The Mormon View of God, Heaven and Hell (LDS Temple Visitors Center in DC)

Statue of Jesus in DC Visitors' Center

Understanding the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) begins with understanding their view of God.  While most religious people see God as a spiritual being, the Mormons believe that God is both a physical and spiritual being.  He has a body much like we do for we are made in his image.

Once upon a time, God existed much as we do, on a different planet.  He lived a good life and believed the right things.  He was rewarded by being sent to Celestial Heaven (the highest level of Heaven), and eventually became the God we know and love.

God wants the same thing for us, his children, but like him we have to earn it.  We begin our lives as pre-existent spirits.  As pre-existent spirits, we had a choice.  We can be born on earth and live out our lives trying to work out way back to God and to a higher level of heaven than where we started or we can rebel and join the Devil and his angels.  The Mormon's believe that if you have a body, you chose not to join the devil.

Temple Visitors' Center in DC

Heaven and Hell
The Latter Day Saints believe in three levels of heaven and one level of hell.  You have to be more or less Hitler Evil to find yourself in hell, but you could be a generically bad person and find yourself in Tertiary heaven, which sounds like an eternal version of Somalia.  There you work long days, and experience a less than pleasant existence for eternity.  You'll still have some good times, but less so than most people generally would here on earth.

If you're a decent person however, you'll find yourself in the Terrestrial Heaven.   Terrestrial Heaven is like a good version of life on earth.  When the sisters explained this to me, I said, "So, it's like Boston.  If I could die and go to Boston for eternity, I would."  The sisters had never visited Boston.  In this heaven, there are more happy times than usual.  You don't have to work, etc.

If you're a good Mormon, you go to the Celestial Heaven.  This is a perfect paradise where you get to live in the presence of God.  God is, apparently, present in all of these places (perhaps except hell) in some form.  But in the Celestial Heaven, he is physically present.  The reason Mormons baptize the dead is to give the dead the option to join the LDS Church before being judged - if I understand correctly.  They believe that since some people don't know the truth that baptism for the dead will allow them the option to choose to be with God in the Celestial Heaven.

This display emphasizes the global nature of the LDS church by showing the the BoM printed in various languages

When I heard this, I asked why God couldn't just grant them this option without the ritual.  Couldn't God be gracious towards people who lacked knowledge even without someone performing a ritual on their behalf?  I was told that everyone who wants an opportunity to enter the Celestial Heaven has to be baptized, because God wants everyone playing by the same rules.  I found this explanation to be self-defeating, but did not press the issue.

The goal for humans is to get to the Celestial Heaven, which they can only do by being Latter Day Saints.  The Mormons have what's called a high ecclesiology. This means that they think that the church, it's doctrines and rituals very important to God.  They also believe that God only fully accepts people who are in his one true church.  In this way, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is much like many of the other churches that grew up on American soil in the 1800s, including my own heritage.  I grew up being taught that dogma and ritual were the central elements that defined the one true church and that God could not accept imperfection in these areas.  I will discuss this more in the future.

Assembly of God Revival in Eastpointe, Michigan

*The following post is different from others in this series, because I had the experience when I was a much younger person when it occurred.*

One autumn day during my undergrad years, Joe and I were playing hacky sack at a park in Eastpointe.  At one point, we decided to go for a walk.  Along the way, I found myself needing a restroom.  That's when I saw the Eastpointe Assembly of God.  It wasn't Sunday or Wednesday, but there were plenty of cars in the parking lot.  I stopped in.

When I walked through the door I was met by one of the church members who acted somewhat like a guard.  With reservation, he led me to the restroom.  On my way out, I could hear a lot of excitement from the auditorium.  At the time I wasn't too familiar with the Assemblies of God.  The guard explained that they were having a revival.  I asked Joe if he would mind sticking around for the experience.

The church pews were wooden, not dissimilar to this.

We walked into the sanctuary and sat close to the back row.  People sang and danced.  They spoke in tongues during moments of prayer.  Up to this point, I'd never seen anything like it.  Then a middle-aged white man approached the pulpit.  He spoke enthusiastically about miracles.  He claimed to have seen the blind healed and the dead resurrected.  It was a message intended to rouse the faithful.  In the midst of it, he casually mentioned that in order for people to be saved, they needed to speak in tongues.  Disagreeing strongly, I became fixated on this point.

The worship service was followed by a healing service.  This is the first time I'd seen anything like it. The evangelist stood at the front of the sanctuary and people came forward for prayers and healing.  I only remember two individuals specifically.  The first was an old woman who complained of having trouble seeing.  The evangelist laid hands on her, prayed and then asked if she noticed a difference.  She said "yes."  I did not see happiness on her face.  A young woman about 14 or 15 also came forward.  She explained that she was having a problem with acne.  She felt insecure.  The evangelist prayed that she would "notice a difference" in her complexion.

The service ended and we approached the front of the auditorium.  I spoke with their youth minister, who explained that most young people in the Assemblies of God did not feel that speaking in tongues was necessary for salvation, but that most older people in the fellowship felt otherwise.  There are theological generation gaps in every religious community.

Big Boy's or Elias Brothers is a popular family restaurant in Michigan and nearby states

We met the evangelist who invited us to join himself and the pastor at Big Boy's Restaurant at 9 Mile and Gratiot for dinner.  We road in their car.  At the restaurant, we chatted about religion and no doubt shared our different perspectives on tongues and salvation.  It was a pleasant talk.  When our meeting adjourned, the evangelist paid for our meals.

On the way back to the church building where they dropped us off, the evangelist mentioned something that shocked me at the time.  He exclaimed the the earth really was billions of years old.  I didn't believe this, yet.  He himself didn't want to, but claimed that the evidence was overwhelming.  We prayed together and the night adjourned.  I experience gave me plenty to meditate on.