Moses 6:62 This is the Plan of Salvation

Like the Book of Mormon, Enoch’s teachings are straightforward and simple. “Adam fell that men might be” (2 Ne. 2:25) was followed by doctrines that are so simple they would have been earth shattering to the sectarians of 1831 when this revelation was revealed. The doctrines include:
1. Men were made by God before the earth was created,
2. Sin and death came into the world by the Fall,
3. Satan has come among men to tempt them,
4. God has commanded all men to repent and be baptized,
5. Adam’s transgression in the Garden has been forgiven by God
6. Jesus has atoned for original guilt
7. Baptism is required to inherit the kingdom of God.

George Q. Cannon

Elder George Q. Cannon
Elder George Q. Cannon

There is much… in this revelation, which shows plainly that in that early day God sent His angels to Adam; that he repented of his sins and was baptized in water by an angel, and he received the Holy Ghost, just as much as we who live now do, and probably in greater power. These are the principles of the Gospel, and this was in the beginning. Every principle that was taught to men by the Savior in His day, so far as pertaineth to the Gospel, was taught in those early days. It is the height of folly, it is a libel on our Father in heaven, to say that those men who lived in those days dwelt in ignorance, or that the revelations of God to them were imperfect, or that God has improved since their day. He was perfect then; He knew all things then; and He taught that which was necessary then for man’s salvation. (Brian H. Stuy, ed., Collected Discourses, 5 vols. [Burbank, Calif., and Woodland Hills, Ut.: B.H.S. Publishing, 1987-1992], vol. 3, September 24th, 1893)

Richard Bushman

Richard Bushman
Richard Bushman

“Joseph’s translation of Moses went a step beyond Protestant readings of the Old Testament. Protestants saw only foreshadowings of Christ in the Hebrew scriptures. Humankind was cut off from the full knowledge of the Gospel at the Fall. From then on, Christ was only hinted at in symbols or clues called types…
“Joseph Smith’s book of Moses fully Christianized the Old Testament. Rather than hinting of the coming Christian truth, the Book of Moses presents the whole Gospel. God teaches Adam to believe, repent, ‘and be baptized even by water, in the name of mine only begotten Son, which is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ.’ Together the Book of Mormon and the Book of Moses give history a different shape from the Old Testament. There is no sharp drop after the Fall, followed by gradual spiritual enlightenment. Theologically, the ancient patriarchs were the equals of later Christians. The problem of history was to hold on to the Gospel, not to prepare for its coming.” (Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, [Random House, NY, 2005], 134-135)

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