President Joseph Fielding Smith
Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
My dear brethren and sisters: Frequently some person comes to me with a personal problem in relation to his marriage. The husband and the wife are not getting along well together, and a divorce seems to be staring them in the face. They have a number of children, and yet differences arise that seem to be vital to their continued union.
If the parents were both living in full accord with the divine principles of the gospel, such a condition would not arise. There would be peace and harmony in the home.
Throughout the so-called Christian world, divorce is a common thing, but people in other churches do not have the proper understanding in relation to the marriage union. To them marriage, is at best a temporary union, and the ceremony performed by a minister or a judge or other official who is legally authorized to marry emphatically and definitely states that the union shall be until death, and then the marriage comes to an end. Their doctrine concerning marriage is that it is an earthly ordinance or union and that it ends at death. This false doctrine is impressed upon their minds because of the statement of the Lord to the Sadducees who came to him with their problems concerning the woman who had seven husbands. I quote this conversation:
". . . Master, Moses wrote unto us If any man's brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
"There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children.
"And the second took her to wife and he died childless.
"And the third took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and died.
"Last of all the woman died also.
"Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife.
"And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:
"But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
"Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
"Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
"For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him." (Luke 20:28-38.)
Marriage is Forever
Let us remember that the first marriage on this earth, that of Adam and Eve, was performed before there was any death in the world; therefore it was intended to be forever. Marriage, if performed by divine authority, is to last forever. In the temples of the Lord men and women are married with an everlasting covenant. Children are born to them in this covenant to be theirs forever and therefore the family union was intended to endure forever.
Paul makes this perfectly clear in his writings to the Corinthian members of the Church when he declared unto them that "Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord." (1 Cor. 11:11.) Again he said to the Ephesians:
"Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
"Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named," (Eph. 3:13-15.)
The prevalent idea in the world that marriage is a covenant for this life only is in contradiction to what is written in the scriptures. Let it be remembered that when Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden there was no death.
We also read that the Lord declared that it was not good for the man to be alone, therefore Eve was brought upon the scene to be a "help meet for him." (See Gen. 2:18.) Thus we see that marriage and the family organization were intended to be forever. It was by a divine commandment, and Adam and Eve were commanded to multiply and fill the earth with their posterity.
Family is Forever
In this the final dispensation, the Prophet Joseph Smith was taught by revelation that the union between a man and his wife was to endure forever. Death, while it would intervene, was to be only a temporary separation and the union of husband and wife would continue on through all eternity. And then the family union would also endure forever and each generation, in the kingdom of God, would be eternally joined to the one that went on before from the end of time back to the beginning. Thus the children of the covenant would eventually be joined together and the children of God become one grand family. Each generation would be linked to the one which went on before of all those who would receive the gospel and become members of the divine family of God.
President Young Unjustly Condemned
Now I would like to express another thought which is vital to us one and all. President Brigham Young has been unjustly condemned for a statement that he made to the effect that Adam is our God and the only one with whom we have to do. President Young's statement has been unmercifully condemned, but what he said is a righteous principle and in full accord with the doctrines of the kingdom of God. It is the doctrine of primogeniture in the kingdom of God and a glorious principle when it is fully and clearly understood.
Adam in the Valley
Permit me to quote from a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith:
"Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch and Methuselah, who were all high priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and there bestowed upon them his last blessing.
"And the Lord administered comfort unto Adam, and said unto him: I have set thee to be at the head, a multitude of nations shall come of thee, and thou art a prince over them forever.
"And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation; and, notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being full of the Holy Ghost, predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation." (D&C 107:53, 55-56.)
Again in another revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, we find the following:
"That you [that is, the Saints] may come up unto the crown prepared for you, and be made rulers over many kingdoms, saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Zion, who hath established the foundations of Adam-ondi-Ahman;
"Who hath appointed Michael your prince"
"Who hath appointed Michael your prince, and established his feet, and set him upon high, and given unto him the keys of salvation under the counsel and direction of the Holy One, who is without beginning of days or end of life." (Ibid., 78:15-16 )
Thus we learn by virtue of the law of primogeniture, that all who are saved in the kingdom of God will be subject to Adam, for by divine appointment he holds these keys under the direction of Jesus Christ. I might carry this law a little further. According to the gospel of Jesus Christ, Joseph Fielding Smith will be subject to his father, and his father to his father in the family of God; and so it will go back from the end to the beginning; and we will all be obedient to Adam whom the Prophet Joseph Smith declared holds the keys of salvation for his posterity who are redeemed, but "under the counsel and direction of the Holy One," who is Jesus Christ who stands at the head because he is the Redeemer of the world, who gave us, through his atonement, the resurrection and eternal life if we will only repent and keep his laws and commandments.
Obey Ordinances and Principles and Gain Harmony
If a man and his wife were earnestly and faithfully observing all the ordinances and principles of the gospel there could not arise any cause for divorce. The joy and happiness pertaining to the marriage relationship would grow sweeter, and husband and wife would become more and more attached to each other as the days go by. Not only would the husband love the wife and the wife the husband, but children born to them would live in an atmosphere of love and harmony. The love of each for the others would not be impaired, and moreover the love of all towards our Eternal Father and his Son Jesus Christ would be more firmly rooted in their souls.
Divorce was never contemplated in the gospel plan, and, where true love exists, disharmony between father and mother and from children to parents will not arise. We are, all of us here in this mortal world, on probation. We were sent here primarily to obtain tabernacles for our eternal spirits secondly, to be proved by trial, to have tribulation as well as the abundant joy and happiness that can be obtained through a sacred covenant of obedience to the eternal principles of the gospel. Mortality, as Lehi informed his children, is a "probationary state." (2 Nephi 2:21.) It is here where we are to be tried and tested to see if we will when shut out of the presence of our Eternal Father but still instructed in the way of eternal life, love and revere him and be true to his Beloved Son Jesus Christ. These principles should be laid in the foundation of every home. No prayer should be neglectful in regard to the sacred principles of the gospel of our Redeemer. The Lord has commanded us, one and all, to bring our chldren up in light and truth. Where this spirit exists, disharmony disobedience, and neglect of sacred duties will not, cannot, succeed.
Prayer to our Eternal Father in the name of his Beloved Son should prevail in the home. Where this is observed in the spirit of faith and humility, the evil of divorce and disobedience of the commandments pertaining to our eternal salvation cannot exist.
I conclude with a statement by President David O. McKay:
"When we refer to the breaking of the marriage tie, we touch upon one of the saddest experiences of life. For a couple who have basked in the sunshine of each other's love to stand by daily and see the clouds of misunderstanding and discord obscure the love light of their lives is tragedy indeed. In the darkness that follows, the love sparkle in each other's eyes is obscured. To restore it, fruitless attempts are made to say the right word and to do the right thing; but the word and act are misinterpreted, and angry retort reopens the wound, and hearts once united become tom wider and wider asunder. When this heartbreaking state is reached, a separation is sought. But divorce is not the proper solution, especially if there are children concerned. . . .
"Except in cases of infidelity or other extreme conditions, the Church frowns upon divorce, and authorities look with apprehension upon the increasing number of divorces in the Church.
"Marriage is ordained of God that children might be so trained that they may eventually be worthy of Christ's presence; and that home is happiest in which they are welcomed, as God and nature intended they should be. . . .
"Some young couples enter into marriage and procrastinate the bringing of children into their homes. They are running a great risk. Marriage is for the purpose of rearing a family, and youth is the time to do it. I admire those young mothers with four or five children around them now, still young, happy. . . .
"The principal reason for marriage is to rear a family. Failure to do so is one of the conditions that cause love to wilt and eventually to die." (Gospel Ideals, pp. 469-470, 466.)
Brethren and sisters, let us one and all be true to every covenant of the gospel. Remember to pray and give obedience unto our Heavenly Father and his Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, I humbly pray in the name of our Redeemer. Amen.