Do Mormons believe Jesus and Satan are brothers?

June 24, 8:13 AMLDS Church ExaminerGreg West

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A common anti-Mormon tactic is to bias the minds of a sincere, curious individual by using emotionally charged arguments. The purpose is to bypass reason and cause the person to react on the basis of superstition, peer pressure, or avoidance of potential embarrassment.

An example of such an argument might be a question related to corporal punishment. If I asked a Christian mother if she believed in spanking as an option when disciplining a child, the likely answer would be affirmative. If I asked her whether she beat her children to discipline them, her immediate response would be "No!" The emotional image of beating a child is so abhorrent that one recoils in horror. One's emotional reaction is predictable. By phrasing the question a certain way, I can immediately bypass reason and obtain an emotional reaction to bias your response.

APPEALING TO THE EMOTIONS, NOT TO REASON

A common attack used to bias the curious against further investigation of Mormon beliefs is the charge that Mormons believe Jesus and Satan are brothers. This creates an immediate, negative reaction. Would you want to have your family told that you are investigating the possibility of associating with a church that teaches such a thing? This accusation immediately harrows up such negatives that many sincere people simply "turn off" their curiosity and return to the reassurance of familiarity.

These are the souls of whom Jesus spoke, in the Parable of the Sower in Mark chapter 4:17, who receive the word with gladness "And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended." They fall away because they have "no root." The newness of their faith and lack of understanding make them vulnerable to such attacks. They don't have the knowledge to defend those things they have received in faith.

SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES

If you will search the scriptures and what they teach about our nature and the nature of Christ and Satan, you will learn the truth of our relationships. Before the world was created, we lived in a premortal existence as spirits. Of Jesus Christ it was written:

The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.
I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.
Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:
While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:
When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:
When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:
Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;
Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. (Proverbs 8:22-31, italics added)

This passage tells us of the premortal existence of Jesus, but please take note of last sentence. His delights were with the sons of men. Before this earth was created, we lived with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It was in this premortal state that we received certain missions that we were to accomplish during our mortal probation on earth. We have the record of one such mortal foreordained to be a prophet during his life:

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)

Like Jeremiah, the Lord knew each of us. There was one among us, who stood preeminent above all: Jesus Christ. He has many titles. One of them is "The Firstborn." Of Jesus' status as Firstborn, Paul wrote:

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; (Colossians 1:13-19, italics added)

Mormons literally believe Paul's testimony in the Bible. Jesus Christ is the Firstborn of every creature. He is the preeminent Spirit of all spiritual beings created by God. God is the Father of all. As Jesus told Mary when she beheld the resurrected Lord:

...but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17)

The Father of Jesus is our Father. His God is our God. As God is our Father, we are brothers and sisters. Thus Jesus is the Firstborn of us all. He is our Elder Brother. As the passage above indicates, he is also the Creator of the earth. Acting always in accordance with the Father's will, Jesus Christ created the earth and the physical universe around us.

John testifies, "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:3) Paul again confirms that God "Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds." (Hebrews 1:2)

We've now read about Jesus' role as the Firstborn and Creator. Another role or title that he alone bears is "Only Begotten." (See John 1:14-18, 3:16-18) Of all the spirits that God the Father created, there is only one whom he created physically. In a miraculous manner, beyond mortal man's comprehension, Jesus Christ condescended to become flesh and blood like the rest of us.

He possessed all the qualities and powers of Divinity as a mortal man and lived a sinless life. Yet he was subject to all the pains and suffering of physical existence. He suffered as none ever has or ever will, both in Gethsemane and on the cross, to atone for the sins of all mankind. Rising from the tomb after three days, he came forth as a resurrected being. This gives him another title, Firstborn from the dead. (Colossians 1:18)

Another title which Christ uses to describe himself is the Bright and Morning Star.

I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. (Revelation 22:16)

To Job, the Lord inquired:

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:4-7, italics added)

This group of premortal spirits who are distinguished by the title morning stars may have been a chosen group of spirits, of whom Jesus was the Eldest and Most Preeminent. The scriptures say little else of them. However, there is one other being who bears a similar title. That being is Lucifer or Satan, who is called Son of the Morning.

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. (Isaiah 14:12-15)

Lucifer's title here as son of the morning is rendered in Hebrew as haylel ben shachar = Shining One, son of Dawn. Lucifer sought to usurp the glory and authority of God the Father, for which he was rejected and cast out of heaven. Of this event, Jesus was witness (Luke 10:18). John the Revelator also beheld Lucifer's downfall as he wrote:

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth...
...And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:3-9)

Origen of Alexandria (185-251 A.D.) is the first Christian writer to link the two. After quoting this passage from Isaiah, Origen wrote, "Evidently by these words is he [Satan] shown to have fallen from heaven, who formerly was Lucifer, and who used to arise in the morning (Peri Archon - On First Things 1.5.5)." That is to say, Lucifer was the angelic title of Satan before his fall from heaven. Augustine also has a similar idea, and from there it passes into medieval Christianity.

As these Bible passages indicate, there was a conflict or "war in heaven." Satan and his followers were cast out of heaven, down to the earth. One third of the "stars," God's spirit children, followed Lucifer to this fate. Their doom was bitter. Once cast out of heaven, they would never be born into mortal bodies. Thus, they would never be resurrected and inherit the glory promised to those who remained faithful to God the Father and his Christ.

As a son of the morning, Lucifer can appear as an angel of light. The name Satan means "one who opposes." Lucifer opposes God, Christ, the Plan of Salvation, and the Church. He and his disembodied spirits seek to possess and control the bodies of mortals when they have the opportunity. When Jesus cast out a Legion of demons from a possessed person, it is some these lost souls whom he banished into a herd of swine.

We see that Lucifer, before he became Satan, was a spirit in God's presence, among us in the premortal world. God created him and God is his Father in the same sense that God is our Father. Satan rebelled and was cast out for his rebellion. Another name for him is Perdition, meaning "lost."

There are individuals who have claimed that the sacred temple rites of Latter-day Saints contain some secret teaching that describes Satan as holding a position of honor. This is untrue. I may not discuss my knowledge of these sacred ordinances, but I wish to refer you to the words of Jesus Christ himself. In the hours before his betrayal, trial, and crucifixion, Jesus said to his disciples:

Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. (John 14:30, italics added)

In this passage, Jesus describes Satan as the prince of this world, or having power over the fallen earth. Since the moment Adam and Eve were cast from Eden, mankind and the earth had been under the dominion of sin and death. When one abides in sin, one abides under Satan's authority. Jesus, being sinless, had no fear of Satan and could not come under his power unless he were to submit himself to it.

This is exactly what Jesus did. He surrendered himself as the sacrificial Lamb of God, to take upon himself the eternal punishment for all of our sins. Jesus seized the keys of death and hell from Satan's power and offers us mercy and forgiveness on the condition of sincere repentance. Jesus ransoms us from the dominion of Satan.

In the symbolic sense, Christ is the God of Eden, a paradise where sin and death have no power. His atonement redeems us and brings us back to this state. Symbolically, Satan is the lord of the fallen earth where unrighteousness and death are the predominant conditions.  It is in this sense that Satan holds dominion over the world at present. He exercises power, he causes hatred, strife, wars, plagues, racism, disloyalty, dishonesty, betrayal, calumny, and distress. Paul refers to Satan as “the prince of power of the air” in Ephesians 2:2.

The Book of Mormon describes the fall of Satan thus:

And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs suppose that an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God.
And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind. Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. (2 Nephi 2:17)

CONCLUSION

As God is the Father of all spirits, all of us are brothers and sisters. That means that Lucifer is a spirit child of God the Father. He was once one of us. He had free will like us. He could choose between good and evil. He defied his Father and rejected Jesus Christ as his Redeemer. His fate might have been otherwise, had he not rebelled against our Father in Heaven.

It is in this sense, that we are all spirit children of God, that Jesus and Lucifer would be considered brothers. This does not mean there is any acceptance or kinship beyond that point. Satan is the opponent of all who rejected him and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. Jesus Christ is the Firstborn, the Only Begotten in the flesh, and the Savior and Redeemer of the world. Only in and through Jesus Christ can anyone find salvation.

Latter-day Saints worship God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. We stand by the testimony of James, when he wrote:

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

The ancient prophet Mormon said:

For behold, a bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water; neither can a good fountain bring forth bitter water; wherefore, a man being a servant of the devil cannot follow Christ; and if he follow Christ he cannot be a servant of the devil.
Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually.
But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.
Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil.
For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.
For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.
But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him. (Moroni 7:11-17)

Those who would impugn to us some sinister secret, because of our belief in the scriptures I cited above, act from ill will and “judge that which is good to be of the devil.”

Jesus said, "By their fruits ye shall know them." A good tree can not bring forth evil fruits. This is an unmistakable trait. Compare the fruits (the works) of the Church with the darkness of the hostile lies told against Latter-day Saints and judge for yourself who possesses the spirit of truth or the spirit of error.