Editing Mormonism and polygamy (section)

==Modern plural marriage theory within the LDS Church==
{{Main|Current state of polygamy in the Latter Day Saint movement}}
	
Although the LDS Church has abandoned the practice of plural marriage, it has not abandoned the underlying doctrines of polygamy. It is still the practice of monogamous Mormon couples to be sealed to one another. However, in some circumstances, men and women may be sealed to multiple spouses. Most commonly, a man may be sealed to multiple wives: if his first wife dies, he may be sealed to a second wife. A deceased woman may also be sealed to multiple men, but only through [[#Multiple sealings when a prior spouse has died|vicarious sealing]] if they are also deceased.<ref>[[Handbook (LDS Church)|Handbook 1: Stake Presidents and Bishops]] (Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church, 2010) § 3.6.1.</ref>
	
=== Multiple sealings when a prior spouse has died ===
	
In the case where a man's first wife dies, and the man remarries, and both of the marriages involve a [[sealing (Latter Day Saints)|sealing]], LDS authorities teach that in the afterlife, the man will enter a polygamous relationship with both wives.<ref>[[Charles W. Penrose]], ''"Mormon" Doctrine Plain and Simple, or Leaves from the Tree of Life'', 1897, Salt Lake City, p.66 ("In the case of a man marrying a wife in the everlasting covenant who dies while he continues in the flesh and marries another by the same divine law, each wife will come forth in her order and enter with him into his glory."); [[Joseph Fielding Smith]], [[Bruce R. McConkie]], ed., ''Doctrines of Salvation'', 1956, vol. 2, p. 67 (Smith, who was sealed to two different women, stated, "[M]y wives will be mine in the eternity."); [[Harold B. Lee]], ''Deseret News 1974 Church Almanac'', p. 17 ("My lovely Joan was sent to me: So Joan joins Fern/That three might be, more fitted for eternity./'O Heavenly Father, my thanks to thee'.").</ref> Current apostles [[Russell M. Nelson]] and [[Dallin H. Oaks]] are examples of such a case.<ref>"When I was 66, my wife June died of cancer. Two years later I married Kristen McMain, the eternal companion who now stands at my side." [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2003/10/timing?lang=eng "Timing"], ''[[Ensign (LDS magazine)|Ensign]]'', October 2003.</ref>
	
Under LDS Church policy, a man whose sealed wife has died does not have to request any permission beyond having a current temple recommend and an interview with his bishop to get final permission for a living ordinance, to be married in the temple and sealed to another woman, unless the new wife's circumstance requires a cancellation of sealing. However, a woman whose sealed husband has died is still bound by the original sealing and must request a cancellation of sealing to be sealed to another man (see next paragraph for exception to this after she dies). In some cases, women in this situation who wish to remarry choose to be married to a subsequent husband and are not sealed to them, leaving them sealed to their first husband for eternity.
	
As of 1998, however, women who have died may be sealed to more than one man. In 1998, the LDS Church created a new policy that a woman may also be sealed to more than one man. A woman, however, may not be sealed to more than one man while she is alive. She may only be sealed to subsequent partners after both she and her husband(s) have died.<ref name="CHOI">LDS Church, ''[[Church Handbook of Instructions]]'', (LDS Church, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1998) p. 72. "A deceased woman may be sealed to all men to whom she was legally married during her life. However, if she was sealed to a husband during her life, all her husbands must be deceased before she can be sealed to a husband to whom she was not sealed during life."</ref> Thus, if a widow who was sealed to her first husband remarries, she may be sealed by proxy to all of her subsequent husband(s), but only after both she and the subsequent husbands have died. Proxy sealings, like proxy baptisms, are merely ''offered'' to the person in the afterlife, indicating that the purpose is to allow the woman to choose the right man to be sealed to.<ref>{{Cite web |title=38. Church Policies and Guidelines |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/38-church-policies-and-guidelines?lang=eng |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org |language=en}}</ref> This caveat is necessary to comply with Jesus's teaching in [[Mark 12#The resurrection and marriage|Mark 12]], wherein he teaches the law of marriage with regards to the question of widows remarrying.
	
In the twenty-first century, church leadership has taught that doctrinal knowledge about the nature of family relations in the afterlife is limited and there is no official church teaching on how multiple marriages in life play out in the afterlife beyond trust in God that such matters will work out happily.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Oaks |first=Dallin H. |date=November 2019 |title=Trust in the Lord |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2019/11/17oaks?lang=eng |journal=[[Ensign (LDS magazine)|Ensign]] |publisher=[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]}}</ref>
	
=== Multiple sealings when marriages end in divorce ===
	
A man who is sealed to a woman but later divorced must apply for a "sealing clearance" from the [[First Presidency (LDS Church)|First Presidency]] in order to be sealed to another woman.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why must one who is divorced be cleared by the First Presidency to go back to the temple? |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1976/02/i-have-a-question/why-must-one-who-is-divorced-be-cleared-by-the-first-presidency-to-go-back-to-the-temple?lang=eng |access-date=2021-11-11 |website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org}}</ref> Receiving clearance does not void or invalidate the first sealing. A woman in the same circumstances would apply to the First Presidency for a "cancellation of sealing" (sometimes called a "temple divorce"), allowing her to be sealed to another man. This approval voids the original sealing as far as the woman is concerned.<ref>{{Cite web |last=C |first=Angela |date=2019-06-26 |title=Clearance vs. Cancellation |url=https://bycommonconsent.com/2019/06/26/clearance-vs-cancellation/ |access-date=2021-11-11 |website=By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog |language=en}}</ref> Divorced women who have not applied for a sealing cancellation are considered sealed to the original husband. However, according to Drs. Joseph Stuart and Janiece Johnson of the [[Maxwell Institute|Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship]], even in the afterlife the marriage relationship is voluntary, so no person could be forced into an eternal relationship through a temple sealing they do not wish to be in.<ref>{{Cite podcast |url=https://mi.byu.edu/abide-19-doctrine-and-covenants-129-132/ |title=Abide #19: Doctrine and Covenants 129-132 |website=Abide: A Maxwell Institute Podcast |publisher=[[Maxwell Institute|Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship]] |last=Stuart |first=Joseph |last2=Johnson |first2=Janiece |access-date=December 3, 2021 }} "All eternal relationships are voluntary. We will not be forced into anything eternally" (39:32).</ref> Divorced women may also be granted a cancellation of sealing, even though they do not intend to marry someone else. In this case, they are no longer regarded as being sealed to anyone and are presumed to have the same eternal status as unwed women.
	
=== Proxy sealings where both spouses have died ===
	
According to church policy, after a man has died, he may be sealed by proxy to all of the women to whom he was legally married while he was alive. The same is true for women; however, if a woman was sealed to a man while she was alive, all of her husbands must be deceased before she can be sealed by proxy to them.<ref name = CHOI/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Help Center — FamilySearch.org |url=https://help.familysearch.org/kb/UserGuide/en/policy/r_wws_policy_sealing_to_spouse_multiple_husbands.html |website=help.familysearch.org}}</ref>
	
Church doctrine is not entirely specific on the status of men or women who are sealed by proxy to multiple spouses. There are at least two possibilities:
	
# Regardless of how many people a man or woman is sealed to by proxy, they will only remain with one of them in the afterlife, and that the remaining spouses, who might still merit the full benefits of exaltation that come from being sealed, would then marry another person in order to ensure each has an eternal marriage.
# These sealings create effective plural marriages that will continue after death. There are no church teachings clarifying whether polyandrous relationships can exist in the afterlife, so some church members doubt whether this possibility would apply to women who are sealed by proxy to multiple spouses. The possibility for women to be sealed to multiple men is a recent policy change enacted in 1998. Church leaders have neither explained this change, nor its doctrinal implications.