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Question: What was the purpose of an eternity-only sealing, which was performed during Joseph Smith's lifetime?
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Contents
- 1 What was the purpose of an eternity-only sealing, which was performed during Joseph Smith's lifetime?
- 1.1 When we talk about eternity-only sealings, it is a term that we have invented in just the past few years to help us describe what was going on in early Mormonism
- 1.2 The purpose of sealings more generally was to create connections between people as a way of ordering or organizing the Celestial Kingdom
- 1.3 In order to be sealed to someone, the men involved in the sealing had to be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood
- 1.4 Some proxy priesthood ordinations began in 1877, and became Church policy in 1894: Eventually, many people had their previous sealings (of adoption or eternity-only) cancelled so that they could be sealed to their own spouses, or to their own parents
- 1.5 Sometimes, when couples who are sealed get divorced, the Church generally keeps that sealing intact, unless the woman decides to get sealed to someone else (and then the first sealing is cancelled)
What was the purpose of an eternity-only sealing, which was performed during Joseph Smith's lifetime?
When we talk about eternity-only sealings, it is a term that we have invented in just the past few years to help us describe what was going on in early Mormonism
When we talk about eternity-only sealings, it is a term that we have invented in just the past few years to help us describe what was going on in early Mormonism. They didn't discuss eternity only sealings, they only discussed sealings.
The purpose of sealings more generally was to create connections between people as a way of ordering or organizing the Celestial Kingdom
The purpose of sealings more generally was to create connections between people as a way of ordering or organizing the Celestial Kingdom. You could seal a husband and wife together to create an eternal bond. You could seal children to parents to create an eternal bond. You could seal complete strangers to each other to create an eternal bond. Those bonds might function in different ways, but, it was effectively the same ordinance.
We use the idea of eternity-only sealings to describe sealings between men and women who weren't married to each other during their lifetimes, but the anticipated relationship was to be married in the eternities. We use the term adoptive sealing to describe sealings between people where the relationship isn't one of marriage.
In order to be sealed to someone, the men involved in the sealing had to be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood
In order to be sealed to someone, the men involved in the sealing had to be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood. If you were a woman, and you were married to a man who wasn't a member of the Church (and so didn't have the Melchizedek priesthood), then you could be sealed to another man who did. This helped (in theory) a woman secure her place in the Celestial Kingdom. The same idea was true for sealings of adoption. You needed to be sealed into the family (that was the Celestial Kingdom), but if your parents weren't members of the Church, or your father didn't have the Melchizedek Priesthood, then you would get sealed to someone else (usually a church leader). So, there were lots and lots of sealings that fit this description - both sealings of the eternity-only kind, and sealings of adoption.
Some proxy priesthood ordinations began in 1877, and became Church policy in 1894: Eventually, many people had their previous sealings (of adoption or eternity-only) cancelled so that they could be sealed to their own spouses, or to their own parents
These kinds of sealings stopped because the Church leadership had received a better understanding, and new instructions about how to do sealings and how the Celestial Kingdom should be ordered. Instead of being sealed to people unrelated to you, we started sealing people to their earthly families as the rule instead of the exception. And in fact, many people had their previous sealings (of adoption or eternity-only) cancelled so that they could be sealed to their own spouses, or to their own parents.
Proxy priesthood ordinations began in 1877. Not coincidentally, this is also the year we first did proxy endowments. They went together. (Prior to 1877, and really for some time after this, we didn't connect proxy endowments to proxy sealings like we do now). Having said that, there wasn't a huge emphasis on this in the Church. Temple policy in 1877 was that sealings between biological parents and children were simply not done unless the father had been ordained while alive. This policy did not change with the introduction of proxy ordinations in 1877 - it did not change until 1894. So if your parents hadn't been members, and had died, you couldn't be sealed to them. If your husband wasn't a member and had died, you couldn't be sealed to them until 1894.
In 1894, proxy ordinations to the priesthood began Church-wide (priesthood ordination on behalf of the dead). There was a revelation in 1894 that started that process. This revelation abolished the practice of sealings of adoption, and changed the policy regarding sealings to parents (using proxy ordinations to the priesthood as a way to understand this in a new context). It also set the stage for what we would consider the core of our current policy on the issue. In between 1877 and 1894, we also saw significant changes in our understanding of the Celestial Kingdom. And with the introduction of this policy, there was a shift in the policies of the Church related to sealings.
Sometimes, when couples who are sealed get divorced, the Church generally keeps that sealing intact, unless the woman decides to get sealed to someone else (and then the first sealing is cancelled)
Sealings are covenants that we make both with a spouse and with God. But it is also the connections that are mentioned above. The only part that we can guarantee as individuals is that we keep the covenants we make. Sometimes, couples who are sealed get divorced. The Church generally keeps that sealing intact, unless the woman decides to get sealed to someone else (and then the first sealing is cancelled). This is because even though the covenant between the man and the woman may be broken, the covenants between both individuals and God are still intact. And so we believe that for anyone who makes those covenants, if circumstances don't allow them to spend eternity with their first choice, that an appropriate option will be given to them. So do this mean that polygamy may exist and be represented by sealings for a man to more than one woman? Perhaps. But, it's worth pointing out that the Church routinely allows women in certain circumstances to be sealed to all of the husbands that they were married to during their lifetime. We create these sealings with the understanding that we don't understand exactly how it will all unfold in the eternities, but that God will make sure that what is right is what happens.
At some future point in time, we may receive more revelation that will help us understand this more (just as we did in 1894).
Notes