242.2: The Plan of Salvation (D&C Gospel Doctrine Lesson 19)

“The Plan of Salvation“

 

“The Plan of Salvation” broad in scope, puts this life in perspective. It places us as the main character in a cosmic drama and represents one of Mormonism’s greatest contributions to religious thought. We are eternal, spiritual beings at the crucial junction in our path to perfection. At the same time, this current life is what we know best. How does this perspective influence our lives and decisions? How should it? How can we balance working toward eternal goals with quality of life now, this life and the life to come? This episode will tackle these critical issues.

Recurring Donation:

$5   $10   $25   $50

One Time Donation:

$10   $25   $50   $100

 

Student Reading: Moses 4:2, D&C 19:16–19; D&C 76:40–42; Job 38:4–7; D&C 138:55–56; Abraham 3:22–28; Alma 42:9, 14; D&C 29:40–43; Articles of Faith 1:3; Alma 40:11–14; Alma 42:11–13, 15; D&C 76:111; D&C 88:14–16

Additional Teacher Reading: Alma 24:14; 42:5; Moses 6:62; Alma 42:8, 16; Jacob 6:8; Alma 12:25–33; Alma 41:2; Alma 42:15, 31; Alma 42:8; D&C 76:24; 2 Nephi 2:24–26; Alma 34:8–9; Moses 4:1, 3; D&C 29:36; D&C 29:36–38; 76:25–27; Moses 4:4; Moses 5:11; Alma 12:24; Moses 2:28; D&C 93:40; 131:1–4; 138:48; D&C 29:39; 2 Nephi 2:11–13; D&C 58:27–28; 101:78; 2 Nephi 2:25–27; Alma 34:34; D&C 137:7–9; 138:30–34; D&C 128:6–8, 15; Alma 11:42; D&C 93:33; Alma 11:43–45; D&C 76:51; Alma 12:32

 

Please post your comments and questions here, in the facebook group, or email them to me at MormonSundaySchool at gmail.

You can access the Reading Notes here.

You can access my Lesson Notes here (or PDF)

 

Recommended Resources 

• Encyclopedia of Mormonism on Plan of Salvation
• Terryl Givens’ book on the idea of the Preexistence in Western thought 
• Elder Utchdorf’s Conference talk on regrets of the dying
• And the original source, read both.
• Barry Schwartz on Wisdom 
• A Short Stay in Hell, a brief, disturbing, and profoundly paradigm shifting reflection on the nature of eternity
• “Save me from myself”, A Freakonomics episode on why we need to trick ourselves into making the decisions we really want to make
• A series of talks on what makes us happy 
• The documentary, Happy
• A beautiful reflection on the value of this life and how all we have is “now” 
• Two talks by Dan Ariely about how our environment influences our decisions, obstacles to making good ones, and what makes us feel good about the work we do.
• An entertaining summary of the “simple” Plan of Salvation
• Daniel Dennett on agency

Many thanks to Devin Roth for the beautiful bumper music. Check out his arrangement of hymns and other work at DevinRothMusic!

Thanks to James Estrada of Oak Street Audio for his quick post-production.