I copied that image from jesus-is-savior.com. The text below it compares hell to a nightmare, a horror movie, a gory crime scene, and then says that hell is worse than all of these. No human mind can comprehend the horror of hell!
Well, actually.
We shall skip all the TMI stuff and be a bit vague about my personal details. There was a point in my life where I was really struggling to move past something that seemed unforgivable. The pain of it had saturated every part of my life. One of the facets that stymied me was the utter callousness of the person who had come close to destroying my life. He didn’t believe he’d done anything wrong. In fact, everything was my fault for being too sensitive and misunderstanding him. The injustice of being blamed for what he’d done hurt as much as (more than) the original injury.
I went to God in prayer. If I forgave him, if I let go of this pain, what would God do? If I trusted God and completely turned it over to him, what would he do? What would happen to the person who hurt me and then brushed me off?
I got a revelation. Or a series of mini-revelations that unfolded over a couple of weeks. Readers, I found out what happens in hell.
What Really Goes On In Hell?
The short answer is that the sinner lives his life from the point of view of everyone he sinned against.
The long answer involves several scriptures. The Spirit showed me new depths in words I’d read dozens of times.
We start with the oft-repeated teaching that Christ actually understands and experienced all our suffering.
- “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40).
- “Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me” (Matthew 25:45).
- “For behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, … And he suffereth this … that all might stand before him at the great and judgment day” (2 Nephi 9:21-22).
- “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; … that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities” (Alma 7:11-12).
Christ knew exactly how I felt and what I’d been through. This person who had hurt me (let’s just call him “my father” to make it easier to refer to him in sentences) refused to acknowledge that, and that hurt as much as the original injuries. God’s promise to me was that he would make my father see what he had done to me. This comes through Christ’s suffering. Christ says, “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I” (D&C 19:16-17).
Christ has a perfect understanding of what I’ve been through. Judgment day for my unrepentant father will bring him a perfect understanding of what I’ve been through. Multiple scriptures in the Book of Mormon promise this.
- “We shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness” (2 Nephi 9:14).
- “Wo unto the uncircumcised of heart, for a knowledge of their iniquities shall smite them at the last day” (2 Nephi 9:33).
- “We shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt” (Alma 11:43).
- “Can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness, yeah, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God?” (Alma 5:18).
The Spirit then sent me to D&C 19, in which Christ said that people who don’t repent “must suffer even as I.” In D&C 19, Joseph Smith records a revelation in which Christ speaks in the first person and demands that everyone repent or they will suffer even as Christ suffered. Christ explains the punishment that awaits unrepentant sinners. Here is the entire excerpt, verses 4-17. Read this in light of the scriptures I quoted above that say that a sinner will perfectly understand all the harm he/she caused. What is the punishment for sin?
4 And surely every man must repent or suffer, for I, God, am endless.
5 Wherefore, I revoke not the judgments which I shall pass, but woes shall go forth, weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, yea, to those who are found on my left hand.
6 Nevertheless, it is not written that there shall be no end to this torment, but it is written endless torment.
7 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 name’s glory.
8 Wherefore, I will explain unto you this mystery, for it is meet unto you to know even as mine apostles.
9 I speak unto you that are chosen in this thing, even as one, that you may enter into my rest.
10 For, behold, the mystery of godliness, how great is it! For, behold, I am endless, and the punishment which is given from my hand is endless punishment, for Endless is my name. Wherefore—
11 Eternal punishment is God’s punishment.
12 Endless punishment is God’s punishment.
13 -14 …
15 Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.
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;
Christ felt all the suffering caused by the sinner. Someone who repents can have this suffering forgiven. But someone who doesn’t repent? The unrepentant sinner will feel everything that Christ felt, i.e., the suffering he/she caused.
That’s hell. You live your life from the point of view of the people you hurt. I’m probably second in line for my father’s punishment in hell. I think he’s going to live his life from my mother’s point of view first. But my life is second in line.
Hell ends. Suffering doesn’t last as long as we do. “Eternal punishment is God’s punishment” and “Endless punishment is God’s punishment” (D&C 19:11-12). The punishment for sinners eventually ends because the suffering they caused eventually ends. My mother’s suffering has an endpoint; my suffering has an endpoint. Therefore, my father’s suffering has an endpoint.
This interpretation of hell dovetails nicely with the Old Testament law of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” That’s the punishment God inflicts — an unrepentant sinner who took someone’s eye and tooth will have an eye and a tooth taken from him in hell. It also harmonizes with the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” What you do to others will be done to you in hell. Conversely, that’s also heaven — if you’ve treated others with respect and dignity, then you find out how that blessed the lives of those you interacted with.
To summarize:
- There is no devil in hell. God is in control.
- There is purpose to the suffering in hell. It’s to teach sinners empathy/compassion by making them experience the effects of their actions on others.
- The suffering of sinners in hell has an end because the suffering caused by the sinners on earth has an end.
- We can easily comprehend the suffering that goes on in hell. It’s all around us right now.
Discussion questions:
- Personal relationships first — and you don’t have to spill your heart and guts in the comments because this question is REALLY personal. Do you think it would be heaven or hell to live life from your spouse’s, child’s, neighbor’s, co-worker’s, friend’s point of view? Is there anyone you think should live life from your point of view?
- God’s justice is supposed to be fair and balanced with mercy. Do you think that living your life as the other people in your life is justice? Is it fair?
- Keep in mind that this standard doesn’t require perfection from you. If you screw up, and then apologize to the person you hurt and treat them with respect thereafter, your experience from the other’s point of view will include the joy and relief of being treated with such respect and their appreciation that they mattered enough to you that you changed in order to treat them better. Has anyone, after causing you harm, treated you with such respect and remorse that your relationship actually got better?
- hawgrrl’s recent post, God is Watching, talked about how people change their behavior when they believe they are constantly being watched and the effect that belief has on mental health. How do you think people would change their behavior if they knew they would have to experience the effects of their behavior? Is this more or less mind-bending than believing you’re being constantly watched?
Wheat & Tares 
I just have to add here that any ear death experiences show exactly this. The person is shown by a loving guide exactly how the other person felt. So, confirmation that this is hell.
I am so excited to see this because I have come to the same conclusion about God’s punishment. My theory is basically that we will have to feel the pain we caused others so as to fully understand and face the consequences of our actions. Your wonderful post really sparked new insights for me. Thank you! For example, this would demand that repentance means we truly FEEL sorrow for the pain we have caused. That we have to face it and acknowledge it. That is why a sincere apology would naturally follow such an acknowledgment because we would want to repair the damage we have done to the other person and the relationship. This type of empathy would change our hearts so we wouldn’t want to cause others to suffer. I do think this view would change how we interact with others, although hopefully not from punishment or pain avoidance but by forcing us to recognize the humanity of all people and that they deserve love and kindness and that our actions affect others. I think many of us often don’t see beyond our own noses.
I come at this topic from a couple different angles.
First, hell is a conceptual framework developed by humans over long periods of time to deal with the unresolved injustices in the world. Hell, as we understand it today, is an innovation post-Jesus. In the OT, everyone just went to Sheol–there was no heaven or hell, there was just an afterlife. And hell has taken on lots of iterations, the most atrocious of which is the evangelical eternal conscious torment–with those not being in the in-group destined for that suffering. It’s been an effective fear tactic to keep the masses loyal to the group and to control their actions and thoughts. Humans thrive on narratives. Narratives such as this hold back nihilism–they give meaning to things that make no sense. Because what would really be the purpose of all this if eternal justice wasn’t really a thing? If there wasn’t a hell and horrible people just died and essentially got away scott-free with no consequences for their actions, I think we’d have a tremendously hard time processing that.
Second, I was just conversing on this subject with a friend. A lot of the scriptures you highlighted focused on making sure people would know their guilt. These parts seem to highlight some Calvinistic influence on the BoM–the human horribleness default and the suffering that awaits for all of us unworthy creatures. And honestly, for me I think there are other parts that balance this out a bit, especially when talking about why Jesus lived each of our lives–and that is so that he could be full of grace and truth. Whatever judgement means–if it is even a thing at all–our theology points to one that is full of grace and truth born out of a god stepping into our shoes so that he can fully understand all the thinking, motivations, feelings, interactions, everything that went into this life. The value of that is immense in that you can be fully seen. Then to have that god be able to merge that, somehow, such that you could then see how your interactions with another deeply impacted them would truly be a deeply humbling and naked experience. It would give you the chance to be full of grace and truth for another. For me, my hope would be that we aren’t cheering for the suffering of another despite the harm they have caused–that part is very hard. I’d much rather they get to experience their impact on another so that they could, at the deepest level, be able to change for the better. Yet, we too would also have to realize that the perpetrator didn’t just decide one day to cause harm (not to excuse their actions in any way). Their life experiences led them to that and chances are, had we had those same experiences, we would have probably chosen the same harmful things. And as hard as it might be to accept, Jesus would extend the same fullness of grace and truth (definitely not read excuse) to that person as well.
I think there is probably a oneness we could achieve if we could fully see another. We would probably hold our world views much more loosely.
How do I know that what I am experiencing now is “my” life, and not “me” experiencing the life of someone I harmed?
Chrisdrobison:
Wish I could give your comment 20 thumbs up!
Thankyou.
Thanks Anna.
Sleeper – exactly! The times I’ve had to genuinely repent, I’ve also had to genuinely understand the pain I caused. You can’t glibly brush off something and call it repentance. Repentance hurts.
chrisdrobison – that was a very thoughtful comment. I’m using the word ‘hell’ rather sloppily in this post. Hell is typically a place of punishment, but in this post, hell is the place where we learn empathy. It’s an extension of earth life for people that didn’t get it in mortality (like The Good Place??).
I really liked how you put this idea: “For me, my hope would be that we aren’t cheering for the suffering of another despite the harm they have caused–that part is very hard. I’d much rather they get to experience their impact on another so that they could, at the deepest level, be able to change for the better. Yet, we too would also have to realize that the perpetrator didn’t just decide one day to cause harm (not to excuse their actions in any way). Their life experiences led them to that and chances are, had we had those same experiences, we would have probably chosen the same harmful things. And as hard as it might be to accept, Jesus would extend the same fullness of grace and truth (definitely not read excuse) to that person as well.”
Yes, this is a good explanation. I’m sure my father went through some pain and problems that I don’t know about. Maybe it’s a back and forth, where someone extends empathy to my father, and that heals him enough he can extend some empathy to me, and then we all go back for another round. The whole healing – forgiveness – empathy process goes in layers like onions and we all learn to see each other as hurting and damaged humans, and yet we are still accountable for the hurt we caused. Like, no one gets off the hook, but also no one gets unfairly blamed as 100% evil.
Hedgehog – when we’re being taught empathy, we’ll know that’s what is going on. Christ asks if a sinner wants to repent for hurting someone; sinner says no; sinner is now in the victim’s perspective and they know they are there to learn empathy. My thought is that the sinner just gets the relevant parts. My father isn’t going to actually live every event in my life, just the first 18 years and then the important interactions after that.
Janey – Great post, very thoughtful. I also like Chris mentioned have little draw to the idea of “Hell” as an eschatological concept. Jesus never spoke of Hell either as an “after life” destination. It was merely understood as “the place of the dead”.
How do I know that what I am experiencing now is my life, and not me experiencing the life of someone I have harmed?
Hedgehog—your comment opens an enormous can of worms and suggests an entirely different way of reading the idea of the Infinite Atonement. Alma does something curious in his explanation: he first states quite clearly that no human being can atone for another, and then immediately insists that an Infinite Atonement is required. That tension often gets smoothed over, but it may be the key.
When Jesus enters the earthly scene, he brings with him expanded meanings and redefinitions for nearly everything. He introduces the notion of a “broken heart and a contrite spirit,” reframing atonement not as a transaction performed instead of us, but as something enacted with us—something participatory. His self-sacrifice is voluntary, but it is also relational.
Read this way, “Infinite” does not primarily describe how far the atonement reaches, but how it functions: an ongoing, never-ending process of becoming at one. It is not a finished event locked in the past, but an “always” happening—an unceasing movement toward unity. In that sense, atonement involves stepping into another’s life, another’s perspective, and acquiring the capacity for limitless empathy through an ever-expanded perception.
I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan of the conclusions of a lot of the posts here on wheatandtares, even though I enjoy the thought provoking nature of many of them. However, this was a great post and I think conveys real revelatory insight rather than just conjecture. It makes a lot of sense to me. Thanks for sharing Janey!
Although I do think there is actual final ‘hell’ that some people will be consigned to because they will or would not repent, even if they had such an experience of living life from another’s perspective. Of those, I like what Joseph Smith said:
Makes sense to me and seems just. Ultimately, it is only just you live with the people who are like you in regards to the degree you live the commandments. It would not be heaven for me if I have to live with perpetually dishonest people. Birds of feather flock together.