What do Mormons believe about angels and spirits? - the fact and myth cheat sheet
This is part of the Mormon fact and myth cheat sheet on this website. The main list of Mormon facts and Myths can be found here. This section specifically discusses Mormon belief about angels and spirits.
This is a compilation of facts and myths about Mormon beliefs compiled from comments and other resources. I add things to this list as I run into them so this list has more information on it than I have had time to write about in detail. Some of these can be uncommonly random.
Some of these comments may have been collected from someone that is trying to imply that Mormons won't tell you about these things. This is partially accurate simply because we don't actually believe in many of these things. On a similar note, I have pulled some of this information from several "campaigns" which claim that they just want to help us Mormons realize the error of our ways. However, most of these campaigns are not actually targeted to Mormons. They are targeted to those who are not Mormon and may be curious about what we really believe. In war and politics it is known as a "disinformation" campaign and it's used to keep other people in the dark or doubtful of factual information. If these campaigns were intended to target Mormons, they would talk to us directly, instead of referring to Mormons in the third person as "they," and they would use our real teachings to try and convince us of our error.
You may notice that after the first sentence, these descriptions are written in a way so that anyone can quote them if they need to. The disadvantage to this is that there are some things that get repeated in the explanations more than once. It should be noted that this site is not an official source for Mormon doctrine, so if you're going to quote from this site I would recommend that you point out the sources or link back to this page so readers can verify accurate sources for themselves. I have also bolded some things in each statement to help identify the key points.
Speaking of repeating stuff, this introduction is fairly standard on the other fact and myth pages so you can probably skip it on the next one without missing much.
Editing and referencing is still an ongoing process for this page.
Mormon beliefs about angels and spirits
"Mormons believe that you are a child of Heavenly Father":
This is true.
Mormons believe that God created all of mankind spiritually before we were born on earth. This is why he is called in scripture as God the Father or Father in Heaven. Mormons believe that all of mankind are literally children of God in this sense.
"Mormons believe that Jesus, Satan, and all of mankind were created spiritually by God before the foundations of the world":
This is true.
Mormons believe that God created all of the souls of mankind spiritually before we ever came to earth. This includes you, me, Christ, and Satan. In this way Mormons consider all mankind sons and daughters of God.
"Mormons believe that God created spirits by having sex":
This is false.
Mormons believe that spirits were organized, but the exact process of how that is done is unknown. This claim originates from the God Makers which is a publication and movie that was deemed as "sensationalism" and "offensive" by the National Conference for Christians and Jews;[1] a group not affiliated with the LDS church.
"Mormons believe that angels are spiritual beings who are waiting to come to earth and be mortal":
This is true.
Mormons believe that angels are either those that have yet to come to this earth and go through mortal life or those that have already gone through mortal life. To put it in a nutshell, they believe angels and mankind to be the same creatures at different points in their eternal progress.
"Mormons believe the Archangel Michael came down to earth and became Adam":
This is true.
Mormons believe that Adam was the first man created on earth. Before his mortal life they believe that he was the Archangel Michael. Latter-day Saints believe he was formed on the earth and had no memory of his premortal life. They believe that he had to pass through the same trials and tests as all of mankind.
"Mormons believe that the Archangel Michael came to earth with a bunch of wives to create mankind":
This is false.
Mormons believe Adam was the Archangel Michael before his mortal life, but they believe that he was given Eve to be his wife. Latter-day Saints believe both Adam and Eve had no physical body before they were placed on the earth, that they both passed through a veil of forgetfulness before receiving their physical bodies, and had to be tested just like all of mankind.
"Mormons believe that God came to earth to be Adam":
This is false.
Mormons do not believe that God came to earth to be Adam. This stems from a comment made by Brigham Young that was never considered doctrine. For something to be considered doctrine of the church it must be unanimously approved by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. The LDS church has specifically stated as doctrine that it does not believe this.
"Mormons believe that the angel Gabriel came to earth to become Noah:
This is true.
Mormons believe that Noah was known in his premortal/postmortal life as the angel Gabriel. They believe that he was born into mortality just like the rest of mankind and that he had to be tested and tried and receive a physical body.
"Mormons believe 'familiar spirits' are good":
This is false.
If a member of the LDS church even has any clue what you mean by "familiar spirit", they will interpret them as spirits of Satan. Mormons believe those are bad. There is one place in the Book of Mormon that uses the term positively as a simile. It is also used in Isaiah in the same manner.
"Mormons encourage visits from the spirits of dead relatives":
This is false. Yes you probably read that right and no we do not.
Mormons do not encourage visits from the spirits of the dead. They may believe in spiritual experiences and in doing ordinance work for those that have passed on, but they do not believe in anything that encourages visitations from the dead in any way. This claim originates from the God Makers which is a publication and movie that was deemed as "sensationalism" and "offensive" by the National Conference for Christians and Jews;[1] a group not affiliated with the LDS church.
"Mormons get visited by demons asking them to do their temple work for them":
This is false. It also happens to be one of my favorite claims from the God Makers.
Mormons do not get visited by demons asking them to do their temple work for them. Let's just follow the logic for a minute here. The claim is that Mormons have demons show up to them. Why? So the demons can get their temple work done. But why would they need their temple work done? If they did, it means they are after the ordinances done in the temple. Which means that the temple work would have to be valid for them. Which means that the LDS Church would have to be true for the ordinances to be valid. Which means that you have a critic trying to convince you that the Mormon Church isn't true by demonstrating that demons want temple ordinances because they are true and authoritative. Just to be clear, this is false. Mormons believe that those who followed the Devil who could be classified as demons have no physical body, and therefore cannot receive the ordinances of the temple. So what would be the point of them showing up? If they did show up to mankind, it would be a lot harder to convince people there was no God. This would not be in their best interest. This claim is one of the better 'nuggets of wisdom' that originates from the God Makers; a publication and movie that was deemed as "sensationalism" and "offensive" by the National Conference for Christians and Jews.[1] This group is not affiliated with the LDS church.
"Joseph Smith was visited by demons to help write the Book of Mormon or create the LDS church":
Not the right place, but it's going here anyway. If you believe in the Bible, then this is false.
Every now and again the idea is passed around that Joseph Smith was tricked into writing the Book of Mormon by the devil. Usually the source comes from well intentioned religious individuals who have heard it from their church leaders. The problem is that the Bible clearly states that this can't happen. In 1 John 4:1-3 it clearly states, '... believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.' This is almost the entire point of the Book of Mormon and a major tenet of the LDS faith.
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