Paradisiacal
From MormonWiki
Paradisiacal is a word Primary-aged children encounter when memorizing the Articles of Faith.
Webster's dictionary defines the word as “relating to or resembling paradise.”[1]
“Paradise,” associated with heaven, means a blissful or delightful place.[2] It is used three times in the New Testament:
- In Luke 23:43, the Savior Jesus Christ tells the thief next to him in Calgary, "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.’[3]
- In 2 Corinthians 12:2–4, Paul is “caught up into paradise,” or the “third heaven” in a vision.[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/2-cor/12?lang=eng
- Revelation 2:7 describes the “paradise of God” as the place where the righteous “eat of the tree of life.”[4] The “paradise of God” is also mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants 77:2, 5.[5]
“Paradisiacal,” in the tenth Article of Faith, however, seems to refer to the Eden-like state, with the earth being “renewed” and receiving its “paradisiacal glory.”[6] The word, then, could easily refer to both a heavenly kingdom and the beautiful place God created for Adam and Eve.
- The earth is destined to become a celestial body fit for the abode of the most exalted or celestial beings (D&C 88:18-20, 25-26). This is a unique departure from the traditional Christian beliefs that heaven is the dwelling place for all saved beings, and that after fulfilling its useful role the earth will become uninhabited, or be destroyed. Doctrine and Covenants 130:9 teaches that finally the earth will become sanctified and immortalized, and be made crystal-like. The "sea of glass" spoken of in Revelation 4:6 "is the earth, in its sanctified, immortal, and eternal state" (D&C 77:1). Elder James E. Talmage wrote of this earthly regeneration: "In regard to the revealed word concerning the regeneration of earth, and the acquirement of a celestial glory by our planet, science has nothing to offer either by way of support or contradiction" (Articles of Faith, p. 381).
- Latter-day Saints understand the entire history of the earth to be directly linked to its role in God's Plan of Salvation for his children, his work and glory, "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). The earth was created as a paradise. Because of the Fall of Adam and Eve, it was transformed to a telestial state, or the present mortal earth. This interval will end with the return of the Savior, after which the earth will be changed to a terrestrial state and prepared during the Millennium for its final transformation into a celestial sphere after the Millennium (D&C 88:18-19). The ancient Nephite concept derived from Christ's teachings to them includes the idea that before the final judgment the earth will be "rolled together as a scroll, and the elements [will] melt with fervent heat" (Mormon 9:2), "and the heavens and the earth [shall] pass away" (3 Nephi 26:3). [7]
See also Paradise.
