The Oct. 8, 1861 Originally Unpublished Address by Brigham Young
(divided into verses)
(divided into verses)
Ddd notes:
1) The captions in bold italics are mine.
2) The bracketed numbers, like [1913], are page numbers in
the original "Complete Discourses of Brigham Young."
3) The following article has been broken down into verses (by ddd), to
facilitate the reader’s study, and for cross-referencing. Added notes are placed with an "*"
4) Ddd corrections to the original are in red font.
5) Please see "ddd opinion" after verse 120 below for my comments.
6) For this address without verse divisions, click here: No Verse Text
7) The original text source is from: Source and photocopies courtesy of Roger Hansen at the Institute For Religious Research.
8) See also Fair Mormon article on this subject.
9) Last Updated: 28May19, 7:28am with Note 8 added; some captions placed in bold font, and a quote put in Justify setting.
I. Introduction
[1913] "8 October 1861 SLC Tabernacle Morning. Conference.
“LJA 12-55-9,38; BYC; BYA 4:138-141.”
1. I
will give you a few words of doctrine upon which there has been much inquiry
and with regard to which considerable ignorance exists.
2.
Br. Watt will write it, but it is not my intention to have it published,
therefore pay good attention and store it up in your memories.
II.
Adam-God a “Revealment”
3.
Some years ago I advanced a doctrine with regard to Adam being our Father and
God. That will be a curse to many of the elders of Israel because of their
folly with [1914] regard to it. They yet
grovel in darkness, and will.
4.
It is one of the most glorious revealments of the economy of heaven, yet the
world holds it in
derision.
5.
Had I revealed the doctrine of baptism for the dead instead of Joseph Smith,
there are men around me who would have ridiculed the idea until doomsday, but
they are ignorant and stupid, like the dumb ass.
III.
Divorce from a Sealing
6.
Relative to the doctrine I shall now make known, if anyone should wish it
otherwise, it will not alter the fact in the least. It is the principle of
sealing.
7.
We are continually sealing women to men, and continually giving divorces.
8.
I now inform every one of my sisters that when they come to get a divorce,
paying me ten dollars for it, you may just as well tear off a piece of your
shirttail and lay it by and call it a divorce so far as any good that piece of
paper called a divorce will do you.
9.
I express myself in this wise not because I admire coarse figures of language, but my object is
to use language that will rivet the idea I wish to convey upon your memories.
10.
Can a woman be freed from a man to whom she is sealed? Yes, but a bill of
divorce does not free her; there is no such law given by the God of heaven to
the children of men.
11.
Moses gave a law to the children of Israel as follows: “When a man hath taken a
wife and married her and it come that she find no favor in his eyes because he
hath found some uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill of
divorcement and give it in her hand and sent her out of his house. And when she
is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife*I.” *Deut.24:1
12.
Jesus, in the gospel by Math. says, “It hath been said, whosoever shall put
away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement, but I say unto you
that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication,
causeth her to commit adultery, and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced
committeth adultery*.” *Matt.5:31,32
13.
In the gospel by Mark it is said, “And Jesus answered and said unto them (the
Pharisees) For the hardness of your heart, he (Moses) wrote you this precept
(referring to the law on divorcement) but from the beginning of the creation God
made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and
mother and cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh. So then, they
are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together let
no man put asunder*.”
*Mk 10::5-9
*Mk 10::5-9
14.
I am suffered to give bills of divorcement unto you because of your blindness,
ignorance and hardness of heart, otherwise it would be a sin in me.
15.
How can a woman be made free from a man to whom she has been sealed for time
and all eternity? There are two ways.
16.
All the elders in Israel will not magnify their priesthood, that are now in the
habit of taking women, not caring how they get them.
17.
They get them frequently by stealth. I will diverge a little here to comment on
the way some get their wives: they will actually commit adultery for the sake
of getting a woman sealed to them.
18.
But they will probably find in the morning of the resurrection that they have
not attained their end; wives obtained in this way will be given to those who
are more worthy.
19.
This I mean to apply to you elders on my right and left who forfeit your
covenants and violate the regulations of this holy order of matrimony which is
to live godly in Christ Jesus every hour of our lives.
20.
To return to the thread of the subject before us: if a man magnifies his
priesthood, observing faithfully his covenants to the end of his life, all the
wives and children sealed to him, all the blessings and honors promised to him
in his ordinations and sealing blessings are immutably and eternally fixed; no
power can wrench them from his possession.
IV.
Provisionary options for disaffected sealed wives
21.
There is, however, one provision that must be added here.
22.
You may inquire, in case a wife becomes disaffected with her husband, her
affections lost, she becomes alienated from him and wishes to be the wife of
another, can she not leave him*? *Mk 10:12
23.
I know of no law in heaven or on earth by which she can be made free while her
husband remains faithful and magnifies his priesthood before God and he is not
disposed to put her away she having done nothing worthy of being put away.
24.
If that disaffected wife could behold the transcendent beauty of person, the
godlike qualities of the resurrected husband she now despises, her love for him
would be unbounded and unutterable. Instead of despising him she would feel
like worshipping him, he is so holy, so pure, so perfect and so filled with God
in his resurrected body.
25.
There will be no disaffection of this kind in the resurrection of the just.
26.
The faithful elders have then proved themselves worthy of their wives, and are
prepared to be crowned gods, to be filled with all the attributes of the gods
that dwell in eternity.
27.
Could disaffected ones see visions, even of the future glorified state of their
husbands, love for them would immediately spring up within you and no
circumstance could prevail upon you to forsake them.
28. [1915] The second way in which a wife can be separated from her
husband while he continues to be faithful to his God and his priesthood I have
not revealed except to a few persons in this church, and a few have received it
from Joseph the Prophet as well as myself.
29. This
other path a woman may take if she can get a chance and do it in accordance
with the order of heaven.
30. If a
woman can find a man holding the keys of the priesthood with higher power and
authority than her husband, and he is disposed to take her, he can do so,
otherwise she has got to remain where she is.
31. This
is the second way in which a woman can leave her husband to whom she has been
sealed for time and all eternity.
32. In
either of these ways of separation you can discover there is no need for a bill
of divorcement.
33. To
recapitulate: First, a man forfeits his covenant with a wife or wives, becoming
unfaithful to his God and his priesthood, that wife or wives are free from him
without a bill of divorcement.
34.
Second, if a woman claims protection at the hands of a man possessing more
power in the priesthood and higher keys, if he is disposed to rescue her and
has obtained the consent of her husband to make her his wife, he can do so
without a bill of divorcement.
35. Then a
piece of blank paper will answer just as good a purpose for a bill of
divorcement as the bills the wives get from me.
36. If
after she has left her husband and is sealed to another she shall again cohabit
with him, it is illicit intercourse and extremely sinful*. *Deut. 24:4
37. In a
few words I have laid before you the important items of doctrine.
38. I have
not time to give you an elaborate discourse on it that will answer the thousand
and one questions that may occur to your minds and show its workings in social
life. To do this would require much time.
V. Woman the
glory of man
39. I
will, however, extend my remarks a little further.
40. I do
not wish any of the elders to speculate upon what I have now advanced, but
ponder these words in your hearts in silence.
41. There
may be only a few that can understand this item of doctrine and retain it in
their memory, as I have spoken it.
42. A few
remarks on woman: She is the glory of the man, but she is not at the head in
all the creations of God pertaining to his children on this earth.
43. She is
not accountable for the sins that are in the world.
44. God
requires obedience from man, he is lord of creation, and at his hands the sin
of the world will be required.
45. Could
the female portion of the human family fully understand this they would see
that they are objects of tender mercy and greatly blessed.
46. This,
no doubt, on a casual view, appears to my sisters a glorious doctrine for them,
and some might be tempted in their ignorance to take unwarrantable liberties,
corrupt themselves with sin and then take shelter under the doctrine that man
is culpable for the sins they commit.
47. There
are, however, restrictions placed upon woman.
48. I will
quote a passage of scripture to illustrate this, “And the man that committeth
adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his
neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to
death*.” *Lev. 20:10
49. When
the crime was thus atoned for, then was she free and prepared to receive in
full the blessings she otherwise would have received had she not committed sin.
50. Woman
must atone for sins committed by the volition* of her own choice. *Heb. 10:26
51. But
she will never become an angel to the devil and sin so far as to place herself
beyond the reach of mercy.
52. She
will suffer all that she has strength to suffer according to the venality of her
sins.
53. The
woman is the glory of the man*. *1 Cor.11:7
54. What
is the glory of the woman? It is her virginity, until she gives it into the
hands of the man that will be her lord and master* to all eternity. * Gen. 18:12; Matt. 23:10; Jn. 13:14;Eph. 5:23; see footnotes
55. She in
many instances trifles with her virtue, and will be damned for so doing, if it
were not for more than five minutes.
56. When a
woman can say truly to her husband who magnifies his priesthood, “I am as pure
as you.”
57. She
ought to remember that she is the glory of that lord.
58. Is it
her glory to have illicit intercourse with a gentile and then be sealed to a
good elder and faithful servant of God? No, she will be damned for it and
suffer the pangs of hell.
59. It is
her duty to let wickedness alone.
60. Our
sisters are very tenacious with regard to a man’s having more than one wife.
61. Says
the wife, “Husband, I am capable of making your dinner, I can make your bed, I
can tend to your fiscal wants, you do not need another woman in this house.” Do
you not know that is a curse pleased placed upon the woman*? *D&C 132:1-4,32-34,62
62. Why
so? That she may not become an angel to the devil. It is the order of heaven
she should suffer in the flesh.
63. Will
you say you will not suffer in the flesh? that you will not be cursed? that you
will have the fullest satisfaction of this life and let the next life take care
of itself? “And now Mr. Husband, if you do not make a heaven for me I will
leave you.”
64. You
have a curse upon you that the male portion of the human family have not got.
Their curse is to toil for subsistence for themselves and wives and
children," [1916] to obtain from the
ground by the sweat of their brow, bread and fruit etc.
65. “And
unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife and
hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee saying Thou shalt not eat of
it, cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the
days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou
shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread
etc.*” *Gen.3:17-19
66. Now
notice the curse that is placed upon the woman: “Unto the woman he said, I will
greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth
children and thy desire shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee*.” *Gen. 3:16
67. Yes,
your desire shall be for him, and it is one of the hardest things you can think
of to consent that your husband should take another wife.
68. And
when you bring forth, it shall be in extreme pain. Were it not for this curse
woman would not have suffered pain in child bearing.
69. She
has taken the lead in committing sin and she will fill her days with sorrow.
70. She
shall desire this and that and the other, and her disposition and affection and
her whole being shall be afflicted as much as the man, but his afflictions are
of another kind.
71. Let me
say one thing to the young girls, and what I shall tell you I wish you to
ponder in your hearts and say nothing about it,
72. for
the wicked world has no business with these things, nor half-hearted Mormons,
and if there is any here who will not make a good use of what they hear, the
evil shall be upon themselves.
73. I wish
to say to my young sisters, if you can go into the hands of a man that will
lead you into the kingdom of heaven and exalt you there, to become an Eve, a
queen of heaven, the wife of a god, and you can remain with that man whom your
soul delights, and you take to him your virginity, you have obtained a treasure
that millions of worlds like this could not buy from you, for there is your
glory to all eternity.
74. Trifle
with this matter and you will reap sorrow and affliction.
75. When
you make your choice of a husband for time and eternity and you are sure you
have got your choice, hang on to him and not come to me for a bill of
divorcement which amounts to nothing at all.
76. I have
told you the only ways that a woman can be freed from a man.
VI. Conclusion
77. There
are other items pertaining to this doctrine you will learn from time to time.
78. Many
have asked for this matter which I have opened to you. You have got it. Let it
enveil your
noble hearts, expand your capacities, aid subduing your ungovernable passions
and encourage everything within you that is godlike and enables you to live a
pure and holy life.
79. The
whole of mankind according to the words of the prophets anciently, have gone a
whoring after strange gods. They worship they know not what.
80. Men
can sin with their wives by violating the law by which we are.
81. This
law is pure and holy, and every act of our lives should be to promote that and
not destroy it.
82. We
should preserve the life that is within us and permit it to multiply. If any
other course is pursued in the midst of this people, the curse of God will come
upon those who do it.
83.
We will now adjourn. Amen. [GDW]
84.
Conference Met in the Tabernacle. Bro W. W. Phelps said…Joseph Smith said that
the 2 Prophets who would Prophesy in the streets of Jerusalem for 3 years &
a half, were Enoch & Elijah. Also the two wings, north & South of our
earth were inhabited. The north with the 9 1/2 tribes & the south wing by
the People of Enoch’s City.
85.
This Earth when first created occupied a Position next to Kolob the highest in
glory of all the Creations consequently on account of the high Position we once
occupied we have fallen below all of the others in space;
86.
consequently our sufferings are greater, the greater the rise the greater will
be the fall,
87.
when we are Redeemed we will be taken back again & Placed in our former
Position…
88.
Joseph Smith said that Eve had 28 sons & 28 daughters & that Adam had
many wives. Bro Brigham then got into the stand & stated the same thing.
89.
He [Pres. Young] then gave some instructions in relation to sealing. He said
that there were many men & women who after having been sealed to each other
for time & all Eternity, came to him for a Bill of Divorce. & for the
sum of 10 Dollars he gave them a Bill Because the Lord permitted it but it was
of no use to them.
90.
They might just as well tear off a Piece of their shirt tail or have a Piece of
Blank Paper for a Divorce. But on account of the hardness of their hearts, the
Lord permitted it, as it was in the days of Moses.
91.
But there was a way in which a woman could leave a man lawfully.
92.
When a woman becomes alienated in her feelings & affections from her
husband, it is then his duty to give her a Bill & set her free which would
be fornication for the man to [1917] cohabit with his wife
after she had thus become alienated from him.
93.
The children begotten of such a woman would be Bastards in the true Scriptural
term of the word Fornication,
94.
for the crime of adultery a woman (& also men) would be stoned to Death
& then come up in the morning of the Resurrection & Claim all of her rights
& Privileges in the marriage covenant.
95.
Also there was another way in which a woman could leave a man, if the woman Preferred
another man higher in authority & he is willing to take her, & her
husband gives her up there is no Bill of divorce required in the case it is
right in the sight of God.
96.
But if he ever after has any connection with her, he is then guilty of
committing a very great sin & will be Punished accordingly.
97.
If a Man is faithful & should his wife leave him & be married to another
without his consent there is no Power in heaven or on Earth that can Prevent him
from claiming her in the Resurrection.
98.
If faithful a Man will attain to an Adam & the Wife to be an Eve &
begat Millions of Spirits who will come forth & receive their Tabernacles
upon an earth like this, &c.
99.
The glory of the Man is the woman, And the glory of the woman is her Virginity.
100.
Men are the Lords of Creation & the Responsibility rests upon the man &
not upon the woman,
101.
all women will be saved after they have suffered & atoned for their sins
& thus satisfied the ends of Justice they will not become angels to the
Devil.
102.
The Curse Placed upon the woman is that her desire shall be to her husband she
shall long & Desire for him & will not wish to be supplanted by another
103.
& in sorrow & in Pain she shall bring forth her offspring, if it was
not for this curse, the woman would bring forth as easy as she would drink a
glass of water.
104.
The curse upon the man is that he shall labour to support his family by the
sweat of his brow &c& he has to be tormented with thorns & briars
sunflowers & all kinds of noxious weeds.
105.
Is there any way for a man & his wife to commit sin in the marriage state,
there is.
106.
It is for us to cultivate the Principles of life which God has Planted in us
& not for us to Destroy life by an unlawful intercourse with each other,
but for us to multiply & Replenish the Earth as God has enjoined upon us.
“Frederick
Kesler Journal.”
107.
B. Young Spoke on the order of sealing for time & Eternity
108.
Said that His Remarks would Not be published& for all to pay good attention
& Hear Correctly.
109.
he Said that a Divorce was of no use.
110.
Could a woman be freed from a man yes in 2 ways only.
111.
1st if a man forfeits His priesthood 2nd if the man is faithful.
112.
But the wife is Not Satisfied the[n] if She can find a man Holding a Higher
Priesthood than Her husband that will take Her. He Can Do So without any
Divorce.
113.
the Glory of a man is the woman the glory of a woman is her virginity this She
Should Carefully preserve for Her intended Lord which will Be unto Her of great
worth Hereafter
114.
much more Did he Say on this important Subject but this will Suffice for the
present.
115.
I wish to say to my young sisters, if you can go into the hands of a man, that
will lead you into the Kingdom of Heaven, and exalt you there to become an Eve,
a Queen of Heaven, the wife of a God; if you can remain with that man [in] whom
your soul delights, and you take to him your virginity, you have obtained a
treasure that millions of worlds like this [one] could not buy from you, there
is your glory to all eternity.
116.
Trifle with this matter, and you will reap sorrow and sore affliction.
117.
When you make your choice of a husband for time and eternity, and you are sure
you have got your choice, hang on to him.
118.
President Brigham Young preached a highly interesting and instructive discourse
upon the important subject of marriage for time and all eternity.
“WWJ
5:596.”
119.
President Young then Preached a very interesting discourse upon the subject of Marriage for
time & Eternity.
120.
G D Watt reported the discourse.”
The end.
Footnotes
Verse 54. "... will be her lord and master." This verse speaks in the future tense: "will." After the resurrection and the husband has become a god, THEN he might be addressed as "master." Christ clearly taught that here in mortality, only He, Jesus, can be called "Master." Note that Sarah called her husband Abraham "lord" (Gen. 18:12).
Recommended further study: Can Mormons divorce?
Recommended further study: Can Mormons divorce?
Ddd Opinion.
33. To
recapitulate: First, a man forfeits his covenant with a wife or wives, becoming
unfaithful to his God and his priesthood, that wife or wives are free from him
without a bill of divorcement.
34.
Second, if a woman claims protection at the hands of a man possessing more
power in the priesthood and higher keys, if he is disposed to rescue her and
has obtained the consent of her husband to make her his wife, he can do so
without a bill of divorcement.
Note: verses 33 & 34 can lead to misunderstanding.
In either case, whether the husband is unfaithful or faithful, he can lose his
disaffected wife to another without a bill of divorce. Yet Brigham Young insists there is
no way a faithful man who will be exalted will lose a sealed wife (v10, 23), if he wants her.
The reason for this is not
stated, except to say that once the wife is married to another faithful male,
with a higher power or priesthood authority, she cannot go back to the former,
and in particular, she may not be intimate with the former again – in this mortal
life (see v.36).
The question arises, is she then
sealed to two men at the same time on earth? Yes (see v36). But she may only be
intimate with the new husband. The answer seems to be obvious: the reason not obtaining a divorce bill is that in the next life, in the resurrection, God will decide
which she is to be with. According to Brigham Young, this earth life is for the man more than for
the woman, since all women will eventually “be
saved” (see v44, 51). If the former husband was unfaithful to his religion, but
later repented, and becomes worthy, it seems he would then have the right to
take her back. If he was always faithful, then in the resurrection, he would
also have that right, particularly now that the disaffected wife would then see
how valuable the first husband was (see v24, 25) after all.
While this address can be
construed to indicate a case for polyandry, it is not, as the disaffected wife
in any case must leave the first husband for the second, a physical divorce – as she wanted it – but without a written divorce from the first. The reason:
God will settle it in the next life.
It should be noted here that Brigham
Young believed all persons in the lower kingdoms would eventually have the
opportunity to leave the lower kingdoms for a higher one.
"In conversing upon various
principles President Young thought none would inherit this Earth when it became
celestial & translated into the presence of God but those who would be
crowned as Gods & able to endure the fullness of the presence of God except
they might be permitted to take with them some servants for whom they would be
held responsible.
2. All others would have to
inherit another kingdom even that kingdom agreeing with the law which they had
kept.
3. Yet he thought they would
eventually have the privilege of proving themselves worthy & advancing to a
Celestial kingdom but it would be a slow progress." (AGR* 51:1-3)
Hence his teachings here with regard to all
women having the opportunity to be saved, after they have paid the price for their
wilful sins (v49-52). No woman will go to outer darkness, according to Brigham Young (v51), meaning that all devils are male .
*AGR = Adam-God Revelation by Dennis Doddridge (at your favorite bookstore) :O)
