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What do Latter-day Saints teach about evil spirits — and how do we overcome them? This episode confronts a topic many avoid: the reality of Satan and his angels, and the power God has given us to withstand them. Anchored in the principle that there must be "opposition in all things" (2 Nephi 2:11), it teaches that thinning of the veil experiences from the light are matched by opposition from the dark — and that this is part of the plan, not cause for fear. Drawing on the three great scriptural patterns — Joseph Smith seized by darkness before the First Vision (Joseph Smith—History 1:15–17), Moses commanding "Depart hence, Satan" on the mount (Moses 1:12–22), and the Savior's own three temptations (JST Matthew 4) — this episode shows the same pattern each time: opposition, then, through priesthood power and calling on God, deliverance and revelation. It teaches the difference between unembodied, disembodied, and mortal agents of the adversary; what it means to be "sealed his" (Alma 34:35); the bounds and laws that limit evil spirits (Doctrine and Covenants 129; Joseph Smith); how to build a "fortress" through covenants (President Russell M. Nelson); and where the line falls between righteous seeking of the dead and forbidden "familiar spirits" (Isaiah 8:19; 2 Nephi 26:16). It closes with Heber C. Kimball's harrowing 1837 account of evil spirits in England, and Elder David A. Bednar's witness of the protecting power of temple covenants.
Q: What do Latter-day Saints believe about evil spirits and Satan?
A: Latter-day Saint doctrine teaches that Satan and the third of the hosts of heaven who followed him were cast out and denied bodies, and now oppose God's work and seek to lead people away from Christ (Doctrine and Covenants 29:36–37; Moses 4). But their power is bounded and limited by law (Doctrine and Covenants 129; Joseph Smith taught that "wicked spirits have their bounds, limits, and laws"), and the power of Jesus Christ always supersedes the power of the adversary.
Q: How do we overcome the influence of Satan, according to LDS teaching?
A: Through the power of Jesus Christ, accessed by covenants and priesthood power. This episode traces the same pattern in Joseph Smith, Moses, and the Savior Himself: opposition comes first, and deliverance follows as they call upon God and refuse to yield. President Russell M. Nelson taught that the way to "survive spiritually" is to let God prevail, learn to hear His voice, and use our energy to gather Israel — building a "fortress" of covenant strength that the adversary cannot penetrate.
Q: Is it wrong to seek to communicate with deceased loved ones?
A: There is a crucial distinction. Isaiah warns against seeking "familiar spirits" and wizards "that peep and mutter" (Isaiah 8:19) — meaning necromancy, mediums, and occult practices, which are forbidden. But Nephi clarifies that the living may righteously "hear from the dead" by seeking unto God (2 Nephi 18:19), through priesthood authority and the temple. The dead "whisper out of the dust" (2 Nephi 26:16) for one purpose: to turn hearts to the covenants and to Jesus Christ, that "the prisoners shall go free" (Doctrine and Covenants 128:22).
Q: How do temple covenants protect us from evil?
A: Elder David A. Bednar taught that there is a real difference between members who occasionally attend and those who "faithfully and consistently worship in the temple" — and that the ordinances and covenants of the house of the Lord carry protecting power, as promised in the Kirtland Temple dedicatory prayer (Doctrine and Covenants 109:24–26): "no weapon formed against them shall prosper." The devil despises the temple precisely because its protection stands as a great obstacle to his designs.
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CITATIONS:
Joseph Smith History 1:20, Brigham Young (JD 3:368), George Q. Cannon (1:82)
S. Olani Durrant, “Cliff Walking”, BYU, 1984: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/s-olani-durrant/cliff-walking/
Moses 4:3-4,6,11, Moroni 7:12,15, 2 Nephi 2:11, Alma 40:13-14, D&C 29:36-37, Alma 34:39, Mosiah 16:2-3, Alma 11:23, Jacob 7:4, Alma 34: 34-35, 1 Nephi 14:14, 2 Corinthians 11:14, D&C 46:8,23, JSH 1: 15-17, Moses 1:1-2, 11-13, 15, 18, 22, 24-26, 37-39, Matthew 4 & JST of Matthew 4, D&C 109:22,
Isaiah 8:18-19, 2 Nephi 18:19, 2 Nephi 16:16,
Neil L. Andersen, “Beware of The Evil, Behind The Smiling Eyes,” April 2005
Mathias Held, “Opposition in all Things,” April 2024
John Gee, Book of Mormon Word Usage: “Seal You His”, Maxwell Institute
Seminaries and Institute, “Section 129, Keys for Determining If Administrations Are from God”
Ronald A. Rasband, Build a Fortress of Spirituality and Protection, May 2019
Russell M. Nelson, “Let God Prevail”, Oct. 2020
Russell M. Nelson, “Overcoming The World and Find Rest”, Oct. 2022
Russell M. Nelson, “Hear Him”, April 2020
Monte S. Nyman, “The State of the Soul between Death and Resurrection,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 173–94.
Joseph Smith, History of the Church 4:576
Jeffrey R. Holland, “For Times of Trouble”, BYU Devotional, March, 1980
Morgan Davis, “Familiar Spirits”, Maxwell Institute Blog, March 10, 2024
[Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1888), p. 143–145]
David A. Bednar, "Honorably Hold a Name and Standing", April 2009
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