The Spirit World

     Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe in four distinct parts of life after death:  the Spirit World, resurrection, judgment, and the degrees of heaven.  After we die, we enter the realms of the Spirit World.  Then the time will come when, through the power of Jesus Christ, we are resurrected and take up our physical bodies again.  At some time after this, we will be brought to stand before God and face judgment for our choices in life.  After our judgment, we shall enter into the realms of heaven.

     Since the first of these is the Spirit World, I will begin today with a focus on this state of existence.  Upon death we enter the Spirit World.  There are many questions we can ask about this state of existence, and I’ll try to answer all those I can think of. 

     First, where is the Spirit World?  Brigham Young, the second prophet called by God in the latter days, stated, “It is right here…Can you see it with your natural eyes?  No.  Can you see spirits in this room?  No.  Suppose the Lord should touch your eyes that you might see, could you then see the spirits?  Yes, as plainly as you now see bodies…”  (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young, pg. 279)  So when we die and pass from this world into the Spirit World, we don’t actually leave this earth.  We simply change our state of existence.

     So what is this new state of existence?  We know we bury the physical body, so obviously this isn’t a part of it.  We, in fact, revert back to the same form we had prior to coming to our mortal lives:  spirit bodies.  Ether 3:16, found in The Book of Mormon, teaches us that God appeared to the brother of Jared in His spirit body.  We learn this same form is the form Jesus would later take in the flesh and is the form after which man was created.  This means both the spirit body and the physical body of man.  So we know our spirits carry the same form in the Spirit World as we carry here.  They just lack the physical body.

     There is a difference between the spirit bodies before they come to earth and after they depart it.  That difference is the experience they gained while in mortality.  We come to mortality to learn and grow, using the physical body to help us develop our strengths and eliminate our weaknesses.  All that we learn here in this state is carried with us into the spiritual realms of the hereafter.  This includes our knowledge, our strengths, our weaknesses, and our entire character. 

     If we developed the strength to withstand certain temptations of the flesh here, we will have those strengths hereafter.  If we indulged in the weaknesses of the flesh here, our spiritual character will yearn for the pleasures of the flesh there.  All those many attributes we choose to develop here will follow us.  So our character here will determine the state of mind we are in there.

     This brings us to the discussion of the division in the Spirit World.  Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognize that there are two distinct states of being in the world to come.  The one is Spirit Paradise, and the other is Spirit Prison.  I know this division applies to their state of mind, developed through the choices made in this life.  What I don’t know is if there is actually a physical division between these two states of being.  We know that when Jesus entered the Spirit World, He bridged the gap between paradise and prison and started missionary work among those dwelling in prison.  Does that mean a physical division remained between the two?  I doubt it, but I really don’t know.

     I do know there is a division as far as the state of mind of these two.  This division exists based on their choices here, as I stated earlier.  In large part, this has to do with the separation of the physical and spiritual bodies.  Without our physical bodies, we don’t have the ability to satisfy physical urges.  Those who knew the gospel of Jesus Christ and chose to follow the higher laws of God would make their spirits the masters of their physical bodies and wouldn’t be tormented by those temptations they became the masters of.  Their faith in the healing power of Jesus Christ would wash away the pain of the rest and leave them in a state of paradise.

     On the other hand, those who chose to indulge in the pleasures of the flesh would be slaves to the flesh.  So the loss of the flesh would be exquisitely painful to them when they couldn’t satisfy the urges that come as a part of this slavery.  In a sense they would suffer withdrawal pains.  They would be in a state of prison.  Without the physical body, it is also more difficult to become the masters of the physical body.  So it would be more difficult for them to master these urges in the spirit world in order to alleviate these “withdrawal” pains.  Without the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, these spirits never would be free of them.

     Those who died without knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ also dwell in a state of prison.  Now we must acknowledge the fact that many people die without this knowledge and yet are good people who would love Jesus Christ and follow Him if given the chance.  Why should they be in a state of prison?  Simply put, they lack the knowledge they need to bring them into a state of paradise.  This is why Jesus bridged the gap between the two states of being and opened up missionary work among the dead.

     Through missionary work, those who died and entered spirit prison could hear the messages of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  If they accepted these messages, they would find the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Through this power they would be able to eliminate the prison-like state.  They would join the righteous in Spirit Paradise.

     To rap this entry up, I want to point out one fact.  The power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is not bound by death.  It can heal us here, and it can heal us hereafter.  All it requires is faith, in its entirety, in the Savior Jesus Christ.  And then healing can come in mortality or after death.