Hi Kendel,
I am the father of 5 kids and my wife has had a number of very traumatic miscarriages (one was almost 4 months along). Two of the miscarriages were boys and both are buried alongside my wifes late parents and have names.
I have almost zero tolerance for Mormon doctrine…theirs is such a corruption of the original scriptures they wrote their own (Boook of Mormon). The founder was not a matyr…he was a criminal and died a criminal.
My statement about pain in childbirth is a passage taken directly from the Bible. God very clearly stated that a consequence of the introduction of sin in to this world was that Eve (and all future women) would experience pain in childbirth. There is no interpretation required in this, its been a theologically accepted doctrine for millenia and the reason why is because its interpretation is a simple as me saying “go to bed” to my children. There is no ambiguity in the statement God made (it does not matter whether or not Genesis is read as an allagory).
One thing i should mention at this point (because i know what is coming) there is a textual variant between KJV and number of modern translations in Genesis 3 regarding pain in childbirth.
A list of the various readings from a large number of translations can be found here
I tend to go with the more traditional readings:
The Latin Vulgate
16 mulieri quoque dixit multiplicabo aerumnas tuas et conceptus tuos in dolore paries filios et sub viri potestate eris et ipse dominabitur tui
To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband’s power, and he shall have dominion over thee.
King James Version
King James Bible
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
NIV
To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
I dont think it really matters, the point is, a definitie increase in pain during childbirth is a consequence of sin…how much doesnt really make any difference to the point. as my O.P here is not about childbirth pains in any case…that is a side issue that has not really got anything to do with the original statement Jesus made to the Sadducces.
Now back on topic…
I read at length Isaiah 65:17-25 and I am trying to reconcile the apparent difference between what Isaiah says and what Jesus said. The prophet Isaiah is considered by most theologians to talk directly of the coming messiah…he focuses on it.
My wife made what i think is a good observation…perhaps Jesus was simply taking a swipe at the way in which the Jewish leaders over the years had corrupted the term marriage.
Perhaps he was not saying “there will be no union between a man and a women in heaven”. Perhaps he was saying that the type of marriage that the Sadduccees had in mind (a corrupted version of the original) was not going to be there?
Lets face it, look at how the Jews had corrupted the passover festival…turned the temple into a money trading market…that was a gross corruption of the meaning and reason for the passover to continue up until the cross.