The Bible makes clear that all mankind will be "judged... according to their works." (Revelation 20:12) And if so, won't everyone's rewards be different one from another? Jesus insisted that in His "Father's house are many mansions" (John 14:2), and Paul wrote that in the judgment a person's works might be added to his reward or burned up, but either way he might still be saved: "If any man's work abide which he hath built [upon the foundation of Jesus Christ], he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." (1 Corinthians 3:14-15) Paul also indicated that he had seen a vision of "the third heaven." (2 Corinthians 12:2) Therefore, one might logically conclude from these passages that recipients of salvation will be allotted varying rewards within at least three different "heavens" or "degrees of glory." However, it must be admitted that this fact is not really made explicit in the Bible, so it is understandable that the Christian world has for many centuries been content with the doctrine of one heaven and one hell.
Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity
by Barry Robert Bickmore
Chapter 4
Salvation History and Requirements
The LDS Doctrine of Degrees of Glory
While pondering the significance of certain of the aforementioned passages in the Bible, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were given a most striking vision of the fate of mankind after the general resurrection and judgment, which included a description of the three principal kingdoms of glory.(D&C 76) They found that the first kingdom, called the Celestial, will be inhabited by those who have overcome by faith in Jesus Christ (D&C 76:50-70, 92-96), including children who have died and those who would have accepted the gospel in this life, but were not given the chance until they reached the spirit world.(D&C 137:1-10) The second kingdom, called the Terrestrial, will be inhabited by good people who were just and kind, but were not valiant in their testimony of Jesus. Those who rejected the gospel in this life, but afterwards received it will be given a reward in this kingdom, as well.(D&C 76:71-80, 91, 97)(Note also that the paradise of Adam and Eve was in a Terrestrial state, and translated beings dwell in this sphere awaiting the resurrection, as well.) The third, or Telestial, kingdom will be given to the generally wicked masses of the earth who spent their entire residence in the Spirit World in Hell, and so were not worthy of any higher glory.(D&C 76:81-90, 98-112)
Another distinction between these kingdoms is that those who receive Celestial glory will reside in the presence of the Father Himself, while those in the Terrestrial kingdom will receive the presence of the Son, and those in the Telestial will have the Holy Ghost to minister to them.(D&C 76:62, 77, 86)
Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity
by Barry Robert Bickmore
Chapter 4
Salvation History and Requirements
Another distinction between these kingdoms is that those who receive Celestial glory will reside in the presence of the Father Himself, while those in the Terrestrial kingdom will receive the presence of the Son, and those in the Telestial will have the Holy Ghost to minister to them.(D&C 76:62, 77, 86)
Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity
by Barry Robert Bickmore
Chapter 4
Salvation History and Requirements
Sun, Moon, and Stars as Types of the Degrees of Glory
What marvelous light this vision has thrown upon obscure Bible passages! For example, what good does it do to know that there are three heavens if one does not know anything about them? Another example of a passage illuminated by this revelation is Paul's description of the glory of the resurrected body:
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.(1 Corinthians 15:40-42)
In the vision of the kingdoms of glory, the Lord revealed that this passage is not just a comparison of earthly bodies with heavenly, but also a reference to the fact that there are three different major levels of glory to which a body can be resurrected:
And the glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun is one. And the glory of the terrestrial is one, even as the glory of the moon is one. And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one; for as one star differeth from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world.(D&C 76:96-98)
Origen, in the early third century, revealed that the early Church interpreted this passage in essentially the same way:
Our understanding of the passage indeed is, that the Apostle, wishing to describe the great difference among those who rise again in glory, i.e., of the saints, borrowed a comparison from the heavenly bodies, saying, "One is the glory of the sun, another the glory of the moon, another the glory of the stars." (Origen, De Principiis 2:10:2, in ANF 4:294.)
He further explained that the highest of the three degrees is associated with the Father, and the second degree with the Son:
And some men are connected with the Father, being part of Him, and next to these, those whom our argument now brings into clearer light, those who have come to the Saviour and take their stand entirely in Him. And third are those of whom we spoke before, who reckon the sun and the moon and the stars to be gods, and take their stand by them. And in the fourth and last place those who submit to soulless and dead idols.(201 Origen, Commentary on John 2:3, in ANF 10:324-325.)
We shall see that Origen's doctrine of a fourth degree for the very wicked is fairly consistent with LDS belief, as well.
John Chrysostom was another witness to the fact that the early Church considered this passage to be a reference to degrees of reward in the afterlife:
And having said this, he ascends again to the heaven, saying, "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon." For as in the earthly bodies there is a difference, so also in the heavenly; and that difference no ordinary one, but reaching even to the uttermost: there being not only a difference between sun and moon, and stars, but also between stars and stars. For what though they be all in the heaven? yet some have a larger, others a less share of glory. What do we learn from hence? That although they be all in God's kingdom, all shall not enjoy the same reward; and though all sinners be in hell, all shall not endure the same punishment.(John Chrysostom, Homilies on 1 Corinthians 41:4, in NPNF Series 1, 12:251.)
Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity
by Barry Robert Bickmore
Chapter 4
Salvation History and Requirements
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.(1 Corinthians 15:40-42)
In the vision of the kingdoms of glory, the Lord revealed that this passage is not just a comparison of earthly bodies with heavenly, but also a reference to the fact that there are three different major levels of glory to which a body can be resurrected:
And the glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun is one. And the glory of the terrestrial is one, even as the glory of the moon is one. And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one; for as one star differeth from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world.(D&C 76:96-98)
Origen, in the early third century, revealed that the early Church interpreted this passage in essentially the same way:
Our understanding of the passage indeed is, that the Apostle, wishing to describe the great difference among those who rise again in glory, i.e., of the saints, borrowed a comparison from the heavenly bodies, saying, "One is the glory of the sun, another the glory of the moon, another the glory of the stars." (Origen, De Principiis 2:10:2, in ANF 4:294.)
He further explained that the highest of the three degrees is associated with the Father, and the second degree with the Son:
And some men are connected with the Father, being part of Him, and next to these, those whom our argument now brings into clearer light, those who have come to the Saviour and take their stand entirely in Him. And third are those of whom we spoke before, who reckon the sun and the moon and the stars to be gods, and take their stand by them. And in the fourth and last place those who submit to soulless and dead idols.(201 Origen, Commentary on John 2:3, in ANF 10:324-325.)
We shall see that Origen's doctrine of a fourth degree for the very wicked is fairly consistent with LDS belief, as well.
John Chrysostom was another witness to the fact that the early Church considered this passage to be a reference to degrees of reward in the afterlife:
And having said this, he ascends again to the heaven, saying, "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon." For as in the earthly bodies there is a difference, so also in the heavenly; and that difference no ordinary one, but reaching even to the uttermost: there being not only a difference between sun and moon, and stars, but also between stars and stars. For what though they be all in the heaven? yet some have a larger, others a less share of glory. What do we learn from hence? That although they be all in God's kingdom, all shall not enjoy the same reward; and though all sinners be in hell, all shall not endure the same punishment.(John Chrysostom, Homilies on 1 Corinthians 41:4, in NPNF Series 1, 12:251.)
Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity
by Barry Robert Bickmore
Chapter 4
Salvation History and Requirements
More Ancient Witnesses to the Three Degrees of Glory
This doctrine goes back much further than Origen and Chrysostom, however. Irenaeus preserved the same tradition which had supposedly come from the elders who knew the Apostles. Many think he received it from Papias:
And as the presbyters say, Then those who are deemed worthy of an abode in heaven shall go there, others shall enjoy the delights of paradise, and others shall possess the splendour of the city; for everywhere the Saviour shall be seen according as they who see Him shall be worthy.[They say, moreover], that there is this distinction between the habitation of those who produce an hundred-fold, and that of those who produce sixty-fold, and that of those who produce thirty-fold: for the first will be taken up into the heavens, the second will dwell in paradise, the last will inhabit the city; and that was on this account the Lord declared, "In My Father's house are many mansions." For all things belong to God, who supplies all with a suitable dwelling-place; even as His Word says, that a share is allotted to all by the Father, according as each person is or shall be worthy. And this is the couch on which the guests shall recline, having been invited to the wedding. The presbyters, the disciples of the Apostles, affirm that this is the gradation and arrangement of those who are saved, and that they advance through steps of this nature; also that they ascend through the Spirit to the Son, and through the Son to the Father, and that in due time the Son will yield up His work to the Father, even as it is said by the Apostle, "For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5:36:1-2, in ANF 1:567, brackets in original.)
Clement of Alexandria also expressed belief in the three degrees, and echoed the Lord's revelation to Joseph Smith that those in the highest degree "are gods, even the sons of God." (D&C 76:58)
Conformably, therefore, there are various abodes, according to the worth of those who have believed .... These chosen abodes, which are three, are indicated by the numbers in the Gospel--the thirty, the sixty, the hundred. And the perfect inheritance belongs to those who attain to "a perfect man," according to the image of the Lord .... To the likeness of God, then, he that is introduced into adoption and the friendship of God, to the just inheritance of the lords and gods is brought; if he be perfected, according to the Gospel, as the Lord Himself taught.(204 Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 6:14, in ANF 2:506.)
Clement also preached that the three gradations of glory are procured by virtue of three types of actions:
[Clement of Alexandria] reckons three kinds of actions, the first of which is ... right or perfect action, which is characteristic of the perfect man and Gnostic alone, and raises him to the height of glory. The second is the class of ... medium, or intermediate actions, which are done by less perfect believers, and procure a lower grade of glory. In the third place he reckons sinful actions, which are done by those who fall away from salvation.(205 ANF 2:506.)
Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity
by Barry Robert Bickmore
Chapter 4
Salvation History and Requirements
And as the presbyters say, Then those who are deemed worthy of an abode in heaven shall go there, others shall enjoy the delights of paradise, and others shall possess the splendour of the city; for everywhere the Saviour shall be seen according as they who see Him shall be worthy.[They say, moreover], that there is this distinction between the habitation of those who produce an hundred-fold, and that of those who produce sixty-fold, and that of those who produce thirty-fold: for the first will be taken up into the heavens, the second will dwell in paradise, the last will inhabit the city; and that was on this account the Lord declared, "In My Father's house are many mansions." For all things belong to God, who supplies all with a suitable dwelling-place; even as His Word says, that a share is allotted to all by the Father, according as each person is or shall be worthy. And this is the couch on which the guests shall recline, having been invited to the wedding. The presbyters, the disciples of the Apostles, affirm that this is the gradation and arrangement of those who are saved, and that they advance through steps of this nature; also that they ascend through the Spirit to the Son, and through the Son to the Father, and that in due time the Son will yield up His work to the Father, even as it is said by the Apostle, "For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5:36:1-2, in ANF 1:567, brackets in original.)
Clement of Alexandria also expressed belief in the three degrees, and echoed the Lord's revelation to Joseph Smith that those in the highest degree "are gods, even the sons of God." (D&C 76:58)
Conformably, therefore, there are various abodes, according to the worth of those who have believed .... These chosen abodes, which are three, are indicated by the numbers in the Gospel--the thirty, the sixty, the hundred. And the perfect inheritance belongs to those who attain to "a perfect man," according to the image of the Lord .... To the likeness of God, then, he that is introduced into adoption and the friendship of God, to the just inheritance of the lords and gods is brought; if he be perfected, according to the Gospel, as the Lord Himself taught.(204 Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 6:14, in ANF 2:506.)
Clement also preached that the three gradations of glory are procured by virtue of three types of actions:
[Clement of Alexandria] reckons three kinds of actions, the first of which is ... right or perfect action, which is characteristic of the perfect man and Gnostic alone, and raises him to the height of glory. The second is the class of ... medium, or intermediate actions, which are done by less perfect believers, and procure a lower grade of glory. In the third place he reckons sinful actions, which are done by those who fall away from salvation.(205 ANF 2:506.)
Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity
by Barry Robert Bickmore
Chapter 4
Salvation History and Requirements
Pre-Existence
Pre-mortal Life
Num. 16: 22(Num. 27: 16) God of the spirits of all flesh.
Job 38: 7all the sons of God shouted for joy.
Eccl. 12: 7the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Jer. 1: 5Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee.
Zech. 12: 1Lord . . . formeth the spirit of man within him.
John 9: 2who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind.
Acts 17: 28poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Rom. 8: 29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate.
Eph. 1: 4chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.
Heb. 12: 9subjection unto the Father of spirits.
Jude 1: 6angels which kept not their first estate.
Rev. 12: 7Michael and his angels fought against the dragon.
Alma 13: 3called and prepared from the foundation of the world.
Hel. 14: 17bringeth mankind . . . back into the presence of the Lord.
D&C 29: 36third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away.
D&C 38: 1seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made.
D&C 49: 17man, according to his creation before the world.
D&C 93: 29Man was also in the beginning with God.
D&C 138: 53choice spirits who were reserved to come forth.
D&C 138: 56before they were born . . . received their first lessons.
Moses 3: 5in heaven created I them, and there was not yet flesh upon the earth. Moses 6: 36he beheld the spirits that God had created.
Abr. 3: 22intelligences that were organized before the world was.
Abr. 3: 23he stood among those that were spirits.
Abr. 5: 7took his spirit . . . and put it into him.
The doctrine of the preexistence, for example, appears frequently in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the pseudepigrapha, and the Nag Hammadi texts.
Two examples in the Dead Sea Scrolls:
“Before things came into existence He determined the plan of them” (The Manual of Discipline [1QS] 3. 15–17, as quoted in Theodore H. Gaster, ed. and trans., The Dead Sea Scriptures [Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1976], p. 48); and
“By wisdom of thy knowledge thou didst establish their destiny before they came into existence” (Thanksgiving Hymns [lQH], in Herbert G. May, “Cosmological Reference in Qumran and the Old Testament,” Journal of Biblical Literature 82 [1963], p. 32n).
The Pseudepigrapha:
2 Enoch 23. 4–5: “All the souls of mankind, however many of them are born, and the places prepared for them from eternity for all souls are prepared from eternity before the foundation of the world” (as translated in R. H. Charles, The Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, 2 vols. [London: Oxford, 1913], 2:444, and The Testament of Naphtali 2. 2–4).
The abode for preexistent souls is the promptuaria animarum, according to 2 Baruch 23. 5. The preexistence of Moses is indicated in the Assumption of Moses 1. 13–14. Abraham saw the “ [divine] world counsel . . . [wherein] whatever I had determined to be was already planned beforehand in this [picture], and it stood before me ere it was created.” He also saw “they whom I [God] have ordained to be born of thee and to be called My People” (as quoted in G. H. Box, ed. and trans., The Apocalypse of Abraham [London: SPCK, 1919], pp. 68–69).
The idea is found in the Dead Sea Scrolls via the Essenes, according to Marc Philonenko in Les Interpolations Chretiennes des Testaments des Douze Patriarches (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1960), p. 39.
For references in Rabbinical literature, see Tenchuma Pikkude 3; Chagiga 12b; Bereshit Rabbah 100.
3 Enoch 43. 3
Wisdom 8. 19–20. For examples in Gnostic literature, see the Gospel of Thomas, Logia 49 (“Blessed are the lonely and the elect, for you will find the kingdom. It is from there that you have come and there you will return again.”);
Logia 84 (“When you see your images [\ikQn] that came into existence before you, which neither die nor are manifested, how much you then will bear!”);
Gospel of Truth 18—all located in Mario Erbetta, Gli Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento (Torino, Italy: Marietti Editori, 1976),
pp. 271, 278, and 526.
The soul must journey to the earth in order to prove itself as part of God’s plan set down before the foundation of the world. (Angelo Rappoport, Myth and Legend of Ancient Israel, 8 vols. (London: Gresheim Pub. Co, 1928), 8:21)
Ben Sirach 16. 26–29
1 Enoch 23. 11
Apocryphon of Abraham, in Box, Apocalypse of Abraham, p. 68
Odes of Solomon 7. 7–10
Gospel of Philip 114. 7–20, in R. M. Wilson, ed. and trans., The Gospel of Philip (New York: Harper & Row, 1962), p. 125.)
Christians Wrong About Heaven, Says Bishop
Interesting how Protestants are now starting to believe differently about heaven and hell.
Times.com
By David Van Biema
Thursday, Feb. 07, 2008
(Interview with Bishop N.T. Wright, Church of England)
Christians Wrong About Heaven, Says Bishop
Also See:
(book) Surprised By Hope by N.T. Wright
Nightline Faith Matters - Bishop's Heaven: Is There Life After the Afterlife? Wright Offers New Perspective on Heaven and Hell
Times.com
By David Van Biema
Thursday, Feb. 07, 2008
(Interview with Bishop N.T. Wright, Church of England)
Christians Wrong About Heaven, Says Bishop
N.T. "Tom" Wright is one of the most formidable figures in the world of Christian thought. As Bishop of Durham, he is the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England and a major player in the strife-riven global Anglican Communion; as a much-read theologian and Biblical scholar he has taught at Cambridge and is a hero to conservative Christians worldwide for his 2003 book The Resurrection of the Son of God, which argued forcefully for a literal interpretation of that event.
It therefore comes as a something of a shock that Wright doesn't believe in heaven — at least, not in the way that millions of Christians understand the term. In his new book, Surprised by Hope, Wright quotes a children's book by California first lady Maria Shriver called What's Heaven, which describes it as "a beautiful place where you can sit on soft clouds and talk... If you're good throughout your life, then you get to go [there]... When your life is finished here on earth, God sends angels down to take you heaven to be with him." That, says Wright is a good example of "what not to say." The Biblical truth, he continues, "is very, very different."
Wright, 58, talked by phone with TIME's David Van Biema.
TIME: At one point you call the common view of heaven a "distortion and serious diminution of Christian hope."
Wright: It really is. I've often heard people say, "I'm going to heaven soon, and I won't need this stupid body there, thank goodness.' That's a very damaging distortion, all the more so for being unintentional.
TIME: How so? It seems like a typical sentiment.
Wright: There are several important respects in which it's unsupported by the New Testament. First, the timing. In the Bible we are told that you die, and enter an intermediate state. St. Paul is very clear that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead already, but that nobody else has yet. Secondly, our physical state. The New Testament says that when Christ does return, the dead will experience a whole new life: not just our soul, but our bodies. And finally, the location. At no point do the resurrection narratives in the four Gospels say, "Jesus has been raised, therefore we are all going to heaven." It says that Christ is coming here, to join together the heavens and the Earth in an act of new creation.
TIME: Is there anything more in the Bible about the period between death and the resurrection of the dead?
Wright: We know that we will be with God and with Christ, resting and being refreshed. Paul writes that it will be conscious, but compared with being bodily alive, it will be like being asleep. The Wisdom of Solomon, a Jewish text from about the same time as Jesus, says "the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God," and that seems like a poetic way to put the Christian understanding, as well.
TIME: But it's not where the real action is, so to speak?
Wright: No. Our culture is very interested in life after death, but the New Testament is much more interested in what I've called the life after life after death — in the ultimate resurrection into the new heavens and the new Earth. Jesus' resurrection marks the beginning of a restoration that he will complete upon his return. Part of this will be the resurrection of all the dead, who will "awake," be embodied and participate in the renewal. John Polkinghorne, a physicist and a priest, has put it this way: "God will download our software onto his hardware until the time he gives us new hardware to run the software again for ourselves." That gets to two things nicely: that the period after death is a period when we are in God's presence but not active in our own bodies, and also that the more important transformation will be when we are again embodied and administering Christ's kingdom.
TIME: That is rather different from the common understanding. Did some Biblical verse contribute to our confusion?
Wright: There is Luke 23, where Jesus says to the good thief on the cross, "Today you will be with me in Paradise." But in Luke, we know first of all that Christ himself will not be resurrected for three days, so "paradise" cannot be a resurrection. It has to be an intermediate state. And chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation, where there is a vision of worship in heaven that people imagine describes our worship at the end of time. In fact it's describing the worship that's going on right now. If you read the book through, you see that at the end we don't have a description of heaven, but, as I said, of the new heavens and the new earth joined together.
TIME: Why, then, have we misread those verses?
Wright: It has, originally, to do with the translation of Jewish ideas into Greek. The New Testament is deeply, deeply Jewish, and the Jews had for some time been intuiting a final, physical resurrection. They believed that the world of space and time and matter is messed up, but remains basically good, and God will eventually sort it out and put it right again. Belief in that goodness is absolutely essential to Christianity, both theologically and morally. But Greek-speaking Christians influenced by Plato saw our cosmos as shabby and misshapen and full of lies, and the idea was not to make it right, but to escape it and leave behind our material bodies. The church at its best has always come back toward the Hebrew view, but there have been times when the Greek view was very influential.
TIME: Can you give some historical examples?
Wright: Two obvious ones are Dante's great poetry, which sets up a Heaven, Purgatory and Hell immediately after death, and Michelangelo's Last Judgment in the Sistine chapel, which portrays heaven and hell as equal and opposite last destinations. Both had enormous influence on Western culture, so much so that many Christians think that is Christianity.
TIME: But it's not.
Wright: Never at any point do the Gospels or Paul say Jesus has been raised, therefore we are all going to heaven. They all say, Jesus is raised, therefore the new creation has begun, and we have a job to do.
TIME: That sounds a lot like... work.
Wright: It's more exciting than hanging around listening to nice music. In Revelation and Paul's letters we are told that God's people will actually be running the new world on God's behalf. The idea of our participation in the new creation goes back to Genesis, when humans are supposed to be running the Garden and looking after the animals. If you transpose that all the way through, it's a picture like the one that you get at the end of Revelation.
TIME: And it ties in to what you've written about this all having a moral dimension.
Wright: Both that, and the idea of bodily resurrection that people deny when they talk about their "souls going to Heaven." If people think "my physical body doesn't matter very much," then who cares what I do with it? And if people think that our world, our cosmos, doesn't matter much, who cares what we do with that? Much of "traditional" Christianity gives the impression that God has these rather arbitrary rules about how you have to behave, and if you disobey them you go to hell, rather than to heaven. What the New Testament really says is God wants you to be a renewed human being helping him to renew his creation, and his resurrection was the opening bell. And when he returns to fulfill the plan, you won't be going up there to him, he'll be coming down here.
TIME: That's very different from, say, the vision put out in the Left Behind books.
Wright: Yes. If there's going to be an Armageddon, and we'll all be in heaven already or raptured up just in time, it really doesn't matter if you have acid rain or greenhouse gases prior to that. Or, for that matter, whether you bombed civilians in Iraq. All that really matters is saving souls for that disembodied heaven.
TIME: Has anyone you've talked to expressed disappointment at the loss of the old view?
Wright: Yes, you might get disappointment in the case where somebody has recently gone through the death of somebody they love and they are wanting simply to be with them. And I'd say that's understandable. But the end of Revelation describes a marvelous human participation in God's plan. And in almost all cases, when I've explained this to people, there's a sense of excitement and a sense of, "Why haven't we been told this before?"
Also See:
(book) Surprised By Hope by N.T. Wright
Nightline Faith Matters - Bishop's Heaven: Is There Life After the Afterlife? Wright Offers New Perspective on Heaven and Hell
Council in Heaven
St. John on the island of Patmos, while exiled he received the revelation recorded in the Apocalypse. In the clouds above appears the vision John is about to describe in his book: "I saw ... one like to the Son of man...." (Apocalypse I: 13) On the Lord's knees are the Lamb and the scroll with seven seals mentioned later in the Apocalypse; seated around His throne are twenty-four elders in white robes and golden crowns.
Council in Heaven and the rebellion and war with Lucifer and his followers lose their place and are cast out. One recalls the words of Isaiah: " How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? " (Isaiah XIV:12)
Council in Heaven and the rebellion and war with Lucifer and his followers lose their place and are cast out. One recalls the words of Isaiah: " How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? " (Isaiah XIV:12)
Intelligences or the Soul
Now the soul and the spirit are certainly a part of the man, but certainly not the man; for the whole man consists in the commingling and union of the soul receiving the spirit...and the admixture of the fleshly nature....For that flesh which has been moulded is not a perfect man in itself, but the body of a man and a part of a man. Neither is the soul itself...the man, but the soul of a man, a part of a man. (St Irenae of Lyons, Against Heresies, Bk.4, 6:1)
But though the soul be immortal [by grace], yet it [alone] is not the person. (St Titus of Bostra, Against the Manicheans, Homily 1 - PG 96:489B)
But though the soul be immortal [by grace], yet it [alone] is not the person. (St Titus of Bostra, Against the Manicheans, Homily 1 - PG 96:489B)
Celestial Kingdom
1. The celestial kingdom is a kingdom of resplendent glory (see D&C 137:1–4).
2. Faithful members of the Church will come forth in the morning of the First Resurrection and receive a glorified, celestial body (see D&C 76:64–65; 88:28–29).
3. Those who inherit the celestial kingdom will dwell in the presence of God and Christ forever (see D&C 76:62).
4. Those in the celestial kingdom will minister to the inhabitants of the terrestrial kingdom (see D&C 76:86–87).
5. Those who inherit exaltation, the highest degree in the celestial kingdom, will become kings and priests unto God and members of the Church of the Firstborn (see D&C 76:54–57).
6. Through the Atonement and their own faithfulness, those who obtain exaltation become gods (see D&C 76:58; 132:19–20).
7. Exalted beings receive all things that the Father has (see D&C 76:55, 59; 84:38).
Inheritors
1. We must receive the testimony of Jesus, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and keep the commandments (see D&C 76:51–52).
2. We must overcome all things by faith and be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise (see D&C 76:53, 60).
3. We must comply with the new and everlasting covenant of marriage (see D&C 131:1–3).
■ “The higher ordinances in the temple of God pertain to exaltation in the celestial kingdom.” (D&C 88:22)” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:41–42).
■ “Terrestrial glory may be all right for honorable Gentiles, who have not faith enough to believe the Gospel and who do right according to the best knowledge they have; but celestial glory is our aim … If there is a law that God has revealed and it is necessary to be obeyed before celestial glory can be reached, I want to know it and obey it.” (George Q. Cannon, in Conference Report, Apr. 1900, 55–56).
■ “When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 348).
■ “Some might suppose that it would be a great blessing to be taken and carried directly into heaven and there set down, but in reality that would be no blessing to such persons; they could not reap a full reward, could not enjoy the glory of the kingdom, and could not comprehend and abide the light thereof, but it would be to them a hell intolerable and I suppose would consume them much quicker than would hell fire. It would be no blessing to you to be carried into the celestial kingdom, and obliged to stay therein, unless you were prepared to dwell there” (Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, 95).
(Adapted from Doctrines of the Gospel, institute student manual, chapter 33, “Kingdoms of Glory and Perdition” by Zan and Misty Larsen.)
2. Faithful members of the Church will come forth in the morning of the First Resurrection and receive a glorified, celestial body (see D&C 76:64–65; 88:28–29).
3. Those who inherit the celestial kingdom will dwell in the presence of God and Christ forever (see D&C 76:62).
4. Those in the celestial kingdom will minister to the inhabitants of the terrestrial kingdom (see D&C 76:86–87).
5. Those who inherit exaltation, the highest degree in the celestial kingdom, will become kings and priests unto God and members of the Church of the Firstborn (see D&C 76:54–57).
6. Through the Atonement and their own faithfulness, those who obtain exaltation become gods (see D&C 76:58; 132:19–20).
7. Exalted beings receive all things that the Father has (see D&C 76:55, 59; 84:38).
Inheritors
1. We must receive the testimony of Jesus, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and keep the commandments (see D&C 76:51–52).
2. We must overcome all things by faith and be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise (see D&C 76:53, 60).
3. We must comply with the new and everlasting covenant of marriage (see D&C 131:1–3).
■ “The higher ordinances in the temple of God pertain to exaltation in the celestial kingdom.” (D&C 88:22)” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:41–42).
■ “Terrestrial glory may be all right for honorable Gentiles, who have not faith enough to believe the Gospel and who do right according to the best knowledge they have; but celestial glory is our aim … If there is a law that God has revealed and it is necessary to be obeyed before celestial glory can be reached, I want to know it and obey it.” (George Q. Cannon, in Conference Report, Apr. 1900, 55–56).
■ “When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 348).
■ “Some might suppose that it would be a great blessing to be taken and carried directly into heaven and there set down, but in reality that would be no blessing to such persons; they could not reap a full reward, could not enjoy the glory of the kingdom, and could not comprehend and abide the light thereof, but it would be to them a hell intolerable and I suppose would consume them much quicker than would hell fire. It would be no blessing to you to be carried into the celestial kingdom, and obliged to stay therein, unless you were prepared to dwell there” (Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, 95).
(Adapted from Doctrines of the Gospel, institute student manual, chapter 33, “Kingdoms of Glory and Perdition” by Zan and Misty Larsen.)
Terrestrial Kingdom
1. The inhabitants of the terrestrial kingdom will enjoy the presence of the Son but not the fulness of the Father (see D&C 76:77).
2. Those in the terrestrial kingdom will minister to those in the telestial kingdom (see D&C 76:81, 86).
3. The terrestrial kingdom exceeds the glory, power, might, and dominion of the telestial kingdom (see D&C 76:91).
4. Those who inherit the terrestrial kingdom will come forth in the First Resurrection after those who inherit the celestial kingdom have been resurrected (see D&C 88:99; 45:54).
Inheritors
1. Those who inherit the terrestrial kingdom are described as honorable people who, either in this world or in the spirit world, receive the testimony of Jesus but are not valiant in that testimony (see D&C 76:71–79).
2. Among those who inherit the terrestrial kingdom will be people who died without the law, spirits kept in prison, and some members of the Church who were not sufficiently valiant (see D&C 76:72–75, 79).
3. Those who reject the prophets in this life and then accept the gospel in the spirit world will inherit the terrestrial kingdom (see D&C 76:73–74; 138:32).
■ “Into the terrestrial kingdom will go all those who are honorable and who have lived clean virtuous lives, but who would not receive the Gospel, but in the spirit world repented and accepted it as far as it can be given unto them. Many of these have been blinded by tradition and the love of the world, and have not been able to see the beauties of the Gospel” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:287–88).
■ “After the Lord and the righteous who are caught up to meet him have descended upon the earth, there will come to pass another resurrection. This may be considered as a part of the first, although it comes later. In this resurrection will come forth those of the terrestrial order, who were not worthy to be caught up to meet him, but who are worthy to come forth to enjoy the millennial reign” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:296).
■ “We read of others who receive glory of a secondary order, differing from the highest as ‘the moon differs from the sun in the firmament.’ These are they who, though honorable, failed to comply with the requirements for exaltation, were blinded by the craftiness of men and unable to receive and obey the higher laws of God. They proved ‘not valiant in the testimony of Jesus,’ and therefore are not entitled to the fulness of glory.” (James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith, 91–92)
(Adapted from Doctrines of the Gospel, institute student manual, chapter 33, “Kingdoms of Glory and Perdition” by Zan and Misty Larsen.)
2. Those in the terrestrial kingdom will minister to those in the telestial kingdom (see D&C 76:81, 86).
3. The terrestrial kingdom exceeds the glory, power, might, and dominion of the telestial kingdom (see D&C 76:91).
4. Those who inherit the terrestrial kingdom will come forth in the First Resurrection after those who inherit the celestial kingdom have been resurrected (see D&C 88:99; 45:54).
Inheritors
1. Those who inherit the terrestrial kingdom are described as honorable people who, either in this world or in the spirit world, receive the testimony of Jesus but are not valiant in that testimony (see D&C 76:71–79).
2. Among those who inherit the terrestrial kingdom will be people who died without the law, spirits kept in prison, and some members of the Church who were not sufficiently valiant (see D&C 76:72–75, 79).
3. Those who reject the prophets in this life and then accept the gospel in the spirit world will inherit the terrestrial kingdom (see D&C 76:73–74; 138:32).
■ “Into the terrestrial kingdom will go all those who are honorable and who have lived clean virtuous lives, but who would not receive the Gospel, but in the spirit world repented and accepted it as far as it can be given unto them. Many of these have been blinded by tradition and the love of the world, and have not been able to see the beauties of the Gospel” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:287–88).
■ “After the Lord and the righteous who are caught up to meet him have descended upon the earth, there will come to pass another resurrection. This may be considered as a part of the first, although it comes later. In this resurrection will come forth those of the terrestrial order, who were not worthy to be caught up to meet him, but who are worthy to come forth to enjoy the millennial reign” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:296).
■ “We read of others who receive glory of a secondary order, differing from the highest as ‘the moon differs from the sun in the firmament.’ These are they who, though honorable, failed to comply with the requirements for exaltation, were blinded by the craftiness of men and unable to receive and obey the higher laws of God. They proved ‘not valiant in the testimony of Jesus,’ and therefore are not entitled to the fulness of glory.” (James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith, 91–92)
(Adapted from Doctrines of the Gospel, institute student manual, chapter 33, “Kingdoms of Glory and Perdition” by Zan and Misty Larsen.)
Telestial Kingdom
1. The inhabitants of the telestial kingdom will suffer the wrath of God and be cast into hell until the end of the Millennium (see D&C 76:84, 104–6; 2 Nephi 28:15).
2. Those in the telestial kingdom will receive the Holy Ghost through the ministration of those in the terrestrial kingdom (see D&C 76:86, 88).
3. Telestial glory surpasses all human understanding (see D&C 76:89).
4. Those obedient to telestial laws will be resurrected with telestial bodies in the Second, or Last, Resurrection (see D&C 76:85; 88:31; Mosiah 15:26).
5. Those in the telestial kingdom will be servants of God, “but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end” (D&C 76:112).
Inheritors
1. Those who profess to follow Christ or the prophets but willfully reject the gospel, the testimony of Jesus, the prophets, and the everlasting covenant will inherit the telestial kingdom (see D&C 76:99–101).
2. The inhabitants of the telestial kingdom will include those who were murderers, liars, sorcerers, adulterers, and whoremongers—in general, the wicked people of the earth (see D&C 76:103; Revelation 22:15). These inhabitants of the telestial kingdom will have become clean through their suffering so that they can abide telestial glory.
3. The inhabitants of the telestial kingdom will be as innumerable as the stars (see D&C 76:109).
■ “Those who enter into the telestial kingdom … [are] the filthy who suffer the wrath of God on the earth, who are thrust down to hell … These are they who receive not the gospel of Christ and consequently could not deny the Holy Spirit while living on the earth.
“They have no part in the first resurrection and are not redeemed from the devil and his angels until the last resurrection, because of their wicked lives and their evil deeds. Nevertheless, even these are heirs of salvation, but before they are redeemed and enter into their kingdom, they must repent of their sins, and receive the gospel, and bow the knee, and acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of the world” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:22).
■ “Even to hell there is an exit as well as an entrance; and when sentence has been served, commuted perhaps by repentance and its attendant works, the prison doors shall open and the penitent captive be afforded opportunity to comply with the law, which he aforetime violated. . . .
“… Their lot shall be that of ‘servants of the Most High, but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end.’ (v. 112) Deliverance from hell is not admittance to heaven” (James E. Talmage, The Vitality of Mormonism, 255–56).
(Adapted from Doctrines of the Gospel, institute student manual, chapter 33, “Kingdoms of Glory and Perdition” by Zan and Misty Larsen.)
2. Those in the telestial kingdom will receive the Holy Ghost through the ministration of those in the terrestrial kingdom (see D&C 76:86, 88).
3. Telestial glory surpasses all human understanding (see D&C 76:89).
4. Those obedient to telestial laws will be resurrected with telestial bodies in the Second, or Last, Resurrection (see D&C 76:85; 88:31; Mosiah 15:26).
5. Those in the telestial kingdom will be servants of God, “but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end” (D&C 76:112).
Inheritors
1. Those who profess to follow Christ or the prophets but willfully reject the gospel, the testimony of Jesus, the prophets, and the everlasting covenant will inherit the telestial kingdom (see D&C 76:99–101).
2. The inhabitants of the telestial kingdom will include those who were murderers, liars, sorcerers, adulterers, and whoremongers—in general, the wicked people of the earth (see D&C 76:103; Revelation 22:15). These inhabitants of the telestial kingdom will have become clean through their suffering so that they can abide telestial glory.
3. The inhabitants of the telestial kingdom will be as innumerable as the stars (see D&C 76:109).
■ “Those who enter into the telestial kingdom … [are] the filthy who suffer the wrath of God on the earth, who are thrust down to hell … These are they who receive not the gospel of Christ and consequently could not deny the Holy Spirit while living on the earth.
“They have no part in the first resurrection and are not redeemed from the devil and his angels until the last resurrection, because of their wicked lives and their evil deeds. Nevertheless, even these are heirs of salvation, but before they are redeemed and enter into their kingdom, they must repent of their sins, and receive the gospel, and bow the knee, and acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of the world” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:22).
■ “Even to hell there is an exit as well as an entrance; and when sentence has been served, commuted perhaps by repentance and its attendant works, the prison doors shall open and the penitent captive be afforded opportunity to comply with the law, which he aforetime violated. . . .
“… Their lot shall be that of ‘servants of the Most High, but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end.’ (v. 112) Deliverance from hell is not admittance to heaven” (James E. Talmage, The Vitality of Mormonism, 255–56).
(Adapted from Doctrines of the Gospel, institute student manual, chapter 33, “Kingdoms of Glory and Perdition” by Zan and Misty Larsen.)
Outer Darkness
Inheritors
1. Satan and the one-third of the hosts of heaven who followed him became sons of perdition (see D&C 76:25–30; 29:36–38; Revelation 12:7–9; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6).
2. Those who in mortality have known the power of God, been made partakers of it, and then later denied the truth and defied God’s power will also be sons of perdition (see D&C 76:31–32).
3. Those who deny the Holy Ghost after having received it and crucify the Savior unto themselves will have no forgiveness and will be sons of perdition (see D&C 76:34–36; Matthew 12:31–32).
4. Sons of perdition will suffer the wrath of God and partake of the second death (see D&C 76:33, 37–38).
5. Those who become sons of perdition in mortality will be resurrected but will not be redeemed in a kingdom of glory (see D&C 76:38–39, 43–44; 88:24, 32).
6. Only those who become sons of perdition will be able to comprehend the magnitude of the misery of those who inherit such a state (see D&C 76:44–48).
■ “All sins shall be forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Ghost; for Jesus will save all except the sons of perdition. What must a man do to commit the unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against him. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy. This is the case with many apostates of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 6:314).
■ “In the realms of perdition or the kingdom of darkness, where there is no light, Satan and the unembodied spirits of the pre-existence shall dwell together with those of mortality who retrogress to the level of perdition. These have lost the power of regeneration. They have sunk so low as to have lost the inclinations and ability to repent, consequently the gospel plan is useless to them as an agent of growth and development” (Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, 125).
(Adapted from Doctrines of the Gospel, institute student manual, chapter 33, “Kingdoms of Glory and Perdition” by Zan and Misty Larsen.)
1. Satan and the one-third of the hosts of heaven who followed him became sons of perdition (see D&C 76:25–30; 29:36–38; Revelation 12:7–9; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6).
2. Those who in mortality have known the power of God, been made partakers of it, and then later denied the truth and defied God’s power will also be sons of perdition (see D&C 76:31–32).
3. Those who deny the Holy Ghost after having received it and crucify the Savior unto themselves will have no forgiveness and will be sons of perdition (see D&C 76:34–36; Matthew 12:31–32).
4. Sons of perdition will suffer the wrath of God and partake of the second death (see D&C 76:33, 37–38).
5. Those who become sons of perdition in mortality will be resurrected but will not be redeemed in a kingdom of glory (see D&C 76:38–39, 43–44; 88:24, 32).
6. Only those who become sons of perdition will be able to comprehend the magnitude of the misery of those who inherit such a state (see D&C 76:44–48).
■ “All sins shall be forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Ghost; for Jesus will save all except the sons of perdition. What must a man do to commit the unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against him. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy. This is the case with many apostates of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 6:314).
■ “In the realms of perdition or the kingdom of darkness, where there is no light, Satan and the unembodied spirits of the pre-existence shall dwell together with those of mortality who retrogress to the level of perdition. These have lost the power of regeneration. They have sunk so low as to have lost the inclinations and ability to repent, consequently the gospel plan is useless to them as an agent of growth and development” (Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, 125).
(Adapted from Doctrines of the Gospel, institute student manual, chapter 33, “Kingdoms of Glory and Perdition” by Zan and Misty Larsen.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)