keito-ninja


Sure. We believe there are three degrees, or glories, of heaven. The Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial Kingdoms. The main difference between these kingdoms is that God the Father and Jesus Christ will reside in the Celestial Kingdom, Jesus Christ will sometimes visit the Terrestrial Kingdom but not His Father, and those in the Telestial Kingdom will be cut off from the presence of the Father and the Son forever. Those who are righteous and live by God's gospel will return to live with God. Those who are wicked and reject God's gospel will be separated from God for eternity. To someone who loves God, this separation would feel like hell, but for those who do not care if God is in their lives, the Telestial Kingdom will be a comfortable place to live. The only eternal destination that is truly miserable is outer darkness--the place where the devil resides--is reserved for those who know undeniably that God does exist, yet deny and rebel against him nonetheless.
Interesting. Your description os the Telestial Kingdom sounds very similar to the view of hell that I grew up with - complete separation from God, the idea being that here on earth, God's presence and influence can still be felt and is the origin of everything good in life.

It's interesting that you differentiate between complete separation from God and the place where the devil resides, as well as how different people will experience being cut off from God.

Thanks for sharing. I'm quite wishy-washy on how I feel about the afterlife, so I like hearing from people who do have strong opinions on it.