One of the most essential differences between Christianity and Mormonism is the nature of God.  In Mormonism, it is believed that God the Father is a separate and distinct being from Jesus Christ.  The Holy Ghost is also a separate and distinct being from both of the Father and the Son.  The Father is believed to be the literal spiritual Father of Jesus Christ, that Jesus was the first or one of the first children born to the Father in a preexistence.  Lucifer, also a spiritual son of the Father is a spiritual brother to Jesus Christ.

Ask any Mormon who has a basic knowledge of doctrine and you will find a story similar to this:

God, the Father created all of us in a preexistent world where we were born of spiritual bodies from the Father and one of His many spiritual wives (some may leave out the “wives” part but it is still part of the doctrine).  The first sons born were Jesus Christ and Lucifer.  A council of gods was held to discuss the creation of this world and the need for a savior.  Jesus and Lucifer were to present their plans for salvation.  Lucifer presented a plan that none would be lost.  He was to receive the glory for accomplishing this.  Whereas Jesus stated, “Thy will be done” and gave all glory to the Father.  It was decided that Jesus would be savior making Lucifer mad.  He then was cast out of heaven with one-third of all the angels to become the father of lies, tempt Eve in the garden, and raise hell on Earth.

There may be a few variations to this story as everyone tells it a little differently.  There may be additional information not presented here that others might find relevant to add but this is the basic story.  Here are some basic quotes from Mormon doctrine (these were compiled by Concerned Christians in Arizona):

“The appointment of Jesus to be the Savior of the world was contested by one of the other sons of God.  He was called Lucifer, son of the morning.  Haughty, ambitious, and covetous of power and glory, this spirit-brother of Jesus desperately tried to become the Savior of Mankind” (The Gospel Through the Ages by Milton R. Hunter, p.15)

“Christ, the Firstborn, was the mightiest of all the spirit children of the Father” (Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R. McConkie, p. 590)

“The devil is a spirit son of God who was born in the morning of pre-existence.”  (Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R. McConkie, p. 192)

“Jesus was willing to come to the earth, give his life for us, and take upon himself our sins.  He, like our Heavenly Father, wanted us to choose whether we would obey Heavenly Father’s commandments.  He knew we must be free to choose in order to prove ourselves worthy of exaltation.  Jesus said ‘Father, thy will be done and the glory be thine forever’ (Moses 4:2).  Satan, who was called Lucifer, also came, saying, ‘Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor’ (Moses 4:1).  Satan wanted to force us all to do his will.  Under his plan, we would not be allowed to choose.  He would take away the freedom of choice that our Father had given us.  Satan wanted to have all the honor for our salvation… After hearing both sons, speak, Heavenly Father said, ‘I will send the first’ (Abraham 3:27)” (as quoted in Gospel Principles, pp. 17-18, 1997 edition.)

Unfortunately, all of these go against the Bible and the Mormon scriptures as well.  Mormon scripture states that Christ is God.  Here are some passages from Mormon scripture that support that Christ is God (also compiled by Concerned Christians):

“And because he said unto them that Christ was the God, the Father of all things, and said that he should take upon him the image of man, and it should be the image after which man was created in the beginning; or in other words, he said that man was created after the image of God, and that God should come down among the children of men, and take upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon the face of the earth” (Mosiah 7:27)

“Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I AM, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made; The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes; I am the same which spake and the world was made, and all things came by me.” (Doctrine and Covenants 38:1-3)

As you can see, Jesus Christ claims to be God the Father.  The Bible also shows that Jesus is God:

“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1 Timothy 3:16)

IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14)

There are others as well, but you get the idea.  So, if Lucifer isn’t the brother of Jesus, who do Christians believe him to be?  Well, to find that out, we go to the Bible.

We learn who Lucifer is in Ezekiel 28:12-17 (NIV):
12 You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.  13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you; ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl.  Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.  14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you.  You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.  15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.  16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned.  So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.  17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.  So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.

We also learn that the first ever committed sin was pride (v. 17).   We learn more about Lucifer in Isaiah in the Bible.  Now, before I begin, a lot of people put off Isaiah because it is a very confusing book in the Bible for most of us.  When you read the passage, there is no other way to interpret it.  It is very straight forward.  This passage is found in Isaiah 14:12-17 (King James Version):

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!  how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!  13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the side of the north:  14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds: I will be like the most High.  15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.  16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider the, saying, Is this the man that made the earth tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

You can read more of the verses before and after to check context but the idea is the same.  There isn’t really anyone else they could be talking about that would fit the whole description.  Ezekiel talks of someone or something with perfect beauty, was in Eden, anointed a cherub (angel) and blameless.  No man could ever fit that description but an angel could.  No other angel ever was named as being “wicked”.  There is talk in scripture of 1/3 of the legions of angels being cast out but none are named, only Lucifer.  His heart became proud and, as we read in Isaiah, he was to exalt himself above the stars (other angels) and “be like the most High” (God.)

Conclusion: Lucifer is NOT the spiritual brother of Jesus.
No where in the Bible does it talk about Lucifer in the context that is presented in Mormon Doctrine or from Mormon apostles and teachers.  There are those that would state that current revelation is given to the prophets and that is what we should believe but GOD DOES NOT CONTRADICT HIMSELF!!!  Plain and simple.  God is not a God of confusion, He is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow so why should truth change?  It doesn’t because it is always truth.  We will find more of these discrepancies as we research more.

Lucifer was an angel who allowed pride to take over his heart.  He was cast down to earth and found in the garden of Eden where he tempted Eve to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  He, along with 1/3 of the angels of heaven were cast out and became the rulers and tempters of man.  He was never nor is ever going to be the brother of Jesus.  Mormon scripture even acknowledges that Jesus is God and the Father.  We will get more into that in another discussion.