Sealing of families

[ERCougar]

Adam's comment on another thread reminded me of this. I've always been troubled by the notion that people who don't accept the Gospel will be isolated from their families for eternity. It never made much sense to me--how does God isolate you for eternity from your family members? Is it just your immediate family? What about friends? Does He somehow keep you away from everyone you know or would like to be around? What on earth would be the purpose of this?

Adam suggested in another thread that this might not be the case, i.e. that wicked people will likely be able to associate with their loved ones as much as they desire. This makes much more sense to me, but I'm no scriptorian. Any thoughts?

[Indy Coug]

Originally Posted by ERCougar

Adam's comment on another thread reminded me of this. I've always been troubled by the notion that people who don't accept the Gospel will be isolated from their families for eternity. It never made much sense to me--how does God isolate you for eternity from your family members? Is it just your immediate family? What about friends? Does He somehow keep you away from everyone you know or would like to be around? What on earth would be the purpose of this?

Adam suggested in another thread that this might not be the case, i.e. that wicked people will likely be able to associate with their loved ones as much as they desire. This makes much more sense to me, but I'm no scriptorian. Any thoughts?

Does God isolate you, or do you isolate yourself? I have no idea about the physical limitations (i.e. Hitler being able to drop in and have a BBQ with some exalted family members), but certainly there are limitations in what you are able to do and what sphere of influence you will have.

[myboynoah]

Originally Posted by ERCougar

Adam's comment on another thread reminded me of this. I've always been troubled by the notion that people who don't accept the Gospel will be isolated from their families for eternity. It never made much sense to me--how does God isolate you for eternity from your family members? Is it just your immediate family? What about friends? Does He somehow keep you away from everyone you know or would like to be around? What on earth would be the purpose of this?

Adam suggested in another thread that this might not be the case, i.e. that wicked people will likely be able to associate with their loved ones as much as they desire. This makes much more sense to me, but I'm no scriptorian. Any thoughts?

I suspect it is something other than physical proximity. The bid question is whose house will I live in, my own with my wife and kids, or my parent's with my siblings? That keeps me up at night.

[barnes]

There has been several statements that the sealing power is still strong when you have faithful parents but wayward children. Some statements even allude to the sealling overcomming child wickedness.

Here are a few examples
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.js...____&hideNav=1

Everyone will have exalted parents if you go up the family lines enough (grandparents - great-grandparents ... eventually to Adam). Unexalted parents may cause family lines to flatten, but they will still be there

[Goatnapper'96]

Originally Posted by barnes

There has been several statements that the sealing power is still strong when you have faithful parents but wayward children. Some statements even allude to the sealling overcomming child wickedness.

Here are a few examples
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.js...____&hideNav=1

Everyone will have exalted parents if you go up the family lines enough (grandparents - great-grandparents ... eventually to Adam). Unexalted parents may cause family lines to flatten, but they will still be there

See Seattle, resistance is futile!

[ERCougar]

Originally Posted by myboynoah

I suspect it is something other than physical proximity. The bid question is whose house will I live in, my own with my wife and kids, or my parent's with my siblings? That keeps me up at night.

Ok, Ok. I was being a little facetious with my last questions. But I remember this issue coming up first for me on my mission when the study guide recommended we approach families with the idea that they live forever with their families. This approach really didn't work all that well (of course, no approach worked all that well in France), because most people either don't really want to be with their families, or they feel that they'll be with them anyway, regardless of whether they join the church. And like Adam says, I can't imagine a God enforcing a separation from your family after this life.

So the deeper question is, what exactly are we talking about when we discuss the sealing of families and couples?

[ERCougar]

Originally Posted by Adam

Even when considering the worst, who we are never told have a path back, Christ tells us to not be so sure and remember that we don't know everything.

This last statement is interesting. It's hard to imagine an eternity of sameness, i.e. that once you're assigned to a kingdom, you're stuck there. Do we believe that only those in the Celestial Kingdom (and really, in the highest degree of the CK) can eternally progress? The rest just sort of hang out? I can see that some (most, even) may choose just to hang out, but it also seems that free agency would be an eternal principle--at any point, someone may change.

[MikeWaters]

I think kingdoms may be representative of jobs.

Not everyone enjoys the same jobs.

[ERCougar]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I think kingdoms may be representative of jobs.

Not everyone enjoys the same jobs.

So can you switch jobs? Probably difficult, and chances are, if you didn't want to put in the effort to choose a certain job in the first place, you probably won't later, but it seems like the possibility should be there.

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by ERCougar

So can you switch jobs? Probably difficult, and chances are, if you didn't want to put in the effort to choose a certain job in the first place, you probably won't later, but it seems like the possibility should be there.

Oh great, now not only do I have a messiah-complex, other people actually have a Waters-is-the-messiah complex and expect me to answer all the questions about the eternities.