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Mormon afterlife concept

In the theology and cosmology of Mormonism, in heaven there are three degrees of glory (alternatively, kingdoms of glory) which are the ultimate, eternal dwelling places for nearly all who have lived on earth after they are resurrected from the spirit world. Members of the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints (LDS Church) believe that the apostle Paul briefly described these degrees of glory in heaven in 1 Corinthians 15:40 42, and in 2 Corinthians 12:2. Joseph Smith said he received a vision with Sidney Rigdon in 1832 which enhances the understanding of heaven and is recorded in Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) According to this vision, all people will be resurrected and, at the Final Judgment, all who go to heaven will be assigned to one of three degrees of glory, called the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial kingdoms. All of the remaining, believed to be a small number of individuals who commit the unpardonable sin, will not receive a kingdom of glory in heaven, but will be banished to outer darkness with Satan where they will be "sons of Perdition."

In April 1830, the Church of Christ was organized by Smith in upstate New York. By October of that year, the church had grown to between seventy and eighty disciples. That fall missionaries were sent west to convert the Native Americans in Missouri. They passed through Kirtland, Ohio, where they encountered widespread success among the congregations of Sidney Rigdon, adding hundreds of additional converts. Many of these members, including Rigdon, had formerly been members of the Disciples of Christ led by Alexander Campbell. The doctrine of the new Church of Christ had not been completely developed or understood yet in Kirtland, especially with Joseph Smith in New York and missionaries having moved on to Missouri. As such, many early Kirtland converts retained Disciple of Christ doctrines and practices. Regarding the afterlife, Alexander Campbell published in 1828 a vision he had received of "three kingdoms" where he wrote, "While musing upon the three kingdoms, I fancied myself in the kingdom of glory after the final judgment." He went on to explain that heaven was divided into "the Kingdom of Law, the Kingdom of Favor, and the Kingdom of Glory" where the deceased would enter based on levels of faith, works, and Abrahamic lineage. Disciples of Christ also believed that most people would be numbered among the sinners sent to a "lake of fire and brimstone" outside of heaven.

On February 16, 1832, while working on translation of the New Testament passage in the upstairs bedroom of the John Johnson home, Smith and Rigdon received what was known to early Latter Day Saints as "the Vision." It detailed a heaven divided into three degrees of glory (the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial kingdoms), where resurrected beings would go after the final judgement. Assignment to a particular kingdom in the resurrection is contingent upon the desires and actions exhibited during mortal and post mortal life. Critically different from Disciple of Christ beliefs was that in Latter Day Saint theology, virtually all would be saved. The first misunderstanding that came from the vision, and persists in the church to this day, is that sinners would also be saved in heaven, a distinction that caused some to apostatize from the young church. Additionally, that 1 Corinthians speaks of these three degrees of glory, comparing them with the glory of the sun, moon, and stars.

The celestial kingdom is taught as being the highest of the three degrees of glory. It is thought by the LDS Church to be the "third heaven" referred to by the apostle Paul in the King James Version of 2 Corinthians and it is said to correspond to the "celestial bodies" and "glory of the sun" mentioned in 1 Corinthians .

In Latter Day Saint theology, the celestial kingdom is the residence of those who have been righteous, accepted the teachings of Jesus Christ, and received and lived up to all of the required ordinances and covenants. Individuals may accept and receive these ordinances and covenants during their mortal lives. According to doctrine, those who did not have the opportunity while living will have the opportunity in the post mortal spirit world, where they can accept ordinances performed on their behalf by LDS Church members in temples. All children who die before they become morally competent, which according to LDS belief typically happens around the age of 8, automatically inherit the celestial kingdom without the reception of ordinances. The celestial kingdom is the permanent residence of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. This white stone will become a Urim and Thummim (or seer stone) to the recipient.

Smith taught that only those individuals who are sealed in celestial marriage to a spouse will be permitted to enter into the highest degree of celestial glory. These individuals will eventually become "exalted." It is believed that this cannot be fully comprehended in the world; rather, it is said that the learning and understanding of salvation and exaltation will occur even beyond the grave. Like other ordinances, the sealing to a spouse may occur during mortal life or may be accepted by the parties in the afterlife and performed by proxy in a temple.

Smith also taught that the earth will also receive a celestial glory. Smith said that the earth, like the planet where God resides, will be "made like unto crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell thereon."

The terrestrial kingdom is the middle of the three degrees of glory. It is believed by LDS Church members to correspond to the "bodies terrestrial" and "glory of the moon" mentioned by the apostle Paul in the King James Version translation of The word "terrestrial" derives from a Latin word meaning "earthly." It also includes persons who rejected the "testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it" in the spirit world and those who "are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus" after having received it.

The telestial kingdom is the lowest of the three degrees of glory. It is believed by LDS Church members to correspond to the "glory of the stars" mentioned by the apostle Paul in the King James Version translation of It will also include those who were "liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie," as well as "murderers, and idolaters." Because of their refusal to accept Jesus as their Savior, these individuals will remain in spirit prison for 1,000 years during the millennial reign of Christ until they repent, accept Jesus Christ, and His gospel. These individuals will have the opportunity, during this time in the postmortal spirit world, to accept ordinances performed on their behalf by LDS Church members in temples. After the 1000 years, the individuals will be resurrected and receive an immortal physical body and be assigned to the telestial kingdom. Smith taught that individuals in the telestial kingdom will be servants of God, but "where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end"; however, they will receive the ministration of the Holy Ghost and beings from the terrestrial kingdom. Despite these limitations, in LDS Church theology being resident in the telestial kingdom is not an unpleasant experience: "the glory of the telestial surpasses all understanding." In the telestial kingdom, each person's glory will vary depending on their works while on the earth. Smith and Rigdon stated, "we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the telestial world, that they were as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the seashore." Bruce R. McConkie suggested that by implication this means that "most of the adult people who have lived from the day of Adam to the present time will go to the telestial kingdom."

During the original endowment temple ordinance, church members moved between ordinance rooms that represented the three different kingdoms of glory. In newer LDS temples, the majority of the moves between rooms have been replaced with changes in lighting to represent changes from one degree of glory to the next. In some of the church's older temples (e. g., the Salt Lake, Idaho Falls Idaho, Manti Utah, and Cardston Alberta temples), the classic version of the endowment ceremony is still done by moving from room to room. Every LDS temple includes a celestial room—representing the celestial kingdom—that is separate from the other ordinance rooms.

Some, including Mormon historian D. Michael Quinn, have argued that various parts of the plan of salvation were influenced in part by Emanuel Swedenborg's book Heaven and Hell. Swedenborg called the highest heaven "the Celestial Kingdom." He also stated that the inhabitants of the three heavens corresponded to the "sun, moon and stars." In 1839 Smith met with a recent Latter Day Saint convert from Swedenborgianism, Edward Hunter, and told him, "Emanuel Swedenborg had a view of the world to come, but for daily food he perished." Others, including Smith's biographer Richard Bushman have argued it is more likely that Smith and Swedenborg developed their ideas independently based on 1 Corinthians chapter 15.