Jesus Christ is NOT in the Spirit World

                    One of the oversimplified pieces of LDS artwork that's out there.



I recently heard a widower of a few years -- and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- reflecting on his wife's passing. His wife had said that she looked forward to meeting Jesus in "Paradise" (the Spirit world) -- and her departed family members.
I did not have the heart to correct he, nor his late wife's incorrect understanding directly.
A significant number of newspaper obituaries of LDS Church members wrongly declare that a deceased person has gone back to their Heavenly Father.

I wish more LDS Church members would have a more accurate understanding of the Spirit World.
Jesus Christ is NOT present in the Spirit world, nor does he likely visit there.
Why?
Because he could only spend 3 days there, as a spirit, after his mortal death.
It IS the world of spirits after all, and all inhabitants do live by faith there, much as they do here. To have Christ, or God the Father there defeats the purpose of the Spirit world.
Yes, the Holy Ghost and Light of Christ can be felt in the Spirit world by the repentant, but that's all. I suspect even prayer is present in the Spirit world.
(One's knowledge of life before birth also ISN'T automatically restored in the Spirit world, despite some past teachings that it is.)
This myth of meeting your make right after death keeps being perpetuated most often in the LDS Church during funerals -- he or she was "called home" or they will "meet their maker."
This incorrect doctrine may make people feel "comforted," but it simply isn't accurate. (Saying someone has "transferred" or "graduated" from life would be more accurate terms.)
This myth is also present in some oversimplified LDS artwork (see the above photograph from a St. George, Utah funeral home).
Perhaps only those who have been dead briefly and then returned to life have ever been to the Spirit world before. So, how can one correctly say "they were called home" when they have never been there before?
No deceased person likely meets Christ until they are at the judgment bar, or after they are resurrected.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

A More Authentic Rendering of Jesus Christ at the Second Coming

I prefer my doctrine to be as accurate as possible.

Hence, I took my limited -- make that very, very limited artistic ability -- at making the famous LDS Church Second Coming of Jesus Christ drawing in my home more authentic by coloring Jesus to have red apparel.
That's how Christ will look when he comes again (Doctrine and Covenants 133:48).
No, I don't care for watered-down doctrine.
That's why my favorite Standard Work is the Doctrine and Covenants.
No parables, no allegories, just straight-forward doctrine.
Now the red does make the painting stand out more in the room, but is that bad?
(Note that some of these Second Coming Christ paintings do have Jesus wearing a red-colored sash at his waist, so there is some small consideration to doctrinal accuracy with the work.)
In fact, it was a non-LDS artist, commissioned by the LDS Church, who drew this famous painting. So,  it is amazing how well it turned out anyway, considering it is one of the most used depictions of Jesus in the church today.

Note that a red-colored and fully doctrinal painting of Christ at the Second Coming is likely too startling for use in Temples. A painting doesn't have to be fully doctrinally correct to invite the Spirit ....

UPDATE: Nov. 24, 2012: My wife made me move this doctored painting from the downstairs family room into my den. She doesn't care for it.

UPDATE 2017: Occasionally, Church members offer to buy this hastily done, modified piece of work. (Of course, it is NOT for sale. Anyone could color their own, better one -- and the author of this blog didn't create the original painting.)

UPDATE 2020: The doctored, with red, painting on this blog, now appears in various Facebook posts and has taken on a life of its own. 

 

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

Clarifying Strict Doctrine vs. The Purpose Of ...

Too often members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints think in narrow terms.
For example, doctrine is strictly correct or it isn't. Right?
May be not!
Take the accompanying photograph of what appears to be the most popular, official LDS Church drawing for the early 21st Century.
Drawn by a world-renowned artist, who also happened to be a Seventh-Day Adventist, this drawing is now a key fixture in many LDS Temples, like Bountiful. Church leaders comissioned the painting and apparently lengthened Christ's hair in it, as well as down-played  angel wings.
However, this drawing is still strictly NOT doctrinally correct. Is that a problem?
 In recent years, I'm realizing that correct relates to purpose in the church and church leaders seem to think this painting can so evoke the spirit of the Lord, that the fact that it isn't absolutely doctrinally correct doesn't matter in that context.
D&C 133:48 clearly states that Christ's apparel will be red in color at his Second Coming. Several Biblical scriptures, like Isaiah 63:2 concur.

So, an image can not be fully doctrinal correct and still promote the spirit? Yes. (However, I still chose to color Christ in red in the above drawing that's in my house.)
And, this is only the tip of the iceberg of such purpose vs. doctrinal corrrectness in the church.
For example, the creative days in the church's Endowment temple ceremony do NOT correspond to any of the Standard Works. So, is the Temple Ceremony wrong? No, again it relates to the purpose of.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie said back in the mid-1970s that if members go to the temple often and study and are worthy, they will understand why the temple's creative day sequence is different.
Also, the Book of Mormon is said to be the most correct book on the earth. (not said to be perfect, though). So, why are some of the incorrectly translated verses of Isaiah in the Old Testament still repeated in the Book of Mormon, though some were corrected by Joseph Smith in his "Inspired Version" of the Bible?
Again, I believe it has to do with purpose. The Book of Mormon is correct for its purpose, to be a familiar voice like the Bible -- a solid missionary tool -- but not so different it turns away investigators to the Gospel.
Confused?
"Correct" doctrine  simply isn't always black and white, at least in a telestial world.
As long as a church member lives worthy, studies and keeps the spirit, these inconsistencies in doctrine won't be stumbling blocks, but will be harmonious, though probably not to the outside world itself.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.