Feb 24, 2017
The Fate of the Sons Of Perdition
The fate of the sons of perditions has long been a big mystery in the Mormon church. Most believe they will never be forgiven or given another chance, especially when considering these words of Jesus about the unpardonable sin:
“whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” Matt 12:32
The word “world” here comes from the Greek AION which should be translated as age. These, therefore, will not be forgiven in the age in which the sin was committed, or the age to come. What is overlooked is that there are many ages after the one to come. In fact Joseph Smith used the word age in reference to our originating intelligence when he said, “Intelligence is eternal and exists upon a self-existent principle. It is a spirit from age to age and there is no creation about it.” DHC 6:312
Such punishment is also spoken of as being eternal but the scripture clarifies this:
“Nevertheless, it is not written that there shall be no end to this torment, but it is written endless torment. Again it is written eternal damnation; wherefore it is more express than other scriptures, that it might work upon the hearts of the children of men, altogether for my names glory… Behold, I am endless, and punishment which is given from my hand is endless punishment, FOR ENDLESS IS MY NAME.” D&C 19:6-7, 10
The scripture clearly tells us here that “It is not written that there shall be no end to this torment.”
In addition, this caveat is thrown in:
“And now behold, I say unto you, never at any time have I declared from mine own mouth that they (the wicked) should return, for where I am they cannot come, for they have no power. BUT REMEMBER THAT ALL MY JUDGEMENTS ARE NOT GIVEN UNTO MEN…” D&C 29:29-30
From these scriptures we gather that God has allowed his prophets to warn of punishments in the starkest terms to scare people into following the right path.
This tactic was especially needed among the primitive thinking people in the past who thought in terms of black and white. Fortunately, we are entering an age of greater reason where seekers can progress at a faster rate with a fuller concept of the truth.
Joseph Smith was a pioneer in moving beyond black and white thinking by revealing that all things that have a beginning will have an end. He said:
“I take my ring from my finger and liken it unto the mind of man – the immortal part, because it had no beginning. Suppose you cut it in two; then it has a beginning and an end; but join it again, and it continues one eternal round. So with the spirit of man. AS THE LORD LIVETH, IF IT HAD A BEGINNING, IT WILL HAVE AN END. All the fools and learned and wise men from the beginning of creation, who say the spirit of man had a beginning, PROVE that it must have an end; and if that doctrine is true, then the doctrine of annihilation would be true.” DHC 6:311
Here is another account recorded by Mathew S. Davis:
“I believe that God is eternal. That He had no beginning, and can have no end. Eternity means that which is without beginning or end. I believe that the soul is eternal; and had no beginning; it can have no end.” Here he entered into some explanations, which were so brief that I could not perfectly comprehend him. But the idea seemed to be that the soul of man, the spirit, had existed from eternity in the bosom of Divinity; and so far as he was intelligible to me, MUST ULTIMATELY RETURN FROM WHENCE IT CAME. He said very little of rewards and punishments; but one conclusion, from what he did say, was irresistible–he contended throughout, that everything which had a beginning must have an ending; and consequently IF THE PUNISHMENT OF MAN COMMENCED IN THE NEXT WORLD, IT MUST, ACCORDING TO HIS LOGIC AND BELIEF HAVE AN END.
DHC 4:79
If you as a parent punish your child would you consider punishing him forever? Of course not. If you banish him to his room, it will only for a reasonable period of time so the lesson sinks in.
Even so with God, who Jesus tells us goes further to assist his children than we do.
The punishment of the son of perdition (which in reality is self caused) will have a beginning thus it will also have an end.
This must be the case else this scripture cannot be fulfilled:
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have ALL MEN TO BE SAVED, and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” I Tim 2:3-4
Since it is the will of God that all be saved then our Father will indeed find a way to make this happen, if not the age to come it will be in some future one.
This was backed up by Brigham Young who was taught by the prophet:
The Lord said to Jeremiah the Prophet, “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hands of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.” THE CLAY THAT MARRED IN THE POTTER’S HANDS WAS THROWN BACK INTO THE UNPREPARED PORTION, TO BE PREPARED OVER AGAIN. SO IT WILL BE WITH EVERY WICKED MAN AND WOMAN, and every wicked nation, kingdom, and government upon earth, sooner or later; they will be thrown back to the native element from which they originated, to be worked over again, and be prepared to enjoy some sort of a kingdom.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 2:124.
“When the elements in an organized form do not fill the end of their creation, they are thrown back again, like brother Kimball’s old pottery ware, to be ground up, and made over again.”
–Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 26 vols., 1:, p.275 – 276
Here is my conclusion on the matter:
Our originating Intelligence is eternal and never had a beginning nor will it have an end. It created our spirits (called souls or higher self by some) and our spirits create our mortal essence. When the entity advances to the point where he can receive through the Holy Spirit, but rejects it in favor of selfish attachment to the things of the world, and persists until he is in such a state of spiritual denial that there is no return for him, then he meets the fate of the son of perdition.
His originating Intelligence will see that his creation is a failure and will draw back the essence to itself. Both body and soul will be destroyed over a period of time, which process will be long and painful for the lost soul.
The originating Intelligence will have to pass up the opportunity to move ahead with the other souls of the present creation and plan a new creation with a new paradise, a new solar system and new earth. He basically begins progression all over again and ages hence he will live again on another earth in the hope of making wiser decisions this time.
Fortunately, only a few meet with this total failure in this creation. Most will turn around after lifetimes of failure and pain that is caused by rejection of Spirit.
Many see Judas as the most evil man of all time because he betrayed the greatest of us all. What is not realized is that a similar betrayal of any person is just as bad because what we do to the least of us we do to Christ.
It is believed by most that Judas had the intent of forcing Jesus to prove who he was by showing that they wouldn’t be able to put him to death. When he saw his error he was so sorrowful he killed himself.
Now, if he was in the true state of mind of a son of perdition he would not have regretted that which he did, but would have been glad to see Jesus die on the cross.
On the cross Jesus said, “Father forgive them, for the know not what they do.”
Judas did not know what he did with his betrayal so it is quite possible he redeemed himself in future incarnations.
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So a son of perdition will have to begin progression all over again?
Does it not say in the bible that their end would be outer darkness, neverending separation from god?
I would love to believe what you’re stating.
But where does that idea come from? And how would a lost and destroyed soul gain the momentum to advance again?
Thank you for reading and looking forward to your answer if you find the time!