Translation (Mormonism)

In the theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), translation refers to being physically changed by God from a mortal human being to an immortal human being. A person that has been translated is referred to as a translated being. According to LDS belief, Enoch, Moses, John the Apostle, the Three Nephites, and others were translated.

A translated being is akin to a resurrected person, with the exception that a translated being has never died and has a body with less power than a resurrected being. According to Parley P. Pratt, ordinary human beings are said to have a telestial body; people who are translated are said to have a terrestrial body; and people who are resurrected are said to have a celestial body, but all the terms also refer to the three degrees of resurrected being, as per 1 Cor. 15 and D&C 76.

Those who are translated beings are said to be "changed so that they do not experience pain or death until their resurrection to immortality." Both translated and resurrected beings are eternally young and fit, not subject to illness or injury and spend their existences as ministering angels doing things that require physical bodies to perform; for example, where a disembodied spirit can record events as a witness and offer comfort or advice, a physical body is required to perform ordinances such as laying on of hands.

According to Parley P. Pratt, a translated being has a terrestrial body. The terrestrial body would be different from the terrestrial glory of heaven, just as the presentworld is considered "telestial" but is not the telestial glory of heaven. Translated beings with terrestrial bodies can appear or disappear the way the resurrected Jesus did in the 24th chapter of Luke. However, those who have resurrected "celestial" bodies have more power than those with terrestrial bodies. A person who has been translated still has to be resurrected after the Second Coming of Christ to attain a celestial body.

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