Smith quickly incorporated his new “revelation” into his theology. These are they who are thrust down to hell.” These are they who deny not the Holy Spirit. These are they who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus. The lowest level of “glory,” the telestial level, is described in Doctrine and Covenants76:81–84: “And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament. The next level, according to Doctrine and Covenants76:71, is the terrestrial: “These are they who are of the terrestrial, whose glory differs from that of the church of the Firstborn who have received the fulness of the Father, even as that of the moon differs from the sun in the firmament.” In Doctrine and Covenants76:70 we read, “These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical.” This is the highest level, the level of exaltation. He is clearly seeking to parallel the discussion Paul presents in 1Corinthians15:39–44, for he uses the same theme of sun, moon, and stars, each with a differing glory. In the ensuing “revelation,” Smith identifies three heavens, or levels of glory: the celestial, the terrestrial, and the telestial. Heavens and Glories: How Many? The introduction to Section 76 of the Mormon scripture Doctrine and Covenants observes, “It appeared self-evident…that if God rewarded every one according to the deeds done in the body, the term ‘Heaven,’ as intended for the Saints’ eternal home, must include more kingdoms than one.” 1 We can use one translational slip-up in the KJV, ironically, in exposing Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS or Mormon Church) as being something less than the prophet he claimed to be. Some final editing was done, but there still are places where the final translation renders the exact same words in the original Hebrew and Greek languages by completely different terms.
When the King James Version of the Bible was translated between 16 the work was done by various committees at places like Oxford and Cambridge. Sometimes the oddest quirks of church history end up being an apologist’s best friends. For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: This article first appeared in the Practical Hermeneutics column of the Christian Research Journal, volume 31, number 04 (2008).