Two Related But Unalike: Do Mormons Really Believe that Jesus and Satan are Brothers?

A dear missionary I met and with whom I had the pleasure of working on a couple of occasions called me. He had been out, bearing the heat, the disciplines and rigors of missionary life to share the message of Jesus Christ restoring all that He had once sent to bless this world: Ordinances performed by divine authority (Priesthood), The Gift of the Holy Ghost, modern revelations (both personal, family, and Church-wide), living prophets and apostles, scriptures both revealed now though from the past and revealed freshly in our day joined to the received tome, The Holy Bible, in short, God's abiding love for all mankind.

The Elder encountered a man, a man who doubtlessly loves God and reveres the Word of God, but who had a concern that seemed like so blatant a doctrinal absurdity as to invalidate all the Elders stood there to offer: That according to Mormon doctrine, Jesus Christ and Satan are brothers.

The Elder asked me if I could respond to this. So here is my response. These words are chosen carefully: Here is "my" response.

1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no scripture that overtly states "Jesus Christ and Satan are brothers."
2. That said, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has four books of scripture (in order of publication): The Holy Bible (King James Version), The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, The Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds to the faith that as time goes on, more books of scripture will be revealed, so many that the revelation would be deemed a flood of the knowledge of God that will fill the earth.
3. In the scriptures there are sufficient teachings to establish that all beings, embodied, unembodied, disembodied, are children of the same God, our Heavenly Father, and are thus brothers and sisters. So yes, not only are Jesus and Satan brothers, but we all who now live, ever have lived, and ever will live, are brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, as well as the Adversary, Satan, and his hosts.

All Spirits Are Children of God

The Psalmist, David, penned perhaps the most beautiful declaration of the divine nature of all humanity in Psalm 82:1,6:

1: God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.

6: I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

This declaration, however bold, is somewhat muted in translation. I offer a more careful rendering of the Hebrew:

1: God [Elohim] standeth in the Church of God [El]; He judgeth among the Gods [Elohim].

6: I have said, Ye are Gods [Elohim]; and all of you are children of the Most High.

God, "Elohim", standeth in a Church, His Church, the Church of God, presumably a congregation in Heaven. And He, God, judges among Gods. What Gods? The angels. How would angels be Gods? They are His children. But the Palmist does not stop there. He goes on to affirm what else God Himself declares: "Ye are Gods, and all of you are children of the Most High." We humans are, likewise, Gods, children of the Most High.

The prophet Malachi recorded God addressing Himself as "Father" (Malachi 1:6)

6: A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?

If that citation was not direct enough, Malachi poses a question that today may be viewed as a doctrinal declaration, though in its context this was an appeal to a belief already widely held (Malachi 2:10):

10: Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenants of our fathers?

Jesus further clarified this doctrinal point by declaring that of all the titles God could choose for us to use to address Him, He chose "Father" (Matthew 6:9)

9: After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

As we saw in Psalm 82, God chooses to call not only angels but us humans His children and indeed Gods, children of God. This very point is in Psalm 8:4-5:

4: What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man that thou visitest him? 

5: For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 

I would point out that the translators opted to write "a little lower than the angels", though the Hebrew clearly states "For thou hast made him a little lower than Gods, and hast crowned him with glory and honour."

The New Testament Apostle Paul referred to God as the "Father of our spirits" (Hebrews 12:9):

9: Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 

These verses are sufficient to demonstrate that both angels in heaven and human beings are the children of God, for God is the Father of spirits.

The Relationship Between Angels and Mankind

To be direct, all people lived before we were born in this earth; we lived with God the Father.

(Alma 29:17) And now may God grant unto these, my brethren, that they may sit down in the kingdom of God; yea, and also all those who are the fruit of their labors that they may go no more out, but that they may praise him forever. And may God grant that it may be done according to my words, even as I have spoken. Amen.

(Ecclesiastes 12:7) Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

(Numbers 16:22) And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? 

(Zechariah 12:1) The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.

These citations are fairly indicative of the antemortal character of man's spirit. Zechariah 12:1 is of particular importance. First of all, a more careful rendering of the Hebrew would be useful:

1: The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, the Stretcher-forth of the heavens, the Layer of the foundations of the earth, and the Former of the spirit of man within him.

This citation is noteworthy. When did the Lord stretch forth the heavens and lay the foundation of the earth? And for that matter, when did the Lord form the spirits of men, the very spirits Zechariah was told are within man? The answer is Genesis 2:1-5:

1: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

2: And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

3: And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

4: These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

5: And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 

Four very relevant points are to be discerned in this passage.

1. That God had finished the heavens, the earth, and their host prior to the seventh day. 
2. The plants and herbs were made before they actually grew in the earth (spirit creation preceded physical/tangible creation).
3. That physical man (the Hebrew word used for "man" in verse 5 is "Adam") had not yet been made for the purpose of tilling the earth.
4. Anything God sanctifies He has first made, and then the "sanctification" is declared or performed on it. "On the seventh day God ended his work...rested on the seventh day...and sanctified it." The full significance of this principle will be demonstrated shortly.

The oft overlooked teaching held in this citation is that Moses had recorded that the heavens, the earth, and their host were created prior to the seventh day, the day when God rested. It is worth noting that the Hebrew term "tzava" translated as 'host' most often means '(military) division', and it is a military term denoting an organized gathering of soldiers.

So I ask the question: If God finished His labors of creation on the seventh day, and He has angels in Heaven, when did He, God, create these angels? Answer: Since God does not mention creating them (or the Heavens where God dwells, for that matter) during the six creative periods, and on the seventh He rested, the only conclusion I can draw is that God created the spirits that He later calls His sons/children, "Gods", prior to the physical creation of this earth in the six creative periods.

Now, earlier I stated that there is significance in God's sanctifying the seventh day after He rested from all His labors on the seventh day. The principle at play here is demonstrated time and time again in the scriptures. Put succinctly: First an entity is formed/shaped/fashioned/created, then it is sanctified. God does not sanctify something before bringing that entity into being. Bearing that in mind, look at Jeremiah 1:5 for what the Lord told that great Old Testament prophet:

5: 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.

So, God reveals that He knew Jeremiah before He, God, had formed him in the belly. God also sanctified Jeremiah before he was born. I am reminded of what was recorded in Deuteronomy 34:10 about how God knew Moses:

10: And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.

God knows us intimately, and if He declares that He knew us, it was personal, face to face. One final point on the matter: It is a simple issue of syntax (how words are combined to convey an idea) that if the message of Jeremiah 1:5 were simply an example of God's foreknowledge, it would read "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew of thee", which the text does not. God is declaring not foreknowledge (of which He has full foreknowledge), but real, experience-based knowledge, presumably of the face-to-face type.

Some Spirit Children of God Rose to the Forefront: Morning Stars and the Sons of God

In one of God's many addresses to Job, the ancient prophet and exemplar of steadfastness in the face of excruciating suffering and setbacks, God posed this question to the suffering Job, a series of questions meant to reaffirm Job's worth, his role, his divine character (Job 38:4-7):

4: Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

5: Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

6:  Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

7: When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 

Notice how God mentions a broad category and a specific instance or example of that category: "measures: line", "foundations : corner stone". Then he mentions that "morning stars : all the sons of God" are one and the same, though the implication of "morning stars" is that they were a subcategory of God's children, presumably the first to appear, most likely the first to rise to the forefront. Nevertheless, the ultimate honor is be called a "son/daughter of God".

Jesus refers to Himself as "the bright and morning star" in Revelation, 22:16:

16: 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.

So there were several "morning stars" among the "sons of God", but "the bright and morning star" was Jesus Christ.

One Morning Star Fell From Grace

Under inspiration the prophet Isaiah had referred to Lucifer himself as a "son of morning", but one that fell (Isaiah 14:12):

12:  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!

It is worth noting that the King James translators exercised a little poetic license in this passage. A more careful reading from the Hebrew follows:

12: How thou didst fall from heaven, O Morning Star, son of the dawn. Thou wast cast down to earth, one laying low to the nations!

Here we see that the fallen angel was indeed a "morning star".

The prophet Lehi, upon reading the above-cited passage from Isaiah, drew the following conclusion (2 Nephi 2:17-18, The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ):

 17: 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.

18: 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.

The prophet Jacob, son of Lehi, also emphasized the fall of the angel, (2 Nephi 9:8,9):

8: O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.

9: And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.

Thus we see that two ancient prophets, Lehi and Jacob Ben Lehi, concluded and affirmed that an angel had fallen from the presence of God, and it was that fallen angel who tempted the primordial parents, Adam and Eve, and who continues an adversarial role in the lives of all humanity. Thus the fall of a "morning star", called "Lucifer" in the Latin (Catholic) tradition and translation, preceded the six creative periods by the process of relative chronology: If Lucifer tempted Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, and no mention of his creation as a morning star is made in the six creative periods, then the creation of the sons of God including the vanguard of "morning stars" as well as the fall of a morning star preceded the creation periods.

How Satan Fell: Gross Pride

In the Pearl of Great Price God revealed to the Prophet Moses how it was that Satan came to be the devil (Moses 4:1-4)

1: And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying--Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.

 2: But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me--Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.

3: Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;

4: And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice. 

Satan offered God an alternative plan for the salvation of God's children, and for this plan, Satan required (or attempted to do so) that he be given the honor of being chosen as the Redeemer.

God revealed to the Apostle John that there had been war in heaven, and that it consisted of Satan and the angels that followed him contending against the other angels. Consequently, Satan and his followers were cast out of heaven (Revelation 12:7-9):

7: And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8: And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9: 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.

John describes Satan's followers as "a third" of the "stars of heaven" (Revelation 12:4)

4: And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

 God Grieved Over the Loss of His Children

In vision the Prophet Joseph Smith saw the fall of Satan and many others of God's spirit children who chose to follow Satan. However, in this vision Joseph Smith fills in an important detail (Doctrine and Covenants 76:25-29)

25: And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father, was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son,

26: And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him--he was Lucifer, a son of the morning.

27: And we beheld, and lo, he is fallen! is fallen, even a son of the morning!

28: And while we were yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should write the vision; for we beheld Satan, that old serpent, even the devil, who rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God and Christ--

29: Wherefore, he maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasseth them round about.

This brilliant vision affirms the conclusions and revelations from the past, but one critical detail is included: that the heavens, God and His other children, wept over the loss of these fallen spirit children of God. God loved and still loves His fallen children, but He being holy cannot allow the unholy to dwell in His presence.

Summary: We Are All (All Humans and Spirits, Good and Bad) Children of God, Brothers and Sisters

So we have seen that God created all the spirits of mankind before the six creative periods, how one morning star contended against God's will and fell, but not before persuading one third of his brethren and sisters to follow him to misery. We saw how the scriptures teach that both the angels in heaven who await birth (including the fallen angels who will never have the opportunity to be born and receive bodies with the divine destiny to return to God's presence never more to depart) and those who have been born in this life are the sons/children of God, and God calls them Gods. Thus there is no impropriety in stating that Jesus and Lucifer are siblings any more than there is in stating that we are all brothers and sisters, you, James (moi), the Dalai Lama, Adolf Hitler, Mother Theresa, Joseph Smith, Joseph Stalin, Mary the Mother of Jesus, etc. We all have One Father, He loves us all, and He prepared the way for all of His children who chose to follow His will while still in Heaven and who will renew that commitment at this stage of life (and many who will do so after passing on to the realm of the spirits of the deceased), which can be summed up in following way: Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Him.

Happy Sabbath and blessed week to all!