What is Hell according to Watkins

J. Brian Watkins
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BYU Hawaii Professor, Lawyer, CPA & Former Bishop at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) (2011–present)Upvoted by
Geoffrey Potts
, Juris Doctrate Law, Brigham Young University (1990) and
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What is hell according to the Latter Day Saints?

Let’s get this perfectly straight—”hell”—typically defined metaphorically as the lake of burning fire, is in reality a dark and cold place. Hell is the absence of light, intelligence, kindness, anything that pertains to God our Father. See, e.g. Hell

Who goes to hell? There is only one person we can be sure of and that is Judas Iscariot. In John 17, Jesus prayed to the Father for all of us and He claimed all of us, save (depending upon your particular interpretation) Judas:

12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Any other position is speculative. We simply know that such a place as “Outer Darkness” exists, but nobody is compelled to go there, you must choose your fate. Outer darkness - Wikipedia

The mercy, merits and saving grace of Jesus Christ pass upon all mankind. All will be saved except those who specifically and knowledgeably choose to serve the devil. If your knowledge of God is as clear as your view of the sun in a cloudless sky, yet you choose to oppose Him—then you will get exactly what you desire.

In fact, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that you will essentially get that “mansion” that you desire. Jesus said that His house had many mansions. Paul talked of being caught up to the “third heaven” and we have specific prophecies from Joseph Smith describing the three grand degrees of heaven.

So closely does Joseph’s work tie in with ancient traditions and doctrines that Harold Bloom, a Yale scholar who is no friend of the Church of Jesus Christ, called Joseph an “authentic genius”. Bloom, American Religion.

Those who profess Christ’s name need do nothing more—if they live according to Christ’s teachings—regardless of whether they are members of a specific Church or receive specific ordinances they will have the opportunity to live for eternity in a heaven that is beyond any mortal ability to describe. We call this kingdom the Second Heaven or Terrestrial Kingdom—Christ presides and the glory of this Kingdom reflects the glory of God as does the moon in the night sky, but its inhabitants have a lesser glory.

Ask a child what they would do with a million dollars and they’ll say something like, “I’d go buy candy!” That’s about what we get when we try to define something we are utterly unable to comprehend.

EVERYONE who is born on this Earth has already passed a test of surpassing difficulty. We all chose to follow Jesus Christ and to come to a fallen world with no hints of our glorious past and background—we all chose to forget who we are so that we could learn good and evil for ourselves. Our reward was the body we now have—it will be resurrected and we will live forever—however, the kind of afterlife we enjoy depends on what we choose in this life.

There was no other way this could be done. The test of mortality, in the eternal scheme of things, will be short—but we are exposed to such evil and cruelty in this world that God Himself weeps over it. We are eternal beings—stars are just bonfires in the night that spring up and burn out. There is so much more to heaven and earth—as the playwright wrote—than we can possibly imagine.

We know that God lives in a place that has a name and a physical location. He has a body—eternal and perfected and capable of reproduction. In His infinite wisdom and mercy, God will not allow the creation of life by anyone who hasn’t proven themselves worthy of such a great power, there is no greater gift to men than the ability to create new life and families.

To live with God requires that we obtain specific ordinances and make and keep sacred promises. This should come as no surprise to anyone in a position of responsibility—police and military take oaths, our leaders take oaths, when you join a company you make a solemn legal promise not to disclose the secrets of that company upon peril of legal consequence. So, too, does God.

He wants us to come home—He will do anything He can to help us, but He will not violate our agency. We must choose independently of any outside help to return to Him or else He would not be perfectly fair, He would cease to be God.

There is a “default” heaven if you will. With a much lesser glory—compared to the stars—it is this world. This world without pain, death, evil or temptation. But also without marriage, family and the ability to create new life. We are living in the telestial world right now.

God loves his children, He will give them as much as they are willing to accept. So, in a sense, some may feel regret that they missed out on so much more, but the glory that awaits even the apathetic and dishonest is beyond our ability to comprehend.

There is no eternal torture. There is, however, a potential eternal separation from God—and if you understand who God is—that is a sufficient “hell” to keep one on the covenant path.