Category: Afterlife
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Are Mormonism’s Three Heavenly Kingdoms Biblical?
Mormonism and Christianity teach vastly different things about the afterlife. Are there really three different degrees of glory?
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Dilemmas of Mormon Exaltation
Consider the following in light of both halves of the Lorenzo Snow couplet: “As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be.” 1. Subordination vs. independence between gods (a) If we will forever be dependent on and subordinate to our God, then it stands to reason that God himself remains…
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The Book of Mormon and Three Degrees of Glory
By Bill McKeever Note: The following was originally printed in the September/October 2020 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here. A criticism that I share with many Christians is the lack of unique Mormon doctrine in the Book of Mormon. If Nephites really existed, why is it we do not see them believing…
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Doesn’t the Apostle Paul Say There Were Three Degrees of Glory?
The following is from chapter 30 in Answering Mormons’ Questions (Kregel, 2013). To get additional help in answering LDS questions, we recommend purchasing the book. Click here to see more. The three heavens described in Doctrine and Covenants section 76 are called the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial kingdoms. First Corinthians 15:40–41 is used to support…
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How Can You Believe in a God Who Would Send His Children to an Eternal Hell?
The following is from chapter 18 in Answering Mormons’ Questions (Kregel, 2013). To get additional help in answering LDS questions, we recommend purchasing the book. Click here to see more. The traditional view of eternal punishment in hell is rejected in Mormon theology. Apostle John A. Widtsoe said, “In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,…
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Progressing Toward Exaltation
President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Russell M. Nelson, recently spoke to a worldwide audience of young adult Latter-day Saints. His topic was, “The Love and Laws of God,” focused on helping Mormons understand that all the rules that make up Mormonism have been given by God for their own protection,…
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Crash Course Mormonism: Outer Darkness
Outer darkness is a place reserved for the Devil, his angels, and the “sons of perdition.” It is an eternal destination, a place where very few (if any) human beings will ever be sent. According to tenth President Joseph Fielding Smith, Outer darkness is something which cannot be described, except that we know that it…
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Why Practically Nobody–Including You, Former Mormon–Will Ever End Up in Outer Darkness
For many years, those who have forfeited their membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may have been told by other Mormons that they were “Sons of Perdition” destined for Outer Darkness. Although this is an obvious scare tactic, this accusation is not true according to important LDS leaders. What is Outer…
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Crash Course Mormonism: Exaltation / Eternal Life / Eternal Increase
Exaltation, which is synonymous with eternal life, is godhood achieved through complete obedience to all the commandments of God as defined by the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Those who are exalted earn the right to eternal life in the celestial kingdom with their families. Twelfth President Spencer W. Kimball…
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Crash Course Mormonism: Kingdoms of Glory
After a person dies and the millennium is complete, judgment will take place and all humans will be assigned to one of three kingdoms of glory for eternity. Those kingdoms are the celestial, the terrestrial, and the telestial kingdoms. Telestial kingdom The lowest kingdom is compared in D&C 76 to the glory is that of the lesser,…
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Crash Course Mormonism: Judgment
In Mormonism, final judgment is something that takes place at the end of the millennium. The success in keeping the commandments is what determines one’s final destination: the celestial kingdom, the terrestrial kingdom, the telestial kingdom, or outer darkness. Seventeenth President Russell M. Nelson stated, One day we will meet our Maker and stand before…
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Crash Course Mormonism: Intermediate State
Leaders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teach that the spirit of a dead person goes temporarily to one of two possible places, paradise or spirit prison, depending on how righteous the person was in mortality. This is an temporary state, with the soul moving to one of the three kingdoms of…
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Kingdoms of Glory (Defined)
Kingdoms of Glory. The three possible eternal destinations of humankind known as the celestial, terrestrial and telestial kingdoms. A common verse used to support this unique LDS teaching is 2 Corinthians 12:2. Return to dictionary here.
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Mormonism, the Afterlife, and Striving After Godhood
By Eric Johnson January 2017 Most religions have clear teachings on what happens to a person after death. For example, Eastern philosophies such as Hinduism and Buddhism explain how one’s behavior in a previous life (karma) affects the next life. Muslims are supposed to observe the Five Pillars of Faith and Muhammad’s teachings in order to…
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Citations on Godhood / Exaltation
The following are sections out of Bill McKeever’s book In their Own Words: A Collection of Mormon Quotations. Standard Works “And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the…
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Citations on Exaltation
The following are sections out of Bill McKeever’s book In their Own Words: A Collection of Mormon Quotations. The full book of 400 pages is available at Mormonism Research Ministry or Amazon.com. Standard Works “Therefore, I must gather together my people, according to the parable of the wheat and the tares, that the wheat may be secured in the…
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Will Mormons Worship Heavenly Father Forever?
An interesting article appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune recently with the intriguing title, “Humans can become like God? Mormons say Orthodox Christians have similar belief — but that’s news to Orthodox Christians.” In this article, Bob Mims presents an overview of both the LDS concept of “deification,” and that of the Eastern Orthodox Church,…
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Will Families Be Together Forever?
The following is taken from chapter 23 of the 2013 book Answering Mormons’ Questions: Ready Responses for Inquiring Latter-day Saints by Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson, pages 184-185. To purchase this valuable resource, click here. Check out a two-part Viewpoint on Mormonism series airing August 24-25, 2020. Part 1 Part 2 Some Mormons have created…
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Mormon Rebels and Eternal Punishment
On February 4, 2016 the Huffington Post published an article by Mormon author and blogger Mette Ivie Harrison: “Do Mormons Believe in Hell?” She writes, “The short answer to this is simple: No.” Ms. Harrison goes on to explain that though the Book of Mormon speaks of Hell, it is “largely metaphorical.” She says, “But…
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Does Romans 8:17 Support Becoming Worshipped?
“… and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Romans 8:17 Three reasons why our inheritance in Christ does not imply equality with Jesus or a future of being properly worshipped by others: 1. Since our inheritance in…