Lesson 45 - “The Family Is Ordained of God”

The text for this week is the Family Proclamation. My goal is to focus on the Proclamation historically. So my class will talk about the status of the proclamation and some of the scripture and history behind some of the text of the Proclamation. 

Firstly, the Proclamation is not Scripture. (Notice the captial S and our discussion of canonical scripture with section 68:3-4.) It was presented at the Relief Society General Meeting in 1995, but was not voted on. As such has never been approved by the law of common consent and officially entered into our canon--people pasting it in their scriptures aside. That is not to say it is not inspired, important, nor to say it isn't useful, but it is not part of the canon--in LDS parlance: our standard works. A proclamation has a different status than an official declaration. 

So let's begin our brief dissection--our exegesis.

WE, THE FIRST PRESIDENCY and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

131:1-4 Places marriage as a requisite for the highest level of the celestial kingdom. If that is the goal, then marriage is essential. Verse 4 likewise introduces the concept of eternal increase with that only being possible in that highest kingdom. 

ALL HUMAN BEINGS—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. 

Mormons take this very literally, this is not merely euphemistic. Doctrine and Covenants 20: 18 is one example: "He (God) created man, male and female, after his own image and in his own likeness, created he them." Very similar to Genesis 1:27 (which we'll get to talk about soon). If both males and females are literally created in the image of God, perhaps the next sentence aids in how we discuss God in this context. Heavenly parents = a Heavenly Mother and a Heavenly Father. Perhaps God in this context is a Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother sealed up together as one.  However you want to think about it, Mormons are pretty literal in terms of Heavenly Parents endowing us with the same potential that they have.

We don't talk about our Heavenly Mother much. And sometimes regrettably it is in hushed tones. We will spend time in my class with David Paulsen and Martin Pulido's important article historically outlining Mormon ideas of a Mother in Heaven here. Or here. I don't think there is a need for hushed tones, we just need to know what we're talking about. This article goes to great lengths to do that.

In 1909 in the midst of widespread questions of evolution the First Presidency gave "A Statement on the Origin of Man" republished here. This is not the last statement of LDS doctrine regarding religion and science. If you are wondering about the compatibility of LDS doctrine and evolution (or if you think they are not compatible) please listen to these two podcasts by Steve Peck, evolutionary biology professor at BYU, here and here. Steve very eloquently discusses the historical context and the possibilities.

I think President Hinckley and President Harold B. Lee's words here are really important.

President Hinckley: What the church requires is only belief 'that Adam was the first man of what we would call the human race.' Scientists can speculate on the rest. [Gordon B. Hinckley cited in Elaine Jarvik, "Beliefs on Darwin's evolution very from religion to religion." Deseret Morning News 19 January 2006.]

President Lee:

Perhaps if we had the full story of the creation of the earth and man told to us in great detail, it would be more of a mystery than the simple few statements that we have contained in the Bible, because of our lack of ability to comprehend. Therefore, for reasons best known to the Lord, He has kept us in darkness. Wait until the Lord speaks, or wait until that day when He shall come, and when we shall be among the privileged either to come up out of our graves and be caught up into the clouds of heaven or shall be living upon the earth likewise to be so translated before Him. Then we shall know all things pertaining to this earth, how it was made, and all things that now as children we are groping for and trying to understand.

Let's reserve judgment as to the facts concerning the Creation until we know these things for sure. [Harold B. Lee, Teachings of Harold B. Lee (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1996), 29.]

Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

Academically I would argue that gender is historically constructed--you would think that different things were manly or feminine whether you were born in the 19th century, early 20th century or early 21st century. I believe that the proclamation uses gender as a synonym for for biological sex. 

IN THE PREMORTAL REALM, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

Here we talked about premortal life (notice the move away from pre-existence). Section 76 & Moses 4 & the end of Abraham 3. We could further discuss quite a bit of Section 84 (and 88), but particularly 84:20-21. "In the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest." Ordinances open up the possibility of really our eternal potential as daughters and sons of a Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father. The ordinances teach us about godliness, or how to be like our Heavenly Parents. This is what Moses tried to teach the Children of Israel (v23-25)--Moses tried to get them to go up the mountain with him. They chose to stay on the flat ground with a God they could see and touch and got the lesser law--the ten commandments instead of receiving the ordinances with the "key to the knowledge of God"--the way to return to the presence of God.

There is so much more that could be discussed (and hopefully go beyond perhaps the same discussion you've heard before.)

Section 130: 2 "That same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy." For Mormons family is the structure in mortality and in eternity. These relationships matter. 

If you want to talk about chastity please use Elder Holland's "Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments" here.

If you want to talk about "equal partners" recognize that this is fairly new vocabulary. (Hallelujah for it.) It was first used in General Conference by Aileen Clyde in 1993 here and has been used repeatedly since then. Here's the rundown of times it has been taught over the General Conference pulpit.

For me the phrase "other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation" is central to any discussion to the Family Proclamation. This talks about general principles, it is up to us as individuals to use the Spirit to decide what it means to us.