Terrestrial Kingdom
In The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints, the terrestrial kingdom is the middle of what are believed to be three heavens or heavenly kingdoms. It is said by Latter-day Saints to correspond to the "bodies terrestrial" and "glory of the moon" mentioned by the Apostle Paul in the King James Version translation of 1 Corinthians 15:40-41 15:40-41. The word terrestrial derives from a Latin word meaning "earthly".
According to the doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the terrestrial kingdom is the eternal destination in the afterlife to which some portion of humankind will be assigned following resurrection and the judgment day. The primary source of this doctrine is a vision recounted by Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, at Hiram, Ohio, February 16, 1832, and recorded as Doctrine and Covenants Section 76.
Inhabitants of the terrestrial kingdom
According to Doctrine and Covenants section 76, those who will inhabit the terrestrial kingdom include those who lived respectably but "were blinded by the craftiness of men" and thus rejected the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ when it was presented to them during their mortal lives.[1] It also includes persons who rejected the "testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it" in the spirit world[2] and those who "are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus" after having received it.[3]
Ultimately, the kingdom of glory (either the celestial or the terrestrial) received by those who accept the testimony of Jesus will be based on God's knowledge of whether they "would have received it with all their hearts" as manifested by their works and the "desire of their hearts".[4]
Those who inherit the terrestrial kingdom "receive of the presence of the Son, but not the fulness of the Father."[5]
Joseph Smith taught that translated beings abide in the terrestrial kingdom until they are resurrected and enter the celestial kingdom.[6]- ↑ Doctrine and Covenants 76:75.
- ↑ Doctrine and Covenants 76:74.
- ↑ Doctrine and Covenants 76:79.
- ↑ Doctrine and Covenants 137:8-9.
- ↑ Doctrine and Covenants 76:77.
- ↑ Joseph Smith, Joseph Fielding Smith (ed.) (1976). Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book) p. 170: "Many have supposed that the doctrine of translation was a doctrine whereby men were taken immediately into the presence of God, and into an eternal fulness, but this is a mistaken idea. Their place of habitation is that of the terrestrial order ...."
