The Life of the Soul

When Ammon and Lamoni encountered the king over all of the Lamanites, Lamoni’s father, Ammon said this as the king threatened to kill his son: “It is expedient that thou shouldst forbear; for if thou shouldst slay thy son, he being an innocent man, his blood would cry from the ground to the Lord his God, for vengeance to come upon thee; and perhaps thou wouldst lose thy soul” (Alma 20:18).  That is an intriguing phrase to me—what exactly does it mean for one to lose his or her soul?  The same language was used when Alma was speaking to the wicked apostate Korihor: “I am grieved because of the hardness of your heart, yea, that ye will still resist the spirit of the truth, that thy soul may be destroyed.  But behold, it is better that thy soul should be lost than that thou shouldst be the means of bringing many souls down to destruction” (Alma 30:46-47).  Later Helaman worried about the people of Ammon breaking their covenant and he “feared lest by so doing they should lose their souls” (Alma 53:15).  In the New Testament the Savior also spoke about souls being lost: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26)  In the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord spoke of how Satan seeks to “lead their souls to destruction” (D&C 10:22).  Souls lost and destroyed?  What exactly is meant by this kind of language when we know that “the soul could never die”? (Alma 42:9)    

                 It seems that the idea of losing one’s soul or having it destroyed must be referring to the suffering the rebellious must endure and their final state at the Resurrection.  Those who “suffer the vengeance of eternal fire” and “are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God” surely in some sense can be considered lost and destroyed (D&C 76:105-106).  It’s not that they do not exist anymore, but that their do not have life after the manner of our Father in Heaven.  Just as someone might find themselves lost in the wilderness, so too might they in some sense lose their soul because that soul is no longer in the presence of their Father who gave them life.  And their soul’s final state in the Telestial Kingdom means that any hope of receiving the presence of the Son or the Father is destroyed.  Their hope of eternal life with family and loved ones is gone and they must exist knowing the possibility of fulfilling their full potential has been lost.  When Alma spoke about his fathers he told the people of Zarahemla that in their conversion “their souls did expand” (Alma 5:9).  If souls can expand as they draw closer to God, then perhaps we can also say that they shrink or contract as they reject God.  As we come to accept the redeeming power of the Savior we take on some of His light and life and goodness and grace, and so there is more to our souls than there was before.  But if we turn from Him and follow after the temptations of the adversary and repent not, our “immortal soul” will “shrink from the presence of the Lord” (Mosiah 2.38).  Ultimately our course of action must be as the Lord counseled us, “Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the soul, and for the life of the soul” (D&C 101:37).