What is the difference between
--going to the celestial kingdom
--living with heavenly father
--exaltation

Thanks for helping me to understand!

I'm no doctrine expert, but I think all those phrases pretty much mean the same thing.

You do know there's three levels of "heaven," right? (In mormonism.) I never got it quite sorted who goes where, only that everyone's ultimate goal is supposed to be the CK. Which is the same thing as being exalted, which is the same thing as living with HF.

Who knows if the Mormons even have an "official" definition for those things, but as I understand it, going to the Celestial Kingdom is just landing somewhere on the planet where God lives.

Technically you are living with Heavenly Father just by being in the Kingdom itself. So it's like saying you live with Obama just because you are in the same country. Maybe you get to see Heavenly Father drive by sometimes in his motorcade.

Exaltation means you are still on the God track, or it used to before Hinckley denied we could become Gods as we were all taught from the pulpit back in the early days.

So, you can get into the CK and still be a servant with no chance of becoming God.

You can still get into the CK and be a regular person who went to the temple, got felt up, got your new name, learned the secret handshakes, but decided not to participate in polygamy and so don't qualify to become a God.

Or you can check every box, including polygamy and get into God training camp and eventually end up with your own planet and crucify your own Jesus and have your own CK where your own personal Joseph Smith stands as the goon letting people through the velvet rope. This would be the Exaltation they speak of.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2015 05:54PM by blueorchid.

1-Celestial kingdom is the highest of the three heavens. It is a good place to go, but there are different levels of the Celestial kingdom, so just going there isn't the top prize in Mormonism.
2-Living with heavenly father is generally thought of a going to the celestial kingdom. In Mormonism, everyone lived with heavenly father before earth life, though, so it doesn't necessarily mean that you have "died and gone to heaven".
3-Exaltation is the top prize in Mormonism. It is the highest level in the celestial kingdom, where you become a God and receive all that Heavenly Father has. Temple marriage is a requirement for exaltation. Children who die before 8 years old will also be exalted. There will be some match-making in the afterlife to hook them up with a suitable companion.

I can't remember jesus mentioning any of the 3 kingdoms, must have been too busy washing prostitues feet and killing fig trees.

I meant jesus was too busy not me.
I want to go on record as saying I never wash prostitutes feet.I always insist they do that themselves, god damn it I pay them enough.

They are equivalent.

They teach that there will only be the top obedient mormons exalted in the ck.

Who wants to spend eternity with that bunch?

It's like flying, or taking an old-fashioned cruise line across the Atlantic:

1. Telestial (not a real word) Kingdom: Third Class or steerage class; same as coach

2. Terrestrial Kingdom: Good, but not good enough. Second class. On international flights is known as business class. Pretty nice because you get wine and a real table cloth. Not good enough for Mormon Jesus because he deserves the best.

3. Celestial Kingdom: First or Upper Class. Not the same as domestic "first class." More like international upper class on Thai of Emirates Airlines and the like: Free-flowing French wines, food cooked to order, Angelina Jolie and Patrick Stewart sitting nearby. This is what Mormon Jesus expects, this is what Mormon Jesus gets. Whether you get it or not depends on a life of Mormon piety, i.e. appearing to abstain from impure thoughts and masturbation; appearing to obey LDS commandments, even those that no one has thought of yet, like abstinence from fizzy mineral water because Coca-Cola contains bubbles, or abstaining from hot cocoa because you're told not to drink "hot drinks," but nobody will say which ones; appearing to act just like Mormon authorities, mimicking their speech and actions; being wealthy; having a degree in law or marketing.

I was taught exaltation was the highest level in the celestial kingdom. I was also taught the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial each have 3 levels within them.

I say we combine them all into the Telestical Kingdom and have a ball.

There are three degrees of heaven, from lowest to highest: terestrial, telestial, and celestial (maybe I'm getting the T ones mixed up though).

Anyway, the lowest one is the one anyone can get into, nobody wants to go there.

2nd one is pretty good, but not good enough.

3rd one, the celestial kingdom, has three degrees in it. The highest one is where god lives. If you're in the CK, you can go visit the lower kingdoms, but they can't visit you, which is why mormon parents are so upset when a child leaves the church. They believe that they won't be together with their children forever. Also, in order to get into the CK, you have to have been baptized a mormon and have gone through the temple, and remain a member in good standing, meaning pay your tithing, obey the WOW, etc. this is another reason TBM spouses get so upset when their spouse leaves the church - they don't think their spouse will be with them in heaven, among other things.

It's pretty crazy when you think about it all like that.