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"Doesn't Mormonism believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?

"We believe, as other Christians believe and as Paul wrote, that God is the father of all. That means that all beings were created by God and are his spirit children. Christ, on the other hand, was the only begotten in the flesh and we worship him as the son of God and the savior of mankind. Satan is the exact opposite of who Christ is and what he stands for."

A Savior and Leader Was Needed

When the plan for our salvation was presented to us in the spirit world, we were so happy that we shouted for joy (see Job 38:7).

We understood that we would have to leave our heavenly home for a time. We would not live in the presence of our heavenly parents. While we were away from them, all of us would sin and some of us would lose our way. Our Heavenly Father knew and loved each one of us. He knew we would need help, so he planned a way to help us.

We needed a Savior to pay for our sins and teach us how to return to our Heavenly Father. Our Father said, "Whom shall I send?" (Abraham 3:27). Two of our brothers offered to help. Our oldest brother, Jesus Christ, who was then called Jehovah, said, "Here am I, send me" (Abraham 3:27).

Jesus was willing to come to the earth, give his life for us, and take upon himself our sins. He, like our Heavenly Father, wanted us to choose whether we would obey Heavenly Father's commandments. He knew we must be free to choose in order to prove ourselves worthy of exaltation. Jesus said, "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever" (Moses 4:2).

Satan, who was called Lucifer, also came, 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" (Moses 4:1). Satan wanted to force us all to do his will. Under his plan, we would not be allowed to choose. He would take away the freedom of choice that our Father had given us. Satan wanted to have all the honor for our salvation.

Discussion

Who is our leader and Savior?
Who besides Jesus wanted to be our leader?

Jesus Christ Became Our Chosen Leader and Savior
After hearing both sons speak, Heavenly Father said, "I will send the first" (Abraham 3:27).

"We believe, as other Christians believe and as Paul wrote, that God is the father of all. That means that all beings were created by God and are his spirit children. Christ, on the other hand, was the only begotten in the flesh and we worship him as the son of God and the savior of mankind. Satan is the exact opposite of who Christ is and what he stands for."

the road to hana wrote:Mitt Romney is making the rounds of the morning talk shows this morning in the wake of Mike Huckabee's recent question, which will run in an interview in the Sunday New York Times Magazine this weekend.

"Doesn't Mormonism believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?

Huckabee's question elicited a carefully worded statement from LDS Church spokeswoman Kim Farah:

"We believe, as other Christians believe and as Paul wrote, that God is the father of all. That means that all beings were created by God and are his spirit children. Christ, on the other hand, was the only begotten in the flesh and we worship him as the son of God and the savior of mankind. Satan is the exact opposite of who Christ is and what he stands for."

Huckabee's question is being characterized as a "smear" by Farah and others.

I don't know about anyone else here, but in my own experience being raised LDS, the teaching that Jesus and Lucifer were brothers was fundamental. Chapter 3 of Gospel Principles puts it this way:

A Savior and Leader Was Needed

When the plan for our salvation was presented to us in the spirit world, we were so happy that we shouted for joy (see Job 38:7).

We understood that we would have to leave our heavenly home for a time. We would not live in the presence of our heavenly parents. While we were away from them, all of us would sin and some of us would lose our way. Our Heavenly Father knew and loved each one of us. He knew we would need help, so he planned a way to help us.

We needed a Savior to pay for our sins and teach us how to return to our Heavenly Father. Our Father said, "Whom shall I send?" (Abraham 3:27). Two of our brothers offered to help. Our oldest brother, Jesus Christ, who was then called Jehovah, said, "Here am I, send me" (Abraham 3:27).

Jesus was willing to come to the earth, give his life for us, and take upon himself our sins. He, like our Heavenly Father, wanted us to choose whether we would obey Heavenly Father's commandments. He knew we must be free to choose in order to prove ourselves worthy of exaltation. Jesus said, "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever" (Moses 4:2).

Satan, who was called Lucifer, also came, 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" (Moses 4:1). Satan wanted to force us all to do his will. Under his plan, we would not be allowed to choose. He would take away the freedom of choice that our Father had given us. Satan wanted to have all the honor for our salvation.

Discussion

Who is our leader and Savior?
Who besides Jesus wanted to be our leader?

Jesus Christ Became Our Chosen Leader and Savior
After hearing both sons speak, Heavenly Father said, "I will send the first" (Abraham 3:27).

http://www.LDS.org/library/display/0,49 ... -6,00.html

When asked directly this morning by interviewers whether Huckabee's question as correct, Romney dodged a direct response and said that "his church had put that matter to rest."

But had it? On its face, it looks like Romney, and the LDS Church, are distancing themselves from a position that was taught as a fundamental gospel principle, and trying to make it appear as though they didn't really say, or mean, that Jesus and Satan were "brothers."

Romney doesn't have to distance himself from his religion. The church is doing a pretty good job distancing itself--from itself.

krose wrote:Quote:
"Doesn't Mormonism believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?


I don't know that we teach that. It's more of a couplet than anything else. That gets into some pretty deep theology that we don't know very much about.

Picture

Show picture 3-2, Heavenly Father Gave Us His Plan, and point out that Jesus was there with us. We were all there together.

Heavenly Father’s plan included the creation of an earth for us. On earth we would learn the difference between right and wrong and choose for ourselves what we would do. Our Heavenly Father knew that we would make mistakes. But he would send Jesus Christ to help us overcome them. (See Abraham 3:24–27.)

Explain that Heavenly Father chose Jesus to help us because he was obedient and wanted to follow Heavenly Father’s plan. Heavenly Father also chose him to create this earth for us.

We had another brother named Lucifer. He wanted us to follow him instead of Heavenly Father. But following Lucifer would not have been good for us. Heavenly Father knew that and chose Jesus to carry out his plan. That made Lucifer very angry. (See Abraham 3:27–28.)

• What did Lucifer do? (He convinced many people to follow him instead of Heavenly Father.

• Whom did we choose to follow? (Heavenly Father and Jesus. Explain that only those who chose to follow Heavenly Father and Jesus receive bodies. Those who chose to follow Lucifer do not get bodies.)

• What happened to Lucifer? (He was cast out of heaven and is known as Satan or the devil. He tries to tempt us to do wrong. Explain that he is still trying to get us to follow him instead of Heavenly Father and Jesus, just as he was when we all lived with Heavenly Father.)

Tell the children that choosing to follow Heavenly Father and Jesus was the right choice and that Heavenly Father and Jesus were pleased with our decision. Heavenly Father wants us to choose to follow his plan here on earth so we can return to live with him.

But his day by day life confirmed his power, his ability, his strength. From birth, his life was a rugged one. Born in a manger without the conveniences even of the average Israelite home, he was an unwelcome guest. There was no room for him in the inn.

When still young, he must be whisked away to a far country to save his precious life, a perilous journey in great haste and fear, a trip which was rugged for the new infant, perhaps still being nursed by his mother. On the trip he would suffer hardships, sand storms, fatigue, new food, new customs, a new and strange world. The trip to Nazareth was an even longer and more arduous journey, this to avoid again a heartless ruler.

His trials were continuous. Perhaps his brother, Lucifer, had heard him say when he was still but a lad of twelve: “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49). Then came the time when Satan sought to trip him. Their encounter in the previous world had been on more equal terms, but now Jesus was young and Satan was experienced. By subtlety and challenges he thought to destroy this budding Savior. Jesus had spoken of his father-son relationship. Lucifer determined to test that. Hungry after a long fast, Jesus’ body demanding sustenance, the cruel question came hurling at him: “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matt. 4:3). Bread would have tasted so good that moment.