Saturday, May 15, 2010

Source A: Celestial Marriage

1. The goal of this talk is to persuade people that marriage in the temple brings greater possibility for happiness than does any other relationship, and that temple marriage is the only way for families to be together forever. Elder Nelson wants to persuade people to get married in the temple.

2. The argument is that only those who are married in the temple will continue as spouses after death and receive the highest degree of celestial glory, or exaltation.
He argues that the noblest yearning of the human heart is for a marriage that can endure beyond death. Fidelity to a temple marriage does that. Elder Nelson says that the best choice is celestial marriage.

3. The audience is members of the LDS church, since it was given at General Conference. This is evident in the beginning when he says, "Together we feel a profound sense of gratitude for the gospel of Jesus Christ." On a broader scale, he is reaching out to everyone. At one point he says that "members of this Church invite all people to learn..."

4. Elder Nelson uses pathos in his argument. He talks about the yearning of the human heart. He also instills a fear in listeners that if they are not married in the temple, they won't be with their families. For example, he tells the story of the couple, where because they had not chosen temple marriage, husband and wife were separated at death. He also uses ethos, because he turns to the scriptures as doctrinal proof of his argument. He uses, for example, D&C 131:1-3, talking about temple marriage and exaltation.

5. I think this talk is effective. On my mission we watched it with husband and wife investigators and their eyes were opened to the possibility of an eternal family, and then they became anxious to do it because they did not want to settle for less when they could have more.

STAR:
The evidence that Elder Nelson used is definitely accurate. He is speaking to a religious group (Mormon), who have already been taught the importance of temple marriage. He is not arguing anything that they didn't know about when they were baptized.

He is also using relevant evidence, because he's taking into account the scriptures, the Proclamation to the Family, and other Conference talks, things that people in the audience would adhere to when addressing marriage as a spiritual matter.

"Celestial Marriage": http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=9b964bb52a73d110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD#footnote7

Word Count: 403

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