Pastor Jeff McCullough hasn’t been very active in posting videos on his YouTube channel lately. Perhaps he has decided to be a bit more careful, after reading my replies! That would be a very wise thing for him to do of course! He has, however, just put out one of his “short” videos—testing the waters perhaps, to see if I am still alive, and will be responding to it or not! 😀 The title of the video is, “Do Mormons and Christians believe in the same heaven?” This video is tiny, less than a minute long, in which he compares the Latter-day Saint idea of “heaven” with that of the traditional Christian view. He had previously posted a longer video on this subject to which I had replied; but since this is a very short video, it makes it possible to give it a more detailed reply. He begins as follows:
“Do Mormons and Christians believe in the same heaven? Joseph Smith taught that there are three levels of heaven, and almost every human that has ever lived will go to one of these three heavens, based on their level of righteousness while on earth. LDS Church members live with the aspiration of making it to the highest level of heaven, where their Heavenly Father lives, with the hope of progressing further to godhood with their eternal families.”
That is not an accurate representation of the Church’s theology of the afterlife, specifically of attaining the highest or the Celestial glory. That criteria is defined and expressed in the following verses in modern scripture (emphasis added):
Doctrine and Covenants 76:
50 And again we bear record—for we saw and heard, and this is the testimony of the gospel of Christ concerning them who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just—
51 They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given—
52 That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power;
53 And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true.
54 They are they who are the church of the Firstborn.
55 They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things—
56 They are they who are priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory;
57 And are priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the Only Begotten Son.
58 Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God—
59 Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
60 And they shall overcome all things.
61 Wherefore, let no man glory in man, but rather let him glory in God, who shall subdue all enemies under his feet.
62 These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever.
63 These are they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in the clouds of heaven to reign on the earth over his people.
64 These are they who shall have part in the first resurrection.
65 These are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just.
66 These are they who are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all.
67 These are they who have come to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of Enoch, and of the Firstborn.
68 These are they whose names are written in heaven, where God and Christ are the judge of all.
69 These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood.
70 These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical.
Based on that description, Jeff’s description of the Latter-day Saints’ view of the highest heaven is not accurate at best. He makes the following incorrect or inaccurate statements:
(1) “… almost every human that has ever lived will go to one of these three heavens.” Not accurate. There are many who don’t, but abide in hell forever. These include murderers, and those who commit the unpardonable sin—and their numbers are not so few as some think. Their identity and fate is described in D&C 76:28-49.
(2) “… based on their level of righteousness while on earth …” Not accurate either. As explained in the above quote, faith has as much to do with it, if not more than, righteousness. Also required is a firm commitment to serve God at all hazards, and being “valiant in the testimony of Jesus” (D&C 76:79). They “overcome by faith” (D&C 76:53). None of that could be accomplished without faith—but at the same time, it is not “faith alone” either.
(3) “LDS Church members live with the aspiration of making it to the highest level of heaven …” Not accurately stated. It is not just an “aspiration”. Provided that requirements are met (faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, keeping God’s commandments, remaining faithful to the end), the outcome is guaranteed. And “his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3). That means that they are not hard to keep. And if sins are committed, they can be remitted through confession and genuine repentance.
(4) “… with the hope of progressing further to godhood.” Also incorrectly stated. Attaining to the Celestial Kingdom or glory, and attaining to deification, theosis, divinization, or “godhood” is simultaneous. They take place at the same time. One is the direct consequence of the other. To enter the Celestial Kingdom and be deified is one and the same thing. There is no such thing as “progressing” to “godhood” after entering into that Kingdom. You are already deified when you attain a Celestial glory.
The only thing that needs to be added here is that the “commandment” mentioned in verses 51-52 refers specifically to baptism (see Moses 6:59-60; Alma 7:15-16). Baptism is a must, because it is a commandment; and it is an indication of our willingness to keep all of God’s commandments. In the Bible, the remission of sins is directly linked to baptism (Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3; Acts 2:38; 22:16). It is not “optional,” as in Calvinism or Evangelicalism. And it can’t be performed by just anybody either. It is a true sacrament, that requires proper divine authority to be administered faithfully and acceptably before God. “And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron” (Heb. 5:4). He then continues as follows:
“The rest of Christianity believes that there is only one heaven, and that it is an eternal paradise not because of the type of place it is, but because of who is there, God.”
Which doesn’t agree with 1 Corinthians 15:40-43, as discussed in my other post. According to that Scripture, in heaven there are bodies with the glory of the sun, bodies with the glory of the moon, and bodies with the glory of the stars, etc. That means that everyone in heaven will not be equally privileged. Some will enjoy a greater glory than others. He continues:
“Christians believe the Bible teaches that humanity was created for God’s presence, and that is what was lost when sin entered the world.”
No arguments, see above. He continues:
“Eternal hope isn’t tied to our ability to progress to God’s presence. True hope is found in the free gift of restored relationship with God, offered when Jesus defeated sin on the cross, and death through his resurrection.”
Not without repentance, as previously discussed. And as already explained, “progress” is not the right word to use to describe the theology of the Church on the subject. It is not a terminology that is used in scripture to describe what is happening there. The theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is derived exclusively from Scripture, without any extraneous words added to it. He continues:
“Christians don’t believe there is a need to progress further once we get to heaven, because the Bible teaches we will have everything we will need in God’s eternal loving presence.”
Neither do Latter-day Saints. The only thing that can be acquired further once the Celestial Kingdom is obtained is further glorification. Just as God continually “glorifies” himself by what he does (John 12:28; 13:32; 17:1; 21:19); so the Saints are continually glorified in heaven (Abraham 3:26). But describing it in terms of “progressing” is incorrect, and not how the scripture refers to it. Some Latter-day Saints in the past may have mistakenly or casually expressed it in those terms; but it is not an accurate reflection of how the scripture refers to it. Then he concludes his short video with this closing sentence:
“These are the main differences between the Latter-day Saint belief in heaven, and the rest of Christianity.”
Latter-day Saints are lucky that they have additional scripture, more word of the Lord, that enables them to acquire more knowledge of divine and spiritual things, the things of God, than traditional Christianity is able to have from the study of the Bible alone. Christians are indeed very fortunate and privileged have the Bible, and obtain their theology and doctrine from it, no denying that. But Latter-day Saints have more, which enables them to have even more insight into theology, sound doctrine, and divine truth which others cannot have. The “rest of Christianity” would be far better off learning more divine truth from Latter-day Saints, or from their revealed scriptures, than by criticizing and finding fault.
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