Unpacking Controversy: Why the LDS View of Christ and Lucifer as Brothers Enrages Trinitarian Christians

To LDS people, it's a non-issue; to a Trinitarian, you couldn't say anything more blasphemous or outrageously offensive.

Jesus and Satan Arm Wrestling

LDS friends of mine who have been reading my articles have asked me why Christ and Lucifer being viewed as Brothers is a big deal to non-Mormons. They are completely baffled when non-Mormons take offense to this. LDS people really do not understand this issue at all, because their metaphysical model is completely different.

In the LDS mindset, everyone other than God the Father are brothers and sisters, so it just makes sense. They are not equating the two in virtue, righteousness, or character. For example, you and I could be siblings, and one of us could be righteous and the other wicked. One’s wickedness doesn’t say anything about the others.

Unfortunately, my LDS friends and family - this actually misses the point. To a Trinitarian, proclaiming Christ and Lucifer as siblings, or Christ and anyone, even a Saint, as siblings is outrageous and blasphemous.

I’m going to do my best in this article to explain this issue to my LDS readers in a way that they can understand. So, if you are a Trinitarian and something seems a bit out of place, it’s because I needed to translate between two very different languages, cultures, and worldviews. It would be like trying to translate something from the language, culture, and perspective of Germany to the language, culture, and worldview of, say, Nigerian Yorubas.

Note that I’m not going to preface everything with “Orthodoxy believes this or that.” That would be repetitive, boring, and a pain to type. So, I’m going to write with my Orthodox hat on.

The Trinity: Understanding the Eternal and Uncreated God

God is eternal and uncreated. He exists outside of time and space. He is the source of all existence and the creator of the entire universe from nothing - that’s right, boys and girls, he didn’t organize anything; he created it. As a being outside of time and space, we cannot fully understand his nature - which is why he sent Jesus Christ, the divine made into man so that through him we can know God.

There is an extremely important difference between God’s essence - which is unknowable, uncreated, and exists outside of space and time - and God’s uncreated energies that created, interact with, and sustain the world⁵. The Essence/Energy duality can be perhaps best described as the difference between what something is and what something does. We also use the word substance when talking about God’s essence.

God, not just the Godhead, consists of God the Father, God the Son (Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. Each is a separate and distinct personage.

Here’s where it gets a bit tricky. Each one is a separate and distinct personage, but they all share the same divine essence - i.e., the stuff they are made of.

You might be thinking, “Oh, they are made of the same kind of thing - like if we were to carve statues of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit out of wood - they are all different statues, but they are made out of wood so they are made from the same stuff. Right?”

No. No. No.