Afterlife

From MormonWikia

Theories and even more questions abound about what happens to human beings after they die. For that matter, few know where we come from, or if there is anything more to our experience than this life on Earth. Mormons believe that there is a life after this one, and that there was also a life before this one. We have always existed in some form or other, but Heavenly Father organized us into spirits, taught us and gave us the power to choose right from wrong, and then created the Earth and sent us to it with bodies of flesh and bone.

[edit] Where the Spirit Goes When the Body Dies

Our Earth life is not the final act of our existence. Our spirits will continue to exist after our bodies die. While we cannot be sure of how this happens until we actually die, the spirits of the dead leave this world and are sorted into one of two places: Spirit paradise or Spirit prison. This is not quite like a traditional explanation of Heaven and Hell.

Spirit paradise is where spirits went who were baptized and remained obedient to God in this life. Spirit prison is for spirits of people who were not baptized or were disobedient to God. Spirit prison is sometimes called Hell, but spirits in spirit prison are taught by those in spirit paradise. They can learn the gospel of Jesus Christ and accept it. Mormons do ordinances in temples in behalf of the dead so that those spirits can have the ordinances necessary for salvation. In this way, those who die without baptism can truly be baptized. When these spirits accept the gospel, repent, and are baptized, they too can enter into spirit paradise.

[edit] Resurrection

After Christ comes to Earth again, those who are dead will be resurrected. Everyone, righteous or wicked, will get his or her body back, but in a perfect state. This is one of the gifts of the Savior’s atonement: that our bodies will be ours forever. Just as by Adam’s transgression, man became mortal, by Christ’s atonement and resurrection, man can be immortal again.

[edit] Judgment

When we are resurrected, we will be judged according to our faithfulness to God. Standing before him, our minds will be the same as they are now, except that nobody will be able to deny his rightful guilt. The justice and mercy of God will both be clear and perfect, and nobody will be able to deny that he is just.

After that judgment, we inherit a kingdom, or degree of glory. Unlike many other Christian denominations, Mormons believe that there are three kingdoms of heaven, and degrees of glory within those kingdoms. “Hell” is called Outer Darkness, and is the only place with no glory at all. The three kingdoms of Heaven are the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial.

[edit] Kingdoms of Glory

[edit] The Celestial Kingdom

In the Celestial Kingdom, men and women live in the presence of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father eternally. The Celestial Kingdom is for everyone who believed in Jesus Christ, was baptized by the proper authority, and kept the commandments and repented until the end of Earth life. This also includes receiving all of the ordinances of the gospel. This also includes those who didn’t receive the true gospel during their life, but would have accepted it if they had received it. Children who die before they reach the age of eight—which Mormons believe is the age where people can be tempted by the devil and are accountable for their sins—are automatically saved in the Celestial Kingdom.

The Celestial Kingdom also has three degrees of glory within it. To enter into the highest degree of glory, a person has to be married in the temple and keep those covenants. Neither a man nor a woman can enter this degree of glory alone. This is because in this degree, men and women together can continue to have posterity (children). These men and women will continue to learn and grow, to prepare for their role as eternal parents. Those who are worthy and willing will have the opportunity to marry either on Earth or after their death. The highest degree of glory is where Heavenly Father can truly bestow all that he has upon his children, because they will be able to have eternal posterity as he does.

[edit] The Terrestrial Kingdom

The Terrestrial Kingdom is described to be as different from the Celestial Kingdom as the moon is from the sun. There, women and men will be in the presence of Jesus Christ, but not Heavenly Father. They do have glory, but not the complete glory of the Celestial Kingdom. This kingdom is for those who didn’t accept the gospel until after their death (excluding the ones who would have accepted it in life if it had been available). Also, it is for members of the true (Mormon) Church who weren’t “valiant in the testimony of Jesus” (D&C 76:79). There will be generally good people there, but they will be those “who were blinded by the craftiness of men,” (D&C 76:75).

[edit] The Telestial Kingdom

The Telestial Kingdom is for those who never accepted the gospel and never received a testimony of Jesus Christ either in Earth life or in Spirit Prison. They will come out of Spirit Prison and inherit telestial glory. Despite being the lowest degree of glory, the Telestial Kingdom has been quoted as being far better and glorious then we can fathom.

[edit] Outer Darkness

Outer Darkness, called perdition, is not a kingdom of glory, and has none of the glory of God at all. It is like the final hell, and it is reserved for those who know the truth but deny it. There is some uncertainty as to how much truth one has to know to truly deny God. Doctrine and Covenants 76:31 says it will be “those who know [God’s] power, and have been made partakers thereof, and suffered themselves through the power of the devil to be overcome, and to deny the truth and defy [God’s] power.” In the surrounding verses, it states that it would have been better for these people, called “sons of perdition,” if they had never been born. They will live with the devil and those who follow him for all eternity.

[edit] Conclusion

God has made room for everyone in the Celestial Kingdom, and it is his desire that all would be worthy of that glory. Everyone will have equal opportunities to receive the highest glories of all. Heavenly Father knows the desires of each of our hearts, and will judge us by those and by our actions. As the Father of our spirits, he loves each of us and wants to give us all of his glory and joy. He wants to give each of us an inheritance, and if we live by his word, we can receive all that he has.