Celestial Kingdom

[sugarcrane2]

In the last lesson Gospel Principles lesson the teacher said that only about 1/3 of all people would enter into the Celestial Kingdom is that true?

[Justice]

I can't say I've ever heard it given a value... so I don't know if it's true.

[Vort]

In the last lesson Gospel Principles lesson the teacher said that only about 1/3 of all people would enter into the Celestial Kingdom is that true?

No. I would be very surprised if the percentage were that high, but we have been given no such fractional amounts. This is a very good example of why gospel doctrine teachers should stick to teaching gospel doctrine.

[pam]

I just searched the Gospel Principles manual and I can't find anything in the manual that gives any information like this. Nowhere does it state any type of statistics.

My guess is the teacher is giving information on something he may have once heard.

I remember going through the Gospel Principles class once and a teacher brought up that only 1/3 would be "allowed" to enter the Celestial Kingdom and asked if this were true. The answer he finally gave was that why would the plan of salvation limit it to only 1/3. Then it becomes a competition to see who is more righteous than the next. His point was we should concentrate and do everything possible to achieve that goal ourselves. Also the plan of salvation is for everyone and all can make it to the celestial kingdom if they live righteously and have done the ordinances necessary to get there.

Edited December 18, 2011 by pam

[sugarcrane2]

My brother in law thought that fraction seemed high to. But then why bother? Do I really think that I will be more righteous then 2/3rds of my fellow brothers and sisters? 1/3 is like 2 people out of a 6 person family. I will keep doing everything that I can do because of God's grace an what not. Any way we are told that the other kingdoms are better then this life so I'll keep doing my best, why not. I just think the lottery almost has better odds.

[Martain]

While there will be few who inherit the celestial kingdom in relation to the total sum of mankind, we do have the following description regarding the size of those who inherit the Celestial Kingdom.

Revelation 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

You could look at the total odds of mankind and determine as you do and even relate it to the odds of the lottery but perhaps a shift in thinking might clarify.

When you purchase a lottery ticket you do so knowing that you have 1 in X chance of being the winner. Your percentile chance is infinitesimally small. You don't even have a 1% chance of winning the lottery and nothing you do can increase your odds of winning.

Yet the story in regards to the Celestial Kingdom is completely different. You aren't competing against anyone other than yourself. Where as the lottery was completely reliant upon luck, there is no luck and no odds that you must beat to obtain the Celestial Kingdom. You do the work and live the life necessary to obtain it and you have a 100% guarantee that it will be yours.

[jayanna]

Nice, Martian, very nice

I do have to say, Sugarcrane2, that it drives me nuts, absolutely nuts when teachers add in their own weird stuff to the manuals...I don't understand why they feel the need to spice things up with their own conjecture.

This kind of thing has bothered me for years in attending classes. Personal tesimonies are great, but adding to doctrine for an emotional effect just does not set well with me at all. The advice I got from my SP was to study up as much as I can about what has been taught incorrectly, so that when it comes my turn to teach it, I'll know what is right and where to find it. This has been really helpful to me, and puts me more at ease.

I hope you find more about the true gospel in your studies, and I know you'll find more peace there. :)

[bytebear]

We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. - Article of Faith #3

[rameumptom]

There is no definite number, unless you want to say a "third part" of the saved will be exalted. But then you aren't any nearer an answer.

There will be many exalted. All children who die before the age of accountability will receive exaltation. Over the centuries, that has been a very large percentage of humans. In many nations today, the mortality rate for children is still very high (20% or more).

For a long time, families had large families, because they never knew if a child would die of small pox or any number of other diseases. When you see a nation have an average lifespan of 40 or 50 years of age (or less), it is usually due to the high infant and child mortality rate. We all have ancestors that live into their 80s or 90s. We usually don't hear about the ones who only lived a few days or years.

[Seminarysnoozer]

There is no definite number, unless you want to say a "third part" of the saved will be exalted. But then you aren't any nearer an answer.

There will be many exalted. All children who die before the age of accountability will receive exaltation. Over the centuries, that has been a very large percentage of humans. In many nations today, the mortality rate for children is still very high (20% or more).

For a long time, families had large families, because they never knew if a child would die of small pox or any number of other diseases. When you see a nation have an average lifespan of 40 or 50 years of age (or less), it is usually due to the high infant and child mortality rate. We all have ancestors that live into their 80s or 90s. We usually don't hear about the ones who only lived a few days or years.

There was a program on cable last night called "Who is Jesus?" and I believe I heard them say that during that time only 50% of children lived beyond 5 years.

Consider this too, if 1 out of 800 to 1000 births result in Down syndrome then just in one year alone, there are 131,400 souls going to the Celestial Kingdom from that group in one year. Adding that up alone over the years (not counting all those that die before the age of 8) that would be into the millions.

I've attempted to calculate this before in another thread, now I can't remember where it is, but the number that die before the age of 8 is very high. It is more than the number of members we have in the church right now and probably higher than the number of members of the true church ever had throughout all eras until now (we don't know the percentage of membership as we approach the millennium and into the millennium).

In the U.S. the percentage that die before the age of 8 is something like 0.000147.

[Traveler]

In the last lesson Gospel Principles lesson the teacher said that only about 1/3 of all people would enter into the Celestial Kingdom is that true?

All the people that come to earth, according to the great plan of Salvation, will eventually be divided into 3 parts. One part will enter into the Celestial Kingdom. If that is an exact fraction or a symbolic gesture is often speculated. There is very little gained in speculation - therefore I advise you stay with what we are carefully told. There are 3 kingdoms of glory into which mankind will be divided.

The Traveler