Mormonism is a term that refers to a collection of independent religious groups, the largest of which is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which reports having over 17 million members worldwide (“Our History.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). These groups trace their origins to the teachings of Joseph Smith (1805-1844), a Christian Restorationist who claimed to have experienced a series of visions from God. Like other Restorationist movements that sought to return to a more “unadulterated” form of Christianity, Mormon beliefs include mainstream Christian concepts with some key modifications. Mormonism recognizes both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible as sacred texts but also draws on the Book of Mormon, a narrative that depicts the arrival of early Indigenous people in the Americas under the guidance of God. Mormons believe in a version of Hell referred to as the spirit prison, in which sinful souls have the opportunity to learn, repent, and eventually be released into paradise.

Zoroastrianism is a dualistic religion that was first recorded in Iran around the sixth century BCE, but in all likelihood originated around 1500 BCE (Mark, Joshua J. “Zoroastrianism.” World History Encyclopedia, 12 Dec. 2019). Zoroastrian belief centers on the cosmic struggle between Ahura Mazda, the benevolent supreme deity, and Aingra Manyu, an evil spirit of destruction. The religion’s sacred book, the Avesta, is a compendium of texts that were originally transmitted orally before being recorded in the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism, Avestan. As one of the oldest surviving religions on the planet, Zoroastrianism’s potential influence on other world religions is a point of fascination for many scholars of religious studies. Although many have credited Zoroastrianism with being the first religion to develop the concepts of heaven and Hell, thereby heavily influencing the Abrahamic religions, these concepts have evolved greatly over the course of Zoroastrianism’s history. Michael Stausberg, a scholar of Zoroastrianism, asserts that although ideas of something vaguely resembling Hell are present in the oldest Zoroastrian texts, Hell did not become a solidified element of Zoroastrian belief until the early Middle Ages (Michael Stausberg, “Hell in Zoroastrian History,” Numen, vol. 56, 2009, pp. 217-53). Furthermore, he asserts that contemporary Zoroastrians are less concerned with heaven and Hell than their medieval predecessors were (Stausberg).

A Short Stay in Hell has both a Mormon author and protagonist and is considered a crucial piece of 21st-century Mormon literature. Its treatment of Mormonism, therefore, is much more faithful to reality than its treatment of Zoroastrianism. While the text correctly names Ahura Mazda as the supreme Zoroastrian divinity and Yazatas as lesser Zoroastrian divinities, it does not faithfully adhere to Zoroastrian depictions of Hell. Whereas the demons in Peck’s version of Hell do not torture anyone directly, for example, “In the scenario of Hell drawn by the Ardā Virāz Nāmag, the demons occasionally serve as assistants for effectuating the severe punishments that the sinners are undergoing. They are pounding, beating, tearing and raking the souls of the sinners” (Stausberg, “Hell,” 239-40). In addition, the notion of a temporary Hell more strongly resembles the Mormon idea of an impermanent stay in “spirit prison” than traditional Zoroastrian constructions of an eternal Hell. Peck’s invocation of Zoroastrianism, therefore, is a vehicle for him to promote religious pluralism rather than an in-depth exploration of Zoroastrianism itself.