Demonic Truths: What the Restored Gospel Teaches About Evil Spirits

Understanding the nature of God includes understanding the nature of His creations. All creatures were organized and placed on the earth in preparation for the coming of humanity. Stars in the heavens and planets in their orbits were set in place to create the cosmic forces necessary for life to exist on this planet. Along with those creations came the opposition inherent in all things. For every yin, there is a yang (see 2 Nephi 2:11). [1 ]This article explores what the Restored Gospel teaches about the “dark angels” — demons, devils, and their role in the ongoing war against truth.

Demons and Devils: Who They Really Are

One-third of the spirits of heaven rebelled with Lucifer and fell to the earth after the great war in heaven. These spirits are our brothers and sisters — children of God who were deceived into believing Satan’s false plan (Revelation 12:7–9). [2]

They rejected the Father’s Plan of Salvation, insisting it was a choice rather than the eternal standard. Because of their rebellion, they forfeited the opportunity to receive physical bodies of flesh and to inherit the glory of God. Instead, they were cast down to earth, where they tempt mortals away from truth.

Unlike us, they never passed through the veil of forgetfulness. They remember who we are and what we were like in the premortal existence. Demons are not monstrous alien creatures, as portrayed in films. They are our siblings — unembodied spirits who will never be born and who have chosen eternal opposition to God.

These demons hate all things that God has created, have turned away from any good, and are eternally lost--all because they used their agency to follow the great deceiver who even deceives himself, Lucifer who became Satan.

Demons, human siblings, are not strange alien creatures depicted in movies or written about in books. They are people who will never get to be born and have the option to reach their full potential.

6 Ways Demons Deceive Humanity According to the Restored Gospel

1) How Demons Pose as Dead Relatives

Some spirits become so adept at imitation that they mimic deceased loved ones. Through séances or Ouija boards, they deceive mortals into thinking they are communicating with the dead. While the righteous departed may, by God’s permission, minister to the living, the wicked dead do not have this privilege (Doctrine and Covenants 129:9). [3]

2) Why Demons Mimic Angels of Light

Paul warned that “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). [4] Devils can appear as heavenly messengers, telling ninety-nine truths in order to slip in one lie that derails faith. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf cautioned that half-truths and counterfeit light can be more dangerous than outright lies. [5]

3) How Demons Possess the Bodies of Mortals

Because they lack physical tabernacles, demons seek to inhabit ours. Possession generally requires an invitation, whether direct (through occult practices) or indirect (through patterns of sin and rebellion). While cinematic depictions emphasize violent convulsions, most possessions are subtle — demons amplify our existing inclinations, nudging mortals from one level of wickedness to the next until they feel powerless to change.

President Russell M. Nelson has warned that yielding to Satan’s influence even incrementally can place us in “captivity and bondage” [6].

4) How Demons Distract with Supernatural Fascination

Some people may not respond to direct visitations. In those cases, demons exploit human fascination with supernatural phenomena — leading mortals to focus on mysteries and distractions rather than on Christ’s plan of salvation. Elder David A. Bednar taught that Satan works “to divert, distract, and deceive” us from covenant paths [7].

5) How Demons Imitate Gifts of the Spirit (But Not Peace or Love)

The most chilling deception is counterfeiting divine gifts. Demons can imitate tongues, prophecy, or revelations, but they cannot counterfeit peace or love — because those belong only to Christ. Jesus promised His disciples, “My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth” (John 14:27). [8] That peace, beyond mortal understanding, is a sure key for discerning the Spirit of God from impostors. [15]

6) How Demons Encourage Division and Persecution

The war in heaven continues on earth. Demons sow contention and religious strife. President Henry B. Eyring has taught that contention is “the tool of the adversary to destroy faith in Jesus Christ” [3] Demons rejoice in every quarrel, every split congregation, every persecution inflamed by hatred.

What Demons Ultimately Want

The adversary’s triumph is persuading mortals that God does not exist — or that Satan does not. If people deny both, then evil can work unchecked. Ultimately, Satan’s goal is worship: he sought in premortality to exalt himself as God, without love, without sacrifice (Moses 4:1–4). [10] His demons share that agenda.

Yet mortals hold an advantage demons never will: possession of a physical body. In God’s plan, even the weakest mortal who calls upon the name of Jesus Christ wields power over devils. As James testified, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). [11]

Discerning Demons from Angels of God

God is fair and just. He does not interfere with human agency, yet He always warns before judgment. Angels sent from His presence speak by the power of the Holy Ghost (Moroni 7:29–32). [12, 14] Their words pierce hearts with peace and love — things demons cannot replicate.

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught a simple test of discernment: if offered a hand to shake, an evil spirit will eagerly extend it, desperate to touch flesh. A righteous spirit, however, will not, knowing their right to a body comes only through the Resurrection of Christ (Doctrine and Covenants 129:4–9). [13]

Conclusion: A Reflective Warning

These spirits — our estranged brothers and sisters — hate humanity because we received what they forfeited: bodies, covenants, and the hope of exaltation. Their labor is endless, their rest nonexistent, their goal destruction.

But their power is limited. In Christ’s name they can be rebuked. In His Spirit they can be discerned. Through His peace they can be overcome.

The truths here are not law but observations born of scripture, prophetic teaching, and gospel study. As always, prayer and study separate wheat from chaff. May these reflections serve as a reminder that the war in heaven did not end — it continues here.

[1] 2 Nephi 2:11 — The Book of Mormon
For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

[2] Revelation 12:7–9 — Holy Bible (KJV)
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Bible Gateway

[3] Doctrine and Covenants 129:9 — Doctrine and Covenants
9 These are three grand keys whereby you may know whether any administration is from God. The Church of Jesus Christ

[4] 2 Corinthians 11:14 — Holy Bible (KJV)
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

• [8] John 14:27 — Holy Bible (KJV)

27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

• [10] Moses 4:1–4 — Pearl of Great Price

1 And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, 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.

2 But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.
3 Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;
4 And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.

• [11] James 4:7 — Holy Bible (KJV)

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

• [12] Moroni 7:29–32 — The Book of Mormon

29 And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men.
30 For behold, they are subject unto him, to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness.
31 And the office of their ministry is to call men unto repentance, and to fulfil and to do the work of the covenants of the Father, which he hath made unto the children of men, to prepare the way among the children of men, by declaring the word of Christ unto the chosen vessels of the Lord, that they may bear testimony of him.
32 And by so doing, the Lord God prepareth the way that the residue of men may have faith in Christ, that the Holy Ghost may have place in their hearts, according to the power thereof; and after this manner bringeth to pass the Father, the covenants which he hath made unto the children of men.

• [13] Doctrine and Covenants 129:4–9 — Doctrine and Covenants

4 When a messenger comes saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand and request him to shake hands with you.
5 If he be an angel he will do so, and you will feel his hand.
6 If he be the spirit of a just man made perfect he will come in his glory; for that is the only way he can appear—
7 Ask him to shake hands with you, but he will not move, because it is contrary to the order of heaven for a just man to deceive; but he will still deliver his message.
8 If it be the devil as an angel of light, when you ask him to shake hands he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything; you may therefore detect him.
9 These are three grand keys whereby you may know whether any administration is from God.