How can there be marriage in heaven? Doesn’t that contradict the Bible?

A common question I’ve been asked regards eternal marriage: “How can there be marriage in heaven? Doesn’t that contradict the Bible?”

Many people have quoted the story in Matt. 22 (“they neither marry, nor are given in marriage” in heaven) to suggest that eternal marriage is not possible. To understand that passage, we must first recognize that marriage is an ordinance bringing change in relationships and is thus an ordinance for this mortal world that must be performed before we enter into the eternal realms in the presence of the Father. We do not marry in heaven – that ordinance must be done beforehand. To have eternal power to seal in heaven what is sealed on earth, the sealing of a man and woman must be performed in the Temple by one who has received the sealing power that Christ gave to Peter. This is what Temple marriage is all about. And it can only be done on earth.

Further insight into this questions comes from Dan Bachman (e-mail, March 1999):

It may interest you to know that the Matt. 22 story of the woman and her seven husbands was one of the very passages which caused Joseph Smith to inquire of the Lord about marriage. The Lord’s response to his prayer is known as Doctrine and Covenants 132, and is the main revelation responsible for our belief in eternal marriage. What I’m saying is the very passage you say refutes the idea of eternal marriage is the one which led to its introduction in the LDS Church. How so?

The story told to Jesus by the Sadducees was about a specific woman and her seven husbands. They wanted to know “in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven?” (Matt. 22:28) The Savior’s reply is extremely interesting and merits a great deal of thought. He said that they erred in denying the resurrection on the basis of this story for two reasons. First, they did not know the scriptures. Second, they did not know the power of God. That is interesting, because these were supposedly the scripture experts of that day — yet he said they did not know them.

He went on to say “For in the resurrection THEY neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. Let me make the following points regarding the Savior’s reply.

1) The word “they” refers specifically to the 8 people in the story, and not necessarily to all other people. Who were these people? In verse 25, the Sadducees say “there were WITH US seven brethren,” suggesting that the seven men in this specific case study were Sadducees also. Sadducees were a rather worldly group that denied the resurrection and generally rejected Christ. They aren’t likely to be in the kingdom of heaven, so their marriages on earth are irrelevant. Yet, most Christians believe that this verse means that nobody is married in heaven. That is wrong – and fact made even more clear by the next point below.

2) If you read verse 30 carefully, Jesus clearly speaks of two groups in
heaven: a) people who are married in heaven and b) angels.

I believe it is this implication that perhaps led Joseph Smith to inquire of God about the meaning of this passage. Joseph left two records about what he learned by revelation in answer to his question. The first is a summary statement about the story, which comes from the minutes of a meeting where he told a questioner that he learned that a man must marry for eternity or else he would be single in heaven. The more detailed account can be found in D&C 132:4-28. The most pertinent verses are 7, 15-17.

Verse 7 explains that for a marriage to be eternal it must meet four conditions which are: 1) it must be made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. 2) It must be performed by “him who is anointed”–in other words who is properly authorized to perform the eternal marriage. 3) It must be done “both as well for time and for all eternity.” And 4) it must be done by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed.”

Now verses 15-17 explain that the reason the woman and her seven husband were not married eternally is because they did not meet these four requirements. Verses 16-17 make clear the distinction between being eternally married and being an angel. They read:

16) 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…. 17) For these angels did not abide my law; 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.”

If the story in Matt. 22 is understood in a more generic sense, not just applying to the seven Sadducee brothers, it is still technically correct. Temple marriage, like baptism, is an ordinance of change and covenant making that must occur prior to entering into heaven. They are ordinances intended for mortals to prepare them for the endless state of Eternal Life in God’s presence by bringing mortals into unchanging, eternal covenants. Christ did not say that the married state does not exist, nor that husbands and wives will not be sealed in the heavens, but he said that marriages aren’t performed in heaven. Neither baptism nor marriage is performed in heaven, but must be done on earth. Christ gave Peter power to seal, such that what is sealed ON EARTH might remain sealed in heaven (Matt. 16:19). Temple marriage is also called “sealing” since a husband and wife are sealed together. It is an ordinance that can only be done on earth, like baptism, but if done with proper authority and if the terms of that covenant are fulfilled, then the sealing will be valid in the heavens and the husband and wife will be heirs together of the grace of life (1 Pet. 3:7).

Thus, in a generic sense, Christ explained that after we are resurrected, there would be no confusion about relationships because marriages aren’t performed there. Marriage, baptism, and some other covenants are handled on earth, either by the living themselves or by the living vicariously for the deceased, and sources of confusion will need to be ironed out and resolved with God’s help before we enter into Eternal Life in His presence.

In Matt. 19:4-6, shortly after Christ gave Peter power to seal in heaven what was sealed on earth, Christ spoke of marriage:

And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them in the beginning made them male and female,

And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Adam and Eve, before they fell, were immortal and were joined by God. There is no indication that God said “until death do you part” in joining them. They were married in an immortal state and were intended to remain joined together. “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” In the LDS view, based on direct and clear revelations to the Prophet Joseph Smith, we know that marriage is intended to be eternal, that a husband and wife are meant to be sealed together in heaven. Those who have experienced the rich joy of true love between a husband and wife – as I have – should marvel that God would want it any other way. Marriage is one of the greatest and most divine gifts – a gift that is not eradicated in the resurrection. The world has lost this knowledge, but I’m grateful for the Restoration of the fullness of the Gospel and for the restoration of the Temple, where such sacred ordinances are performed.

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Author: Jeff Lindsay

11 thoughts on “How can there be marriage in heaven? Doesn’t that contradict the Bible?

  1. Thanks for that clarification! Reading that scripture now, after reading this, makes complete sense and goes very well with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

  2. I know that I’m happy to have been taken to the temple by my husband and sealed to him for eternity. I have a hard time being away from him for a day or two. I’d hate to not be his forever.

  3. We had a son die just 14 hours after birth due to heart defects. One of the questions we asked was if he was an ‘Angel Baby’, as they say, could he be married. We found the following article which addresses it: http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1977.htm/ensign%20april%201977.htm/the%20salvation%20of%20little%20children%20.htm

    Salvation of little children, by Bruce R. McConkie.

    “Will children be married and live in the family unit?
    Certainly. There can be no question about this. If they gain salvation, which is eternal life, which is exaltation, it means that they are married and live in the family unit. President Joseph Fielding Smith has so stated in plain words, and it is something that must necessarily be so. (See Doctrines of Salvation, 2:49-57.)”

    also:
    “Will they have eternal life?
    Eternal life is life in the highest heaven of the celestial world; it is exaltation; it is the name of the kind of life God lives. It consists of a continuation of the family unit in eternity. We have quoted scriptures saying that children will be saved in the celestial kingdom, but now face the further query as to whether this includes the greatest of all the gifts of God—the gift of eternal life. And in the providences of Him who is infinitely wise, the answer is in the affirmative.

    Abinadi said, “Little children also have eternal life.” (Mosiah 15:25.) Joseph Smith taught, “Children will be enthroned in the presence of God and the Lamb; … they will there enjoy the fulness of that light, glory, and intelligence, which is prepared in the celestial kingdom.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 200.) President Joseph Fielding Smith spoke very expressly on this point: “The Lord will grant unto these children the privilege of all the sealing blessings which pertain to the exaltation. We were all mature spirits before we were born, and the bodies of little children will grow after the resurrection to the full stature of the spirit, and all the blessings will be theirs through their obedience, the same as if they had lived to maturity and received them on the earth. The Lord is just and will not deprive any person of a blessing, simply because he dies before that blessing can be received. It would be manifestly unfair to deprive a little child of the privilege of receiving all the blessings of exaltation in the world to come simply because it died in infancy. … Children who die in childhood will not be deprived of any blessing. When they grow, after the resurrection, to the full maturity of the spirit, they will be entitled to all the blessings which they would have been entitled to had they been privileged to tarry here and receive them.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:54.)”

  4. THANK YOU, MY HUSBAND DIED MARCH 13,2007 AND I LOVE THAT MAN WITH ALL MY HEART SO THE THOUGHT OF NOT HAVING HIM IN HEAVEN AS MY HUSBAND WAS TEARING ME APART. THANKS FOR THE COMFORT.

  5. THANK YOU, MY HUSBAND DIED MARCH 13,2007 AND I LOVE THAT MAN WITH ALL MY HEART SO THE THOUGHT OF NOT HAVING HIM IN HEAVEN AS MY HUSBAND WAS TEARING ME APART. THANKS FOR THE COMFORT.

  6. You are entitled to your beliefs just as I am. But, quite frankly I am appalled that you, a mere mortal, think you have the right to explain the Lord to me or anyone else.

    The Lord doesn’t need a spokeperson.

    For shame!

  7. Thanks, Anonymous. I’m honored that a non-mere-mortal would drop by to clear up my thinking. You forgot to add a preamble to your comments: “Thus saith the Lord.” You should also sign it with “His/her spokesperson” – unless you think you are God, which, of course, is totally cool, too.

  8. The essay above answered my question well, but as I read the posts below it I encountered another issue. If McConkie said that a child who dies is able to wed in the Celestial kingdom doesn’t that contradict your explaination above? Also, was sealing ever practiced prior to Joseph Smith’s Revelation, perhaps before the Great Apostacy? Or are no couples who were wed before the True Gospel was revealed married for eternity? I can’t seem to find an answer on anything other than anti-mormon websites and they can be so scathing in their explainations. They don’t express Mormon views as much as they bash them.

  9. Good question AllieCat. I was trying to find some information about this tonight and I see the contradiction. Someone please answer this and tie up the loose end here.

  10. So if I understand your explanation right, the 8 people in the story were Sadducees and thus their marriages were not relevant anyway. How then, if they did not abide by God's law, can they be "angels" in heaven?

    I'm having trouble finding the rest of your verse in my Bible. The one discussing the Sadducees not "abiding" by law and being "separate" angels in heaven. In my King James Version, as well as the New American Version, the verse goes like this:

    29Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. 30For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. 31But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 32I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. 33And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.

    From my understanding, the term "til death do us part" was not about the afterlife. When people die, and we all have our own time to go, their souls go to a different place, first to meet our Creator, then to Heaven. Many times their spouses left on earth, in a earthly, mortal state until it is their time to go as well. In most Christian faiths, we believe we will all be united in Heaven at some point. Maybe not in our earthly state as Man and Wife, but in a relationship even greater.

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