Immediately we run into the problem of establishing what are "traditional Christian views". However, some Biblical teachings are clear and beyond dispute and I will dwell on just one of those. But before I do I must point out that Joseph's interpretations also run contrary to the "views" plainly put forth in the Book of Mormon.
Joseph and the modern Church teach that after death one may repent. It is taught that one will be punished for any unrepented of sins and that one can pay for their sins to the point that they will be able to be glorified in the Father's house, taking possession of the many mansions found there.
Doctrine and Covenants 19
16. For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
17. But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;
Doctrine and Covenants 138
58. The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God,
59. And after they have paid the penalty of their transgressions, and are washed clean, shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation.
Articles of Faith 2
We believe that men will be punished for their own sins....
In this way, God will save all the works of His hands with the exception of a few really bad apostate LDSaints.
Doctrine and Covenants 76
41. That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness;
42. That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him;
43. Who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him.
Anyone who is at all familiar with the Bible will come up with the "traditional Christian view" that only Jesus can atone for sins and only on behalf of those who believe on him and trust the sacrifice He made on behalf of those who come to Him in this day of probation.
The Book of Mormon View
The Book of Mormon also teaches the Biblical view, being a second witness to Biblical truth. Indeed, the Book of Mormon warns its readers against churches that teach this after-life repentance, for "it shall come to pass in that day that the churches which are built up, and not unto the Lord". What do these false churchs teach? Lets look at 2 Nephi 28
7. Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.
These are those churches that teach that God will save all the works of His hands and so one can "live it up" without worry since "we die and it shall be well with us".
A false prophet in the Book of Mormon taught this doctrine and his account should serve as another warning.
[Nehor]....had gone about among the people, preaching to them that which he termed to be the word of God....he also testified unto the people that all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should have eternal life.
Others of these false churches though, apparently, that this "saves all the works of His hands" went a little too far. so, continuing in 2 Neph 28,
8. And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God--he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.
The above comes close to the teachings of the LDSaints.
The revealed doctrine of the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that all the children of God—with exceptions too limited to consider here—will ultimately inherit one of three kingdoms of glory, even the least of which “surpasses all understanding.” After a period in which the disobedient suffer for their sins, which suffering prepares them for what is to follow, all will be resurrected and proceed to the Final Judgment of the Lord Jesus Christ. There, our loving Savior, who, we are taught, “glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands,” will send all the children of God to one of these kingdoms of glory according to the desires manifested through their choices. (Kingdoms of Glory, October 2023 General Conference, President Dallin H. Oaks)
A loving Heavenly Father has a better plan for His children. The revealed doctrine of the restored Church of Jesus Christ teaches that all the children of God—with exceptions too limited to consider here—will finally wind up in a kingdom of glory. “In my Father’s house are many mansions,” Jesus taught. From modern revelation we know that those mansions are in three different kingdoms of glory. In the Final Judgment each of us will be judged according to our deeds and the desires of our hearts. Before that, we will need to suffer for our unrepented sins. The scriptures are clear on that. Then our righteous Judge will grant us residence in one of those kingdoms of glory. (Divine Love in the Father’s Plan, April 2022 general conference, President Dallin H. Oaks)
The revealing description of those assigned to the lowest of the kingdoms of glory, the telestial, is “he who cannot abide … a terrestrial glory.” That describes those who reject the Savior and have observed no divine limits on their behavior. This is the kingdom where the wicked abide, after they have suffered for their sins. These are described in modern revelation as “they who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus. “These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.” (Kingdoms of Glory, October 2023 General Conference, President Dallin H. Oaks)
Hell is a place where people go that have not done well in keeping God’s commandments. But even that is a kingdom of glory. After people have suffered for their sins, God has a place for them as His children, which is a kingdom of glory. (Elder Oaks Interview Transcript from PBS Documentary, July 2007)
Spirit prison is a temporary state in which spirits will be taught the gospel and have the opportunity to repent and accept ordinances of salvation that are performed for them in temples.1 Those who accept the gospel may dwell in paradise until the Resurrection. After they are resurrected and judged, they will receive the degree of glory of which they are worthy. Those who choose not to repent but who are not sons of perdition will remain in spirit prison until the end of the Millennium, when they will be freed from hell and punishment and be resurrected to a telestial glory.
Again the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 28, gives us its opinion regarding those who teach this particular view.
9. Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark.
10. And the blood of the saints shall cry from the ground against them.
11. Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted.
12. Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride they are puffed up.
Mosiah 3:17 And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.
Mosiah 16:13 And now, ought ye not to tremble and repent of your sins, and remember that only in and through Christ ye can be saved?
Alma 38:9 And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness.
It must be pointed out that the Church is familiar with the teachings of the Book of Mormon on this subject. President Oaks is familiar with this verse and recognizes the conundrum:
Alma 34:32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
The Book of Mormon teaches that “this life is the time for [us] to prepare to meet God.” But that challenging limitation to “this life” was given a hopeful context (at least to some extent for some persons) by what the Lord revealed to President Joseph F. Smith, now recorded in Doctrine and Covenants section 138 (Kingdoms of Glory, October 2023 General Conference, President Dallin H. Oaks)
He is also familiar with,
Alma 13:27 And now, my brethren, I wish from the inmost part of my heart, yea, with great anxiety even unto pain, that ye would hearken unto my words, and cast off your sins, and not procrastinate the day of your repentance;
Oaks handles this problem,
….although we are urged not to procrastinate our repentance during mortality (see Alma 13:27), we are taught that some repentance is possible there (see Doctrine and Covenants 138:58). ( Trust in the Lord, October 2019 General Conference)
In other words, the Church leadership knows what the Book of Mormon teaches on this subject. They know that the Book of Mormon teaches the traditional view. However, they append all their Buts and Althoughs to contradict the plain and precious teachings of the Bible and the Book of Mormon, and this on purpose, so that they can keep their “false and vain and foolish doctrines”. The only reason I can imagine is that the idea that God saves all the works of His hands is a doctrine so much more pleasing to the carnal mind. The old false prophet confesses:
Alma 30:53 But behold, the devil hath deceived me; for he appeared unto me in the form of an angel….and he taught me that which I should say. And I have taught his words; and I taught them because they were pleasing unto the carnal mind; and I taught them, even until I had much success, insomuch that I verily believed that they were true; and for this cause I withstood the truth, even until I have brought this great curse upon me.
Were they mistaken?
There is told the account of four young men who burned with divine desire to go on a mission. We read in Mosiah 28:3-4,
Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble. And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them...
Clearly, Dallin Oaks would have to correct this motive. He would tell them they didn't have to worry about any soul enduring endless torment since God saves all the works of His hands, even "those who reject the Savior and have observed no divine limits on their behavior" (Kingdoms of Glory, October 2023). “Relax, boys! Stay home until you learn the doctrine of the restored church”!, would be the counsel to these preachers, worked upon by the Spirit of the Lord!
Alma, a prophet of God, had a son. A conversation begins,
Alma 42:1 And now, my son, I perceive there is somewhat more which doth worry your mind, which ye cannot understand--which is concerning the justice of God in the punishment of the sinner; for ye do try to suppose that it is injustice that the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery. Now behold, my son, I will explain this thing unto thee.
This chapter in the Book of Mormon is one of its gems! Latter-day Saint, it this chapter “will explain this thing unto thee”.
Alma 42
4. And thus we see, that there was a time granted unto man to repent, yea, a probationary time, a time to repent and serve God.
5. For behold, if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and partaken of the tree of life, he would have lived forever, according to the word of God, having no space for repentance; yea, and also the word of God would have been void, and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated.
6. But behold, it was appointed unto man to die--therefore, as they were cut off from the tree of life they should be cut off from the face of the earth--and man became lost forever, yea, they became fallen man.
7. And now, ye see by this that our first parents were cut off both temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord; and thus we see they became subjects to follow after their own will.
8. Now behold, it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this temporal death, for that would destroy the great plan of happiness.
9. Therefore, as the soul could never die, and the fall had brought upon all mankind a spiritual death as well as a temporal, that is, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord, it was expedient that mankind should be reclaimed from this spiritual death.
10. Therefore, as they had become carnal, sensual, and devilish, by nature, this probationary state became a state for them to prepare; it became a preparatory state.
11. And now remember, my son, if it were not for the plan of redemption, (laying it aside) as soon as they were dead their souls were miserable, being cut off from the presence of the Lord.
12. And now, there was no means to reclaim men from this fallen state, which man had brought upon himself because of his own disobedience;
13. Therefore, according to justice, the plan of redemption could not be brought about, only on conditions of repentance of men in this probationary state, yea, this preparatory state; for except it were for these conditions, mercy could not take effect except it should destroy the work of justice. Now the work of justice could not be destroyed; if so, God would cease to be God.
14. And thus we see that all mankind were fallen, and they were in the grasp of justice; yea, the justice of God, which consigned them forever to be cut off from his presence.
15. And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.
26. And thus God bringeth about his great and eternal purposes, which were prepared from the foundation of the world. And thus cometh about the salvation and the redemption of men, and also their destruction and misery.
27. Therefore, O my son, whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to come; but in the last day it shall be restored unto him according to his deeds.
28. If he has desired to do evil, and has not repented in his days, behold, evil shall be done unto him, according to the restoration of God.
Dear Christians! Don't reject the Book of Mormon because you think the LDSaints get their doctrine from it. You will find great treasures if you give it a careful read with an open mind. “whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely”.
Created on March 16, 2025