And there is a place prepared, yea, even that awful hell of which I have spoken, and the devil is the preparator of it; wherefore the final state of the souls of men is to dwell in the kingdom of God, or to be cast out because of that justice of which I have spoken.
Mormons reject the notion of a binary judgment of heaven or hell. Rather, they believe in degrees of glory, which people attain to based on their quality of faith. We cannot escape the statements of the Book of Mormon, however, that at least some of God's children will find themselves in a place without glory. If hell is the place prepared by Satan, then it cannot be one of the three kingdoms of glory, which are prepared by God. So therefore it must be outer darkness where only justice reigns, and mercy does not reach at all. Satan's kingdom is not the place for ordinary sinners who were born in darkness or have lost their way. Recall that Nephi is speaking here to his brothers, who have seen an angel and who do not sin ignorantly. It is such as these, who have known light but have deliberately chosen darknes,s who will find themselves in a darkness that has no end.
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