Paradise

The LDS Bible Dictionary reads: Paradise is a Persian word meaning a garden. It is not found in the O.T. In the N.T. it occurs in Luke 23:43, 2 Cor. 12:4, and Rev. 2:7. See also 2 Ne. 9:13; Alma 40:12, 14; 4 Ne. 1:14; Moro. 10:34; D&C 77:2, 5; cf. A of F 10.

Paradise is that part of the spirit world in which the righteous spirits who have departed from this life await the resurrection of the body. It is a condition of happiness and peace.

However, the scriptures are not always consistent in the use of the word, especially in the Bible. For example, when Jesus purportedly said to the thief on the cross, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), the Bible rendering is incorrect. The statement would more accurately read, “Today shalt thou be with me in the world of spirits” since the thief was not ready for paradise (see HC 5:424–25).

Possibly 2 Cor. 12:3-4 should also not use paradise in the sense of meaning the spirit world, as much as meaning the celestial kingdom.

3. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)

4. How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

The “paradisiacal glory” of A of F 10 refers to the glorified millennial state of the earth rather than the spirit world.

10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.