Shandon Guthrie, who holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Manchester Metropolitan University, recently wrote a related book (which at the time of this writing has yet to reach the shelves), titled, Dark Apologetics: Christian Answers to Perplexing Questions about Evil Spiritual Forces, the Paranormal, and the Occult. I obviously have yet to read this, but I am very excited and pleased that Bill and I are not the only ones who see what seems to largely be a closed door in the field of apologetics. As we will discover below, Satan is still active in our world today, and I intend to show this in general through the teachings of Mormonism, and specifically through the Book of Mormon.
I have written before on the habits of Satan and his demons, and the patterns that we see in satanic activity, and in this article, I would like to examine yet another pattern that we can recognize from the text of scripture. Throughout the Bible we observe on multiple occasions, satanic counterfeits. Satan doesn't merely oppose God's work, but he imitates it and redirects it.
Some of the clearest examples involve biblical doctrines and truths:
God's Reality
| Satanic Counterfeiting
|
The Trinity – Father, Son, Holy Spirit – Matthew 28:19-20 | The Dragon, Beast, and the False Prophet – Rev. 12–13 |
Christ's Death and Resurrection –1 Corinthians 15 | The Beast's apparent death and “fatal wound” healed – Rev. 13:3 |
Christ's authority from the Father – Colossians 1:15-20 | The Beast's authority from the Dragon – Rev. 13:2 |
The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ– John 16:13-14 | The False prophet glorifies the Beast – Rev. 13:11–14 |
God's seal on His servants – Rev. 7:3 | The Beast's mark on his followers – Rev. 13:16–17 |
True prophets – Deuteronomy 18:15-22 | False prophets – Matt. 7:15; 24:24; 1 John 4:1 |
True apostles – 2 Corinthians 12:12 | “False apostles” – 2 Cor. 11:13 |
Angels of God – Hebrews 1 | Satan disguises himself as an “angel of light” – 2 Cor. 11:14 |
God's truth – John 17:3 | Satan's lie – John 8:44 |
God's kingdom – John 18:36 | Satan's kingdom – Matt. 12:26 |
Christ's children/seed – John 1:12 | “Children of the devil” – John 8:44; 1 John 3:10 |
True worship of God – John 4:21-24 | Idolatrous worship of the Beast – Rev. 13:4, 8 |
God's signs and wonders – Luke 18:31-33; John 21:25 | Satanic signs and lying wonders – 2 Thess. 2:9; Rev. 13:13–14 |
Christ's church –Ephesians 5:25-33 | Synagogue of Satan – Rev. 2:9; 3:9 |
Though mentioned in the table above, allow me to briefly elaborate on 2 Corinthians 11:13–15, which seems to directly point to Satan’s counterfeiting:
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So, it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
Paul says there are “false apostles” who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ, and then says: “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”[1] This is important because Paul's point isn't merely that Satan attacks what God does but that Satan can imitate what God does while corrupting its substance.
Revelation chapter 13 takes this to the fullest expression, and is arguably a deliberate anti-gospel, but first, let’s examine parts of Revelation chapter 7 to see the standard that God revealed.
Revelation 7:13-17 explains the result of the gospel:
“Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these [‘that no one could number’], clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’ nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’” (emphasis added).
Now, on to Satan’s counterfeiting in Revelation chapter 13.
Satan was standing on the sand of the sea according to the last verse in chapter 12. In verse one of chapter 13, it is as if Satan is waiting for his first beast to come out of the depths of the dark sea. John saw the ten horns and seven heads and the seven diadems on the first beast. He knew immediately because of these that the beast had great power, great wisdom and great authority. The beast resembled a leopard. I am convinced this to referencing the leopard’s camouflage, pointing to the idea that the beast is a false person. Who is the beast trying to impersonate? It had feet like a bear, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. These three are all predatory animals, and they are speaking of power and danger, which is a good recipe for doom. John plainly states that the dragon gave the beast his power and throne and authority (13:2). This is a mockery of what Jesus says in Matthew 28:19-20. In Revelation 13:3, one of the beast’s heads seemed to have a mortal wound that was healed. I see this as a mockery of the death and resurrection of Christ. The whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. They were mesmerized because Satan is a wise and crafty deceiver.
The beast is a counterfeit Christ, and if a person living in this time does not worship the beast, then they are put to death. Satan wants to trick the world into believing that the beast is the true Christ, but true Christians can tell the difference, which is why they are put to death.
The people who follow the beast recognize that a resurrection was a miraculous thing, but they chose to follow Satan’s version of it rather than God’s. This is what is happening here. Satan is mocking and twisting God’s plan for salvation. Chapters 13-14 are how Satan works out his opposition to God’s plan.
If you are not already, at this point it would be good to get familiar with Revelation 13:11-18, which reads,
Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.
In verse 11, John describes this beast coming out of the earth with two horns like a lamb but spoke like a dragon. This means that this second beast, who we will come to know as the false prophet, will appear like Jesus, but will sound like Satan. In other words, he will seem to be religious, but will have the voice of Satan. Revelation 16:13 tells us who the second beast is: “And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet…”
The whole point of this passage is that John wants his readers to really know the difference between false Christs and the real Jesus. Look at what he says in verse 12: “this beast exercises authority of the first beast and makes the inhabitants of the earth worship the first beast.[2] That same beast who had a mortal wound and was healed.” This is the third person in the satanic trinity. The beast that comes out of the land is a parody of the Holy Spirit. Look with me at what John writes in his gospel in 16:8-11:
“And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
The work of the Holy Spirit is to knock on the door of the person’s heart and persuade him to know the truth. This is the opposite of what the beast from the land is doing. Revelation 13:13 says that he does great signs and through those signs it deceives those who dwell on the earth. It tells them to make an image of the beast from the sea so they can worship it. This is plain old idolatry in view. The Holy Spirit would obviously never direct this.
Revelation 13:15-17 explains the result of the anti-gospel. Notice in comparison, that instead of eternal life and endless provision of food and drink, found in Revelation 7:13-14 discussed above, the result is death and starvation.
John says, “This calls for wisdom” in Revelation 13:18. What does? The answer is everything that came before this clause in this passage that we are dissecting. This calls for wisdom: The ability to discern between Christ and the antichrist. The number of the beast is the number of a man, because the beast is a man, yet he looks like Jesus. He appears to be like Jesus. Everything about him is awesome and awe inspiring. Then he opens his mouth, and smoke and mirrors come out.
To more visually summarize some of this,
God's people are sealed (7:3), but the Beast's followers receive a mark (13:16–17)
Salvation belongs to God and the Lamb (7:10), but the Earth worships the beast (13:4, 8)
The blood of the Lamb brings cleansing (7:14), but the Beast's apparent death is imitated (13:3)
The Lamb shepherds His people (7:17), but the Beast exercises authority over people (13:7)
They never hunger or thirst (7:16), but those refusing the Beast cannot buy or sell (13:17)
God wipes away their tears (7:17), but those refusing the Beast are killed (13:15)
From all this, we can see that Satan follows the same pattern of what we know of God’s standard from the Bible, but with opposing, twisting, distortion: The satanic trinity exists; the satanic trinity is worshiped; those who worship him receive a mark (counterfeit seal); which leads to death as opposed to life.
We can recognize the counterfeit and forgery works of Satan. This is clearly something that tells us about his nature and character. So, it would not be all that surprising if we were to see counterfeits and forgeries of Satan even in today’s world. Satan is still active, as we know from the Bible’s description of who he is: “The prince of this world” (John 16:11); “the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” (Ephesians 2:2); “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4); “the prince of this world” (John 12:31) [3]; “the ruler of this world” (John 14:30), etc. The question is, what is a modern example of Satan’s counterfeiting?
This brings us to the point of this article.
Mormonism provides a striking modern example of the counterfeit pattern that we see in Scripture.
In the first sentence of the introduction to the Book of Mormon, it reads, “The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible.” Read that again! Later in the same introduction, we find the following:
“Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: ‘I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.’”
The introduction initially presents the Book of Mormon as comparable to the Bible, but then progressively develops it to be above the Bible, ultimately claiming that no other book brings a person nearer to God.
In The Book of Mormon Seminary Teacher Manual, one finds the following:
“Explain that the writers of the Book of Mormon make reference to Jesus Christ by one of His names or titles approximately once every 1.7 verses. By comparison, the New Testament writers use “a form of his name on an average of once every 2.1 verses”[4]
The Book of Mormon is “like” the Bible in many ways, it has patriarchs, like Lehi and Nephi; It chronologically moves through time; It has Abrahamic characters, Samson characters, prophetic characters; and it speaks of “wars and rumors of wars”; It uses the words and phrases, "Jesus" "Christ" "Baptism" "redemption" "Moses" "church" "commandments" "Lamb of God" "resurrection" "salvation" "Egyptians" "faith" "second death" "Satan" and many other familiar biblical words and phrases. This is the only reason the introduction to the Book of Mormon can say that it is comparable to the Bible, but many of these words mean something very different. But what about Mormonism is different from biblical Christianity?
The Book of Mormon Teaches a Counterfeit Christ
I was in SLC Utah a few weeks ago and had a several-hour conversation with a Mormon about grace. She volunteered information about presently wearing temple garments (sometimes referred to as magic underwear), which reveals how deep in the muck and mire of Mormonism she truly found herself. It was a blessing to see the lights turn on in her life. She wept hard after seeing the truth. The way I walked her through it was through asking her how she knows she is doing according to Moroni 10:32 (see also 2 Nephi 25:23 below):
“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.”
This in bold above is a modus ponens argument (if, then) in the Book of Mormon which concludes that only when you love God with all your might, mind and strength is his grace sufficient for you. It makes the sufficiency of Christ's grace conditional upon denying ungodliness and loving God with all one's might, mind, and strength. Thus, unlike Paul's presentation of grace as God's gift apart from works (Ephesians 2:8-9), Moroni places a condition of human obedience before declaring Christ's grace sufficient. The ultimate question to ask Mormons in light of this is, “have you fulfilled that condition?”
The Bible teaches that one enters the Kingdom of God and he is only made righteous and good after trusting in and relying on Christ (Romans 4:4-5; 8:1; 2 Corinthians 5:17). The Bible teaches what I like to call the human condition that “No one is righteous, not even one” (see Romans 3:10-18). The big focus is asking the question on how they are doing with denying themselves of all ungodliness, loving God with all their might, mind, and strength.
I went on to explain that true grace is not found in Mormonism, which is where she agreed with me (please keep her in prayer!).
If you ask Mormons if they could be doing something for their neighbor, loving God with all their might, but instead choose to binge watch a Netflix program, then they are not loving their neighbor with all their might and do not have the “sufficient grace” of Christ. Mormonism lacks true grace, which is the one thing that all human beings need.
This truly reaches Mormons where they are. It helps them with self-examination of their own life, and how they compare with the impossible requirements of Mormonism, and desire grace. At the same time, if they were on the side of truth (John 18:37), then any true argument against Mormonism should have some persuasion.
The Book of Mormon Teaches a Counterfeit God
The Book of Mormon teaches that God is “one” but later on in Mormon history, we find that it does not mean one God numerically speaking, but one in purpose. Joseph Smith elaborates on this, and explicitly taught that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are “three Gods”:
“I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and that the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods.”[5]
So, again, we find this pattern of doctrinal development of who God is in Mormon theology.
“Everlasting covenant was made between three personages before the organization of this earth and relates to their dispensation of things to men on the earth. These personages . . . are called God the first, the Creator; God the second, the Redeemer; and God the third, the Witness or Testator.”[6]
Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 chronologically speaks further doctrinal development (but perhaps descensionis a more fitting description):
“The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.”
Furthermore, Mormonism teaches that men can become gods. Doctrine and Covenants 132:19-20 read,
And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them—Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths—then shall it be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.
[if you had any questions if this seems to be saying what it is,] Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.
Mormonism goes from one God, to three gods, to God the Father having a tangible body of flesh and bone, to human beings becoming gods. So, 1 God + 3 gods + the Father is flesh and bone + Some men are gods = different and counterfeit God in Mormonism.
This doctrinal development in Mormonism of what God is leaves the Bible in its wake, revealing a completely different being altogether.
Isaiah 43:10 – “Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me
Isaiah 44:6 – “beside me there is no God.”
Isaiah 44:24 – God alone created the heavens and earth.
John 4:24 – “God is spirit.”
Acts 17:24–25 – God is not dependent upon creation.
1 Timothy 1:17 – God is “immortal, invisible.”
In addition to a Counterfeit Christ and a Counterfeit God, the Book of Mormon and Mormonism in general teaches a counterfeit salvation. What happens when someone believes a counterfeit salvation? Since I have written on this, click this link to see more.
The Book of Mormon Teaches a Counterfeit Salvation
2 Nephi 25:23 reads,
For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do (emphasis added).
This is a counterfeit scripture, which has Satan’s fingerprints all over it. Ephesians 2:8-9 reads,
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast (emphasis added).
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“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” –Galatians 6:7
Written by Nace Howell through the grace of the Lord Jesus
[1] See also John 8:44.
[2] Consider here the idea from Revelation 7:9 that there is a multitude that “no one can number” and Revelation 13:17, “…no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark…”
[3] When the Bible tells us in this verse that the prince/ruler of this world will be driven out, it does not mean that evil would be eradicated from then on. If this were the case, Jesus would not have needed to pray for their protection from the evil one. See John 17:15. It is referring to the dividing point in history of the work of Christ on the cross.
[4] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/book-of-mormon-seminary-teacher-manual-2013-obs/title-page?lang=eng.
[5] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-2?lang=eng.
[6] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/36481_eng.
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