Are God and Satan Partners?

August 21, 2011 Im not convinced that God and Satan are completely playing for different teams, and I wonder whether they might be working together to move forward the plan of salvation. Heres why: At times, they seem to counsel together: Twice, they discussed Jobs attributes and how they could test him to determine the extent of his steadfastness. The Lord then gave Satan power to afflict and test him (Job 1:6-12, 2:1-6). Jesus gave Satan instructions regarding the timing of His betrayal by Judas Iscariot (John 13:27). Jesus granted the request of devils to be permitted to possess a flock of swine. As a result, two thousand innocent pigs were killed by drowning despite the fact that the Lord cares about the lives of animals (D&C 49:19-21, Jonah 4:11) and a significant amount of hard-earned property was destroyed (Mark 5:12-13). Clearly, the desires of these evil spirits meant something to Christ. The Lord gives Satan power to tempt, as He has stated plainly in scripture (D&C 29:47). This is further evidenced by the fact that at times he withholds this power from him, such as with unaccountable children (D&C 29:47, Mor 8:8) and with all people on earth during the millennium (D&C 43:31). There are many things the adversary has done and continues to do that further Gods plan. The first of these since the earths creation his tempting of Eve in the Garden of Eden was an invaluable contribution to the plan. It opened the door for Gods children to come into the world and enabled them to experience opposition, do good, have joy, and fulfill every other purpose of earthly life (2 Ne 2:22-25). Satan did this particular act without knowing that the Lord wanted him to (Moses 4:6); however, since then, the Lords will regarding many of his actions have been publicly revealed through both explanations of doctrine and prophecies found in ancient and modern scripture. And since Satan is well-versed in scripture as he demonstrated when he used scripture to tempt Christ (Matt 4:5-6) he certainly knew (and continues to know) that he was (and is) doing Gods will. Several examples follow: First and foremost, Satan constantly commits the ultimate ironic act of creating the very thing he has always sought to destroy free agency. According to the scriptures, without being subject to his temptations, we could not have true agency (D&C 29:39, 2 Ne 2:16). He creates opposition and sin which are both necessary because there must be opposition in all things (2 Ne 2:11-12,15) and without sin there could be no righteousness or happiness (2 Ne 2:13,23, Moses 6:55,D&C 29:39), which would defeat the purpose of our existence (2 Ne 2:25). He makes people pay for their sins, both in this life (D&C 104:9-10, 82:21, 78:11-12, 132:26) and in spirit prison (D&C 76:85), as part of the repentance process, which is of course essential for salvation. He fulfills prophecy. If he were to simply choose not to fulfill a particular prophecy regarding his actions and the actions of those who he influences, he would make God a liar, and if God became a liar, he would be a changeable being and would cease to be God (Morm 9:19, Eth 3:12). This would appear to be in Satans best interest, yet for some reason, he has fulfilled every such prophecy anyway and continues to do so. We cant attribute this to a simple ignorance of said prophecies because, as shown earlier, he knows the scriptures (Matt 4:5-6) and thus we must accept that some alternate explanation exists. The accuser of our brethren (Rev 12:10) will no doubt go on to fulfill the prophecies regarding his actions during the end times (2 Ne 28:20-22, Rev ch 13) and the brief

post-millennial era (D&C 88:111-115, Rev 20:7-9). Examples of prophecies he has already fulfilled are contained below in the remaining items of this list. He tempted the Savior during His earthly ministry thus enabling Him to complete His work and become able to succor us in our temptations (Heb 2:18, D&C 62:1). This was prophesied of in Msh 15:5, 3:7, and Alma 7:11. He played a significant role in Judass betrayal of Jesus (John 13:2,27, Luke 22:3), which led to the completion of the atonement the single most critical event to the success of the plan of salvation. This betrayal was prophesied of in both the Old Testament (Ps 41:9 + Acts 1:16, Zech 11:12-13 + Matt 27:5-10) and the New (Matt 17:22, 20:18, 26:2, John 13:21,26). Of course the idea that Satan could be knowingly furthering our Heavenly Father's plan seems to be at odds with the fact that he seeks: That all men might be miserable like unto himself (2 Ne 2:18,27) To captivate, to bring [people] down to hell, that he may reign over [them] in his own kingdom (2 Ne 2:29) To destroy the world (Moses 4:6) To take Christs power (D&C 88:115, Isa 14:12-14, Moses 1:19, 4:1,3, Abr 3:27-28). Perhaps Satan truly is an enemy of God who has no desire to help Him but is bound to do so as a result of a mutually beneficial agreement theyve entered into one where they each get something they want (enemies here on earth often do business with each other for the same reason). For example, maybe Satan agreed to do certain things to move Gods plan of salvation forward in exchange for the ability to dwell in the earth (Rev 12:4,9,12-13, Job 1:7, 2:2) (its got to be better than some dark, empty abyss) and do what he loves to do work to rob others of their agency and make them as miserable as he is (What else would he do with all his free time? Theres probably not much left for him to do with the already-miserable third part of spirits he led away from God (D&C 29:36, Rev 12:3-4)). This possibility brings many others along with it. For example, perhaps as part of the agreement, the quality of the habitation that Satan and his angels will be sent to after the final battle following the millennium (D&C 88:114, Rev 20:9-10) will be determined by how well they carry out the tasks theyve been given as tempters of mankind, thus incentivizing them to perform faithfully. Additionally, perhaps Satans extreme pride leads him to think he can fulfill his obligations under the agreement but still foil Gods plans by tempting more effectively than He expects him to (for example, maybe he thought he could actually get Christ to sin when he tempted Him or keep Joseph Smith from offering his first vocal prayer in the woods when he overcame him (JS-H 1:15-16)). This would be another source of motivation for him and his angels. Anyways, I think the general idea behind the possibility of an arrangement between God and Lucifer would do a pretty good job of reconciling all the seemingly contradictory things we know about this fallen son of the morning (D&C 76:26-27, Isa 14:12) that he is an enemy of God (Msh 16:5, 27:9), His plan, and free agency (Moses 4:1-4, D&C 29:36) yet he does so much to contribute to the progress of these very things. Another explanation a much simpler one is that religions and scriptures are the products of primitive mythology and superstition and shouldnt be taken seriously. (Ok, I admit I wrote that last line later, after losing belief in Mormonism and religion in general, but the rest I wrote as a firm believer.)