By W. Cleon Skousen

INTRODUCTION:

When the prophet Lehi was on his deathbed, he made a rather remarkable statement to his two elder sons, Laman and Lemuel. He pleaded with them to repent lest they bring down upon them a "sore cursing; and also, that ye may not incur the displeasure of a just God upon you, unto the destruction, yea, the ETERNAL DESTRUCTION OF BOTH SOUL AND BODY." (2 Nephi 11:22)

Jesus also spoke of this alarming phenomenon when He said: "And fear not them which kill the body, but are NOT able to KILL the soul; but rather fear HIM (God) which is ABLE TO DESTROY BOTH SOUL AND BODY IN HELL." (Matthew 10:28)

What does this mean? Why did Lehi feel it might have application to Laman and Lemuel?

The Unique Situation of Laman and Lemuel

It must be kept in mind that Laman and Lemuel were no ordinary rebels against God. They had been privileged to see an angel of God and receive instructions from him (1 Nephi 3:29); they had felt the power of the Spirit in their father to the point where "their frames did shake" (1 Nephi 2:14); at Nahom they had been dissuaded from murdering Lehi and Nephi by having the voice of God actually speak to them from the heavens and "chasten them exceedingly" (1 Nephi 16:37, 39); they had later tried to drown Nephi at Bountiful in southeastern Arabia, but Nephi had been endowed with so much power from God that when he touched them it was like a lightning bolt, and they not only knew they had felt a manifestation of God's power, but they wanted to worship Nephi and he had to forbid it (1 Nephi 17:53-55).

In other words, Laman and Lemuel had seen the powers of heaven openly manifest to them so many times that it placed them in a particularly hazardous position if they continued to rebel against God and sought to kill their younger brother (as Cain did). For people who have enjoyed so many manifestations of the power of the Holy Ghost (which is necessary whenever one receives heavenly manifestations) it is fatal to rebel against God and seek to murder His servants. This is called sinning against the Holy Ghost or sinning against knowledge for which there is no forgiveness in this life nor in the world to come (D&C 132:27).

What is Necessary Before a Person Can Be a Son of Perdition?

Here is the way Joseph Smith described the potential son of perdition:

"What must a man do to commit the unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost; have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against Him. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. (Heb. 4:4-6) He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy. This is the case with many apostates of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 358.)

Now we can grasp a deeper appreciation of Lehi's profound anxiety for Laman and Lemuel. But Lehi has a strange and startling way of describing the fate of those who become sons of perdition and suffer the second death. He tells Laman and Lemuel that the course they are following could lead to the ETERNAL (permanent) destruction of both body AND soul (or spirit). This is obviously referring to the second death. As quoted previously, Jesus spoke of it in almost the same language: "And fear not them which kill the body, but are NOT able to kill the soul; but rather fear HIM (God) which is able to destroy BOTH soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28).

But does the "second death" LITERALLY mean the permanent destruction of both body and spirit?

How We Obtained Our Spirit Body and Physical Body

The Lord has revealed that we existed as intelligent entities throughout all eternity (D&C 93:29), and that we were "added upon" by first having our intelligence organized in spirit bodies (Abraham 3:22) and were then given temporal bodies here on earth (Abraham 3:23-26). We know that sons of perdition will be resurrected (D&C 88:32) and that a resurrected body can never die in the sense of being divided again into separate spirit and temporal entities (Alma 11:45). But can the resurrected body belonging to a son of perdition die in the sense of being decomposed AS resurrected material? If so, this would mean that the eternal intelligence which has occupied that body would be stripped naked and be cast back into outer darkness with no embodiment at all! Is this what Lehi and Jesus meant when they referred to the permanent destruction of both body and soul?

Teachings of Early Church Authorities on This Subject

Joseph Smith refers to an occasion when Heber C. Kimball treated this question and gave an answer which appears to have had the full approval of the Prophet (see Doc. Hist. Of the Church, Vol. 5, p 299). Heber C. Kimball's remarks were not recorded at the time, but he afterwards treated this same subject as did Brigham Young and other general authorities of the Church. The doctrine they taught was that the resurrected body of a son of perdition will be like a piece of potter’s clay which has been spoiled and cannot be made into a worthy vessel. Eventually, it will therefore have to be broken up and returned to its native elements. Here is one of the quotations from Heber C. Kimball in which he explains this doctrine and states that he, himself, had received so many manifestations that this fate could fall upon him:

"If I do not live my religion, but turn away from the principles of light and life, my spirit will die. You have heard me speak of that a great many times, and so you have, brother Brigham. There are thousands upon thousands whose bodies will die BY THE POWER OF THE SECOND DEATH; and they never will return again. Many call that annihilation… Now, will the day come when this pitcher will return to its mother earth? It will; and it may be thrown into some part of the earth where it may be thousands and millions of years before that pitcher or the elements of which it is composed will be brought back again; and so it will be with thousands and millions of people: they never will be brought back into the shape they were in once. Some men inquire, ‘Why?’ Simply because they have dishonored the spirit and bodies, that God gave them; therefore, God will make a DESOLATION OF THOSE BODIES AND SPIRITS, AND HE WILL THROW THEM BACK INTO THE EARTH; that is, that portion that belongs to the earth will go back there." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 5, p. 271).

On another occasion, he said:

"Men will sin so that they will be damned spiritually and temporally. THERE WILL BE A DISSOLUTION OF NATURAL BODY AND OF THE SPIRIT, and they will go back into their native element .… This what is called the SECOND DEATH." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 5, p. 95).

And again:

"It will be with them as President Young was talking this morning about a certain class of individuals; there will be a dissolution, not only of the tabernacles, but of the spirits …. I have seen the time when I did not know the meaning of the phrase, 'second death,' but I now comprehend it to my satisfaction."

Teaching of Brigham Young on the Second Death

This doctrine seems to have been well understood among the early leaders of the Church. Here are several sample quotations from Brigham Young:

"God is the Father of our spirits; he begat them, and has sent them here to receive tabernacles, and to prove whether they will honor them. If we do, then our tabernacles will be exalted; but if we do not, we shall be destroyed; one of the two – dissolution or life. The SECOND DEATH WILL DECOMPOSE ALL TABERNACLES OVER WHOM IT GAINS THE ASCENDANCY: and this is the effect of the second death, the tabernacles go back to their native element." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 4, p. 54).

"I will quote the scriptures on this point, and you can make what you please of it. Jesus says, he will destroy death and him that hath power of it .... That appears a mystery, but the principle has been in existence from all eternity, only it is something you have not known or thought of. 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. All I have to say about it is what Jesus says – I will destroy Death, and him that hath the power of it, which is the devil. And if he ever makes ‘a full end of the wicked,’ what else can he do than entirely disorganize them, and reduce them to ‘their native element? Here are some of the mysteries of the kingdom." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 1, p. 275).

Note in this quotation that Brigham Young is not only saying that the second death will decompose the bodies of resurrected sons of perdition, but it will also destroy the SPIRIT bodies of Lucifer and his angels! The Lord makes it clear that the sons of perdition suffer the same fate as the "devil and his angels" (D&C 76:28-37).

It will be appreciated that if an intelligence has lost its entire embodiment it will have lost its identity as an organized being among the Father's children. Here is the way Brigham Young described it:

"I will tell you the result of that (wicked) course. You would cease to increase in all the attributes of excellence, glory and eternal duration …. The opposite principle seizes you, fastens itself upon you, and you decrease, lessen, diminish, decay, and waste away in quality, excellence, and strength, UNTIL YOUR ORGANIZATION BECOMES EXTINCT, oblivion covers you, your name is blotted out from the Book of Life, from the heavens, from the earth, and from under the earth, and you will return, and sink into your natural element, which cannot be destroyed …. " (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 1, p. 118).

It would appear that these stripped intelligences are cast into the terrible outer darkness beyond the "space" of God’s organized kingdoms. The Lord says they "return AGAIN to their own place" (D&C 88:32) which would imply that those outer regions of unorganized matter and unorganized intelligence is the place from which we ALL come originally. What a blessing to be an ETERNAL part of God's glorious kingdom! And what a terrible fate for Laman and Lemuel if they incurred "the displeasure of a just God … unto the destruction, yea, the ETERNAL DESTRUCTION OF BOTH SOUL AND BODY." Once this doctrine is understood, the fearful anxiety of Lehi for his two sons is far more comprehensible.

Numerous References to This Subject May Be Found in Church Literature

There are many other citations on this doctrine. Here are some of them:

Brigham Young – Journal of Discourses, 1:113-114; 1:275-276; 1:349-353; 2:124; 2:301; 3:203; 4:28; 4:31-32; 4:200; 5:53; 5:95; 6:146; 6:345-346; 7:202-203; 7:276; 8:7; 8:28; 8:206; 10:251; 13:283; 13:316.

Heber C. Kimball – Journal of Discourses, 8:257; 8:331; 9:149.

George Albert Smith – Journal of Discourses, 6:67; 13:298.

John Taylor – Journal of Discourses, 10:119.

Erastus Snow – Journal of Discourses, 7:352; 7:358-9; 13:9.

Daniel H. Wells – Journal of Discourses, 15:535, 18:232, 234.

Moses Thatcher - Journal of Discourses, 26:305.

In modern times, Elder John A. Widtsoe commented on this doctrine by saying:

"It must be a terrible punishment beyond human comprehension, the greatest conceivable, yet a justifiable punishment. Since the greatest sins is the 'unpardonable sin' it would appear that they will forfeit all gains of the ages of pre-existence and the years on earth. It is no wonder that the heavens wept over Lucifer’s rebellion." (Evidences and Reconciliations, Vol. 1, p. 266).

When Will Cain Rule Over Lucifer?

It is interesting that during the short space between the resurrection and the 'second death,' Cain will rule over Lucifer. Joseph Smith commented on this, making the following statement concerning Cain:

"As a result of his mortal birth he is assured of a tangible body of flesh and bones in eternity, a fact which will enable him to rule over Satan." (See Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 109).

Nevertheless, it seems clear that in due time the second death will destroy the spirit tabernacles of Satan and his hosts as well as the resurrected tabernacles of the sons of perdition including Cain.

As Brigham Young said: "All I have to say about this is what Jesus says – I will destroy Death, and him that hath the power of it, which is the devil. And if he ever makes 'a full end of the wicked,' what else can he do than entirely disorganize them, and reduce them to their native element?" (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 1, pp. 275-276). So the devil and his angels lose their spirit bodies while Cain and the sons of perdition lose their resurrected bodies.

The Second Death is Both Banishment and Decomposition

Before leaving this subject, the student should be aware that two or three of the brethren have suggested in their writings that the “Second Death” is merely a spiritual banishment from the presence of God. (See Orson Pratt in Journal of Discourses, 1:288 and Doctrines of Salvation, by Joseph Fielding Smith, Vol. 1, p. 122). The element of banishment is, of course, entirely correct; but the subject must be pressed even further to include the teachings of Lehi in the present passage as well as Jesus in Matthew 10:28, which refer to the ETERNAL DESTRUCTION of both body and soul. The doctrinal consensus expressed by all the other brethren cited above would appear to be the more penetrating view, since they include not only banishment from the presence of God, but the destruction of body and soul as well. Erastus Snow combined both concepts when he said:

"The spiritual death is that which shall be passed upon the wicked when he shall say unto them, ‘depart ye, cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels.’ You can read this revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants when you go home. I understand that the second death is a spiritual death. Is it meant that the spirit shall die? Each of you can draw your own conclusions as well as I. Your traditions may be such that your thoughts do not run in the same channel with mine in this respect. But I can conceive of no other spiritual death then dissolution. I understand, when applied to the mortal tabernacle, it alludes to the dissolution of that tabernacle; it ceases to act in its functions, being dissolved, to return to its native element. I conceive that the same term is applicable to the spirit in like manner …. The idea of the second death, or dissolution of the spirit, is that which is the most terrifying to the soul. But our Father has so ordained that our spiritual organization as well as our tabernacles, can only be maintained and perfected through obedience to the laws of eternal life." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, p. 359)

On July 10, I853, Brigham Young devoted almost an entire sermon to this doctrine. Said he:

"To choose life is to choose an eternal existence in an organized capacity; to refuse life and choose death is to refuse an eternal existence in an organized capacity, and be contented to become decomposed, and return again to native element." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 1, p. 349)

"Those that choose death, make choice of the path which leads to the end of their organization. The one (path) leads to endless increase and progression, the other to the destruction of the organized being, ending in its entire decomposition into the particles that compose the native elements." (Ibid. p. 352)

Or in other words, to be "destroyed, both body and soul." No doubt this is why Samuel the Lamanite referred to the Second Death as being "hewn down." (Helaman 14:18).