---
title: Improvement Era
description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930.
authors:
  - Hyde, Wm. A.
collections:
  - periodicals
tags:
  - magazine
  - improvement-era
periodical: Improvement Era
volume: 19
number: 5
published: 1916-03
publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations
publisher_place: Salt Lake City
language: en
type: magazine
reference: 'Wm. A. Hyde, "The Son of Perdition," *Improvement Era* 19, no. 5 (March 1916): 385–394.'
source:
  url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1905unse
  transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers.
  identifier: improvementera1905unse
start_page: 385
end_page: 394
rights:
  status: public-domain
  basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1916-03)
  source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1905unse
  publication_year: 1916
  note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1916, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright.
---

# The Son of Perdition

<!-- page:385 -->

Improvement Era

Vol. XIX MARCH, 1916 No. 5

The Son of Perdition

BY WM. A. HYDE, PRESIDENT OF THE POCATELLO STAKE OF ZION

[The following letter, treating a subject of great importance tostudents of the gospel and to missionaries teaching in the field, waswritten by the author to his son, Charles W. Hyde, who is doing mis-sionary service in Baltimore, Maryland.—Editors.]

My Dear Son : In answer to your question, "Who is a sonof perdition?"—which question from you comes as a result of adiscussion among elders, in which there appears to have remainedsome difference of opinion,—I will say that it was with doubt asto my ability to answer you, that I took up the otherwise pleasanttask. I happened to remember, though, that in 1895, just twentyyears ago on the twentieth of this month, I listened to PresidentJoseph F. Smith deliver an illuminating discourse on this verysubject, at Franklin. It was published soon after, and I preservedit, and most that I shall say will be taken from that discourse,leaving me little to give independently. Let me begin, though, bygiving you the definition of perdition as found in the StandardDictionary:

"Perdition: The utter loss of the soul * * * * in a futurestate. Future misery or eternal death, a condition of the wicked, andfinally unrepentant."

That definition, largely correct in my opinion, contains animportant element which I have underscored, and to which refer-ence will be made later. And now I will quote from PresidentSmith. As a basis and prerequisite for happiness and progress,he says:

The body without the spirit is dead; the spirit without the body isnot perfect, because to be perfect we must be conformed to the like-ness of Jesus Christ. He was perfect, he possesses a body as well asa spirit, an immortal body, not one that will again suffer death. Itpossesses the elements of eternal existence—an existence equal to that

<!-- page:386 -->

386 IMPROVEMENT ERA

of the spirit, which will live throughout the countless ages of eternity.Therefore what we want is an immortal body joined with an immortalspirit, which together shall constitute an immortal soul, in the imageof God, and possessing the attributes of God, and also his favor. Itwill not avail man to have an immortal body and an immortal spirit,joined together as an eternal being, unless he also possesses the favorof God; for unless men possess his favor, and are permitted to dwellwith him and enjoy the glory of his presence, there is no more pro-gression for them; they come to a full stop. This is the doctrine ofthe Bible, it is the doctrine of the Book of Mormon and of the Doc-trine and Covenants.

Relative to the condition of the spirits of men after death, hesays:

There are two places the Book of Mormon tells us of, in languagethat cannot be misunderstood, to which the spirits of men go, whiletheir bodies lie in the tomb awaiting the resurrection.

See Alma 40:12-14. These passages describe, first a placewhich is called paradise, where there is a state of rest and ofpeace, where the righteous are received; and a place of darknessto which the wicked and rebellious are consigned, where there is"weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth." Here the wickedremain in "darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for thefiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they re-main in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until thetime of the resurrection."

Says President Smith:

Then all of the bodies that lie in the grave are called forth;not all at the first resurrection, nor in the morning of the first resur-rection, but some perhaps in the last resurrection; and every soul willbe required to go before the bar of God and be judged according tothe deeds done in the body. If his works have been good, then hereceives the reward of well doing. If evil, then he will be banishedfrom the presence of the Lord. Nevertheless, he is an immortalbeing, because he possesses his resurrected body. Every creaturethat is born in the image of God will be resurrected from the dead,just as sure as he dies, you can write that down if you please, andnever forget it, nor never allow yourself to have any unbelief on thataccount. As in Adam al die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Here is a condition brought about by the redemption ofChrist, common to all, and in which the sinful as well as the right-eous share, for, says President Smith,

It matters not whether we have done well or ill, whether we havebeen intelligent or ignorant, or whether we have been bondsmen orslaves or freemen, all men will be raised from the dead; and, as Iunderstand it, when they are raised from the dead they become im-mortal beings, and they will no more suffer the dissolution of thespirit and the body.

Now we come to a very important principle, perhaps the keyto the subject. The discourse continues:

<!-- page:387 -->

THE SON OF PERDITION 387

Those who are righteous and are brought forth in the morning ofthe first resurrection, shall be clothed with glory, immortality andeternal lives; while those who have sinned unto death shall be ban-ished again from the presence of God into outer darkness, where thereis weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Let me read a fewwords from the book of Doctrine and Covenants in relation to thematter of the second death:

"Wherfore I the Lord caused that he should be cast out of theGarden of Eden, from my presence, because of his transgressionwherein he became spiritually dead, which is the first death, even thatsame death which is the last death, which is spiritual, which shall bepronounced upon the wicked when I shall say, Depart, ye cursed.

"But, behold I say unto you, that I the Lord God gave unto Adamand unto his seed that they should not die as to the temporal deathuntil I the Lord God should send forth angels to declare unto themrepentance and redemption, through faith on the name of mine onlybegotten Son.

"And thus did I, the Lord God, appoint unto man the days of hisprobation; that by his natural death he might be raised to immortalityand eternal life, even as many as would believe;

"And they that believe not, unto eternal damnation, for they cannotbe redeemed from their spiritual fall because they repent not."

As against the belief asserted by some, that the second deathis a dissolution of the spirit and body from their organized con-dition into their native elements, he quotes from the ProphetAmulek (Alma 11:45):

"I say unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortalbody; that is from death; even from the first death unto life, that theymay die no more; their spirits uniting with their bodies, never to bedivided; thus the whole becoming spiritual and immortal, that theycan no more see corruption."

The question now arises, what, then, is the second death, ifit does not mean a dissolution of the soul of man; and it is an-swered in the following scripture :

Alma 12:16-18: And now behold I say unto you, then cometh adeath, even a second death, which is a spiritual death; then is a timethat whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also diea spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto right-eousness;

Then is the time when their torments shall be as a lake of fire andbrimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever, and then isthe time when they shall be chained down to everlasting destructionaccording to the power and captivity of Satan; he having subjectedthem according to his will.

Then I say unto you, they shall be as though there had been noredemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God'sjustice; and they cannot die seeing that there is no more corruption.

Doc. and Cov. 76:31-48: Thus saith the Lord concerning all thosewho know my power, and have been made partakers thereof, andsuffered themselves through the power of the Devil, to be overcome,and to deny the truth and defy my power:

They are they who are the sons,of perdition, of whom I say thatit had been better for them never to have been born, for they are the

<!-- page:388 -->

388 [MPR< IVEMENT ERA

vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the deviliik! his angell in eternity; concerning whom I have said there is noforgiveness in this world nor in the world to come, having denied theHoly Spirit after having received it, and having denied the only be-gotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves andput him t<> open shame. These are they who shall go away into thelake of tire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels, and the onlyones on whom the second death shall have any power; yea verily, theonly ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, afterthe suffering of his wrath; for all the rest shall be brought forth bythe resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of theLamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before theworlds were made. ******

Who glorifies the Father and saves all the works of his hands,except those sons of perdition, who deny the Son after the Father hasrevealed him; wherefore he saves all except them; they shall go awayinto everlasting punishment, to reign with the devil and his angels ineternity, where their worm dicth not, and the fire is not quenchedwhich is their torment, and the end thereof, neither the place thereof,nor their torment no man knows, neither was it revealed, neither is,neither will be revealed unto man, except to those who are made par-takers thereof; nevertheless I the Lord show it by vision unto many,but straightway shut it up again; wherefore the end, the width, theheight, the depth, and the misery thereof they understand not, neitherany man except those who are ordained unto this condemnation.

President Smith then continues and says:

Now I want to go back and repeat a few words that I read before:"Wherefore I the Lord God caused that he should be cast out fromthe Garden of Eden, from my presence because of his transgression,wherein he became spiritually dead."

Then he explains more fully how it was that he became spir-itually dead, by drawing the comparison between the two con-ditions surrounding Adam, when he entered the Garden, and whenhe was driven forth out of it. In the first condition, he had "ac-cess to the Father, he was in his presence, and walked and talkedwith him as one man to another." How different the conditionwhen he was driven out and "became subject to the power ofSatan." It was now impossible for him to extricate himself fromthat condition. "He was in the grasp of Satan. He was in theconfines of hell. He was spiritually dead." banished from thepresence of God. Now. this spiritual death that Adam sufferedis the same in effect as the last death that is to be suffered by theunrepentant, and President Smith thus emphasizes this point:

Now why I put so much stress upon this point is that T may im-press upon you the word of God as declared to us: for he says:

"Wherefore I the Lord God caused that he should be cast outfrom the Garden of Eden, from my presence, because of his trans-sression, wherein he became spiritually dead, which is the first death,even that same death which is the last death, which is spiritual, whichshall be pronounced upon the wicked when T shall say, Depart, yecursed."

<!-- page:389 -->

THE SON OF PERDITION 389

Thus we see that the first death which came into the world is alsothe last death which shall be pronounced upon the sons of perdition.What is it?

Banishment from the presence of God.

Banishment from the power of God.

Banishment from the glory of God.

Banishment from the joys of heaven.

Banishment from all progress.

Banishment into outer darkness. Banishment into hell, which isas a lake of fire and brimstone, where their worm dieth not, and thefire is not quenched, because the soul lives and is bound to live on,suffering the damnation of hell. This is what I understand spiritualdeath is. I do not understand it to be the separation of the body andspirit again. I do not understand it to be the dissolution of the spiritinto its native element. I understand the second death to be the sameas the first death—spiritual death; the same condition that Adam wasin and that he had to be redeemed from by the blood of Christ and byfaith and obedience to the commandments of God. By this meansAdam was redeemed from the first death, and brought back again intothe presence of God, back again into the favor of the Almighty, backagain into the channel of eternal increase and progress.

Now here comes an important point.

And if a man after being placed in this condition, shall deny theHoly Ghost and Jesus Christ, putting him again to open shame andcrucifying him afresh, then that first death which fell upon our firstparents, will again be pronounced upon that man, and it is not writtenthat he shall ever be delivered from it. It is not written that there isany forgiveness for it, nor any redemption therefrom.

Now our knowledge of the gospel and of God's justice,teaches us that all men are not held alike accountable, or ratherthat they are held accountable only to the extent of their knowl-edge. It therefore follows that the gravity of a man's sin isbased upon the environments of his life, and upon his knowledge,.,o President Smith says:

No man can commit the unpardonable sin in ignorance. A manmust be brought to a knowledge of Christ; he must receive a testimonyof Christ in his heart, and possess light and power, knowledge andunderstanding, before he is capable of committing that sin. But whena man turns away from the truth, violates the knowledge which hehas received, tramples it under his feet, puts Christ again to openshame, denies his atonement, denies the power of the resurrection,denies the miracles that he has wrought for the salvation of the humanfamily, and says in his heart, "it is not true," and abides in that denialof the truth, after having received the testimony of the spirit, hecommits the unpardonable sin. This is blasphemy against the HolyGhost for which there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the worldto come. He will live on, an immortal soul that cannot die, and yetthat cannot live in the presence of God. He will be banished intoouter darkness to suffer the consequences of his own acts. Not theconsequences of an unjust, partial or wicked judgment; but the conse-quences of his own wickedness and transgression of the laws of God.And he will know that his pnnishment is just, which will but add moreand more to the sorrow and anguish incident to his condition. Hewill know that he merits it, and that there is no redemption for him.

<!-- page:390 -->

390 [MPRl IVEMENT ERA

Why arc such as these called the sons of perdition? Myanswer is: Satan was called Perdition hecause "the heavens weptover him," for he was cast out from his high estate and glory.When we elect, in the light of knowledge, to follow him, then webecome his sons, as we deliberately choose him to be our master."I lis servants ye are whom ye list to obey," and his sons we arewhom we choose for our ruler. We are adopted of him instead of( hrist, we choose his plan in preference to the plan of the Saviorof the world, thus we become sons of perdition.

President Smith continues:

Why, says one, "Is not God merciful? Can lie he just, and yetinflict such punishment upon his own children?" Let me tell you thatGod does not, and will not inflict it upon them. Those who enter intothis death will find that they have inflicted it upon themselves, andthat God has not done it. They have done it, because they loved un-righteousness, they loved not the truth and abode not in the truth.And their judgment will be just and they will be conscious that it willbe just. No one perhaps will be more sorrowful over their dreadfulfate than the loving God who gave them life and being in the world,and who created us all to be formed and fashioned in the image andlikeness of his only begotten Son in whom there was no guile and whowas without sin unto salvation. We were foreordained and pre-destined to become like him, and if there shall be any failure we willbring it upon ourselves. We shall find that instead of fulfiling ourdestiny and accomplishing the mission that God set for us to do, weshall have sinned away the day of grace and our chances of redemp-tion from the power of Satan, and we will have brought death uponourselves, and will be the only ones that will have to suffer for it. Iwant you to understand, my brethren and sisters, that this is myjudgment and understanding, from reading the scriptures, of what thesecond death is.

As to the condition and term of duration of this second death,the fate of the sons of perdition, there is much speculation, andsome have maintained that the climax of their punishment will beannihilation, that they will exist no longer as souls, but that theirelements will be disorganized, and they become as nought. Ofthis idea the discourse says:

What a glorious prospect for the sinner! Then he could say, "Letus cat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die, and the next day weshall be annihilated, and that will be the end of our sorrow and ofGod's judgment upon us." Do not flatter yourselves that you aregoing to get out of it so easy. This Book of Mormon is replete, allthe way through, with the testimonies of the servants of God, thatmen are born to be immortal: that after the resurrection, their bodiesare to live as long as their spirits, and their spirits cannot die. Theyare immortal beings, and they are destined, if they commit the un-pardonable sin, to be banished from the presence of God, and endurethe punishment of the devil and his angels throughout all eternity. Tthink that the wicked would prefer annihilation to the sufferings ofsuch punishment—an end to being. This view cannot be reconciled tothe word of God. Alma says, 42:9:

"Therefore, as the soul can never die, and the fall had brought

<!-- page:391 -->

THE SON OF PERDITION 391

upon all mankind a spiritual death as well as a temporal; that is, theywere cut off from the presence of the Lord; it is expedient that man-kind should be reclaimed from the spiritual death."

And again he says, 42:16:

"Now repentance could not come unto men, except there was apunishment, which also was eternal, as the life of the soul should be,affixed opposite to the plan of happiness, which was as eternal alsoas the life of the soul."

In III Nephi 25:5, we read:

"If they be good, to the resurrection of everlasting life, and if theybe evil to the resurrection of damnation, being on a parallel, the oneon the one hand, and the other on the other hand," etc.

As to whether there is even a measure of forgiveness forsuch as these or not, we are left to conjecture. The Lord sayswith reference to their punishment, "The end thereof, neither theplace thereof, nor their torment no man knows." He says furtherthat it will never be revealed to any but those who are "partakersthereof," so why discuss this further? This much, however, weknow that a judgment is entered against certain souls, Doc. andCov. 76:112: "And they shall be the servants of the Most High,but where God and Christ are, they cannot come, worlds withoutend." These are out of the presence of the Father, and meas-urably, at least, they are suffering spiritual death, and this con-dition is to continue with them, and as I understand it, there isno mitigation of this sentence.

Considering all these possibilities, it is sufficient for me toknow that God is just. It is a hopeful sign that these sinful anddegenerate souls can suffer torment of spirit. If they were in-capable of misery, there could be no punishment. The object ofpunishment is not revenge, it is reformation, and when the wrathof God has been poured out upon them for their refusal of hisproffered atonement, it may be that mercy will speak. It is per-missible to think, also, that as there are different degrees of gloryin the highest exaltation, so there may be different degrees ofdegradation among these who have denied the Christ. I prefer tothink that when, in their bitterness of soul and hardness of heart,sorrow conies, that repentance will follow, and that they will then"bow the knee," and it will be some mitigation of their punishmentto be permitted to become a servant of the Most High. Mind, Isay that I prefer to so think, but I have no authority for it, ex-cept that repentance is the principle upon which mercy operates,and if it is possible for these souls to repent, it would follow thatthey could lay claim upon the mercy of God, when they had paidthe uttermost farthing.

As to who may become a son of perdition, I would say, thatany man to whom God has revealed by unquestionable demonstra-tion that Jesus is the Christ, not by the conversion of the mind,but by the infallible and unmistakable evidence of the Holy Ghost,and then denies that testimony, is in that class .As I have before

<!-- page:392 -->

392 IMPROVEMENT ERA

said, in effect, in writing on the subject of the sacrament; "theunbelieving rabble, Jews and soldiers who surrounded the crossof Christ, and mocked at his sufferings, shamed him no more inaction, and not so much in reality, as those to whom his divinityhas been revealed, and who now mock that atonement. Trulythey 'crucify him again, and put him to an open shame.' "

Herewith is also connected the principle of free agency, theoriginal issue in heaven between Christ and Satan. Redemptionis offered to men, which they may accept or reject. The Lordsays, Doc. and Cov. 88:33-35:

For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, andhe receiveth not the gift? Behold he rejoices not in that which isgiven unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.

That which breaketh a law, and abideth not by law, but seekethto become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin, cannot besanctified by law, neither by mercy, justice nor judgment. Therefore,they must remain filthy still.

Having refused the proffered gift, there is nothing furtherthat a merciful Redeemer can do under the law for them. Theymust remain filthy until they accept the cleansing efficacy ofChrist's blood shed for them. If they have become deadened andhardened, until they are incapable of repentance, then there is nohope for them.

President Smith presents a very beautiful distinction as to thedifference in the degree or quality of guilt in men. He says:

Therefore we are now on very safe or on dangerous ground,—dangerous if we are trifling with these sacred things that have beencommitted to our care. Hence, I warn you, my brethren and sisters,especially my brethren, against trifling with your bishopric. Judaswas one of the chosen Twelve. But he was a devil, and he is calledin the scriptures a son of perdition. I think he is, but I do not sayhe committed the unpardonable sin, nor that he did not, although ifhe continue in that condition that lie was in when he betrayed theLord, he will surely remain a son of perdition forever and ever. Butto say that Judas committed the unpardonable sin, and became a son ofperdition by betraying Christ as he did, is more than I am able to do,because I do not believe that he had ever received the gift of the HolyGhost. Peter denied the Lord and cursed and swore in order to makeunbelievers think that he was not a follower of Christ. He lied in thepresence of God and before the world, and declared that he was notone of the disciples of Jesus. Did he commit the unpardonable sin?Was he a son of perdition? No; it was only the weakness of humannature that was in him, and he repented of it, repented sorely, andGod forgave him. Afterwards, he received the Holy Ghost and henever committed any such sin again. But Judas was cast out, hisbishopric was taken from him and given to Matthias, and a very severepenalty was inflicted upon him. And I am not sure but he atonedfor his sin before he passed into the other world. I do not knowthat he did not; I do not know that he did. At any rate, I believe helamented his sin, although he was a devil. But you, my brethren whohave the Holy Priesthood, and have been called to this bishopric, this

<!-- page:393 -->

THE SON OF PERDITION 393

apostleship, this eldership, this Priesthood which is after the order ofthe Son of God, and are placed to preside over the people, let me tellyou that you cannot trifle with these things with impunity. * * * *He will withdraw his spirit from you, and the time will come when youwill be found kicking against the light and knowledge which you havereceived, and you may become sons of perdition. Therefore, youwould better beware, lest the second death be passed upon you. Weare not like the rest of the world, and we cannot commit the sins thatthe world do and escape the wrath of God.

I have known men who have understood, in a superficial way,some of these truths, and who have professed to be awed andfrightened by the amazing responsibilities which one must assumewho enters the race for celestial exaltation, and who have said,"I will seek for less, for fear of endangering myself the more."These men were not valiant, for God's gifts to his children are sowonderful that he who knows of them will be willing to assumeall the risks, go through all the trials, suffer all the persecution,that he may gain the reward, for he knows that the mercy of Godhas assured to him that if he will practice humility and obedience,he will always be safe. Then let us put on the whole armor ofChrist, and be valiant in the truth, and all will be well with us.

Now, my son, I have spent considerable time on this letter,and it has been a laborious task, in a way, though a very pleasantone, indeed; but I trust that some of these principles will now beclear to you. Let me repeat some advice that I believe I havegiven to you before. The things that are proved of the scriptures,and that are clear and plain to you, accept without reservation,and fasten your soul to them, and abide in them unswervingly.Concerning the principles that are not fully understood by you,maintain an open, receptive mind. Prefer to believe along linesof Justice and Mercy, and you will not go far wrong. With thisprayerful desire in your heart, the "doctrines of the Priesthoodwill distil upon your soul," and you will in due time know.Avoid discussions that go beyond printed proof, for they areusually profitless. This subject that you have brought to me hasnot been one of that class, for there are a number of principlesinvolved that you ought to know as a basis of your understandingof the gospel. It is the disposition of some elders to search forsmall, unimportant details; but, while attention to detail is im-portant in many ways, it should be understood that this is not agospel of technicalities, but of broad and massive truths. I be-lieve most earnestly that the plan of the Redeemer will finallyresolve itself, as we get intelligent enough to understand it, intoa few basic principles; just as the colors of the prism are com-pounded into sunlight. Search for Justice, Love, Obedience,Purity, and Order, in your study, for these are fundamentals, andare some of the prismatic colors in the glorious gospel light. Ofthese, the first two will no doubt be found to be predominant, but

<!-- page:394 -->

394 IMPROVEMENT ERA

you may be assured that the great Master Artist will perfectlyblend Love and Justice into Mercy. So, let others hunt for thelittle details as to "when?" "where?" and "how long?"

Now, my dear son, write me on any point you wish. I maynot always have such an aid as I have had in President Smith'sbeautiful discourse, but I shall always try to answer you fullyand freely.

With love, and prayers for your happiness, Your Father.rocATELLO, idaiio, Jan. 15, 1916.

Come unto Him

[This poem is selected from a little volume of verse by the authorentitled "Sunbeams of Truth," containing some real gems of senti-ment and thought on a variety of topics. The book is in press, andwill soon appear.—Editors.]

Last night I wandered in a dream

Afar to ancient Palestine;There, on the green bank of a stream,

The Baptist preached the word divine.

And One whose sacrificial blood

Has bought redemption for the world

Was baptized in the sacred flood,And then his standard was unfurled.

A band of pilgrims gathered 'round

To hear His burning words that fellLike dew upon a thirsty ground,

With prophecy and miracle.

I followed where He led, until

The Cross its sacred burden bore;I lingered on that blood-stained hill

And wept, I could not follow more.

But He is risen, clear and bright

The North Star of my firmament,To guide me through the darkest night

Where e'er my pilgrimage is bent.

It matters not what may befall,

What threat'ning hand hangs over me,

He is my rampart through it all,My refuge from mine enemy.

Come unto Him, all ye depressed,

Ye erring souls, whose eyes are dim,

Ye weary ones, who long for rest,Come unto Him, come unto Him!

Thf.o. E. Curtis