The Doctrine and Covenants, combined with the Pearl of Great Price, expand our knowledge of our eternal existence. They speak of the complexity of the afterlife, as well as re-alerting the world about its premortal existence. In our attempt to grasp these concepts, we have drawn maps, representations of what was and will be, based on interpretation of these restoration scriptures. If you are a member of the Church, then you've seen the diagram on innumerable chalkboards in various Sunday school classes. These flowcharts present circles representing our premortal, mortal, postmortal, and resurrected states.
Just as maps based off from verbal descriptions can be inaccurate, I wonder if the venerated diagram we proudly present has misleading aspects to it.
I recently attended another ward (my sister was leaving on her mission, and I attended the sacrament meeting where she spoke). After the sacrament meeting, I attended Sunday school with my sisters. The teacher drew the diagram representing the plan of salvation (rather, representing the geographical results of the actual plan of salvation through Christ) on the board. He then began a standard practice among teachers, which is to fish for an answer by asking questions to make the class think.
Teacher: What is the purpose of mortality?
My response: To get back to the presence of our Heavenly Father.
Teacher: But we were already in His presence in heaven...Why did we need to leave it?
Someone Else: So we could gain bodies, families, and earthly experiences.
Teacher: And why did we need those things?
My response: So we could get back to the presence of our Heavenly Father.
I confess there was some flippancy in my remark, but I was quite serious. The teacher was aggravated at our inability to come up with the answer he was fishing for: To become like God. He was irked, and pointed out that, as the diagram on the board plainly indicated, those in the lower levels of the celestial world would be able to dwell in the presence of God, yet they would be unlike Him in that they could not have children. He apparently felt vindicated and justified in his assertion, but something set wrong with me, though I could not pinpoint any particular scripture to explain my feelings. So I kept my comments to myself while the teacher prated about working to become like God, and bench-pressing planets, trifles for humans, yes?
I am being sarcastic; God exalts us, we just show up and do what we're told, follow the Spirit, and learn to love and be patient with self and others. We can change our behavior; only God can change our natures.
I digress.
I went to the scriptures looking for something to quiet my mind on the subject, because what the teacher had said seemed to jive with my understanding of the diagram, yet not with the actual scriptures. I knew that the inhabitants of the telestial kingdom were geographically separate from the celestial: "And they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end" (D&C 76:112).
D&C 131:1-4 seems not to preclude those who are celestialized, yet single, dwelling with God: "In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; And if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase."
But my search gave me pause—with new eyes attuned to statements indicative of the physical locations of resurrected beings in various glories, I found something that seems to refute the assumption that those who are not completely exalted, begetting their own children in the eternities, will be "hanging out" with God. First, D&C 132:17 describes exaltation as being married: "For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever." These "angels" act as ministers for those who are exalted (v. 16). Again: "...exaltation and glory...which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever..." (v. 19).
There is our definition of exaltation, and exposition of what awaits the unexalted.
Exaltation, as described in section 132, is about more than what we may become; it describes where we may, or may not go:
"For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory" (v. 4).
"I am the Lord thy God; and I give unto you this commandment—that no man shall come unto the Father but by me or by my word, which is my law, saith the Lord" (v. 12).
"And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make a covenant with her for time and for all eternity, if that covenant is not by me or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed and appointed unto this power, then it is not valid neither of force when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me, saith the Lord, neither by my word; when they are out of the world it cannot be received there, because the angels and the gods are appointed there, by whom they cannot pass; they cannot, therefore, inherit my glory; for my house is a house of order, saith the Lord God" (v. 18).
"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 Holy Spirit of promise...they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever" (v.19).
"But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation; that where I am ye shall be also" (v. 23).
"Where I am, ye shall be also." Only those who are exalted receive this promise, and only those who are married for eternity are exalted.
The map we have drawn for ourselves is misleading, I believe.
I also had a conversation about the next life with a member of the Church who is convinced that those who end up in other glories besides exaltation will be satisfied with what they receive.
Alma 1:4 describes the universalist doctrine taught by Nehor: "And he also testified unto the people that all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should have eternal life."
2Ne. 28:8-9: "And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark."
The member expressed the idea that because God is merciful, He would not leave us miserable. It is true, all but sons of perdition end up in a "saved state," not in agony, but are they happy with their less-than-exalted degree of glory? By definition, they are still damned—damnation is stopped progress, the absence of increase. "Broad is the gate, and wide the way that leadeth to the deaths; and many there are that go in thereat, because they receive me not, neither do they abide in my law" (D&C 132:25). It seems here that the Lord is defining anything but exaltation as some form of death. Spiritual death is separation from God.
Alma addresses Corianton's concern about justice: "And now, my son, I perceive there is somewhat more which doth worry your mind, which ye cannot understand—which is concerning the justice of God in the punishment of the sinner; for ye do try to suppose that it is injustice that the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery" (Alma 42:1). Who could be happy spending the rest of eternity knowing they had fallen short of their full potential? The actual definition of "damned" has less to do with pitchforks and unquenchable brimstone, externally inflicted miseries, and more to do with being stopped, halted, impeded in our eternal progression, internal misery. If you end up anywhere but the highest degree of the celestial kingdom, you are, by definition, damned. Whatever is to be had in the other degrees of glory, it is not a fulness of joy, because those who inhabit them are not like God, and because God is not there.
"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Psalm 16:11).
