms no longer would be used interchangeably.

Celestial Marriage = Plural Marriage

	Joseph Smith: "The same God that has thus far dictated me and directed me
and strengthened me in this work, gave me this revelation (D & C 132) and
commandment on Celestial and plural marriage, and the same God commanded me to
obey it." (Contributor 5:259)

	Hyrum Smith: "They were talking on the subject of plural marriage. Hyrum
said to Joseph, `If you will write the revelation on celestial marriage, I
will take it and read it to Emma, and I believe I can convince her of its
truth, and you will herafter have peace.'" (DHC 5:32)

	Brigham Young: "Joseph received a revelation on celestial marriage. You
will recollect, brethren and sisters, that it was in July, 1843, that he
received this revelation concerning celestial marriage. * * * The people of
God, therefore, have been commanded to take more wives." (JD 16:166)

[2]	John Taylor: "When Joseph Smith first made known the revelation
concerning plural marriage and of having more wives than one, it made my flesh
crawl; . . . this principle is connected with the Saints alone, and pertains
to eternity as well as time, and is known to us by the appellation of
`celestial marriage.'" (JD 23:64)

	Lorenzo Snow: "Respecting the doctrine of Plural or Celestial marriage *
* * it was revealed to me, and afterwards, in 1843, fully explained to me by
Joseph Smith, the Prophet." (Mill. Star 48:110)

	Joseph F. Smith: ". . . therefore no wicked, unjust or impure person can
enter into the law of celestial or plural marriage without incurring the
displeasure of the Almighty and his own condemnation before the Lord, . . ."
(JD 20:27)

	Millennial Star editorial: "Full well do they [those who are filled with
gloating anticipation] know that the Saints cannot give up plural, or rather
the Celestial Order of Marriage without relinquishing their religion." (Mill.
Star 41:27, Jan. 1879)

Patriarchal Marriage = Plural Marriage

	Brigham Young: ". . . concerning the right of faithful Elders, in taking
to themselves more than one wife. * * * God never introduced the Patriarchal
order of marriage with a view to please man in his carnal desires, nor to
punish females for anything which they had done; but He introduced it for the
express purpose of raising up to His name a royal Priesthood, a peculiar
people." (JD 3:264)

	John Taylor: "Concerning the Patriarchal order of marriage, President
(John) Taylor said: `If we do not embrace that principle soon, the keys will
be turned against us. If we do not keep the same law that our Heavenly Father
has kept, we cannot go with Him.'" (Wilford Woodruff, History of His Life and
Labors, Matthias F. Cowley, p. 542)

[3]	Wilford Woodruff: "Father Abraham obeyed the law of the patriarchal order
of marriage. His wives were sealed to him for time and all eternity, and so
were the wives of all the Patriarchs and Prophets that obeyed that law." (JD
24:244)
	"I [Woodruff] have arrived at a point in the History of my life as the
President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints where I am under
the necessity of calling for the Temporal Salvation of the Church. The United
States Government has taken a stand & passed laws to destroy the Latter day
Saints upon the subject of poligamy (sic) or Patriarchal order of Marriage."
(Jrnl. of Wilford Woodruff, Sept. 25, 1890)

	Orson Spencer: "What that pure and perfect Patriarchal order is, upon
which the welfare of society so much depends, it will be my object to show in
this letter. Here let me say, that the family order which God established with
Abraham and the Patriarchs, was the order observed among celestial beings, in
the celestial world. * * * Abraham was perfectly virtuous and pure, and so
were his wives." (Spencer's Letters, pp. 192, 193; also, he was also the
author of Patriarchal Order; or, Plurality of Wives!)

	Franklin D. Richards: "Apostle F. D. Richards was quite prepared to vote
but would humbly ask that, before the question was put, another word might be
inserted in his remarks for the word `Polygamy.' That was a Gentile word, and
he would rather have another word inserted, say Patriarchal or Celestial
marriage." (S.L. School of the Prophets, Minute Bk., 1883, reprinted by
Pioneer Press, 1992)

New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage = Plural Marriage

	Doc. & Cov.: ". . . inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and
understand wherein I, the Lord, justified [4] my servants Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching the
principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines--
	* * * For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; .
. .
	And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted
for the fulness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fulness thereof must and
shall abide the law [plural marriage], or he shall be damned, saith the Lord
God.
	* * * And as ye have asked concerning adultery, verily, verily, I say
unto you, if a man receiveth a wife in the new and everlasting covenant, and
if she be with another man, and I have not appointed unto her by the holy
anointing, she hath committed adultery and shall be destroyed." (Sec.
132:1,4,6, 41)

	John Taylor: Upwards of forty years ago the Lord revealed to His Church
the principle of celestial marriage. The idea of marrying more wives than one
was as naturally abhorrent to the leading men and women of the church at that
day as it could be to any people. * * * But the command of God was before them
in language which no faithful soul dare disobey. "For, behold, I reveal unto
you a new and an everlasting covenant; . . ." (Sec. 132:4) (Mess. of 1st Pres.
3:32)

	Revelation to John Taylor: "Question: Is the law of Celestial Marriage a
law given to this nation or to the world? Answer: No, in no other sense than
as the Gospel is given, and in accordance with the laws thereof. So far as it
is made known unto them as the gospel is made known unto them and is a part of
the New and Everlasting Covenant. And it is only those who receive the Gospel
that are able to, or capable of, entering into this Covenant. * * *
	This law [plural marriage] is a celestial law and pertains to a Celestial
Kingdom. It is a new and everlasting covenant, and appertains to thrones,
principalities, powers, dominions, and eternal increase in the Celestial
Kingdom of God." (June 25 & 26, 1882)

[5]	Brigham Young: "The revelation commanding the principle of plural
marriage, given by God through Joseph Smith, to the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, in its first paragraph, has the following language: `Behold
I reveal unto you a new and everlasting covenant; . . .'" (Mill. Star 40:227)

	Heber C. Kimball: "For this purpose did He give the revelation on
plurality of wives, as sacred a revelation as was ever given to any people. .
. . Wives are sealed to men by an everlasting covenant that cannot be broken,
if the parties live faithfully before God, and perform with a single eye to
His glory the duties of that sacred contract." (JD 11:210)

	Orson Pratt: "There will be many who will not hearken; there will be the
foolish among the wise, who will not receive the new and everlasting covenant
in its fulness; and they never will attain to their exaltation; . . ." (JD
1:65)

	Erastus Snow: (in talking on the subject of plural marriage) "Therefore,
He reveals unto them a new and everlasting covenant, the holy covenant of
marriage for time and for all eternity, the union of the sexes, the sealing of
wives to husbands and husbands to wives, . . ." (JD 24:161)

These Terms No Longer Equal Plural Marriage

	B. Carmon Hardy in his Solemn Covenant relates the beginning of the
Church's change in their definition of celestial marriage:

     	Soon after the passage of the Edmunds Act in 1882, an article in the
     Deseret News asserted that celestial marriage was not the same as
     plurality. Rather, Mormon authorities began saying that celestial
     marriage involved only a union for eternity and that this was what they
     taught their people. In his attempts to persuade Congress that Utah
     should be granted statehood, Franklin S. Richards insisted not [6] only
     that plural marriage was permissive, but that celestial marriage meant
     nothing more than being sealed to a single partner for eternity. This
     shift, taken as one of several moves designed to lessen hostility toward
     the Saints, would be confirmed after the turn of the century when, again,
     the church labored with its public image. (p. 54)

	And further--

     	There was also a return to the question of what was meant by the
     term "celestial marriage." Attention was earlier given to alteration of
     the phrase, as part of the church's defensive tactics in the 1880's, to
     mean only a marriage that survived death. It may have been sometime
     during the 1890's that wording in the super-script to Section 132 of the
     Doctrine and Covenants was rewritten to more closely reflect this change.
     Then, during the Smoot hearings, authorities declared again that
     "celestial marriage" was not used in Mormon parlance to connote polygamy.
     (Ibid., pp. 297-298)

	George Q. Cannon also tried to "pacify" Church members after this change
in doctrine interpretation:

     	Attempting to salve believers concerning the Manifesto, George Q.
     Cannon once told them that limitations brought by the document would not
     interfere with their exaltation, for God judged men by the intentions of
     their hearts. ("Remarks Made by President George Q. Cannon, . . ." Des.
     News, Nov. 14, 1891)

	Probably the classic quote defending this revised position of the Church
is attributed to James E. Talmage:

     	The Latter-day Saints were long regarded as a polygamous people.
     That plural marriage has been practiced by a limited proportion of the
     people, under sanction of Church ordinance, has never been denied. But
     that plural marriage is a vital tenet of the Church is not true. What the
     Latter-day Saints call Celestial marriage is characteristic of the
     Church, and is in very [7] general practice; but of Celestial marriage,
     plurality of wives was an incident, never an essential. Yet the two have
     often been confused in the popular mind. (The Story of "Mormonism", 10th
     ed., Talmage, p. 101)

	Talmage's position was also supported in the "Official Statement"
published in the Deseret News of June 17, 1933, where President Heber J. Grant
and his counselors stated:

     	Celestial marriage--that is, marriage for time and eternity--and
     polygamous or plural marriage are not synonymous terms. Monogamous
     marriages for time and eternity, solemnized in our temples in accordance
     with the word of the Lord and the laws of the Church, are Celestial
     marriages.

	The Church's change in definition was thus official and complete! But
it's interesting to note that about 30 years later the Deseret News printed a
somewhat contradictory editorial stating:

     	The heaven we hope to achieve is eternal and unchangeable. Therefore
     to bring the same human nature to the same goal, regardless of the time
     in which a person lives, requires the same steps and procedures. For that
     reason the saving principles must ever be the same. They can never
     change. (Church News editorial, June 5, 1965)

	If the Church's official interpretation was that plural marriage was no
longer the same as celestial and patriarchal marriage, and no longer a
requirement for exaltation, wasn't that a change in a "saving principle" of
the Gospel?

	Thus, as the following pages are read, it is important to keep in mind
what the early leaders meant by these terms when they used them in the
nineteenth century.


[8]                         COLLECTION OF QUOTES:
                  Plural Marriage--Essential for Exaltation

DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS

	In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; and in order
to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood
(meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage); and if he does not, he
cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his
kingdom; he cannot have an increase. (Doc. & Cov. 131:1-4)
                                    * * *
	Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as
you have inquired of my hand to know and understand where I, the Lord,
justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David and
Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having
many wives and concubines--
	Behold, and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching
this matter. Therefore, prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions
which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed
unto them must obey the same.
	For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if
ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this
covenant and be permitted to enter my glory.
	For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which
was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were
instituted from before the foundation of the world.
	And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted
for the fulness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fulness thereof must and
shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God. * * *
	Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain
to this glory. (Doc. & Cov. 132:1-6, 21)

[9]
B. HARVEY ALLRED (1870-1937)
(Legislator, High Councilman)

	I was ever anxious to obey every commandment of the Lord, as I had been
taught in my youth that obedience to every commandment was essential to my
salvation, but I was not really sure that all the commandments were meant for
me. I had been taught the sacredness of the principle of plural marriage, but
I had little desire to practice that law because of its attendant trials. It
was openly taught and practiced by the leaders of the Church as one of the
cardinal principles of the Gospel of Christ, without which man could not
receive the highest degree of glory. (History of B. Harvey Allred, p. 45, as
quoted in Voices of Women Approbating Celestial or Plural Marriage, vol. 1,
Rhea A. Kunz, p. 319)

	"Blackfoot Stake Conference convened [mid-1919] with Jos. F. Smith, a
member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Chas. Hart, Pres. of
Seventies, present. At 2 p.m., Stake Priesthood meeting was held. Some very
good and pertinent instructions were given by visiting brethren. Especially
did Apostle Smith emphasize the fact that if people, Saints, expected to be
exalted in the Celestial Glory, they must keep the FULL Celestial law here."
(History of B. Harvey Allred, p. 175)
	This [above paragraph] was Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr., for his father,
the president, had died Nov. 19, 1918, almost six months earlier. By this
statement, we see that there was at least one member of the general
authorities who publicly maintained the necessity for having the plurality of
wives if we expect exaltation. (Ibid., p. 419)


GEORGE M. CANNON (1861-circa 1907)
(son of Angus Cannon, member of General Sun. Sch. Board, first president of
Utah State Senate)

	John [B. Cannon] recalled that his father [George M. Cannon] took him
aside in the library of their home and told him that polygamous living was a
requirement if one [10] wished to enter the highest level of the celestial
kingdom. Unaware at that time that his father already had married two plural
wives after the Manifesto, John later became convinced that, as a friend and
business associate of President [Joseph F.] Smith, his father was counseled to
enter the principle and had been instructed by Smith in the same sentiments
expressed to him on the occasion of that visit in the library. (John Bennion
Cannon, interviewed by Leonard R. Grover, 16 Feb. 1980, p. 9, 11; as quoted in
Solemn Covenant, B. Carmon Hardy, p. 316)


GEORGE Q. CANNON (1827-1901)
(Apostle & First Counselor in three First Presidencies)

	A violent and vicious attack is being made upon the doctrine and practice
of Patriarchal marriage. Those who have practiced this principle are assailed
with a ferocity never before known. Those who make the attack perhaps hope to
drive the people of God to renounce the doctrine and promise not to obey the
revelation. Vain and delusive hope! Unless the Saints apostatize, such an
action on their part is impossible. By doing so, they would deliberately shut
the door of the Celestial glory to their faces. They would say by that action,
"We do not have the valor necessary to sustain us in our striving for the
celestial glory, and we, therefore, are content to enter a terrestrial or
telestial glory." To comply with the request of our enemies would be to give
up all hope of entering into the glory of God, the Father, and Jesus Christ
the Son. This is the price which the Saints are asked to give for the world to
cease their attacks upon them! Is it not a costly bargain which they are asked
to make? To barter off all hope of eternal felicity with wives and children in
the celestial presence of God and the Lamb for the miserable favor of the
world! So intimately interwoven is this precious doctrine with the exaltation
of men and women in the great hereafter that it cannot be given up without
giving up at the same time all hope of immortal glory. (Juvenile Instructor
20:136, May 1, 1885)

[11]
ABRAHAM HUNSAKER (1812-1889)
(First Bishop, Honeyville, Box Elder County, Utah)

	When the law of celestial marriage was first whispered to him, he opposed
it, exclaiming, "It is of the devil!" But God knew his heart and in open day a
messenger from heaven, with three women clothed in white raiment, stood before
him several feet from the ground, and addressed him thus: "You never can
receive a full and complete salvation in My Kingdom unless your garments are
pure and white and you have three counselors like me." Thus he was convinced
and he subsequently married five wives, and he became the father of 50
children. (LDS Biog. Enc., vol. 3, p. 415)


BENJAMIN F. JOHNSON (1818-1905)
(Colonizer, Legislator, Patriarch)

	And as he (Joseph Smith) was again required of the Lord to take more
wives, he came now to ask me (Benjamin Johnson) for my sister Almera. * * *
	He said with a smile, in a soft tone, "But Benjamin, . . . you will know
the principle in time, and will finally rejoice in what it will bring to you."
"But how," I asked, "can I teach my sister what I myself do not understand, or
show her what I do not myself see?" "But you will see and understand it," said
he "and when you open your mouth to talk to your sister, light will come to
you and your mouth will be full and your tongue loose, and I will today preach
a sermon to you that none but you will understand." Both of these promises
were more than fulfilled. The text of his sermon was our use of the "one, five
and ten talents," and as God had now commanded plural marriage, and as
exaltation and dominion depended upon the number of their righteous posterity,
from him who was found but with the one talent, it would be taken and given
him that had ten, which item of doctrine seems to be now differently
construed. ("The Benjamin F. Johnson Letter to Elder George F. Gibbs," 1903,
Pioneer Press reprint, p. 22)

[12]
HEBER C. KIMBALL (1801-1868)
(Apostle and First Counselor to Brigham Young)

	(Sept. 1856) Many of this people have broken their covenants by speaking
evil of one another, by speaking against the servants of God, and by finding
fault with the plurality of wives and trying to sink it out of existence. But
you cannot do that, for God will cut you off and raise up another people that
will carry out His purposes in righteousness, unless you walk up to the line
of your duty. On the one hand there is glory and exaltation; and on the other
no tongue can express the suffering and affliction this people will pass
through if they do not repent. (JD 4:108)

	(Oct. 1856) You might as well deny "Mormonism," and turn away from it, as
to oppose the plurality of wives. Let the Presidency of this Church, and the
Twelve Apostles, and all the authorities unite and say with one voice that
they will oppose that doctrine, and the whole of them would be damned. What
are you opposing it for? It is a principle that God has revealed for the
salvation of the human family. He revealed it to Joseph the Prophet in this
our dispensation; and that which he revealed, he designs to have carried out
by His people. (JD 5:203-204)

	(Feb. 1857) Do you suppose that Joseph and Hyrum and all those good men
would associate with those ancient worthies, if they had not been engaged in
the same practices? They had to do the works of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in
order to be admitted where they are;--they had to be polygamists in order to
be received into their society. (JD 4:224)

	(Jan. 1866) Plurality is a law which God established for his elect before
the world was formed, for a continuation of seeds forever. It would be as easy
for the United States to build a tower to remove the sun, as to remove
polygamy. . . . ( Mill. Star 28:190)

[13]	(April 1866) I speak of plurality of wives as one of the most holy
principles that God ever revealed to man, and all those who exercise an
influence against it, unto whom it is taught, man or woman, will be damned,
and they, and all who will be influenced by them, will suffer the buffetings
of Satan in the flesh; for the curse of God will be upon them, and poverty,
and distress, and vexation of spirit will be their portion; while those who
honor this and every sacred institution of heaven will shine forth as the
stars in the firmament of heaven, and of the increase of their kingdom and
glory there shall be no end. (JD 11:211)

	On occasion, in fact, Heber would harangue the young men to take more
wives. "I wish more of our young men would take themselves wives of the
daughters of Zion," he complained, "and not wait for us old men to take them
all." He did not think that taking even two wives was obeying the celestial
law in full. In his view a righteous man had to have several. (Heber C.
Kimball, Mormon Patriarch and Pioneer, Stanley B. Kimball, p. 237)


LAURA PITKIN KIMBALL (1790-1866)
(Plural wife of Heber C. Kimball)

	Those who have entered into the plurality with honest hearts, are sure of
a great glory. Some years ago he [Heber] said to me that such women were
sanctifying themselves both body and spirit and that the first and greatest
blessings were for them. (Laura Pitkin Kimball Journal, Dec. 16, 1858, Church
Archives; as quoted in Heber C. Kimball, . . . , Stanley B. Kimball, p. 238)


VILATE KIMBALL (1806-1867)
(First wife of Heber C. Kimball)

	While pleading as one would plead for life, the vision of her [Vilate's]
mind was opened, and, as darkness flees before the morning sun, so did her
sorrow and the groveling things of earth vanish away.
[14]	Before her was illustrated the order of celestial marriage, in all its
beauty and glory, together with the great exaltation and honor it would confer
upon her in that immortal and celestial sphere, if she would accept it and
stand in her place by her husband's side. She also saw the woman he had taken
to wife, and contemplated with joy the vast and boundless love and union which
this order would bring about, as well as the increase of her husband's
kingdoms, and the power and glory extending throughout the eternities, worlds
without end. (Life of Heber C. Kimball, Orson F. Whitney, p. 327)


MILLENNIAL STAR  (articles)

	(Apr. 1853) "Nelly and Abby--A Conversation Between Two Cousins":
	Abby--But dear cousin, the great question is this--will we unite with the
plurality Order of Ancient Patriarchs, or will we consent voluntarily to be
doomed to eternal celibacy? This is the true division of the question. One or
the other we must choose. We cannot be married to our husbands for eternity,
without subscribing to the law that admits a plurality of wives. * * *
	Nelly--Do you mean to say that a female cannot have any husband for the
next world or for all the eternities to come, unless she is agreeable to the
same law of marriage by which Sarah and Rachel were governed?
	Abby--Yes, cousin, I understand it in this light. * * * The order of
plurality of wives is an everlasting and ceaseless order, designed to exalt
the choicest men and women to the most superlative excellence, dominion, and
glory. (Mill. Star 15:226)

	(Jan. 1854) It is important that emphasis be given to the equation made
by Mormon writers between patriarchal home life and heavenly government. "The
grand design of God in bringing the spirits of men and women to occupy bodies
upon this earth," said Orson Spencer, "was to establish a system of [15]
perfect Patriarchal government, according to the pattern of the family of
Heaven." One writer referred to the 1852 announcement concerning polygamy as
"the doctrine of Celestial Family Organization" now "made plain to the
Saints." (last sentence is from "The New Year", Mill. Star, 16:1, quoted in
Solemn Covenant, B. Carmon Hardy, p. 98)

	(Oct. 1865) The doctrine of polygamy with the "Mormons" is not one of the
kind that in the religious world is classed with "non-essentials." It is not
an item of doctrine that can be yielded, and faith in the system remain. * * *
The whole question, therefore, narrows itself to this in the "Mormon" mind.
Polygamy was revealed by God, or the entire fabric of their faith is false. To
ask them to give up such an item of belief, is to ask them to relinquish the
whole, to acknowledge their Priesthood a lie, their ordinances a deception,
and all they have toiled for, lived for, bled for, prayed for, or hoped for, a
miserable failure and a waste of life. * * * inasmuch as polygamy is, in
"Mormon" belief, the basis of the condition of a future life, it [Congress]
asks them to give up their hopes of salvation hereafter. (Mill. Star, 27:
673-674)


AMOS MILTON MUSSER (1830-1909)
(Asst. Church Historian)

	If the "Mormons" were ever so unwilling to become polygamists, they have
no choice in the matter. God has commanded and they must obey. If there was
not a single word or example to be found in the Bible in its favor, still they
must observe its practice. It is in no sense optional with them. It is as much
an integral part of their faith as baptism for the remission of sins, or the
laying on of hands for the bestowal of the Holy Ghost.
	It holds precisely the same relations to the Gospel plan of salvation,
redemption, and exaltation (which of a verity we know to be true, and for the
testimony which hundreds of our people have laid down their lives) as the arms
[16] and legs sustain to the human body; and with us it is absolutely as
necessary to the eternal happiness and behoof of the Latter-day Saints, as the
union of the head and trunk of the body is necessary to the perpetuity of
mortal life. (Mill. Star 39:407, Apr. 1877)


CHARLES W. PENROSE (1832-1925)
(Asst. Church Historian, Apostle, Second Coun. in First Pres.)

	(Speaking to the Saints in Centerville) He [Penrose] showed that the
revelation that had been the subject of attention (Section 132) was only one
published on Celestial Marriage, and if the doctrine of plural marriage was
repudiated, so must be the glorious principle of marriage for eternity, the
two being indissolubly interwoven with each other. (Mill. Star 45:454) 


ORSON PRATT (1811-1881)
(Valiant missionary, Author, Apostle)

	(Aug. 1852) I think, if I am not mistaken, that the Constitution gives
the privilege to all the inhabitants of this country, of the free exercise of
their religious notions, and the freedom of their faith, and the practice of
it. Then, if it can be proven to a demonstration, that the Latter-day Saints
have actually embraced, as a part and portion of their religion, the doctrine
of a plurality of wives, it is constitutional. And should there ever be laws
enacted by this government to restrict them from the free exercise of this
part of their religion, such laws must be unconstitutional.
	But, says the objector, we cannot see how this doctrine can be embraced
as a matter of religion and faith; we can hardly conceive how it can be
embraced only as a kind of domestic concern, something that pertains to
domestic pleasures, in no way connected with religion. In reply we will show
you that it is incorporated as a part of our religion, and necessary for our
exaltation to the fulness of the Lord's glory in the eternal world. * * *
[17]	There will be many who will not hearken; there will be the foolish among
the wise, who will not receive the new and everlasting covenant in its
fulness; and they never will attain to their exaltation; they never will be
counted worthy to hold the sceptre of power over a numerous progeny, that
shall multiply themselves without end, like the sand upon the seashore. (JD
1:54, 65)

	From the foregoing revelation [on plural marriage], given through Joseph,
the Seer, it will be seen that God has actually commanded some of His servants
to take more wives, and has pointed out certain duties in regard to the
marriage ceremony, showing that they must be married for time and for all
eternity, and showing the advantages to be derived in a future state by this
eternal union, and showing, still further, that if they refused to obey this
command, after having the law revealed to them, they should be damned. This
revelation, then, makes it a matter of conscience among all the Latter-Day
Saints; and they embrace it as a part and portion of their religion, and
verily believe that they cannot be saved and reject it. (The Seer, Orson
Pratt, p. 13)

	(Oct. 1874) I did hope there was more intelligence among the Latter-day
Saints, and a greater understanding of principle than to suppose that anyone
can be a member of this Church in good standing, and yet reject polygamy. The
Lord has said, that those who reject this principle, reject their salvation,
they shall be damned, saith the Lord; those to whom I reveal this law and they
do not receive it, shall be damned.    * * *
	I want to prophesy that all men and women who oppose the revelation which
God has given in relation to polygamy will find themselves in darkness; the
Spirit of God will withdraw from them from the very moment of their opposition
to that principle, until they will finally go down to hell and be damned, if
they do not repent. (JD 17:224-225)

[18]	(Oct. 1874) By and by they [Jesus and His 12 Apostles] will build a
polygamous city, and it will have twelve gates, and in order to place as much
honor upon these gates as possible, they will name them after the twelve
polygamist children that were born to the four polygamous wives of Jacob; and
these good old polygamists will be assembled together in this beautiful city,
the most beautiful that ever had place on the earth.
	By and by some Christian will come along, and he will look at these gates
and admire their beauty, for each gate is to be constructed of one immense
splendid pearl. The gates are closed fast and very high, and while admiring
their beauty he observes the inscriptions upon them. Being a Christian he of
course expects to enter, but looking at the gates, he finds the name of Reuben
inscribed on one of them. Says he, "Reuben was a polygamous child; I will go
on to the next, and see if there is the name of a monogamous child anywhere."
He accordingly visits all the twelve gates, three on each side of the city,
and finds inscribed on each gate the name of a polygamous child, and this
because it is the greatest honor that could be conferred on their father
Jacob, who is in their midst, for he is to sit down with all the honest and
upright in heart who come from all nations to partake of the blessings of that
kingdom.
	"But," says this Christian, "I really do not like this; I see this is a
polygamous city. I wonder if there is not some other place for me! I do not
like the company of polygamists. They were hated very badly back yonder.
Congress hated them, the cabinet hated them, the Priests hated them, and
everybody hated them, and I engendered the same hatred, and I have not got rid
of it yet. I wonder if there is not some other place for me?" Oh yes, there is
another place for you. Without the gates of the city there are dogs,
sorcerers, whoremongers, adulterers and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. Now
take your choice, Amen. (JD 17:228-229)

[19]
GEORGE REYNOLDS (1842-1909)
(One of First Seven Presidents of Seventy, personal secretary to five Church
Presidents)

	(Statement by Reynolds' defense attorney in court, 1875:) They [the
Mormons] believe it [polygamy] to be a divine institution, and they will be
indebted for their highest happiness in another life to their fidelity and
obedience to it in this; that this defendant [George Reynolds] holds their
faith ... and [is] a sincere believer in the verity of said revelation [about
plural marriage], and that it was his solemn duty to obey it. . . . They [the
Mormons] are willing to bear [pains and penalties of the law] rather than lose
the high estate in another life to be gained by celestial marriage. (Salt Lake
Tribune, 2 April 1875, p. 4; quoted in The Life of George Reynolds, Prisoner
for Conscience' Sake, Bruce Van Orden, p. 70)


BYRON SESSIONS (1851-1928)
(President of Bighorn Stake)

	In the early part of this century, the Mormon Church colonized the
Bighorn Basin in Northern Wyoming. Byron Sessions was the Stake President and
leader of this project under Apostle Owen Woodruff. Soon after my father's
death there, President Sessions called my father's family together and gave
them valuable advice and instructions. In his talk, he explained the
importance and necessity of obedience to the law of plural marriage. Members
of the family who were present at this meeting consisted of my father's two
wives and about twelve of his twenty children. We were placed under a pledge
of secrecy, and the family honored this pledge while President Sessions was
still living. As he is now dead and beyond the power of his enemies, I am
relating in this letter, a part of this talk.
	He said that he had had a dream in which he and his wife were taken
beyond the veil. A messenger, or guide, met them there and gave them a view of
the marvelous workings and [20] conditions that prevail in the place of
departed and righteous spirits. They finally came to a stairway that led to
the upper story of a large building. A guard was standing here, and this is
what he said: "This is as far as you can go as man and wife; you can go in
separately, but your status as man and wife ends at this place."
	Brother Sessions asked why this was the case, as they had been sealed in
the temple, and fully expected to remain together through eternity. The guide
said, "You have not obeyed all the conditions of the law by which men and
women are sealed for eternity. Because of this, your union must cease at
death, and you will not be allowed to proceed further as man and wife."
	He began to weep, and was weeping when he awoke. His wife, who was lying
beside him was also crying, and he said, "Ida, what is the matter?" She
answered, "I have just had a dream and I am glad it was only a dream." Their
dreams were identical.
	(Note: Byron Session later took another wife; he also was set apart in
his stake to keep plural marriage alive.)
	(Taken from the pamphlet, "An Open Letter to All Latter-day Saints on
Plural Marriage," from Price Johnson, pp. 15-16)


BATHSHEBA SMITH (1822-1910)
(A wife of George A. Smith and 4th General Pres. of Relief Soc.)

	Yes, sir, President Woodruff, President Young, and President John Taylor,
taught me and all the rest of the ladies here in Salt Lake that a man in order
to be exalted in the Celestial Kingdom must have more than one wife, that
having more than one wife was a means of exaltation. (Temple Lot Case, see pp.
359-363; quoted in Most Holy Principle, Gems Publishing, 3:257)


ELIZA R. SNOW SMITH (1804-1887)
(A wife of Joseph Smith and 2nd General Pres. of Relief Soc.)

	Eliza said that she had rejected other suitors without knowing why, but
later was thankful because marriage to any [21] of them would have prevented
her from receiving the fullness of the gospel. She wrote:
	"In Nauvoo I first understood that the practice of plurality was to be
introduced into the church. The subject was very repugnant to my feelings--so
directly was it in opposition to my educated prepossessions. . . . But when I
reflected that I was living in the Dispensation of the fulness of times,
embracing all other Dispensations, surely Plural Marriage must necessarily be
included. . . . I increased in knowledge concerning the principle and . . .
today esteem it a precious, sacred principle--necessary in the elevation and
salvation of the human family--in redeeming women from the curse, and the
world from corruptions." ("Sketch of My Life," MS, P-F, see pp. 12-14,
Bancroft Library, Berkeley. These pages were omitted from Eliza's sketch as
published in The Relief Society Magazine 31 [March-October 1944.] Recorded in
Joseph Smith, First Mormon, Donna Hill, pp. 351-352)


HYRUM SMITH (1800-1844)
(Second Counselor to Joseph Smith, Church Patriarch)

	Brother Hyrum was called upon to read the revelation {Sec. 132]. He did
so, and after the reading said, "Now you that believe this revelation and go
forth and obey the same, shall be saved, and you that reject it shall be
damned." (Hist. Record 6:227, by Thomas Grover, 1843)


JOSEPH SMITH (1805-1844)
(First Prophet, Seer, and Revelator of the Church)

	(Quoted by William Clayton) From him [Joseph Smith] I learned that the
doctrine of plural and celestial marriage is the most holy and important
doctrine ever revealed to man on the earth and that without obedience to that
principle, no man can ever attain to the fulness of exaltation in celestial
glory. (Historical Record 6:226)

[22]	(Quoted by Samuel Woolley) It was there (at my house in Nauvoo), one
afternoon when the Prophet and Patriarch Hyrum Smith called in, and the latter
read a revelation on eternal marriage and plurality of wives, told me . . .
that that revelation was of God and that no man could or would receive a
fulness of the Celestial Glory and eternal life except he obeyed that law and
had more than one living wife at the same time. (Historical Record 6:231-232,
1843)

	(Quoted by Wilford Woodruff) The Saints may be divided, broken up and
scattered before we accomplish the work now in view. There are so many fools
in the world for the devil to act upon that it oftimes gives him the
advantage. Any person who is exalted to the highest mansion must abide the
celestial law and the whole law, too, but there has been much difficulty in
getting understanding into the hearts of this generation. Even the Saints are
slow to understand. How many will be able to abide the celestial law, endure
the trials, and receive their exaltation I am unable to say. "Many are called,
but few are chosen." (Wilford Woodruff, History of His Life and Labors,
Matthias F. Cowley, p. 198)

	If a man gets a fullness of the priesthood of God, he has to get it in
the same way that Jesus Christ obtained it, and that was by keeping all the
commandments and obeying all the ordinances of the house of the Lord. (DHC
5:424)

	Joseph urged his closest friends in the church to follow his example at
once. According to William Law, he said the Saints were ready for strong meat,
not just milk any more. He told John Taylor that the church could not go on
until polygamy was established, and without it the highest glory could not be
attained in heaven. Very soon polygamy became a test of his followers' loyalty
and willingness to live by every word that issued from the mouth of [23] the
Lord, through His prophet. (Joseph Smith, First Mormon, Donna Hill, p. 345)

	They accuse me of polygamy, and of being a false Prophet, and many other
things which I do not now remember; but I am no false Prophet: I am no
imposter; I have had no dark revelations; I have had no revelations from the
devil; I made no revelations; I have got nothing up of myself. The same God
that has thus far dictated me and directed me and strengthened me in this
work, gave me this revelation and commandment on celestial and plural marriage
and the same God commanded me to obey it. He said to me that unless I accepted
it and introduced it, and practiced it, I, together with my people, would be
damned and cut off from this time henceforth. And they say if I do so, they
will kill me. O, what shall I do? If I do not practice it, I shall be damned
with my people. If I do teach it, and practice it, and urge it, they say they
will kill me, and I know they will. But we have got to observe it. It is an
eternal principle and was given by way of commandment and not by way of
instruction. (Contributor. 5:259)


JOSEPH F. SMITH (1838-1918)
(Sixth President of the Church)

	(July 1878) There is a great deal said about our plural marriage by the
outside world, and sometimes it is referred to by the Latter-day Saints at
home. I fancy sometimes that not only is the world without knowledge in
relation to this principle, but many of those who profess to be Latter-day
Saints are far from possessing a correct understanding of it.
	In the first place, it is a principle that savors of life unto life, or
of death unto death; therefore it is well for those who have embraced the
Gospel to obtain a knowledge in relation to this matter. It is a principle
that pertains to eternal life, in other words, to endless lives, or eternal
increase. It is a law of the Gospel pertaining to the celestial kingdom,
applicable to all gospel dispensations, . . .
[24]	Some people have supposed that the doctrine of plural marriage was a sort
of superfluity, or non-essential to the salvation or exaltation of mankind. In
other words, some of the Saints have said, and believe, that a man with one
wife, sealed to him by the authority of the Priesthood for time and eternity,
will receive an exaltation as great and glorious, if he is faithful, as he
possibly could with more than one. I want here to enter my solemn protest
against this idea, for I know it is false. There is no blessing promised
except upon conditions, and no blessing can be obtained by mankind except by
faithful compliance with the conditions, or law, upon which the same is
promised. The marriage of one woman to a man for time and eternity by the
sealing power, according to the law of God, is a fulfillment of the celestial
law of marriage IN PART--and is good so far as it goes--and so far as a man
abides these conditions of the law, he will receive his reward therefor; and
this reward, or blessing, he could not obtain on any other grounds or
conditions. But this is only the beginning of the law, not the whole of it.
Therefore, whoever has imagined that he could obtain the fullness of the
blessings pertaining to this celestial law, by complying with only a portion
of its conditions, has deceived himself. He cannot do it. * * *
	Man may receive great reward, exaltation and glory by entering into the
bond of the new and everlasting covenant, if he continue faithful according to
his knowledge, but he cannot receive the fullness of the blessings unless he
fulfills the law, any more than he can claim the gift of the Holy Ghost after
he is baptized without the laying on of hands by the proper authority, or the
remission of sins without baptism, though he may repent in sack-cloth and
ashes.
	"But," says one, "how will it be with good men who believe the doctrine,
but are prevented, or cannot enter into the practice of it?" I reply that
every man and woman will receive all that they are worthy of, and something
thrown in perhaps, on the score of the boundless charity of God. But [25] who
can justly expect to obtain more than they merit? * * *
	It is a glorious privilege to be permitted to go into a Temple of God to
be united as man and wife in the bonds of holy wedlock for time and all
eternity by the Authority of the Holy Priesthood, which is the power of God,
for they who are thus joined together "no man can put asunder," for God hath
joined them. It is an additional privilege for that same man and wife to
re-enter the Temple of God to receive another wife in like manner if they are
worthy. But if he remain faithful with only the one wife, observing the
conditions of so much of the law as pertains to the eternity of the marriage
covenant, he will receive his reward, but the benefits, blessings and power
appertaining to the second or more faithful and fuller observance of the law,
he never will receive, for he cannot. As before stated no man can obtain the
benefits of one law by the observance of another, however faithful he may be
in that which he does, nor can he secure to himself the fullness of any
blessing without he fulfills the law upon which it is predicated, but he will
receive the benefit of the law he obeys. This is just and righteous. If this
is not correct doctrine, then I am in error; and if I am in error, I want to
be corrected.
	I understand the law of celestial marriage to mean that every man in this
Church, who has the ability to obey and practice it in righteousness and will
not, shall be damned. I say I understand it to mean this and nothing less, and
I testify in the name of Jesus that it does mean that. But what will become of
him that cannot abide it? Says the Lord, "Whoso having knowledge have I not
commanded to repent, and he that hath not understanding, it remaineth with me
to do according as it is written." In other words, he that is without
understanding is not under the law, and it remains for God to deal with him
according to his own wisdom. If a man acknowledges that he is incapable, or
disqualified by a lack of knowledge, wisdom or understanding to obey this law,
then it remains with God to deal with him according to those principles of
justice which are written, or are yet to be [26] revealed. It is not likely
however, that he will take his seat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or share
in their promised blessings.
	This law is in force upon the inhabitants of Zion, and he that is
qualified to obey it cannot neglect or disregard it with impunity. But it must
be observed in righteousness. (JD 20:26, 28, 30, 31; refer to the entire
discourse, pp. 24-31.)

	(Dec. 1879; Discourse given at William Clayton's funeral) And as he
[William Clayton] has here stated, as having come from the mouth of the
Prophet, this doctrine of eternal union of husband and wife, and of plural
marriage, is one of the most important doctrines ever revealed to man in any
age of the world. Without it man would come to a full stop; without it we
never could be exalted to associate with and become gods, neither could we
attain to the power of eternal increase, or the blessings pronounced upon
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the fathers of the faithful.
	There are but few witnesses now living in relation to the coming forth of
this revelation. * * * few, if any of them, were so closely identified with
him [Joseph Smith] in this matter as Bro. Clayton.
	There are, however, enough witnesses to these principles to establish
them upon the earth in such a manner that they never can be forgotten or
stamped out. For they will live; they are destined to live, and also to grow
and spread abroad upon the face of the earth, to be received and accepted and
adopted by all the virtuous, by all the pure in heart, by all who love the
truth, and seek to serve Him and keep His commandments; they are bound to
prevail, because they are true principles. (JD 21:10)

	Instruction by church authorities went beyond an acceptance of only the
doctrine of plural marriage. Men were told they must actually engage in the
practice. Only those willing to make the sacrifices involved in such a
life-style, Joseph F. Smith said, were worthy of the highest glory. [27]
(Funeral Services of Elizabeth A. Whitney, Des. News, Feb. 17, 1882; as quoted
in Solemn Covenant, Hardy, p. 51)


ERASTUS SNOW (1818-1888)
(Pioneer Settler of So. Utah, Apostle)

	(June 1883) Therefore, He reveals unto them a new and everlasting
covenant, the holy covenant of marriage for time and for all eternity, the
union of the sexes, the sealing of wives to husbands and husbands to wives, .
. .
	This new and everlasting covenant reveals unto us the keys of the Holy
Priesthood and ordinances thereof. It is the grand keystone of the arch which
the Lord is building in the earth. In other words, it is that which completes
the exaltation and glory of the righteous who receive the everlasting Gospel,
and without it they could not attain unto the eternal power and Godhead and
the fullness of celestial glory. Now, many may enter into the glory of God,
and become servants in the house of God and in the celestial kingdom of God,
who are not able to abide this new and everlasting covenant; but as we are
told in the Doctrine and Covenants, with them there is an end to their
exaltation. They may remain in their saved condition without exaltation, but
they enter not into the order of the Gods. They cannot progress through the
ceaseless rounds of eternity except they abide in the covenant, and abide the
law that governs it, and the Lord will not be mocked in these things. * * *
	[And to show that he is referring to plural marriage, he continues on the
following page with--] There are some whom Satan would stir to disobedience
and try to make an impression upon their minds that the system of plural
marriage, and those things that pertain to the sealing of men and women for
time and for eternity, and the revelation which has been read in our hearing,
given through the Prophet Joseph pertaining to this subject--that it was the
work of man and not the work of God. (JD 24:161, 162)


[28]
LORENZO SNOW (1814-1901)
(Fifth President of the Church)

	(written while in state prison, 1886:) Strange but true: Eternal
Priesthood Marriage MUST include "Plurality of wives"; . . .

	In private talk one evening with
	Our Seer and Prophet, Joseph Smith,
	Before he shared the martyr's fate,
	To me in solemn words did state:
	To him an angel did appear,
	Saying in language clear,
	I hereby come for thee to warn;
	While in his hand a sword was drawn;
	To take thee wives, this Law obey
	Or God in anger will thee slay.

	`Twas eighteen hundred forty-three,
	This sacred Law was shown to me;
	Which gives to men his loving wives, God's only path to endless Lives!"
	("Plurality of Wives", L. Snow; reprinted by Rhea A. [Baird] Kunz)


ORSON SPENCER (1802-1855)
(British Mission President, Univ. Chancellor, Author)

	When God sets up any portion of His kingdom upon the earth, it is
patterned after His own order in the heavens. When He gives to a man a pattern
of family organization on the earth, that pattern will be just like his own
family organization in the heavens. The family of Abraham was a transcript of
a celestial pattern. * * * This family order of Abraham was spread out before
God, and met with His entire and full approbation. And why did God approve of
it? Because it is the only order practiced in the celestial heavens, and the
only peaceful, united, and prosperous order that will endure, while
man-invented orders and devices (monogamy, [29] free love, etc.) will utterly
deceive and perish with the using. (Letters Exhibiting the Most Prominent
Doctrines... [more commonly called Spencer's Letters], Orson Spencer, pp.
192-193)

	The family order which God established with Abraham and the patriarchs
[plural marriage] was the order observed among celestial beings, in the
celestial world. ("Patriarchal Order; or, Plurality of Wives!", Orson Spencer,
pp. 1-2; quoted in Solemn Covenant, B. Carmon Hardy, p. 97)


ANNIE CLARK TANNER (1864-1941)
(Second wife of Mormon educator, Joseph M. Tanner, and mother of O. C. Tanner)

	The principle of Celestial Marriage was considered the capstone of the
Mormon religion. Only by practicing it could the highest exaltation in the
Celestial Kingdom of God be obtained. According to the founders of the Mormon
Church, the great purpose of this life is to prepare for the Celestial Kingdom
in the world to come. The tremendous efforts and sacrifices of the Mormon
people can be understood only if one keeps in mind this basic otherworld
philosophy. (A Mormon Mother: An Autobiography, Annie Clark Tanner, p. 1)

	However, women in polygamy were converted to the idea of the superiority
of men. All men in the Mormon Church held the Priesthood which was not
conferred on women. This fact always bothered me a little, and I discussed it
with Aunt Zina [Huntington] Young, one of President Young's wives. She settled
the question by saying, "I am proud to follow an Adam into the Celestial
Kingdom." * * *
	It was taught at that time that the second wife opened the door of
salvation in the Celestial Kingdom not only for herself, but for her husband
and his first wife. (Ibid., p. 62)


[30]
JOHN TAYLOR (1808-1887)
(Third President of the Church)

	(Quoting Wilford Woodruff, concerning the Patriarchal Order of Marriage,
President Taylor said:) If we do not embrace that principle [of plural
marriage] soon, the keys will be turned against us. If we do not keep the same
law that our Heavenly Father has kept, we cannot go with Him. (Wilford
Woodruff, . . . , Matthias Cowley, p. 542)

	(Oct. 1884) We have also been told that "it is not mete that men who will
not abide my law [plural marriage] shall preside over my Priesthood"
[referring to his 1882 revelation], and yet some people would like very much
to do it. Well, they cannot do it; because if we are here, as I said before,
to do the will of our Father who sent us, and He has told us what to do, we
will do it, in the name of Israel's God--and all who sanction it say Amen [the
vast congregation responded with a loud "Amen"], and those that don't may say
what they please. [laughter] If God has introduced something for our glory and
exaltation, we are not going to have that kicked over by any improper
influence, either inside or outside of the Church of the living God. We will
stand by the principles of eternal truth; living we will proclaim them, and
dying we will be true to them, and after death will live again in their
enjoyment in the eternal worlds. (JD 25:309-310)

	Damnation was the awful penalty affixed to a refusal to obey this law
[celestial marriage]. It became an acknowledged doctrine of the Church; it was
indissolubly interwoven in the minds of its members with their hopes of
eternal salvation and exaltation in the presence of God. * * * At great
sacrifice they had obeyed it, and based their hopes of eternal felicity upon
the promises which the revelation contained. * * * It never entered into their
minds to suppose for a moment that man had a right, after God had given a law
to His Church for its salvation and exaltation, to enact a counter law
forbid-ding, under severe penalties, man's obedience to God's law. [31]
("Epistle from the First Presidency," 1885, Mess. of 1st Pres., 3:33)

	That our country is governed by law we all admit; but when it is said
that "no assumed revelation justifies any one in trampling on the law," I
should respectfully ask, What! not if it interferes with my religious faith,
which you state "is a matter between God and myself alone?" Allow me, sir,
here to state that the assumed revelation referred to [on plural marriage] is
one of the most vital parts of our religious faith; it emanated from God and
cannot be legislated away; it is part of the "Everlasting Covenant" which God
has given to man. Our marriages are solemnized by proper authority; a woman is
sealed in heaven." With us it is "Celestial Marriage;" take this from us and
you rob us of our hopes and associations in the resurrection of the just.
("John Taylor's Reply to Vice President Colfax's Speech against Plural
Marriage," American House, Boston, MA, Oct. 20, 1869, Deseret News pamphlet)

	But the world are ignorant in regard to a great many other things. They
do not know anything even about marriage nor the object of it. What do they
know about eternal union? Nothing. Is there any man living outside of this
Church who will have a claim upon his wife on the other side of the veil? No.
Why? Because in all their marriages, no matter by what church or denomination
they are celebrated, the ceremony distinctly states, "until death do you
part." * * *
	God has revealed, through His servant Joseph Smith, something more. He
has told us about our associations hereafter. He has told us about our wives
and our children being sealed to us, that we might have a claim on them in
eternity. He has revealed unto us the law of celestial marriage, associated
with which is the principle of plural marriage. I will speak a little upon
this subject. It is very seldom that I refer to it, but there is need for it
occasionally. I speak of it as that law given to us of God. I do not know, but
I have been informed that there are those who seem [32] to be opposed to this
law in one or two places where we have been traveling. Now, I dare not oppose
anything of the kind. I dare not violate any law of God. And I will tell you
what Joseph Smith said upon the subject. He presented this principle to the
Twelve, and called upon them to obey it, and said if they did not, the kingdom
of God could not go one step further. Why could it not go one step further?
Because we had a religion to live by, but none that placed our associations
upon eternal principles or gave us a claim upon each other in the family
relations in the eternal worlds. But through this principle we could be sealed
to one another through time and eternity; we could prepare ourselves for an
exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom of God. It is one of the greatest
blessings that ever was conferred upon the human family. It is an eternal law
which has always existed in other worlds as well as in this world. (JD 24:229)

	The following is the text of a letter written to an LDS sister by
President John Taylor, January 19, 1883, answering her inquiry as to what
constitutes the fulness of the Celestial marriage order:

Dear Sister--
	In regard to the question which you have proposed pertaining to Plurality
of wives, you say, "According to my way of understanding the Revelation, I
thought it was sealing, but some say it is Plurality." Permit me to say that
it is both; you will find that the revelation is on the eternity of the
Marriage Covenant, including plurality of wives, and the first paragraph
reads, "Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph, that inasmuch
as you have inquired of my hand, to know and understand wherein I, the Lord,
justified my servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; as also Moses, David and
Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having
many wives and concubines." [D & C. 132:1] The question that was asked was
evidently in relation to those people, and especially in relation to the
Plurality of wives. In the 4th verse it is said, "For behold, I reveal unto
you a New and an Everlasting Covenant; and if ye abide not that [33] covenant,
then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant, and be permitted to
enter into my glory. For all who will have a blessing at my hands, shall abide
the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as
were instituted from before the foundation of the world. And as pertaining to
the New and Everlasting Covenant, it was instituted for the fulness of my
glory; and he that receiveth a fulness thereof, must and shall abide the law,
or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God." [D & C 132:4-6]
	You ask, "If a man and woman go to the house of the Lord and get their
endowments and are sealed for time and all eternity, and they two live
together quietly and peaceably and teach their children the principles of life
and salvation, and bring them up in the fear of the Lord, will they gain an
exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom, with a continuation of their seed or not?
I have been sealed to my husband, and my patriarchal blessing says, `I shall
raise children in the Millennium,' and I would like to live so as to gain that
blessing. I hear men say that one cannot gain an exaltation and a continuation
of their seed in the eternal world unless they take more wives than one, and I
am anxious to understand it."
	In fulfilling this, you have entered so far into the everlasting
covenant, which is so far acceptable before the Lord, but in regard to the
law, it is further said, (verse 32) "Go ye, therefore, and do the works of
Abraham; enter ye into my law. . . ." The question is, what is the law? The
34th verse says, "God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to
wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law, and from Hagar sprang
many people. this, therefore, was fulfilling, among other things, the
promises." In the 37th verse it is said, "Abraham received concubines, and
they bear him children, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness,
because they were given unto him, and he abode in my law, as Isaac also, and
Jacob did none other things than that which they were commanded. . . ."
[34]	"David also received many wives and concubines, as also Solomon and Moses
my servants, as also many others of my servants, from the beginning of
creation until this time; and in nothing did they sin save in those things
which they received not of me." (38th verse)
	You seem desirous to take part of the law and reject the other part, but
it is plainly stated as above quoted, that they were "to do the works of
Abraham, and that if ye enter not into my law, ye cannot receive the promise
of my Father which was made unto Abraham." It is further said, "God commanded
Abraham and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife, and that the reason why she
did it was because it was the law." It is evident, therefore, from the whole
of the above that other wives are included in this law as well as the one.
	You further inquire: "What is the difference in a man having dead wives
sealed to him, than living women, so that he has one living wife; will they
gain as great an exaltation if they have dead women sealed to them as they
would if they had living women sealed to them?" This law pertains more
particularly to the living, and on this point I refer you to verse 52 wherein
it is said: "And let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that have
been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before me;
and those who are not pure, and have said they were pure, shall be destroyed,
saith the Lord God." And in the 64th verse: "And again, verily, verily, I say
unto you, if any man have a wife, who holds the keys of this power, and he
teaches unto her the law of my Priesthood, as pertaining to these things, then
shall she believe, and administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith
the Lord your God, for I will destroy her; for I will magnify my name upon all
those who receive and abide in my law." This is the law of Sarah, "who
administered unto Abraham according to the law, when I commanded Abraham to
take Hagar to wife."
	You seem to be desirous of having dead women sealed to your husband
instead of living ones, [35] whereas the law pertaining to these matters does
not put things in that shape. We read that the Lord commanded and Sarah gave
Hagar to Abraham to wife, and it is for wives as well as husbands to perform
their part in relation to these matters as explicitly stated in verse 64
wherein it is said: "If he teaches unto her the law of my Priesthood as
pertaining to these things, then shall she believe and administer unto him, or
she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your God." Circumstances do not always
place it in the power of man to enter into this Covenant and these matters are
left with the Lord to adjust, but no man or woman has authority to point out
any other way than that which the Lord has appointed.
	Respectfully your Brother in the Gospel, John Taylor.
	(Taken from Celestial or Plural Marriage: The Mormon Marriage System,
Joseph Musser, pp. 52-53)

	Revelation of June 25-26, 1882 (excerpt), given to John Taylor:
	"This law [plural marriage] is a celestial law and pertains to a
Celestial Kingdom. It is a new and everlasting covenant, and appertains to
thrones, principalities, powers, dominions, and eternal increase in the
Celestial Kingdom of God.
	You are not now sent to proclaim this principle to the United States, nor
the world; nor to urge it upon them. It is not for them as a nation, or
nations, only as many as accept the law of my Gospel and are governed
thereby." (Revelations 1880-1890, Pioneer Press, p. 22)

	Revelation of October 13, 1882 (excerpt), given to John Taylor:
	"You may appoint Seymour B. Young to fill up the vacancy in the presiding
quorum of Seventies, if he will conform to my law; For it is not meet that men
who will not abide my law shall preside over my priesthood." [both here and
hereafter] (Ibid., p. 35)

[36]	(Note: Seymour B. Young was born in 1837 and was married to Ann E. Riter
in 1867; so since he already had a wife in 1882, when this revelation was
received, then "my law" referred to plural marriage. He became a member of the
First Council of Seventies in 1882 with the promise that he would comply with
the conditions of the revelation. He married Abbie Wells [daughter of Daniel
H. Wells] in 1884, the same year that Heber J. Grant took his first plural
wife.)

	Revelation of September 26, 1886 (entire), given to John Taylor:
	"My son John: You have asked me concerning the New and Everlasting
Covenant and how far it is binding upon my people;
	Thus saith the Lord: All commandments that I give must be obeyed by those
calling themselves by my name, unless they are revoked by me or by my
authority, and how can I revoke an everlasting covenant; for I the Lord am
everlasting and my everlasting covenants cannot be abrogated, nor done away
with, but they stand forever.
	Have I not given my word in great plainness on this subject? Yet have not
great numbers of my people been negligent in the observance of my laws and the
keeping of my commandments, and yet have I borne with them these many years;
and this because of their weakness, because of the perilous times, and
furthermore, it is more pleasing to me that men should use their free agency
in regards to these matters.
	Nevertheless, I the Lord do not change and my word and my covenants and
my law do not, and as I have heretofore said by my servant Joseph: All those
who would enter into my glory must and shall obey my law.
	And have I not commanded men that if they were Abraham's seed and would
enter into my glory, they must do the works of Abraham? I have not revoked
this law, nor will I, for it is everlasting, and those who will enter into my
glory must obey the conditions thereof. Even so, Amen." (Ibid., pp. 54-55)


[37]
GEORGE TEASDALE (1831-1907)
(Dedicated missionary, Gen. Sun. Sch. Board, Apostle)

	(Jan. 1884) I bear my solemn testimony that plural marriage is as true as
any principle that has been revealed from the heavens. I bear my testimony
that it is a necessity, and that the Church of Christ in its fullness never
existed without it. Where you have the eternity of marriage, you are bound to
have plural marriage; bound to; and it is one of the marks of the Church of
Jesus Christ in its sealing ordinances. (JD 25:21)


WILFORD WOODRUFF (1807-1898)
(Fourth President of the Church)

	Revelation of January 26, 1880 (excerpts), given to Wilford Woodruff, at
Sunset, Arizona:
	"And I say again, woe unto that nation or house or people who seek to
hinder my people from obeying the Patriarchal law of Abraham, which leadeth to
Celestial Glory, which has been revealed unto my Saints through the mouth of
my servant Joseph, for whosoever doeth these things shall be damned, saith the
Lord of Hosts, and shall be broken up and wasted away from under heaven by the
judgments which I have sent forth, and which shall not return unto me void."

	(April 1879) Again, this testament which Joseph Smith left, contains a
revelation and commandment from God, out of heaven, concerning the patriarchal
order of marriage. The Lord has commanded us to have our wives and children
sealed to us for time and eternity, that we may have them with us in our
family organizations in the resurrection, to dwell with forever in the eternal
worlds, that we may have an increase of posterity forever in connection with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the ancient patriarchs. And God, our
heavenly Father, knowing that this was the only law [plural marriage] ordained
by the [38] Gods of eternity that would exalt immortal beings to kingdoms,
thrones, principalities, powers and dominions, and heirs of God and joint
heirs of Jesus Christ to a fulness of the celestial glory, I say, the God of
Israel knowing these things, commanded Joseph Smith, the prophet, and the
Latter-day Saints to obey this law, "or you shall be damned," saith the Lord.
(Mill. Star 41:242)


BRIGHAM YOUNG (1801-1877)
(Second President of the Church)

	(August 1852 Conference) The revelation [on plural marriage] will be read
to you. The principle spoken upon by Brother Pratt, this morning, we believe
in. And I tell you--for I know it--it will sail over and ride triumphantly
above all the prejudice and priestcraft of the day. * * *
	It is all connected with the exaltation of man, showing how he becomes
exalted to be a king and a priest--yea, even a God, like his Father in heaven.
Without the doctrine that this Revelation reveals, no man on earth ever could
be exalted to be a God. (JD 6: 281, 282; also Mill. Star Supp. 15:31)

	(June 1856) Elders, never love your wives one hair's breadth further than
they adorn the Gospel; never love them so but that you can leave them at a
moment's warning without shedding a tear. Should you love a child any more
than this? No. Here are Apostles and Prophets who are destined to be exalted
with the Gods, to become rulers in the kingdoms of our Father, to become equal
with the Father and the Son, and will you let your affections be unduly placed
on anything this side that kingdom and glory? If you do, you disgrace your
calling and Priesthood. The very moment that persons in this Church suffer
their affections to be immoderately placed upon an object this side the
celestial kingdom, they disgrace their profession and calling. When you love
your wives and children, are fond of your horses, your carriages, your fine
houses, your goods and chattels, or [39] anything of an earthly nature, before
your affections become too strong, wait until you and your family are sealed
up unto eternal lives, and you know they are yours from that time henceforth
and forever. (JD 3:360)

	(July 1862) Why do we believe in and practice polygamy? Because the Lord
introduced it to his servants in a revelation given to Joseph Smith, and the
Lord's servants have always practiced it. "And is that religion popular in
heaven?" It is the only popular religion there, for this is the religion of
Abraham, and, unless we do the works of Abraham, we are not Abraham's seed and
heirs according to promise. (JD 9:322)

	(August 1866) We wish to obtain all that father Abraham obtained. I wish
here to say to the Elders of Israel, and to all the members of this Church and
kingdom, that it is in the hearts of many of them to wish that the doctrine of
polygamy was not taught and practiced by us. It may be hard for many, and
especially for the ladies, yet it is no harder for them than it is for the
gentlemen. It is the word of the Lord, and I wish to say to you, and all the
world, that if you desire with all your hearts to obtain the blessings which
Abraham obtained, you will be polygamists, at least in your faith, or you will
come short of enjoying the salvation and the glory which Abraham has obtained.
This is as true as that God lives. You who wish that there were no such thing
in existence, if you have in your hearts to say: "We will pass along in the
Church without obeying or submitting to it in our faith or believing this
order, because, for aught that we know, this community may be broken up yet,
and we may have lucrative offices offered to us; we will not, therefore, be
polygamists lest we should fail in obtaining some earthly honor, character and
office, etc."--the man that has that in his heart, and will continue to
persist in pursuing that policy, will come short of dwelling in the presence
of the Father and the Son, in celestial glory. The only men who become Gods,
even the Sons of God, are those who enter into [40] polygamy. Others attain
unto a glory and may even be permitted to come into the presence of the Father
and the Son; but they cannot reign as kings in glory, because they had
blessings offered unto them, and they refused to accept them. * * *
	It is the decree of the Almighty, that in the last days seven women shall
take hold of one man, etc., to be counselled and advised by him, being willing
to spin their own wool, make their own clothing and do every thing they can to
earn their own living, if they can only bear his name to take away their
reproach. What is this order for? It is for the resurrection; it is not for
this world. I would not go across this bowery for polygamy, if it only
pertained to this world. (JD 11:268-269, 270-271)

	(August 1873) Now, where a man in this Church says, "I don't want but one
wife, I will live my religion with one," he will perhaps be saved in the
celestial kingdom [but not the highest degree]; but when he gets there he will
not find himself in possession of any wife at all. He has had a talent that he
has hid up. He will come forward and say, "Here is that which thou gavest me;
I have not wasted it, and here is the one talent," and he will not enjoy it,
but it will be taken and given to those who have improved the talents they
received, and he will find himself without any wife, and he will remain single
forever and ever. But if the woman is determined not to enter into a plural
marriage, that woman when she comes forth will have the privilege of living in
single blessedness through all eternity. Well, that is very good, a very nice
place to be a minister to the wants of others. I recollect a sister conversing
with Joseph Smith on this subject. She told him: "Now, don't talk to me; when
I get into the celestial kingdom, if I ever do get there, I shall request the
privilege of being a ministering angel; that is the labor that I wish to
perform. I don't want any companion in that world; and if the Lord will make
me a ministering angel, it is all I want." Joseph said, "Sister, you talk very
foolishly; you do not know what you will want." He [41] then said to me:
"Here, brother Brigham, you seal this lady to me." I sealed her to him. This
was my own sister according to the flesh. Now, sisters, do not say, "I do not
want a husband when I get up in the resurrection." You do not know what you
will want. I tell this so that you can get the idea. If in the resurrection
you really want to be single and alone, and live so forever and ever, and be
made servants, while others receive the highest order of intelligence and are
bringing worlds into existence, you can have the privilege. They who will be
exalted cannot perform all the labor; they must have servants and you can be
servants to them. (JD 16:166, 167)


NEWELL K. YOUNG
(Pacheco Ward Bishopric, Mexico)

	After Joseph F. Smith became president in 1901, at both local and
all-church levels, voices were heard recalling the Saints to an acceptance of
"all the principles of the Gospel." A member of the bishopric in one of the
Mormon colonies in Mexico [Newell K. Young] told a congregation there that
only those who entered plural marriage would become gods. (Quoted in Solemn
Covenant, B. Carmon Hardy, see pp. 190 & 310.)


[42]
A PROTEST  (March 31, 1870)
(Excerpts from Resolutions of Protest to be presented to Congress, prepared by
a Committee of 13 and read to the Saints in the Tabernacle by George Q. Cannon
and unanimously adopted by them)

	Second, whereas, according to the positive knowledge of a large number of
persons now assembled, the doctrine of celestial marriage, or plurality of
wives, was revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and by him established in the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a revealed law of God;
therefore be it
	RESOLVED, that we, the members of said Church, in general mass meeting
assembled, do now most earnestly and solemnly declare before Almighty God that
we hold that said order of marriage is a cardinal principle of our religious
faith, affecting us not only for time, but for all eternity, and as sacred and
binding as any other principle of the holy gospel of the Son of God.
	Third, RESOLVED, that celestial marriage, or plurality of wives, is that
principle of our holy religion which confers on man the power of endless
lives, or eternal increase, and is therefore beyond the perview of legislative
enactment; the woman being married to the man for all eternity, by authority
of the Holy Priesthood, delegated from God to him. * * *
	"Remonstrance": (following the Resolutions) Gentlemen of the Senate and
House of Representatives: We . . . are believers in the principle of plural
marriage or polygamy, not simply as an elevating social relationship and a
preventative of many terrible evils which afflict our race; but as a principle
revealed by God, underlying our very hope of eternal salvation and happiness
in heaven. (Des. News, Mar. 31, 1870; Mill. Star 32:275)


[43]
PETITION FOR AMNESTY (December 19, 1891)
(Excerpt of a petition to the U.S. President signed by the First Presidency
and Apostles of the Church, asking for general amnesty)

	We, the First Presidency and Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, beg respectfully to represent to your Excellency, the
following facts:
	We formerly taught to our people that polygamy, or celestial marriage, as
commanded by God through Joseph Smith, was right; that it was a necessity to
man's highest exaltation in the life to come.
	That doctrine was publicly promulgated by our President, the late Brigham
Young, forty years ago, and was steadily taught and impressed upon the
Latter-day Saints up to a short time before September, 1890. (Smoot Case
Proceedings, vol. 1:18; Contributor 13:196)

                                  * * * * *
                                    * * *
                                      *


[44]                             CONCLUSION:
                    When Should Plural Marriage Be Lived?

	After reading the preceding compilation of information, some important
questions should be considered and answered:

	1. Does celestial plural marriage have to be lived in mortality in order
for an individual to qualify for the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom?
	2. Can these marriages be performed during the Millennium?
	3. Will those who did not have the chance to enter into plural marriage
in this life (i.e., those who died before reaching marriageable age) have a
chance at some future time?

	A seer stone would certainly be helpful about now in obtaining complete
and correct answers to these questions! However, there are some remarks by
early leaders that give us a fairly good picture of the situation. Beginning
with Joseph Smith:

     	Except a man and his wife enter into an everlasting covenant and be
     married for eternity, while in this probation, by the power and authority
     of the Holy Priesthood, they will cease to increase when they die; that
     is, they will not have any children after the resurrection. But those who
     are married by the power and authority of the priesthood in this life,
     and continue without committing the sin against the Holy Ghost, will
     continue to increase and have children in the celestial glory. (TPJS, pp.
     300-301; also DHC 5:391)

	The Prophet made this comment before Brother and Sister Benjamin Johnson
and William Clayton in Ramus, Illinois, May 16, 1843. At that time the new and
everlasting covenant of marriage referred to plural marriage, even though it
was not specifically mentioned in this passage. One might then inquire as to
what he meant by the word probation. A couple of definitions are--

[45] 	This life is a state of probation. It is here that we are to learn
     the ways of God, and fulfill various laws in order that we may again live
     in his presence. (LDS Reference Encyclopedia, Melvin R. Brooks, p. 394)

     	. . . nevertheless there was a space granted unto man in which he
     might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to
     prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has
     been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead. (Alma
     12:24; see also Alma 42:4 and II Nephi 2:21, 9:27; also D & C 29:43.)

	Thus, "this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold
the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors." (Alma 34:32)

	Along this same line, Joseph F. Smith, sixth Church President, asked:

     	Why did Jesus teach the doctrine that there was no marrying nor
     giving in marriage in the other world? Why did he teach the doctrine that
     marriage was instituted by the Father and designed to be accomplished in
     this life? (Gospel Doctrine, p. 279)

	The New Testament passage referred to here is recorded in Matt. 22:30,
when Christ was answering a question asked by the Sadducees, who, according to
Orson Pratt, were a wicked class of people. They had rejected Jesus Christ,
didn't believe in a resurrection, and were trying to trick the Savior, who
responded:

     	For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in
     marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. (King James edition and
     Insp. Trans.)

	The same account is also recorded in Luke:

     	And Jesus answering said unto them [the Sadducees], The children of
     this world marry, and are given [46] in marriage: But they which shall be
     accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the
     dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any
     more, for they are equal unto the angels and are the children of God,
     being the children of the resurrection. (Luke 20:34-36)

	Whether Christ was referring specifically to the seven husbands or to
mankind in general, He made it clear that after the resurrection, there would
be no marrying nor giving in marriage by resurrected beings themselves. And
this same information has been given in our dispensation as well:

     	Therefore, when they are out of the world they neither marry nor are
     given in marriage; but are appointed angels in heaven, which angels are
     ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more
     and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory. For these angels did
     not abide my law [plural marriage?]; therefore, they cannot be enlarged,
     but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved
     condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are
     angels of God forever and ever. (D & C 132:16-17)

	Orson Pratt greatly clarifies these scriptural passages:

     	Jesus informs us that in the resurrection mankind are neither
     married nor given in marriage: all these things have to be attended to
     here. In the resurrection, a man is not to be baptized. Here is the place
     to attend to these things. . . . for if I put it off beyond this life, in
     the resurrection there will be no such thing as putting on Christ by
     being baptized. Just so, in the resurrection there will be no such thing
     as attending to the ceremony of marriage, so far as we are informed. But
     Jesus further says, concerning those persons who have not attended to
     those matters here, that in the resurrection they are as the angels of
     God; and some of the angels are a little lower than men. In what respect?
     They have not the power to increase their kingdom by the multiplication
     of their species, and this because they have not lawful and legal wives.
     They are probably among that class who [47] have put off marriage for
     eternity, and die without attending to it; and after the resurrection,
     they find themselves wifeless, without any family or kingdoms of their
     own offspring. In this single and undesirable condition they are to
     remain, because they cannot hunt up a wife after the resurrection. Such,
     instead of receiving crowns, will merely become ministers or messengers
     for the crown, being sent forth by those who have attained to a higher
     glory, who have the power of receiving kingdoms, and increasing the same,
     through their own offspring that are begotten after the resurrection by
     the wives given to them while here in this world. These angels have
     forfeited this privilege; consequently, they are lower than the man who
     keeps a celestial law; and if these angels lived on the earth, they would
     be called old bachelors. (JD 6:359, July 24, 1859)

	Thus, it seems clear that mortality is the time to perform celestial
plural marriages in order to qualify for exaltation in the highest degree of
the Celestial Kingdom. But exactly what is meant by the terms mortality--this
life--this probation? Many references show that they all include the 1000
years of the Millennium since there will be mortals, immortals, and
resurrected beings all living and mingling together during that time. Since
ordinance work such as baptisms and marriages cannot be performed by spirits
or resurrected beings, such ordinances would need to be performed by
mortals--who act as proxies in thousands of millennial temples.

	Brigham Young and John Taylor, among many others, have mentioned the
extensive temple work that will be done during the Millennium:

     	. . . when the thousand years of rest shall come and thousands and
     thousands of Temples shall be built, and the servants and handmaids of
     the Lord shall have entered therein and officiated for themselves, and
     for their dead friends back to the days of Adam; . . . (Brigham Young, JD
     17:117)

[48] 	In the Millennium, a duration of one thousand years, we shall be
     actively engaged administering for the dead, and assisting God to fix up
     accounts with the inhabitants of the earth. (John Taylor, JD 19:159)

     	We read sometimes about the millennium. But what do we know about
     it? It is a time when this work will be going on, and Temples, thousands
     of them, will be reared for the accomplishment of the objects designed,
     in which communications from the heavens will be received in regard to
     our labors, how we may perform them, and for whom. (John Taylor, JD
     25:185)

	Further information on the Millennium is included on the next few pages
to give a better understanding of the conditions that will exist then and of
the work that will be performed relating to marriage. These excerpts come from
Joseph Fielding Smith, Church Historian for many years, and are taken from his
three-volume set of Doctrines of Salvation:

Excerpts on the Millennium

	"During this time of peace, when the righteous shall come forth from
their graves, they shall mingle with mortal men on the earth and instruct
them. The veil which separates the living from the dead will be withdrawn and
mortal men and the ancient saints shall converse together. Moreover, in
perfect harmony shall they labor for the salvation and exaltation of the
worthy who have died without the privileges of the gospel.
	The great work of the millennium shall be performed in the temples which
shall cover all parts of the land and into which the children shall go to
complete the work for their fathers, which they could not do when in this
mortal life for themselves.
	In this manner those who have passed through the resurrection, and who
know all about people and conditions on the other side, will place in the
hands of those who are in mortality, the necessary information by and through
which the great work of salvation for every worthy soul shall be [49]
performed, and thus the purposes of the Lord, as determined before the
foundation of the world, will be fully consummated." (v. 2, pp. 251-252)

	"However, there shall be mortality upon the face of the earth during the
thousand years, because of the great work that is to be accomplished of
salvation for the dead. During that thousand years of peace the great work of
the Lord shall be in the temples, and into those temples the people shall go
to labor for those who have passed beyond and who are waiting to have these
ordinances which pertain to their salvation performed for them by those who
still dwell in mortality upon the earth. And so there shall be mortal men, but
they shall live from the time of birth until they are 100 years old and shall
then be changed suddenly. * * *
	All those who have died in Christ shall come forth from the dead at his
coming and shall dwell upon the earth as Christ shall be upon the earth during
this millennium. They shall not remain here all the time during the thousand
years, but they will mingle with those who are still here in mortal life.
These resurrected saints and the Savior himself, shall come to give
instruction and guidance; to reveal unto us the things we ought to know; to
give us information concerning the work in the temples of the Lord so we may
do the work which is essential to the salvation of worthy men." (v. 3, pp. 58,
59)

	"Some people think we have got to do the work in the temple for
everybody. Temple work belongs to the celestial kingdom, not to the other
kingdoms. * * *
	To be exalted in the celestial kingdom one must be endowed and receive
the sealing blessings. There will be many who will enter that kingdom as
servants, but only those who comply with ALL the laws and covenants will be
exalted.
	We have the assurance that the Lord will reward every soul according to
his or her works. He will judge each of us by the intent of the heart. If any
worthy person is denied in this life the blessings which so readily come to
others, and yet lives [50] faithfully and to the best of his or her ability in
striving to keep the commandments of the Lord, then nothing will be lost to
him. Such a person will be given all the blessings that can be given. The Lord
will make up to him the fulness after this life is ended and the full life has
come. * * *
	We never make matches for the dead in the temples. The Lord will bless
all who are worthy of the blessings, and they will lose nothing. The work of
the millennium will be largely work for the dead who did not have an
opportunity when living to obtain the blessings, but who would have accepted
the blessings if they had lived. Justice demands this. * * *
	Will resurrected beings during the millennium actually take part in the
endowment work of the temple along with mortal beings?
	The answer to this question is no! That is, they will not assist in
performing the ordinances. Resurrected beings will assist in furnishing
information which is not otherwise available, but mortals will have to do the
ordinance work in the temples.
	Baptism, confirmation, ordination, endowment, and sealings all pertain to
this mortal life and are ordinances required of those who are in mortality.
Provision has been made for these ordinances to be performed vicariously for
those who are worthy but who died without the opportunity in this life of
receiving these ordinances in person.
	You can readily see that it would be inconsistent for a resurrected being
to come and be baptized for the dead. The resurrected person has passed to
another sphere where the laws and blessings do not pertain to this mortal
life. This is equally true of every other ordinance. If it were permissible
for resurrected persons to come and do work in the temples, then there would
be no reason for us in this mortal life to act vicariously for them, for they
would do it for themselves." (v. 2, pp. 176, 177, 178)

	"After the thousand years Satan will be loosed again and will go forth
again to deceive the nations. Because men are [51] still mortal, Satan will go
out to deceive them. Men will again deny the Lord, but in doing so they will
act with their eyes open and because they love darkness rather than light, and
so they become sons of perdition. Satan will gather his hosts, both those on
the earth and the wicked dead who will eventually also be brought forth in the
resurrection. Michael, the Prince, will gather his forces and the last great
battle will be fought. Satan will be defeated with his hosts. Then will come
the end. Satan and those who follow him will be banished into outer darkness."
(v. 1, p. 87) [See also D & C Sections 43, 63, 88, and 101 for more
information on the Millennium.]

                                    * * * 

	Thus, the first two questions asked at the beginning of this section have
been answered: (1) Yes, celestial marriage has to be performed and lived in
mortality, and (2) since the Millennium is also a part of mortality, these
marriages can be performed during that time as well.

	It is interesting to note that, according to Isaiah, an increase of those
living plural marriage will occur during the beginning of the Millennium, for
he said:

     	Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. * * *
     And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will
     eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy
     name, to take away our reproach. In that day shall the branch of the Lord
     be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent
     and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. (Isaiah 3:25, 4:1-2)

	Now, going on to the third question about those who die before reaching
marriageable age--Joseph Fielding Smith sheds some light on this subject as
well:

     	In the resurrection of the dead, the child that was buried in its
     infancy will come up in the form of the child that it was when it was
     laid down; then it will begin to [52] develop. From the day of the
     resurrection, the body will develop until it reaches the full measure of
     the stature of its spirit, whether it be male or female." (Imp. Era
     12:594)

	And then--

     	We have people coming to us all the time just as fearful as they can
     be that a child of theirs who has died will lose the blessings of the
     kingdom of God unless that child is sealed to someone who is dead. They
     do not know the wishes of their child who died too young to think of
     marriage, . . .
     	The Lord has said through his servants that during the millennium
     those who have passed beyond and have attained the resurrection will
     reveal in person to those who are still in mortality all the information
     which is required to complete the work of these who have passed from this
     life. Then the dead will have the privilege of making known the things
     they desire and are entitled to receive. In this way no soul will be
     neglected and the work of the Lord will be perfected" (Doc. of Sal., v.
     3, p. 65)

     	Little children who die before they reach the years of
     accountability will automatically inherit the celestial kingdom, but not
     the exaltation in that kingdom until they have complied with all the
     requirements of exaltation. For instance:
     	The crowning glory is marriage and this ordinance would have to be
     performed in their behalf before they could inherit the fulness of that
     kingdom. The Lord is just with all his children, and little children who
     die will not be penalized . . . simply because they happen to die. The
     Lord will grant unto these children the privilege of all the sealing
     blessings which pertain to the exaltation. (Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 54-55)

	And from Brigham Young--

     	It may be thought by some that when young persons die, they will be
     cut short of the privileges and [53] blessings God designs for His
     children; but this is not so. The faithful will never miss a blessing
     through being cut off while here. And let me say to my brethren and
     sisters, that it is not the design of the Father that the earthly career
     of any should terminate until they have lived out their days. (JD 14:230)

	Various individuals have received answers which have been comforting and
informative to them personally. For example, Melvin J. Ballard, after the loss
of his six-year-old son, related this experience:

     	Yes, even though some mortals die in infancy, that is no loss; no
     child has lost anything, for all the experiences that he would have had,
     had he lived, are only postponed. It will all come to them. I know when
     we lost a little boy some six years of age, I grieved over it, because I
     thought in my very sadness that he had lost something great. I grieved
     over it, and I thought, is it possible because of his death that he never
     will have the privilege of gaining that great exaltation? And the Lord
     whispered peace to my soul and gave me a revelation for myself--not a
     revelation for the Church, but just a revelation for my peace and
     comfort--that in the Lord's own time my son will have every right to
     choose a companion and receive the sealing powers that will unite him
     with one of his own choosing so that he can pass by the gods unto his own
     exaltation. When the right time comes the Lord will reveal it. (Crusader
     for Righteousness, Melvin J. Ballard, p. 278)

	The Prophet Joseph Smith also felt that those who die early would still
have every opportunity for exaltation, for in Nauvoo he told two young men
whom he asked to attend a meeting of his enemies--

     	Boys, this will be their last meeting, and they may shed your blood,
     but I hardly think they will, as you are so young. If they do, I will be
     a lion in their path! Don't flinch. If you have to die, die like men; you
     will be martyrs to the cause, and your crowns can be no greater.
     ("Conspiracy of Nauvoo", p. 3, as recorded in The Contributor, vol. 5,
     see pp. 251-260.)

[54]	It is interesting to note that when Joseph Smith had the spiritual
experience of seeing his brother Alvin in the Celestial Kingdom, it did not
say the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom. However, he will undoubtedly
be given that opportunity to qualify during the Millennium. This same
information was given to Joseph Smith in a subsequent revelation describing
"heirs" (candidates) of the celestial kingdom, which said that, "all who have
died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they
had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God."
[with the opportunity in the Millennium to qualify for the highest degree of
that kingdom] (DHC 2:380)

	For those who believe in plural marriage as an eternal principle but are
not yet living it, maybe they can take comfort in the following two passages:

     	It is the word of the Lord, and I wish to say to you, and all the
     world, that if you desire with all your hearts to obtain the blessings
     which Abraham obtained, you will be polygamists, at least in your faith,
     or you will come short of enjoying the salvation and the glory which
     Abraham has obtained. This is as true as that God lives. (Brigham Young,
     JD 11:268-269)

     	And there are none that doeth good except those who are ready to
     receive the fulness of my gospel, which I have sent forth unto this
     generation. (D & C 35:12)

	There is certainly much that can be done in preparing and becoming ready
to receive and live the fulness of His gospel--which as Brigham Young states
includes Plural Marriage and the United Order:

     	Hear it, ye Elders of Israel, and mark it down in your log books,
     the fulness of the Gospel is the United Order and the order of Plural
     Marriage, and I fear that when I am gone, this people will give up these
     two principles which we prize so highly; and, if [55] they do, this
     Church cannot advance as God wishes for it to advance. (Statement made at
     the time of the dedication of the St. George Temple in 1877; quoted in
     Truth, vol. 3, p. 166)

	Even though these two principles, along with many others, have been given
up by the LDS Church, they remain laws of the Priesthood and laws of the
fullness of the Gospel, which the Saints can still accept and live.

	Nevertheless, according to Joseph Smith, none of us will be able to learn
all the principles of exaltation here in mortality:

     	When you climb a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend
     step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the
     principles of the Gospel: you must begin with the first, and go on until
     you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while
     after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them.
     It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work
     to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave. ("King
     Follett Discourse", JD 6:4)

	Thus, we will have to be content in realizing that in mortality we can't
understand all there is to know about exaltation; but we can go from step to
step in learning and living the revealed information that is available.
Certainly this is the time (in mortality) to prepare to meet God (in the
highest level of the Celestial Kingdom), and not intentionally put off to
another time or place the obedience of principles and ordinances that can and
should be obeyed here and now.