|
DIRECTORY
Home
General LDS Information
Basic LDS Beliefs
LDS Videos
Critics' Questions
Submitted Questions
Scriptures/LDS Literature
Genealogy/Family
LDS Temples
Missionary
Music and Arts
LDS Online Stores
Priesthood, Humor, Miscel.
Site Map
Suggest a Site
Now accepting banner ads!
|
|
MIKE - I am having a challenge getting my question about marriage answered. Would like to see if you could answer it. Given that:
1. Single people are required to live the law of chastity.
2. Time and space are not reasons to break the law of chastity. (example [The soldier and his wife will need to obey the law of chastity though they are thousands of miles apart.]).
3. Women upon being sealed in the Temple cannot marry again in the Temple.
4. There are a myriad of reasons and situations that the law of chastity will need to be observed.
The question:
Why does the law of chastity become obsolete for women who are separated from their spouses by the veil?
If you or I were to find our spouse with another man it would be devastating to say the least. So why would it be OK for me to look through the veil (if I were on the other side) and see my wife with another man?
JOEL - First of all, according to Paul:
"The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord." (1 Cor 7:39)
So the scriptures confirm that it is OK for a woman to remarry after the death of her husband. I assume you meant her being married to another man.
Secondly, the law of chastity does not become obsolete if your wife is legally married to her new spouse. The temple endowment ceremony itself specifically commands that we should not have sexual relations with anyone unless we are legally and lawfully married to them. Therefore the temple covenant regarding the law of chastity can only be broken when two people have sex without marriage. The expression of love through sex is part of any marriage covenant and is necessary for the physical, mental, and emotional health of the marriage.
"For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh." (Ephesians 5:31)
This scripture is meant to be taken both spiritually and physically. The example of a soldier away from his spouse is only a temporary condition and although the lonliness is real and difficult for both, there is the hope and expectation of seeing each other again in the near future. The condition where one of the spouses dies is more permanent and can last for many many years.
If you love your wife unconditionally, knowing that you are the one she will be with in the eternity, it really should not be a problem.
Normally when a temple married surviving spouse gets married again it is to another temple-married person whose spouse has also died, and the two are married in the temple for time only. The for time only temple sealing places the blessings of god on thier marriage, and both understand that the marriage is for this life only. And any children they have are sealed to the husband of the first marriage; not to the second husband.
And finally, who says you get to look through the veil and see what she is doing? Although there are a few anecdotal stories of people being visited by deceased loved ones and
ministering angels, there is no doctrine that says that anyone is allowed to look through the veil into the mortal world whenever they want. So I really don't think you need to worry about seeing her being intimate with her new husband.
People will react to this type of situation according to their own personality. This really isn't a gospel question; it is up to you to deal with your own attitude and feelings about this situation. Of course I would be devastated if I caught my wife with another man while we were both still alive. But it wouldn't bother me if after I die she chooses to be with another man for the rest of her life. I would not want her to be alone. Our eternal unconditional love and devotion to each other goes far beyond that of our temporary mortal sexual relationship. What you need to do is to be the very best husband you can be now, so that should you die, anyone else she might decide to marry would be a distant second to you, and she will always look forward to being with you for eternity.
If all this bothers you so much on a personal level and your wife agrees with you, then perhaps you and your wife can just promise each other that if either one of you dies the other one will never get married, again. Problem solved. You can still not like it but at least for you it won't be a problem any more.
Once we get to the other side we might have a better understanding about things and what bothers you now as a mortal might not bother you so much in the next life. Bottom line is; don't worry about it.
|
|
|
