Lesson 117

Marriage and Family (Part 2)

Introduction

The teaching materials for this doctrinal mastery topic are divided into four parts. In part 2, students will study paragraph 8.2 of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document. They will learn about the commandment to “multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:28) and will study the doctrinal mastery scripture passage Genesis 1:28. Part 2 also contains a practice exercise that will help students apply the doctrine they learned from the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document and Genesis 1:28.

Note: You could teach the segments of this lesson in a single class session or over the course of several class sessions, dividing class time between Doctrinal Mastery and a regular sequential scripture lesson. If you choose to teach the segments over the course of several class sessions, you may need to briefly review with students what they learned in previous segments before you teach a new segment.

Suggestions for Teaching

Introducing controversial or less well-known topics

Speaking to Church educators, President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught: “You should be among the first, outside your students’ families, to introduce authoritative sources on topics that may be less well-known or controversial so your students will measure whatever they hear or read later against what you have already taught them. … Before you send them into the world, inoculate your students by providing faithful, thoughtful, and accurate interpretation of gospel doctrine, the scriptures, our history, and those topics that are sometimes misunderstood” (M. Russell Ballard, “The Opportunities and Responsibilities of CES Teachers in the 21st Century” [evening with a General Authority, Feb. 26, 2016], broadcasts.lds.org).

Understanding the Doctrine

Segment 1 (20 minutes)

Display a picture of a child or children.

• How have children brought happiness and joy to you or someone you know?

Invite a student to read aloud the first sentence of paragraph 8.2 in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document. Ask students to follow along, looking for a commandment that God has given His children.

As students report what they found, invite them to consider marking this key statement of doctrine in their copies of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document: God has commanded His children to multiply and replenish the earth.

• What does the phrase “multiply and replenish the earth” mean? (To have children. The original Hebrew word, translated as “replenish” in the King James Bible, literally means “fill” [see Genesis 1:28, footnote c].)

• What doctrinal mastery scripture passage helps teach this key statement of doctrine?

Invite students to turn to Genesis 1:28 and to consider marking it in a distinctive way so they can locate it easily. To help students understand the context of this passage, display a picture of Adam and Eve and explain that Genesis 1:28 contains the first recorded words in the Bible that God spoke to Adam and Eve when they were in the Garden of Eden.

Invite a student to read Genesis 1:28 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for how this passage helps teach the key statement of doctrine students just identified. Ask students to report what they find.

• What can we learn from the fact that this was the first commandment God gave to Adam and Eve?

To help students understand this key statement of doctrine and doctrinal mastery passage, ask a student to read aloud the following statement from “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” Ask the class to follow along, looking for what the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have said about the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth.

“The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 145).

• What have the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said about the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth?

• What does their statement that “God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force” mean?

The following activity is designed to help students understand the role of the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth in the plan of salvation. Divide students into groups of three, and give each student a copy of the accompanying handout. Assign each student in each group a different number from one to three. Ask students to read aloud to their groups the statements on the handout that correspond to their numbers. After all students have read their statements, invite them to discuss in their groups the questions at the bottom of the handout. (As students work on this assignment, observe the groups and provide assistance as needed.)

“Multiply, and Replenish the Earth” (Genesis 1:28)

Student 1. Read aloud the following statement by Sister Julie B. Beck, former Relief Society General President:

“Whereas in many cultures in the world children are ‘becoming less valued’ [James E. Faust, “Challenges Facing the Family,” Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, Jan. 10, 2004, 2], in the culture of the gospel we still believe in having children. … President Ezra Taft Benson taught that young couples should not postpone having children and that ‘in the eternal perspective, children—not possessions, not position, not prestige—are our greatest jewels’ [To the Mothers in Zion (pamphlet, 1987), 3, 4]” (Julie B. Beck, “Mothers Who Know,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2007, 76).

Student 2. Read aloud the following statement by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

“God ordained that men and women should marry and give birth to children, thereby creating, in partnership with God, the physical bodies that are key to the test of mortality and essential to eternal glory with Him. …

“A family built on the marriage of a man and woman supplies the best setting for God’s plan to thrive—the setting for the birth of children, who come in purity and innocence from God, and the environment for the learning and preparation they will need for a successful mortal life and eternal life in the world to come” (D. Todd Christofferson, “Why Marriage, Why Family,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 51, 52).

Student 3. Read the following statement by Elder Joseph W. Sitati of the Seventy:

“Our physical bodies are a blessing from God. We received them for the purposes of fulfilling Heavenly Father’s work ‘to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man’ [Moses 1:39]. The body is the means by which we can attain our divine potential.

“The body enables Heavenly Father’s obedient spirit children to experience life on earth [see Moses 5:10–11]. Bearing children gives other spirit children of God the opportunity to also enjoy life on earth. All who are born in mortality have the opportunity to progress and to be exalted if they obey God’s commandments.

“Marriage between a man and a woman is the institution that God ordained for the fulfillment of the charge to multiply” (Joseph W. Sitati, “Be Fruitful, Multiply, and Subdue the Earth,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 127).

Discussion Questions

• What do these statements teach about the role of the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth in the plan of salvation?

• In what ways does having children help us participate in the plan of salvation?

• Why do you think it is important for Latter-day Saint youth to understand the importance of the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth?

© 2018 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

Share your testimony of the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth and of the importance of the family in the plan of happiness.

Practice Exercise (20 minutes)

Review with students the following principles from the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document: act in faith, examine concepts and questions with an eternal perspective, and seek further understanding through divinely appointed sources.

(Note: You may want to adapt the following scenario according to students’ experiences and needs and to substitute a name that is more common where you live.)

Write the following question on the board: If your church believes so strongly in choice, then why are you against a woman choosing to have an abortion?

Invite two students to come to the front of the class. Give each of them a copy of the accompanying handout, and assign one student to read the part of the friend and the other student to read the part of Sarah. Invite students to listen for how Sarah uses the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to address the question on the board.

Rather than asking students to read the scenario, consider showing the portion of the video “The Plan of Salvation” that depicts Heavenly Father’s plan as a three-act play and the scenario in the handout. Show this video from time code 7:07 to 9:40.

A Conversation about Abortion

Friend: I don’t get it, Sarah. If your church believes so strongly in choice, then why are you against a woman choosing to have an abortion?

Sarah: It’s going to take a minute to explain. Let’s talk after class.

[Class ends]

Sarah: Okay. Let me try to answer your question. We have to step back and look at a bigger picture than just what happens here in this life. When you do, you can see that there’s more going on with abortion than just ending a pregnancy.

Friend: What does that mean?

Sarah: I guess my feelings on this are based on my understanding of the purpose of life. Well, what I mean is, life doesn’t begin with birth or end with death. We lived before we came to earth, and we continue to live after we die.

Friend: Do you really believe that?

Sarah: Yeah, I do. Heavenly Father has a plan for our lives. Part of that plan is to come to earth and get a body. And as part of that plan, Heavenly Father shares with us the power to create other bodies. But He commands us to use it only in marriage. So if we use that power and choose to invite life, and then turn around and destroy it, that goes against God’s purpose in even giving it to us in the first place. We’re taking into our own hands powers reserved for Him. God gives us freedom of choice, but with it comes responsibility for our choices. So if we choose to use that power, we have to deal with the consequences of that choice. Does that make sense?

Friend: Yeah, it does. Thanks.

© 2018 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

After the role play or the video, ask the following questions:

• How did Sarah use the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to answer her friend’s question?

• What else could Sarah have done to use the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge?

• What are some divinely appointed or trustworthy sources that could be used to help answer the question on the board? (More resources, including more information about the Church’s position regarding abortion, are listed in the Commentary and Background Information section of the digital version of this manual at LDS.org. You may want to specifically direct students to the topic “Abortion” at topics.lds.org or to the entry on abortion in True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference [2004].)

• How could you use Genesis 1:28 to help answer the question?

Divide the class into pairs. Invite students to role-play answering the question on the board with their partners. Make sure all students have the opportunity to share with their partners how they would answer the question. If time permits, you may want to invite a couple of students to share their answers with the class.

Testify of the sacredness of life and of the importance of the family in Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation.

Commentary and Background Information

The Church’s position on abortion

If you feel students would benefit from learning more about the Church’s position on abortion, consider sharing the following statement from True to the Faith:

“Latter-day prophets have denounced abortion, referring to the Lord’s declaration, ‘Thou shalt not … kill, nor do anything like unto it’ (D&C 59:6). Their counsel on the matter is clear: Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must not submit to, perform, encourage, pay for, or arrange for an abortion. If you encourage an abortion in any way, you may be subject to Church discipline.

“Church leaders have said that some exceptional circumstances may justify an abortion, such as when pregnancy is the result of incest or rape, when the life or health of the mother is judged by competent medical authority to be in serious jeopardy, or when the fetus is known by competent medical authority to have severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth. But even these circumstances do not automatically justify an abortion. Those who face such circumstances should consider abortion only after consulting with their local Church leaders and receiving a confirmation through earnest prayer” (True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference [2004], 4).

The following resources can help with questions about abortion:

Russell M. Nelson, “Reverence for Life,” Ensign, May 1985, 11–14.

Boyd K. Packer, “Covenants,” Ensign, Nov. 1990, 84–86.

“Church Issues Statement on Abortion,” Ensign, Mar. 1991, 78.

Handbook 2: Administering the Church (2010), 21.4.1.