Is the Mormon View of Heaven Biblical?

This video compiles highly detailed research that surveys different biblical traditions connected to the doctrine of heaven, beginning with the Old Testament and extending through the New Testament, Jewish apocryphal literature, early Christianity, Protestant theology, and LDS doctrine. It weaves together academic scholarship, biblical commentary, LDS statements, and Protestant sources.

I emphasize how the concept of heaven has changed dramatically from ancient Israel → early Judaism → Christianity → modern LDS thought.

Old Testament (Hebrew Bible): No Heaven as Afterlife

The OT does not teach that righteous people go to heaven. Heaven is God’s realm, not humanity’s destination; the dead go to Sheol.

New Testament Teaching: Resurrection, Not “Heaven”

Jesus does not teach that heaven is the final reward. Instead: He uses “heaven” mainly as a circumlocution for God and as a source of divine will. Jesus teaches resurrection, final judgment, and a renewed world, not “going to heaven.”

Scholarship states that early Christians’ hope was eschatological, meaning a dramatic end-time transformation through resurrection—not a heavenly afterlife. The idea of “going to heaven” arises later through Greek philosophy, medieval Catholic mysticism, and Protestant devotional religion.

Jewish Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha: Heaven Becomes Complex

Second-Temple Jewish apocrypha became the laboratory where ideas of heaven exploded and diversified. Different texts describe 3, 7, or 10 heavens with different rewards and punishments. Scholars see many competing models, not one unified view.

Paul’s Cosmology: Third Heaven, Resurrection, and Glory

I examine Paul’s “third heaven” experience in 2 Corinthians 12, noting: Paul’s cosmology reflects Jewish apocalyptic thought.

I analyze 1 Corinthians 15, showing how Paul compares varieties of resurrected bodies using the analogy of differing “glories.” Scholars note that Paul implies diverse kinds of resurrected bodies, and Mormon leaders connect this diversity to the three degrees of glory / kingdoms doctrine.

Early LDS (Joseph Smith, Lectures on Faith, Book of Mormon)

Early LDS sources did not teach three degrees of glory. Book of Mormon:
Heaven = the presence of God. No celestial / terrestrial / telestial system.

Lectures on Faith (1834–35)

Simple binary afterlife: heaven or hell. Reflects early American Protestant thought. I show the contrast between early LDS teaching and later (Nauvoo-era) cosmology.

Heaven is not a fixed idea. It evolves dramatically across Jewish, Christian, and LDS traditions. Resurrection—not heaven—is the biblical focus. Both OT (late 2nd century BCE) and NT are more concerned with resurrection and renewal than with “going to heaven.”

Jewish apocalyptic literature is the bridge

Books like 1 & 2 Enoch and 2 Baruch introduce multi-level heavens, heavenly journeys, and Paradise. However, they disagree vastly on the number of these heavens. Paul sits at the center of modern debates. His references to “third heaven” and “three glories” become foundational for LDS interpretation. But the LDS teaching is far to simplistic.