resurrection Christ visited and ministered to the spirits who had been
disobedient, and who, because of unexpiated sins were still held in
duress, it is pertinent to inquire as to the object and scope of the
Savior's ministry among them. (See 1 Peter 3:18-19; and 4:6.)
His preaching "to the spirits in prison" must have been purposeful and
positive. Moreover, it is not to be assumed that His message was other
than one of relief and mercy. Those to whom He went had long been in a
state of durance, deprivation and suffering. To them came the Redeemer
to preach, not to further condemn, to show them the way that led to
light, not to intensify the darkness of their despair.
Had not that visit of deliverance been long predicted? Centuries
earlier Isaiah had voiced the word of Jehovah concerning the state
of proud and wicked spirits: "And they shall be gathered together,
as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the
prison, and after many days shall they be visited." (Isa. 24:22; see
also 42:6, 7.) David, conscious of his own transgression, but thrilled
with contrition and hope, sang in measures of mingled sorrow and joy:
"Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also
shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell." (Psa.
16:9-10.)
Inasmuch as Christ preached the Gospel to the dead, His ministry must
have included the affirmation of His own atoning death, the inculcation
of faith in Himself and in the whole plan of salvation, which includes
as a fundamental essential, contrite repentance acceptable unto God.
Peter specifies the purpose of the Savior's introduction of the Gospel
to departed spirits as "that they might be judged according to men in
the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." (1 Pet. 4-6.)
Through latter-day revelation we learn that among the inhabitants of
the terrestrial world, or lesser kingdom of glory, are "they who are
the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and preached
the gospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in
the flesh; who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but
afterwards received it." (D&C 76:73-74.)
Progression, then, is possible beyond the grave. Advancement is
eternal. Were it otherwise, Christ's ministry among the disembodied
would be less than fable and fiction. Equally repugnant is the thought
that though the Savior preached faith, repentance and other principles
of the Gospel to the imprisoned sinners in the realm of spirits, their
compliance was impossible.
It is not difficult to conceive of disembodied spirits being capable
of faith and repentance. Death has not destroyed their status as
individual intelligences. As they hear the glad tidings of the Gospel
some will accept, and others, the obstinate and rebellious, will reject
and for a further period will have to languish in prison.
Besides the principles of the Gospel there are certain ordinances
involving material works, which are indispensable to salvation. Among
these the Scriptures specify baptism by immersion in water, and the
reception of the Holy Ghost by the imposition of authorized hands. How
can a man be baptized when he is dead? The answer is that the necessary
ordinances may be administered vicariously for the dead to their living
representatives in the body. Thus, as a man may be baptized in his own
person for himself, he may be baptized as proxy for his ancestral dead.
Herein we find point and explanation of Paul's challenging question to
the doubting Corinthians: "Else what shall they do which are baptized
for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized
for the dead?" (1 Cor. 15:29.)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints affirms that the Divine
plan of salvation is not bounded by the grave; but that the Gospel is
deathless and everlasting, reaching back through all the ages that have
sped, and forward into the eternities of the future. Vicarious service
by the living in behalf of the dead is in line with and a result of the
supreme vicarious sacrifice embodied in the Atonement wrought by the
Savior of the world.
Largely for the administration of ordinances in behalf of the dead
the Latter-day Saints build and maintain Temples, wherein the living
posterity enter the waters of baptism and receive the laying on of
hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, as representatives of their
departed progenitors. This labor was foretold through Malachi as
a necessary and characteristic feature of the last dispensation,
preceding the advent of Christ in glory and judgment. Thus, the dead
fathers and living children are turned toward one another in the
affection of a kinship that is to endure throughout eternity. (See Mal.
4:5-6.)
We solemnly aver that on April 3, 1836, Elijah the ancient prophet
came to earth and committed unto the restored Church the authority and
commission to administer in behalf of the dead. (See D&C 110: 13-16.)
-- 72 --
OPPORTUNITY HERE AND HEREAFTER
Free Agency and Its Results
REPENTANCE and other good works, whereby the saving grace of Christ's
Atonement may be made of individual effect for the remission of sins,
are possible to the dead; and furthermore, the required ordinances of
the Gospel may be administered to the living in behalf of the departed.
Let it not be assumed that the doctrine of vicarious labor for the
disembodied implies, even remotely, that the administration of
ordinances in behalf of the dead operates in the least degree to
interfere with the right of choice and the free exercise of agency
on their part. They are at liberty to accept or reject ministrations
intended for their benefit; and so they will accept or reject in accord
with their penitent or unregenerate condition, even as is the case with
those whom the Gospel message reaches in mortality.
Though baptism be authoritatively administered to a living person
as proxy for a dead ancestor, that spirit will derive no immediate
advancement nor salvation thereby if he has not yet attained faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ, or if he be still unrepentant. Even as Christ
has made salvation possible to all, though few there be who accept the
prescribed conditions in the flesh, so vicarious ordinances may be
administered for many in the spirit realm who are not yet prepared to
avail themselves of the opportunities thus placed within their reach.
It is evident that labor in behalf of the dead is two-fold; that
performed on earth would remain incomplete and futile but for its
supplement and counterpart beyond the veil. Missionary work is in
progress there--work compared with which the evangelistic labor on
earth is relatively of small extent. There are preachers and teachers,
ministers invested with the Holy Priesthood, all engaged in proclaiming
the Gospel of Jesus Christ to spirits still sitting in darkness. This
great labor was inaugurated by the Savior during the brief period
of His disembodiment. It is reasonable and consistent to hold that
the saving ministry so begun was left to be continued by others duly
authorized and commissioned; just as the work of preaching the Gospel
and administering therein among the living was committed to the
Apostles of old through their ordination by the Lord Himself.
Missionary service in the spirit world is primarily effective among two
classes: (1) those who have died in ignorance of the Gospel--i. e.,
those who have lived and died without law, and who therefore cannot
be condemned until they have come to the knowledge and opportunity
requisite to obedience; and (2) those who failed to comply with the
laws and ordinances of the Gospel in the flesh, and who through the
experiences of the other world have come to the contrite and receptive
state.
It is unreasonable and vitally opposed to both letter and spirit
of Holy Scripture to assume that neglect or rejection of the call
to repentance in this life can be easily remedied by repentance
hereafter. Forfeiture through disobedience is a very real loss,
entailing deprivation of opportunity beyond all human computation.
Refusal to hear and heed the word of God is no physical deafness, but
a manifestation of spiritual disease resulting from sin. Death is no
cure for such. The unrepentant state is a disorder of the spirit, and,
following disembodiment, the spirit will still be afflicted therewith.
What ages such an afflicted one may have to pass in prison confines
before he becomes repentant and therefore fit for cleansing, we may
not know. The unrepentant hosts who rejected the Gospel in the days of
Noah remained in thraldom until after the crucifixion of Christ. (See
1 Peter 3:18-20.) The prophet Amulek admonished the people to repent
while opportunity permitted. Consider his inspired appeal:
"For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet
God. . . . Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis,
that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say
this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the
time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power
to possess your body in that eternal world. For behold, if ye have
procrastinated the day of your repentance, even until death, behold, ye
have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you
his." (Book of Mormon, Alma 34:32-35.)
Revelation in the current age confirms the earlier Scriptures in
emphasizing the fact that mortality is the probationary state, and
that the individual achievements or forfeitures in this life will
be of eternal effect, notwithstanding the merciful provision made
for advancement in the hereafter. The celestial kingdom of glory and
eternal communion with God and Christ is provided for those who obey
the Gospel when they learn of it. The lower or terrestrial state will
be the inheritance of such as "received not the testimony of Jesus in
the flesh, but afterwards received it." Yet lower is the telestial
abode of the less deserving; and deepest of all, the awful banishment
of the sons of perdition. (See D&C 76.)
-- 73 --
THE SPIRIT WORLD
Paradise and Hades
IT is a common practise to designate the place, the time, or the state
of existence following death as the hereafter; indeed, that term is
defined by lexicographers as the future life. The application is a
broad one, too broad to be regarded as descriptive except in the matter
of sequence.
Nevertheless, the expression is a convenient one, and is practically
synonymous with the poet's phrase "the great unknown." Its usage is
a confession of uncertainty or ignorance of what awaits us beyond;
and as to duration it embraces eternity, without divisions or periods
either as to condition or time. Holy Scripture is more definite, and
like Paul's commanding call, on Mars' Hill, to the worshipers of "the
unknown God," summons us to hear and learn the truth.
The world of the disembodied was known to the Hebrews as Sheol and
to the Greeks as Hades; and these terms, meaning the unseen or
unknown world, are translated Hell in our version of the Old and New
Testaments, respectively. In a few New Testament passages referring to
the state of the damned, Gehenna is the original of the term Hell.
"Paradise" first appears in the Bible in the Savior's utterance from
the cross promising the penitent thief a place there (Luke 23:43); and
the word occurs subsequently but twice. Paradise is distinctively the
abode of the righteous during their period of disembodiment, and is in
contrast with the "prison" tenanted by disobedient spirits. (1 Peter
3:19, 20.)
The several places or states mentioned above have reference to the
existence of disembodied spirits, and therefore embrace only that
period of the hereafter between death and resurrection. Beyond the
spirit world, with its Paradise and its prison, lies the eternity of
the resurrected state, in the which men shall endure, with spirits and
bodies reunited, redeemed from the thraldom of death, and, according to
the record of their mortal lives, saved or condemned.
The hereafter, therefore, comprises severally the disembodied and the
reembodied existences of the individual; and these must be distinctly
segregated in any rational conception of the future life based on
Scripture. Read the testimony of the prophet Alma:
"Now concerning the state of the soul between death and the
resurrection. Behold, it has been made known unto me, by an angel, that
the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal
body; yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are
taken home to that God who gave them life.
"And then shall it come to pass that the spirits of those who are
righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called
paradise; a state of rest; a state of peace, where they shall rest from
all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow, etc.
"And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked,
yea, who are evil; for behold, they have no part nor portion of the
Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than
good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take
possession of their house; and these shall be cast out into outer
darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth;
and this because of their own iniquity; being led captive by the will
of the devil.
"Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked; yea, in darkness,
and a state of awful, fearful, looking for the fiery indignation of the
wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the
righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection." (Book of
Mormon, Alma 40:11-14.)
It is evident that the final judgment of mankind is to be reserved
until after the resurrection; while in another sense judgment is
manifest in the segregation of the disembodied, for in the intermediate
state like will seek like, the clean and good finding companionship
with their kind, and the wicked congregating through the natural
attraction of evil for evil.
The essential features of the intermediate state are deducible from
the Lord's parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Read Luke 16:19-31.
While it would be critically unfair to affirm doctrinal principles on
the incidents of an ordinary story, we cannot admit that Christ would
teach falsely even in parable; and therefore we accept as true our
Lord's portrayal of conditions in the spirit world. That righteous
and unrighteous dwell apart between death and resurrection is made
clear. Paradise, or, as the Jews liked to designate that blessed abode,
"Abraham's bosom," is not the place of final glory, any more than the
hell to which the rich man's spirit went is the final habitation of
the lost. Between the two, however, "there is a great gulf fixed." To
that intermediate state of existence men's works do follow them (Rev.
14:13); and the dead shall find that in their bodiless state their
condition is that for which they have prepared themselves while in the
flesh.
-- 74 --
HOW LONG SHALL HELL LAST?
The Duration of Punishment
WE are accustomed to speak broadly of salvation and condemnation in
the hereafter as reward and punishment, respectively. The Scriptures
justify this usage, and furthermore make plain the fact that reward or
punishment will be a natural and inevitable heritage resulting from
individual righteousness or sin.
The Eternal Judge of the quick and the dead is bound by His own
inviolable laws--and no less so than by His Divine attributes of
justice and mercy--to exalt every deserving soul, and to validate and
enforce the loss and suffering consequent to wilful wickedness. Verily,
the Lord God is no respecter of persons, condoning the unexpiated sins
of favorites and inflicting punishment upon others for but equal guilt.
Such an unbelievable condition would mean injustice and vindictiveness.
Everlasting blessedness is thoroughly consistent with justice. The
souls that attain to salvation and eternal life "shall have glory added
upon their heads forever and ever." (Pearl of Great Price, p. 66.) But
the thought of never-ending punishment as the fate of all who die in
their sins is repugnant; and rightly so.
As reward for righteous living is to be proportionate to deserts, so
punishment for sin must be graded according to the offense. The purpose
of punishment is disciplinary, reformatory, and in support of justice.
God's mercy is as truly manifest in the expiatory suffering, which He
allows, as in the endless joys of salvation, which He bestows.
As to the duration of punishment, we may take assurance that it
shall be measured to the individual in just accordance with the sum
of his iniquity. That every sentence for sin must be interminable
is as directly opposed to a rational conception of justice as it is
contradictory of the revealed Word of God.
It was mercifully foreordained that even the prisoners thronging the
pit should in due time be visited (Isa. 24:21-22), and be offered means
of amelioration (42:7). David sang right rapturously, "Thou wilt not
leave my soul in hell." (Psa. 16:10.)
True, the Scriptures speak of endless punishment, and depict
everlasting burnings, eternal damnation, and the sufferings incident
to unquenchable fire, as features of the judgment reserved for the
wicked. But none of these awful possibilities are anywhere in Scripture
declared to be the unending fate of the individual sinner.
Blessing or punishment ordained of God is eternal, for He is eternal,
and eternal are all His ways. His is a system of endless and eternal
punishment, for it will always exist as the place or condition provided
for the rebellious and disobedient; but the penalty as visited upon the
individual will terminate when through repentance and expiation the
necessary reform has been effected and the uttermost farthing paid.
Even to hell there is an exit as well as an entrance; and when sentence
has been served, commuted perhaps by repentance and its attendant
works, the prison doors shall open and the penitent captive be afforded
opportunity to comply with the law, which he aforetime violated. But
the prison remains, and the eternal decree prescribing punishment
for the offender stands unrepealed. So it is even with the penal
institutions established by man.
To this effect hath the Lord spoken in the current age: "I am Alpha
and Omega, Christ the Lord; yea, even I am He, the beginning and
the end, the Redeemer of the world. . . . And surely every man must
repent or suffer, for I, God, am endless. Wherefore, I revoke not
the judgments which I shall pass, but woes shall go forth, weeping,
wailing and gnashing of teeth, yea, to those who are found on my left
hand. Nevertheless it is not written that there shall be no end to
this torment, but it is written endless torment. Again, it is written
eternal damnation . . . for, behold, I am endless, and the punishment
which is given from my hand, is endless punishment, for Endless is
my name. Wherefore eternal punishment is God's punishment. Endless
punishment is God's punishment."
The revelation continues: "Therefore I command you to repent--repent
lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by
my anger, and your sufferings be sore--how sore you know not! how
exquisite you know not! yea, how hard to bear you know not! For behold,
I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer
if they would repent. But if they would not repent, they must suffer
even as I, which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of
all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to
suffer both body and spirit: and would that I might not drink the
bitter cup and shrink--Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I
partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men." (D&C
19.)
The inhabitants of the telestial world--the lowest of the kingdoms of
glory prepared for resurrected souls, shall include those "who are
thrust down to hell" and "who shall not be redeemed from the devil
until the last resurrection." (76:82-85.) And though these may be
delivered from hell and attain to a measure of glory with possibilities
of progression, yet their lot shall be that of "servants of the Most
High, but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without
end." (v. 112.) Deliverance from hell is not admittance to heaven.
-- 75 --
SALVATION AND EXALTATION
Advancement Worlds Without End
IMPROVEMENT, advancement, progression, here and hereafter, are basal
principles of the Divine plan with respect to the souls of men.
Earth-life with its varied experiences of joy and sorrow, of success
and failure, of temptation and resistance thereto, all the bitter and
the sweet of mortal existence may be turned to eventual good in the
development of the individual soul.
We hold as reasonable, scriptural, and true, that advancement in
righteous achievement and power for good shall be a feature of the
future life, both during the period of disembodiment and in and after
the resurrection from the dead. Nevertheless, ability to progress in
eternity is largely conditioned by the thoroughness of our education in
the school of mortality.
Our status in the hereafter will be found to be primarily dependent
upon the merits or demerits of our life here; and beyond as in this
world ability to advance will be varied and graded. Wilful neglect
here may forfeit both ability and opportunity there. Hence, though in
the mercy of God the Gospel is being preached in the spirit world,
and vicarious administration of the essential and saving ordinances
is provided for, to the end that the repentant dead "might be judged
according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit"
(1 Peter 4:6), disembodied spirits may be incapacitated and ineligible
even for repentance, and for the benefits of baptism administered in
their behalf upon earth, until they shall have learned in the spirit
world the primary lessons that they ignored or rejected while in the
flesh. To this effect spake Alma the prophet:
"There was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore
this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God;
a time to prepare for that endless state, which has been spoken of by
us, which is after the resurrection of the dead." (Book of Mormon, Alma
12:24.)
"For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea,
behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
"And now as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses,
therefore, I beseech of you, that ye do not procrastinate the day of
your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is
given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time
while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness, wherein there
can be no labor performed.
"Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will
repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that
same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out
of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in
that eternal world.
"For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance, even
until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the
devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath
withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all
power over you." (34:32-35.)