“But this isn’t like ‘Heaven,’ for traditional Christian groups?” asked Jobran.
“No; in the ultimate sense, Heaven is the highest or ‘Celestial’ kingdom of God. The persons in the Terrestrial Kingdom are happy, and Jesus will visit their world from time to time, but the Father will not. But the highest form of eternal life—the Celestial Kingdom—is given only to those who received the testimony of Jesus, believed and were baptized, and obeyed the fullness of the gospel law. There are three levels or degrees of celestial glory; we are given no description of the two lower degrees in the Scriptures, but we are told that the Temple Endowment ceremony, and an eternal ‘Sealing’ marriage covenant in the Temple are required in order to reach the highest level. Such persons are exalted, and become gods, and dwell with God and Jesus Christ forever.”
Jobran sat up, saying, “Say that again? They become what?”
Elder Coe looked Jobran straight in the eye, and said, “Those faithful Latter-Day Saints who have been to the Temple can achieve the Celestial kingdom, and in time will progress until they themselves become perfect, and eventually become Gods over other worlds. This status, which is ‘Eternal Life’ in the fullest sense, can only be achieved by a man and wife. They have powers such as God has, including the power to bear children after the resurrection. This is known as exaltation, and is the greatest gift and attainment possible.”
Jobran said, “I’d read somewhere that you taught that, but it was in what I think you would call an ‘anti-Mormon’ book, so I assumed that they were just being slanderous, or that I had misunderstood.”
“You did not misunderstand, sir. We teach the doctrine of Eternal Progression, which states that worthy persons receive exaltation, and will eventually become like God,” Elder Coe replied.
“I thought that there was only one God,” Jobran said, doubtfully.
“That is a common misconception, because the Bible and the Book of Mormon do speak of there being ‘one God.’ But this means that these three personages are ‘one’ in the sense of being united in the attributes of perfection: truth, knowledge, justice, faith, and such. But the Godhead itself is actually composed of three separate and distinct Gods: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This is what Paul taught, that there were ‘gods many and lords many,’” (1 Cor 8:4-7) Elder Coe said, triumphantly. “Thus, those personages who have attained exaltation can indeed become Gods, if they have attained the necessary intelligence and righteousness.”
Jobran scratched his chin, thinking. “Hmm. Very interesting. You’re certainly very different from the other Christian denominations I’ve studied. And this is certainly a lot different picture than I got from reading the Book of Mormon, which seemed to present a rather conventional picture of Christianity. It struck me almost as a work of ‘Christian fiction,’” and he laughed, but they didn’t seem to appreciate the joke.
“That is why continuing revelation is the key to our Church,” said Elder Richards.
Elder Coe put away the chart they had been using, then said, “But although we have been talking about Perdition, and Lucifer, and all sorts of unpleasant things, that is not what the focus of our Church is. What we want to emphasize is not eternal torment, but the possibility of salvation that is taught by the Church.”
Jobran asked, “Is salvation taught exclusively by your Church?”
“There are other denominations that call themselves ‘Christian,’ and they contain many people of good will, but our church is, ‘The only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth,’ according to Doctrine and Covenants
1:30. In addition to this, we are the only ones have God’s authority on Earth to
perform sacred works and ordinances.”
“What sort of ‘sacred ordinances’ are these?” Jobran asked.
“The most important is Celestial Marriage. As I said earlier, Celestial Marriage is the gate to exaltation in the highest level of the Celestial kingdom.”
“How are Celestial Marriages performed?” Jobran asked.
“They are performed in our Temples, where couples are sealed to each other for time and eternity in a sacred ceremony.”
“But then even if I were to convert to Mormonism, how would that help my
wife? Obviously, it’s too late for us to be ‘sealed’ in one of your Temples.” “What religion did you say your wife was?” Elder Richards asked. “She was Catholic.”
“And you said earlier that she had never been presented with the True Gospel, right?” Elder Richards clarified.
“She never spoke to or about Mormons, if that’s what you mean.”
“Sir, this is one of the greatest truths revealed in these latter days. Our Church teaches that all who died without a knowledge of the true gospel, who would have received it had they been presented with it, will indeed inherit the kingdom,” Elder Richards replied, with excitement.
“We already told you about baptism for the dead. If you repent, believe the gospel, and are baptized, you could perform the ordinance on behalf of your wife, as well as any other family members, right here on earth, in one of our temples,” Elder Coe said, looking directly at Jobran.
Jobran paused, then asked quietly, “What about…unborn children? I mean, children who die before they are born?”
Both elders looked sympathetically at Jobran, as if guessing the reason for his question, and Elder Coe said softly, “Remember that we believe that those who were children or infants here on Earth were already adults in the pre-existence. We believe in eternal progression, so that even a child that died prior to birth can continue to progress after the grave, and can grow and develop to the point where he can achieve salvation, and can dwell with you and the rest of your family.”
“Hmm. Interesting,” said Jobran, and he fell silent.
After a few seconds of silence, Elder Richards asked, “Well, do you have any other questions we can answer?”
“No; I think you’ve covered your doctrines with admirable clarity. And I thank you.” He made a move as if to get up.
Quickly, Elder Coe added, “But we don’t present our doctrines just to satisfy curiosity. As we said, we are missionaries from the Church, serving a two-year mission without pay, because we have obtained a witness about the truth of our Church.”
“We’d like to come back again, and present you with all of our discussions, that will give you a complete picture of the Church,” Elder Richards said. “And we’d also like to invite you to come with us to Church this Sunday.”
“Thanks for the offer,” Jobran said, “But I don’t think so.”
“Why not?” asked Elder Coe, a little crestfallen. “We’ve answered all of your questions, haven’t we? What is there about the Church that you don’t understand, or that you suppose you don’t like?”
Thinking before he answered, Jobran said finally, “Quite frankly, some aspects of your theology seem a little bit naïve, philosophically—which is not unexpected, if in fact your religion is actually the product of an uneducated 19th century farm boy such as Joseph Smith. It seems to me that he was kind of inventing things on the fly, and hadn’t really taken the time to thoroughly think them
through, first.”
Defiantly, Elder Coe said, “Give me an example.”
“All right,” Jobran said, in a reasonable tone. “You said that we originally are preexisting spirit beings. But where do these premortal spirit essences come from? Were they created by God?”
Elder Richards looked at Elder Coe, who answered, “We were all begotten from a self-existent spirit element, from whose substance our spirit bodies were organized. They are co-eternal with the Father. They—we—are spirit children of God the Father, begotten in his image.
“What do you mean by, ‘In his image’?”
“Our prophet and President Lorenzo Snow said, ‘As Man is, Go
d once was; as God is, Man may become.’”
“I thought that God himself is also an eternal, omnipresent spirit?” Jobran asked.
Turning in his Scriptures, Elder Richards said, “The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that ‘there is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter.’ (D&C 131:7-8.) God the Father is immanent; that is, he is the indwelling presence in everything. But he is not an infinite, omnipresent ‘spirit’ whose essence fills everywhere, yet who is nowhere physically present—what an absurd and contradictory idea!” and he laughed, then continued, “On the contrary, God the Father is an exalted Man, made of flesh and bone, as tangible as man’s.” (D&C 130:22).
“So not only is God tangible, but he used to be a man,” Jobran said, his eyes showing skepticism. “You mean that God was actually a man in the sense that he had a physical body, he ate and drank, he used the bathroom, he slept and woke up, like we do?”
Elder Coe exclaimed, “Yes! This is the great truth of the doctrine of eternal progression—we can become Gods!”
Jobran looked Elder Coe directly in the eye, and said, “But if God was once a man, who created him?” There was silence from both elders, who looked at each other. “Wouldn’t there have had to be another God before him, to create him?” Jobran asked. “And if so, what is the origin of this God?”
“There are many things that have not been revealed to us. The origin of God is one of them,” Elder Coe said, humbly.
Elder Richards added, “But those things are not essential for our own progression. The thing that is essential for us to know is that the God who is our Father right now is the only God with whom we have to do.”
Jobran shook his head. “Well, it seems to me that you’ve got a serious metaphysical or a philosophical problem there. But that’s one example of what I mean by saying that some of your doctrines don’t seem to have been thought out all that thoroughly.”
Intensely, Elder Richards stated, “But Joseph Smith taught many doctrines that were far beyond the intellect of man.”
“Like what?” Jobran asked. “What are some of the things he is supposed to have taught that are so profound?” Jobran threw up his hands, and said, “All he did was choose one mode of baptism over another, and one form of church government over another, and there were plenty of pre-existing models for both in the early 19th century. The Baptists taught the doctrine of baptismal immersion long before Joseph Smith, but that doesn’t make them ‘Prophets of God’—these were just variations of then-existing Christian doctrinal variations.”
“The prophet Joseph Smith taught many things that no other Church on Earth has taught,” Elder Richards asserted.
“How would you know that? How many other religions have you personally investigated? By ‘investigated,’ I mean in the in-depth sense that you are asking me to investigate your religion?” Jobran asked, and the elders were silent. “Well, I’ve spent about a year doing just that, and I can assure you that everyone has their own conviction that they are right, and everyone else is wrong; from the Catholics, to the Buddhists, to the Muslims, to the storefront Pentecostal church on the corner.”
“The LDS Church is the one true Church on Earth. We have all of the signs of God’s blessing,” Elder Richards said, stubbornly. “Who else besides us has unpaid ministers, who go door-to-door preaching the gospel?”
Jobran answered quickly, “The Jehovah’s Witnesses—and occasionally a Baptist or other evangelical church will do some door-to-door witnessing, or at least pass out tracts.”
Elder Richards leaned forward in his chair, and looked Jobran directly in the eye, and said, “Sir, I bear you my testimony, that I know that the LDS Church is the true Church.”
“You’ve already said that,” Jobran replied. Looking back at the Elder directly, Jobran said, “And I bear you my testimony, that I’ve read some of your literature, and I’ve listened to your presentation, and you haven’t convinced me—far from it.” He sat back, then said, “To me, you seem like nice sincere young men, whose enthusiasm outstrips your knowledge and experience.” Seeing their hurt expressions, he continued, “Don’t get me wrong: I admire you for doing what you believe in. If there is anything I have seen during my time of study, it is that there are far too many people that profess to be religious that refuse to ‘practice what they preach.’ You deserve credit for actually demonstrating by your actions the strength of your convictions. Although I don’t agree with you doctrinally, I at least respect the fact that you are honest and forthright.”
“But sir, you can’t just refuse to accept the truth about our Church, now that you have heard all of our doctrines,” Elder Richards said. “This could have serious consequences for your fate in the next life.”
Jobran thought for a moment, then said, “Look: even if what you are saying is actually true—which I sincerely doubt—you’ve just been telling me that I will have another chance to accept your doctrines after death, as will my wife; isn’t that true?”
Elder Coe burst out, “But it will be so much harder after your death…”
Jobran interrupted, saying, “On the contrary: if I end up in the Spirit Prison you described, I think it would be very hard for me to avoid converting to your gospel, especially since I will now—thanks to your presentation—understand what it means.”
“But if you convert during this lifetime, you can perform the ordinance of baptism for your wife,” Elder Richards replied.
“But you’ve been telling me that such work can be done during the Millennial Kingdom anyway, right?” Jobran asked, as the Elders nodded, glumly. Jobran continued, “Look, by both my wife and I converting after our deaths, according to your own doctrines, we will both eventually go to the Terrestrial kingdom— and, while we won’t be ‘gods,’ we will at least be together, will we not?” More silence from the elders. “Which is fine with me; neither of us has any aspirations for ‘godhood,’ I would think.” In a voice of finality, Jobran said, “So you don’t seem to have given me any good reason to convert to your religion, particularly when I’ve got some rather serious doubts about the truth of it.” Jobran stood up, and extended his hand. The two elders stood up, and each shook his hand. “And now, I’m afraid that I’ve got some further study to be doing,” Jobran said, and he showed them to the door.
After closing the door behind them, he carefully filed away the brochure they had left with him, then returned to his chair and book. But he couldn’t concentrate on reading—not just yet. He realized that he had pretty much covered all of the major subdivisions and sects within the Christian tradition, and yet none of them has really been compelling to me. He felt a strong conviction, as he stood up and said aloud to the empty room: “Well, quite honestly, I think that I have gone just about as far in my exploration as I can go within Christianity; although I’ve seen considerable variations along basic themes, I think I’ve reached a kind of ‘dead end.’”
He paused, then added, “Therefore, I think I will need to begin exploring outside the Christian traditions next.”
Then, with a smile, he added, “Thus ends my testimony…for now.”
12
KINDRED SPIRITS
Jobran opened the office door, and saw a man in his early 30s with thick glasses and a full yet well-trimmed beard (just beginning to turn a distinguished gray around the edges) sitting behind a desk.
“Rabbi Kaplan?”
“That’s me,” he said, smiling, and rising up to greet his visitor. “And you must be Jobran Winter.”
“That’s me,” he said, shaking the outstretched hand. “I really appreciate you taking time out to talk with me. I’m sure you have a very busy schedule.”
Rabbi Kaplan motioned for Jobran to sit down, while he searched among the papers on his desk for something. “I just got back from a few day’s vacation, so I’m still catching up on everything.” He found what he was looking for
, and held it up triumphantly. “But I was very intrigued by your letter, and I did want to give your inquiry special consideration.”
“I was hoping that by asking my questions in writing, I could convince you that I’m not some sort of crank,” Jobran said.
“Not at all,” Rabbi Kaplan replied. “You said that you’ve already interviewed a number of people from Christian groups?”
Jobran nodded, and said, “Yes; so far I’ve talked with Catholics, liberal Protestants, Calvinists, Evangelicals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormons. You’re the first…non-Christian that I’ve talked with.” He looked sheepish, then said, “I probably sound like a nut case, wanting to find out what all these various religions believe about life after death.”
“Please call me Abraham,” he said, placing the letter down on his desk. “Or better yet, ‘Abe.’” Jobran smiled a relaxed a bit, and Abraham shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve heard a lot of worse reasons for wanting to study a religion. I get phone calls and occasional letters from people that want to visit our ‘church’ to ‘see how we worship’—almost as if they were anthropologists studying some primitive tribe—and they’re invariably disappointed when they see that I don’t wear all black and wear long curly sideburns like Hasidic Jews do, that I keep my beard trimmed fairly short, and that we let men and women sit together during Temple services. Then I also get calls from newspaper reporters who don’t really want to study anything, they just want a 2-sentence sound bite of ‘the Jewish position on this issue’ to fill out a story they’re writing. Most of the other calls I get are either from students writing a term paper, or else evangelical Christians who claim that they want to come and ‘study the Bible from a Jewish perspective,’ but in reality they just want to argue about the 53rd chapter of Isaiah with me.” He made a gesture of dismissal with his hands. “However in your case, I get the impression that although you are from a Christian background, you’re not even a very convinced Christian.” He looked apologetic, and said tentatively, “I hope you don’t take that as an insult; I certainly didn’t mean for it to be.”
Beyond Heaven and Earth Page 32