Category: Mormon Theology
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Virgin Birth (Defined)
Virgin Birth: The literal siring of Jesus via the agency of Heavenly Father and Mary. Sixth President Joseph F. Smith explained, “Now, we are told in scriptures that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God in the flesh. Well, now for the benefit of the older ones, how are children begotten? I answer…
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Terrestrial Kingdom (Defined)
Terrestrial Kingdom. The middle kingdom of glory to which honorable non-Mormons are assigned after death. The residents of this kingdom will be visited by Jesus Christ but will be separated from God the Father throughout eternity. Explained twelfth President Spencer W. Kimball: “Lukewarm Saints get terrestrial glory. The terrestrial kingdom will not be enjoyed by the…
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Telestial Kingdom (Defined)
Telestial Kingdom. The lowest kingdom of glory to which “liars, sorcerers, adulterers and whoremongers” are assigned for eternity after death. The residents of this kingdom will be visited by the Holy Ghost, but not by the Father or the Son. According to a church manual, “Also in the spirit prison are those who rejected the…
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Spirit Prison (Defined)
Spirit Prison: Temporary place for deceased non-Mormons who await vicarious temple work done in their behalf by living Mormons, allowing them the opportunity to accept the LDS gospel. They are then released from spirit prison into paradise to await the resurrection.Return to dictionary here.
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Spirit Children (Defined)
Spirit children: All spirits born to God the Father and Heavenly Mother in the premortal life. One-third of these spirit beings were cast out of heaven for siding with Lucifer in the war in heaven. Return to dictionary here.
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Sons of Perdition (Defined)
Sons of Perdition: Those who rebelled with Lucifer in the pre-existence. The term can also apply to Mormons who willfully and deliberately deny the Holy Ghost and the truth of Mormonism while knowing it to be true. This sin will not be forgvien and will result in outer darkness.
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Seed of Cain (Defined)
Seed of Cain: Members of the black race (Moses 7:2). Until 1978, LDS leaders taught that “one drop of negro blood” banned a Mormon male from holding the Mormon priesthood. The dark skin was the mark given to those pre-mortal spirits who were “less valiant in pre-existence” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 527, 1966 edition) when Lucifer…
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Salvation (Defined)
Salvation: Broken down into two categories: Individual or personal salvation (more correctly termed “exaltation“) and general salvation that everyone receives through the Atonement and grace. According to tenth LDS President Joseph Fielding Smith: “Salvation is twofold: General – that which comes to all men irrespective of a belief (in this life) in Christ- and, Individual…
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From the Mailbag (Heavenly Grandfathers)
Dear Sharon, Some critics say that Mormons believe that when they become gods they will have glory equal with Father. But that is simply a lie. I know that our Father will be always our GOD and we will worship Him for whole eternity, becoming gods is not to rob Father’s glory, but to give…
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Preexistence/Premortality (Defined)
Preextistence/premortality: Also referred to as the First Estate or Pre-Mortal State. Mormonism teaches all humans lived near a planet called Kolob as God’s spirit children before coming to earth and taking on human form. Since God’s children could only progress so far in the pre-existence, it was necessary that they go through a probationary state…
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Perfection (Defined)
Perfection. The idea that a Mormon must keep all the commandments. Often Matthew 5:48 (“be ye perfect”) is quoted to show that this standard must be met by the faithful Latter-day Saint. According to twelfth President Spencer Kimball: “This progress toward eternal life is a matter of achieving perfection. Living all the commandments guarantees total…
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Paradise (Defined)
Paradise. Temporary place in the postmortal spirit world for Mormons who have been properly baptized and who remained faithful until death. Return to dictionary here.
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Obedience (Defined)
Obedience. The necessity to keep the commandments of God. Many LDS leaders have commented on this issue and how vital it is if a person hopes to attain the Celestial Kingdom. According to D&C 25:15 says, “Keep my commandments continually. … And except thou do this, where I am you cannot come.” D&C 130:21 addes, “There is…
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A Mormon Apostle Explains the “Component Parts” of God
Foundational to the Mormon gospel is the existence of Heavenly Mother, the spouse and counterpart of Mormonism’s Heavenly Father. When Mormon Apostle Erastus Snow taught on this concept in 1878, he explained that God is a component being, consisting of both male and female “parts.” While Apostle Snow’s remarks could be misunderstood, I believe that…
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Paying Homage to the Goddess of Fertility
Perhaps the most compelling parallel that can be made between Mormon temples and Solomon’s temple is that the Israelites disobediently put an “Asherah pole” — an object which honored Asherah, the wife of Baal (which idolatrous Israelites assumed to be also the wife of Yahweh) — into the temple. Kings and Chronicles repeatedly makes the…
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Outer Darkness (Defined)
Outer Darkness. Severe punishment for eternity, reserved for Satan and his demons as well as the sons of perdition, those humans who once embraced Mormonism and left to fight against the faith, even though they knew Mormonism was true. This is a place very close in nature to the biblical hell.
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Do I Not Understand Your Religion?
One complaint often made against Christians who are critical of Mormonism is that they just don’t “understand” Mormonism. It’s almost as if the Mormon is assuming that a person must be a Latter-day Saint in order to be accurate in any assessement of the religion. When the Mormon makes a statement saying “you just don’t…
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Moroni’s Promise (Defined)
Moroni’s Promise. Moroni 10:4 in the Book of Mormon reads, “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith if Christ,…
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Mercy (Defined)
Mercy. God gives a reprieve for justice to only those sinners who earn this right by keeping their end of the agreement and doing good works. As thirteenth President Ezra Taft Benson explained, “We go to our chapels each week to worship the Lord and renew our covenants by partaking of the sacrament. We thereby…
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Marriage Definition (Defined)
Marriage. A requirement for a couple to go to become exalted. As one church manual put it, “Consider this fact: Your marriage is a laboratory for godhood” (Achieving a Celestial Marriage, 1976, p. 65). According to Joseph Smith, “Except a man and his wife enter into an everlasting covenant and be married for eternity, while in…