One of the more reassuring doctrines of the Gospel is the idea that we can resist Satan’s power. As this talk puts it, “the adversary can go no further than the transgressor permits him to go.”
What, then, are we to make of the First Vision?
In the most popular version of the First Vision, Joseph Smith says, “thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.” Joseph said there was some “actual being” who had “marvelous power as I had never felt before in any being.”
This raises a conundrum. We are told that Satan’s power is limited. One important doctrine says Satan will have power to bruise our heel, but we will have power to crush his head. But during the first vision Satan is described as having “marvelous power.” (The 19th century definition of “marvelous” is a bit different than our current definition — I don’t think we should assume Joseph was saying Satan’s power was a good thing but rather an overwhelming force). In fact, Satan’s power was so overwhelming that Joseph felt he was doomed to destruction.
In Job, we read that Satan can bargain for power to hurt the righteous and kill family members. Even if we read the book of Job as a parable, it raises interesting issues. In the Book of Moses, Satan is able to make Moses “fear exceedingly” and “see the bitterness of hell.” (Moses 1:20).
I have a possible solution to the puzzle of Joseph Smith’s account of Satan’s power, but it raises more questions than it resolves. It is likely that Joseph Smith was about to be “quickened” or “transfigured” before being able to see Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ. The doctrine that our bodies must be changed before we can bear such heavenly presences is sprinkled throughout the scriptures (see Moses 1:11 and D&C 67:11 for examples). Is it possible that Satan knew the transfiguring process was about to start and pounced at a time of particular weakness?
As I mentioned, this raises a host of other questions. If Satan cannot read our thoughts, how did he know Joseph Smith was about to have the First Vision? For all he knew, Joseph was just taking a walk through the forest. And of course it raises the question of why God would allow this period of weakness right before His appearance.
That of course may be the answer: just as God allows us to be tested in many ways on Earth (when we know He has the power to save us from harm), Heavenly Father wanted Joseph Smith to be tested in just this way so he could easily discern the power of Satan (which, although frightening, can be overcome by appealing to God to be saved) from the power of God, which is filled with sweetness, light and love. It could be that just as Joseph alone was the only person to see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, he was also the only person (or one of the few) to feel the “marvelous power” of Satan. In the end, all of God’s actions have a purpose. It is up to us to try to figure out what that purpose is.