How far (spiritually) can you go with multiple wives?

[_zeezrom]

oops

[_just me]

You are incorrect. A living man can be sealed to more than one LIVING woman. A living woman can only be sealed to one man (living or dead).

I know people who are in this situation.

Huh. Wow!

So is it considered adultery (under LDS law) to have just one, little, single sexual encounter with your celestial partner (now, ex-wife) while you are married to another woman?

If so, would the sexual encounter with this sealed person be considered less serious a breach of covenant than one with a person you are not sealed to?

OK, back to the spiritual sex thing... I have no idea how you have spiritual sex with a person who is still living...

LOL The church is very clear that sexual relations outside of the LEGAL, lawful marriage are adultery. Doesn't mean men haven't tried...

[Guest]

...
The church is very clear that sexual relations outside of the LEGAL, lawful marriage are adultery...

"LEGAL, lawful marriages" are different in

- US (where is my smilies about US' law?)
- Hungary (I know the law)
- Europe (there are variants, I know many of them, not all)
- Thailand, some group somewhere in Africa, maoris, philippians, I could continue (I don't know them all, they are probably different)
- north-american-indians/mayan-indians/ehm-India-indians (may be weird)
- lamanite countries (whereeeeeeeee?)
- so on

by the way
Should EVERYBODY write lamanite as lamanite?

The word lamanite is an adjective. Like red, white, bad, good or balmy or stinky.
In german language one has to be capitalized the nouns.
Is there a rule in english for adjectives?

more by the way
I should start some thread about translation. (One pet of Joseph Smith...)

[_jon]

I do not believe that there are Mormon (Latter Day Saint variety) men who are sealed to more than one living spouse.
If a man gets divorced and sealed to another woman then the first sealing is cancelled by Mr Monson.

You are incorrect. A living man can be sealed to more than one LIVING woman. A living woman can only be sealed to one man (living or dead).

I know people who are in this situation.

I'm going to have to ask you to show me where within the Church guidelines that this is shown to be acceptable.

[Tator]

I'm going to have to ask you to show me where within the Church guidelines that this is shown to be acceptable.

When a couple who have been sealed in the temple get a divorce, there are two types of divorces that could be obtained, just as there were two types of marriages that took place in the temple. One marriage is a legal civil marriage. A legal, civil divorce ends that marriage. The other marriage is an eternal sealing. Only a cancellation of that sealing by church authorities ends that marriage.

A man does not have to obtain a temple divorce to be sealed in the temple to another wife. A woman does have to obtain a temple divorce to be sealed. At least, that's the way it was in the past, although I seem to remember hearing that policy had been changed. Anyone know? Although I may be thinking of that now a woman can have her temple sealing cancelled without being ready to be sealed to another man right away. That changed in 1999. I guess, in the eyes of the LORD, it was better for a woman to be sealed to a man she despised and had divorced than to have no man at all.

I did some more digging on this and the only thing I can find is that a DEAD woman can be sealed to more than one husband, but not a living woman.

It has been argued that the LDS Church's policy on sealings and cancellations reflect its doctrine of plural marriage. Although the doctrine of plural marriage is currently prohibited from being practiced in the Church, a man can be sealed to multiple women. A widower may be sealed while he is alive to his subsequent wives. Additionally, men who are dead may be sealed by proxy to all of the women to whom they were legally married while alive. Recent changes in church policy also allow women to be sealed to multiple men, but only after both she and her husband(s) are dead.[2]

Church doctrine is not entirely specific on the status of men or women who are sealed by proxy to multiple spouses. There are at least two possibilities:

Regardless of how many people a man or woman is sealed to by proxy, they will only remain with one of them in the afterlife, and that the remaining spouses, who might still merit the full benefits of exaltation that come from being sealed, would then be given to another person in order to ensure each has an eternal marriage.

These sealings create effective plural marriages that will continue after death. There are no Church teachings clarifying whether polyandrous relationships can exist in the afterlife, so some church members doubt whether this possibility would apply to women who are sealed by proxy to multiple spouses. The possibility for women to be sealed to multiple men is a recent policy change enacted in 1998. Church leaders have neither explained this change, nor its doctrinal implications. It should be noted, however, that proxy sealings, like proxy baptisms, are merely offered to the person in the afterlife, indicating that the purpose is to allow the woman to choose the right man to be sealed to, as LDS doctrine forbids polyandry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealing_%2 ... ote-CHOI-1

The citation for this quote is the 1998 church handbook.



My exhusband had been married before, and he never had that sealing cancelled. His first wife was still sealed to him, as well as, later, me. He took a lot of pleasure in reminding me that, if his first wife were to retain to the faith, in the next life she would be wife number one.

Of course, the fact that he took pleasure in reminding me of that is part of why he's my exhusband.

Obtaining a temple divorce can be a long painful process. The First Presidency has to approve it, and a letter has to be written that gives all the gory details of not only the dissolution of the marriage but one's personal sins, even if they have been repented of. For a woman, the exhusband has to "give his permission" for the sealing to be cancelled.

Here's a 2009 thread by active LDS discussing that situation:

http://www.LDS.net/forums/advice-board/ ... aling.html

[_beastie]

Oh, and the arduous process of applying for a temple divorce is one reason for the artificially low LDS divorce rate reported statistically.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/lds_divo.htm

[_zeezrom]

Beastie,

I'm sorry to hear that your ex was saying rude things like that. Was he trying to be funny? Even so, that is rude. From time to time, I would see TBM men try to joke about things that might hurt their wife's feelings in front of family/friends. I just don't get it. It makes me wonder, "Do you even talk to your wife about deep things? Don't you understand the feelings she has? How can you not see this hurts her feelings when you say things like this?" I'm not perfect and made many mistakes in things I have said, but I wonder if priesthood leaders with egos have a harder time being sensitive about their wife's feelings...?

[_just me]

Hey, jon, is what Beastie posted a good enough reference for you or are you looking for something different? I do not have access to the CHI in order to quote from that. But, this is pretty common knowledge....I've never seen anyone dispute that this was church policy.