I wrote
this in 2004 and gave it my understanding of the proclamation as proclaimed by Gordon
B. Hinckley the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at
the time. Needless to say, I believe in the principles of the document.
“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.”
With the beginning of
this proclamation, the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles are
establishing the basis of the topic of the proclamation. This proclamation centers on marriage and
family and Heavenly Father’s purpose for them.
We are going to take a short look at The Proclamation and see what we
can learn.
In the second
paragraph, we read: “All human beings – male and female – are created in the
image of God.” We are taught this in
Genesis 1:27. “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created
He him; male and female created he them.”
The book of Moses 2:27 confirms this: “And I, God, created man in mine
own image; in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female
created I them.: Abraham adds his
witness also, in Abraham 4:27: “So the Gods went down to organize man in their
own image, in the image of the Gods to form they him, male and female, to form
they them.” Thus, in the mouths of two
or three witnesses is the truth established.
As
we go back to the proclamation, we read: “Each is a beloved spirit son or
daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and
destiny. Gender is an essential
characteristic of individual pre-mortal, mortal, and eternal identity and
purpose.” So, according to the Proclamation and all that we have been taught as
members of this Church, we are literally spirit children of a loving Heavenly
Father.
We
are taught that our purpose here on earth is to become more like our Father in
Heaven and to attain Godhood just as our Father before us attained
Godhood. Psalms 82:6 reads: “I have
said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High.” And when we die, Ecclesiastes 12:7 tells us
what will happen: “Then shall dust return to the earth as it was: and the
spirit shall return to God who gave it.”
The Apostle Paul also taught this doctrine to the Greeks of being off
spring of our Heavenly Father in Acts 17:28-29: “For in him we live, and move,
and have our being; as certain also of your poets have said. For we are also his offspring. For as much then as we are the offspring of
God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or
stone, graven by art and man’s device.”
Going
again to the Proclamation, we read, “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 towards perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny
as an heir of eternal life.” In this, we
are taught several things. First and
foremost, there is a premortal life. If
we are spiritual children of a Father in Heaven, we had to have lived in this
premortal life. The premortal life is
where our intelligences were organized to become the children of God. We recognized that Heavenly Father did this
for us. Scripturally, we learn from
Abraham 3:22: “Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that
were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the
noble and great ones. And God saw these
souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said:
These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he
saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them;
thou wast chosen before thou wast born.”
Now
that we have established that we did indeed live in the spiritual realm, we had
to have progressed as spirits, learning all that we could. As we learned all that we could as spirits,
we began to long to become more like our Father who had a physical body. Our Father wanted us to progress and become
like Him. He recognized that there were
many things that we needed to experience and learn. He also recognized that we all had different
talents and abilities and that in order to succeed, we had to learn to exercise
our free agency. We had to be free to
choose to follow correct teachings.
With
acknowledging the fact that there is a spiritual world or a premortal life, we
then must take the step that a physical world needed to be created. Once again, we need to examine the books of
Genesis, Moses, and Abraham in order to get an account of the creation. These references are Genesis Chapter 1, Moses
Chapter 2, and Abraham Chapter 4 respectively, including the creation of our
ancient ancestors, Adam and Eve. I will
leave you to compare these scriptures to discover the similarities of these
accounts for yourselves since the actual creation is not my topic but necessary
to mention in relation to the Proclamation.
In order to become an heir of eternal life, we need to experience life
as a mortal and to be tried.
Going
back to the proclamation, we read: “The divine plan of happiness enables family
relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances available in Holy Temples
make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families
to be united eternally.”
What
was it that attracted you to the Gospel?
Was it the revelation that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are separate
personages or was it the promise of eternal marriage with your spouse and the
promise of being a family forever? In Doctrine
and Covenants 132:19, the Lord says:
“And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word
which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto
them by the Holy Spirit of Promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have
appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto
them – Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the
first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones,
kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths, then
shall it be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder
whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no
murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things
whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity;
and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass
by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory
in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a
fullness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.”
In
the Proclamation, we find: “The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve
pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife.” In Genesis 1:28, we find that commandment:
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the
earth.”
The
First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve make a number of declarations in
regards to the family in this proclamation: “We declare that God’s commandment
for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded
that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and
woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.
President Spencer W. Kimball taught that marriage and family should not
be postponed for any reason. He said in The
Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball page 328: “Supreme happiness in marriage is
governed considerably by a primary factor – that of the bearing and rearing of children.” President Kimball also said something very
important about marriage. He said, “It
is not enough to refrain from adultery.
We need to make the marriage relationship sacred, to sacrifice and work
to maintain the warmth and respect which we felt during courtship. God intended for marriage to be eternal,
sealed by the power of the priesthood in the temples of the Lord. Daily acts of courtesy and kindness,
conscientiously planned for, are part of what the Lord expects.”
President
Kimball went on to say: “If two people love the Lord more than their own lives
and then love each other more than their own lives, working together in total
harmony with the gospel program as their basic structure, they are sure to have
this great happiness. When a husband and
wife go together frequently to the holy temple, kneel in prayer together in
their home with their family, go hand in hand to their religious meetings, keep
their lives wholly chaste, mentally and physically, so that their whole
thoughts and desires and love are all centered in one being, their companion,
and both are working together for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God, then
happiness is at its pinnacle.”
The
proclamation continues with “We declare the means by which mortal life is
created to be divinely appointed. We
affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.” Everything that we have learned by studying
the Gospel tells us this. The scriptures
teach us this. This is taught in one of
the ten commandments, “Thou shalt not kill.”
“Husband
and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for
their children. ‘Children are an
heritage of the Lord’ (Psalms 127:3).
Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteous
ness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love
and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding
citizens where they live. Husbands and
wives – mothers and fathers – will be held accountable before God for the
discharge of these obligations.” Adam
and Eve were righteous examples of parenthood.
They tried to teach their children about the Gospel. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob followed in their
footsteps in teaching their children.
There are many examples throughout the scriptures, all the scriptures,
including Lehi and Sarah, Nephi and his wife, Mary and Joseph. Latter day prophets have all taught that
training children in the way that they should go is very, very necessary.
“The
family is ordained of God. Marriage
between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the
bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honour
marital vows with complete fidelity.
Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon
the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on
principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love,
compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over
their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the
necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the
nurture of their children. In these
sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another
as equal partners. Disability, death, or
other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when
needed.”
The
First Presidency message for the month of August 2004 was about Fathers,
Mothers, and marriage. It goes into
greater detail about this and the roles of parents in a family. This is very important to them and to the
Lord. The Lord created family units starting
with Adam and Eve and this is emphasized throughout the scriptures. Even though Moses grew up not knowing his
natural family or heritage, he was inspired by the Lord to learn about his
family and return to them. Section 132
of the Doctrine and Covenants gives us precise instructions regarding
marriage. In this section, the Lord uses
Abraham, David, Solomon, and Moses as examples.
The
proclamation also pronounces a warning: “We warn that individuals who violate
covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill
family responsibilities will one day stand before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of
the family will bring on individuals, communities, and nations the calamities
foretold by ancient and modern prophets.”
This warning has been given by modern prophets such as Brigham
Young. He taught that children needed to
be taught with love and not harshness.
We see the evidence of some of these warnings now with more broken homes
and young people with no respect for anyone including themselves. The First Presidency and the Council of the
Twelve Apostles conclude with an appeal: “We call upon responsible citizens and
officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to
maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.”
These
men have not pronounced anything new.
They have just re-iterated what the prophets have taught for
millennia. This is what the Lord wants
for us and for all mankind. We need to
teach this to our friends and neighbours wherever we are. The Lord demands this of us. He wants us to set the examples for our
neighbours and the rest of the world. He
wants a righteous people. We need to
work with our children and parents need to realize the tremendous responsibility
that they have to the Lord and to their children. Life is not complete without a spouse,
without children. The responsibilities
that we undertake now will help prepare us for eternal life where we will have
greater responsibilities. This life does
prepare us for the next life.
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