Section 129 of the Doctrine and Covenants provides “three grand keys” by which the Saints may know whether any angelic ministration is from God or from the devil. The revelation informs us that should the devil (or any of the premortal spirits that followed him) appear to you, attempting to deceive you into thinking that he is a divine messenger sent by God, ask him to shake hands and “he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything; you may therefore detect him.”[1] For many, this verse gives the impression that because Satan and his hosts lack mortal bodies, they are incapable of having physical contact with humans. In other words, the passage appears to focus on the nature of the bodies of Lucifer and his spirit followers, suggesting that their physical makeup is the reason their hands cannot be felt. However, this explanation may not be entirely accurate or complete. In an effort to test the common exegesis of Doctrine and Covenants 129, this essay will recount several early satanic encounters, applying the implications of such to our understanding of the nature of Lucifer’s person.

The Prophet Joseph Smith

Most readers are familiar with the first and most seminal event associated with the Restoration—namely the appearance of the Father and Son to Joseph Smith early in the spring of 1820. Before the vision occurred, young Joseph had a very physical encounter with the adversary—an experience that left him with no doubts about Satan’s power in the physical realm:

I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. . . . At the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such a marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm I saw a pillar of light. (Joseph Smith—History 1:15–16)[2]

In this passage Joseph Smith describes what must have been a terrifying and unimaginable encounter. Among other things, he notes that he was “seized upon” and was “entirely” overcome by Satan. He states that Lucifer bound his tongue so that he could not speak or cry out. Elsewhere, he noted that during this experience the devil caused his tongue to physically swell up and cleave to the roof of his mouth.[3] He also spoke of hearing distinct footsteps walking toward him as he began his prayer, but he did not see Satan’s person.[4] In another account, he reported that throughout the ordeal, he was “severely tempted” with “improper pictures,” and his mind was “benighted . . . with doubts”—all via the devil’s influence.[5]

This was certainly not the Prophet’s only encounter with the adversary. Although we do not know all the details surrounding each of these experiences, we do know that Joseph confided in at least one of his associates that Satan had made repeated attempts to physically destroy him. President Heber C. Kimball states: “Brother Joseph . . . told me that he had contests with the devil, face to face. He also told me how he was handled and afflicted by the devil.”[6] Heber shares the details of one of many demonic encounters the Prophet experienced:

I will relate one circumstance that took place at Far West, in a house that Joseph had purchased, which had been formerly occupied as a public house by some wicked people. A short time after he got into it, one of his children was taken very sick; he laid his hands upon the child, [then] it got better; as soon as he went out of doors, the child was taken sick again; he again laid his hands upon it, so that it again recovered. This occurred several times, when Joseph inquired of the Lord what it all meant; then he had an open vision, and saw the devil in person, who contended with Joseph face to face, for some time. He said it was his house, it belonged to him, and Joseph had no right there. Then Joseph rebuked Satan in the name of the Lord, and he departed and touched the child no more.[7]

The record clearly shows that Joseph experienced Satan in a very real and tangible way. His encounters with the adversary were not isolated to the strange encounter in the Sacred Grove; on the contrary, the devil—apparently on multiple occasions—physically and violently accosted the Prophet “face to face.” That initial attack “on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty” (Joseph Smith—History 1:14) was only the beginning of Joseph’s troubles, as it relates to Satan’s unrelenting physical attacks upon the Prophet.

Newel Knight

In April 1830, shortly after the organization of the Church, Newel Knight had a rather strange physical encounter with Lucifer. The following account, taken from Joseph Smith’s History, has come to be known as the “first miracle” in the Church:

Amongst those who attended our meetings regularly, was Newel Knight son to Joseph Knight. He and I had now many and serious conversations on the important subject of man’s eternal salvation: we had got into the habit of praying much at our meetings and Newel had said that he would try and take up his cross, and pray vocally during meeting; but when we again met together, he rather excused himself. . . .

Accordingly he deferred praying untill next morning, when he retired into the woods, where . . . he made several attempts to pray, but could scarcely do so. . . . He began to feel uneasy, and continued to feel worse both in mind and body, untill, upon reaching his own house, his appearance was such as to alarm his wife very much. He requested her to go and to bring me to him. I went and found him suffering very much in his mind, and his body acted upon in a very strange manner. His visage and limbs distorted and twisted in every shape and appearance possible to imagine; and finally he was caught up off the floor of the apartment and tossed about most fearfully. His situation was soon made known to his neighbours and relatives, and in a short time as many as eight or nine grown persons had got together to witness the scene. After he had thus suffered for a time, I succeeded in getting hold <of> him by the hand, when almost immediately he spoke to me, and with great earnestness requested of me, that I should cast the Devil out of him, saying that he knew he was in him, and that he also knew that I could cast him out. I replied “If you know that I can, it shall be done” and then almost unconsciously I rebuked the devil, and commanded him in the name of Jesus Christ to depart from him; when immediately Newel spoke out and said that he saw the devil leave him and vanish from his sight. . . .

The scene was now entirely changed for as soon as the devil had departed from our friend, his countenance became natural, his distortions of body ceased, and almost immediately the Spirit of the Lord descended upon him, and the visions of eternity were opened to his view. . . .

All of this was witnessed by many, to their great astonishment and satisfaction.[8]

Knight confirms theaccount in his autobiography, where he not only acknowledges that the event took place, but also speaks in detail of the subsequent trial on June 29, 1830, in which he was called as a witness and interrogated regarding the aforementioned Luciferian encounter.[9] Although Newel’s experience may seem more like a demonic possession than a satanic attack, clearly he was being physically accosted. Not only was his body actually distorted and disabled by the experience but he also notes that Satan physically lifted him off the floor and “tossed” him about the room as if he were a rag doll.

Harvey Whitlock

Although several of the physical demonic attacks we will examine involved high-profile members of the Church, a number of lesser-known believers in the restored gospel had similar encounters. For example, there was an early satanic experience that occurred in association with the ordination of Harvey Whitlock to the office of high priest. Whitlock was an “on again, off again” Latter-day Saint who was baptized into the Church three times before finally becoming a member of the RLDS Church (now known as Community of Christ).[10] Whitlock’s experience with Satan was recorded by a number of individuals who actually witnessed it. For example, Levi Hancock wrote:

The Fourth of June [1831] came and we all met . . . near Isaac Morleys in Kirtland, [Geauga] County, Ohio. . . . Joseph put his hands on Harvey Whitlock and ordained him to the high priesthood. He [Harvey] turned as black as Lyman [Wight] was white. His fingers were set like claws. He went around the room and showed his hands and tried to speak, his eyes were in the shape of oval O’s. Hyrum Smith said, “Joseph, that is not of God.” . . . Joseph bowed his head, and in a short time got up and commanded Satan to leave Harvey, laying his hands upon his head at the same time. At that very instant an old man said to weigh two hundred and fourteen pounds sitting in the window turned a complete summersault in the house and [landed on] his back across a bench and lay helpless. Joseph told Lyman to cast Satan out. He did. The man’s name was Leamon Coply [Leman Copley], formally a Quaker.[11] The evil spirit left him and as quick as lightening Harvey Green fell bound and screamed like a panther. Satan was cast out of him. But immediately entered someone else. This continued all day and the greater part of the night. . . . After this we . . . heard Harvey Whitlock say [that] when Hyrum Smith said it was not [of] God, he disdained him in his heart and when the Devil was cast out he was convinced it was Satan that was in him and he knew . . . it. I also heard Harvey Green say that he could not describe the awful feeling he experienced while in the hands of Satan.[12]

Lucy Mack Smith also referred to the Harvey Whitlock experience in her memoir. She confirms Levi Hancock’s account of the events and adds a couple of additional insights that Hancock did not include. She states that Whitlock convulsed when under the physical influence of Satan, and he was left physically weak after the devil was cast out of him. She also notes that Leman Copley had his tongue bound during the episode, preventing him from speaking.[13] Both of these “symptoms,” if we can call them such, are comparable to the experiences of other early church members who likewise were physically attacked by the devil.

Philo Dibble, who was a firsthand witness to this experience, confirms Lucy’s additions to the story.

Harvey Whitlock stepped into the middle of the room with his arms crossed, bound by the power of Satan, and his mouth twisted unshapely.

Hyrum Smith arose and declared that there was an evil spirit in the room. . . .

Shortly Hyrum rose the second time, saying, “I know my duty and will do it,” and stepping to Harvey, commanded the evil spirits to leave him, but the spirits did not obey.

Joseph then approached Harvey and asked him if he believed in God. Then we saw a change in Harvey. He also bore record of the opening of the heavens and of the coming of the Son of Man, precisely as Lyman Wight had done.

Next a man by the name of Harvey Green was thrown upon his back on the floor by an unseen power. Some of the brethren wanted to administer to him by laying on of hands, but Joseph forbade it. Harvey looked to me like a man in a fit. He groaned and frothed at the mouth. Finally he got upon his knees and came out of it.

Next thing I saw a man came flying through the window from outside. He was straight as a man’s arm as he sailed into the room over two rows of seats filled with men, and fell on the floor between the seats and was pulled out by the brethren. He trembled all over like a leaf in the wind. He was soon . . . calm and natural. His name was Lem[a]n Copley. He weighed over two hundred pounds. This I saw with my own eyes and know it is all true, and bear testimony to it.[14]

What seems significant here—at least as it relates to our discussion—is not so much the fact that Harvey Whitlock was possessed by the devil, as others apparently were. Rather, what seems noteworthy are the physical attacks upon Leman Copley and Harvey Green. Whereas Whitlock was clearly possessed, these brethren exhibited behavior that implied they were also being physically (not just spiritually) harassed by the adversary.

Sidney Rigdon

Another event, not well known, took place in September 1831. The Prophet Joseph decided to take his family, then dwelling in Kirtland, and move to Hiram, Ohio, where he could continue the work of translating the Bible. Sidney Rigdon was left to preside over the Saints in Kirtland. On one occasion during Joseph’s absence, Sidney informed a body of Saints that the “keys of the kingdom” had been taken from the Church.[15] Those present were confused and dismayed by the announcement. Joseph was immediately sent for and, upon his return, declared that the things Sidney had taught were false. The Prophet added that, because of the things Elder Rigdon had said and done, “the devil [will] handle him as one man handles another.”[16] In fulfillment of Joseph’s words, “a few weeks after this, Sidney was lying in bed alone, and suddenly ‘an unseen power lifted him from his bed . . . and tossed him from one side of the room to the other.’ His family heard the noises coming from the room and rushed in ‘and found him going from one side of the room to the other.’”[17] This happened some three times over the course of the night.[18] Sidney was physically “laid up” for five or six weeks because of the effects of the experience. Thus, having spoken under the influence of the devil, Sidney was then turned over to the physical buffetings of Lucifer.

Benjamin Brown

One early church member, Benjamin Brown, spent the years prior to his discovery of the Church looking for “the ancient gospel” of New Testament Christianity. In the process, he is said to have had a number of visions. However, when Brown shared these experiences with a local minister, he was told that both his visions and his desire to find “the ancient” Church of the Bible were “of the Devil.”[19]

On one occasion after his conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brown and two friends were called upon to cast an evil spirit out of a possessed sister. While attempting to exercise the priesthood, Brown and one of his companions learned by direct experience of Satan’s ability to physically interact with mortals. He notes:

The evil spirit . . . came out full of fury, and, as he passed by one of the brethren, seized him by both arms and gripped them violently. Passing towards me, something, which by the feel appeared like a man’s hand, grasped me by both sides of the face, and attempted to pull me sideways to the ground, but the hold appearing to slip, I recovered my balance immediately.

My face was sore for some days after this. The other brother that was seized was lame for a week afterwards.[20]

Like so many others in the early Church, Benjamin Brown and his companion learned firsthand that Satan’s hands can be felt—and frequently are by those who are living in ways that threaten his kingdom.

Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, and the First British Missionaries

Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde’s encounter with evil spirits was particularly dramatic, and the two Apostles spoke of the experience on numerous occasions, each time sharing additional details. What follows is an amalgamation of the salient points of their experience.

In July 1837, Kimball and Hyde, along with Willard Richards, and Canadian converts Joseph Fielding, Isaac Russell, John Goodson, and John Snyder, sailed to Great Britain to inaugurate the preaching of the restored gospel in that land. Within a few days after their arrival they established Preston as the headquarters of the mission and secured lodging in a three-story flat on Wilfred Street.[21] On Sunday, July 30, sometime around daybreak, Isaac Russell rushed into the room occupied by Kimball and Hyde, waking them, and claiming that he was so afflicted with evil spirits that he would not live long if someone did not cast them out. The two Apostles administered to Russell. Kimball, acting as voice, rebuked the devil, petitioning the Lord for relief from the enemy that held Russell bound. Near the end of the administration, Kimball’s voice began to falter, and his tongue became bound so that he could not speak. Suddenly, he began to tremble and reel back and forth, then an invisible force threw him forward onto the floor. As he hit the ground, he let out a deep groan and lay prostrate as though he were dead. Hyde and Russell immediately laid their hands on Elder Kimball, blessing him and rebuking Satan—at which point Heber regained consciousness, but he had only partial strength. He later said that as he regained his senses, sweat began to roll from him so profusely that it was as though he had just stepped out of a river. Elders Hyde and Russell lifted Kimball and placed him on his bed. However, his physical agony was so intense that he pulled himself back onto the floor. Reaching his knees, he began to plead to heaven for intervention.

Kimball noted that, having finished his prayer, he sat on his bed, and to the surprise of those present, they were all wrapped in a vision of the “infernal world,” where they saw “legions” of evil spirits, company after company of them. According to Heber, these demonic hosts “struggled” to attack the elders and “exerted all their power and influence” to destroy them. These spirits were in the shape of men, with fully formed bodies—hands, eyes, hair, ears, and every other human feature—though some had hideous distortions in their face and body. With knives, they “rushed” upon the brethren “as an army going to battle.” Elders Kimball and Hyde testified that they saw them as plainly as one would see a person standing in front of them. These demonic assailants came toward them, foaming at the mouth and “gnashing their teeth upon” the elders. Hyde noted that there were also numerous snakes accompanying the satanic hosts, hissing, writhing, and crawling over each other. At some point during this bizarre event, Willard Richards awoke and made his way up to the third floor where he too witnessed the events as they unfolded. Richards, who had a watch, noted that these “foul spirits” remained in the room threatening them for an hour and a half.[22]

Elder Kimball indicated that the following day he was so weak from the physical attack that he could scarcely stand. Years later he spoke in detail of the encounter and then added, “I cannot even now look back on the scene without feelings of horror; yet, by it I learned the power of the adversary, his enmity against the servants of God, and got some understanding of the invisible world.”[23] Similarly, nearly two decades after the experience, Hyde wrote a letter to then President Heber C. Kimball, noting: “Every circumstance that occurred at that scene of devils is just as fresh in my recollection at this moment as it was at the moment of its occurrence, and will ever remain so.”[24] Although much of the foregoing account was visionary, Heber was quite clear that he was assaulted with a physical force that felt like being punched in the face by the fist of a strong man—to say nothing of the faltering voice, bound tongue, and physical weakness he encountered.

Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith

Not unlike the experiences of Joseph Smith and the first British missionaries, Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith were also physically attacked by the devil during the winter of 1840 as they labored as missionaries in London during the second mission of the Twelve. Woodruff spoke of this assault on numerous occasions. On October 18, 1840, he wrote the following in his journal:

We [Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith] retired to rest in good season & I felt well in my mind & slept until 12 at night. I awoke & meditated upon the things of God until near 3 oclock & while forming a determination to warn the people in London & overcome the powers of Darkness by the assistance of God; A person appeared unto me which I consider[e]d was the Prince of Darkness or the Devel[.] he made war with me & attempted to take my life. he caught me by the throat & choked me nearly to death. he wounded me in my forehead. I also wounded him in a number of places in the head[25] as he was about to overcome me I prayed to the father in the name of Jesus for help. I then had power over him & he left me though much wounded

3 personages dressed in white Came to me & prayed with me & I was immediately healed & delivered me from all my troubles.[26]

In later years, Woodruff indicated that Satan physically harmed both him and George A. Smith; and had it not been for “three holy messengers . . . dressed in temple clothing” who gave them each a priesthood blessing, both would have been killed by Satan on that occasion.[27]

The “Physical” Substance of Unembodied and Disembodied Spirits

What has been shared is only a sampling of the numerous examples of demonic attacks recorded by several early Latter-day Saints. Many more could be offered as evidence that Lucifer is capable of corporeal contact with mortals. President Joseph Fielding Smith taught, “We must not discount the power of the adversary of all righteousness. There are scores of cases, fully attested in our own day of demon influence.”[28] Hauntingly, President George Q. Cannon spoke to this subject on more than one occasion, cautioning the Saints:

I have come to the conclusion that if our eyes were open to see the spirit world around us, . . . we would not be so unguarded and careless, and so indifferent whether we had the spirit and power of God with us or not; but we would be continually watchful and prayerful to our heavenly Father for His Holy Spirit and His holy angels to be around about us to strengthen us to overcome every evil influence. . . .[29]

If he could [Satan] would shed the blood of every man and woman on the face of the earth, rather than it should go into the hands of God. All those who are connected with him would, if they could, slay every man that stands in their pathway. The more faithful a man is in the cause of God, the more the hatred of the wicked is manifested against him.[30]

Of course, all these accounts raise a question: How is it possible that the devil and his minions—beings without physical bodies—are able to attack human beings in such a physical manner? Are we to be dismissive of these historical narratives as simply misunderstood or misguided experiences? Not only are these early leaders known to be men of character and trustworthiness, but each also seems quite certain about what they saw, experienced, and described.[31] Beyond this, there is a consistency in their experiences that suggests they described the events that actually happened (such as being left weak, having one’s tongue bound, being pinned or thrown to the floor, being tossed about the room, and so forth). Reason suggests that these events happened as described.

Perhaps one explanation of these experiences is to be found in the understanding we have of the nature of the makeup of Satan’s spirit body. We often cite the Joseph Smith’s comment: “We came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the celestial kingdom. The great principle of happiness consists in having a body. The devil has no body, and herein is his punishment. He is pleased when he can obtain the tabernacle of man, and when cast out by the Savior he asked to go into the herd of swine, showing that he would prefer a swine’s body to having none.”[32]

This statement clearly indicates that Satan’s premortal rebellion and fall stripped him, and the spirits who followed him, of the right to have a mortal body. However, the tendency might be to assume that Joseph Smith is also saying that Lucifer’s “spirit body” is also void of any physical properties. Yet, this is clearly not the case. Regarding the physical nature of the “spirit body,” the Prophet notes that “the body is supposed to be organized matter, and the spirit by many is thought to be immaterial, without substance. With this latter statement we should beg leave to differ—and state that spirit is a substance; that it is material, but that it is more pure, elastic, and refined matter than the body.”[33] Similarly, Joseph also stated: “There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes; we cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter” (Doctrine and Covenants 131:7–8). Latter-day Saint scholars Stephen E. Robinson and H. Dean Garrett wrote: “Spirits are made of matter. Just as matter can change form from matter to energy, so, apparently, matter can be refined and purified to the point where it is normally discernible only to bodies that have been similarly refined and purified. The universe is not composed of two mutually exclusive entities, matter and spirit, but of only one—matter in one or another stage of refinement.”[34] The notion that Satan’s spirit body—or the spirit body of any being—is immaterial, and thus intangible, is incorrect. The devil’s spirit body is made of matter, just as physical bodies are made of matter; and the aforementioned encounters strongly suggest that spirit matter and mortal matter can interact.

As a parenthetical note, the material nature of spirits is not isolated to Lucifer and his angels. The physical makeup of righteous spirits is also material. For example, we understand that the priesthood continues to function in the spirit world, in essentially the same way it does here on earth (including the practice of the laying on of hands).[35] Indeed, we have every reason to believe that part of the expression and interaction that takes place in both premortality and the postmortal spirit world is somewhat “physical in nature”—spirit to spirit.[36] Spirits touch, feel, interact, and so forth. We also know that in the premortal world, spirits (those yet to receive bodies) were ordained to the priesthood in anticipation of their “reordination” here in mortality, and this was almost certainly done by the laying on of hands.[37] In addition, those who would serve in callings within the Church during their mortal sojourn were also foreordained to those callings while they were still spirits.[38]

David Patten Kimball, son of President Heber C. Kimball, had an experience in which he was visited by his deceased parents from the spirit world. He had become lost in the desert in Arizona and was near death for want of water. His father and mother appeared to him, and although they were spirits, they were still able to “physically” give him a drink of water, which sustained his life until he could be found.[39]

Parley P. Pratt had a similar experience. He was unjustly incarcerated in Richmond, Missouri, and had been fasting and pleading with the Lord to know if he would ever be freed from that “gloomy, dark, cold and filthy dungeon.” In response to his prayer, his wife Thankful, who had been deceased for nearly two years, appeared to him. She held his hand and laid her cheek against his. Parley noted the warmth of her face as she pressed it against him. She had come in answer to his pleadings and informed him that he would again see the light of day.[40]

In the Gospel of Matthew, we are informed that it was an angel—perhaps an unembodied or disembodied spirit—that rolled back the stone that covered the opening of the sepulchre in which Jesus had been placed (see Matthew 28:2).[41] All of these accounts simply show that righteous spirits also have a material nature that is capable of touch, interaction, ordination, and so forth. Nothing is immaterial.

Earliest Teaching by Joseph Smith on the Grand Keys

Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde’s encounter with evil spirits while on their mission in England in 1837 was no doubt on Joseph Smith’s mind in 1839 as the Twelve were preparing to leave on their collective mission to Great Britain (during the summer of 1839). On June 27 of that year, Wilford Woodruff was present when the Prophet instructed him and other members of the Twelve about the keys whereby ministering angels and evil spirits may be detected. Woodruff’s report, as he recorded it in his journal, is as follows:

June 27th I spent the day in Commerce in Council with the Presidency & Twelve. We had an interesting day. Joseph was president of the Council[.] . . .

Among the vast number of the Keys of the Kingdom of God Joseph presented the following one to the Twelve for there benefit in there experience & travels in the flesh which is as follows:

In order to detect the devel when he transforms himself nigh unto an angel of light. When an angel of God appears unto man face to face in personage & reaches out his hand unto the man & he takes hold of the angels hand & feels a substance the same as one man would in Shaking hands with another he may then know that it is an angel of God, & he should place all Confidence in him[.] Such personages or angels are Saints with there resurrected Bodies.

But if a personage appears unto man & offers him his hand & the man takes hold of it & he feels nothing or does not sens any substance he may know it is the devel, for when a Saint whose body is not resurrected appears unto man in the flesh he will not offer him his hand for this is against the law given him & in keeping in mind these things we may detec the devil that he decieved us not.[42]

Woodruff’s entry is particularly significant since he specifically indicated that the information Joseph Smith taught on this occasion was intended for or directed to the Twelve and was given to protect them against spiritual deceptions or demonic demonstrations of the adversary while they were on their missions in Great Britain.[43]

Receipt of Doctrine and Covenants 129

On February 9, 1843, Joseph Smith took up the subject of the nature of ministering angels and evil spirits once again. When he discussed the topic with members of the Twelve in June 1839, Parley P. Pratt was incarcerated in Columbia, Missouri, so he was not privy to the instructions given by the Prophet at that time. The following month, Pratt made a successful escape from Missouri and made his way to Commerce, Illinois, where the Saints were gathering, only to leave a few weeks later to serve a three-and-a-half-year mission with other members of the Twelve in Great Britain. On February 9, a few days after his return from Missouri, Pratt spent the better part of the afternoon conversing with Joseph Smith, and it was on that occasion that the Prophet shared with Pratt the “three grand keys” by which heavenly ministers and evil spirits may be detected. William Clayton and Willard Richards recorded what the Prophet taught. In the 1870s, Orson Pratt compiled and edited Smith’s revelations for another edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, and from among the documents, he selected the text Clayton had recorded in 1839 for the new section that became Doctrine and Covenants 129.[44]

As we turn our attention back to Doctrine and Covenants 129, we are left with the impression that the revelation is not primarily about the nature of Satan’s body. As has been shown, the issue is not whether the devil or his emissaries can have physical contact with mankind. Indeed, the history of the Church is filled with examples that show they can. Rather, section 129 appears to be highlighting the conditional restrictions that have been placed on Lucifer and the spirits that followed him.[45]

As scripture attests, Satan does not have free rein to do as he wishes (see Doctrine and Covenants 121:4; Revelation 1:18; 9:1; and the book of Job). Certainly, as President Joseph Fielding Smith noted, he “has some control over the elements. This he does by powers which he knows but which are hidden from weak mortal men.”[46] However, he is also bound by divine law, by which God keeps him “in check,” as it were. Joseph Smith taught that “wicked spirits have their bounds, limits, and laws by which they are governed or controlled.”[47] We take it for granted that the devil simply is not allowed to do certain things. For example, he cannot tempt little children until they begin to become accountable (see Doctrine and Covenants 29:47), he cannot tempt translated beings (see 3 Nephi 28:39), and he cannot come in the sign of the dove.[48] Some have even conjectured that he cannot imitate the witness of the Holy Ghost.[49] We can safely add to our list that Lucifer and his minions cannot shake hands with us if we request that they do so.[50]

Section 129 provides the doctrinal understanding about the “keys” that were intended for all Latter-day Saints in order to protect them against the spiritual deceptions of the adversary.[51] Certainly Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery learned the value of such knowledge. In one of the adversary’s many efforts to deceive, one account suggests that sometime in 1829 Satan appeared as an “angel of light” while Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were being pursued by a Colesville mob and were in a frightened and exhausted state. What Satan’s intentions were is not certain, but his appearance was thwarted by Michael (i.e., Adam) who informed Joseph and Oliver that the personage was Satan and not a heavenly messenger (Doctrine and Covenants 128:20).[52] Significantly, the placement of this event in section 128 of the Doctrine and Covenants, immediately preceding the revelation on the discerning of spirits, suggests it is not merely coincidental. For example, on Sunday, May 1, 1842, Joseph preached a sermon on the keys of the kingdom. He stated:

The keys are certain signs & words by which false spirits & personages may be detected from true.— which cannot be revealed to the Elders till the Temple is completed. . . . There are signs in heaven earth & hell. the elders must know them all to be endued with power. to finish their work & prevent imposition. The devil knows many signs. but does not know the sign of the son of man. or Jesus. No one can truly say he knows God until he has handled something. & these this can only be in the holiest of Holies.[53]

Clearly, Joseph Smith understood the signs and keys of the holy temple as endowments of power to keep not only the elders but also all members of the Church from being deceived by the devil.[54] Just three days later, after giving this instruction, nine leaders of the Church learned of this connection when, on May 4, 1842, the Prophet administered the holy endowment to them.[55] Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook have noted that what they received that day was

so sacred that when Heber C. Kimball wrote to fellow apostle Parley P. Pratt just a few weeks later, he said that Joseph had taught them some precious things on the priesthood that would cause his soul to rejoice if he knew them, but that Joseph had given instructions that these keys not be written about. Heber concluded his description of the newly revealed endowment by saying that Parley would have to come to Nauvoo to receive the instructions for himself. . . . Parley arrived in Nauvoo on 7 February 1843, and . . . after only two days . . . [Joseph gave] him the instructions contained in D&C 129—the same instructions as given in [Joseph’s] discourse, 27 June 1839.[56]

From the foregoing quote, it can be concluded that the “keys” delivered in section 129 were given to others as part of their temple endowment experience. Stephen E. Robinson and H. Dean Garrett have noted that Joseph’s public remarks on this section indicate that he “connected the substance of Doctrine and Covenants 129 with the ordinances of the temple and believed that the information in this revelation held increased significance for those who had been endowed.”[57]

Conclusion

By way of summary, several significant teachings are contained in Doctrine and Covenants 129, particularly verses 4 and 8:

• “When a messenger comes”: Angels are, at times, sent from the presence of God with communications from Him.
• “Offer him your hand”: According to the Prophet Joseph, in any such encounter, the temple-initiated Saints should request a “token” or “key” as a sign of the angel’s divine commission.
• “If it be the devil as an angel of light”: Satan seeks to deceive us. He seeks to appear as an “angel of light”—or, in other words, as an angel sent from God and His celestial realms—to deceive true disciples.[58]
• “He will offer you his hand”: The devil will offer you his hand because he is obligated by a divine law to act in such a way that you will be able to clearly detect him and see through his efforts at deception.
• “You will not feel anything”: In any circumstance wherein Satan attempts to convey the “keys” offered patrons in the holy temple, Doctrine and Covenants 129:8 promises that the person “will not feel anything” so “you may therefore detect him” because the sacred signs are to be had only in the holy temple.[59]

One of the most important conclusions we can learn from section 129 is that one of the purposes for which the endowed Latter-day Saints are given these “keys” is to enable them to have the power to discern the spirits. In other words, that which is learned in the Lord’s holy house will enable those in possession of this knowledge not to be deceived by the “father of all lies” (2 Nephi 2:18). Additionally, Doctrine and Covenants 129 is not so much a declaration about the noncorporeal nature of Satan’s body, nor is it a promise that the faithful will be physically protected from attacks by the devil and his angels. Rather, the crux of the message is the doctrinal assurance that although Satan and his angels may be permitted to accost and even appear to mortals in an attempt to deceive us, when it comes to the things conveyed to those endowed in the Lord’s House, limitations have been placed upon the devil and his angels.[60] Lucifer and the fallen third part of the hosts of heaven are bound by an eternal law whereby they are forbidden to “shake hands” with those who have been endowed, and are also forbidden to use that which is taught in the temple in order to gain the trust of mortals on the earth.

Notes

[1] William Clayton’s account of what the Prophet Joseph taught is slightly different from what is recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 129. In December of 1840, Clayton recorded: “If an Angel or spirit appears offer him your hand; if he is a spirit from God he will stand still and not offer you his hand. If from the Devil he will either shrink back from you or offer his hand, which if he does you will feel nothing, but be deceived.” Discourse reported by William Clayton, December 1840, in JSP, D7:490, emphasis added. Concerning Joseph Smith’s teachings on this subject, Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook wrote: “Unlike other versions of these instructions given by Joseph Smith from 1839 to 1843, this account indicates that the Devil is not compelled to ‘offer his hand.’ Apparently Joseph Smith believed that the Devil had sense enough to avoid obvious detection but that unlike ‘a spirit from God,’ he would not remain motionless.” Ehat and Cook, comps., The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1980), 56n3; see also 20–21n21.

[2] For the entire account of the First Vision see History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 (23 December 1805–30 August 1834), 1820–1823, 2–3, www.josephsmithpapers.org; see also Draft 2 and 3, in JSP, H1:212–15.

[3] Alexander Neibaur, journal, May 24, 1844, MS 12188, CHL.

[4] Joseph Smith, Journal, 9–11 November 1835, in JSP, J1:88; see also History, 9 November 1835, in JSP, H1:116.

[5] Orson Pratt, An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions (New York: Joseph W. Harrison, 1842), 5.

[6] Heber C. Kimball, March 2, 1856, in JD, 3:229–30; see also Heber C. Kimball, June 29, 1856, in JD, 4:2.

[7] See Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, 4th ed. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1973), 258–59.

[8] History, circa June 1839–circa 1841 (Draft 2), in JSP, H1:380, 382, 384, 386.

[9] Newel Knight, Newel Knight Autobiography, 3–4, 8–9, 13, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, HBLL; see also History, circa June 1839–circa 1841 (Draft 3), in JSP, H1:409, 411.

[10] Susan Easton Black, Who’s Who in the Doctrine and Covenants (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997), 326–27.

[11] Copley was actually a “Shaker” rather than a “Quaker.” The Shakers, formerly known as the “Shaking Quakers,” broke from the Quaker movement in 1747.

[12] Levi Hancock, Autobiography, 33–34, L. Tom Perry Special Collections Library, HBLL.

[13] Lucy wrote: “When he [Joseph] came to Kirtland he found . . . the Devil had been deceiving them with a specious appearance of power manifested by strange contortions of the visage and unnatural Motions which they supposed as being occasioned by an opperation of the power of God. . . . [Joseph] called upon one of the brethren who had been deceived by an evil spirit to speak [and] when he arose he was immediately convulsed in the most singular manner his face his arms and his fingers being drawn like a person in [a] spasm[.] Joseph turned to Hyrum and said will you go and lay hands on that brother [and] when Hyrum did so the man fell back into his chair as weak as though he had exhausted himself by excessive hard labor.” Lavina Fielding Anderson, ed., Lucy’s Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith’s Family Memoir (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2001), 506–8.

[14] Philo Dibble, “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph,” Juvenile Instructor, May 15, 1892, 303.

[15] See Anderson, Lucy’s Book, 561. Richard L. Bushman conjectures that the reason for Rigdon’s claim that the “keys of the kingdom [had been] rent from the Church” was a concern he had about property. See Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 186.

[16] Philo Dibble, “Philo Dibble’s Narrative,” in Early Scenes in Church History (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructors Office, 1882), 80.

[17] LeMar E. Garrard, “A Study of the Problem of a Personal Devil and Its Relationship to Latter-day Saint Beliefs” (master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1955), 121; quoted material in Garrard is from Dibble, “Philo Dibble’s Narrative,” 80.

[18] See Kimball, in JD, 3:229–30; 4:2; and Anderson, Lucy’s Book, 563–64.

[19] Mark R. Grandstaff and Milton V. Backman Jr., “The Social Origins of the Kirtland Mormons,” BYU Studies 30, no. 2 (Spring 1990): 61.

[20] Benjamin Brown, “Benjamin Brown Autobiography,” in Testimonies for the Truth (Liverpool: S. W. Richards, 1853), ch. 2; see also Benjamin Brown, “Testimonies for the Truth,” in Gems for the Young Folks (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1881), 72.

[21] See James B. Allen, Ronald K. Esplin, and David J. Whittaker, Men with a Mission, 1837–1841: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992), 33.

[22] Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Heber C. Kimball (Nauvoo, IL: Robinson and Smith, 1840), 18–19; Heber C. Kimball, “A Letter From Heber C. Kimball to His Wife, Vilate Kimball,” Elders’ Journal, October 1837, 4–5; Heber C. Kimball, in JD 3:229–30; 4:2; 11:84; and Heber C. Kimball, Journal History of the Church, December 1860, 16:4, CHL. See also Wilford Woodruff, March 3, 1889, discourse, in Brian H. Stuy, ed., Collected Discourses (n.p.: B.H.S. Publishing, 1999), 1:217–18; and Joseph Fielding, diary, typescript, 21–24, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, HBLL. Apparently, Joseph Fielding, John Snider, and John Goodson were not present during the satanic encounter.

[23] Kimball, Journal of Heber C. Kimball, 19.

[24] Orson Hyde to Heber C. Kimball, in Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2001), 131.

[25] The sentences “He wounded me in my forehead. I also wounded him in a number of places in the head” appear in the original journal entry but have been struck through by someone at a later date.

[26] Wilford Woodruff, journal (January–December 1840), October 18, 1840, 197, www.wilfordwoodruffpapers.org.

[27] Wilford Woodruff, March 3, 1889, discourse, in Stuy, Collected Discourses, 1:218; Wilford Woodruff, Leaves from My Journal (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1881), 109–10; and Wilford Woodruff, October 19, 1896, discourse, in Stuy, Collected Discourses, 5:236–37. George A. Smith apparently left no account of this event. However, Woodruff states that he and Smith were sleeping on cots some three feet apart when Satan appeared to them that night. Thus, Smith was certainly aware of what happened, and experienced the physical nature of the attack, just as Woodruff had.

[28] Joseph Fielding Smith, Man: His Origin and Destiny (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1954), 487.

[29] George Q. Cannon, in JD, 11:30.

[30] George Q. Cannon, in JD, 24:375–76.

[31] The reader may be aware of comments suggesting that demonic attacks are allowed in cases of disobedience, if not caused by that disobedience. For example, Joseph Smith reportedly said, “The devil has no power over us only as we permit him; the moment we revolt at anything which comes from God the Devil takes power.” Account of Meeting and Discourse, 5 January 1841, as reported by William Clayton, in JSP, D7:495. Likewise, Charles W. Penrose taught, “Satan cannot obtain the mastery over any human being, except by yielding to him.” Charles W. Penrose, in Conference Report, October 1906, 57. Orson Pratt taught, “The devil has not the power to take full possession of the tabernacles of human creatures, unless they give way to him and his influence to that degree that he gets power over them.” See Orson Pratt in JD, 13:64. In general terms, it seems correct to say that those who are disobedient place themselves outside the protection of the Holy Spirit and are thus in potential subjection to the devil and his influence. In the cases of righteous men like Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, and George A. Smith, their specific encounters with Satan are evidence that the adversary feels his kingdom and power are being threatened. This is supported by a statement by Joseph Smith, who taught, “The nearer a person approaches the Lord, a greater power will be manifested by the adversary to prevent the accomplishment of His purposes.” See Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, 131–32.

[32] Account of Meeting and Discourse, 5 January 1841, as reported by William Clayton, in JSP, D7:495.

[33] Joseph Smith, “Try the Spirits,” Times and Seasons, April 1, 1842, cited in JSP, D9:329.

[34] Stephen E. Robinson and H. Dean Garrett, A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2000–5), 4:239. John A. Widtsoe wrote: “God, angels, spirits, men, and all the things in the universe belong to the same world, are organized from existing materials. They differ only in their various forms of organization.” Widtsoe, Joseph Smith—Seeker after Truth, Prophet of God (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1951), 147.

[35] Robert L. Millet and Joseph Fielding McConkie, The Life Beyond (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1986), 51–53; and Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1998), 252–53.

[36] Brigham Young, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner (Salt Lake City: Smith-Pettit Foundation, 2009), 3:1496. See also Brigham Young in JD, 7:239.

[37] History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 (1 May 1844–8 August 1844), 12 May 1844, 18, www.josephsmithpapers.org; Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1998), 3:81; see also Alma 13:7; and Jeremiah 1:4–5. Perhaps we might argue that we do not know for certain that such “ordinations” in the premortal realm were by the laying on of hands because there appears to be no official statement indicating that such was the case. However, as the earthly church is patterned after the heavenly, we can assume that premortal ordinations were received by the laying on of hands. Thus it is reasonable to conclude that there was some type of physical contact and interaction between God and his spirit offspring as well as physical contact between spirits in the premortal world.

[38] Joseph Smith taught, “Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world, was ordained to that very purpose in the grand council of Heaven before this world was.” History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 (1 May 1844–8 August 1844), 12 May 1856, 18, www.josephsmithpapers.org. Orson Hyde and Neal A. Maxwell both taught that in our premortal state as spirits we each entered into all the gospel covenants that would later be reintroduced to us in mortality. They put forward the idea that we actually signed a document that would be retained in the heavens to be presented to us at the judgment day, attesting to the premortal covenants we had made. See Orson Hyde, in JD, 7:314–15; and Neal A. Maxwell, But for a Small Moment (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1986), 99–100.

[39] See David P. Kimball to Helen Mar Whitney, January 8, 1882, cited in Orson F. Whitney, “A Terrible Ordeal,” in Helpful Visions (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1887), 9.

[40] See Parley P. Pratt, The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, ed. Parley P. Pratt Jr. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985), 204–5.

[41] Although it is possible that this angel was a resurrected being—having been one of those who obtained his resurrection with Christ (see Matthew 27:52–53)—Greek scholar Joseph Thayer suggests that based on the Greek text, the “angel” in Matthew 28:2 is a spirit rather than a resurrected personage. See Joseph H. Thayer, Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1999), 5. See also W. E. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Westwood, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1966), 55. Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that this also could have been a translated being.

[42] Woodruff, journal (January 1838–December 1839), June 27, 1839, 104, www.wilfordwoodruffpapers.org.

[43] Bruce A. Van Orden has written: “These instructions and keys concerning angels became very useful for the Twelve in Britain, for in addition to being ministered to by righteous angels in the course of their missionary work, they were likewise plagued by evil spirits.” “Important Items of Instruction (D&C 129–131),” in Robert L. Millet and Kent P. Jackson, ed. Studies in Scripture: Volume One—The Doctrine and Covenants (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989), 504.

[44] See JSP, D11:403–06; see also Joseph Fielding McConkie and Craig J. Ostler, Revelations of the Restoration (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2000), 1038–39.

[45] It is also conceivable—although unlikely—that some “restriction” has been placed on mortals too. Doctrine and Covenants 129:8 states that we will not be able to feel the angel’s hand. This may imply that, although Lucifer and his angels have a material spirit element, mortals are prohibited by some divine law from making any conscious physical connection with that which is purely spiritual.

[46] Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1946–49), 1:207.

[47] History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 (2 November 1838–31 July 1842), 1 April 1845, 1307, www.josephsmithpapers.org.

[48] Discourse as reported by Willard Richards, 29 January 1843, in JSP, D11:369.

[49] For example, see Truman G. Madsen, Joseph Smith the Prophet (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1989), 17. In consideration of Satan’s appearance as an “angel of light” to the Joseph Smith (Doctrine and Covenants 128:20), not everyone agrees with this assumption.

[50] “One might suppose that these devils would refrain from shaking hands to make us believe they come from God. But there is something, perhaps a divine law, that compels them to be obligated to respond as verse 8 specifies.” Richard O. Cowan, Answers to Your Questions about the Doctrine and Covenants (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1996), 144. See also Joseph Fielding McConkie and Craig J. Ostler, Revelations of the Restoration (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2000), 1042.

[51] JSP, D11:405–6.

[52] See Addison Everett to Oliver B. Huntington, in Oliver Boardman Huntington journal, February 17, 1881 (back date January 31, 1881), 14, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, HBLL. See also Alma 30:53, where Korihor indicates that Satan appeared to him in the “form of an angel” as well.

[53] Discourse as reported by Willard Richards, 1 May 1842, in JSP, D10:5–8; and Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 119–20.

[54] Revelation, 30 August 1831 (D&C 63), in JSP, J2:53; Discourse as reported by Willard Richards, 1 May 1842, in JSP, D10:6–8. In this discourse, Joseph Smith indicated that no one “can truly say he knows God until he has handled something.” Of course, he knew what that “something” was. His vagueness here may be because three days later he would administer the endowment for the first time. Thus, detailed reference to the activities of the endowment ceremony would have little meaning to them. It is also possible that his comment regarding handling something in the “Holiest of Holies” has reference to the receipt of the Second Comforter—a subject he had spoken about almost three years earlier. Which of these two ideas Joseph Smith intended is uncertain. He indicated that the “devil knows many signs” but does not know—or at least cannot utilize—“the sign of the Son of Man.” Traditionally, he used the phrase “sign of the Son of Man” in reference to the Second Coming of Christ. However, the context of the quotation under examination here does not lend itself to such an interpretation. As there is only one source for this comment, we cannot say with certainty what the Prophet meant. However, the context is clearly the temple endowment, and those familiar with the ordinances of the temple will also find the language “sign of the Son of Man” somewhat familiar. It seems fair to say that no one can truly know God until he or she has received the Second Comforter. History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 (2 November 1838–31 July 1842), 1 May 1842, 1326, www.josephsmithpapers.org.

[55] The nine men were Hyrum Smith (Assistant President of the Church and Patriarch), William Law (second counselor in the First Presidency), Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Willard Richards (members of the Quorum of the Twelve), William Marks (president of the Nauvoo Stake), George Miller (a Nauvoo bishop and president of the Nauvoo high priests), Newel K. Whitney (a Nauvoo bishop), and James Adams (a patriarch and branch president). See Andrew F. Ehat, “Joseph Smith’s Introduction of Temple Ordinances and the 1844 Mormon Succession Question” (master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1981), 27–28.

[56] Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 21n21.

[57] Robinson and Garrett, Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, 4:216; see also McConkie and Ostler, Revelations of the Restoration, 1040–41; M. Catherine Thomas, “Hebrews: To Ascend the Holy Mount,” in Donald W. Parry, ed., Temples of the Ancient World (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1994), 483.

[58] Curiously, the Hebrew word translated as “serpent” in the Genesis account of the Fall (Genesis 3:1–5) is related to the Hebrew word for “luminous” or “shining.” Thus, some have suggested that it was not a “serpent” that approached Adam and Eve in Eden but Lucifer appearing as an “angel of light.” See, for example, Victor Hamilton, Handbook on the Pentateuch (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1982), 42; see also “Revelation of Moses,” in Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., Ante-Nicene Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 8:566. Louis Ginzberg wrote, “Satan assumed the appearance of an angel,” in The Legends of the Jews (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1967–69), 1:95; see also “Life of Adam and Eve,” Latin version 9:1 and Greek version 17:1–2; 29:15, in James H. Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (New York: Doubleday, 1983, 1985), 2:260–61, 277; Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown One Volume Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Associated Publishers, n.d.), 19; and Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments with a Commentary and Critical Notes (New York: Methodist Book Concern, n.d.), 1:48. Of course, prior to the Fall, the serpent was a symbol or type for Christ, his atoning death, and his Resurrection—hence its use in Numbers 21:8; Alma 33:19–20; and Helaman 8:13–15. See Andrew C. Skinner, “Savior, Satan, and Serpent: The Duality of a Symbol in the Scriptures,” in The Disciple as Scholar: Essays on Scripture and the Ancient World in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson, ed. Stephen D. Ricks, Donald W. Parry, and Andrew H. Hedges (Provo, UT: Foundation of Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2000), 359–84; Walter L. Wilson, A Dictionary of Bible Types (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1999), 363; and Bruce Vawter, On Genesis: A New Reading (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1977), 78. Thus, whether Satan talked to Adam and Eve through a serpent or appeared to them as an “angel of light,” his intent was the same; he was seeking to usurp the role of Christ by appearing to Adam and Eve in a form that would make them think he was the Christ (see 2 Nephi 9:9).

[59] Discourse as reported by Willard Richards, 1 May 1842, in JSP, D10:5–8; see also Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 119–20.

[60] Discourse as reported by Wilford Woodruff, 27 June 1839, in JSP, D6:508–10. See also Wilford Woodruff, journal (January 1, 1838–December 31, 1839), June 27, 1839, 100, www.wilfordwoodruffpapers.org; Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 6; Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1998), 402; and George Q. Cannon, in JD, 24:145.