The Way to Eternal Life comparison to Exaltation

I would have expected that a deep study into the Way to Eternal Life would have made me even more delighted by Exaltation, but it hasn't.  In fact, the more I rejoiced over Eternal Life passages, my understanding expanding, some elements of Exaltation and the temple seemed to be in the way.

 

For example, Eternal Life is the doctrine that saves!  It's how we receive Salvation!  We have example after example of people receiving salvation through Christ alone,... but then the temple claims to have essential saving ordinances?  That's not part of the message of the Book of Mormon.

I don't feel any doctrine has the right to step on the toes of the Doctrine of Christ (because scripture says as much), especially a doctrine as well established as the Doctrine of Christ.

So, as I studied Eternal Life, rejoicing over what I was learning, and seeing the love of God manifest in this doctrine, Exaltation kept hinting that it needed investigation.

 

On God's love

God's love is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!  I have been convinced more and more of it as I have read Way to Christ scripture passages.  This video shares some of the most beautiful passages on God's love for us, and the relationship He's cultivating with us.

So, when I went to read 132 after years studying elsewhere, I was shocked at the way that God was talking to the people who (because they have just qualified for Eternal Life) might now qualify for Exaltation.

The love I'd seen in the apparent prerequisite doctrine of Eternal Life turned to meanness,
the God-given autonomy turned to shame and coercion,
the divine encouragement turned to complete abandonment,
agency turned to threat,
and I was seeing a complete breakdown of the relationship that had just been so carefully cultivated! What?

Section 132's teachings on how to receive Exaltation was a complete dismantling of the relationship God had just deeply invested into, to help His people know Him.

It was head-spinning to think this could be a natural progress. It was whiplash and a tragic crash for what had been a straight, clear, directed path forward.

Why invite your people to know you so well, only to bait and switch and turn into a monster? And I'm not even talking about the points of the doctrine yet,  just the tone is way off!  I had no idea who was speaking, but that was not God's voice.

 

God's voice

For those of us who have been living the Doctrine of Christ, and have come to the promise of Eternal Life, God has given us a born of God experience, He has put His spirit in us. He's coaxed us through coming to know His voice, and His nature and His will. Our hearts are changing to know His will, and our lives begin to reflect His.
He has operated through us! Gifts of the spirit manifest because we are becoming an open conduit of His will.
Because He is servant of all, we're becoming that too!  He is teaching us His pure love, and we're feeling it for others,... straight into a concrete wall of 132 theology?  It makes no sense. This is NOT how God speaks to the people He is sanctifying!

 

Exaltation in scripture

Though church speaks of Exaltation more than Eternal Life, the opposite is the case in scripture.
This is the entire list on Exaltation in the Guide to the Scriptures. (Please note the first three references suggest exaltation is implied, and how all others are in Section 132.)

 

 

Next, let's take a look at the Study Helps.

Exaltation has a handful of uses/meanings in these Study Helps scriptures:
It's used to give praise to Christ (green)
As a way to describe those who are proud (teal)
To describe the doctrine of Christ (blue)
It's used symbolic of a high level of holiness, but nothing that indicates this has the same meaning as 132's exaltation (aqua)
It's used to describe 132's exaltation (purple)
And then there are some passages referenced where the word Exalt or Exaltation is not there (pink) but they are suggesting 132's exaltation is implied in these passages. (I've selected what I believe the passage is saying, and some most definitely are only speaking of Eternal Life, but you're welcome to disagree and choose for yourself.)
Please also note how many of these passages in the purple column are from D&C 132.

I've put these Study Help references all in a spreadsheet because that helps to see all the information.  Please follow this link to SPREADSHEET 1  (Exalt / Exaltation as used in scripture) and take a look.

My observation is that many scriptures are USED to suggest there's a more robust foundation for believing in Exaltation than there actually is.

 

Back to the conversation on God's love in Eternal Life

I remember that read-through of 132 so well. I was speechless 132 didn't fit with the Doctrine on Eternal Life at all, and it is opposed to the doctrine in so many ways. Much of it is a dismissal of Christ's work and His glory, I was shocked that I ever believed it.

I saw the absolute necessity of being founded upon the rock and the protection it gives, helping me discern. I grieved for anyone who believes section 132's teachings, and wept to God, repenting for ever believing such an awful portrayal of His character, His plan for us, and His Heaven prepared for us.

I have another spreadsheet for you, hoping to drive home the different natures of the true doctrine and the false doctrine. Knowing the true doctrine made the falsehoods so clear. This SPREADSHEET 2, (Eternal Life compared to Exaltation) compares the Way to Christ doctrine to the Exaltation teachings in 132 and from the pulpit.

 

 

In this handful of categories I share some truths about the Way to Christ Doctrine (teachings that bring us to the promise of Eternal Life) and compare these to the teachings of Exaltation. I'm really trying to show goodwill, but also I'm all out of patience for transfigurations of the Word of God. Please read with this in mind. Decide for yourself. Consider and judge, and look to the spirit to guide.  For something as elevated as Exaltation, maybe we could allow secrecy and oaths, or maybe we can't at all, but I encourage you to look to the doctrine on Eternal Life as a blueprint and the firm foundation. If oaths, secrecy and lack-of-consent are not part of the Doctrine of Christ, these shouldn't need to have a place in receiving Exaltation.

Some Conclusions I've come to

The true Doctrine: I believe we have good reason to believe the Way to Christ doctrine will bring us to Christ the way it promises to. I also believe that we have every reason to believe the born of God experiences of others outside of our religion. We can also believe Christ can work through them, manifesting gifts of the spirit.
Temples: While recognizing that the Book of Mormon people had temples, I believe we have every reason to question the validity and effectiveness of the salvation and exaltation promised in the temple. People who go to the temple might be able to have miraculous experiences with Christ there, but that's because Christ will go anywhere there are sincere hearts seeking Him. True redemption by the Baptism of Fire and the Holy Ghost experience happen outside of the tempe (I have found two people who testify that they were born of God while in the temple so it still can happen there, and also many Baptisms of the Holy Ghost happen everywhere else, as well). But, our prideful, exclusive dead works are often disregarding the Doctrine of Christ, and the work of Christ. It's inappropriate to make some oaths and expect the covenant has been entered without Christ's reciprocation.
I think of Joseph's quote,

“You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost”     (History of the Church, 5:499)

Just like the temple is not received by God without the shekinah, and the offering of the water baptism is nothing without receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost, we should not expect that our temple offerings are received by God, just because we made an offering.

The true doctrine states that He will not leave us comfortless. And that there will be signs of our redemption and signs of the the believers, and that we can manifest gifts of the spirit.  God's doctrine is alive with His presence.

Section 132 provenance: My best guess about the origins of 132 are that perhaps Joseph revealed some truths about marriage in Eternal Life. That seems to be what the history suggests. Perhaps there was a true revelation, and someone took those truths and mixed them into something perverted, and named this new teaching "Exaltation."  Many have done excellent work on the provenance of 132, and I'll refer you to them for the history. My focus is purely Honouring the Doctrine of Christ.

And here are my disclaimers:

There are some parts of exaltation I still really hope for. I hope for marriage in Heaven; I really like and love my husband and I hope we get to continue together. I don't see doctrine confirming family members will be kept apart in heaven, and I don't feel we have any scriptural support for families forever teachings, so this doesn't concern me.
Making spirit children might be something I'd hope to do someday.  Becoming as God might be something I'd hope for as well.  I'm not sure of all Eternal Life entails, I expect it to be wondrous, and maybe it already contains all these parts. It could be that Joseph had a revelation about eternal marriage but it got taken over by bad ideas.

Also, I believe people who believe in the temple can still live the Doctrine of Christ well. I have a family member who has, and that's important for me to say because we can't be black & white about these things. Belief of Exaltation has certainly hurt many people, but it's not entirely keeping Christ from doing His work.

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Story behind the painting

(from a quick google search)
In 1785, the Church of the Holy Innocents in Paris, situated within the overcrowded and unsanitary Cemetery of the Innocents, was demolished due to serious concerns about the spread of disease from the overflowing burial grounds, marking a significant moment in the city's history as it grappled with the consequences of centuries of mass burials within its urban center; this act of dismantling was a direct response to the growing public health crisis caused by the putrid miasma emanating from the cemetery, ultimately leading to the exhumation of millions of remains and their transfer to the Paris Catacombs. 

Interestingly, the spirit led me to look for a painting, searching "dismantling," and now I'm learning a new story, that feels significant to the topic. The Holy Church of the Innocents.  A church whose diseased foundation was making the people sick. The death and disease needed to be exhumed, so that the foundation could be well again, and these people could again worship in truth.

Section 132 rotted our understanding of God, heaven, our relationship with Him, and the way to Him.  Stomach churning stench, disease, and death. (Think for a moment of those souls who have not been able to bear 132's teaching that God commands polygamy, and lost their faith in God, & lost interest in Heaven.)

I believe we (individually and collectively) need some dismantling, to exhume the disease (132 teachings) out of our foundational understanding of God & Heaven & our own worth. Then we can finally have the healthy relationship with Him that He greatly desires!

This healthy relationship with God is the Doctrine of Christ. It's a way that is full of life!  Born of God, new life, new heart, receiving His spirit, living by the guidance of His spirit, producing good fruit, becoming like Christ, receiving the promise of Eternal Life,... Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.