Doctrine and Covenants 129:8 and the Reality of Satan’s Physicality ~ Newel Knight (Part 4)

In section 129 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord provides “three grand keys” by which the Saints may know whether any angelic ministration is from God or from the devil. Verse 8 informs us that should the devil (or one of his hosts) appear attempting to deceive you into thinking he is a divine messenger sent from God, “when you ask him to shake hands he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything; you may therefore detect him.” For many this verse gives the impression that because Satan and his hosts lack mortal bodies, they are incapable of having physical contact with humans. In other words, the passage appears to focus on the nature of the bodies of Lucifer and his spirit followers, suggesting that their physical makeup is the reason their hands cannot be felt. However, a series of events that took place early in the Restoration suggest that this interpretation may not be accurate. In an effort to test the common exegesis of D&C 129:8, this paper will recount a handful of early Luciferian encounters, applying the implications of such to our understanding of the nature of Lucifer’s person.

Newel Knight

The Prophet and the early missionaries were not the only individuals to suffer physical attacks at the hands of the adversary. In what has come to be known as the “first miracle of the Church,” Newel Knight had a rather strange physical encounter with Lucifer. In the History of the Church, we find the following reference to the event:

Amongst those who attended our meetings regularly [in April of 1830], was Newel Knight. . . . Newel had said that he would try and take up his cross, and pray vocally during meeting; but when we again met together, he rather excused himself. . . . Accordingly, he deferred praying until next morning, when he retired into the woods; where, according to his own account afterwards, he made several attempts to pray, but could scarcely do so. . . . He began to feel uneasy, and continued to feel worse both in mind and body, until, upon reaching his own house, his appearance was such as to alarm his wife very much. He requested her to go and bring me to him. I went and found him suffering very much in his mind, and his body acted upon in a very strange manner; his visage and limbs distorted and twisted in every shape and appearance possible to imagine; and finally he was caught up off the floor of the apartment, and tossed about most fearfully.

His situation was soon made known to his neighbors and relatives, and in a short time as many as eight or nine grown persons had got together to witness the scene. After he had thus suffered for a time, I succeeded in getting hold of him by the hand, when almost immediately he spoke to me, and with great earnestness requested me to cast the devil out of him, saying that he knew he was in him, and that he also knew that I could cast him out.

I replied, “If you know that I can, it shall be done;” and then almost unconsciously I rebuked the devil, and commanded him in the name of Jesus Christ to depart from him; when immediately Newel spoke out and said that he saw the devil leave him and vanish from his sight. . . .

This scene was now entirely changed, for as soon as the devil had departed from our friend, his countenance became natural, his distortions of body ceased, and almost immediately the Spirit of the Lord descended upon him, and the visions of eternity were opened to his view. . . .

All this was witnessed by many, to their great astonishment and satisfaction. (Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1978), 1:82–83; see also B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Orem, UT: Sonos Publishing, 1991), 1:199–202.)

Knight confirms the History of the Church account in his autobiography, where he not only acknowledges that the event took place but also speaks in detail of the subsequent June 29, 1830, trial in which he was called as a witness and interrogated regarding the aforementioned Luciferian encounter. (See Newel Knight, Newel Knight Autobiography, 3–4, 8–9, 13, L. Tom Perry Special Collections; see also Smith, History of the Church, 1:91–93; Roberts, Comprehensive History, 1:207.)

Although Newel’s experience may seem more like demonic possession than satanic attack, clearly he was being physically accosted. Not only was his body actually distorted and disabled by the experience but also he notes that Satan physically lifted him off the floor and “tossed” him about the room as if he were a rag doll.

By Alonzo L. Gaskill

Read: Prophet Joseph Smith (Part 1)
Read: Heber C. Kimball (Part 2)
Read: Wilford Woodruff (Part 3)