Do Latter-day Saints believe in Hell??? Ep. 94

In this episode, Dave talks about the different ways Latter-day Saints interpret the term “Hell.” He also points out some of the challenges with defining what “Hell” means in the Bible.

See video transcript here: https://bit.ly/3jDjd7F
From the Church’s website: https://bit.ly/3moEdkS
More from the Church’s website: https://bit.ly/32vsKs2
From the Encyclopedia of Mormonism: https://bit.ly/2Rw5lQI
“The Concept of Hell,” by Larry E. Dahl: https://bit.ly/3mr7co7
“Hell Second Death, Lake of Fire and brimstone, and Outer Darkness,”” by Dennis L. Largey: https://bit.ly/3mqLkJO
“What is the meaning of the Book of Mormon scriptures on eternal hell for the wicked?” by H. Donl Peterson: https://bit.ly/32yNvTO
“What is the Mormon concept of Hell?”: https://bit.ly/2Fy6XqL
Information about “Hades”: https://bit.ly/3miP3ca
More information about “Hades”: https://bit.ly/2FArD1n
Information about “Gehenna”: https://bit.ly/32A6AVE
This is a video from non-Latter-day Saint pastor Robin Parry (Evangelical Universalist) who argues that hell may be temporary. Take it for what it’s worth: https://bit.ly/2FQ23FG
This is a blog post from Reverand Aimasa Kubo that seems to describe an afterlife strikingly similar to what Latter-day Saints believe. Take it for what it’s worth: https://bit.ly/2H3YWKD

Notes:

-Quick note on this part of the video: “Many believe that Hades simply refers to the temporary destination of the disembodied spirits of the dead, whether wicked or righteous…” It should be noted that many faiths believe that in-between Christ’s death and resurrection, he delivered all of the righteous from Hades and ushered them into heaven. Thus, since Christ’s resurrection, Hades has only been inhabited by unbelievers. Latter-day Saints believe that many (or all) of the righteous who resided in Hades/spirit world were resurrected at (or soon after) the time of Christ’s personal resurrection. Thus, many Saints were “liberated” from the captivity of death at this time. That said, Latter-day Saints still believe that even the spirits of the righteous continue to pass on to Hades/spirit world after death (to help preach the gospel to the ignorant). We do not believe the righteous pass immediately to Heaven. Latter-day Saints believe that the spirits of everyone who dies, righteous or wicked, will reside in Hades until Christ’s Second Coming (with only very few scriptural exceptions).

-Technically there were 3 terms used in the original Greek that were later translated to “hell.” Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus. Tartarus is only used once (2 Peter 2:4-6) in the entire New Testament and as I understand it, it refers to the lowest part of Hades. I don’t talk about Tartarus in this video in order to save time, and because the point can be made adequately with the two main derivatives of “hell.”

-There is a lot of discussion in Christendom about what “Gehenna,” in reality, refers to. Is it used as a metaphor for an actual physical location where the dead will burn for eternity as punishment for sin? Is it actually a state of mind more than a state of being? Is it the wicked “section” of Hades or is it separate from Hades altogether? Is it what Latter-day Saints call “Outer Darkness?” Frankly, I’m not sure. What is generally agreed upon is that it is only a place where the wicked go, where they will endure some kind of punishment for sin.

-The story Christ tells of the rich man and the beggar, Lazarus, deserves some attention. In the story, both the rich man and the beggar die. The rich man is in a state of suffering in Hades, while the beggar enjoys the presence of the prophet, Abraham. When the rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to help him, Abraham responds that he is unable to, because of the wide gulf that separated the two. It’s unclear if this story was meant to be a literal description of the afterlife, or a symbolic description. Either way, many Christians believe that both Lazarus and the rich man were, in fact, in Hades. They were simply in two different sections of Hades. One for the righteous, and another for the wicked.


SUBSCRIBE:
http://saintsunscripted/subscribe

Follow Us:
Facebook:   / saintsunscripted  
Instagram:   / saintsunscripted  
Website: https://saintsunscripted.com/

Follow the David:
David:   / davidesnell