For a long time I have looked for a clear and attractive graph or poster of the Plan of Salvation. It is easier for children and adults to better understand the Plan once it is laid out for them. Despite appreciating one recently published in a church magazine, it is imperfect because it lacks critical elements like the Fall of Adam and Eve. To address this, I have created a revised, detailed version with added scriptural references and explanations to people understand the Plan of Salvation. This poster can be downloaded and printed for free by everyone in this article.
Tag: The Fall
The Eternal Victory of Christmas
I recently wrote that without a proper understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ that one cannot fully comprehend the meaning of Christmas. Christ was born to Resurrect, defeat Death and Hell, and open to path of salvation and eternal life to all. This is absolutely true, but since I wrote that article I have had my vision widened to see that the scope of the Atonement, and therefore the Nativity, is much wider, much deeper, and much greater than I had before understood.
Here I try and share that vision with you through the writings of Apostle Orson Pratt. Herein he discusses the Plan of Salvation and its unending and self-perpetuating nature. The cycle of Creation, Fall, Redemption, Exaltation, and Creation are explored here in Elder Pratt’s writings. Then I briefly connect these truths back to the Nativity and how understanding them will deepen our comprehension of the richness and eternal ramifications of that first Christmas.
The Christian History of the Christmas Tree
It is something of a fad among the detractors and critics of Christianity to accuse modern Christians of being hypocrites on some topic because they denounce something as being against God’s commandments, but then celebrate Christmas with Christmas trees and just everyone knows that Christmas trees are pagan in origin. The logic behind this criticism is to suggest that Christians are irrational and do not apply all the parts of their faith equally, with the insinuation being that why Christians do not approved of something is rooted more in their hatred for something or someone than their actual beliefs.
But, is it true? Are Christmas Trees of pagan, non-Christian origins and are Christians participating in pagan rites, or the remnants of them, by erecting Christmas Trees in their homes? In this article, I will answer these questions from two major angles – by evaluating the logic (or lack thereof) behind the argument that doing something remotely similar to how X people may have done it to see if that argument is meaningful at all and seeing if the actual history of Christmas Trees backs up the claim that they are of pagan origin.