This article discusses the LDS doctrine of the three degrees of glory, the problems arising from it, and its origins.



INTRODUCTION

Joseph Smith claimed that he and Sidney Rigdon had received a revelation of the three degrees of glory in heaven on the 16th February, 1832 (History of the Church 1: 245 to 252). But the introduction of this teaching was not well received by the membership of the LDS church. At that time occultic literature was the sole source of information on different degrees in heaven, and for this reason many suspected that their revelation was rooted in the occult.

It is a well documented fact that prior to starting up the LDS church, Joseph had been heavily involved in the occult, and he freely admitted having received revelations from God through his occultic stone during his leadership of the church. Furthermore, his scribes testified that he had "translated" the Book of Mormon by dictating the words that he saw coming out of this same stone, which he'd placed in the bottom of his hat, whilst the gold plates were hidden away (see the article on this site entitled, "The Book of Mormon Witnesses Who Never Saw the Gold Plates.")

Some were of the opinion that the three degrees of glory had their origins in Emanuel Swedenborg's book, entitled "Heaven and Hell and Its Wonders." Joseph's teachings were along the same lines as Swedenborg's, including his use of the name "Celestial Kingdom" for the highest degree of glory. Although the book was written in 1784, it was still in circulation and was available from the local library. Mormon author and historian D. Michael Quinn's book, "Early Mormonism and the Magic World View," mentions that a local bookstore had the book on sale for 37 cents.



LDS TEACHINGS ON THE THREE DEGREES OF GLORY

Mormon teaching is that at the final judgment we will each be assigned to one of the following four places, depending upon our worthiness and how well we have adhered to both the commandments of God and the laws and ordinances of the LDS church:

The celestial kingdom (the highest degree of glory);
The terrestrial kingdom (the middle degree of glory);
The telestial kingdom (the lowest degree of glory);
Outer darkness, which is not a degree of glory, but the kingdom of the devil.

Each of the degrees of glory has its own subdivisions, and only those who have embraced Mormonism will be permitted to enter the celestial kingdom.

Larry E. Dahl puts it this way, in the 1992 publication of "The Encyclopedia of Mormonism":

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an optimistic view of the eternal rewards awaiting mankind in the hereafter. Members of the Church believe that there are "many mansions" (John 14:2) and that Christ's Atonement and resurrection will save all mankind from death, and eventually will reclaim from hell all except the sons of perdition (D.& C 76:43-44). The saved, however, are not placed into a monolithic state called heaven. In the resurrection of the body, they are assigned to different degrees of glory commensurate with the law they have obeyed. There are three kingdoms of glory: the celestial, the terrestrial, and the telestial. The apostle Paul spoke of three glories, differing from one another as the sun, moon, and stars differ in brilliance. He called the first two glories celestial and terrestrial, but the third is not named in the Bible (1 Cor. 15:40-41; cf. D.& C 76:70-81, 96-98.) The word "telestial" is an LDS term, first used by the Prophet Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon in reporting a vision they received on February 16, 1832 (D.& C 76; Webster's Third New International Dictionary defines telestial glory as "the lowest of three Mormon degrees or kingdoms of glory attainable in heaven;" see also Celestial Kingdom; Terrestrial Kingdom; Telestial Kingdom)." (Emphasis by writer.)

On page 669-670 of "Mormon Doctrine," McConkie explains that only those who have earned the right to individual salvation will receive an inheritance in the celestial kingdom of God. All the others are damned. He amplifies this statement as follows:

The celestial kingdom is reserved for those who sanctify their souls by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the [LDS] gospel. They are the ones whose sins Christ bore. Because of the atonement, all men, except the sons of perdition, are saved from "death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment." (2 Nephi 9:26) This salvation takes place when they are resurrected; until that day they suffer with the damned. ("A New Witness for the Articles of Faith," page 145.)

Contrary to the LDS claims that we are cleansed from our sins through the keeping of laws and commandments and participation in LDS rituals, etc., the Bible tells us that we are washed and cleansed from our sins by the blood of Christ. This subject is discussed in depth in the various articles on salvation listed on the home page of this site.

Regarding the damned who have been delegated to the terrestrial kingdom, McConkie maintains in pages 640-641 of "Mormon Doctrine," that they will be resurrected during the millennium, which is the afternoon of the first resurrection. The resurrection of those delegated to the telestial kingdom will only begin at the end of the millennium, and then finally the sons of perdition will come forth from their graves to face everlasting torment.



THE CELESTIAL KINGDOM

The celestial kingdom is the highest and most glorious of all the kingdoms, and is symbolically represented by the sun. It excludes anyone who has ever committed murder (Doctrine and Covenants 132:19). Only those who have fulfilled the following qualifications may enter the celestial kingdom:

Accepted the LDS gospel during their lifetime, or in their afterlife, provided that they would have accepted it during their lifetime if it had been available;
Believed in the name of Jesus Christ;
Been baptized by an LDS official with authority;
Received the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, also by an LDS official with authority;
Been valiant in witnessing;
Lived righteously to the end of their mortal life;
Obeyed the laws and ordinances of the [LDS] gospel [including full tithing];
Were washed and cleansed from all their sins through keeping the commandments ;
(c/f "Articles of Faith" by James E. Talmage, page 368; "A New Witness for the Articles of Faith," by Bruce M. McConkie, pages 24, 145, 670; Doctrine and Covenants 76:52; 88: 16-32).

The second prophet and President of the LDS church, Brigham Young, also spoke about the necessity of the LDS temple endowment for admittance into the celestial kingdom:

"Your endowment is to receive all those ordinances in the House of the Lord which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell." (Journal of Discourses, Volume 2, page 315, April 6, 1853.)

But learning passwords and signs cannot change our standing with God one iota. The cause of the barrier, or the separation between fallen mankind and a holy God is solely our sin; not our lack of knowledge of secret signs.

The Celestial Kingdom is also subdivided into three degrees, and only those who attain the highest degree of this kingdom will enjoy the LDS's idea of what constitutes eternal life. They alone will live in the presence of God and Christ and have a continuation of their seed forever and ever, and will possess all power (Doctrine and Covenants 132:19-20). Doctrine and Covenants 76 verse 54 describes them as "the church of the Firstborn"; verse 57 describes them as those who have the Melchizedek priesthood, and verse 58 describes them as "gods."

In order to gain entrance into this highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom one must also have been sealed in the priesthood order of marriage for time and eternity in an earthly LDS temple (Doctrine and Covenants 131:1-3).

"If one is going to be ..... where God dwells in all his glory, one will be there as a husband or a wife and not otherwise. Regardless of his virtues, the single person, or the one married for this life only, cannot be exalted." (S. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, page 245). (In Mormonism exaltation implies eternal life.)

In his book, "Mormon Doctrine," Page 670, LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie amplifies the above teaching:

Even those in the celestial kingdom, however, who do not go on to exaltation, will have immortality only and not eternal life. Along with those of the telestial and terrestrial worlds they will be "ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory." They will live "separately and singly" in an unmarried state "without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity." (D.& C. 132:16-17.) (Author's italics. Note that eternal life is reserved solely for those who progress to godhood.)

Salvation in its true and full meaning is synonymous with exaltation or eternal life and consists in gaining an inheritance in the highest of the three heavens within the celestial kingdom. With few exceptions this is the salvation of which the scriptures speak. It is the salvation which the saints seek. It is of this which the Lord says, "There is no gift greater than the gift of salvation." (D.&C. 6:13.) This full salvation is obtained in and through the continuation of the family unit in eternity, and those who obtain it are gods. (D.& C. 131:1-4; 132.) (Author's italics.)

However, the Bible tells us that whosoever trusts in Christ for salvation will have eternal life (John 3:16-18), and marriage doesn't come into the equation. Regarding the statement above that those in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom will be gods, the Bible teaches emphatically that there is only one God, that there always has only been one God and there always will only be one God, eternally (Isaiah 43:10, 44:6, 46:9). Although the LDS insists that the book of Isaiah has been translated incorrectly, the Dead Sea Scrolls include a complete copy of this book, which has been dated as far back as two centuries before Christ. And it agrees with our modern day translations.

The Bible also vigorously opposes the LDS's idea of marriage being necessary in order to live in heaven with God eternally. Firstly in Matthew 22:24-30, the Lord Jesus was asked by the Sadducees whose wife a woman would be in heaven if she had been married seven times, her first six husbands having predeceased her. In verse 30 He indicated that none of them would be her husband, because marriage does not apply in heaven as we then become "like the angels."

The Bible does not portray the angels as being anything other than male, created beings. Marriage is an earthly ordinance provided by God, and according to the Lord Jesus Christ marriage as we know it will cease to exist once we enter the afterlife.

The LDS's excuse that everything changed after Christ's atonement is not valid for the simple reason that the gospels were written after Christ's atonement, as was the remainder of the New Testament. And if God's terms of salvation and the teachings on our eternal destinations had been changed because of Christ's atonement, the writers would have said so. But they didn't. And it is difficult to understand why the LDS should use that excuse, seeing that Christ's atonement actually ratified the New Covenant for forgiveness of sins by grace alone through faith alone (see Matthew 26:28).

Earlier on in Matthew 19:7-12 Christ was discussing the fact that divorce had never been intended by God, and that apart from when immorality of the one partner was the cause of the break up, God considered remarriage to be akin to adultery. In verse 10 His disciples remarked that in this case it would be better not to marry. Had marriage been vital in order to have eternal life and to be able to live with God in heaven for eternity, this would have been the ideal opportunity for Christ to have pressed the point. But instead he went the opposite way, stressing in verse 12 that there are men who make themselves eunuchs "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven." (The word "eunuchs" was used figuratively for men who chose to live a celibate life.)

On the same subject, the Apostle Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 7:32-35, that when a man and a woman are married, of necessity they have to devote time and attention to one another. And in order to please each other they become caught up with worldly things. He goes on to say that on the other hand, if they do not marry they are able to devote themselves wholly to the things of the Lord, and to pleasing Him. He emphasises his point by saying that it is better if a man can attend to the affairs of the Lord without distraction. Earlier on in verse 7, he said he wished that all could be as he was, i.e. celibate. And in verse 7:26, he points out that because of the distresses of those times it would be better for a man to remain single.

None of this would have applied if marriage had been one of the qualification required for eternal life. Marriage would then have been the overriding consideration and Paul would have been strenuously advocating marriage for all, instead of discouraging the practice. Furthermore, we would have found teaching after teaching on this important point. But this was not the case. Nowhere in the entire New Testament did Christ or any of the Apostles ever mention that marriage was vital if one was to gain eternal life and live with God in heaven. That was purely Joseph Smith's idea.


THE TERRESTRIAL KINGDOM

This degree of glory is a lesser one than that of the Celestial Kingdom, and is symbolically represented by the moon. Folk assigned to this kingdom will live in the presence of Jesus Christ, but not the Heavenly Father. They will be those who rejected the LDS gospel during their lifetime but then accepted it in the afterlife, or else members of the LDS church who were lukewarm in their devotion to the LDS church and to righteousness (Mormon Doctrine by Bruce McConkie, page 784 c/f Doctrine and Covenants 76:71-80; 88:16-32).



THE TELESTIAL KINGDOM

The LDS teaches that although this is the lowest degree of glory, personified by the stars, it is nevertheless far more glorious than anything we could possibly imagine. The inhabitants will be those who willfully rejected the [LDS] gospel on earth, and committed sins such as lying, murder, adultery and so on, but who did not commit the unpardonable sin.

They will serve God, but will never be His presence or in the presence of Christ, and their redemption will be delayed until the last resurrection However, the Holy Ghost and the angels will minister to them and they will also be visited by beings from the Terrestrial Kingdom, because they will be heirs of salvation (Articles of Faith, James E. Talmage, pages 83-84; Doctrine and Covenants 76:81-92.)



OUTER DARKNESS

Outer darkness is also referred to as hell, or the spirit prison. This is where the spirits of the wicked (called the sons of perdition) shall be cast, and where there shall be weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. They will remain here until the time of their resurrection (BOM, Alma 40:13-14)



BIBLICAL "PROOFS" USED BY THE LDS

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2, KJV)

The above is one of the so-called scriptural proofs used to back up the LDS's three degrees of glory doctrine. However, we must be careful not to read our own ideas into scripture, otherwise we are likely to end up in error. And if we are honest, we will have to admit that all John 14:2 tells us is that there are many mansions (houses, or dwellings) in heaven, and that Christ has prepared one such dwelling place for His disciples. He never said a solitary word about there being different degrees of glory in heaven. That idea came from Joseph Smith and the occult, and it is not biblical.

In their zeal to provide proof for their doctrine of the three degrees of glory, the LDS has also taken the following passage of scripture completely out of context. The subject matter is the resurrection of our bodies. Paul is discussing what we will look like when our bodies are resurrected.

35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? 36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: 37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: 38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 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. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:35-44, KJV)

Answering the question In verse 35 about how the dead are raised up, and what their resurrected bodies will look like, Paul uses an analogy. He likens the resurrection of our bodies to seed time and harvest. Just as there is a remarkable difference between a seed that is sown and the plant that proceeds from it, so there will also be a difference between our earthly and our resurrected bodies.

In verses 37 to 39 he explains that God gave each of the earthly species a different appearance, as it pleased Him, and that their seeds are limited each to their own species. He explains further that men, beasts, fishes and birds are different flesh. In other words, they are all of different and separate species, and are limited within those bounds. (This does away with the theory of evolution, and also means that when we die we will not evolve into a mutation of something else, but will still be the same species that we are now.)

In verses 40 to 41 he again uses comparisons of appearance, and points out that just as the heavenly bodies of the sun, moon and stars differ from one another in glory, so in the same way our resurrected bodies will also differ from one another in glory. And the reason why Paul only mentioned the words "celestial" and "terrestrial" in this passage of scripture is because celestial means heavenly and terrestrial means earthly. He was using these words purely in the context of a person's earthly body and his heavenly, resurrected body, and was most definitely not discussing different degrees of glory in our heavenly destination.

In verses 42 to 44 Paul gives us the wonderful news about the main difference between our earthly and resurrected bodies. Our earthly bodies are fallen, and for that reason they are temporal, imperfect and weak. However, this will not be so with our resurrected bodies. They will be eternal, perfect and strong. He stresses the fact that there are two types of bodies, the natural or earthly body and the spiritual or resurrected body.

Nowhere in this passage is Paul teaching about three separate heavenly kingdoms, each with a different degree of glory. He is talking solely about the differences that will be evident in the appearance of resurrected individuals, one from the other, and the difference between their heavenly or resurrected bodies and their earthly bodies.

The following is another of the scriptures put forward by the LDS as proof of the correctness of their doctrine on the three degrees of glory:

I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. (2 Corinthians 12:2-4, KJV)

Paul is not teaching us here that there are three degrees of glory to which we will be assigned after death. Far from it. In biblical times they used the term "first heaven" when referring to the atmosphere, where the bird fly and so on, "second heaven" to the area where we find the moon and stars and other heavenly bodies, and "third heaven" to where the throne of God exists (which Paul also referred to as paradise):

"In the sacred writings three heavens only are mentioned. The first is the atmosphere, what appears to be intended by raqiya, the firmament or expansion, Gen 1:6. The second, the starry heaven; where are the sun, moon, planets, and stars; but these two are often expressed under the one term shamayim, the two heavens, or expansions, and in Gen 1:17, they appear to be both expressed by raqiya hashamayim, the firmament of heaven. And, thirdly, the place of the blessed, or the throne of the divine glory, probably expressed by the words shemeey hashamayim, the heavens of heavens. But on these subjects the Scripture affords us but little light; and on this distinction the reader is not desired to rely.

Much more may be seen in Schoettgen, who has exhausted the subject; and who has shown that ascending to heaven, or being caught up to heaven, is a form of speech among the Jewish writers to express the highest degrees of inspiration. They often say of Moses that he ascended on high, ascended on the firmament, ascended to heaven; where it is evident they mean only by it that he was favoured with the nearest intimacy with God, and the highest revelations relative to his will, etc. If we may understand Paul thus, it will remove much of the difficulty from this place; and perhaps the unspeakable words 2 Cor 12:4, are thus to be understood. He had the most sublime communications from God, such as would be improper to mention, though it is very likely that we have the substance of these in his epistles. Indeed, the two epistles before us seem, in many places, to be the effect of most extraordinary revelations."
(from Adam Clarke's Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright 1996, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Forming a doctrine from bits and pieces of scriptures taken out of context from different sections of the Bible, and then distorting them to fit in with our own ideas, has to result in error. When God wants us to know something important, He tells us in a very clear and unambiguous manner.



THE BOOK OF MORMON DOES NOT TEACH THE THREE DEGREES OF GLORY

The LDS claims in the introduction to the Book of Mormon, that it contains "the fullness of the everlasting gospel." However, it doesn't mention the Melchizedek priesthood, which one needs to have in order to enter the celestial kingdom. Nor does it say anything about the doctrine of the three degrees of glory.

Furthermore, it is obvious that this doctrine is unbiblical, and that it had its roots in the occult.

The writer would encourage Mormons to read through and give deep thought to the following two articles, which you can download by clicking on the leads:

Mormon Salvation Exposed to the Light of the Bible

What is Biblical Salvation?



Copyright 2008 by Mormonism and Biblical Truth. All rights reserved.

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