Interpreting Interpreter: A History of Degrees

This post is a summary of the article “Degrees of Glory: A Brief History of Heaven and Graded Salvation” by Jim Hansen in Volume 59 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. All of the articles may be seen at https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/summaries/. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter series is available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought/.

The Takeaway

Hansen reviews historical conceptions of heaven, placing the Restoration’s view of the three degrees of glory in the context of a graded understanding of heaven that took shape in the centuries before Christ.

The Summary

In this article, Jim Hansen tracks the various understandings of heaven represented in the Judeo-Christian tradition, and as recorded in biblical and extrabiblical literature. In contrast with the current mainstream conception of a binary heaven and hell, these ancient views often treat heaven as being divided into grades or degrees, consistent with Paul’s framing of heaven and the resurrection in 1 Corinthians. Progressing from early, cosmological views of heaven (i.e., physical descriptions of heavenly cosmology) and an underworld-based state of death, this graded view first appears in the apocalyptic literature written in the centuries before and after Christ. Though early Christians would adopt and expand on graded conceptions of heaven, this view would be rejected by the protestant reformers who denied that mortal effort could merit greater degrees of glory. It would not be until the Restoration Movement in the nineteenth century that Paul’s view of a graded heaven would reappear.

The historical views of heaven and the resurrection recounted by Hansen include:

- Early Cosmological Views

- Early Old Testament framings of the firmament of heaven and heavenly gates (e.g., Deuteronomy 4:32, Genesis 28:17).

- A prophesied restoration (or resurrection) of the nation of Israel by Ezekiel, which was later adapted to a motif of personal resurrection (e.g., Daniel 12:2-3) with two broad outcomes (everlasting life and everlasting contempt).

- Book of Mormon references to heaven as a cosmological realm (e.g., 2 Nephi 23:5).

- Apocalyptic Views

- Later Book of Mormon views of heaven as a spiritual inheritance (e.g., Mosiah 2:41).

- 1 Enoch, which includes a three-tiered representation of Heaven that maps onto the sections of the Jewish temple, with the earth being returned to an Edenic state, and the righteous physically transformed to inhabit the heavenly world.

- Early Christian Views

- Paul’s own three-heavened view, though there is debate about whether “the third heaven” represents the truly highest heavenly space, or an arrested state short of God’s presence. This graded view of heaven also applies to his view of the resurrection.

- The Testament of Levi, as well as 2 Enoch, which feature seven heavens rather than three (with some of them being cosmological), as in 3 Baruch.

- The Ascension of Isaiah, which reserves the highest three heavens for the heavenly temple.

- The Pastor of Hermas, and the Epistle of the Apostles, which discuss varying degrees of the elect based on their good works.

- 2 Esdras and 2 Baruch, where the righteous are transformed into angelic beings, with brightness akin to heavenly objects.

- Influence exerted by the Stoics and Epicureans regarding a “hierarchy of essence” where souls existed on a spectrum of coarseness/refinement.

- Origen, Jerome, and John Chrysostom, who each used Paul to teach a graded resurrection and eternal reward.

- The Apocalypse of Peter and the Apocalypse of Paul, which each divide heaven into a number of degrees (e.g., 12 concentric walls).

- Reform Views

- Luther and Calvin, which revert to a single distinction between Heaven and Hell.

- Restoration Views

- Emanuel Swedenborg, whose view of Heaven included three distinct degrees.

Hansen also describes Joseph’s understanding of heavenly Degrees of Glory, as recorded in D&C 76. This includes his view of a celestial glory, which is itself divided into several degrees (and which happens to align in important ways with the Parable of the Sower), a terrestrial glory which may allude to Judeo-Christian views of a future “new earth” that would be inherited by the saints, and the innovatively-termed “telestial” glory, which may represent a heavenly abode “far away” (i.e., the meaning of the Greek root tele-) from God’s immediate presence. These views would eventually become firmly established in the doctrine and culture of the restored church.

The Reflection

I appreciate Hansen gathering these ideas and sources all in one place—it’s fascinating to watch these heavenly views morph and progress throughout the ages (though the Book of Abraham is a conspicuous omission). One thing that strikes me is how much each view seems to mirror the common astrological and theological views of their respective era, as if humanity’s own understanding is an anchor from which revelation can only provide incremental insight. It makes sense, of course, that God would tend to work within a framework that the ancients would already understand and be familiar with, and would use that understanding as a foundation from which to build and teach. I just wonder to what extent D&C 76 functions from that same premise—as a view through a darkened glass at a heavenly framework that surpasses our mortal comprehension. That view was certainly more detailed than what came before it. But I have the feeling that all of us will feel a degree of surprise and awe at what God ultimately has in store for us.

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