Hi Terry–
I’m glad to see that you are
open-minded and willing to let me respond to these questions. If you don’t
mind, I’d like to answer these questions one at a time.
DO LATTER-DAY SAINTS BELIEVE THAT JESUS
AND SATAN ARE OR WERE BROTHERS?
To give a proper answer, this will take
a bit of explanation. First, most non-LDS Christians believe in the
pre-mortality of Jesus. We do also. We also believe that all who live on this
earth, past and present, lived before with God in Heaven. We believe that God
is literally the Father of our spirits.
"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?"
(Heb 12:9)
"Have we not all one father?..."
(Mal 2:10a)
"One God and Father of all..."
(Eph 4:6a)
"Then shall the dust return to the
earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."
(Eccl 12:7)
Being children of God we were all
brothers and sisters. Jesus, known as Jehovah in the OT, was our Father’s
firstborn.
And again, when he bringeth in the
firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God
worship him. (Heb 1:6)
In mortality, Jesus would be God’s Only
Begotten.
Jeremiah was informed that he lived
before he was born.
"Then the word of the LORD came unto
me, saying, 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." (Jer
1:4-5)
Our Father presented a plan to
us.
"And the Lord God spake unto Moses,
saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but
they are numbered unto me, for they are mine. And as one earth shall pass
away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no
end to my works, neither to my words. For behold, this is my work and
my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses
1:38-40)
While we were in the presence of God we
walked by sight; now, our memories are taken away and we walk by
faith.
"There is no
remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance
of things that are to come with those that shall come after."
(Eccl 1:11)
"And there stood one among them that
was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down,
for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will
make an earth whereon these may dwell; and we will prove them herewith, to
see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command
them; and they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they
who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with
those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall
have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever." (Abr 4:24-26)
Lucifer seeks power.
"For thou hast said in thine heart, I
will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne about 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." (Isa 14:13-14)
A Savior is Chosen.
"And I, the Lord God, sake unto Moses,
saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name on 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. 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. 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;..." (Moses 4:1-3)
"And the Lord said: Whom shall I send?
And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another
answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the
first. And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and at
that day, many followed after him." (Abr 4:27-28)
War in Heaven.
"And there was a war in heaven:
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and
his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their pace 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." (Rev 12:7-9)
Lucifer is cast out.
"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." (2Ne 2:17-18a)
"... for he rebelled against me,
saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power; and also a third part of the
hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency; and they
were thrust down, and thus came the devil and his angels;..." (D&C
29:36b-37)
"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,
and was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him—he was Lucifer, a son
of the morning. And we beheld, and lo, he is fallen! is fallen, even a son of
the morning!" (D&C 76:25-27)
"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." (Jude
1:6)
Lucifer rebelled and was cast
out! He has lost his inheritance! He was once a son of God and our
brother, but that was before. There is no longer any relationship! He
has become Satan. He is an enemy to us and to
God!!
Jesus during His mortal ministry
recalled the event.
"And he [Jesus] said unto them, I
beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." (Luke 10:18)
–Raymond
Terry
Clifton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Bothoms
wrote:
Terry--
When it comes to the beliefs of my Church (what you call Mormonism),
what is your biggest grievence? and why?
--Raymond
Several things really. I guess
the most troublesome is that you believe that Jesus and Satan are or were
brothers. I do not understand why you need masonic symbols or a
temple. I do not understand why you baptize for the dead. I do
not understand why you think that you can work your way up to being a
god. All of this smacks of twisted scripture and false teaching.
If
you want to try to explain why you believe these things or if I have
misunderstood and you do not believe these things, I am willing, even eager
to listen.
Terry
