What does your church teach about the origin of Satan?

Question

I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and one of the things that people often say against our church is that we believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers. Well, that's one way of phrasing it, because we do believe that we are spirit children of God, and that Lucifer is also a child of God who fell and became the devil. I suppose the reason people react so strongly to this doctrine is that by phrasing it as we believe they are brothers somehow makes it seem that we perhaps think that Jesus and Satan are somehow on the same level? They are brothers, but in the same way that all people are brothers and sisters.

Anyway, when I hear this protest it makes me wonder. I don't think I have learned what any other church believes about where Satan comes from, and I'm wondering if they do have any teachings about that.

I'd love to find out what your denomination teaches about where Satan came from, or if there are any teachings, and which denomination you are from.

Answer 1

I'm a Roman Catholic. We believe that Satan, or Lucifer, was a fallen angel. Other angels were fallen too and became demons along wiht Satan. At least I think thats what we believe, I went to catholic school YEARS ago so my memory's not so good.

Answer 2

I don't believe "Jesus and Satan are brothers". Jesus is God the Creator and Satan is a created angel. That's a huge difference!

The question is why would an omnicient God create someone He knew would go against Him. That is what troubles most people. Let me try to suggest an answer.

Since God is the Creator He need not create only one kind of creatures. That would be monotonous with no creativity. An analogy would be a piano. Nobody would want to buy a piano that has even two keys that sound the same (same frequency). It has to have the full range. So also other musical instruments in an orchestra. You won't find an orchestra where all the musicians play the same instrument. In the same way God had to create all kinds of angels, I would imagine. Some totally submissive kind others a bit like questioning kind. If He didn't do that then He would not be true to Himself in not allowing someone to question Him and thus there would be no true free will. So it had to happen sooner or later. And therefore God had anticipated it and had planned a remedy for it even before it happened.

Of course, there are other aspects but I think this would suffice for the present question.

Answer 3

Catholic here.
Satan was the first and greatest angel. He led a revolt against God. He was defeated and banished to Hell with the rest of his rebellers (known as the first Protestants).
Some say his name was Lucifer, but others argue that Lucifer is a different angel. It doesn't matter what his name was...only that he is now the Devil.

Jesus is not a "spirit-child" of God. He is the Son of God, but He is God, the Son, and is co-equal with the Father and the Spirit. Satan, when he was an angel, was never on equal footing with God...that is why he started his war.
Calling Satan and Jesus "brothers" is thus a misnomer.

Answer 4

Back when I was going to church, there wasn't much emphasis on the origin of Satan. Satan was supposedly an angel, and how God created the angels, I'm not sure. They were here before men and women were created though.

Jesus was the son of God. But, if you are from a doctrine that relies heavily on the Trinity, then you are in the line of thinking that Jesus was in fact, God. The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Going from this logic, If God is the creater and author of life, and he created the angels, and he extended himself in the form of Jesus, then Jesus is in fact higher than Satan, if you wanted to think of it heirarchally.

Answer 5

Well the devil was of course one of the first created creatures and most perfect out of God's own hand. He had his own mind and followed God, and got praise for being the Prime minister so to speak of the angels, until at some point thought he could be the sole ruler himself. And so did he gather the other angels by means of his rhetoric and waged war until he was defeated by the Archangel Michael and casted down unto Earth.

He is not the twin brother of Christ, rather he was created by the Tri-une God. I suggest read the Book of Revelation for the battle in Heaven and John Milton's Paradise Lost.

Answer 6

Yes, different sects have different views regarding Satan. Some pretty much consider him to be an anthropomorphic deity, for lack of a better word. Some take a purely symbolic and philosophical view. >>he was taught at Confirmation that Lucifer rebelled against God >>to set himself up as the supreme deity. I always thought this >>happened AFTER Lucifer didn't humble himself before God by >>bowing to Adam. What's funny is that stories like that don't actually come form the Bible. They come from stories like Milton's "Paradise Lost". The one and only time the word "Lucifer" shows up in the entire Bible is in Isaiah 14:12, and that's only because Jerome of Stridonium chose the word "lucifer" ("light bringer") to replace the Hebrew word heyel ("morning star") when he first translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Latin. It was only later in the King James Version that the "L" became capitalized. The morning star is Venus (which looks like a bright star in the sky), and if you actually read the original translation in context, you'll see that it's about comparing a king's fall from power to the descent of Venus in the night sky.

Answer 7

People's beliefs of Satan range from the silly to the abstract: from a little red guy with horns who sits on your shoulder urging you to sin, to an expression used to describe the personification of evil. The Bible, however, gives us a clear portrayal of who Satan is, and how he affects our lives. Put simply, the Bible defines Satan as an angelic being who fell from his position in heaven due to sin and is now diametrically opposed to God, doing all in his power to thwart God's purposes for humanity.

Satan was created as a holy angel. Isaiah 14:12 possibly gives Satan’s pre-fall name as Lucifer. Ezekiel 28:12-14 describes Satan as having been created a cherubim, and was apparently the highest created angel. He became arrogant in his beauty and status, and decided he wanted to sit on a throne above that of God (Isaiah 14:13-14; Ezekiel 28:15; 1 Timothy 3:6). Satan’s pride led to his fall. Notice the many “I will…” statements in Isaiah 14:12-15. Because of his sin, God threw Satan out of heaven.

Satan became the ruler of this world that functions apart from God, and the prince of the power of the air (John 12:31; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2). He is an accuser (Revelation 12:10), a tempter (Matthew 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:5), and a deceiver (Genesis 3; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:3). His very name means adversary or “one who opposes.” Another name used for Satan, the devil, means “slanderer.”

Even though he was cast out of heaven, he still seeks to elevate his throne above God. He counterfeits all that God does, hoping to gain the worship of the world and foment opposition to God's kingdom. Satan is the ultimate source behind every false cult and world religion. Satan will do anything and everything in his power to oppose God, and those who follow God. However, Satan’s destiny is sealed – an eternity in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).

Recommended Resource: The Serpent of Paradise by Erwin Lutzer.

Answer 8

That God created a magnificent angel of light named Lucifer, which means "light bearer" who, like everything God created, was good. But Lucifer envyed God, and used his free will to choose to rebel against God, after which he was driven out of heaven and was thereafter a spirit of darkness and evil.

Answer 9

Satan was an angel who wanted to place himself above God; he was ejected from heaven and fell into hell. But to say that he and Jesus were brothers is to deny the deity of Christ. Jesus is NOT an angel, but the son of God.

Answer 10

He's a fallen angel! In all of the new testament Jesus never calls him brother in anyway shape or form. Maybe they
should refrase that so we can all become less confused.

I have been labeled a fundamentalist..and loving it.


God loves you...God bless