Celestial Marriage and the Bible 1

This is going to take some explaining. See, I am not a Mormon. I have never been a Mormon. I am one of those Bible-thumpin' evangelicals, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. However, for reasons I don't really understand (seriously, I have no idea), I spend my free time researching Mormonism and purposefully forming friendships with Mormons. The idea is to preach the Gospel to people who actually want to hear what i have to say. A revolutionary idea, I know. And even if they never come to know Jesus, I still get to have some good conversations with some fine folks. Since most of my Mormon friends live in Utah and I do not (for now....), our conversations are mostly in the form of emails. Isn't Facebook great? Anyways, when I found out one of my Morms was about to get eternally hitched, I decided to ask about two Bible passages which seem to teach against the LDS idea of marriage (I'll get to that in a minute). In response, she said that she wanted me to give my interpretation of all the relevant Bible passages, to justify those interpretations with logic and reason, and to ask specific questions for her to answer. Mind you, I do this kind of stuff for FUN. Now, before I get into my response - which required about four months of study and far too much navel-gazing - there are two things I need you, the reader, to know.

First, there is a very important distinction between Mormonism as an institution and Mormonism as a group of people. I don't really have any problems with the average Mormon, and it's not like I keep a dart-gun next to my door. Anymore. There are some - such as General Authority Glenn Pace, for example - that I have absolutely no respect for, but this is because of specific things that thsoe individuals have done. The vast majority of Mormons are just trying to live good lives and serve their church because they believe this is what God asks them to do; therefore, I don't condemn them for who they are or how they behave. But I do have a very serious problem with Mormonism as an institution, since it teaches against the true Gospel and it causes people to live as if God's favor can be earned. This is an important distinction to point out because I make it my mission to argue against Mormonism, but for Mormons.

Second, according to the Mormon plan of salvation (or, my understanding of it - correct me if I'm wrong), a person needs to be married in a Mormon temple in order to enter the Celestial Kingdom, which is where God is. This marriage continues for all eternity because the happy couple is given the responsibility of serving as gods over their own planet, which they will have to populate with their own babies. Everything that can be done in the temple can be done for and on behalf of those who are dead. So if that's you, CHILL OUT, and leave me alone.