To qualify, a person would not only have to leave the Mormon church but also vehemently speak against it. Also, Joseph confuses things further by combining words typically used with Hell to describe outer darkness: A sinner has his own mind and his own mind damns him. The phrase first occurs in Jesus' comment concerning the faith of the Centurion of Capernaum: And I say to thee that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven: But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Delving into the interesting bits about any religion to stem from Joseph Smith Jr. Joseph F. Smith,The Second Death,inBrian H. Stuy (editor). One of these guests, however, appeared without the proper wedding attire. 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. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The. Latter-day Saints understand hell to be a literal place and/or stateeither the temporary hell in the spirit world where the unjust suffer in a state of torment until they are resurrected to a telestial glory (D&C 76:8185, 98112), or the permanent hell where the wicked (the sons of perdition) continue to suffer eternally after the resurrection (D&C 76:37, 4548). This isnt something like going out and breaking their rule of no drinking. For example, Alma the Younger was delivered from the intensity of his hellish pain when he cried to the Lord for mercy. Following this introduction will be a discussion of the usage of these termsfirst in the New Testament, then in the Book of Mormon. One must be on a high eminence to fall so low; and few in worlds history have attained such a height. 15:29, 35; Alma 19:29; 54:7), sleep of hell (2 Ne. Twelfth President Spencer W. Kimball wrote. I did cite sources spoken from the pulpit by a prophet. Jesus also referred to outer darkness in two parables he gave during the last week of his life. The phrases depths of hell, awful hell, sleep of hell, pains of hell, chains of hell, everlasting hell, and endless hell are all unique to the Book of Mormon. It occurs in a doctrinal discussion Alma conducted with his son Corianton. With the sons of perdition, however, even this blessing is denied. It must be emphasized that the witness described means that the person has had the heavens opened unto him and has personally seen, and even spoken with, the Savior, and then has turned against Him, bringing him to open shame. 13:42), the fire that never shall be quenched (Mark 9:45), where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:48), and cast into the fire (Luke 3:9). In the parable of the talents, the returning lord instructed that the wicked and slothful servant who hid his talent in the earth be cast into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. He cried: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. This desperate cry for forgiveness through Christ brought deliverance from the pains of hell Alma had experienced because of his sins (Alma 36:1620). Publishing, 19871989), 4:227228. But to pass it off as a belief of an entire Church, organization and people is wrong. 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 (Ibid.). 4. By EntropyJustKillUsNow, March 29, 2017 in Social Hall. 5:22), burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Matt. Your generous support makes the work of MRM possible. However, not once have I ever suspected such a person to be a closet believer in Mormonism. Jesus declared that this exalted city would be brought down to hell (Matt. Everyone but the Sons of Perdition and the devil and his devils, will overcome spiritual death through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Yet I an certainly exempt from outer darkness, no questions asked. First, LDS Church scripture uses the term outer darkness to refer to a condition in the spirit world. spirit prison. Those in this second group will be resurrected from the dead but will not be redeemed from the second (spiritual) death and cannot dwell in a kingdom of glory (D&C 88:32, 35). How many people. Clearly, when it comes to perdition and outer darkness, I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me, and anyone who speaks on the matter has a dizzying intellect. The "authority" to marry a man to one wife is not the same as the "authority" to marry a man to more than one wife. 11:3940; 18:13), pains of hell (Jacob 3:1112; Alma 14:6; 26:13; 36:13), chains of hell (Alma 5:7, 910; 12:11; 13:30; 26:14), child of hell (Alma 11:23; 54:11), powers of hell (Alma 48:17), everlasting hell (Hel. And if they be evil they are consigned to an awful view of their own guilt and abominations, which doth cause them to shrink from the presence of the Lord into a state of misery and endless torment, from whence they can no more return; therefore they have drunk damnation to their own souls. Okay so clearly we have billions of souls who qualify as perdition and go to outer darkness according to one prophet in his personal books and not officially speaking as a prophet. That last part of the previous sentence is very important. For many years, those who have forfeited their membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may have been told by other Mormons that they were Sons of Perdition destined for Outer Darkness. You quoted a website (Wikipedia) which is not doctrine and another website (FAIRMormon) which directly says it is not doctrine. In Outer Darkness, there is endless lamentation and no divine presence. Smith told a general conference audience: I think I am safe in saying that no man can become a Son of Perdition until he has known the light. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire [i.e., overcome or defeated by Christs Atonement]. 801-422-6975. 20:13). Everyone is already going to the terrestrial kingdom by default. Crash Course Mormonism: Outer Darkness - Mormonism Research Ministry Plagiarism and The Globe a comparative analysis, The Shunning Key by bwv549 - Mormon Bandwagon, https://www.lds.org/scriptures/gs/sons-of-perdition, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_perdition_(Mormonism), https://www.fairmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/What_is_Mormon_Doctrine.pdf, https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Plan_of_salvation/Sons_of_Perdition/Can_women_be_%22Sons_of_Perdition%22, LDS Church and Same Sex Marriage Timeline, The Pump LDS film and the original source, Ethan Smith, Hyrum Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Solomon Spaulding connections. Lets go to modern revelation: that there would be no daughters of perdition. Joseph F. Smith Stan Larsen, ed., A Ministry of Meetings: The Diaries of Rudger Clawson, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Smith Associates and Signature Books, 1993) p. 560, Somebody called me up on the telephone and asked if there were daughters of perdition. John did not define the second death other than to make it synonymous with the lake of fire and brimstone that awaits the wicked. This is full on rejection of God. But Mormons do not believe that just because a Prophet said it, that it makes it true. Italics in original). 21:8). Joseph Fielding Smith who said that this class is composed of all who have known the power of God in this mortal life and then, having full knowledge of the power and purposes of God,rebel against him, putting Jesus Christ to open shame (Doctrines of Salvation 2:219-220. However, sons of perdition cannot achieve forgiveness and will be completely cast outside of the light of God. The punishment which is given from my hand is endless punishment, D&C 19:10-12. About 74 B.C. Doctrine and Covenants / Pearl of Great Price, Mormon Objections to Christian Evangelism, Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, Divine Love in the Fathers Plan (Dallin H. Oaks, April 2022). Dennis L. Largey was an associate professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University when this was published. Outer darkness is a eternal place of torment reserved for those who are "sons of perdition." According to LDS scripture, this will be a place that "where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth" (Doctrine and Covenants 101:91; also see 133:73). 9:4. Divine Love in the Fathers Plan (Dallin H. Oaks, April 2022). When I was Mormon, I was taught that in order to be sent to Outer Darkness (I'm a woman, that will be relevant in a second) you had to have an UNMISTAKABLE KnOwLeDgE of Christ, and then turn your back on God and deny him. The term "outer darkness" refers to the place to where Satan will be banished. [2] For a discussion of the New Testament words that translate hell, see The Oxford Companion to the Bible, ed. Which would be a sure-fire way to know that a spirit is headed to Outer Darkness? One of the messages of the Book of Mormon is that people sometimes lose the desire to repent. Those consigned to hell or outer darkness are partakers of the second death, and their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone. If he were ignorant, he could not have become perdition. What is it? Then, I say unto you, they shall be as though there had been no redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to Gods justice; and they cannot die, seeing there is no more corruption (Alma 12:13,1618). At the same time, prophets and apostles have taught that you can be sent to outer darkness for simply disbelieving or for apostasy or for being a part of a religion that doesn't have apostles. 2:11). (Matt. 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 Salvation2:220). 40 talks in 40 days for General Conference, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (-Joseph Smith in the King Follett Discourse), There is my definition I used in my previous post. This analysis will first briefly review what we know from the teachings of the Restoration about hell, second death, the lake of fire and brimstone, and outer darkness. 3:12), the tares are gathered and burned in the fire (Matt. Mormon doctrines are often contradictory and inconsistent. That ought to bring a sigh of relief to many who are reading this article! I have no fear of hell fire, that doesnt exist, but the torment and disappointment of the mind of man is as exquisite as a lake burning with fire and brimstoneso is the torment of man. In harmony with this doctrinal truth that death and hell will deliver up the spirits and bodies of their captives, King David received the promise that his soul would not be left in hell (see Ps. Your generous support makes the work of MRM possible. 14:1819). Through his Atonement, Resurrection, and ministry in the spirit world, Christ provided a bridge by which repentant souls could cross the gulf from hell to spiritual freedom. There was a movement a few years ago to have people deny the holy spirit on Youtube, where many a youtuber claimed they would now go to Outer Darkness. T F According to a church manual, those who never were Mormon could never be sent to Outer Darkness. The Book of Mormon speaks of only two groups who inhabit the postmortal spirit world: the righteous, who exist in a state of happiness called paradise; and the wicked, who are consigned to outer darknessthe wicked being those who have been captivated by the devil and who will be resurrected to an endless hell. so we will be able to realistically discuss the likelihood that a person who left the church could ever end up in Outer Darkness.