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Question

 

Dear Gramps,

In Alma 40:11, it says, “…the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body…are taken home to that God who gave them life.”  And almost all people who have had Near-Death-Experiences report that they have a life review with Jesus Christ when they get on the other side.  But D&C 138:37 says that the Lord cannot personally meet with those in the spirit world who were evil.  So I guess I am confused.  Do all people have a life review with Jesus Christ?

Robert

 

Answer

 

Hi Robert,

Let’s consider the elements you bring up, keeping in mind that the so-called near-death experience (NDE) is notoriously unreliable. Some supposed NDEs are the creation of the teller’s imagination, a misguided bid for attention. Others may be nothing more than the hallucinations of an oxygen-starved brain. Without doubt, at least some NDEs are exactly what they seem: An authentic spiritual encounter. An example of this is the experience related by Elder David B. Haight in a talk given in October 1989 General Conference about the sacred nature of the sacrament.

But even in such cases, these NDEs are best considered as a special type of personal revelation, and follow the same rules that apply to other personal spiritual experiences: They are given for the benefit of the recipient, and are not binding nor even typically shared with the general public. (As an apostle, Elder Haight held the keys of revelation and teaching for the whole Church, so he was authorized to share his sacred experience as he was led by the Spirit.) We should exercise great caution in trying to draw any sort of conclusion from an NDE, and whatever tentative conclusions we do draw should accord with revealed truth.

You mention Doctrine and Covenants Section 138. In it, President Joseph F. Smith quotes Peter, who tells us that the Savior, after his death and before his resurrection, went among the dead to preach the gospel. But rather than going to preach among the spirits of the wicked, the Lord organized among the righteous dead the work of preaching to those souls. This is the meaning of Section 138: The Savior did not preach the gospel in person among the wicked dead, but authorized others to do so in his place.

This does not preclude some personal encounter with God at death, however, as is suggested in Alma 40:11. In a talk given by President David O. McKay to Church employees, President McKay described the nature and general contents of a divine interview for the Priesthood-holding brethren he was addressing, which may well have been what was suggested by Alma:

Let me assure you, Brethren, that some day you will have a personal priesthood interview with the Savior himself. If you are interested, I will tell you the order in which he will ask you to account for your earthly responsibilities.

According to Alma, the post-mortal encounter with God, whatever its nature for each person, will be followed by some sort of prejudgment, where the wicked are assigned to a “spirit prison” while the righteous dwell in a “paradise”. This condition lasts until the resurrection, and affords the unrepentant wicked a chance to hear and accept the gospel, repent of their sins, and leave their state of torment while they await the resurrection. (Though even the souls in paradise view the separation from their bodies as a sort of bondage, according to President Smith’s vision in Section 138.)

In short: From my reading, it appears* that each of us will indeed stand before our Savior at death and account to him for our actions while in our mortal state. For the wicked, this and any other confrontation with Deity will be an excruciatingly painful experience, but for the righteous, a joyful blessing beyond compare. As Alma makes clear, this life is the time to prepare to meet God, so let us take advantage of the opportunity.

*(Note that President Joseph Fielding Smith and President George Q. Cannon held other opinions on the matter, believing that we are not necessarily brought immediately into God’s presence at death. For more information, read the relevant material in the Book of Mormon Student Manual for the verses in Alma 40.)

 

Gramps

 

 

 

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