The revelation makes it clear that plurality was not some otherworldly connection. It had the vital, present, and human purpose of filling the earth with the posterity of its participants.

. . . .The revelation theologized sex and gave it divine utility in plurality: children.

. . . .The logic of these later verses in the revelation helped fuel a drive to build one’s kingdom—a drive that was present in much of Nauvoo and early Utah polygamy, helping to encourage marriages between older men and youthful women. “Kingdom fever” was a feature of the early incarnation of the system, a “get all you can” philosophy drenched in a picture of an afterlife where glory and family enlargement were one.

A connection between ethical behavior toward unborn preexistent spirits and the personal glory found in God-like activity was at work in the theological framework of polygamy and procreation.

. . . .Assuming that children raised in righteous homes were more likely to be brought into the kingdom of God, it became imperative that unborn spirits be given the increased possibility of being reared in righteous Mormon households. Polygamy was understood as increasing those chances.