The bottomless pit (hell)¹ is home on earth to the unembodied spirit sons of perdition that were cast down from heaven with Satan at the time of the physical creation.² The bottomless pit is also the name of hell³ for disembodied spirits of mortal people⁴ that commit the unpardonable sin in this life⁵ and die as sons of perdition.⁶ The bottomless pit is the lowest⁷ and darkest depths⁸ of the postmortal spirit world (spirit prison)⁹ where disembodied spirit sons of perdition¹⁰ await the resurrection¹¹ in a state of damnation.¹² They are vessels of wrath¹³ whom the gospel cannot save, nor is it offered or available to them in the bottomless pit of the postmortal spirit prison.¹⁴

The unembodied and disembodied spirit sons of perdition are separate and distinct members of Satan's kingdom.¹⁵ However, their evil spirits currently coexist in the unseen bottomless pit located here on earth.¹⁶ After the final resurrection and judgment,¹⁷ the unembodied sons of perdition and the resurrected sons of perdition will also coexist forever in the lake of fire and brimstone¹⁸ called outer darkness.¹⁹ The two groups are collectively called the hosts of hell.²⁰ However, this name is sometimes used to describe unembodied sons of perdition²¹ that will fight in the battle of the great God (i.e., Gog and Magog)²² during the little season after the millennium.²³

The first mortal humans became sons of perdition on earth in the days of Cain,²⁴ who conspired with Satan to murder his brother Abel.²⁵ During this first earthly conspiracy, known also as a secret combination,²⁶ Satan promised to give Cain his power²⁷ and Cain became Master Mahan.²⁸ The Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis 5:6 and 13, states that Cain loved Satan more than God.²⁹ For his willingness to conspire with Satan to commit murder, Cain became more than just a son of perdition–he became Perdition.³⁰ That is, Cain became the mortal head³¹ of Satan's kingdom on earth,³² and Cain gloried in his wickedness.³³

After Cain murdered Abel, the Lord preserved Cain's life on earth,³⁴ which allowed Cain's evil influence and wickedness to spread among his descendants and throughout the earth.³⁵ His evil influence continued until the time of the flood,³⁶ when the gospel plan was also known throughout the earth. At that time, there was a great polarization of people who were either very good or very evil.³⁷ The city of Enoch and all her righteous inhabitants were translated almost 700 years before the flood and the translation of righteous people continued until the time of the flood.³⁸ The descendants of Cain and all wicked people on earth remained on earth and were destroyed in the flood.³⁹ However, Cain's bloodline was preserved through the flood because Noah's son, Ham, married a Cainite⁴⁰ woman named Egyptus.⁴¹

When Cain died, his disembodied spirit entered the bottomless pit on earth in the postmortal spirit world to join other disembodied spirits who also committed the unpardonable sin in their lives.⁴² He and many other disembodied sons of perdition⁴³ spread their evil influence⁴⁴ throughout spirit prison,⁴⁵ just as Satan and his unembodied followers spread their evil influence throughout this physical earth.⁴⁶ Satan is king of the bottomless pit over the unembodied sons of perdition as described in Revelation 9:11.⁴⁷ He is not king, however, over the disembodied spirits of the dead.⁴⁸ Cain is king over all disembodied sons of perdition in the bottomless pit because Satan gave this power to Cain on earth.⁴⁹ Cain's disembodied spirit retained that power and kingship in the bottomless pit after the death of his mortal body.⁵⁰ Similarly, after the resurrection, Cain will rule over Satan and all unembodied sons of perdition who will never have physical bodies because they rebelled during the premortal grand council in heaven.⁵¹

When Cain died, his disembodied spirit in hell had no power on earth for thousands of years.⁵² He was a prisoner in the postmortal spirit world with other disembodied spirits since at least the time of Noah.⁵³ However, when Christ died and was resurrected the veil of death that existed between this life and the life hereafter⁵⁴ was rent like the veil of the temple at Jerusalem from the top to the bottom.⁵⁵ Top to bottom metaphorically means that exaltation-worthy spirits in paradise at the top were resurrected and could pass back through the veil of death to be seen by mortals on earth for the first time.⁵⁶ At the bottom, Cain and his disembodied spirit sons of perdition were also given power to pass back through the veil so they could tempt mortals on earth for the first time.⁵⁷

Many people witnessed the righteous saints that returned to earth with resurrected bodies after they were freed from their chains of death.⁵⁸ Such people were seen on two continents.⁵⁹ The scriptures emphatically confirm that Christ's resurrection separated the veil of death⁶⁰ between living mortals and exaltation-worthy saints whose disembodied spirits were in celestial paradise until they were resurrected soon after Christ's resurrection.⁶¹ However, Christ's resurrection also separated the veil of death between living mortals and disembodied spirit sons of perdition from spirit prison.⁶² This is necessarily true because there is always an opposition in all things.⁶³ The presence of exalted people in a resurrected state on earth for the first time must have led to an equal and opposite presence of disembodied spirit sons of perdition in their unresurrected state on earth for the first time.⁶⁴ A similar pattern exists in Christ's postmortal ministry between his death and resurrection.⁶⁵ In that setting, Christ bridged the great gulf between paradise and spirit prison so that disembodied spirits could pass between the two spheres in both directions.⁶⁶ Therefore, just as Christ's death bridged the gulf between disembodied spirits in paradise and prison,⁶⁷ his resurrection parted the veil that existed between the living and the dead.⁶⁸

When Christ parted the veil between the living and the dead,⁶⁹ Cain's disembodied spirit sons of perdition were freed from their bottomless pit in the postmortal spirit world for the first time.⁷⁰ They were given power on earth after Christ's resurrection⁷¹ to exert their evil influence⁷² in equal opposition to the power on earth of righteous resurrected people⁷³ that were freed from their bondage in paradise⁷⁴ when they resurrected with Christ.⁷⁵ John described Cain's new-found freedom, power, and influence on earth in Revelation 13:1-2, saying: "I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea ... and the Dragon [Satan]⁷⁶ gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority."⁷⁷ The image of the Beast is a symbol for Cain whose evil and influence was clearly manifest in the Roman Empire no later than 70 AD.⁷⁸ John's language describes perfectly how the Dragon (Satan) gave his power on earth to the Beast (Cain), as Satan promised he would do when Cain murdered his brother Abel thousands of years before.⁷⁹

When the disembodied followers of Cain passed through the veil of death and were given power on earth, they joined forces with Satan's unembodied spirits⁸⁰ that already had power on earth since the time of the physical creation.⁸¹ Cain was at the head of a new army of disembodied sons of perdition on earth,⁸² and he again became a vagabond in the earth⁸³ as the Lord promised in Moses 5:37.⁸⁴ No later than 70 AD, Cain's evil influence on earth became a flood of evil⁸⁵ that caused the Great Apostasy during the fifth seal.⁸⁶ His evil influence as a disembodied spirit in the meridian of time was foreshadowed by his evil influence as a mortal man. In mortality, Cain caused such universal wickedness that God flooded the earth with water in the days of Noah.⁸⁷

Cain's evil influence on earth as a mortal before the flood, and his influence on earth as a disembodied spirit, sets the pattern for the greater power and influence he will have on earth during and after the future First Woe of the seventh seal. During the First Woe, the bottomless pit will be opened as recorded by John in Revelation 9:1-3.⁸⁸ At that time, Cain (the Beast) and his disembodied followers⁸⁹ will be given much more power on earth,⁹⁰ just as Satan (the Dragon) and his unembodied followers will be given much more power on earth at the same time.⁹¹ The disembodied spirit of Cain (the Beast) will continue to have great power on earth until the spiritual battle of Armageddon during the Third Woe. At that time, the Beast will lose his power on earth as he and his disembodied followers are cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone permanently, as recorded by John in Revelation 19:20.⁹² The unembodied spirit of Satan (the Dragon) will also lose his power on earth during the Third Woe when he and his unembodied followers are bound in the bottomless pit for the 1000-year millennium, as recorded by John in Revelation 20:1-3.⁹³

In Revelation 16:13, John identifies a third group of evil spirits under the leadership of the False Prophet,⁹⁴ who will lose his power on earth when he also is cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone with Cain (the Beast) in Revelation 19:20.⁹⁵ The False Prophet is the disembodied spirit of Judas Iscariot, who fell from his high and holy calling as an apostle to become a son of perdition when he betrayed the Savior on the night of the last supper. When he died his spirit entered the bottomless pit to join other disembodied sons of perdition. As the great apostate of the ancient church, he became the spiritual head of all persons who apostatize from the true church of Jesus Christ. As a disembodied spirit, Judas was also given power on earth no later than the restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830. Judas (the False Prophet) is the latter-day antithesis of Joseph Smith whom God called to be the True Prophet.⁹⁶ Judas (the False Prophet) is the spiritual head of all latter-day apostates of the church who commit the unpardonable sin and become disembodied sons of perdition when they die. This third group of evil spirits will also be given increased powers on earth during and after the First Woe in league with the hosts of hell that follow and are led by Cain (the Beast) and Satan (the Dragon).⁹⁷