The celestial resurrection will continue until the end of the millennium,¹ and the terrestrial resurrection will immediately occur next in order.² Many people in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints disagree, however, and say the terrestrial resurrection will begin near the start of the millennium shortly after the Second Coming.³ This view is based primarily on the language in Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) Section 88:99,⁴ which states that, "another angel shall sound, which is the second trump; and then cometh the redemption of those who are Christ's at his coming; who have received their part in that prison which is prepared for them, that they might receive the gospel, and be judged according to men in the flesh."⁵ This language obviously refers to disembodied spirits who accept the gospel in the postmortal spirit world.⁶ In many cases, disembodied spirits who accept the gospel in the spirit world will resurrect to the terrestrial kingdom because they reject the gospel at their first opportunity in mortality.⁷ Accordingly, people within the church say that the terrestrial resurrection will begin after Christ's Second Coming in the afternoon of the first resurrection and will then continue throughout the millennium.⁸

Contrary to this common view, the second trump in Doctrine and Covenants 88:99 describes the afternoon of the first resurrection as a continuation of the celestial resurrection for unexalted persons throughout the millennium. This is true for at least seven reasons:

First, the language in Doctrine and Covenants 88:99 does not describe terrestrial-worthy people who accept the gospel in spirit prison after they first rejected it in mortality.⁹ This language refers to celestial-worthy people in spirit prison¹⁰ who, according to Doctrine and Covenants 137:7, "died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God."¹¹ When the millennium begins, many of these celestial-worthy spirits will still be in spirit prison, as described in Doctrine and Covenants 88:99¹² because they have not received their gospel ordinances by proxy.¹³ Once their vicarious ordinances occur at any time during the 1000-year millennium they will then be resurrected to the celestial kingdom,¹⁴ including people who will be exalted because they are heirs to the celestial kingdom.¹⁵

Second, Doctrine and Covenants 88:97-98 describes the first trump that will sound to resume the morning of the first resurrection at the end of the Second Woe‒shortly before the Second Coming. This is when exaltation-worthy people will rise from their graves if they have received their gospel ordinances for themselves or by proxy.¹⁶ Once they are resurrected in the morning, this will still leave four groups of celestial-worthy saints, including those that are exaltation-worthy, to be resurrected when the second trump sounds in the very next verse‒Doctrine and Covenants 88:99.¹⁷ In many cases, the only difference between the exalted people resurrected in the morning before the Second Coming in verses 97 and 98, and the exaltation-worthy people resurrected in the afternoon after the Second Coming in verse 99, are the temple ordinances that people in verse 99 won't receive until sometime during the millennium.¹⁸

Third, verse 99 states that when the second resurrection trump sounds those who are Christ's at his coming will resurrect.¹⁹ The only people that are Christ's²⁰ are those who are obedient to celestial law,²¹ including the law of earthly ordinances.²² People who are Christ's can obviously qualify for exaltation.²³ Celestial-worthy saints who are Christ's will inherit this earth after the resurrection,²⁴ including those who are unexalted.²⁵ People of the terrestrial kingdom are honorable people,²⁶ but they are not Christ's people²⁷ because they fail to come unto Christ.²⁸ Gospel ordinances are not required to enter the terrestrial kingdom.²⁹ Therefore, those who are Christ's in verse 99 come unto Christ through gospel ordinances that qualify them for a celestial resurrection, not a terrestrial resurrection.

Fourth, the language that describes the two stages of celestial resurrection in Doctrine and Covenants 88:98-99 is also found in 1 Corinthians 15:23.³⁰ The apostle Paul said to the Corinthian saints that everyone will be resurrected.³¹ But, said he, "every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming."³² The first fruits are exalted people of the celestial kingdom that come forth in the morning of the first resurrection before the Second Coming.³³ Those that resurrect afterward‒meaning after the Second Coming‒are those in a second stage of resurrection that are Christ's at his coming. After identifying these two stages of resurrection, Paul asks: "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all?" (1 Corinthians 15:29)³⁴ This question about baptism for the dead in verse 29 is tied to the resurrection of the two groups in verse 23. Paul knew that both groups of deceased saints had to vicariously receive baptism for the dead to enter the celestial kingdom.³⁵ He confirms that the second group will resurrect to celestial glory after the Second Coming because they also receive baptism vicariously and they are, therefore, also Christ's at his coming. This identical language is found in Doctrine and Covenants 88:99, which means that Doctrine and Covenants 1 and 88:99 Corinthians 15:23 both identify two stages of the celestial resurrection‒not one stage of celestial and a second stage of terrestrial.

Fifth, Doctrine and Covenants 88:98-102 divides the resurrection of the human family into four stages that correspond with four symbolic resurrection trumps.³⁶ As discussed above, the first and second trumps in Doctrine and Covenants 88:98-99 symbolize two separate stages of the celestial resurrection.³⁷ The fourth trump in Doctrine and Covenants 88:102 unmistakably symbolizes the fourth stage of resurrection for sons of perdition who will not be resurrected until "that great and last day, even the end."³⁸ That leaves the third trump in Doctrine and Covenants 88:100-101 as the call for both the terrestrial resurrection and the telestial resurrection. The majority of people in the church say that the third trump is for the telestial resurrection only.³⁹ Nevertheless, the language in verse 100 identifies both terrestrial-worthy and telestial-worthy people as "the spirits of men who are to be judged, and are found under condemnation."⁴⁰ People resurrected to either the terrestrial kingdom or the telestial kingdom are under condemnation because both groups fail to qualify for resurrection to the celestial glory during the first or second trumps.⁴¹

Sixth, Doctrine and Covenants 88:101 describes the third resurrection trump, which identifies two groups of resurrected dead people saying they are, "the rest of the dead; and they live not again until the thousand years are ended, neither again, until the end of the earth." This verse identifies two groups because the rest of the dead includes terrestrial people who resurrect as a group at the end of the millennium and before the little season⁴² and the rest of the dead also includes telestial people who resurrect after the little season at the end of the earth.⁴³ Two separate groups are necessarily identified in verse 101 because the end of the thousand-year millennium is not the same as the end of the earth. These dates are separated by the battle of Gog and Magog during the little season that could last up to 100 years.⁴⁴ With this in mind, consider the language in verse 101 again with these explanatory notes in italics: "And these are the rest of the dead‒i.e., the terrestrial and telestial dead;⁴⁵ and they‒the terrestrial dead‒live not again until the thousand years are ended,⁴⁶ neither again‒the telestial dead‒until the end of the earth."⁴⁷ Based on these explanatory notes, it is clear that verse 101 describes two groups of people resurrected separately to the terrestrial and telestial kingdoms.

Seventh, if the third trump in Doctrine and Covenants 88:101 describes the terrestrial resurrection as set forth herein, then this is exactly consistent with John's vision in Revelation 20:5. In this verse, John said, "the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection."⁴⁸ Doctrine and Covenants 88:101 has the identical language, saying: "And these are the rest of the dead; and they live not again until the thousand years are ended." Since the language in verse 101 is identical to John's language in Revelation 20:5, the two must describe the same stage of the resurrection. However, John's description adds that that the rest of the dead that live again at the end of the thousand years are part of the first resurrection. Therefore, verse 101 and Revelation 20:5 both describe the terrestrial resurrection at the end of the millennium as part of the first resurrection, rather than the telestial resurrection that occurs at the end of the earth as part of the second resurrection.⁴⁹