potf2

Study the PotF

The PotF is a complex document. Consider the following questions:

What is a "proclamation"

History of proclamations. There have been four other proclamations (1841, 1845, 1865, 1980). They are seldom remembered or retold. Is this one different? How? Why?
Is it scripture? (After all, what does "scripture" mean?)
Is it dogma (meaning a point of faith which is required or obligatory)?
Is it revelation?
Is it addressed to the world (like the proclamations of 1845 and 1980), or to church members (like the proclamations of 1841 and 1865)?
Is it descriptive (a declaration of the world as it is), or prescriptive (a declaration of how the world should or must be), or aspiration (a declaration of how the world would be happiest)?

What is the source of authority?

It was prepared by a committee. So is a Sunday School lesson guide. Is it different? Who was on the committee? Does that matter?
What has been said and by whom and with what authority to ratify or confirm or position the PotF as authority?
Is a sustaining by the general church membership required? Why? Why not?

What is the context in which the PotF was issued?

Political environment: Republican Party platform, position of the religious right, Conference on Women (in China), welfare for single mothers and dependent children, immigration policy.
Church environment: Packer on intellectuals, feminists and homosexuals; SWK, ETB and GBH on the role of women.
Legal environment: pro-life/pro-choice debate; capital punishment; same-sex marriage dispute in Hawaii.
Other religions: A number of Roman Catholic encyclicals and letters are pertinent, including Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) (3/25/95), about abortion, euthanasia and the death penalty, Letter to Families (2/2/94), Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (On Social Concerns) (12/30/88), concerning poverty in the modern world, and Economic Justice For All issued by the U.S. bishops in 1986.

Text of the PotF

Marriage

What is marriage, that it is "ordained of God"? Is it a commitment, a legal relationship, a ceremony, a public declaration, or an ordinance?
If only the temple sealing is "ordained of God" then what is the status of those who marry in a civil ceremony?
If marriage is not limited to the temple sealing, can it be self-declared? Only by a Mormon bishop? Only by a minister of some kind? By a Justice of the Peace?
If a legal relationship, and the law (here or elsewhere) recognizes same-sex or polygamous or time-limited or other relationships, are they then "ordained of God"? If not, how do we distinguish?
Is marriage between one man and one woman the only possibility? Is polygamy within the scope of that which is "ordained of God"? Not now? Not ever? Is that part of the PotF? What does that say about the timeliness of the PotF? It is for the 1990s? Or for all time?

Nature of God

If God is Father, does that mean God is male? (Reference forward to questions regarding the meaning of "gender.") If not male, how does it make sense to speak of "heavenly parents"? If gendered, if male, then how does it make sense to speak of a woman created in God's image? Is that consistent with gender being eternal? (Note the further complication that Moses 2:27 says that God created man in the image of "mine Only Begotten.")
Is a man's divine nature and destiny to be like his heavenly father?
Is a woman's divine nature and destiny to be like her heavenly father? Or her heavenly mother? What is that like?

Role of Christ

God is "Eternal Father." But there are "heavenly parents." Where is Christ?
Are "sacred ordinances and covenants" enough by themselves for individuals to return to the presence of God? I.e., is rote participation enough? What is the role of or need for the atonement?
Is salvation and return to God and exaltation a family matter ("as a family or not at all") or an individual matter?

Gender

What does "gender" mean as used in the PotF?

Sex--male and female? What about hermaphrodites? What about various chromosomal combinations other than XX and XY? Are those "essential characteristics" or are they aberrations which will be corrected (in the millennium?)

Sexual nature? Is sexual orientation an essential characteristic? Or is it malleable? If malleable, then does that go both directions--i.e., is heterosexual orientation a learned trait which will not or may not be eternal? If essential, is that true for both hetero- and homo-sexual orientation? What significance is there to evidence that some part of orientation is genetic (see Dallin Oaks' article in the Ensign)? What significance is there to evidence that a substantial part of orientation is apparent very early--i.e., before age 8?

Social and cultural identification? (This is the dictionary definition of "gender.") Are there only two genders? Is the social and cultural setting that has an "essential premortal, mortal and eternal purpose" the late 20th century U.S. setting? Or the mid-19th century setting? Or the setting of the post-WW II period? Or is there some pure or correct social and cultural setting?

Role--some people ("fathers") are to preside and provide and other people ("mothers") are to nurture? If that is the case, how does one decide who are the fathers and who are the mothers? By reverting to some other definition of gender (see 1, 2 and 3 above)? Are people without children genderless? For the large majority of adults who do not live in a household with two adults and minor children--who live alone, or do not have children (or none at home), or are single parents for whatever reason--do these role assignments make any sense?

What is the sense of "gender" in a premortal period, without a body and without sexual relations? Without marriage or family, what could gender mean? Does it mean that some (now men) were aggressive? That some (now women) were kind and nurturing?

Procreation.

Is it new doctrine that the "first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve" was to multiply and replenish the earth? In Genesis 1:28 God says to Adam and Eve, "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing." Is this a blessing or a commandment? Who is it addressed to? What about "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat" (Genesis 2:17, and in Moses). Is this the first commandment?
Is "multiply and replenish" first in time or first in importance? If first in importance what happened to Christ's teaching about the most important commandments? If just first in time, does that give it any special importance?
Are people who cannot bear children (infertility by birth, by accident, by age) breaking a commandment when they do not "multiply"? What about a woman who is not married and does not bear children? Is artificial insemination a good way or acceptable way to "multiply"? What about sex without marriage? Which is greater, the command to multiply or the command to employ the sacred powers of procreation only between lawfully wedded husband and wife?
Are there some people who should not have children? Those who are not married? In cases where pregnancy or childbirth is physically dangerous? Where physical resources (food, shelter) are limited? Where the mother or the father is emotionally unstable? Where one or both of the parents don't want or don't like children?
What are the consequences of the "multiply and replenish" commandment for birth control? Does the PotF suggest a different standard or expectation than has been taught or accepted for the last (20) years in the Church?
What does it mean to say that "the means by which mortal life is created" is "divinely appointed"? Is this simply an affirmation that sex is of God? Or is it a declaration of opposition to artificial insemination, test-tube conception, etc.? If the latter, what is "the means" which is divinely appointed? For example, what about in vitro fertilization using sperm and egg from husband and wife, married to each other?
What does it mean to "affirm the sanctity of life"? Is this simply a general affirmation that we should not kill? Or is it a pro-life, anti-abortion statement? Does it suggest a change in the church's stance regarding abortion? Can abortion ever be acceptable when life is "sanctified"? Does it suggest that capital punishment is wrong? What about fighting in a war?

Sex.

What does "sacred powers of procreation" mean? Intercourse? Sexual activity of any kind? Kissing?
The statement that "the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded" says, most directly, that people should make babies only when they are married. Is the statement intended to proscribe or prohibit other kinds of sexual activity, where pregnancy or procreation is not possible? Or is that a matter for other teachings, a matter about which the PotF is silent?
Gay sex cannot lead to procreation. Is it then an exercise of a "sacred power of procreation"?
If the PotF is meant to state or reinforce a prohibition on sexual activity other than between a husband and wife, is there a way to read the words so as to permit sexual relations within marriage which will not produce a baby (e.g., using birth control, post-menopause, while nursing), and at the same time prohibit sexual activity outside of marriage? That is what the church teaches, but is that teaching present in or consistent with the PotF?

Children.

Parents have a duty to rear their children in love and righteousness. Is there any role for uncles and aunts and grandparents and neighbors and friends? Any duty there? Extended families are to "lend support when needed." Is "need" only in the case of disability or death? What are "other circumstances"? Divorce? Financial difficulty?
In many cases one parent or the other is absent. Does that change the obligation of the remaining parent in any way?
What is the role and obligation of a step-parent? Does it change if the second adult in the household is same sex? What if there are more than two adults involved?

For example, a biological mother/biological father/step-father or step-mother.
For example, a biological mother/mother's female partner/biological father/father's second wife.

Parents are to teach children to (a) love and serve one another, (b) observe God's commandments, (c) be law-abiding citizens. Is this an exhaustive list or an illustrative list? If exclusive, what about [insert any number of teachings that might be important]? If illustrative, what else belongs on the list and does it mean anything that it is not stated explicitly?
Do children have any recourse if they do not get their "entitlement," i.e., birth to married parents and growing up with parents who are completely faithful to each other? Do they have recourse to the Church? To the community? The state? To God?
If a woman gets pregnant without being married, what is best to do for the child? Get married so birth is to married parents? Arrange for an adoption? Does it matter how old the woman is? Who the biological father is? What if the woman is married to a man who is not the biological father, or paired with another woman? Are those cases different, with respect to what the child gets of his or her entitlement and education?
Who is the audience for the sentence "Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony .. ."? Probably not the children (the effect would be to tell the majority that they were cheated) and probably not parents who are living together and faithful (they are already providing birth within marriage and charged with honoring their marital vows). Candidates include:

Men and women contemplating adultery. This says "don't." But they already knew that.
Men and women contemplating divorce. Does this mean that when there are dependent children divorce is never a good or right alternative? If divorce is sometimes the best alternative, what values counterweigh the children's entitlement? What about abuse?
Couples contemplating having a child. If there is any doubt about staying together or complete fidelity, should they avoid having children?
Single adults and unmarried (whether opposite sex or same sex) couples contemplating having a child. This would say "don't." Same for adoptions?
Policy makers. Does welfare policy that penalizes families with two parents make it more or less likely that children will get their entitlement? Does accessible birth control for teenagers make it more or less likely that children will get their entitlement? Does abortion make it more or less likely that children will get their entitlement? Does same sex marriage make it more or less likely that children will get their entitlement?

Role of women.

Is the mother's "primary responsibility" of nurturing by divine design?
Is there a role or a place for a woman who has no children?
What does "equal partners" mean when roles are different for men than for women?
Is heavenly mother a model of nurturing?

Role of men

What does it mean to "preside"? "Presiding" can happen only when there is someone to preside over. Is there a meaning of "preside" which is consistent with being an equal partner?
Do men have a role in nurturing, teaching, playing with, modelling for, their children, or is that all for mothers? Do men have any responsibility with respect to children other than their "own" (and how is "own" defined)?
What is a "divine design"? It can't be "the way God made the world" (like gravity, for example) because it is obvious that many fathers do not preside (whatever it is that preside means, when a father is absent he can't very well be doing it), some do not act in love and righteousness, and many do not provide the necessities of life. Is it a commandment?
Does heavenly father provide the necessities of life?

Families

"Family" is not defined in the PotF. Does "family" = father, mother, children? (This represents a minority of households in the Church and in the world.) What is "family" when the children grow up and leave home? Does "family" = people living together and supporting each other? What is/was "family" in polygamy?
Is "happiness" in family life and a "successful" family the same thing?
What are "the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ"? [This could, of course, be a multi-semester course in itself.] What is added in listing "faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work and wholesome recreational activities"? Why is anything added? Why is there a separate list?
Are Christian families happier than Buddhist families?
Is family so important that people should get married and have children even when they have doubts about their own ability, or their spouse's ability, to make it work? Should some people never marry?

Political activism.

Violating covenants of chastity, abuse, and failing to fulfill family responsibilities seem to be accorded equal seriousness or severity. Should punishment under the law be the same?
Do laws regarding abuse (which require reporting, and take the abuser out of the home, for example) maintain and strengthen the family? [Probably they do, but this is not a simple question.]
Which direction on abortion maintains and strengthens the family? Why?
What kind of welfare system best maintains and strengthens the family?
What are "measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family"? (emphasis added). Is there some way to tell what has been so designed? Is it a call to promote measures with a "pro-family" label? Or is it to promote measures which it seems will actually help?
Is the objective to promote the happiness and success of families, or is it to promote the family as a fundamental unit? (See the example below.)

Example: Suppose we use "father/mother/dependent children" as an operating definition of "family," and the issue we are asked to support or reject is a proposal for legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Analysis: We know that recognition will make "family" (as defined) less unique, less fundamental. If same-sex marriage is recognized then society will have to operate with a broader definition of "household" or "dependent group." At the same time, suppose we are genuinely convinced that families will on the whole be happier as a consequence of recognizing same-sex marriage, because their gay children will have a good option for their life, and because there will be a significant drop in the number of opposite-sex marriages where one partner is homosexual and either or both spouses are ultimately unhappy.

Question: Does the PotF say to vote for uniqueness, or for happiness?

Or does the PotF itself teach that the second part of the analysis wrong? Does the PotF in some way teach that recognition of same-sex marriage could not possibly make families happier? (Where is that message in the text?)

Or is the PotF an assertion that every measure which maintains the family as fundamental also (by definition?) promotes the happiness and success of families?

Revision date: 1/3/98

E-mail to: ckimball@pobox.com

Back to index.

Basic outline.