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Hell Definition

Hell.  Depending on the context, there are several possible meanings. Generally, this is a reference to Spirit Prison, a temporary holding place for those who did not accept Mormonism during their lifetimes.

Hugh Brown, a member of the First Presidency, said, “We reject the unscriptural doctrine that there are two places or states of eternal existence -– heaven and hell –- and that all men will go to one or the other” (Conference Reports, April 1965, 43). According to Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, “That part of the spirit world inhabited by wicked spirits who are awaiting the eventual day of their resurrection…Hell will have an end…After their resurrection, the great majority of those who have suffered in hell will pass into the telestial kingdom; the balance, cursed as the sons of perdition, will be consigned to partake of endless wo (sic) with the devil and his angels” (Mormon Doctrine, 349-350).

In the Bible hell is a place of eternal punishment. Jesus used the perpetual fire of Jerusalem’s garbage dump in the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) as a vivid illustration of what he called “hell fire” (Matthew 10:28; 18:9; 23:33; Mark 9:23).

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