On July 14th, the Deseret News published an article regarding a nationwide poll on religious attitudes conducted by Barna Research Group. I found the results of this poll to be rather disturbing. Of the Latter-day Saints polled from January 2000 to June 2001, only 59 percent believed in the reality of Satan. What happened to the other 41 percent? The last time I checked, this was a basic doctrine of the Church. A no-brainer. Since there seems to be a bit of confusion regarding this matter, let's review.

Latter-day Saints believe Satan is a real being who was born in the morning of the pre-existence and is a spirit son of God.[2] In the pre-existence he was known as Lucifer and gained power, knowledge and authority. However, when the great Plan of Salvation was presented, Lucifer rebelled and sought to overthrow the Father. This began what is known as the War in Heaven. One third of the hosts of heaven followed Lucifer, were eventually cast out and forever denied the blessing of gaining a physical body. Upon being cast out, Lucifer became known as Satan, the devil, the father of all lies.

And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father, was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son,

And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him—he was Lucifer, a son of the morning. And we beheld, and lo, he is fallen! is fallen, even a son of the morning! [D&C 76:25-29]

Although Satan does not possess a physical body he is a real being who is in eternal opposition to the Father. He and his followers seek to destroy the souls of men by tempting and deceiving them into leaving the paths of righteousness. Indeed, one of his great deceptions today is persuading men that "there is no devil."

And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance. [2 Nephi 28:22]

"A corollary to the pernicious falsehood that God is dead is the equally pernicious doctrine that there is no devil. Satan himself is the father of both of these lies. To believe them is to surrender to him. Such surrender has always led, is leading now, and will continue to lead men to destruction." [3]

To deny the reality of Satan is not only deception, it's illogical. There are many scriptures supporting the literal existence of Satan. Here are just a few:

When we deny the existence of Satan, thinking of him as merely a symbol of evil, we set ourselves up for destruction. How can we defend ourselves against an enemy we do not believe exists? Elder Marion G. Romney said:

We Latter-day Saints need not be, and we must not be, deceived by the sophistries of men concerning the reality of Satan. There is a personal devil, and we had better believe it. He and a countless host of followers, seen and unseen, are exercising a controlling influence upon men and their affairs in our world today.

Although we should not spend an inordinate amount of time dwelling upon Satan's existence, we should at least have enough scriptural study behind us to understand who he is, what his tactics are and what his ultimate goal for mankind is. The War in Heaven still carries on today. Satan still seeks to destroy us while Christ strives to lead us back into the presence of the Father. Each of us is at war and we must choose for whom we will do battle. If we are deceived into believing there is no devil we may find that we are furthering his cause. Let us not be deceived.