The Restoration… page 157, Conclusion of 95 Thesis by Ogden Kraut

The Reformation gave birth to the spirit, thought, and desire for a revolution in America. The will to be free from tyranny over the mind or body resulted in a war that obtained national liberty. John Adams wrote, “the Revolution was affected before the war commenced, and was in the minds and hearts of the people.” And when Patrick Henry proclaimed “liberty or death,” it was a single voice expressing the thought of a nation. In this mental climate of political and religious freedom, independence developed into an American Constitution of liberty for all.

Only under such a banner could the Restoration of the Gospel be possible. Although freedom may be protected by national security, the forces of evil can still arise to oppose the truth, oppress the righteous, and subvert the gospel.

It is necessary to briefly review a few of the incidents in Church history depicting Satan’s powers of evil in his war against Christ. It is just as important to know Satan’s power and influence opposing the Gospel, as it is to know the gifts and powers that God bestows to establish and maintain it.

At the beginning of Joseph Smith’s mission, and the start of the Restoration, the adversary was there. The Prophet sought in prayer to learn the truth concerning the churches of the day and he recorded:

“I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcome me, and had such astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. *** at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction–not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world,…” (P. of G.P. Joseph Smith 2:15,16)