No Hell in Mormon Theology?
By Bill McKeever & Eric Johnson

Christianity has historically taught that there is only one of two possible destinations awaiting mankind after death: heaven or hell. To those who have been justified by faith and received the righteousness of Christ applied to their account, there awaits a glorious eternity in heaven. To the rest who willfully reject God's gift of salvation or who attempt to appease God's demand for perfection by some other way than trusting in the righteousness of Christ, there awaits the terrors of hell.

Some would like to think that a loving Christ would never punish the unbeliever in such a manner. Such a conclusion fails to take into account that it was Christ Himself who made such a pronouncement! To assume otherwise is to accuse Jesus of a terrible deception amounting to nothing more than a cruel and dishonest scare tactic. The fact is, Jesus referred to hell on numerous occasions throughout the Gospels.

For instance, Matthew 10:28 says, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Jesus said in Matthew 18:9 that "if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast [it] from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire." (Also see Mark 9:43.) In addition, Jesus warned his followers in Luke 12:5 to "fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell."

In all of the aforementioned passages, the word used to describe hell is "Gehenna." In using this word, Jesus colorfully illustrates the everlasting burnings of hell by comparing it to the perpetual fires in the valley of Hinnom just south of Jerusalem. The city garbage dump that burned continually, existed in this valley. Hence His phrase, "The fire that shall never be quenched." Such a horrible conclusion also lies in store for those who prided themselves in their false religions.

Many souls will reside in hell that placed their membership in a certain religious organization or belief system as more important than the truth of God's Word, the Bible. How terrible it will be to see that Christ does not grant eternal happiness to those who trusted in false prophets and false messiahs, but rather, those who trusted in a personal Christ who declared in John 14:6 that He alone was "the way, the truth and the life." Not just any Christ will do. Those who trust in an imagined "savior" whose attributes do not concur with those of the Jesus of the Bible will be sorely disappointed. Our Lord Himself declared in Matthew 7:22-23: "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

Those who decide to address God without Christ as their advocate will stand at the Great White Throne of Judgment (Revelation 20:11ff.) and face the most righteous judicial system imaginable. Here, no lawyer with beguiling speech will be able to manipulate a sin-stained jury into rendering a verdict of innocent. Here, all those who decided to "go it alone" must stand before Christ Himself and give an account of their actions. To stand before an omniscient Christ who knows the thoughts of every single person will be both an awesome and terrible experience.

A person's sin-stained works, however precious they may have been to the one who pridefully clutched to them in mortality, will soon find them to be the heaviest millstone. All whose names are not found written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be cast into the Lake of Fire. Without Christ as their advocate, all hope will be gone forever.

As Christian evangelist Jonathan Edwards once preached: "There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that it is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite" (Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, pp. 28, 29).

How such persons will react throughout eternity is unknown. Some think those destined to an eternity in hell will forever curse God as they did during their mortal lifetime. Others feel their eternity will be marked with guilt and remorse. Whatever the scenario, the torment in this place is described as everlasting.

Mormonism teaches that a person is destined for one of six places depending on what he has done or what he has believed. These are: outer darkness (for Satan, his demons, and extremely wicked people) or one of three "kingdoms" known as the telestial, terrestrial or celestial kingdoms. Within the celestial kingdom are three levels, the highest being called "The Church of the Firstborn." It is here, and only here, that Mormon males hope to achieve Godhood and rule over their own worlds throughout eternity.

LDS President Joseph Fielding Smith explained: "The Lord will judge each individual case and will assign transgressor to that degree to which each is entitled according to his works. If a man only merits a place in the telestial, that will be his reward; if it should be the terrestrial, then he shall be admitted to that kingdom. In order to enter the celestial a man must be true and faithful to the end, observing all things which the Lord has commanded, otherwise he shall be assigned to some other kingdom, or to outer darkness if his sins so merit" (Doctrines of Salvation 3:310).

Once the individual is assigned to a particular "glory," he is there permanently. Spencer W. Kimball taught: "No progression between kingdoms. After a person has been assigned to his place in the kingdom, either in the telestial, the terrestrial, or the celestial, or to his exaltation, he will never advance from his assigned glory to another glory. That is eternal! That is why we must make our decisions early in life and why it is imperative that such decisions be right" (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 50).

Is there a concept of hell in Mormonism? Yes and no. LDS Apostle John Widtsoe insisted there was no hell when he said, "In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there is no hell. All will find a measure of salvation; all must pay for any infringement of the law; but the payment will be as the Lord may decide" (Joseph Smith, Seeker After Truth, p. 178). However, 10^th LDS President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: "The Church does teach that there is a place called hell. Of course we do not believe that all those who do not receive the gospel will eventually be cast into hell" (Answers to Gospel Questions 2:210).

The confusion lies in how the LDS Church defines hell. Widtsoe qualified his remark by saying, "The gospel of Jesus Christ has no hell in the old proverbial sense." Smith clarified his comment by adding, "We do not believe that hell is a place where the wicked are being burned forever."

Currently outer darkness is a type of holding tank for the souls of the wicked. Here they remain until the end of the millennium when they will be resurrected and judged. Those with crimes not including murder or apostasy will be allowed entrance into the telestial kingdom, which is the lowest of the kingdoms of glory. Those who failed to prove themselves worthy of a telestial reward will return again to outer darkness, this time for eternity.

Wrote LDS Apostle George Q. Cannon: "Those who are unfaithful, those who will listen to Satan, who will lend a willing ear to his blandishments and to his allurements, when they go from this state of existence, they go into a condition where they are subject to his power. They will dwell in darkness, and according to their sins their punishment will be. Some will be consigned to 'outer darkness,' where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth; and they will remain in that condition until they will be visited by some servant of God to unlock the prison doors to them and to preach to them again the Gospel of salvation, through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ…They will remain in that condition, according to the enormity of their offenses, until punishment will be meted out to them sufficiently to bring them to a condition that they will receive the Gospel of salvation. That Gospel which is taught to us will be taught to them, and they will have an opportunity of obeying it in their damned condition and through repentance will receive salvation" (Gospel Truth 1:78-79).

On this same subject Bruce McConkie explained: "When the wicked depart this life, they are 'cast out into outer darkness,' into hell, where 'they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord,' where they are spiritually dead. (Alma 40:13-14.) They remain spiritually dead in hell until the day of their resurrection (D. & C. 76:103-112), until 'death and hell' deliver up the dead which are in them, so that they may be judged according to their works" (Mormon Doctrine, p. 757).

As mentioned earlier, for many, the reprieve from outer darkness will be short lived. Following the judgment, those who come from outer darkness and were deemed not worthy enough for entrance into the telestial kingdom will be returned. McConkie taught: "The great majority of those who have suffered in hell will pass into the telestial kingdom; the balance, cursed as sons of perdition, will be consigned to partake of endless wo with the devil and his angels" (Mormon Doctrine, p. 350).

While many Mormons do not like the concept of an eternal punishment that includes "hellfire," it is apparent that outer darkness is a place that is anything but pleasant. According to Joseph Fielding Smith: "The extent of this punishment none will ever know except those who partake of it. That it is the most severe punishment that can be meted out to man is apparent. Outer darkness is something which cannot be described, except that we know that it is to be placed beyond the benign and comforting influence of the Spirit of God-banished entirely from his presence" (Doctrines of Salvation 2:220).

Many Mormons with whom we have spoken object to an eternal hell on the basis that it would seem cruel for God to punish His own children in such a manner. This objection is inconsistent since Mormonism teaches that Lucifer's demon forces, which are clearly destined for "outer darkness," make up one-third of God's "children" (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 195). While Christianity affirms that many people who were created by God will perish in hell, Mormonism also espouses this idea by admitting that at least one-third of God's children will belong to this state. Mormons may criticize the biblical teaching that many will perish in hell, but to do so is really hypocritical when LDS doctrine condemns a minimum of one-third of God's spirit children to outer darkness. This could easily amount to billions of God's so-called "offspring." This should be especially disconcerting to the Mormon since these condemned demons are really his fallen brothers and sisters.

No doubt the idea of eternal punishment is an unpleasant topic many would rather not talk about. However, it would irresponsible to ignore the many passages of Scripture that testify to such an event since much of what we know on this subject is attributed to Jesus Himself! The all-holy God of the Bible takes righteousness very seriously, and He will not allow any unrighteous thing to enter His presence. Because of our sin nature, we will never be able to satisfactorily cleanse ourselves from our sinful ways. Fortunately, our gracious God provided our escape from hell through the person of Jesus Christ. When we come to faith in Him, Christ's righteousness is imputed to the believer who is then made clean. Never again will he have to worry about where he will spend eternity since at that point the believer passes from death to life (Romans 5:21). If you are hoping to make yourself "good enough" for heaven, we invite you to abandon this vain effort and place your total trust in the completed work of Christ. Only then will your sin-debt be satisfied.