I have been studying the Proclamation on the Family in my PathwayConnect Course. These are some of the ideas that have strengthened my views about the doctrine taught in that proclamation.
The first paragraph of the Proclamation states: “We, the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.”
For me, one of the clearest explanations of the connection between the Plan of Salvation and the doctrine of the family was given by Sister Julie B. Beck.
Elder David A. Bednar summarized it this way (Marriage is Essential to His Plan, Ensign, June 2006):
“The eternal nature and importance of marriage can be fully understood only within the overarching context of the Father’s plan for His children. . . The great plan of happiness enables the spirit sons and daughters of Heavenly Father to obtain physical bodies, to gain earthly experience, and to progress toward perfection. . . The natures of male and female spirits complete and perfect each other, and therefore men and women are intended to progress together toward exaltation."
For me, one of the clearest explanations of the connection between the Plan of Salvation and the doctrine of the family was given by Sister Julie B. Beck.
"In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have a theology of the family that is based on the Creation, the Fall and the Atonement. The Creation of the earth provided a place where families could live. God created a man and a woman who were the two essential halves of a family. It was part of Heavenly Father’s plan that Adam and Eve be sealed and form an eternal family.
"The Fall provided a way for the family to grow. Adam and Eve were family leaders who chose to have a mortal experience. The Fall made it possible for them to have sons and daughters.
"The Atonement allows for the family to be sealed together eternally. It allows for families to have eternal growth and perfection. The plan of happiness, also called the plan of salvation, was a plan created for families. The rising generation need to understand that the main pillars of our theology are centered in the family.
"When we speak of qualifying for the blessings of eternal life, we mean qualifying for the blessings of eternal families. This was Christ’s doctrine, and it was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 2:1–3:
“Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
“And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.
“If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.”
"This scripture is talking about temple blessings—ordinances and covenants without which “the whole earth [is] utterly wasted.”
“The Family: A Proclamation to the World” was written to reinforce that the family is central to the Creator’s plan. Without the family, there is no plan; there is no reason for mortal life.”
(From a broadcast address given to seminary and institute of religion teachers on August 4, 2009. It was printed in the Ensign, “Teaching the Doctrine of the Family,” Ensign, Mar. 2011, 12–17.)
And in conclusion, again, from Elder Bednar:
“As we look beyond mortality and into eternity, it is easy to discern that the counterfeit alternatives the adversary advocates can never lead to the completeness that is made possible through the sealing together of a man and a woman, to the happiness of righteous marriage, to the joy of posterity, or to the blessing of eternal progression."
