😈 Satan¶

Estimated time to read: 11 minutes

[T]here’s a lot of uncertainty among religious scholars regarding what the authors meant when the word “Swe datan” appears in the Old Testament. The definition can vary depending on how the Biblical Hebrew term for Satan (שָּׂטָן‎‎) is translated and interpreted. In some cases, the term simply means “opponent” or “adversary” and clearly indicates a human figure, not a supernatural one. In other cases, it suggests Satan is “the accuser,” or part of a heavenly legal system. ...

However, even in the New Testament there is a great deal of confusion about who Satan is. Scholars must look closely at different translations of the Hebrew and Aramaic words for “evil one” or the proper names of certain demons, like Abaddon, Beelzebub or Belial, and try to guess whether they refer to Satan or a more generic evil in context. When referencing the Bible solely, it’s difficult to determine what Satan looks like, where he came from or what his goals might be.

— How Satanism Works, The Origins of Satan, howstuffworks.com

In another page of notes, I've described Satan's Origins, including his role broadly in God's Plan of Salvation ™.

Here, I'll describe other aspects, most notably what powers or capabilities Satan has.

Satan's Power¶

15 Now the cause of this iniquity of the people was this—Satan had great power, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world.

16 And thus Satan did lead away the hearts of the people to do all manner of iniquity; therefore they had enjoyed peace but a few years.

— 3 Nephi 6:15-16

These are all verbs, these are actions taken against mortal humans. Satan isn't passively offering a seductive alternative.

God (presumably) holds inherited power from the multi-level marketing scheme of apotheosis, complete with its own line of succession dating back to that one time when Elohim was a mortal man. Where did Satan's "great power" come from? If it wasn't given to him by God, but was realized spontaneously, then I would expect to some of the other n billion * 0.33 souls who followed Lucifer to make a subsequent rebellion against Satan, acting as a chaotic third-party option by inciting neutrality and apathy.

Ruler of the World¶

Maybe at some point I'll feel bold (or angsty) enough to detail Lucifer's role in LDS Temple endowment ceremonies. I recognize that is a sensitive point for active practitioners, and I'm not looking to desecrate a belief simply because I don't agree with it. 🤷 I suppose I'll satisfice to say that the Temple ceremonies describe Satan as having power, with his domain being the planet Earth.

Outside of ~~secret~~ sacred ordinances, though...

2 Corinthians 4:4: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not...
John 12:31: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

Has non-specific power¶

If Satan lacked power, prophetic voices would describe him as a wimpy little piss-baby who is annoying, rather than terms like "great dragon" or "roaring lion."

1 Peter 5:8: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour...
Revelation 12:9: 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.

Matthew 4:9: All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

This example is a bit less obvious: here, Satan is tempting Christ. Satan would be unable to "give" anything if he had no influence, ownership, nor control. This is further reinforced by Christ's response of refusal to worship, rather than call out Satan's inability to deliver on his promise. Jesus doesn't explain to the narrator to tell us readers whether or not Jesus believes in Satan's capacity to impart "these things," so we're left to speculate.

Possess Mortals¶

If Satan were so powerless that he is unable to enter into mortal bodies and directly influence or control their actions, then we wouldn't have six Book of Mormon passages describing that scenario. To me, this demonstrates that Satan does have this power... or at least, he did up until 400 CE, give or take.

You can probably guess what you must do to prevent this from happening: you must be Temple-worthy, which includes paying money to the church leaders.

Disguising¶

Appear as an Angel¶

But behold, the devil hath deceived me; for he appeared unto me in the form of an angel, and said unto me: Go and reclaim this people, for they have all gone astray after an unknown God. And he said unto me: There is no God; yea, and he taught me that which I should say.

— Alma 30:53

... that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.

— 2 Nephi 9:9

If it be the devil as an angel of light, when you ask him to shake hands he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything; you may therefore detect him.

— D&C 129:8

So... that's cool, I guess. An angel of the Lord can intervene against Laman and Lemuel ultimately to no effect whatsoever, but an angel of the Devil can motivate Korihor to go and preach in a foreign, hostile land. Evidently Nephi's wellbeing (and his capacity to obtain the the Brass Plates) ranked lower in priority than stopping the Sons of Mosiah? An angel superceding Alma's agency seemed to be highly effective in that scenario.

Controls water (I guess)¶

“On the 9th, in company with ten Elders, I left Independence landing for Kirtland. We started down the river in canoes ... Nothing very important occurred till the third day, when many of the dangers so common upon the western waters, manifested themselves; and after we had encamped upon the bank of the river, at McIlwaine’s Bend, Brother Phelps, in open vision by daylight, saw the destroyer in his most horrible power, ride upon the face of the waters; others heard the noise, but saw not the vision.

“The next morning after prayer, I received the following: D&C 61.” (History of the Church, 1:202–3.)

— The Lord Has Blessed the Land and Cursed the Waters, Doctrine & Covenants Student Manual

That somehow became "Satan controls water".

Why then, do we:

Pray to God instead of Satan for rain?
Have a scriptural record of God flooding the whole Earth with water to murder every human who wasn't in Noah's boat?
Get completely immersed in Satan's element for baptism?
Have bodies made of 70% water?

I often hear this notion of Satan's influence over water as a rationalization for why the LDS church's full-time missionaries are not allowed to go swimming. For a variety of reasons, this makes no sense to me, given all the mythologizing and mystification surrounding the Lord's anointed messengers. I think it's much more reasonable and believable to call it a matter of legal liability.

But I do remember when I was one of those missionaries, in various Zone Conferences the leadership would remind us that we're not impervious to harm, and to tone down the adventurousness. To be fair, this scolding could probably be applied to any group of 18 to 25 year old impulsive clowns.

Ezra Booth¶

One of the ten Elders who accompanied Joseph Smith was Ezra Booth, in the aforementioned

One Ezra Booth was among this group of ten Elders, who reflected back on this incident with much more color. I'll omit by ellipses much of his story to narrow the scope of topic to cover, but if you feel the need to read further, I've provided a source link.

No accident however befel them, until Joseph in the afternoon of the third day, assumed the direction of affairs on board of that canoe... [T]he Prophet and his scribe, who had accompanied him on board that canoe, and like the sea-tossed mariner, when threatened with the horrors of a watery grave, they unanimously desired, to set their feet once more upon something more firm than a liquid surface: therefore, by the persuasion of Joseph, we landed before sunset, intending to pass the night upon the bank of the river.

The next morning, Joseph manifested an aversion to risk his person any more, upon the rough and rapid current of the Missouri, and in fact, upon any other river... A new commandment was issued, in which a great curse was pronounced against the waters; navigating them, was to be attended with extreme danger; and all the saints in general, were prohibited journeying upon them to the promised land.

From this circumstance, the Missouri river was named the river of Destruction. It was decreed, that we should proceed on our journey by land, and preach by the way as we passed along.

— Mormonism--No. VII., The Ohio Star, 24 November 1831; copied from BYU Library

The group decides to "journey by land, and preach by the way" rather than travel by accursed waters. This is as much of Ezra's account as is directly related to the idea of water being cursed. While the context of this divine imperative is fresh in your mind, you ought to continue reading Ezra's recollection of what happens afterward:

Ezra Booth explains what happens after the revelation

Joseph, Sidney and Oliver, were to press their way forward with all possible speed, and to preach only in Cincinnati; and there they were to lift up their voices, and proclaim against the whole of that wicked City. The method by which Joseph and Co. designed to proceed home, it was discovered, would be very expensive... Not satisfied with the money they received from you, they used their best endeavors to exact money from others, who had but little, compared with what they had; telling them in substance, "you can beg your passage, on foot, but as we are to travel in the stage, we must have money."

You will find, sir, that the expense of these three men, was one hundred dollars more than three of our company expended, while on our journey home[.] It seems, however, they had drained their pockets, when they arrived at Cincinnati, for they were there under the necessity of pawning their trunk, in order to continue their journey home.

Here they violated the commandment, by not preaching; and when an inquiry was made respecting the cause of that neglect, at one time they said, they could get no house to preach in; at another time they stated, that they could have had the court-house, had they staid a day or two longer, but the Lord made it known to them, that they should go on...

Thus they turn and twist the commandments, to suit their whims, and they violate them when they please with perfect impunity. They can at any time obtain a commandment suited to their desires, and as their desires fluctuate and become reversed, they get a new one to supersede the other, and hence the contradictions which abound in this species of revelation.

Having read that extra flavor text, now I'd turn your attention back to D&C 61:

Nevertheless, all flesh is in mine hand, and he that is faithful among you shall not perish by the waters.

— Doctrine & Covenants 61:6

"Yeah, if any of us get back in the water and dies, that means he just wasn't faithful. ... So says God, not me."