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The Resurrection

Statements by various church leaders on this important principle

President Joseph Fielding Smith

Christ was the first fruits of the resurrection.  He holds the keys of the resurrection.  The first resurrection took place immediately following his resurrection.  A misunderstanding has arisen in the minds of some because of the words of Alma to his son Corianton.  (See Alma 40:15-21)  They think that Alma said all the dead, both good and bad, who lived before the coming of our Lord, would receive the resurrection before any who should die after his coming.  A careful reading of Alma’s words will show, however, that he did not wish to convey this thought.  Abinadi has made this matter very plain.  (See Mosiah 15:22-26)  Alma does not intend to say, although verse 19 of chapter 40 implies it, that the wicked who lived before Christ will be raised before the righteous who lived after the coming of Christ; that may be implied by what he says in verse 19, but in verse 20, he modifies this and says it shall be the souls and bodies of the righteous who come forth at the time of that resurrection.  We find Abinadi teaching that the wicked have no part in the first resurrection, and the first resurrection to Abinadi, who lived before the days of Christ, was the time of our Savior’s resurrection, so we conclude that the wicked, no matter when they lived, will have to wait until the final resurrection.  (Doctrines of Salvation, Volume 2, page 300, and Matthew 27:52-53, 3 Nephi 3:9-10, Acts 2:29)

President Brigham Young

You read in the Bible that when the spirit leaves the body it goes to God who gave it.  Now tell me where God is not, if you please; you cannot.  How far would you have to go in order to go to God, if your spirits were unclothed?  Would you have to go out of this bowery to find God, if you were in the spirit?  If God is not here, we had better reserve this place to gather the wicked into, for they will desire to be where God is not.  The Lord Almighty is here by His Spirit, by His influence, by His presence.  I am not in the north end of this bowery, my body is in the south end of it, but my influence and my voice extend to all parts of it; in like manner is the Lord here.  It reads that the spirit goes to God who gave it.  Let me render this scripture a little plainer; when the spirits leave their bodies they are in the presence of our Father and God, they are prepared then to see, hear and understand spiritual things.  (Journal of Discoursed,  volume 3, page 368)

Orson Pratt

When our spirits leave these bodies, will they be happy?  Not perfectly so.  Why?  Because the spirit is absent from the body; it cannot be perfectly happy while a part of the man is lying in the earth.  How can the happiness be complete when only a part of the redemption is accomplished?  You cannot be perfectly happy until you get a new house.  You will be happy, you will be at ease in paradise, but still you will be looking for a house where your spirit can enter, and act as you did in former times, only more perfectly, having superior powers.  Consequently, all the holy men that have lived in days of old, have looked forward to the resurrection of their bodies; for then their glory will be complete.  (Journal of Discourses, volume 1, page 289)

Joseph Fielding Smith

A little sound thinking will reveal to us that it would be inconsistent for our bodies to be raised with all kinds of imperfections.  Some men have been burned at the stake for the sake of truth.  Some have been beheaded, and others have had their bodies torn asunder; for example, John the Baptist was beheaded and received his resurrection at the time of the resurrection of our Redeemer.  It is impossible for us to think of him coming forth from the dead holding his head in his hands; our reason says he was physically complete in the resurrection.  He appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery with a perfect resurrected body.  When we come forth from the dead, our spirits and bodies will be reunited inseparably, never again to be divided, and they will then be assigned to the kingdom to which they belong.  All deformities and imperfections will be removed, and the body will conform to the likeness of the spirit, for the Lord revealed, “that which is spiritual being in the likeness of that which is temporal, and that which is temporal in the likeness of that which is spiritual, the spirit of man in the likeness of his person, as also the spirit of the beast, and every other creature which God has created.”  (Doctrines of Salvation, volume 2, page 289 and Doctrine and Covenants 77:2)