Ready Always / Who we are / Beliefs
Do you think I’m going to hell because I’m not in your church?
The hallway answer
About 15 seconds“No! We believe almost everyone ends up in a kingdom of glory, places so good we can hardly imagine them. And God makes sure everyone gets a fair chance to hear about Jesus, even after this life.”
The real answer
About 5 minutesLatter-day Saints have one of the most hopeful views of the afterlife you’ll find. In Doctrine and Covenants 76, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon saw three kingdoms of glory, which echoes Paul’s words about the glory of the sun, moon and stars (1 Corinthians 15:40–42). Even the lowest, they wrote, “surpasses all understanding.”
The Church’s Topics and Questions page explains that “hell” usually means a temporary spirit prison where people are taught the gospel and can repent. Only a very small group, those who know God fully and then deny Him, stay outside any kingdom of glory.
Because God is fair, people who never had a real chance to accept Jesus in this life will have it in the spirit world (D&C 138). That’s why we do temple work for people who have died. So the honest answer to your friend is no. God loves them more than they know.
Scriptures to know. Tap to read.
D&C 76:89The telestial glory surpasses all understanding
1 Corinthians 15:40-42Glory of the sun, moon and stars
John 14:2In my Father’s house are many mansions
D&C 138:30-34The gospel preached to the dead
Go deeper
Research roomWhat’s behind the question
Many teens have heard that people outside a particular church will be damned, so they assume we believe the same. They may be worried, or testing whether you look down on them.
Source labels: Official = published by the Church. Scripture = the standard works. Faithful scholarship = independent Latter-day Saint researchers. Helpful, but not official.
For me
Think it through- How does knowing God’s plan is fair change how I see my friends?
- What do I believe about life after death, and why?
- Read D&C 76:22–24. What does Joseph Smith’s testimony of Christ mean to me?
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