(Letter from Joseph L. Anderson @ written on behalf of the First Presidency to Brother ___________, March 5, 1952. This brother wrote, in part: "Please inform me to the teaching of the Church regarding the possibility of a person progressing from one kingdom to another after the resurrection." (Copy in compiler's files.))
The Brethren direct me to say that the Church has never announced a definite doctrine upon this point. Some of the Brethren have held that it was possible in the course of progression to advance from one glory to another, invoking the principle of eternal progression; others of the Brethren have taken the opposite view. But as stated, the Church has never announced a definite doctrine on this point.
Thank you for the list.
I note that the Brethren have adopted what one may identify as a Holy Roman Catholic dynamic, or a Supreme Court procedure, namely to give personal views, compare them, and come up with a decision, or in this case not a decision but a stalemate. (If Church Courts took the D&C to heart, half the court taking the accused side, truly defending the accused, and therefore voting for his acquittal, there would never be any findings of guilty.)
This topic relates directly to our eternal salvation (and exaltation). No one can refuse to answer it on the grounds of irrelevance to salvation. If the Celestial Kingdom is the goal, it is important to know whether one must give up hope at the first failure to meet the requirements for that kingdom, and thence give up trying altogether; or that one who fails may realize that he still has a chance for the Celestial Kingdom, as long as he continues trying, due to the fact that he can progress from one kingdom to another. Since the topic concerns the methods one may use to attain salvation, it is “vital for our salvation.” It therefore behooves the General Authorities to take an official position and make an official statement.
liz3564
So....my kids get "judged", and they haven't made all of the mistakes I have...they go to the Celestial Kingdom and I'm "cut off" from them. Being sealed to them means nothing because I'm stuck in a lower kingdom. Oh, sure, it's nice and all, but I don't have the freedom to visit my kids. I have to wait for them to see me, when they're not too busy.
That sure sounds like hell to me.
Like liz3564, I would not want to be in a higher kingdom if the people I most loved were in lower kingdoms. If there is a recourse for those in a lower kingdom to attain a higher position, perhaps there is also hope for ones separated from their loved ones to attain a lower kingdom than that to which they are entitled, for the sake of spending eternity with the ones they most love rather than with the ones who most nearly match their qualifications for the Celestial Kingdom.
Like liz3564 and myself, Jesus, too, would rather go to hell (“spirit prison”) to help the people who did bad things, than to luxuriate in the comforts of Paradise with the cries of the damned deafening his ears, and their suffering scorching his heart. If Jesus is our great exemplar, shouldn’t we ask God to “tear down that wall” and allow all parties to mingle freely? The good have proven themselves; they cannot be corrupted by the wicked. The wicked can do no wicked. So what’s the problem with mixing them all up?