| Mormonism teaches that Jesus, Lucifer and all mortals on
this earth were originally born as spirit children to God the Father
and his wife in a pre-mortal life. Angels, devils, mortals and gods
are regarded as the same species but in different stages of
advancement or judgment. The two oldest sons were Jesus and Lucifer.
Lucifer convinced one-third of his brothers and sisters to join him
in rebellion and were expelled from Heaven. Apostle John A.
Widtsoe explained:
The story of Lucifer is the most
terrible example of such apostasy. ... He pitted his own plan
and will against the purposes of God. He strove to gain the
birthright of his Elder Brother, Jesus the Christ. When his
proposition was rejected, he forsook all that he had gained,
.... He was no longer Lucifer, bearer of truth, who walked in
light, but Satan, teacher of untruth, who slunk in darkness. He
became the enemy of God and of all who try to walk according to
the Lord's commandments. One-third of the spirits present
in that vast assembly supported Satan and became enemies of the
truth that they had formerly cherished. With him these
rebellious spirits lost their fellowship with the valiant sons
of God. (Evidences and Reconciliations, p. 209)
Apostle Bruce R. McConkie stated:
God lives in the family unit. He is our Father
in heaven—the literal and personal Father of the spirits
of all men. He begat us; we are the offspring of Heavenly
Parents: we have an Eternal Father and an Eternal
Mother. We were born as spirits, and we dwelt in the
presence of our Eternal Parents; we lived before our
mortal birth. As spirits we were in all respects as we are now
save only that we were not housed in mortal bodies as is the
present circumstance. Christ was the Firstborn of
all the heavenly host; Lucifer was a son of the morning:
each of us came into being as conscious identities in our
appointed order; and Christ is our Elder Brother. (The
Mortal Messiah, vol. 1, p. 21)
President Spencer W. Kimball commented on the relationship of
Lucifer to Jesus:
The importance of not accommodating temptation
in the least degree is underlined by the Savior's example. Did
not he recognize the danger when he was on the mountain with his
fallen brother, Lucifer, being sorely tempted by that master
tempter? He could have opened the door and flirted with danger
by saying, "All right, Satan, I'll listen to your proposition. I
need not succumb, I need not yield, I need not accept—but I'll
listen." (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 163)
President Spencer W. Kimball also wrote:
Similarly Satan had contended for the
subservience of Moses. Satan, also a son of God, had
rebelled and had been cast out of heaven and not permitted an
earthly body as had his brother Jehovah. Much depended
upon the outcome of this spectacular duel. Could Lucifer control
and dominate this prophet Moses, who had learned so much
directly from his Lord? (Faith Precedes the Miracle, p.
87)
Apostle George Q. Cannon taught:
The adversary ... aims to destroy us.
Angry that his plan was not adopted in the heavens; angry at his
failure in the rebellion against God and at his expulsion from
the courts of glory; angry at his being deprived of a body, he
and those who fell with him have been eager ever since that
dreadful time to destroy their brethren and sisters who
did not rebel with them. We who are here tonight, as well
as all who are upon the earth, kept our first estate. We
did not listen to Lucifer. He was a mighty angel;
he had exceedingly great power in the presence of God. He
used his great influence with the family of God to convince them
that the plan which he proposed was the better one, and to
persuade them to reject the plan of God and his Son
Jesus, our elder brother. Failing in this, he has,
apparently, declared war against all his brethren and sisters
who were honorable and maintained their allegiance to God.
Therefore he is continually spreading snares for the feet of the
children of men. (Collected Discourses, edited by Brian
Stuy, vol. 1, May 19th, 1889, p. 255)
In 1949 Apostle Joseph F. Merrill stated:
Now there is another personality of which I
desire to speak, ... that person is Satan, the Devil. But
according to our understanding and teachin, Satan is a person
with a spirit body, in form like that of all other men. He is
a spirit brother of ours and of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
our Elder Brother in the spirit world. The earth was in
course of development for the abode of man in mortality. A
Redeemer was to be sent down and make it possible for the
Father's children to return to him. (LDS Conference
Report, April 1949, p. 27)
Speaking in 1857, Apostle Joseph Young taught:
Who is it that is at the head of this?
It is the Devil, the mighty Lucifer, the great
prince of the angels, and the brother of Jesus. He
left the province of his Father, and took with him a third part
of his Father's kingdom, and there was no other alternative but
to banish him. God would have saved him if he could; but
he could not. (Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, pp.
207-208, October 11, 1857)
In 1844 LDS author W. W. Phelps wrote:
And again, we exclaim, O Mormonism! No wonder
that Lucifer, son of the morning, the next heir to
Jesus Christ, our eldest brother, should fight so hard
against his brethren; he lost the glory, the honor,
power, and dominion of a God and the knowledge, spirit,
authority and keys of the priesthood of the son of God!
Christ kept his first estate—Lucifer
lost his by offering to save men in their sins on the honor of a
God, or on his father’s honor.—Christ hated sin, and
loved righteousness, therefore he was anointed with holy oil in
heaven, and crowned in the midst of brothers and sisters,
while his mother stood with approving virtue, and smiled
upon a Son that kept the faith as the heir of all things. (Times
and Seasons, vol. 5, p. 758, Jan. 1, 1844, art. by W. W.
Phelps)
However, the Bible never presents Lucifer as the brother of
Jesus. Angels were a separate creation from man.
Nehemiah 9:6—Thou, even thou, art LORD
alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with
all their host, the earth, and all things that are
therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest
them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.
The first chapter of Hebrews shows that Jesus is the creator, not
a created angel:
Hebrews 1:2—[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 1:4-5—[Jesus]
Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto
which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this
day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father,
and he shall be to me a Son?
At the end of the world Satan and the rest of the fallen angels
will be cast down to hell:
Jude 1:6—And the angels which
kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he
hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the
judgment of the great day.
In 2 Peter 2:4 we read:
... God spared not the angels that sinned,
but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of
darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
Below is a quote from Nelson's New Illustrated Bible
Dictionary:
DEVIL
(accuser)—the main title for the fallen
angelic being who is the supreme enemy of God and man. Satan
is his name, and devil is what he is—the accuser or deceiver.
The title "devil" appears 35 times in the NKJV. In every case it
is preceded by the article "the," indicating a title rather than
a name. The term comes from a Greek word that means "a false
witness" or "malicious accuser."
Several descriptive phrases applied to the
devil in the New Testament point out the nature of his wicked
personality and the extent of his evil deeds.
That Serpent of Old
(Rev. 12:9; 20:2). The devil worked through the serpent to tempt
Eve (Gen. 3:1-6).
The Wicked or Evil One
(Matt. 6:13; 13:19,38; 1 John 2:13). This phrase depicts the
devil's fundamental nature. He is in direct opposition to
everything God is or all he wishes to do. ...
Enemy
(Matt. 13:25,28,39). The devil is man's worst enemy. ... He is
an enemy of Christ, the church, and the gospel; and he is
tireless in his efforts to uproot good and sow evil.
Murderer
(John 8:44). "He was a murderer from the beginning" are
strong words from the lips of Jesus. The devil killed Abel and
the prophets, and he wanted to kill Jesus before His time
(8:40).
Deceiver
(Rev. 20:10). Starting with Eve, the devil has attempted to
deceive every living soul. Evil men operating under the power of
the evil one will continue to deceive (2 Tim. 3:13).
Beelzebub, the Ruler of the Demons
(Matt. 9:34; 12:24). Beelzebub (see also 2 Kin. 1:2-3, 6, 16)
means literally "lord of Flies" and is a title of ridicule.
The religious leaders of Jesus' time were guilty of blasphemy
against the Holy Spirit because they claimed the miracles of
Jesus were actually conducted by the devil. ... There are many
demons but only one devil. His name is Beelzebub, the chief
leader of the fallen angels known as demons.
...
Ruler of This World
(John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Three times Jesus called the devil
the "ruler of this world." The devil offered the world to Jesus
if He would worship him (Luke 4:5-7), but the Lord refused with
these words, "Get behind me Satan" (4:8). At Calvary God dealt a
death blow to this world ruler. It is only a matter of time
before God will win the final victory at the end of time (1 John
3:8; Matt. 25:41; Rev. 12:7). (Nelson's New Illustrated Bible
Dictionary, 1995, Thomas Nelson Pub.)
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