What Is the Doctrine of Translation?

Hebrews 11:5; 5. Enoch] Joseph Smith said that Enoch held "the presidency of a dispensation" of the gospel, and that Paul was "acquainted" with him "and received instructions from him," meaning that Enoch, by then a resurrected being (D&C 133:54-55), ministered unto Paul. (Teachings, p. 170.) Ministry of Enoch] See Jude 14-15.

Hebrews 11:5; Gospel] See Commentary II, pp. 213-216.

Hebrews 11:5; Translation] "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him" (Genesis 5:24), as he did also the whole city of Zion. (Moses 7:18-21.) That is, Enoch and the righteous saints were translated or taken into heaven without tasting death. "Now this Enoch," the Prophet said—and it applies also to all the inhabitants of the holy city founded by him—"God reserved unto himself, that he should not die at that time, and appointed unto him a ministry unto terrestrial bodies, of whom there has been but little revealed."

Hebrews 11:5; Then of the matter of translation itself, the Prophet said: "Many have supposed that the doctrine of translation was a doctrine whereby men were taken immediately into the presence of God, and into an eternal fulness, but this is a mistaken idea. Their place of habitation is that of the terrestrial order, and a place prepared for such characters he held in reserve to be ministering angels unto many planets, and who as yet have not entered into so great a fulness as those who are resurrected from the dead." (Teachings, p. 170.)

Hebrews 11:5; "During the first 2200 or so years of the earth's history—that is, from the fall of Adam to the ministry of Melchizedek—it was a not uncommon occurrence for faithful members of the Church to be translated and taken into the heavenly realms without tasting death. Since that time there have been occasional special instances of translation, instances in which a special work of the ministry required it. ...

Hebrews 11:5; "It is from the account of the translation of the Three Nephites that we gain most of our knowledge of the present ministry among men of translated beings. It is very evident that such persons 'never taste of death; . . . never endure the pains of death'; that they have undergone a change in their bodies, 'that they might not suffer pain nor sorrow save it were for the sins of the world'; that they were holy men, 'sanctified in the flesh'; 'that the powers of the earth could not hold them'; that 'they are as the angels of God,' ministering to whomsoever they will; that they 'shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality' at the Second Coming; and that they shall then inherit exaltation in the kingdom of God. (3 Ne. 28.)" (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed., pp. 804-807.)

Hebrews 11:6; 6. Without faith it is impossible to please him] By faith men are born again; they become new creatures of the Holy Ghost; their souls are sanctified; they are "purified"; they become "clean" and spotless and are candidates for celestial glory—and such are the only ones with whom God is "well pleased." (D&C 38:8-10.)