When Mormons mention the outer darkness, what does that mean? —Dandaman Sort of like Hell? Is there Hell in your beliefs?There's not really a hell in Mormon doctrine. Everyone gets saved, except the sons of perdition. The closest Mormon equivalent to hell is a temporary place called "spirit prison." That's where bad people go when they die, until they've adequately suffered for all their unrepented misdeeds. Thieves, abusers, violent criminals, they'll all find their way to Mormon paradise eventually.
Not so for the real bad guys, though—the ones who used to know the church was true, who had a testimony, went through the temple, served in callings, and then denied the faith. No redemption for those guys. That's right, that guy who broke into a house and tried to kill a little girl with a hammer: saved. Ex-Mormons like me: not so lucky.So beware all you faithful Mormons, you could be one questioning thought away from outer darkness. It's not a cult, just the way God rolls. He's mysterious like that.
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4 comments:
Is that what you were taught? I was always taught that denying the holy ghost meant that you had to have had personal contact / actual knowledge of Christ and then deny it (a la Judas). I was always under the impression that apostates would be sent to the telestial kingdom. I seem to remember some verse in the D&C to that effect.
Of course, it's all nonsense anyways, so it doesn't matter much.
Here's what the student manual says:
The scriptures explain who the sons of perdition are and what their fate will be.
1. Satan and the one-third of the hosts of heaven who followed him became sons of perdition (see D&C 76:25–30; 29:36–38; Revelation 12:7–9; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6).
2. Those who in mortality have known the power of God, been made partakers of it, and then later denied the truth and defied God’s power will also be sons of perdition (see D&C 76:31–32).
3. Those who deny the Holy Ghost after having received it and crucify the Savior unto themselves will have no forgiveness and will be sons of perdition (see D&C 76:34–36; Matthew 12:31–32).
http://seminary.lds.org/manuals/doctrines-of-the-gospel-student-manual/doc-gosp-31-37-33.asp
By the way I have no idea what it's supposed to mean to "crucify the Savior unto themselves." I mean if someone's calling b.s. on the whole fairy tale, are they crucifying Jesus unto themselves? I don't believe in the Easter Bunny, but I don't necessarily want to see him nailed to a cross, know what I mean? So maybe we're all good unless we have unkind thoughts toward the Nordic Jesus in all the pictures.
Re: #3 I was always taught that that was referring to the 'second witness' of the Holy Ghost or having your calling and election made sure.
Re: #2 I suppose it all depends on what is meant by "known" and "partake". But like everything, I'm guessing it was intentionally made vague/left unexplained so it could be fitted to whatever situation the church wanted to twist it into.
But yeah, if anyone should be sent to outer darkness I guess it does make sense that I, a gay commie exmo atheist would be pretty high up on that list.
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