Help with a Gospel question??

[shine7]

Today in church a woman asked:

"when satan is bound will he also be bound pertaining to those in spirit prison/how will this effect those in spirit prison? Will they also not be tempted during the millenium as those dwelling on earth while satan is bound?

[bytebear]

my understanding is that Satan will be bound, not because he is restricted from attempting to effect men on Earth, but because the ones on Earth will be of such a high moral and spiritual level that He will have no power to tempt them. But the spirit world will still be filled with those awaiting resurrection.

But I guess the question is, does Satan have influence on the spirit world?

[Blackmarch]

my understanding is that Satan will be bound, not because he is restricted from attempting to effect men on Earth, but because the ones on Earth will be of such a high moral and spiritual level that He will have no power to tempt them. But the spirit world will still be filled with those awaiting resurrection.

But I guess the question is, does Satan have influence on the spirit world?

He does have followers, so I'd say the technical answer is yes.

Does he have an influence on anyone that goes there since the creation of this world?, I don't know.

[rameumptom]

Satan has no direct affect on those in Spirit Prison. They suffer due to their own sin and disbelief. The "buffetings of Satan" simply means that those in Spirit Prison will suffer as if they were in Outer Darkness, until they are released. Alma 36 gives us a sense of what that suffering will be like. It is based upon a full recognition that we are to go before God, carrying with us all the sins we've personally done and refused to repent of. We will suffer until we've humbled ourselves sufficiently enough to fully and completely repent of all our sins. Only then do we escape hell and enter into paradise.

[Martain]

I admit that I've been curious to know regarding adversarial opposition in the spirit world as well.

As far as adversarial opposition and interaction with those in spirit prison, I've found nothing supporting the statement that they either do or do not. As far as I can tell, this is something that simply has not yet been revealed.

Do you have any doctrinal support to back your statement that the adversary has no power to tempt spirits in the spirit world?

While opinions may abound in regards to the operations and laws in the spirit world, I really haven't been able to find any revealed doctrine on the subjects.

As to Satan being bound in the millenium, I found the following section from the D&C Institute Manual from section 43:31 which sheds light on the subject.

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How Will Satan Be Bound During the Millennium?

In speaking of the millennial era, Nephi said that “because of the righteousness of his [the Lord’s] people, Satan has no power; wherefore, he cannot be loosed for the space of many years; for he hath no power over the hearts of the people, for they dwell in righteousness, and the Holy One of Israel reigneth” (1 Nephi 22:26).

President Joseph Fielding Smith taught concerning the binding of Satan: “There are many among us who teach that the binding of Satan will be merely the binding which those dwelling on the earth will place upon him by their refusal to hear his enticings. This is not so. He will not have the privilege during that period of time to tempt any man. (D. & C. 101:28.)” (Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:192.)

These two statements at first may seem to be at variance, but in reality they are not. It is true that the result of the righteousness of the Saints is that Satan cannot exert power over them. The restrictions that will come upon Satan will be a result of two important actions by the Lord: (1) He will destroy telestial wickedness from the earth at His Second Coming; and (2) He will reward the righteous by pouring out His Spirit on them to such an extent that Satan’s power will be overwhelmed. Satan will not have the power to tempt or negatively influence the Lord’s people. Both the righteousness of the Saints and the operation of the Lord’s power are necessary to bind Satan: if the Saints do not give heed to God’s word, He will not give them His Spirit. And without the Spirit, they on their own cannot withstand the force of the adversary.

President George Q. Cannon explained:

“We talk about Satan being bound. Satan will be bound by the power of God; but he will be bound also by the determination of the people of God not to listen to him, not to be governed by him. The Lord will not bind him and take his power from the earth while there are men and women willing to be governed by him. That is contrary to the plan of salvation. To deprive men of their agency is contrary to the purposes of our God. . . .

“Satan only gains power over man through man’s exercise of his own agency; and when Satan shall be bound, as the Lord says he will be for a thousand years, one of the great powers that will help bring this to pass will be man’s agency. The Lord has never forced men against their will to obey Him. He never will do so. If Satan, therefore, has power with man, it is because man yields to his influence. . . .

“The time is not far distant when great judgments will be poured out upon the wicked inhabitants of the earth. Every Prophet who has looked forward to our day has seen and predicted that the wicked would be destroyed. Their destruction means the destruction of Satan’s power. The righteous will be left, and because of their righteousness the Lord will have mercy upon them; they, exercising their agency in the right direction, will bring down His blessings upon them to such an extent that Satan will be bound.” (Gospel Truth, 1:86–87; see also 2 Nephi 30:18; Ether 8:26.)

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[livy111us]

Brigham Young says no.

If we are faithful to our religion, when we go into the spirit world, the fallen spirits—Lucifer and the third part of the heavenly hosts that came with him, and the spirits of wicked men who have dwelt upon this earth, the whole of them combined will have no influence over our spirits. Is not that an advantage? Yes. All the rest of the children of men are more or less subject to them, and they are subject to them as they were while here in the flesh (DBY, 379).

Here [the faithful] shall be perplexed and hunted by him; but when we go into the spirit world there we are masters over the power of satan, and he cannot afflict us any more, and this is enough for me to know (DNW, 1 Oct. 1856, 3).

“There are scores of evil spirits here–spirits of the old Gadianton robbers, some of whom inhabited these mountains, and used to go into the South and afflict the Nephites. There are millions of those spirits in the mountains, and they are ready to make us covetous, if they can; they are ready to lead astray every man and woman that wishes to be a Latter-day Saint. This may seem strange to some of you, but you will see them. As soon as your spirits are unlocked from these tabernacles, you are in the spirit-world, and you will there have to contend against evil spirits as we here have to contend against wicked persons.”

[Young, Brigham. Journal of Discourses, 8:344. Jan. 20, 1861---also printed in the Deseret News, March 20, 1861]

In the Millenium, satan will have power over the mortals not the resurrected beings. They can sin and fall. Isaiah says:

There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.

[shine7]

Thank you for your help.

Now for the rest of the story: this question was asked, as I said, on Sunday; and the teacher answered: "we should not speculate" (which thought struck me as "what?, why would you say she's speculating?") but the woman asking stood up for herself and said she was not trying to speculate. I was sitting next to this woman and told her I thought the teacher somewhat jumped on the idea of 'speculating', so I asked the questionee to write her question out for me and I'd look it up to see what I could learn. In my searching, I didn't find what I thought was a thorough answer, although I found a lot of good info on spirit prison. So decided to ask for your help here.

[Justice]

...the whole of them combined will have no influence over our spirits.

...you will there have to contend against evil spirits as we here have to contend against wicked persons.

So, what do we learn from these two statements by Brigham Young?

Frankly, I'm not sure.

It could be the first is speaking about Paradise, because it is definately worded that way, where it says "if we are faithful..."

The second could be talking about Prison, but he's speaking about the saints contending against them, so I doubt this is the answer.

Or, it could be that, even though we contend against them, they have no influence over us. That would seem the likely answer.

Interesting paradox where we contend against them, but they have no influence over us.

[livy111us]

So, what do we learn from these two statements by Brigham Young?

Frankly, I'm not sure.

It could be the first is speaking about Paradise, because it is definately worded that way, where it says "if we are faithful..."

The second could be talking about Prison, but he's speaking about the saints contending against them, so I doubt this is the answer.

Or, it could be that, even though we contend against them, they have no influence over us. That would seem the likely answer.

Interesting paradox where we contend against them, but they have no influence over us.

I took the second quote to mean the wicked spirits of men who had passed, not the 1/3 who were cast out. Just as we can influence the spirits in prison to change their ways and do good, the critics will try to de-convert us as well as those whom have joined the Church just as they do here on earth.

[Justice]

I took the second quote to mean the wicked spirits of men who had passed, not the 1/3 who were cast out. Just as we can influence the spirits in prison to change their ways and do good, the critics will try to de-convert us as well as those whom have joined the Church just as they do here on earth.

Ahhh... very good. Now that I see the distinction you've made it seems clear enough. In the first he specifically mentions Lucifer and... while in the second he mentions Gadianton and... who we know lived on earth.

Now that you've established that difference for me I'll have to study them again and see if anything strikes me.

Thank you.