here's a curious question

[Aqualung]

What would happen if you got married in the temple, and then had kids within that eternal bond of marriage, and then you and your spouse were good enough to get into the celestial kingdom, but your children weren't? Would they get a free pass into the celestial kingdom because they are eternally sealed to their parents?

 

[ChrisP]

What would happen if you got married in the temple, and then had kids within that eternal bond of marriage, and then you and your spouse were good enough to get into the celestial kingdom, but your children weren't? Would they get a free pass into the celestial kingdom because they are eternally sealed to their parents?

I don't think that the familial ties here on earth exist beyond it. That is fairly clear in that if you go to hell, your children can still go to heaven.

So as much as I would like it to happen, I doubt it will.

Console yourself with the thought that you probably won't even remember your family after death.

Or just go read some of Lilithu's poetry posts! Damn it's good! :bounce

 

[SoyLeche]

What would happen if you got married in the temple, and then had kids within that eternal bond of marriage, and then you and your spouse were good enough to get into the celestial kingdom, but your children weren't? Would they get a free pass into the celestial kingdom because they are eternally sealed to their parents?

Your kids are going to have to be worthy of the Celestial Kindom in order to get there. They can break the bands through unworthyness just like you can.

 

[Aqualung]

Ah. Okay, then. That makes sense. thanks.

 

[Aqualung]

But then you punish the parents (by not allowing them to see their children) by what their children do.

 

[SoyLeche]

But then you punish the parents (by not allowing them to see their children) by what their children do.

No more than God is being "punished".

 

[jonny]

Actually, I think that the doctrine is that they will make it to the celestial kingdom because they are sealed to you, but that they will be "servant angels" or something like that. Let me find the scriptures and references and get back to you on this one.

 

[SoyLeche]

This is how I understand it. Think of a chain, and each person is a link. You can have weak links that don't make it. In that case, the links on either side are "connected". If your kids don't make it, but your grandkids do, the connection can still be there, just without that specific link.

Simplistic way of looking at it, but somewhat helpful in visualizing.

 

[Katzpur]

Console yourself with the thought that you probably won't even remember your family after death. :bounce

Console myself by thinking of my worst nightmare? Thanks, SnaleSpace, but no thanks!

 

[Snowbear]

Your kids are going to have to be worthy of the Celestial Kindom in order to get there. They can break the bands through unworthyness just like you can.

What's it take to be considered worthy? Who gets to decide who's worthy or not?

 

[Darkdale]

Console myself by thinking of my worst nightmare? Thanks, SnaleSpace, but no thanks!

I know I'm out of place here; but the only comforting aspect of an afterlife is that you will be reunited with your family and will be able to watch over your descendants. That's my only idea of afterlife.

 

[Aqualung]

I know I'm out of place here; but the only comforting aspect of an afterlife is that you will be reunited with your family and will be able to watch over your descendants. That's my only idea of afterlife.

yeah. what would an after life be without your family?

 

[Aqualung]

What's it take to be considered worthy? Who gets to decide who's worthy or not?

A lot of that is covered in the Doctrine and Covenants, if you want to read that. Section 76 is the one with a good deal of that information in it.

 

[jonny]

Alright! I found the quotes I was looking for:

"We cannot overemphasize the value of temple marriage, the binding ties of the sealing ordinance, and the standards of worthiness required of them. When parents keep the covenants they have made at the altar of the temple, their children will be forever bound to them."
(Boyd K Packer in Conference Report, Apr. 1992, 94-95)

"The Prophet Joseph Smith declared-and he never taught more comforting doctrine-that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant sevice int he Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or in the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tred a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father's heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God"
(Orson F. Whitney in Conference Report, Apr. 1929, 110)

"Let the father and mother, who are members of this Church and kingdom, take a righteous course, and strive with all their might never to do a wrong, but to do good all their lives; if they have one child or one hundred children, if they conduct themselves towards them as they should, binding them to the Lord by their faith and prayers, I care not where those children go, they are bound up to their parents by an everlasting tie, and no power on earth or hell can separate them from their parents in eternity; they will return again to the fountain from whence they sprang."
(Brigham Young in Journal of Discourses, 11:215)

“Children born under the covenant, who drift away, are still the children of their parents; and the parents have a claim upon them; and if the children have not sinned away all their rights, the parents may be able to bring them through repentance, into the celestial kingdom, but not to receive the exaltation.” (Joseph Fielding Smith Doctrines of Salvation, 2:91)

“There are very few whose rebellion and evil deeds are so great that they have ‘sinned away the power to repent.’ That judgment must also be left up to the Lord. He tells us, ‘I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.’” (James E. Faust Conference Report, April 2003, p. 68)

“Repentant wayward children will enjoy salvation and all the blessings that go with it, but exaltation is much more. It must be fully earned. The question as to who will be exalted must be left to the Lord in His mercy.” (James E. Fauth Conference Report, April 2003, p. 68)

“Yes, in the next life we will have our wives, and our sons and daughters. If we do not get them all at once, we will have them some time, for every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is the Christ. You that are mourning about your children straying away will have your sons and your daughters. If you succeed in passing through these trials and afflictions and receive a resurrection, you will, by the power of the Priesthood, work and labor, as the Son of God has, until you get all your sons and daughters in the path of exaltation and glory. This is just as sure as the sun rose this morning over yonder mountains.
Therefore, mourn not because all your sons and daughters do not follow in the path that you have marked out to them, or give heed to you counsels. Inasmuch as we succeed in securing eternal glory, and stand as saviors, and as kings and priests to our God, we will save our posterity. . . . God will have His own way in his own time, and He will accomplish His purposes in the salvation of His sons and daughters. . . . God bless you, brethren and sisters. Do not be discouraged is the word I wish to pass to you. . . .” (Lorenzo Snow address delivered 6 Oct. 1893; in Stuy, Collected Discourses, 3:364-65)

There are some more quotes on this page: http://emp.byui.edu/WIGHTMANG/Bom_121/Class_Articles/Sealing_Power.htm

 

[FFH]

I will say amen to jonny's quotes. Certainly the temple does bind families together. It is hard to break the Everlasting Covenant of Marriage made in the temple. Nothing short of blaspheming the Holy Ghost, which is commiting murder after having been married in the temple, will break the sealings made in the Holy House of the Lord. Look at Doctrine and Covenants 132: 27 In other words as long as you or your wife or your kids do not murder anyone after having been married in the temple, then all will be saved eventually.

Mark Hacking is a prime example of a marriage sealing gone bad. He had been on a mission gone thru the temple been sealed to his wife and then stabbed her do death. His marriage (Everlasting Covenant of Marriage) to his wife was at that time not valid.

Doctrine and Covenants 132 (Marriage Covenant)

 

[ChrisP]

woops didn't notice the location of this thread. SORRRRY!!!! :banghead3

 

[Katzpur]

What's it take to be considered worthy? Who gets to decide who's worthy or not?

Stew,

There are specific guidelines that all Latter-day Saints are familiar with in order to be married in the temple. All of us are encouraged to commit to a lifestyle embodying those values. We must have a firm belief in our Savior, Jesus Christ and a testimony of the restored gospel. We must support our leaders and listen to their counsel. We must pay a full tithing, live by our health code (which prohibits taking harmful substances into our bodies), be morally clean (which means no sexual relations outside of marriage), be honest in our dealings with our fellow men, and treat our spouses and children with the deepest respect.

Once someone has been married in the temple, he must keep the covenants he makes there. Failure to do so will invalidate the eternal marriage covenant.

One's bishop and stake president (local eccesiastical leaders) conduct interviews in which a couple wishing to go to the temple answer a series of questions (based on the guidelines outlined in my first paragraph). If they can answer all of these questions in a satisfactory way, they are issued "temple recommends" which will permit them to participate in the ordinances performed in the temple. We believe that our bishops and stake presidents have been given the authority by God to make the decision as to whether or not to issue these recommends.

 

[Katzpur]

I will say amen to jonny's quotes. Certainly the temple does bind families together. It is hard to break the Everlasting Covenant of Marriage made in the temple. Nothing short of blaspheming the Holy Ghost, which is commiting murder after having been married in the temple, will break the sealings made in the Holy House of the Lord. Look at Doctrine and Covenants 132: 27 In other words as long as you or your wife or your kids do not murder anyone after having been married in the temple, then all will be saved eventually.

Mark Hacking is a prime example of a marriage sealing gone bad. He had been on a mission gone thru the temple been sealed to his wife and then stabbed her do death. His marriage (Everlasting Covenant of Marriage) to his wife was at that time not valid.

Doctrine and Covenants 132 (Marriage Covenant)

Faith,

I always hesitate to question what a fellow Latter-day Saint says on this forum, but your comments have bothered me ever since you posted them. I don't believe there is any doctrinal basis for your equating murder (as commited by an endowed member of the Church) with blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. Obviously, both are horrendous sins. But blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is, as I understand it, denying Christ after having received (from the Holy Ghost) a perfect knowledge of Him. In and of itself, it has nothing to do with murder. While it goes without saying that Mark and Lori Hacking's sealing would be made invalid by his act, it is not in the same category as blasphemy against the Holy Ghost -- which is said to be the only sin for which a man cannot be forgiven and for which he will be made a son of perdition. As to what Mark Hacking's eternal fate is, I wouldn't even presume to guess. I doubt, however, that he will end up in such a state. I assume that God will take his mental health into consideration when judging him, and believe that, just like anyone else, he will have the opportunity to repent for his sins.