A Refutation of the Mormon Error of “Eternal Marriage”

 Introduction
In this essay we shall look at the Mormon doctrines of ‘eternal marriage’, a doctrine which is totally contrary to Christian teaching. In particular, we shall see an easy way to refute their beliefs on eternal marriage, using the Gospel passages from Luke 20 and Matthew 22.

Eternal Marriage
A topic related to the concept of polygamy in Mormonism is the idea of ‘eternal marriage’. Thomas G. Alexander, reported that

 

“Generally, the terms ‘new and everlasting covenant’ of marriage, ‘celestial marriage,’ and plural marriage were thought to be equivalent.”( Thomas G. Alexander, Mormonism in Transition, p. 60).

Mormonism tries to back up its teaching on eternal marriage from the Bible, but their arguments are very weak indeed, and can be refuted without much difficulty. In fact, the teaching on eternal marriage is a good example of evidence that the Mormon Church most certainly does not resemble the Church Christ founded!

Sometimes the Mormons try to quote 1 Cor. 11:11 to show marriage exists in the next life. Here is the text of this verse, in both the New International Version, and the New Jerusalem Bible:

 

NIV:
11 In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.NJB:
11 However, in the Lord, though woman is nothing without man, man is nothing without woman; 12 and though woman came from man, so does every man come from a woman, and everything comes from God.

Far from supporting the Mormon doctrine of eternal marriage, this passage in fact has absolutely nothing to do with the resurrected life. In contrast, the context clearly shows that it is an issue of the authority of man with regard to woman. Verses 11 and 12 are introduced to serve as a reminder that male and female are complementary; while woman came from man (Eve being formed from Adam’s rib; Genesis 2:23), yet evey man has a woman for his mother (Eve being the mother of all the living (Genesis 3:20)). The passage has nothing whatsoever to do with marriage in the eternal state. To suggest otherwise is, for Mormons, merely wishful thinking.

A good passage, in fact possibly the best one in the whole Bible, to show to Mormons regarding the falsehood of the doctrine of eternal marriage is Matthew 22:23-33:

 

Matthew 22:23-33:
That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 24″Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. 25Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27Finally, the woman died. 28Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”
29Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 31But about the resurrection of the dead–have you not read what God said to you, 32′I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
33When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

A couple of notes on the passage will perhaps be helpful. The Sadducees were a religious group who accepted as authoritative only the first five books of the Old Testament, (also known as the ‘Book of Moses’, or the ‘Pentateuch’, namely Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), and rejected all others. It was on the basis of this rejection of the other Old Testament books that the Sadducees rejected the doctrine of the Resurrection, and though that this teaching referred to earthly existence, rather than life in heaven.

The reply that Jesus gives is enough to settle the question of ‘eternal marriage’: ‘At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.’

There are two other points regarding this passage, in particular in regard to Jesus’ answer ‘You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.’ Note that Jesus used the teaching of the Pentateuch to refute the Sadduccees, i.e, He used the authority which they accepted against them. He showed that the resurrection is something that comes from God, Who is God of the living, not the dead.

But the fundamental point to note is this: In the resurrection, there is no need for marriage, precisely because there is no death and consequently no need to propagate the human race.

Mormons will miss the point on something so obvious as this, however, and may perhaps respond with an argument such as:

 

‘This verse means the Sadducees were unbelievers and so were not going to be resurrected to the celestial state so were not going to be able to marry. This verse actually supports the Mormon position.’

(Note: Mormons believe in three separate heavens (this doctrine will be examined in an upcoming paper). Only in their third heaven is marriage allowed. )

Aside from the absence of support for the doctrine which Mormons claim to find in this passage, the idea that in their ‘celestial heaven’ the worthy are allowed to marry is thoroughly refuted by the corresponding passage in St. Luke’s Gospel:

 

Luke 20:27-40:
27 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. 28″Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30The second 31and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. 32Finally, the woman died too. 33Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”
34Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. 37But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’38He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
39Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!” 40And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Notice especially the section verses 35-36. These verses disprove the Mormon interpretation of Matthew 22:23-30 as they (The Mormons) say celestial marriage only applies to those who make it to the highest heaven, and that the Sadduccees do not qualify. But here in Luke, Jesus says that those ‘who are considered worthy of taking part in that age’ (which Mormons would say refers to those going to their “celestial heaven”) will not marry in heaven, and thus the Mormon doctrine is proved false. [My thanks to Stephen for help with this last point.]

Conclusion It has been shown that the Mormon doctrine of eternal marriage is thoroughly unbiblical, and is thoroughly refuted by Scripture.