Mormon by birth; Atheist by the Grace of God.

My stake president has been in trainings where these things were mentioned. They called it ‘doctrinal drift.’ They specifically warned against letting people speak about Heavenly Mother at church. Basically all they should say about her is what is in the Family Proclamation and that one hymn. They also shook their head as they mentioned that some people even pray to her *gasp*

When I was told about it, I immediately thought of all the hundreds of references made by General Authorities about Heavenly Mother. Surely if quoting an apostle or a president of the church, they can’t get upset about that. Check out the journal BYU Studies (Journal 50:1) which has more than 600 references to Heavenly Mother in the writings and speeches of LDS Church leaders–you can download it for free here.

I think because they left Heavenly Mother a blank slate, people have filled in what she’s like. She’s often spoken of as more compassionate, softer, warmer, and loving than Heavenly Father, and as a full partner to her husband. She wields power and unquestionably supports Her LGBTQ+ children and is sad at how they’re treated. There are many Instagram accounts that discuss Her. I doubt a statement or a talk at General Conference will cause all these people to abandon her, they’ve already experienced her divine presence and aren’t likely to deny that.

This Section was recorded in 1843, but the ideas about plural marriage first began forming for Joseph in 1831 while studying the Bible. He had questions about the Biblical practice of having more than one wife, which seemed like adultery to Joseph. He also had a question from Matthew 22 where Jesus taught that “in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.”

The Book of Mormon forbids plural marriage unless the Lord commands it (Jacob 2:28-30). Both the 1835 & 1844 versions of the Doctrine and Covenants prohibited polygamy and declared monogamy is the only acceptable form of marriage (Section 101 in 1835, was section 109 in 1844 - neither of these sections appears in our current D&C).

Joseph began teaching select individuals about plural marriage in 1831 or 1832. Joseph obtained multiple wives in the years before Section 132 was written. Even after 1843, plural marriage was kept very hushed even from most church members, with the top leaders denying their involvement and publicly condemning polygamy, after all, it was illegal and against the published scriptures.

It seems Emma knew about some of the sealings of Joseph to other women and even consented to a few. She seems to have times where she accepted the idea and others where she rejected them.

Joseph was very worried about how to introduce the concept of plural marriage to his brother Hyrum, and how to get Emma to accept it once and for all.

Hyrum was initially skeptical, but Joseph talked about how Hyrum can still be sealed & married to his wife who had died. That was very hopeful to Hyrum. He encouraged Joseph to get a revelation from the Lord and Hyrum would take it to Emma and try to convince her. Section 132 is the result of that request. It was not meant for the world or even the Church, it was specifically for Emma.

The idea of Section 132 is to explain plural marriage and make a persuasive case for it, although I think it can be debated whether it is persuasive or manipulative. When Emma read the revelation, it didn’t go very well. Hyrum Smith used words like ‘resentment’ and ‘bitterness’ to describe Emma’s reaction to the revelation, which frankly is understandable.

It wasn’t until 1852 when most of the Church was safely in Utah territory that the Church publicly announced that the Church practices polygamy. Section 132 wasn’t published until the 1876 edition of the Doctrine & Covenants, and the section was removed which said a man should only have one wife and a woman should only have one husband.

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In the modern church, we view Section 132 & the term ‘New & Everlasting Covenant’ to be about eternal marriage. And we think of eternal marriage as having several formations, well, at least 2: polygamy and monogamy. 

When we teach Section 132, we focus on the sealing power and the blessings that come to a sealed, married couple. 

However, the early Church understood ‘new and everlasting covenant’ to mean plural marriage. They understood it as the requirement for exaltation, not as one possible formation of an eternal marriage.

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Section 132 is long (66 verses) and complicated. It touches on a variety of topics. This makes it difficult to teach a 40-minute Sunday School class or write a short blog post about it in a coherent way.

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Verse 1 – This goes back to the question Joseph had in 1831. The Lord says He justified Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David and Solomon in having wives and concubines. 

This is interesting because the Bible records that Isaac was monogamous, he had Rebecca and no others. He is not like the others in the list. I wonder if that is an error to include him.

Verse 3 – Maybe you asked for more than you bargained for because everyone that I (the Lord) reveal this law to is required to obey it. And since you asked, I’m going to reveal it.

Verse 4-6 – Once the Lord reveals the new and everlasting covenant to you, if you don’t obey it then you’re damned.

Verse 7 – Here’s the conditions of the law—unless sealed by the power being given to Joseph, “all covenants, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectation” are null and void after the resurrection, they end when people die.

This list goes way beyond marriages, in fact, marriage isn’t even listed, it gets included because it’s a type of agreement. It’s just one of many possible commitments that can be included in this list.

I don’t see any reason that a gay marriage cannot be sealed. Queer marriages fit into this list just as well as straight marriages do. 

Heck, the sealing power has been used to seal all sorts of relationships, such as unrelated men to be father & son, polygamous marriages, and sealing parents to adopted children. They once even sealed an African-American woman to be a servant to Joseph Smith for eternity. Exactly what can be sealed seems very broad, even if we practice it in a very limited way, that’s our choice, not the Lord’s.

Also, this phrase, ‘sealed by the holy spirit of promise,’ that doesn’t sound like the priesthood, although that’s how the Church interprets it. 

I have had an alternate theory in my head for years about what the actual sealing power is. A few years back it was said in General Conference (I wish I could remember who said it and in which year) that the sealing power is in effect only if both parties want it to be. That combined with how we allow women to be sealed to multiple husbands once she has died, and she’ll determine which sealing is in effect in heaven, got me thinking the real sealing power is love. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but Section 132 has me questioning how we teach that the sealing power is given to a few holders of the ‘priesthood’ 

Verse 13 – No matter what men do in the name of government or other power, if it’s not also sealed by the Lord’s power, it will not remain in effect after death nor in the resurrection.

Verse 15 & 16 – We’re given an example of the sealing power, the marriage of a man and a woman. If their relationship wasn’t sealed, then they aren’t joined after they’re dead. If their marriage isn’t in effect after the resurrection, then they become angels to serve those with higher eternal glory (presumably everyone whose marriages are sealed in heaven).

I want to point out, marriage is given as one example of a thing that can be sealed, but we usually talk of the sealing power as if marriages are the only thing that gets sealed.  

D&C Section 22 declares that baptism is the new and everlasting covenant. In addition to baptism and marriage, I believe we can say any gospel ordinance is sealed by Christ’s power, otherwise those won’t be in effect when we die. Who is it that “seals” these ordinances? Men with the priesthood. The sealing power seems to be much more widespread than we usually think of it.

Verse 17 - People who do not “abide my law,” aka get sealed together, remain single for eternity, are not exalted, don’t become gods but are angels forever. 

It appears this is saying a person needs to be married & sealed to another person in order to be exalted, which begs the question “where does this leave queer people?”

Are we to be eternally punished because the form of acceptable marriage (man+woman) doesn’t work for us, even though there are other forms of marriage which do? That does not sound like the God of mercy, love and justice that we teach. Queer people have been put in an unfair, unequal predicament.

I think it important to point out that LDS belief is that a child who dies before the age of accountability (8-years old) does not need to have their ordinances performed at the temple. No baptism, no endowment, no marriage sealed. Yet they’re saved in the Celestial Kingdom. In other words, there’s more than one path to the Celestial Kingdom and exaltation.

Joseph Smith had a vision of his younger brother Alvin in the Celestial Kingdom, and this surprised Joseph because his brother died before the restoration of the gospel. Alvin was saved because the desires of his heart was to do what God wanted. Even though Alvin didn’t receive any gospel ordinances performed by the sealing power of the priesthood, it doesn’t matter, he was saved. Here’s yet another path.

I think of the many gay individuals who entered mixed-orientation marriages. They wanted so badly to follow God’s law that they married someone they’re not compatible with romantically or sexually. Most of those marriages fail. I can’t help but think of the desires of their heart that led them to enter those marriages is enough to qualify them to be exalted. I think this is true even of queer people who don’t go actually enter a mixed-orientation marriage. We wanted to obey but it was just impossible to.

Verse 18 – Big reminder, a marriage of a man and a woman breaks up at death if it hasn’t been anointed by someone that has been appointed with this sealing power.

Verse 19 – But if your marriage was sealed, you will come forth in the first resurrection and inherit “thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths.” Well, the Lord also adds that in addition to having your marriage sealed, you can’t commit murder. If you kill an innocent person then the sealing is no good.

Verse 20 – Those whose marriage is sealed and they managed not to commit murder, they become gods. They will have “all power,” and angels are subject to them.

Verse 22 – Not many people are gonna make it to exaltation because very few people will receive Jesus in the world.

This makes me think about how so many people, including in our church, claim to be followers of Christ, but then are against immigrants and refugees, they want to become rich, they vote against expanding education and health care and anti-hunger initiatives, they want tougher laws that will fill up the prisons. This is not receiving Jesus and the things He taught.

Verse 23 & 24 – If we get to know Jesus while in this world, that is eternal life, and you should receive Jesus’ law (about sealing).

Verse 25 – Most people aren’t going to have eternal life because they don’t receive Jesus in this life, and of those who do only some of them abide His law (of sealing).

This is not a very hopeful verse.

It’s interesting because most of Christianity teaches that believers will be with Christ, therefore if me and my spouse are both believers, then we’ll be together with Christ. It’s a very Mormon thing to say your marriage and family are doomed to be ripped apart unless you believe & accept Jesus and have your marriage sealed by someone with Christ’s power. We send missionaries out to teach what we view as a very hopeful message, you can be together for eternity with your spouse. Except what we’re really saying is you only thought you were going to be together, but you got to get on board with us for this to happen.

Verse 26 – Even if you have your marriage sealed, if you commit any sin or transgression of the ‘new and everlasting covenant,’ or blasphemies, or commit murder, doesn’t matter that you were sealed, you’ll be delivered to Satan

This seems to be saying that although you need to have your marriage sealed in order to make it to eternal life with Christ, it puts you at risk of instead being given to Satan.

Verse 27 – Clarifies ‘blasphemies’ to mean blasphemy against the Holy Ghost and that is not forgivable. Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is explained as you commit murder, or you assent to the death of Christ after receiving the new and everlasting covenant. In that case, you are damned.

Verse 28 – The Lord will now give to us the law of the Lord’s Holy Priesthood. (PS, the following verses teach that the law is to do whatever Christ commands and don’t murder anyone)

Verses 29-37 - This says that the Jewish Patriarch Abraham is exalted. We’re told to be like Abraham and obey the laws of the Lord. Abraham was married to Sarah but also took the servant Hagar to be his wife. Abraham was commanded to kill his son Isaac and tried to murder him, even though the law says not to commit murder. It sounds like Abraham is blessed for offering to murder his son and also blessed for not actually doing it because killing an innocent person is a sin. Abraham had children with concubines. If we obey like Abraham did, then we will be exalted.

Verses 38-39 - This is followed by a lesson about adultery by the King David. David only committed one sin, adultery with Bathsheba (and also having her husband killed) and as a result, lost his exaltation and all of his other marriages were dissolved at death. In fact, God gave his wives to another.

This is interesting because no one is given in marriage once the resurrection happens. So it appears that after they died but before they are resurrected, Christ stepped in to save all these women who were married to King David so that they don’t lose eternal life because of what he did.

Verse 40 – Christ commands Joseph to restore all things (which implies to restore the power of sealing, and also polygamy)

Verse 41-43 – Lots of talk about adultery, especially about is someone committing adultery if they enter the new and everlasting covenant with one person but they’re also married to another person.

Verse 44 – Joseph will be able to tell who is committing adultery and who isn’t, and he can take the women who aren’t committing adultery and give them to men who also aren’t committing adultery.

Joseph essentially can dissolve people’s sealed marriages if he determines one of the partners is committing adultery. I guess it’s meant to save the innocent person from winding up barred from eternal life and exaltation because of their spouse’s sins.

Verse 46 – Joseph is given the power to seal on earth and heaven

Verse 49 – Christ will honor the bindings that Joseph seals. Oh, and by the way, Christ also seals Joseph with exaltation, so guess that’s a done deal. When Christ is done giving this revelation, he’s going to prepare a throne for Joseph.

Verse 50 – Jesus has seen Joseph’s sacrifices and Joseph’s sins. All his sins are forgiven.

Verse 51-52 – Now Christ gives a commandment to Emma. Christ tested Joseph, just as he tested Abraham, by requiring Joseph get married to additional women. Now here’s the commandment, Emma should accept all those who were “given” unto Joseph. Oh, but by the way, if any of those women are unpure, they’ll be destroyed.

This very much says that Jesus gave Joseph all these women. It’s hard to get the exact number, but the Church estimates he had over 40 wives.

Verse 53 – Because Joseph was faithful in a few things, the Lord is making Joseph ruler over many things.

Verse 54 – Emma is commanded to abide and cleave to her husband Joseph and to no others. And if she strays from Joseph then she’ll be destroyed

I guess this is consistent with the earlier verse where there’s an innocent spouse and the spouse who commits adultery. Joseph just had all his sins forgiven and sealed to exaltation, so now Emma is the one who might mess things up by sinning.

Verse 55 – It’s a little vague, but it seems this verse is saying if Emma won’t go along with polygamy, if she won’t approve and accept the additional wives, then Joseph is to still go ahead so that he has lots of wives and children.

This is totally unfair, it’s a catch-22. The first wife gets the opportunity to approve of any additional wife for her husband, except that if she refuses and can’t give a good reason, such as that woman is already married to some other man, then the man is to go ahead and get married anyway. This is not consent, this is coercion, or at best it’s a formality. He has to show he tried and then can move forward regardless of whether his first wife agreed.

Verse 56 – Emma is commanded to forgive Joseph, and if she does, then Christ will forgive her and her heart will rejoice.

Clearly Joseph has sinned, that’s being admitted

Verse 57 – Joseph isn’t to put his property out of his hand or else an enemy will destroy it.

I think this is saying to keep the plural marriages secret, that if people find out it will ruin everything

Verse 58 & 59 – The Law of the priesthood is that whoever is called by God and Christ and given the keys of the priesthood, and they don’t commit sin, whatever they do in Christ’s name will be law and will be Christ’s law.

I think this reinforces my comment for verses 15 & 16, the priesthood is the sealing power, and most men in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been given this.

Verse 60 – Everyone should lay off of Joseph. He’s gonna be forced to do the sacrifice that the Lord requires to make up for his transgressions, and then everything is cool, Christ will “justify him”

Verse 61–63 – If a man marries a virgin, this means his first wife, and then he wants to marry another virgin, his first wife needs to agree. This next wife needs to be a virgin and not married to anyone else. If these conditions are met, it’s not adultery. Even if he marries 10 virgins, it’s still not adultery. But if any of those women “be with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed.”

We know that Emma opposed Joseph getting multiple wives, and Joseph says he was commanded and threatened by an angel with a sword to get married to additional women, so he did it even without Emma’s blessing, which is the opposite of what Section 132 says is allowable. Some of the women he married were married to other men, they weren’t virgins.

Verse 64-65 – If a man holds the keys of this sealing power and he teaches his wife about this law, she better believe and allow it or else she’ll be destroyed. If she will not approve of additional wives, then she’s the transgressor. Too bad, she’s not going to get in the way of Jesus blessing this man with the ability to multiply.

Verse 66 – I’ll reveal more to you later about this law.

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Section 132 was supposed to answer some questions and relieve Emma and convince her to go along with plural marriage. Instead it creates more anxieties than it alleviates. It creates more questions than it answers. It causes problems.

This section is meant for Emma but it mostly gives Joseph a lot of blessings and tells Emma to get on board or else. It’s very tone deaf given what the purpose is.

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In 1930, LDS apostle James E. Talmadge got the Church to publish Latter-day Revelations: Selections from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This work was characterized as containing “Sections and parts of Sections from the Doctrine and Covenants, the sections comprising scriptures of general an enduring value…”. 95 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were completely omitted, along with parts of 21 others. The most noteworthy omission was the entirety of Section 132. Fundamentalist Mormons were outraged. A lot of lives had been affected and upended from living according to Section 132 and it contains a lot of ideas not found elsewhere. Church President Heber J. Grant ordered the work immediately “withdrawn” from sale and the remaining copies “shredded to avoid further conflict with the fundamentalists” 

Isn’t that interesting, the new and everlasting covenant as taught in Section 132, which we usually interpret as the ability to seal relationships together, was deemed not of “enduring value,” and omitted from that compilation. 

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Many women have been and currently are irritated and uncomfortable by Section 132. I think that’s fair, it gives a lot of answers and benefits to men, but not so much to women. It’s one thing to say a widower is allowed to get married again, but it’s something different to say the three of you are going to be partners in the eternities so I hope you like who your husband chose. 

We can think up all sorts of scenarios not addressed in Section 132 and wonder what the answer is. For example, what if a person thinks their spouse, who has been missing, is dead, but they show up after 10 years only to find the other person has gotten married to someone else. Did the person who remarried commit adultery? Are they going to be damned? This section opens the doors for a myriad of unanswered questions.

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Furthermore, this section does nothing to elucidate on queer relationships. They’re not mentioned at all. Marriage between a man and a woman (or between a man and multiple women) are given as an example, but our church treats it like it is THE example. That example is anything but exhaustive. This sealing power applies to all sorts of agreements and relationships, which our church doesn’t seem to have explored. It doesn’t feel fair to say because we weren’t used as an example, our relationships can’t be sealed.

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From Nelson in July 2016:

Nelson in October 2021:

“God is good because he won’t torture me.”