There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. (1 Cor 15:40-42)
There is a strong, early Christian pedigree for understanding this pericope to mean more than just about heavenly and earthly bodies, but to have a meaning similar to the traditional LDS interpretation thereof, based on D&C 76:96-98, which reads:
And the glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun is one. And the glory of the terrestrial is one, even as the glory of the moon is one. And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one; for as one star differeth from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world.
For instance, Irenaeus of Lyons held that this pericope was about the variegated rewards and glories given to those after the Resurrection, and even stated that his interpretation was apostolic in origin:
And as the presbyters say, Then those who are deemed worthy of an abode in heaven shall go there, others shall enjoy the delights of paradise, and others shall possess the splendour of the city; for everywhere the Saviour shall be seen according as they who see Him shall be worthy. [They say, moreover], that there is this distinction between the habitation of those who produce an hundred-fold, and that of those who produce sixty-fold, and that of those who produce thirty-fold: for the last will be taken up into the heavens, the second will dwell in paradise, the last will inhabit the city and that was on this account the Lord declared, "In My Father's house are many mansions." For all things belong to God, who supplies all with a suitable dwelling-place, even as His Word says, that a share is allotted to all by the Father, according as each person is or shall be worthy. And this is the couch on which the guests shall recline having been invited to the wedding. The presbyters, the disciples of the Apostles, affirm that this is the gradation and arrangement of those who are saved, and that they advance through steps of this nature; also that they ascend through the Spirit to the Son, and through the Son to the Father, and that in due time the Son will yield up His work to the Father, even as it is said by the Apostle, "For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." (Against Heresies 5.36.1-2)
Other early Christian witnesses to this interpretation include:
Clement of Alexandria (Stromata 6:14)
Origen of Alexandria (First Principles 2.10.2; Commentary on John 2:3)
John Chrysostom (Homilies on 1 Corinthians 41:4)
Even the Reformed theologian, Francis Turretin (1623-1687), understood this pericope to be about the differing rewards and glories given to believers in the Hereafter in The Institutes of Elenctic Theology (just to see how nerdy I am, I read this 3-volume work for fun a few years ago; yes, for fun . . .)
Even if Joseph Smith were not restoring the authorial intent of 1 Cor 15:40-42, he was clearly restoring an early Christian interpretation thereof.
