The other day, someone informed me that I am not a Christian because I believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers.  I was surprised by this attack on my faith as a devout member of The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints (the nickname “Mormon” is not correct), so I thought I should write a post to explain this belief.

So do Mormons really believe Jesus and Satan are brothers?  Latter-Day Saints believe that Heavenly Father is the father of us all, making us all brothers and sisters.  In that sense, yes, Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are siblings, but no more than you and I are also siblings of them.

Those who say members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe Jesus and Satan are siblings imply something that isn’t true.  The statement implies that Mormons believe Satan and Jesus have a close familial relationship as brothers that is unique in some way.  This implication isn’t accurate to our beliefs.  What we do believe is that God is the creator of all beings and that Satan is one of those beings who rebelled against God.  Technically, this makes Satan a brother to us all.  Yet, the implication that they are brothers in a nuclear family according to Mormon theology is not accurate.

In this post, I want to lay a brief background about this belief to help explain it further.  My purpose in this post is not really to persuade you one way or the other, but rather to explain why someone who brings up this point may be kind of twisting what we believe.

Important Background to Understand the Latter-day Saint Belief

Mormons believe that God is our holy father in heaven.  We believe that He created our spirits, gave us the ability to choose, and the ability to progress.  Since God created all of our spirits, and also created the bodies of man on earth, we therefore are His offspring.  We are children of God–all of us.

We believe that before we were born on Earth, God gave us our freedom to choose to accept His plan for us and to come to Earth.  On earth, we would gain physical bodies and learn to “walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

You and I obviously accepted God’s plan and that is why we are here on Earth.  Some of God’s children rebelled against God and did not attain physical bodies.  Satan was the leader of that group of devils and fell away from the family of God.

I have never seen any Mormon belief suggesting that Jesus and Satan had any closer a relationship to one another than simply the fact that we are all children of God.  So those who attack our belief by saying we believe Jesus and Satan are brothers are implying something that simply isn’t true to our belief.  We don’t believe that Satan and Christ had any familial relationship other than the fact that all beings were created by the same God.

Why Would It Matter If Jesus and Satan Are Siblings?

As I mentioned previously, I recently had someone tell me that I’m not a real Christian because I believe Satan and Christ are brothers.  The question I have is, why exactly would it matter?

It would certainly matter if that meant that I believed that Jesus had any degree of evil in him.  To be absolutely clear, I do not believe that.  Mormons believe that Jesus Christ is the absolutely perfect son of God.  Just because someone is a sibling to another person does not mean they somehow share sins.  So, the implication from this question doesn’t really even make sense.

My Invitation to My Christian Brothers and Sisters

The Mormon faith has been subject to a surprising amount of hostility throughout its history.  Unfortunately, that hostility sometimes continues from our Christian brothers and sisters who say things about our belief that sometimes is inaccurate or hyperbolic and doesn’t represent our real beliefs.

Mormons are members of The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints.  We believe that it is only through our acceptance of Jesus Christ’s grace and sacrifice that we can be saved.  We believe that God is our Heavenly Father.  We believe every single word of the Bible.  We seek to follow Jesus Christ and become his true disciples.

Yes, it’s true that we Mormons do differ from many other Christian religions on other points.  If you think about it, ALL Christian religions differ on some doctrinal points.  That’s what makes them different from one another.  Yet, we all have Christ as the center of what we do.

It’s okay if you think some of our doctrines are incorrect.  Frankly, I think some of your doctrines are incorrect.  That’s okay.  We can still love one another and accept one another as Christian brothers and sisters.  We are both on the Lord’s side.

Jesus Christ and his apostles spent their entire lives convincing others to become Christians (defined as followers of Jesus Christ).  Let us not be found convincing others that they are NOT Christians.  Let’s accept the dictionary definition of “Christian”, which is simply a “believer in, and follower of Jesus Christ” and not seek to invent other definitions to attempt to cut others out.  Let’s increase the size of the Christ’s tent instead of reducing it.

It’s okay if we don’t yet all agree on some points, but we must keep our sights on the Savior Jesus Christ.

19 Comments

  1. Well said. I really enjoyed this post. Christians should not be fighting amongst themselves. We Christians are becoming more and more persecuted. Actually, Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world.

    1. The Book of Revelation, explains to the “churches”; what they need to work on, Jesus did not tell each church to rebel against one another but to fix what they were doing wrong. Jesus said this in a loving way to help their walk no earth.
      We need to take the log out of our own eye so we can see clearly to help the other instead of passing judgement. That is God’s department to judge not ours.
      Nellibell

  2. Jim I appreciate the explanation you have provided. It cleared up for me what LDS believe on the subject. I would point out that God is not the Father of everyone. He is Father only to those who put their faith in Christ! He also created spiders, snakes, so on…, but he is not their father. He is their creator. Also, God did not create Jesus, he is eternal like the Father, therefore it does not put Jesus and Satan (a created being) on the same level, therefore not related! John 1:1 says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were created through him…” Jesus is God, not a created being. Thomas, in John 20:28 calls Jesus my Lord and my God.” Jesus and Satan are not related. Any teaching contrary to the Bible concerning Jesus, God or His Spirit is blasphemous.

    1. Thank you for a thoughtful and respectful response, Jay. If I may add to my post the following information, it may help to understand our belief even if you disagree. We believe that all human beings have existed eternally in the past and will continue to exist eternally in the future. So in that sense, it seems our beliefs are the same as yours when you say “he is eternal like the Father” just that we believe that all of us are also eternal.

      We also agree that God created all of the animals. The place where I might add a perspective from our beliefs is that we believe that all of us existed as intelligences for all eternity, but then God begot us spiritually. Essentially, he took our intelligence which had existed forever, and made us his children by giving us our spirit. He took us and made us his species and like any father, gave us the potential to become like him if we continue to progress spiritually over eternity.

      So yes, God created the animals and us, but he didn’t spiritually beget them and make them His children because they aren’t even the same species.

      We’re deep in the weeds of our doctrine here, but I did want to just clarify how we square the issues you brought up even though I’m sure they are different from your own belief. Thanks again for a thoughtful comment.

      1. Your comment is hostile and accusatory. This site is about a very respectful understanding of each others’ religions. Why are you choosing to be angry in your approach to talking about the Prince of Peace?

        We believe that all of our spirits have always existed. The day came when God the Father created this world through Jesus Christ for all of us to receive physical bodies. Satan rejected this opportunity to follow God’s plan and thus did not receive a physical body. All of us on this earth, including Jesus Christ, did accept the plan.

    2. Amen, you are so right Jay! And how do I know this??? it lines up with Gods word! Jesus is my Lord and Savior, he is not my brother, and neither is Satan! Satan is a liar and deceiver, not any relation of mine. I too appreciate the author as this is what I have heard, and he has made it crystal clear. Thank you for that Jim. Your article is very informative although I strongly but respectfully disagree. How do you get around Romans 10:9? That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved. God bless you Jim, and I plead the blood of Jesus over you. In Jesus’ might name! There is power in the name of Jesus!!! And without it, you have only religion….

    3. The word God is plural. That is why we have God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit. I thought we should point out that Satan is a fallen Angel not in the God Head. He had free will as we do as do all the angels, that is why 1/3 of the angels fell with Satan. Animals are not the issue as they already have a place in God’s plan. It is we who have a choice with our free will. I am just agreeing with you but adding a few things. I noticed the main post didn’t mention that Satin was an angel. He was the most beautiful angel according to the Bible. Satan, the personification of evil, was once one of God ’s most beautiful angels in Heaven. This evil angel was originally called Lucifer, which means morning star (Isaiah 14:12, NIV). He was the prince of angels, the bearer of light
      Great post by the way

  3. Jim ..I do believe we are Brothers in Christ…but I question your belief that all of us existed as intelligences for all eternity, but then God begot us spiritually. Essentially, he took our intelligence which had existed forever, and made us his children by giving us our spirit. …do you have Chapter and verse for that …and why would that be necessary? Adam and Eve are our DNA or Soul parents from whom we proceeded…and closer down the line we get our soul and our body from our parents…Since Adam and eve got corrupted souls..we also got the same …the Bible calls that our Flesh Nature but alongside that is our God Nature as Adam was called a Son of God…It is all explained here: Mat 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: (Adam and Eve)
    Mat 13:25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares (Corrupted Adam & Eve’s Soul) among the wheat (God’s Nature In us), and went his way.
    Mat 13:26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares (our Flesh Nature) also.
    Mat 13:27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
    Mat 13:28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
    Mat 13:29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares(Flesh Nature), ye root up also the wheat (God’s Nature) with them.
    Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest (Our Death): and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them (Prepared for the Devil and his Fallen Angels): but gather the wheat (God’s Nature in Mankind) into my barn. < God's Nature in Man needed to be Born Again from above and when we Surrender and ASK Jesus to Come in Jesus brings God's Spirit that lives IN Jesus with Him…the we can Talk to God directly or we are Reconciled to God just as Adam was before he ate the Forbidden Fruit that corrupted his Soul/God Nature ..God walked with Adam in the Garden..but was NEVER IN Adam… If God had been IN Adam and Eve ..Eve could have easily resisted that Temptor…Jesus is the one who made it possible for God to Be in us so we can resist our Flesh Nature and all we have to do is Ask Jesus to come in and Reconcile us with our Father …Amen

  4. Just a correction, Jesus is the Son of God, So is Lucifer. So are we.. We are siblings. To say differently is false doctrine. We are a family unit. God and our mother in heaven were sealed in a temple somewhere in the universe. Any children of that union are brothers and sisters. Someone is preaching false tradition in the church. the D n C Talks about traditions of the fathers being a bad thing. Can we stop false tradition?

    1. Satan, the personification of evil, was once one of God ’s most beautiful angels in Heaven. This evil angel was originally called Lucifer, which means morning star (Isaiah 14:12, NIV). He was the prince of angels, the bearer of light.
      He is not our brother, he is an angel, a created being of God but not our brother.
      He came to destroy us as he wanted to be like God. He did have free will, so this is what he did with it.

  5. Jim thx 4 the art. it explains more than the \’missionaries\’ I spoke with telling me that Joseph Smith was a Melkizedeq Priest. I immediately knew that was false. For he left a whole denomination keeping Sunday & not the 4th comm\’dt! the exchange was over when I showed them Ex.31:13!

    1. Hey David, like the guy said in this post, all religions have diffrent ways of looking at the bible like the Church of Christ don’t believe in having musical instuments in their church, other churches dwell on other stuff but as long as we all believe Jesus is the Son of God, and follow his teachings, and faith without works is dead, and pray that we have help in our walk with God, we are all on the right track. Did you know the LDS church has communion every Sunday as Jesus said do this as often as you think of me. And John 3:16 says, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son….. I think you know the rest of the story.

  6. Jim, we can clear this up with one thought provoking question!
    Why did they crucify Jesus Christ?
    I look forward to your response and I will respond accordingly (please use scripture including reference) You see Jim, it’s not what you think or what I think that matters but what the Bible says as it is our only source of authority and knowledge of God

    1. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

  7. John 1:1 pretty much sums it all up. Jesus is the Creator, and as such, God.
    “God created the Heaven and the Earth.”

  8. You are so right, we must stand together against what is coming next for us.
    We are indeed in the end times at the beginning of sorrows and woes.
    The real enemy is in our government today and around the world. Our boarders are being over run, riots are rampant in Democratic cities, the world is teaching good is evil and evil good. Our children are under attack by our own government, illigal aliens across the boarder, drugs are killing our youth. Viruses are going to become more wicked, famine is coming our way and more. It will get worse before it gets better. Watch Rick Person on America in Prophecy
    https://www.tct.tv/blog/program/prophecy-usa-with-rick person And his book, The HOUR That Changes Everything : America’s Role in Bible Prophecy

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