“The Blessing That's Anticipated Here Will Be Realized in the Next Life”: The Development of Modern Latter-day Saint Marital Sealing Rules

Abstract

Sealing rules, which govern wedding rituals in Latter-day Saint temples, constitute a hitherto unstudied religious law of marriage that has continued to evolve from the first introduction of sealing rituals in the 1840s to the present.1 This article provides an account of the development of contemporary sealing rules. That story begins in 1888. In that year Utah passed its first marriage statute, making marriage law in Mormon country essentially indistinguishable from the rest of the United States for the first time.2 Prior to 1888, for practical purposes, sealings simply were legal marriages, although after 1862 plural sealings violated the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act. During the territorial period, couples could dissolve their marriages by obtaining a “church divorce” in which the president of the church granted a divorce petition that was then memorialized using a preprinted contract of separation.3 Between 1888 and 1899, when the Utah Supreme Court declared that church divorces lacked any legal efficacy, the Latter-day Saints had to begin clearly differentiating the religious rules governing sealings from the secular legal rules governing marriage.4This process had two parts. First, the church had to adapt its marriage practices to a new secular regime that after 1890 it no longer sought to challenge. Second, it had to determine how its sealing practices would function in a world where sealings were no longer necessarily synonymous with legal marriages. This process was complicated by the practice of proxy sealings for deceased ancestors, which meant rules had to be promulgated for both the living and the dead. In addition, the abandonment of polygamy, which began in 1890, influenced sealing rules. In 1904, the church began moving decisively to impose monogamy as an internal ecclesiastical standard on Latter-day Saints, although it would take decades to expel internal dissidents who continued to practice polygamy. Despite these efforts, however, new sealing rules based on allegiance to plural marriage would be promulgated in the 1920s and 1930s. These rules were not a continuation of nineteenth-century practice; rather, they were an invention of the first part of the twentieth century. Later, those rules came under pressure from shifts in both theology and practice as Mormonism moved further and further away from nineteenth-century polygamy.It would be a mistake to imagine that sealing rules represent a simple working out of the implications of Mormon theology. First, Latter-day Saint theology has evolved over time, and often the rules reflect theological ambivalence rather than a single, well-worked out theological position. Second, the rules have been shaped by legal and institutional pressures. As is often the case in legal systems, Latter-day Saint sealing practices represent a layering of rules promulgated at different times in response to different concerns. Each new layer supplements and modifies the previous layer without repealing it. The result is a corpus juris that tries to respond to practical demands but is filled with tensions and inconsistencies.There are basically three strata of sealing rules that have survived into the present. The first layer was promulgated as part of the church's abandonment of plural marriage. These rules emphasize the centralization of sealing authority in the face of polygamist diehards, a desire to avoid conflict with secular marriage law, and a continuing commitment to polygamy in the hereafter. They were largely put in place by the 1930s.The second strata was promulgated in the second half of the twentieth century. These rules focus on posthumous sealings and were vital in facilitating temple worship as a regular and lifelong part of Latter-day Saint practice, something that began in earnest with the church's first international temples in the 1950s. These rules represent a liberalization of posthumous sealing practices and, at least for deceased persons, abandon the earlier rules’ implied commitment to polygamy in the eternities. The ironic result of this new layer of rules is that while modern sealing rules for living persons seem to have a strong implicit assumption of polygamy after death, sealing rules for dead people do not. This shift reflects the needs of mass temple worship and a waning theological commitment to plural marriage.Finally, there is a third strata laid down at the of the twentieth and of the that to the by the of divorce and making at the to the of earlier rules without The result is a of sealing rules that while to practical demands but which be a single, theological story of modern sealing rules begins with the of the legal regime governing marriage that the Latter-day Saints in territorial law, marriage is a of territorial law and is by a marriage have In the case of the Supreme Court declared that of an marriage was not and that of marriage was the of the marriage statute, that marriage be from of the in the and from which marriage be law the a of came to marriage simply a to be territorial the Latter-day Saints not to a marriage of any a in the of granted to the church by the first territorial simply that the church had the authority to marriage with the of which not be In Utah have been by a desire to of that to although of the church's Latter-day Saint to of marriages, and were a in the were to over the Saints, law was in Mormon and would not be a in the at which the marriage in the church's Utah law simply an of the marriage that had been in law in territorial there any a sealing and a legal marriage. legal purposes, sealings simply were marriages. were no legal as obtaining a marriage that were in the of its the Act. The law a marriage that was not with the In the Utah territorial a marriage in The law the of marriage marriages not by an which was to of the in regular with any religious could be after first obtaining a marriage from the and those the marriage had to a to the at the of the were those who marriages without a in of the with new legal sealings were no longer legal the Latter-day Saints in the they were in on divorce than they were in on marriage. In the Utah territorial a law on divorce In practice, however, Utah divorce was often than this The law granted over divorce to the in practice, couples often the church president for divorce rather than to in practice was in to where plural sought was to who to their In that those to divorce a to the to Latter-day Saints that a church divorce had of the legal of a divorce and the not as an ecclesiastical but as a The of was and the church preprinted Latter-day Saint divorce regime was in the legal into the twentieth century. In a in the of the to the of a Mormon on the that the divorce” from first was and the two had been the it as that the divorce” was but that after the first a law marriage came into the and second their marriage had been and The in over where who had church divorces their legal as The Utah Supreme Court in that divorces were which had the of who that they had been their of after 1888, it for the first to clearly sealing rules from secular The of was the in the development of these rules. the the to marriages in The of sealing authority in the of the and its was a that with an on new to be to dissolve the time, the church began rules for legal marriages that were not In Mormon in the Court were to people the temple as it would be to have the people by of In in response to in the declared that and could legal marriages of In and were with a to be in the the was to the of polygamist diehards, and and who were to The that the marriages by and were not the church to on temple sealings for the first The was that no living sealing to people in a where a marriage would be The church declared that be that the marriage the not be the have with the law in a from the the where the is into the twentieth church were that a temple sealing for a living not be in of a conflict with secular that sealing rules were than the secular law a temple sealing could not be for a it with the law of marriage in the where the temple was in the case of couples in marriage would be as in the where the temple was where a temple was that a a year after obtaining a divorce but persons to then a in after a divorce would have to a year in the under legal rules would as the marriage in The was to that couples simply be they were not to be in the in where the of a marriage was of this in in the in a of The legal marriage it for to who was in the of the In couples living as and have the of their their be by was however, and was after the moved to under its law by to their that the the in The church a of marriages law with the result that Latter-day Saint in different legal would be In a to the the a country in which law marriage is as and the from marriages are as the marriage under the in by the law of the without legal a living are not living in and be by the as This was to as in to a for where marriage without legal is to the of obtaining legal to to new legal and Latter-day Saint marriage law, the of modern sealing rules at the of the came in a of theological During the be theology sealing theology be clearly in the law of where sealings were to in with This modern Latter-day Saints of sealings in of using of marriage and their nineteenth-century in of and This for the of plural were to of these of the to although of these not have a with The were into without part of of these were when they were to on of out as of without part of of the were to while continuing to be to to be in theology of sealings was further complicated by the of posthumous sealings by These posthumous marriage sealings could marriages but not do was the of those for posthumous sealings were to be a be to a who was to be an In were often to a church sealings were a of that than of using marriage sealings with sealings to for of the proxy temple sealings the to Latter-day Saints who were to be to and while could be by proxy after the the Mormon of a were not they were into a by to a Latter-day Saint to a church theology into after when the law of the Latter-day Saints from this to their as as they and to be to their and to their and this as as president of the a of rules the new sealing the of these rules was the of rules declared of for the dead the of be As who as president of the in to a the of the who is a of the church is the Later, were to for that to in a Latter-day Saint As it these had the and to the sealing of in the from their however, was not to sealings The of the was to avoid proxy and to with the of theology sealings by a to living of had the of that and to persons their would be to of their that the in a of that and had a The of would result in who would then proxy sealings for ancestors, a posthumous sealing and that was a second to and had a second would in who would then proxy sealings for of ancestors, a posthumous sealing and the of temple and be of the as would be to both and The rules would the for to while at the of the twentieth posthumous sealing rules at least proxy sealings for both and theological of these sealings was the of as a the of marriages the was to with the sealing of from was In practice, of were often with Latter-day Saints proxy sealings for from they were not to the of both and proxy Latter-day Saints to that the sealings could be into a regime of polygamy, while the sealings were as a as to which of would have in the the of the twentieth sealing rules for living couples those for proxy This was not an but rather a continuation of nineteenth-century This be in the to second sealings after a first marriage in During the there was no the a church divorce and sealing the in polygamy no theological to a living to for a could be to without any church to dissolve the earlier divorce a for a second In that the church divorces granted marriage a than a of divorce a church to take a from a who is a and the of the a church divorce was a of an and practical as and sealings in living to two In an that the of a to in would be out by in the based on the of be in the of sealing rules with secular divorce the territorial period, couples could a divorce from secular by a petition in a were church to as part in a secular rather than an ecclesiastical These divorces marriages by a sealing and a of who were in a secular and then a second of that of the in a of sought a church divorce in to secular the secular divorce the for a second sealing without an by the president of the church to the previous was in in the church in the and to in was part of of the that their of the and that the out to those was in as a plural In and were in the in In for divorce from in the was a second as the plural of a who had been to is no of a church to both and the of the a new In to a that the sealing the authority to As marriage law in Utah in the people began the legal of church after 1890, however, the continued to with plural marriages. These couples could not of secular to the over and that after church divorces were to be they continued to be to the in secular legal rather than the of a previous marriage The shift in the of church divorces for who could of the secular legal new church divorces in these lacked legal was their In then a in the to an where the a divorce it the for and for the which the declared that church divorces lacked any legal efficacy, the continued to church which came to be as temple In addition, after the the law of in from people who had been to church under the previous regime and to be to by the sealings and temple to the of the previous shifts the that the president of the church could divorce” and by the decades of the twentieth the was to the of a previous sealing was not to for a second sealing after divorce a first of sealing was an for of In internal the with sealings for first in with the church but the second As the however, of sealings was in a that the continuing theological of plural marriage at the in practical the church was moving decisively to out polygamist in its in church began for and on sealing practices that over In the an and president of the was with to temple that temples, in with a from of how previous had been During this period, a new to have under which a could be to This in the for the first in but to have been in place at least a in a that when a who was the second marriage could be for This a shift to a under which a could be to In the church a new the to proxy sealing the it is to be to first the new however, it was for a living to be to the sealing rules in the living to be to two as sealings not to This when a was to a second after first marriage was by divorce These rules have the twentieth century. The result is that living Latter-day Saint are in to two living any to practice polygamy while would result in from the The modern sealing rules and nineteenth-century polygamy is by the of the rules. In to by the were not to be to a second without first obtaining a of the previous sealing from the president of the The result is that under the rules that have been in place the a living be to two at the when the church was making its to its sealing rules were in their commitment to a to a of a previous sealing in the however, the its to and the twentieth it living in to be to without first the previous This to have in the case of in church president the case of a who had been to first but not second a by church president the second the first to they had been were in the and who to be to a second In the second sealing was without the first As as the was with from to rules for living the practice of proxy temple meant that the church had to with rules for posthumous The of sealings was an in which Mormonism its to the was to living sealings after 1904, it had a posthumous In the decades after the couples who to be would to be as as of In was to have dead to while they are and after their As as to deceased with then living at as The of sealings for under the rules in the first half of the twentieth is not and the church and on the polygamist the of the and to polygamy their an its continued practice the church after sealing rules the of polygamy have been a of the they no as of in the and then in the twentieth with law to polygamist that the church would have its first the second of in sealing Prior to temples were in of Latter-day Saint and while there was a focus on the of temple regular temple worship was not an part of Latter-day Saint This with the of temple with the of the and church were where to the temple This shift a of the of posthumous sealings and an in proxy sealings there be for to do when they at temples to worship the church's on a of Latter-day Saints the of for temple in temple for a deceased who had been times temple were to to first were could determine which of the the would have to be to in often to in the case of deceased Latter-day Saints, and for Saints the was as people could have temple sealings in their of mass temple pressure on the the of deceased were to proxy to with the for temple temples were worship to and by temples had a of to for to The church in by the mass of from as from to and those to the This that temples would have a of for who to was no however, of that would be to their first and sealings by deceased were In this that the for living sealings for by then a to be to for proxy deceased were to be by proxy to of the to they had been while the not to deceased Latter-day Saint who had been while but could be to after and the church to something the that had in the twentieth without the of The by the process of which to for deceased the at temples, facilitating regular temple by Latter-day In when to clearly on polygamy of for the and to mass temple mass temple result was a marriage regime that the rules the living and the dead. for the living were based on a of that a to be to of the to had been after the marriages had in but a could be a second after the for a of the previous were granted to a second but in the of a petition by an it was for a to the of a sealing after a proxy however, the rules for and were and would be to of the to they had been while in those sealings could a of and in the that to any of the for living sealings put in place under has to the there has been a waning of theological commitment to the of continuing polygamy. As sealing theology came to be in the twentieth in for a marriage to be in the three be First, a sealing in by proxy be by the sealing Second, the the sealings in During the twentieth church in response to and by the continued of sealings to from they are that in the no be into a with the sealing be by the of This of the of sealings the of any the of sealings not any in the eternities. In addition, as the of nineteenth-century polygamy and the theological of its Latter-day Saints came to plural marriage as at a in than is not a but a The of the of the marriage to the and the to that be by a with a Latter-day Saint no for when on monogamy is the standard and polygamy is a is and to for their and which the of the church to the of of that the of as and and from the for to marriages that the standard of and the of marriage as the of are theological with modern sealing practices with the continuation of polygamy in the hereafter. plural sealing practices the church do not with nineteenth-century for plural marriage. on polygamy the of a first to a second marriage and, while often in practice, in this was the for sealings to the period, however, the church has not that a who to to a second were further theological in the of temple sealings that to a to sealings for Latter-day Saints of temple sealings as synonymous with the of marriages and often of two in a temple First, and are declared to be to for and second the are with and and and The of a sealing both the marriage and the of the church have been to sealings and those of sealings have not been as a of in of and of the church have been to temple of deceased persons than on the of polygamy, in church have the to temple sealings in of rather than in the eternities. In the church's who are but to the are often by the of the The sealing is not in the for a a those who their the by the This is the case the has from the marriage. a of sealings has been by the to the sealing are no longer in from the the church has the sealings for living but not for living of but different sealing rules for and on they are living dead when a the with living and a living who has been be to a deceased who has been to The rules in these an to the the living and posthumous sealing a deceased not be to of the to was while are a to be to a who to a previous a a and have the sealing on is not how the sealing rules for living and deceased be in the it a theological to polygamy rather than the of those in the church have in response to and do not to the of for then who was to a second in after in to the of the of sealings people who in the as that marriage be for then be in the when to than for have to that those and to the that the be in the church has to of the by the rules. The the has been a of church temple marriage. sealing rules to that petition the for a of sealing to a new In the church promulgated a that to petition the as a second time, although a of the previous sealing is not The sealing rules a regime of and while the earlier rules of when it to second could in two First, the could its sealings after could be granted as a of when sought by of there is the of in the temple for a of the rules is that it is for a to a of sealing to an than it is for a for it is but to a to be to a second sealings both and marriage for it that the would a a of sealing was granted as a of in of would and with the to be to a second but the second would be to the regime of posthumous sealings to living to the and sealings for living the church this then both and could be while living to sealings not to practice polygamy. This would be an of the regime of to rules. a however, would have its First, it would the theological the of This under posthumous sealing the of and is it is that a would to further emphasize the in which sealing practices and theology not with and the of but from and that Second, a living sealings by living could with this is for who have the in obtaining a of although it is by shift to a sealing for would place in an position. a would it that a of sealing could be would no longer be they are the case of a who to in the law has Latter-day Saint sealing practices in the twentieth century. This be in the of sealing rules to the in divorce Latter-day Saints had a legal something that was into temple which not rules for persons as the this as legal rules were and divorce In the church a that church who were to the temple without first obtaining from the that to the a divorce a of as the have been by an assumption that divorces by a least of the the came under First, the Latter-day Saint was and the no on the Second, with the of divorce in the the of divorce and it no longer a strong of of temple for was first to those who had been in the then to divorces and in the was to place where the of secular be is in the rules governing temple sealings after a marriage of the the twentieth church had a strong that be in the it was not to a marriage of the temple and then be church rules a on couples a marriage and their to be in the legal This first in Latter-day Saints to be in temples in the United States that the process of the of their marriage in was and the church its rules to Latter-day Saints to be in the temple after in and in the law that marriages be in a secular the world that have the law have rules. As the church after and after the of the in it that temple rules based on the legal that could a marriage the temple would not for temple sealings were in these In the was for the United marriage and sealing Latter-day Saints into with Latter-day Saint practice in law the there was no Utah marriage law and Latter-day Saint sealing be Latter-day Saints that sealings had that marriages not and marriages without sealings were under Utah law, sealings simply were marriages, and the of the it was that a church divorce was a legal that a legal marriage. 1888 this as marriage law and sealing rules came from secular marriage. the time, Latter-day Saint sealing theology a in when the of the law of which the abandonment of nineteenth-century theology. This is the from which the modern rules governing marriage sealings in the of of Latter-day Saints These rules constitute a ecclesiastical law of marriage for Latter-day Saints both living and dead. the of the twentieth those rules have evolved in the face of shifts in theological and the practical of modern The result is a of rules in which the living and the dead are to different of which rest on a theological the rules over time, with of with the while that the theological earlier rules that were This process has the church to adapt to of but the is not without and it is by no that it in the