No. 27. >> Please tell us more about the Mormon belief and life after death. And why are so many people attracted to Mormonism? Is there anything about missionary work that Lutherans could learn from the Mormons? >>DR. THOMAS E. MANTEUFEL: Yes, the Mormons do believe in life after death. Unlike the Jehovah's Witnesses, they say that the soul lives on after death. Jehovah's Witnesses say that when the body dies, the soul dies until the time of resurrection, if one is ever going to have a physical resurrection. But the Mormons say that at the time of death, the body lies in the grave. But the soul then goes onto one of two places. Either to paradise or to the prison of spirits in hell. It is of course, the good Mormons who go to the place of paradise. And then all others must go to the prison of spirits to suffer and pay for their sins. But they also teach that the departed Latter-day Saints in paradise will be making -- and that they do make -- missionary trips to hell to preach to the people there and call them to repentance. And if people in hell do repent, then they can leave hell and enter into -- into paradise. But in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven, which is found in paradise, they must have baptism. Because that's the absolute entry ticket into the kingdom of heaven. And so then, baptisms must be provided for these people that repent in hell. And so proxy baptisms, substitute baptisms, are done on earth in Mormon temples continually. So if the dead person does repent in hell, then the proxy baptism is ready for him. And will be credited to his account. The Mormon church has an extensive genealogical service and program for the purpose of providing family trees to their members who wish to be baptized for their ancestors. And these genealogical records are also made available to the general public. The baptism of a Mormon person for the dead does not guarantee that that dead person will be able to leave hell and go into the kingdom of heaven. But it means that if the person does repent in hell, then there will be a baptism ready to be credited to his account. The Mormons claim that I Corinthians 15:29 in which Paul talks about baptism for the dead is a reference to the use of this same practice in the church at Corinth. Now, we have to say that all of this teaching is contrary to what the Bible says. That is to say according to the Bible, there will not be conversions after death. Hebrews 9:27 is very clear on this: It is given to men once to die. And after that, the judgement. And we can be certain then that I Corinthians 15:29, whatever it does mean, is not teaching a baptism to benefit the dead, to make possible a conversion and a departure from hell after death. Bible scholars are not agreed on what this obscure passage in I Corinthians 15 does actually mean. And they are not even agreed upon whether Paul was talking about a practice that he approved of or a practice that he disagreed with and disapproved of. Now, at the judgement of the world by Jesus Christ, the resurrected souls will be sent to one of four destinies, according to what they have earned. The highest destiny is the one that is appointed for the people of the celestial kingdom. That is to say the kingdom of heaven. These are the faithful Mormons. Now, faithful Mormons who have not earned Godhead will live on the glorified earth forever. But the upper Class of the celestial kingdom is made up of those who become gods and goddesses. Each new god will receive a whole planet to rule over. And he and his goddess wife or wives then will provide children to populate these planets. Just as has happened with our planet earth. And the whole progeny of God the Father among us. Then there is the terrestrial kingdom. And that's a class of honorable people who are non-Mormons. They must pay for their sins in hell. And then they will rise at the time of the last judgement. At the end of the thousand years of the millennium. They will have finished paying for their sins. And they will go to a happy place will be found on a planet that is assigned to them. This will be the terrestrial kingdom planet. There is a third class known as the telestial kingdom people. And that's made up of worldly, wicked people, who, indeed, must pay for their sins in hell. But they will rise on the day of judgement. And their punishments will be over at that time. And they will be sent then to a planet that is appointed for telestial people. Finally, there are the sons of perdition. Those are the devils and the very worst of the wicked people. They continue to be punished for their sins, even after they are resurrected. And they will go to a place called the second death or the outer darkness or the lake of fire. But this punishment will also come to an end. The doctrine and covenants book speaks about this. And says that the end of the eternal punishment is known only to those who actually experience it. That is whose punishments actually do come to an end. But it will come to an end for all people. That promise is made. As I said before, the Book of Mormon denies this. But the later revelation affirmed that there would be an end to punishment for all the wicked. Now, why do the Mormons attract people in such great numbers? That's because it has an organization and wealth and programs that are impressive to people. And it makes a very favorable impression upon the world in general. It emphasizes family life and clean, healthful living and industriousness and concern for needy members. Many people think of the Mormon church as an outstanding Christian group. But they don't know how anti-biblical and unChristian it actually is in its teaching. What can we learn from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about missions? That's hard to answer your question there, since we don't want to recommend their false doctrine or their legalism. But we can say that it would be fine to imitate them in inspiring the young people of the church to enthusiastic service like those that go out on house-to-house evangelism. Or those that go out to various places in the world on missions. And also, they encourage their members to share the message that they cherish. And to invite others to consider it. A few years ago my wife and I traveled to pal Myra New York to see the house where Joseph Smith grew up and the so-called sacred grove where he is said to have had visits from God the Father and God the Son. And also to see the Mormon pageant, which is a musical production based on the contents of the Book of Mormon. By the way, all of these things are an attractive missionary appeal in themselves. Especially to people who aren't aware of the many false doctrines that are taught by the Mormons. But while we were there, many people asked us: Are you members of the church? And they were obviously trying to make some kind of an outreach to us. And that's commendable in itself. We had not asked them to give us a reason for the hope that is in them as Saint Peter says. But they were ready to give it to us anyhow. And that's all commendable. But we only wish that they had a better hope to explain.