Mormon cosmology

These views are not generally shared by adherents of other Latter Day Saint movement denominations who do not self-identify as "Mormons", such as the Community of Christ.

According to Mormon cosmology, there was a pre-existence, or a pre-mortal life, in which human spirits were literal children of heavenly parents.

This alternative plan, while seemingly more equitable, was actually contingent on the glory of God being bestowed solely on Lucifer himself.

According to the Plan of Salvation, under the direction of God the Father, Jehovah created the earth as a place where humanity would be tested.

"[3][4] According to Smith's King Follett discourse, God the Father once passed through mortality as Jesus did, but how, when, or where that took place is unclear.

In Mormonism, the concept of divinity centers around an idea of "exaltation" and "eternal progression": mortals themselves may become gods and goddesses in the afterlife, be rulers of their own heavenly kingdoms, have spirit children, and increase in power and glory forever.

"[9] Mormons teach that exalted people will live with their earthly families and will also "have spirit children":[10] their posterity will grow forever.

According to the belief, exaltation is a gift available only to those who have qualified for the highest "degree" of the celestial kingdom through faith in Jesus and obedience to his commandments.

[11][12] As prerequisites for this "greatest gift of God",[13] adherents believe that in the afterlife, they will become "perfect" and they must participate in all the required ordinances.

One of the key qualifications for exaltation is being united in a celestial marriage to an opposite-sex partner via the ordinance of sealing,[14][15] either in person or by proxy after they have died.

[16][17] The LDS Church abandoned the practice beginning in 1890 and now teaches that only a single celestial marriage is required for exaltation.

Latter-day Saint leaders have also taught that God the Father was once a mortal man who has completed the process of becoming an exalted being.

[29][30] Because he lived a perfect and sinless life, Jesus could offer himself as an "infinite and eternal" sacrifice that would be required to pay for the sins of all of the other children of God.

[30][31] According to Brigham Young and the endowment ceremony, Adam was identified as the biblical archangel Michael prior to his placement in the Garden of Eden.

[33] Although the LDS Church has repudiated the Adam–God doctrine,[34] the denomination's endowment ceremony portrays this Adam/Michael as a participant with Jehovah in the creation of the earth, under the direction of Elohim.

[42] Mormon leaders and theologians have taught that these inhabitants are similar or identical to humans,[43] and that they too are subject to the atonement of Jesus.

In addition, many LDS Church leaders and theologians have elaborated on these principles through exegesis or speculation, and many of these ideas are widely accepted among Mormons.

[50] LDS researchers John A. Tvedtnes and Van Hale have expressed doubt about the reliability of Huntington's claims.

[51] The alleged teaching was first recorded by Huntington in a journal entry after he heard it from Dibble about 40 years after Smith's death.

Hence: "thou shalt have power with God even to translate thyself to Heaven, & preach to the inhabitants of the moon or planets, if it shall be expedient".

[52][54] In a statement given on July 24, 1870, LDS Church president Brigham Young discussed the possibility that the Sun and the Moon were inhabited, but said these were his own personal thoughts.

[51][54] For example, William Herschel, the discoverer of the planet Uranus, argued, "[w]ho can say that it is not extremely probable, nay beyond doubt, that there must be inhabitants on the Moon of some kind or another?"

Historians have said that Herschel "thought it possible that there was a region below the Sun's fiery surface where men might live, and he regarded the existence of life on the Moon as 'an absolute certainty.

'"[56] In any event, Young's personal beliefs on the subject of "inhabited worlds" are not considered LDS Church doctrine.

"[62] Thus, Mormons deny ex nihilo creation and instead believe that God created or "organized" the universe out of pre-existing elements.

As God had promised, the bodies of Adam and Eve became mortal and they became subject to physical death, as well as sickness and pain.

[85] Due to the fall, Adam and Eve also came to know the difference between good and evil and became capable of having children, as God had originally commanded.

Because of the Fall, we are blessed with physical bodies, the right to choose between good and evil, and the opportunity to gain eternal life.

Joseph Smith provided a description of the afterlife based primarily upon an 1832 vision he reportedly received with Sidney Rigdon and recorded as Doctrine and Covenants section 76.

[98][99][100] Exaltation is considered by the Church to be the "greatest gift of God" and is also called "salvation" or "eternal life".