Do people go to hell according to Mormonism?

Hell can be a challenging topic for anyone. It’s hard to explain how a loving God could send anyone to eternal separation from himself. Mormonism recognizes that hell is an unpalatable doctrine and, over the years, has softened its teachings about it. Today, LDS missionaries and members often emphasize a more comforting view: nearly everyone will inherit some level of heavenly glory. Only a handful—those who fight against the LDS Church after knowing its “truth”—are believed to suffer in outer darkness.

What Most Mormons Believe Today

Most Mormons today believe that almost no one ends up in outer darkness. This belief is often presented as evidence of how much kinder and more complete the “restored gospel” is compared to biblical Christianity. They may contrast it with what they perceive as the harshness of biblical teachings about hell, suggesting that Mormonism’s message of universal glory is a truer reflection of God’s love.

But this surface-level comfort masks deeper tensions within Mormon doctrine, tensions that you can explore gently and thoughtfully in conversation.

Two Conversations to Raise Thoughtful Questions

When hell comes up in your conversations with missionaries, you have two valuable opportunities to ask gentle, thought-provoking questions. Remember, the goal isn’t to back them into a corner. It’s to plant seeds that invite reflection.

1. A Conversation About Justice and Love

You might say, “I’ve always thought that if God wasn’t just, he couldn’t really be loving.”

This simple statement invites reflection. In human relationships, we recognize that real love demands justice. Imagine a judge who turns a blind eye to abuse or cruelty—he wouldn’t be considered loving. True love protects what is good by confronting and removing what is evil.

In the same way, God’s love and God’s justice are not opposites. They work together.

• A truly loving God punishes sin—because sin brings pain, destruction, and separation from him.
• A truly loving God removes sin from his people and his presence forever, making heaven a place of pure joy, peace, and safety.

This conversation creates a natural opportunity to explain the Great Exchange—the heart of the gospel:

Every one of us has a sin problem that must be dealt with. Jesus stepped in and suffered the punishment of hell in our place. Remember his cry from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). On the cross, Jesus experienced hell (separation from God)—so we never would have to.

We can either receive justification through Jesus’ perfect, finished work—or refuse it and bear the full punishment our sins deserve ourselves. Either way, God remains both perfectly just and perfectly loving.

Hell doesn’t contradict love—it shows how serious God is about making all things new and freeing his people from the curse of sin forever.

And heaven isn’t full of sinners who simply tried hard enough. It’s full of sinners who were washed clean by Jesus.

This conversation helps missionaries see that the biblical picture of hell isn’t about cruelty—it’s about grace and hope through the only Savior who could rescue us.

2. A Conversation About Mormon Teachings on Hell

You can also express curiosity about their own teachings.

But before you bring up specific passages, it helps to understand a little more about what Mormonism teaches. According to LDS belief, everyone—including people, angels, demons, Jesus, and Satan—began as spirit children of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother in a premortal world. During this time, a great rebellion took place. Satan and a third of these spirit children rejected God’s plan of salvation and chose to follow Satan instead. As a result, they were cast out, denied physical bodies, and sentenced to eternal separation from God in outer darkness. This teaching is found in Doctrine and Covenants 29:36–37.

“I’ve been thinking about what Mormonism teaches—that a third of the spirit children followed Satan and were cast into outer darkness (Doctrine and Covenants 29:36–37). That seems like a lot of people permanently separated from God.”

You might also mention how surprisingly strong the Book of Mormon is in its teachings about hell. Here are a few examples:

• 2 Nephi 28:21–23 warns about being led carefully to hell.
• Alma 12:14–16 describes a fiery torment for the wicked.
• Mosiah 2:38–39 speaks of “never-ending torment” for the rebellious.

You could gently ask, “How do those passages fit with the idea that almost everyone eventually ends up in some level of heaven?”

Again, the goal isn’t to win an argument but to create space for them to think more deeply about God’s justice, God’s love, and the urgency of the true gospel.

Final Thought

Jesus is the narrow door, the only way. He’s the Savior who faced hell so we wouldn’t have to. Sharing this hope clearly—but with patience and love—can powerfully plant seeds for the Spirit to water and grow.