“Hell Must Deliver Up Its Captive Spirits”

Jana Reiss

The Mormon concept of hell is quite different from the traditional Christian view. Mormons believe that after death, all people enter the spirit world, which is divided into two spheres: a spirit paradise and a spirit prison. Those in spirit prison—which Mormons may sometimes call “hell”—suffer the consequences of any sins for which they have not repented and have the opportunity to learn about God and decide whether to reject or accept Christ’s love and teachings.

For Mormons, spirit prison is a temporary place, as almost all individuals who go there will benefit from the eternal perspective that the afterlife has afforded them, and will choose to follow God. After Christ’s second coming, each spirit will be joined with its perfected body and be judged for the final time (see verse 12); each will then be sent to spend eternity in one of three paradise kingdoms.

A very tiny minority (including those people who have blasphemed the Holy Spirit and have chosen to hate God) will be banished to outer darkness with Satan and his minions. Unlike spirit prison, which is a temporary hell-like state, outer darkness lasts forever.

The Book of Mormon: Selections Annotated & Explained

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