Importance of D&C 76

I remember when I was in seminary and the teacher said something about how there was progress after heaven and hell. He read some quote from a general authority that said that eventually hell would be left empty, and that the people there would eventually be saved. This shocked me. It just didn't seem right to me. I had grown up with that idea that the good people go to heaven, and the bad people go to hell, and that's the end.

I think that there is a part of human nature that likes to send other people to hell. Not necessarily the person who cuts you off on the freeway, but those really bad people in the world. (Confession: two people I currently hope will rot are Joseph Kony and Brian Mitchell.) Anyway, if you believe in heaven and hell in the traditional way, then section 76 can be a shock. In fact, it was a huge shock to the early church. It became such a subject of contention that Joseph Smith asked that it not be read or discussed anymore in church. Brigham Young said said that he had to put the revelation on a shelf and stop thinking about it - otherwise he probably would have left the church over it.

If you think about it, though, this revelation shows just how much God loves us. He doesn't send people to hell to punish them. He sends them there to help with their progression, and when their term is up, he won't make them suffer any longer. Even the Hitlers of the world will eventually achieve some level of salvation.