The Spirit World

Where did my loved one go?

Today we are going to discuss the location of the Spirit World or Paradise. The Spirit World consists of two separate places. In some discussions Paradise is used to describe both places in the Spirit world also.

On the LDS.org site if you go to study a specific topic you get the following descriptions.

Spirit World

Paradise: Where our spirits go between death and resurrection. For those who were righteous during their lives, the Spirit World will be a place of peace and joy.

Spirit Prison: is a temporary state in which spirits will be taught the gospel and have the opportunity to repent and accept ordinances of salvation.

In the world today theological definitions differ in the location and the very aspect of the Spirit World or Paradise. A common belief is that when someone dies they go to their final judgment and reward or punishment. Through much study and prayer and explanations from my son Kory, Paradise is a little different than this belief. There is an intermediate place that individuals go to until their resurrection. It is a place of learning and progression, and if needed a place to repent for their sins until the final judgment and resurrection.

To clarify in this discussion, I think it is always best to refer to the Lord’s designated voice to understand.

See link to go to LDS.org and a short description of Paradise.

For this discussion we will refer to Paradise or the Spirit World divided into two separate places,Paradise and Spirit Prison. So it is not confusing I will use the term Spirit World when referring to the entire sphere where the departed dwell and if referring to a specific place, example Paradise or Spirit Prison I will use those terms.

First, where is the Spirit World?

It is here upon the very earth that we dwell on. It is separate and distinct but part of this sphere. I like the description that the earth is also a living thing and to think of it as having a physical body, the earth we now see and dwell on, but the earth as also having a spiritual body. They are both there but are different. As someone dies their physical body and spiritual body are separated, so we can understand the two different aspects. Sometimes the spiritual body is called the soul. The Spirit World is close to us, our loved ones are close to us. They are living in a very separate place though, and do not live in our world and follow us around. They do come on assignment to our world to assist us.

The following diagram helps give us a visual image of the Spirit World.

I think we can understand that in the Spirit World it is as vast as our world today. I heard that it might have as many as 70 billion souls. But it does not seem crowded from Kory’s descriptions. To think that everyone that has ever lived on the earth and died with the exception of those few that were resurrected after Jesus, lives and associates in a society  in the Spirit World.

See link to LDS. Org  “The Spirit World, Our Next Home; by Dale C. Mouritsen

They are not on a distant star, or far from us. They are close to us.

Next week we will discuss the description of the Spirit World.