Conference Report, April 1941, p.49; “According to our teachings, Satan and an army of supporters were cast down to earth from the premortal spirit world. They are spirit brothers of ours, and are real persons having spirit bodies. As surely as we live they live also. They are trying to handicap and thwart the work of the Lord. Wherever the Saints are found there the devil is also. If Satan can overcome the Saints, he will have all the world subject to him. He is a deceiver, the father of lies, the source of evil, the enemy of all righteousness.” – Joseph F. Merrill
Hebrews 1:5; “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?”
There are a couple of things to look at in today’s LDS teaching so let’s get started!
1.There’s no such thing as a ‘premortal’ world which means there are no spirits who were cast down that became real people.
2.Spirits are not our brothers and sisters.
3.The devil is not omnipresent, so wherever the Saints are he can’t be everywhere they are.
4.All men are born with a sin nature (something LDS reject), and the evil intent of man’s heart can be felt and seen everywhere.
5.Suggesting Satan can overcome the Saints isn’t biblical. Jesus said He won’t leave us, therefore, Merrill’s words are a lie. Jesus also said He had overcome the world – John 16:33.
6.They’ve portrayed the devil as the victor, not Jesus.
The bible verses below refute every single thing this man said. God is greater than Satan and won’t abandon His believers. If members of the LDS Church are overcome by the devil that would mean they didn’t belong to God.
Hebrews 13:5
Matthew 28:20
Romans 8:28-29
Isaiah 43:10
Revelation 3:20
Psalm 139:7-10
John 14:16-17
Ephesians 3:17
Matthew 1:23
1 John 4:4
“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”
Winston Churchill
I find myself wondering if what Mormonism teaches on Satan they’ve ever really thought through? They present him in the Temple ceremonies as if he’s the god of this world, and we have to okay things through him – which strikes me as completely contrary to Scripture, and standard LDS teachings on Lucifer! They seem to present him in two or three different ways – and you can’t have it both ways!
I know…it’s SO convoluted1