Alma 40

In Alma 40, Alma tells his son, Corianton, about how he prayed to know a mystery of God and received his answer from an angel.  He "imparts" the answer to his son--and all of us--concerning what becomes of us between the time of our death and the time wherein we are resurrected.  He speaks of spirit paradise and "outer darkness"(v.13).  I have a note in my scriptures that says--per a Sunday School lesson--that Alma is speaking of spirit prison here in verse 13, not the "outer darkness" we think of in association with the sons of perdition.  So, Alma is discussing a part of the plan of salvation with his son in this chapter and we get to "listen" in.

The way he talks about it makes me think about the terms "heaven" and "hell" used by much of the Christian world.  The way he describes paradise and prison sure sound like heaven and hell(v.12-13).  So it seems to me that many Christian churches don't have things wrong, as far as their knowledge of what comes after this life, as much as it is that their knowledge is incomplete.  It stops there, assuming the final judgment has taken place and that it is in these places that we will remain forever.

I, for one, feel like the full plan of salvation that teaches us that final judgment comes after our time in paradise or prison and about the three degrees of glory:  Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial is a more hopeful plan.  I do understand that if one does not make it to the highest degree of the Celestial kingdom that one is damned (or unable to progress further) for eternity and that does not sound like a fully satisfying way to spend eternity, but the lesser kingdoms seem much kinder to me than thinking of an eternity in spirit prison.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I have gotten the impression that others may see our church as having a narrow definition as to those who will be happy after this life, but I feel as though the full plan of salvation is much more hopeful and merciful than the heaven-or-hell-and-that's-it type of doctrine.  I think looking at the plan of salvation this way will help me to share the gospel, because adding knowledge to what someone already believes is much less daunting then telling someone that our beliefs are completely different from theirs.