Delusions of Glory

In the Latter-Day Saint/Mormon theology and cosmology there are three degrees of glory (alternatively, kingdoms of glory) which are the ultimate, eternal dwelling place for nearly all who lived on earth after they are resurrected. These are curiously called the Celestial Kingdom, Terrestrial Kingdom, and lastly, the Telestial Kingdom.

This article will focus on the Telestial Kingdom.

According to the official LDS website:

Telestial glory will be reserved for individuals who “received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:82). These individuals will receive their glory after being redeemed from spirit prison, which is sometimes called hell (see Doctrine and Covenants 76:84; Doctrine and Covenants 76:106) A detailed explanation of those who will inherit telestial glory is found in Doctrine and Covenants 76:81–90, 98–106, 109–112.^[1]

So the ones inhabiting this realm are of the lowest sort, and include “liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie” according to D&C 76:103 (from Revelation 22:15).

However, as the saying goes: Houston, we have a problem! “Telestial” is a term with no prior usage or etymology. According to one historian, it “reflects the idea of being far off or reaching the end.”^[2] This reminds one of the Greek word τέλος, telos, “purpose,” used in the word teleology (“a reason or an explanation for something which serves as a function of its end, its purpose, or its goal”). However, it can also be seen as deriving from τελεστώ, telesto, meaning “success.”^[3] This is clearly an inappropriate root word. The point is though, since it lacks a proper etymology, it looks made up.

The ramifications of this realization are troubling. Things that someone makes up for a religion are not from God. Making things up threatens to enter into the realm described in D&C 76:103 (from Revelation 22:15), of being a liar. Thus, the architects and maintainers of the degrees of glory are delusional and are being misleading. They are asking for an absurd amount of faith and trust from their students.

This failure can be likened to an unattended bullet wound in their cosmology.


Footnotes:
^[1] Kingdoms of Glory www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/kingdoms-of-glory?lang=eng The first paragraph included a definition from the Wikipedia entry Degrees of glory en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrees_of_glory.
^[2] Mark Staker. Hearken, O Ye People: the Historical Setting for Joseph Smith‘s Ohio Revelations. Greg Kofford Books, 2009. 327
^[3] Telesto (mythology) en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telesto_(mythology) This explains: “In Greek mythology, Telesto … was an Oceanid, one of the 3,000 water-nymphs daughters of Titans Oceanus and Tethys. She was the personification of the divine blessing or success.” The later definition stresses how inappropriate and astronomically ironic it is to have that name Telestial for ones who failed.