I had a lengthy conversation with
my youngest son a month ago or so about whether after death we can progress
between kingdoms. At the time I recalled
that the Church had no official position on the issue and that over the years
authorities had come down on both sides of the issue. It was a very interesting discussion ranging
from the implications of infinity to what God means by using the word “eternal”
and included many fascinating digressions.
I started thinking again about this topic the other night and decided to
put together a post to order my thinking on the topic. I’m doing this for myself really. I don’t expect anyone really to accompany me
on this somewhat lengthy journey, but, if you’re willing to, find someplace
comfortable where you can settle down for a while with some refreshment for the
trip and let’s begin.
I
searched the topic on the internet and found that my recollection of the
Church’s position and that of various leaders had been accurate. We’ll start with the Official Position.
OFFICIAL POSITION
“The brethren
direct me to say that the Church has never announced a definite doctrine upon
this point. Some of the brethren have held the view that it was possible in the
course of progression to advance from one glory to another, invoking the
principle of eternal progression; others of the brethren have taken the
opposite view. But as stated, the Church has never announced a definite
doctrine on this point.”
-Secretary
to the First Presidency in a 1952 letter; and again in 1965 (cited in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon
Thought, Vol. XV, No. 1, Spring 1982, pp.181-183)
http://www.nearingkolob.com/progression/ (This and the other quotes in the
Progression-Yes! Section from the authorities are taken from the cited
website. The quotes I found there are
essentially the same as quotes I found on two or three other websites I read. I did not take the time to research them
myself having no basis on which to doubt the accuracy of the quotes.)
So, this was what I had
recalled. I found nothing subsequent to
amend or supplement that position, nor would I expect to: this is pretty
esoteric stuff relevant to our day to day lives in the Gospel. We can rest assured now that we are not
speculating on anything necessary for Salvation, merely noodling away at one of
many intriguing Gospel by-ways.
PROGRESSION-YES!
Here is a sampling of statements
from authorities taking the position that progression between kingdoms is
permitted.
“There
is never a time when the spirit is too old to approach God. All are within the
reach of pardoning mercy, who have not committed the unpardonable sin.”
-Joseph
Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 191
——————————————————————————————————————-
“I
attended the Prayer Circle in the evening … In conversing upon various
principles President Young said none would inherit this Earth when it became
celestial and translated into the presence of God but those who would be crowned
as Gods and able to endure the fullness of the presence of God, except they
would be permitted to take with them some servants for whom they would be held
responsible. All others would have to inherit another kingdom, even that
kingdom agreeing with the law which they had kept. He said they would
eventually have the privilege of proving themselves worthy and advancing to a
celestial kingdom, but it would be a slow progress.”
“President
Brigham Young has suggested that the ultimate punishment of the sons of
perdition may be that they, having their spiritual bodies disorganized, must
start over again—must begin anew the long journey of existence, repeating the
steps that they took in the eternities before the Great Council was held. That
would be punishment, indeed.”
——————————————————————————————————————-
“If
there was a point where man in his progression could not proceed any further,
the very idea would throw a gloom over every intelligent creature. God
himself is increasing and progressing in knowledge, power, and dominion, and
will do so, worlds without end. It is just so with us. We are in
probation, which is a school of experience.”
——————————————————————————————————————-
“Hiram
[Smith] said Aug 1st [18]43 Those of the Terrestrial Glory either advance to
the Celestial or recede to the Telestial [or] else the moon could not be a type
[viz. a symbol of that kingdom]. [for] it [the moon] ‘waxes & wanes’. Also
that br George will be quickened by celestial glory having been ministered to
by one of that Kingdom.”
-Hyrum
Smith, transcribed by Franklin D. Richards in Words of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
pg. 24 (CHO Ms/d/4409/Misc Minutes), 1 August 1843
——————————————————————————————————————-
“The
Savior tells us that the terrestrial glory, or kingdom, is likened unto the
glory of the moon, which is not of the brightness of the sun, neither of the
smallness nor dimness of the stars. But those others who have no part in
marrying or giving of marriage in the last resurrection, they become as stars,
and even differ from each other in glory; but those in the terrestrial kingdom
are those who will come forth at the time when Enoch comes back, when the
Savior comes again to dwell upon the earth; when Father Abraham will be there
with the Urim and Thummim to look after every son and daughter of his race; to
make known all things that are needed to be known, and with them enter into
their promised inheritance. Thus the people of God will go forward. They will
go forward, like unto the new moon, increasing in knowledge and brightness and
glory, until they come to a fullness of celestial glory.”
————————————————————————-
“Once
a person enters these glories there will be eternal progress in the line of
each of these particular glories, but the privilege of passing from one to
another (though this may be possible for especially gifted and faithful
characters) is not provided for.”
——————————————————————————————————————-
“I
am not a strict constructionalist, believing that we seal our eternal progress
by what we do here. It is my belief that God will save all of His children that
he can: and while, if we live unrighteously here, we shall not go to the other
side in the same status, so to speak, as those who lived righteously;
nevertheless, the unrighteous will have their chance, and in the eons of the
eternities that are to follow, they, too, may climb to the destinies to which
they who are righteous and serve God, have climbed to those eternities that are
to come.”
-J.
Reuben Clark, Church News, p. 3 , 23 April 1960
——————————————————————————————————————-
“You
that are mourning about your children straying away will have your sons and
your daughters. If you succeed in passing through these trials and afflictions
and receive a resurrection, you will, by the power of the Priesthood, work and
labor, as the Son of God has, until you get all your sons and daughters in the
path of exaltation and glory. This is just as sure as that the sun rose this
morning over yonder mountains. Therefore, mourn not because all your sons and
daughters do not follow in the path that you have marked out to them, or give
heed to your counsels. Inasmuch as we succeed in securing eternal glory, and
stand as saviors, and as kings and priests to our God, we will save our
posterity. When Jesus went through that terrible torture on the cross, He saw
what would be accomplished by it; He saw that His brethren and sisters the sons
and daughters of God would be gathered in, with but few exceptions those who
committed the unpardonable sin. That sacrifice of the divine Being was
effectual to destroy the powers of Satan. I believe that every man and woman
who comes into this life and passes through it, that life will be a success in
the end. It may not be in this life. It was not with the antedeluvians. They
passed through troubles and afflictions; 2,500 years after that, when Jesus
went to preach to them, the dead heard the voice of the Son of God and they
lived. They found after all that it was a very good thing that they had
conformed to the will of God in leaving the spiritual life and passing through
this world.”
-Lorenzo
Snow, MS 56:49-53; Collected Discourses 3:364-65.
——————————————————————————————————————-
“The question of advancement within the great
divisions of glory celestial, terrestrial, and telestial; as also the question
of advancement from one sphere of glory to another remains to be
considered.. In the revelation from which we have summarized what has
been written here, in respect to the different degrees of glory, it is said
that those of the terrestrial glory will be ministered unto by those of the
celestial; and those of the telestial will be ministered unto by those of the
terrestrial – that is, those of the higher glory minister to those of a lesser
glory. I can conceive of no reason for all this administration of the
higher to the lower, unless it be for the purpose of advancing our Father’s
children along the lines of eternal progression….. But if [advancement between
kingdoms] is possible, they who at the first entered into the celestial glory –
having before them the privilege also of eternal progress – have been moving
onward, so that the relative distance between them and those who have fought
their way up from the lesser glories may be as great when the latter have come
into the degrees of celestial glory in which the righteous at first stood, as
it was at the commencement. Thus: Those whose faith and works are
such only as to enable them to inherit a telestial glory, may arrive at last
where those whose works in this life were such as to enable them to entrance
into the celestial kingdom – they may arrive where these were, but never where
they are.”
PROGRESSION-YES?
So,
we have an interesting mix here. Joseph
Smith and Lorenzo Snow denied only the sons of perdition the ability to
progress. Hyrum Smith and Franklin D.
Richards denied both the sons of perdition and the inhabitants of the telestial
kingdom the ability to progress. I’m not
sure quite what to make of Joseph F. Smith’s idea that progression from one
kingdom to another “may be possible for especially gifted and faithful
characters.” BH Roberts concedes that it might be
possible, but by golly if it is, those slackers from below who manage somehow to scrape by into the
Celestial Kingdom will still be behind the rest of us!
The rest are pretty thoroughgoing Universalists
seemingly of the opinion that everyone can progress to the Celestial kingdom. But Brother Brigham takes the cake here. If the second quote is accurate, he seems to have been a
believer in the doctrine of reincarnation—you have (or get) to do it over until
you get it right. Brigham’s statement
seems necessarily to imply that the devil and his angels are included in this
plan (because wasn’t he the original son of perdition?).
So what to make of the shades of
opinion about progression? In my view,
the quasi Universalists don’t have a logical leg to stand on. If progress is possible for some it is
possible for all because as children of the same God we either all possess the
ability to change our nature (or allow Christ to change it for us) or none of
us do. If a soul in the terrestrial
kingdom can change (or be changed) so can a soul in the telestial kingdom. If one soul can grow to be
especially gifted and faithful all can.
I think the quasi Universalists were timid in their assertions out of
concern for the feeling of those who behave themselves in this life and are
concerned that someone who did not will end up with the same reward. I imagine that includes a lot of us because I
think many of us have the sneaking suspicion that sinners in this life are
having more fun than us righteous folk (they sure look happy anyway and all
those things they get up to are pretty enticing). And if we gave up all of those pleasures here
on earth for no advantage in the world to come, we’re going to feel
cheated. Even from the most staunch and
outspoken Universalist of the bunch (Brother Brigham) we get a bone to satisfy
our envy (it will be “slow progress” he says in one quote and in another intones that having
to go through it all again “would be punishment indeed.”)
But Brigham’s statement is simply
a sop for the same reason that forms a second basis that undercuts the quasi
Universalist’s positions: eternity is
infinite. We tend to throw those two
words around (eternal and infinite) without thought as to the consequences of
life without an end, probably because it is impossible for us to conceive of
such a thing here on earth. But we can
reason out some of the consequences and for the subject of progression between
kingdoms two of them go like this: 1) in an infinite period of time anything
that can happen will happen; and 2) in an infinite period of time any set of
events with finite boundaries will eventually be rendered completely
insignificant.
For the idea of progression, the
first proposition means that if God’s children are capable of becoming like him
they will—all of them without exception.
This completely undercuts any sort of equivocation with regard to who
will progress and who won’t. The second
proposition means that whatever “punishment” or delay a soul may be called upon
to endure it will eventually mean nothing except insofar as it was a means to
propel that soul to the Celestial Kingdom.
Brigham Young’s assertion that a son of perdition going back to square
one would be “punishment indeed” is meaningless from an eternal perspective
because the period between the sin which placed him in perdition and his
entrance into the Celestial Kingdom is finite: it had a beginning and an
end. In the infinite period of that
soul’s life the finite period will eventually come to represent such a tiny
portion of its life as to render the finite period from perdition to the
Celestial Kingdom completely insignificant.
What seems to be lacking from the
pro progression camp is any even tenuous basis in the revealed word of God
except insofar as you consider the statements from authorities to fill that gap
notwithstanding their inability to preface their opinions with a definitive
“thus saith the Lord.”
PROGRESSION-NO!
George
Albert Smith (President)
There
are some people who have supposed that if we are quickened telestial bodies
that eventually, throughout the ages of eternity, we will continue to progress
until we will find our place in the celestial kingdom, but the scriptures and
revelations of God have said that those who are quickened telestial bodies
cannot come where God and Christ dwell, worlds without end. (Conference Report, October 1945,
p.172)
——————————————————————————————————————-
Spence W. Kimball (Quorum of the Twelve)
After
a person has been assigned to his place in the kingdom, either in the
telestial, the terrestrial, or the celestial, or to his exaltation, he will never advance from his
assigned glory to another glory. That is eternal! That is why we must make
our decisions early in life and why it is imperative that such decisions be
right. (The Teachings of Spencer W.
Kimball, p.50; The Miracle of Forgiveness,
p.243-244)
——————————————————————————————————————-
Joseph
Fielding Smith (Quorum of the Twelve)
It
has been asked if it is possible for one who inherits the telestial glory to
advance in time to the celestial glory? The
answer to this question is, No! The scriptures are clear on this point.
Speaking of those who go to the telestial kingdom, the revelation says:
"And they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ
dwell they cannot come, worlds without end." Notwithstanding this statement,
those who do not comprehend the word of the Lord argue that while this is true,
that they cannot go where God is "worlds without end," yet in time
they will get where God was, but he will have gone on to other heights.
This
is false reasoning, illogical, and creates mischief in making people think they
may procrastinate their repentance, but in course of time they will reach
exaltation in celestial glory. Now let
us see how faulty this reasoning is. If in time those who enter the telestial
glory may progress till they reach the stage in which the celestial is in now
-- then they are in celestial glory, are they not, even if the celestial has
advanced? That being the case (I state this for the argument only, for it is
not true), then they partake of all the blessings which are now celestial. That
means that they become gods, have exaltation, gain the fulness of the Father,
and receive a continuation of the "seeds forever." The Lord, however,
has said that these blessings, which are celestial blessings, they may never
have; they are barred forever!
The
celestial and terrestrial and telestial glories, I have heard compared to the
wheels on a train. The second and third may, and will, reach the place where
the first was, but the first will have moved on and will still be just the same
distance in advance of them. This illustration is not true! The wheels do not
run on the same track, and do not go in the same direction. The terrestrial and
the telestial are limited in their powers of advancement, worlds without end. (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:31-32)
——————————————————————————————————————-
Bruce R. McConkie (Quorum of the Twelve)
There
are those who say that there is progression from one kingdom to another in the
eternal worlds or that lower kingdoms eventually progress to where higher
kingdoms once were. This belief lulls men into a state of carnal security. It
causes them to say, "God is so merciful; surely he will save us all
eventually; if we do not gain the celestial kingdom now, eventually we will; so
why worry?"
It
lets people live a life of sin here and now with the hope that they will be
saved eventually.
The
true doctrine is that all men will be resurrected, but they will come forth in
the resurrection with different kinds of bodies - some celestial, others
terrestrial, others telestial, and some with bodies incapable of standing any
degree of glory. The body we receive in the resurrection determines the glory
we receive in the kingdoms that are prepared. Of those in the telestial world it is written:
"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). Of those who
had the opportunity to enter into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage
in this life and who did not do it the revelation says: Therefore, when they
are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but are
appointed angels in heaven; which angels are ministering servants, to minister
for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight
of glory. 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. [D&C 132:16-17] They neither progress from one
kingdom to another, nor does a lower kingdom ever get where a higher kingdom
once was. Whatever eternal progression there is, it is within a sphere.
("The Seven Deadly Heresies," Classic Speeches, Provo, UT:
Brigham Young University, 1994, pp. 175-176)
PROGRESSION-NO?
The cited authorities seem to rely
on two rationales for their stated position: 1) if the doctrine of progression
between kingdoms were true people would live sinful lives on earth relying on
the doctrine to save them in the eternities; and 2) the Lord has clearly stated
in scripture that resurrected beings do not progress from kingdom to
kingdom. Let’s take a look.
Elder McConkie is really the only
one who advances the first rationale and I find it a bit interesting. He says that belief in progression between
kingdoms “lets people live a life of sin here and now with the hope that they
will be saved eventually.” I find that
phrasing a bit odd and more than a little indicative of an attitude I, and I
suspect others, have sometimes experienced.
The problematic word in Elder McConkie’s statement is “lets.” The doctrine of progression between kingdoms
“lets” people live a life of sin. If
wickedness truly isn’t happiness wouldn’t the proper word there be “condemns”
or “dooms” or “consigns” or some other such word indicating that a life of sin
is not preferable to a life of righteousness even assuming (contra McConkie)
that the sinner will eventually end up in the Celestial Kingdom? Elder McConkie’s phrasing suggests that some
of us (including me at times as I have already admitted) have a sneaking
suspicion that all of those sinners out there really are having a better time
than we (the righteous) are: in other words that wickedness may sometimes, if
only for a bit, may actually be happiness.
Besides, it seems to me that this rationale cannot stand on its own as
an argument supporting the proposition of no progress between kingdoms because
it is perfectly compatible with one argument indicating that we may want to
take the scriptural basis upon which McConkie and Presidents Smith and Kimball
rely for their position with a pinch of salt.
McConkie and the Presidents Smith
all rely ultimately on scripture: Sections 76 and 132 of the Doctrine and
Covenants. "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); “Therefore, when they
are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but are
appointed angels in heaven; which angels are ministering servants, to minister
for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight
of glory. 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.” (D&C 132:16-17).
Not dwelling with God “worlds without end” and remaining “separately and
singly…to all eternity” being “not gods, but…angels…forever and ever,” certainly
has a ring of finality to it and I must admit to being mostly persuaded by
these seemingly clear and unambiguous declarations, but for one small fly in
the exegetical ointment: D&C 19:4-12.
In these verses the Lord explains a great mystery which is that when the
scriptures talk about endless torment that phrase should not be taken to mean
that the torment described has no end because, as it turns out, the Lord uses
the phrase “endless torment” to describe the kind of punishment He meets out
because Endless is one of his names.
Now, interestingly the Lord
says the same thing about the phrase “eternal punishment” (“Eternal punishment
is God’s punishment”, v. 11) but he doesn’t expressly make that connection with
the phrase “eternal damnation” although he does clearly link the two concepts
in a way that suggests the phrase “eternal damnation” should be viewed in the
same light as the phrase “endless punishment”
in that the word “eternal” should not be taken as a temporal adjective
but one rather that denotes a particular quality. (“Nevertheless, it is not written that there shall be no
end to this torment, but it is written endless torment. Again, it is
written eternal damnation; wherefore it is more express
than other scriptures, that it might work
upon the hearts of the children of men, altogether for my name’s glory.” vs. 6-7).
And the reason the Lord gives for using the word “eternal” in describing
damnation is ‘that it might work upon the hearts of the children of men.” It seems at least arguable that the Lord
counts on our interpreting the word “eternal” in describing damnation as
indicating the duration rather than the quality of the condition in order (to
be rather blunt about it) to frighten us out of the attitude Elder McConkie
argues against and President Joseph Fielding Smith identifies as one of the
mischiefs of the doctrine of progression between kingdoms: procrastinating
repentance.
In my
view, Section 19 of the Doctrine and Covenants significantly undermines
reliance on scriptural support for the proposition of no advancement between
kingdoms particularly because the Lord appears to view the use of the phrase
“eternal damnation” as a rhetorical device rather than as a description of
reality. Not, of course, that this analysis
resolves the issue by any means; only revelation can do that and we already
know none has been forthcoming, but it does even the argument up by removing
the one side’s ability to say that the Lord has spoken definitively on the
matter.
A WAY
FORWARD?
So what,
you ask, are we to do with all of this?
Is there any way to think about the progression issue based on our
reason alone in the absence of Divine decree?
I think so, but it depends on taking another little side trip down
eternity lane only to the past and our origins or lack thereof.
The set
up for this side trip would probably merit a separate exploration all its own,
but I’m tired and you’re tired and we all just want to get this over with at
this point. So I’ll skip the analysis
and assert that some part of us is eternal not created by God but always
existing (
"Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the
intelligences that were organized before the world was; …for he stood among
those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me:
Abraham, thou art one of them" (Abr. 3:22-23). "Man was also in the beginning
with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither
indeed can be" (D&C 93:29)). There has been some discussion about what
part is eternal, but it seems to me that at the very least the eternal part of
us is our essence that which makes us uniquely who we are and that part is the
part that decides what choices we make.
I think of this as the irreducible decision engine inside us all. So, why did a third of the host of heaven
choose to reject God’s plan? Because of
that little engine which always existed.
Why do some in this life choose to repent and others don’t. Again it’s our decision engine.
What does this idea have to do with
progression? If our decision engine can
be changed, that is if the core part of us that decides how we are going to
respond to a given situation can be changed by our own volition or by an
outside agency, then it seems to me progression between kingdoms follows
logically because of the anything that can happen will happen in eternity
principle. If it can’t be changed lack
of progression between kingdoms follows logically because, well, it can’t
happen so the eternity principle doesn’t help us.
Is it possible to reason our way past this
proposition or are we stuck here until we receive further revelation? Let’s try to think about this and see where
we get. I gave two possible scenarios
for the origin of a potential change to our decision engines: internal and
external. Let’s deal with external
first. We are told that the whole point
of this life is to test us to see what choices we will make behind God’s back. (“ We
will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials,
and we will make an earth where on these may dwell; and we will prove them
herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God will
command them; And they who keep their
first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first
estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first
estate; and they who keep their second estate shall
have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.” Abraham 3: 24-26). I say behind God’s back because the group willing
to disobey God to his face (that is in his presence) was the group who didn’t
keep their first estate. If God could
change our decision engines why wouldn’t he do so? Why would he need to go through the work of
constructing a world to see how we behave in a special testing situation? Why wouldn’t He just change us to fit His
specifications? Because I don’t think he
can or because doing so would undermine the purpose of the change.
Stay with me
here. If God did not make our decision
engines in the first place because they have always existed, they are without a
beginning, God cannot work some change in our decision engines to fit them into
some desired mold. It is also possible
that he can make such a change, but that by making the change Himself rather
than allowing the change to occur through the process He set up would somehow
negate the effect of the change. Either
way, He can’t or He won’t, in my view we can eliminate the potential for change
to our decision engines from an external source.
So what about an
internal mechanism? Well, this gets to
be infinitely recursive because an internal impetus for making such a change
must itself arise from our decision engine.
In other words assuming that we can change, we will only do so if making
such a change is part of our decision engine.
If it is not, then the change won’t occur regardless of the theoretical
possibility of making such a change and therefore, for that particular decision
engine, it will be as if no change is possible because that decision engine is
and was from all eternity without any beginning, without having been formulated,
simply a decision engine that will not change.
Doesn’t seem to help our analysis much does it? We still don’t know whether all decision
engines will change. We can’t rely on
experiences on Earth for that determination because it may be that the
conditions necessary to trigger the decision to change did not occur on Earth,
but may occur later on.
So, it seems to me the most
helpful notion in making this determination is one I mentioned above: do all of
God’s children embody decision engines capable (in the sense we’ve discussed
above) of change? If you think that to
be true then it seems to me progression between kingdoms follows; if you think
it not to be true, in other words if some decision engines are simply not
capable of change, just by their very unalterable nature, then it seems to me
no progression between kingdoms follows.
I have the sense that in today’s world most would be sympathetic to the “everyone
can change” conclusion whereas in the past I have the impression fewer people
would have been of that view.
Not, of course that any of this matters,
because if one has any interest at all in doing God’s will, she will do her
best to do that will in this life and not bet on being able to arrive at the
same place a trillion years from now.
And, regardless of whether progression is possible between kingdoms, God
clearly doesn’t want us to put things off.
So some reason must exist to prefer making the commitment in this life
to follow God’s will. It may only be our
increased happiness in ephemeral mortality; it may be something more lasting. But the fact that God wants us to repent in
this life should be enough motivation for us to do so even if our brothers and
sisters who refuse to repent now eventually end up in the same position without
having suffered any ill effects from their procrastination.
P.S. I
understand the notion of an uncreated central portion of our being that is
responsible for all of our decisions may seem a bit deterministic to some, but
it seems to me to be the price we have to pay for being co-eternal and
self-existing with God. If we just are,
not created and not made, then what we are has always been determined worlds
without beginning and without end.
