Little is said about the actual conditions, cultures, norms, etc. of the society of beings inhabiting the Celestial Kingdoms
Joseph Smith Jr. envisioned Zion consisting of small cities about one mile square, with a business center, residential areas – each home having ½ acre, with a total population estimated between 15-20,000. Farms would be outside of the city, but the farmers would live in the city with their families, in order to avoid class distinction. The farmers would enjoy the same benefits as any other city dweller: schools, shopping, etc.
For more details, please see http://www.yorgalily.org/~yorgasor/church/ComprehensiveHistoryOfTheChurch/hc1.html
In the search box type in “Zion
"When this square is thus laid off and supplied, lay off another in the same way," said the Prophet to those to whom the city plat was sent, "and so fill up the world in these last days, and let every man live in the city, for this is the city of Zion." (Joseph Smith, Therefore, we might perceive this city plat could be typical of that which is in each Celestial planet, and followed in larger cities there as well.
Brigham Young taught that we must have “amusement” in the eternities. Said he: “Whenever we get into the Kingdom of Heaven
There will be billions of inhabitants spread over the immortal Celestial globe located inside a star: gods and their spirit children.
Inasmuch as the resurrected bodies and the bodies of the maturing spirit children each possess the physical characteristics of mortal bodies – eyes, ears, lungs, hearts, stomachs, nervous systems, mouths, etc., we can expect that they all will function much the same way they do here. That is to say, they will eat and drink, hear, speak and do. They will be employed, and be active.
“I believe men in their resurrected bodies eat or they would die. I believe they eat as well as men in their mortal bodies.” Brigham Young quoted by Wilford Woodruff, WWJ 4:398
Personally, I do not envision an environment stiff and regimented at all – a “1984” society, but rather a place that is easy to live and to enjoy.
There will also be problems however, that need to be dealt with. Our former abode harbored a rebellious number of spirits that swore allegiance to a rebel named Lucifer who tried to dethrone God. He and his friends were tolerated for some time. I can imagine their god-parents tried to raise them correctly, but the seeds of Darkness entered them, even in Heaven. Finally, a war broke out in the Celestial kingdom, whereupon these demon spirits were evicted, and peace restored. Because there is opposition in all things, we might well expect history to repeat itself in the next Celestial Kingdom
But evil cannot triumph in a Celestial glory. Joy and happiness will be the norm.
There are a few shorts online I have run across, and have imagined something like them could actually be in the Celestial Kingdom
· Esther and Abi Ofarim sing “Garden of My Home
· Norah Jones in “Sunrise Celestial Kingdom
· A Night in Venice DVD . Could well be a performance put on in the Celestial Kingdom
· Corning put on an excellent advertisement about the future uses of glass that seems to be somewhat from what life could be like in a larger city in the Celestial Kingdom
· That Happy Feeling by Bert Kaempfert
Nobody with wings, no souls sitting on clouds playing harps, etc. – just real immortal people, gods and their spirit children busy trying to live their normal lives in peace and harmony in a Celestial glory. And there is the duty of all gods to organize the universe into the most that every particle of it can be, all the while contending with the forces of Darkness as those forces attempt to break down and destroy, like a virus, anything organized.
ddd
Why do you refer to the pre-existence as the "Celestial kingdom?"
ReplyDeleteWe all lived somewhere in a pre-existent state prior to coming to this earth, as spirit beings. From the Book of Abraham, we discover where God lives: “Kolob, signifying the first creation, nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God. “ Thus, the residence of God is called the “celestial.” The Doctrine & Covenants, section 76 explains that there are three glories we will inherit, one being the “celestial.” We all will not go back to the center of the universe to live on a single celestial planet with Elohim, but rather this earth will become a celestial glory. Thus, planets whereupon Gods dwell are celestial planets. At least some of us stem from them, so we came from a celestial planet: our pre-existent state.
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