Salvation is a common concept in religion. It may mean lots of different things, but perhaps it can be summarized as individuals becoming something beyond their own selves. It is something that is not only desirable, but it is often the entire purpose of existence.
But who gets saved?
Do you need to believe certain things? Do you need to practice certain things? Is it available to all, or only to a few?
Many different religions and different denominations have different answers to this. For some, it seems that only a few get saved, those that are most righteous, or who engage in certain practices, or have a certain amount of knowledge (salvation is exclusive).
But that may seem unfair. Shouldn’t everyone at least have the chance to be saved? Some people want a more inclusive view of salvation instead.
And is there only one way to get saved, or are there many?
I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I have recently heard some misconceptions about who gets saved, according to that faith. Some people think that the Church only teaches that a few select people get saved, and the rest of the people are condemned, and that seems way too exclusive.
But I don’t think salvation is really exclusive. Much of the Church’s teaching about salvation are in Doctrine and Covenants 76. While Christian churches believe in heaven and hell, this section goes beyond that and describes three degrees of glory: a celestial, terrestrial, and telestial kingdom.
What is sometimes forgotten is that these are all degrees of glory, where everyone is in a good place. When this revelation was received, many struggled with it because it was seen as too universal. That everyone receives glory and salvation, not just a few. Instead of a division of heaven and hell that lasts for forever, heaven and hell are temporary, and what is eternal for almost everyone is some degree of glory.
While the degrees of glory are divided up into three categories, there are actually more degrees than that. And these degrees aren’t so much some sort of reward, but reflects what a person wants, and how they want to live forever.
So what if all these things are true?
- Everyone will have a knowledge of truth.
- Salvation is free and open to all.
- You can choose whether to be saved or not.
- So those people who do not want to be saved–they don’t want to become anything bigger than themselves–don’t have to.
This is an inclusive view of salvation, but it doesn’t mean that everyone gets saved in a certain way. Everyone who wants to and choose to be saved is. It’s there. It’s available. It’s inclusive and applies to everyone. Unless they chose not to. Or they only want part of it.
I think that offers a lot of hope.
Heather Hoyt 