Christian Views On Divorce - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) officially discourages divorce. The LDS Church encourages its members to work around marital problems before they lead to annulment or divorce, yet allows both practices in circumstances of infidelity or other serious cases. Divorce is regarded with heavy social stigma, and Church authorities maintain that “Latter-day Saints need not divorce—there are solutions to marriage problems.” LDS Church policy allows members to seek civil divorce independent of ecclesiastical authority, but cancellation of a temple sealing may only be performed with special permission from the First Presidency of the Church.

The LDS Church discourages divorce largely on account of its theology of the family. Early church leaders taught that God himself lives in a family and with a wife. Tim B. Heaton, a sociologist from Brigham Young University, explains, “The key tenet in the Mormon Theology of the family is that, given the proper circumstances, family relationships will be perpetuated in heaven.”

Latter-day Saint culture places an extreme emphasis on success in family life, leading to high expectations for marital success. David O. McKay, former President of the Church, stated that “no other success can compensate for failure in the home.” Church publications often publish articles instructing members on means to improve married life, and, on rare occasions, will become involved politically when it feels the institution of marriage is threatened by proposed public policy. General Authority of the Church have repeatedly warned against an impermanent view of marriage. " as a mere contract that may be entered into at pleasure … and severed at the first difficulty … is an evil meriting severe condemnation, especially where children are made to suffer." In 2007 Dallin H. Oaks, a senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and a former judge on the Utah Supreme Court, has counseled church members that "the weakening of the concept that marriages are permanent and precious has far-reaching consequences."

Latter-day Saint couples (both with and without temple sealings) are found to have slightly lower rates of divorce when compared with Protestants and Catholics, and significantly lower rates when compared with those who state no religious preference. The following is a chart showing the rate of divorce among various religions with data copied from the study “Religion and Family Formation,” conducted by Tim B. Heaton and Kristen L. Goodman.

A lower divorce rate among Latter-day Saints may be due to a strong family culture, the difficulty of securing a cancellation of sealing, and other religious influences. Al Thornton, from the University of Michigan, comments that, "With its unique theology and heritage concerning marriage, family, and children, it should not be surprising to find that Mormon behavior differs from that of the larger society." Certain doctrines which are unique to Latter-Day Saint theology may help account for the lower divorce rate among active members. These doctrines include the literal parenthood of God the Father, the eternal nature of families, and the requirement of a successful temple marriage in order to gain salvation. For Latter-day Saints, divorce is "a very serious undertaking", both socially and religiously.

Various factors have been shown to lower incidence of divorce among church members, including church activity. Heaton says that, “Overall, church attendance is associated with lower rates of nonmarriage and divorce, higher probabilities of remarriage after divorce.” Studies suggest that the most important statistical variable affecting marital dissolution rates of Latter-day Saints is marriage in the temple, with some studies finding that non-temple marriages entered into by Latter-day Saints are almost five times more likely to result in divorce than are temple marriages.

The Encyclopedia of Mormonism states that “he Church distinguishes between (1) civil marriages, which are valid for "time" (until divorce or the death of one spouse), and (2) temple marriages, or sealings, solemnized by proper ecclesiastical authority, which are binding for "time and all eternity." In order for a marriage to be considered eternally binding, it must be performed in a Latter-Day Saint temple by properly authorized temple workers. Marriage in the temple is strongly encouraged by church leaders, as Latter-day Saint marriages performed in the temple have less than a 7% chance of dissolution.

There is some debate over the validity of these figures. The LDS Church itself notes that "In reporting their findings, the two researchers noted that if there were some measure of religious commitment comparable to temple marriage among other religions, statistics for those groups might also be more favorable." The accuracy of this statistic is also disputed on the grounds that the process required to obtain a temple recommend artificially limits the test group to those who are already less likely to divorce, for example the temple recommend requires Church members to abstain from pre-marital sex, a behavior associated with a higher divorce rate. This statistic also fails to take into account couples who enter into a temple marriage and subsequently obtain a civil divorce, yet fail to apply for a cancellation of temple sealings. Nevertheless, numerous studies show a strong link in the Latter-day Saint culture between marriage in the temple and a lower divorce rate, and that among members "the temple marriage the most resistant to divorce."

In order to obtain a cancellation of temple sealings, permission from the First Presidency is required. Applicants for divorce are required to submit a request for a cancellation of sealings through their local ecclesiastical authorities, including information about the couple, and a personal appeal. The resulting cultural impact of a divorce upon an LDS couple is significant. Church leaders have stated that “every divorce is the result of selfishness on the part of one or both,” and that selfishness is a leading cause of marital stress and divorce. Divorced Latter-day Saints may report feelings of alienation from fellow church-members and some Latter-day Saints may see divorce as “a sign of failure”.