Many of the ordinances of the church are performed
in secret and are still more complicated. Although some of these rites
and ceremonies have been revealed by apostates, yet there are others of
such a character that even the bitterest seceder from the church would
not dare unfold them. With this complex system conceived after the
manner of the Jewish priesthood, and with the various revelations that
have been added from time to time, the church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints stands to-day as a very curious monument to the ingenuity of
men, the most prominent of whom were descended from Puritan fathers.
The ordinance that has given so much unpleasant notoriety to this church
is that of polygamy, or plural marriage as the Mormons designate it.
There are three kinds of marriage; the marriage for this world as in
other churches, "till death do us part;" the marriage for this world and
for eternity combined; and the marriage for eternity alone, independent
and separate from this world's relationship.
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