Alma's Teachings on the Spirit World

Alma 40 contains the teachings about the spirit world and resurrection from Alma to his son Corianton.  Some of the statements are very clear about the universality of the resurrection; for example, we learn that “there is a time appointed that all shall come forth from the dead…. The time cometh when all shall rise.”  There is no exception; everyone who has lived will rise from the dead in the resurrection.  Not only will the resurrection apply to everyone, but there is also no part of us individually that will not be brought back: “The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame” (Alma 40:4, 10, 23).  The resurrection applies to all and will bring our bodies back to a perfect order; this is no question about its universality. 

               Despite these very clear statements about this most important part of the plan of salvation, there are other statements in Alma 40—of lesser importance for sure—that for me at least can be difficult to fit together with what we know from other sources about the plan of salvation.  One of these is what happens in the spirit world.  As members of the Church we are familiar with the teaching that the spirit world is a place for missionary work; the righteous will go forth to those who have not received the gospel and they will have an opportunity to progress in the gospel path through vicarious ordinances.  The picture that Alma paints is one that appears a little different.  There are two places.  In one we read that “the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.”  In the other, “the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil” (v12-13).  There is no mention of any possibility of progression or what will happen to those who weren’t necessarily righteous but who weren’t “evil” either in mortality. 

              As I’ve pondered Alma’s dichotomy, my conclusion is that it does not paint a complete picture but gives us instead the two extremes of those who inhabit the spirit world.  We know from Joseph Smith’s vision of the three degrees of glory that those who inherit the telestial glory are those who were indeed very evil: “These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.  These are they who suffer the wrath of God on earth.  These are they who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire.  These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God” (D&C 76:103-106).  I believe this is generally the group that Alma was referring to as the wicked who would “be cast out into outer darkness” and suffer “weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.”  My understanding is that those who inherit the telestial kingdom will indeed need to suffer for their own sins in the spirit world before the resurrection, but they are the only ones who will so suffer.  These are those who have rejected all chance of receiving the gospel, chosen wickedness and the ways of the devil, and will be in a true prison in the Spirit World.  It is not the same “outer darkness” that we use to describe the final state of the sons of perdition, but it is a place of paying for one’s sins.  There are others, though, who were not evil but who also did not accept or have the opportunity to accept the saving ordinances of the gospel.  And while we also describe their place in the spirit world as prison also, it is not one in which they suffer the demands of justice.  It is a prison because they do not have the ability to progress or get out of darkness without the light of the gospel.  But when they do receive the Savior, and when the requirements of the gospel are met, they “shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation” (D&C 138:59).  The missionary work and spreading of the gospel in the spirit world is for them, and while Alma’s description of the spirit world to his son does not include it, I don’t think it precludes it either.