"What about heaven and hell?
Do you believe when people die they go either to heaven or to hell, or do you
deny hell and disbelieve in a devil?"
"We believe in a personal
Satan, as we believe in a personal Deity. The being who deceived Eve and
tempted Jesus is a fallen spirit, the embodiment of the principle of evil, as
God is the embodiment of all that is good. A principle in the abstract is of no
force or effect. There must be some being through which it is manifest. We do
not believe in the mythological evil one with horns and hoofs, nor in a literal
bottomless pit of fire and brimstone. But we believe that there are many evil
spirits who, under that being called the devil and Satan, tempt human beings
and lead them astray if possible, and who are enemies to Christ and to the
truth. They will eventually be banished from this earth when Christ's work of
salvation is made complete. Hell is a place and condition of torment, in which
the suspense and remorse and anguish of soul of the wicked, waiting for
judgment and not knowing what their fate will be, is as 'the worm that dieth
not and the fire that is not quenched.' This thev will endure as long as
justice demands, and until they repent and turn to God and are perfectly
willing to obey Him. When they are released, in future ages, their destiny will
be as they have fixed it themselves by their own acts and according to the
external principles of justice and mercy extended by the all-wise Judge, the
eternal Father. We believe in heaven as a place and a condition. This earth,
when it is redeemed and restored to its paradisic state, will be a heaven. Sin,
darkness, sorrow, pain and death will be banished from it. The righteous in
their glorified, resurrected state will dwell upon it in everlasting peace and
joy. After it has been purified with fire and made a new earth, righteousness
will dwell in it. The thorn and the brier having departed, the fig tree and the
myrtle tree will bloom and bear fruit in the place thereof. The enmity between
man and brute will be no more. There will be nothing to hurt or destroy. The
flowers of Eden will blossom, the tree of life will bear its glorious fruits,
the river of life will flow forth from the throne of God; the globe itself will
be as a sea of glass mingled with fire. Christ will dwell upon it as King; the
Father will visit it and grace it with His presence. Everything that is upon it,
above it, around it and beneath it will be sanctified, beautified and
glorified, and praise to God and the Lamb will ascend from every part and from
every creature, Satan and his hosts will be vanquished, and Adam and his
posterity will be redeemed from the curse and everything that hath breath will
glorify the great Crea- tor; every knee will bow and every tongue confess that
Jesus is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father, and He will be all in
all," (“An Interview in the Atlanta Constitution on the ‘Mormon Faith,’
with Ben E. Rich, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, From the Atlantic
Constitution, March 26, 1899, pp. 23-24, repr. Tracts from Southern
states mission, Chattanooga, Tenn. [1899], [73-74])
