Do LDS members have to agree to eternal polygamy in their heaven (aka celestial kingdom)?

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Have you noticed that those who are NOT members of the LDS Church insist they KNOW all of the doctrine? I am a lifelong member, and it NEVER has been taught they we MUST practice polygamy in the eternities.

Admittedly, God will be in charge of things in heaven, and of course it will be UP TO HIM regarding what happens there. That's a given. But I have never been taught, never read anything, nor do the prophets proclaim that we all HAVE TO practice polygamy in heaven. It was NOT practiced by ALL members here on earth when it was. There were ONLY a few selected brethren who were asked to. t was NOT done by the general membership.

So, anyone telling you otherwise is trying to keep you away from the truth. whether unwillingly or by deception,...Show more

You must accept that there will be polygamists in heaven like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses. You do not have to be a polygamist yourself to receive the highest degree of glory. Anyone who says differently needs to read their doctrine and covenants. You must accept the new and everlasting covenant of marriage but a second or a third marriage is not a higher covenant it is the same covenant. And just like you don't have to be baptized twice you don't have to be married twice.

LDS members DO NOT have to agree to eternal polygamy to achieve the highest degree of glory in the kingdom of God.

Thomas M Cherrington the area authority 70 discussed it during an institute course.
The doctrine and covenants does not teach that plural marriage is required but it does teach that marriage is a covenant and those who don't receive the covenant don't get the blessings.
The chapter of "preach my gospel" (the current handbook for missionaries you can google a pdf copy) contains a chapter that contains what the missionaries should study, learn, preach, and believe. Such a teaching is not in there. Such a teaching is not in the gospel doctrine manual which is used every 4 years by the church to teach church history. Polygamy is discussed comprehensively but the requirement that everyone be polygamist is not. If it isn't in the most basic handbooks or scripture of the church and if the quorum of the seventy is teaching otherwise it is not doctrine of the church. A book entitled "true to the faith" a kind of brief encyclopedia for new members (you can google a pdf copy) doesn't even mention polygamy. If it is such an essential doctrine of the church why is it not taught in all of their most basic publications as clear as day? Why is it that it isn't a question for a temple recommend interview? How is it that a member like me can serve a mission, go to the temple and participate in every sacred ordinance of the church without once being questioned if I believe in mandatory polygamy?

I will also argue that it never has been a doctrine of the church. I attended a lecture given by one of the most prominent historians on the subject of LDS church history on the subject of polygamy. When asked she said that even at the height of the practice it is agreed among scholars that less than 25% of the church practiced it and most scholars believe the number is far smaller (this is scholars both inside and outside of the church). If something is falling short in the church, especially to the point where 75% of the membership is not obeying the laws and ordinances of the gospel the first presidency of the church goes on speaking tours with the whole quorum of the twelve. Yet we do not find any historical record of the entire quorum of the twelve regularly touring the inter-mountain west preaching repentance and polygamy....Show more

There's a bit of misunderstanding over this.

Back in Brigham Young's day when polygamy was practiced (late 1800s Utah), there was a bit of fiery rhetoric supporting polygamy (usually in response to all the criticism they were getting from the rest of the US) that can sometimes be misunderstood.

Brigham Young once made a quote where he stated that accepting the IDEA of polygamy was necessary for exaltation in the highest level of heaven (in the sense that you had to support your church leaders and all that). But he never said everyone had to actually practice it - even in the hereafter. Which was a good thing - because there was never any more than ten percent of the Mormon population practicing polygamy at any one time - even at the height of Utah polygamy.

The modern LDS Church does not teach polygamy as a requirement for people either now or in the afterlife. They do allow it for people who have lost a spouse and remarry (they can be temple-sealed to both the deceased spouse and the new spouse). Since the LDS Church teaches that marriage is eternal, it stands to reason that some of those marriages at least will be polygamous. But it is not taught as a requirement to get into heaven, and practicing it in life will get you quickly excommunicated from the LDS Church.

However, there are Mormon spinoff groups like the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) that take a much more hardline approach and DO preach that polygamy is required to get into heaven (at least the highest level of it). But they are a small minority. The LDS Church represents the vast majority of Mormons, and it does not require it - either in life or after it....Show more

False. It is not doctrinal that Mormons will have to agree to polygamy in heaven.

We actually don't know a lot of things about how things will go in heaven, and your concern about polygamy in the celestial kingdom is one of them. As far as we know, agreeing to polygamy is not a requirement for entering heaven.

(As a side note, Mormons do not believe the discontinuance of polygamy was just a political move to gain statehood. We believe that the practice of plural marriage is commanded by God at some times and commanded against at others. Look at Jacob in the Old Testament, for starters. We believe polygamy in the 1800s was both begun and ended by revelation from God. The principle is a spiritual principal - always true but only practiced when God commands it.)

Your understanding of Mormon doctrine is incorrect in some areas. If you are interested in getting the fuzzy parts cleared up, I would read the Gospel Principles manual of the LDS church. I believe it provides a really clear and complete picture of LDS doctrine, in the way and language LDS understand it:

http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,11-1-13-1,00.html

That's a lot of reading, so to sum it up: LDS doctrine says that everyone who lives on this earth is resurrected with their body. Those who were not valiant or rejected the gospel live in heaven, although in a lesser degree. LDS who tried their best will remain in families in the celestial kingdom and continue to have spirit children. (It's not a matter of "having to" have children, it's a matter of "getting to" have children. Mormons believe that family happiness is the only real happiness.)

It is not doctrinal that we will rule our own planets, etc. All we know for sure is that we'll continue to have spirit children if we make it to the celestial kingdom. That's it. That's all scripture tells us. Anything beyond that may or may not be true, but it's all speculation. (See more in chapter 47, 'Exaltation,' in Gospel Principles. It will explain very well what we do know and teach about going to the celestial kingdom.)...Show more

LDS doctrine (true doctrine) is not hidden. Even the sacred (sometimes mistaken for secret) temple ordinances are standard throughout all 130+ temples. If you really have to dig hard for a quote then you are looking for the viewpoint of a man. If it was true doctrine it would have been stated and re-stated. Other than that all the above statements about it not being a requirement are right and describe the reasons far better than I can....Show more