Gospel trilogy skousen pdf download

Satan thought the redemptive sacrifice of the Redeemer was virtually stupid and he therefore offered a plan that had never been tried before. When the Father chose the traditional plan with Jehovah or Jesus as the Redeemer, it caused a war in heaven because so many of the Father's children preferred Satan's plan.

Satan wanted to eliminate the need for a Redeemer and guarantee salvation for all of the Father's children whether they wanted it or not. The only drawback to Satan's plan was the fact that it was based on force, and that is why the Father rejected it. This resulted in a war in heaven and concluded with one-third of the Father's children being ejected from their heavenly home.

The second estate was filed with perils under the traditional plan because everyone was at liberty to use his or her free agency so they could learn the difference between good and evil. Of course, everyone would be held accountable for their abuse of free agency and would be punished for their misdeeds to the uttermost farthing.

But what if a person learned the difference between good and evil and wanted to avoid the punishment for past offenses. Could this be achieved? The Father said there was a way if you knew how it worked.

It was called the Atonement. I urgently begged Elder John A. Widtsoe with whom I had become acquainted to explain the Atonement so I could comprehend it. He began by carefully teaching me everything we have covered in Trilogy 1. Then I was extremely anxious to have him get to the subject of the Atonement but, as usual, he began the discussion about a hundred miles away from the subject. In fact, he began with several questions. The first one was, "Where do you think our Father got his power?

Elder Widtsoe said, "No, that is not correct. All he got from his Father was the authority or the keys to build a new round of creation. His Father did not give him the power to do it. They are both from the Doctrine and Covenants. After a moment I said, "Well, with God it is the vast host of intelligences below God that honor him and therefore obey him. That certainly gives him power.

And I suppose you could say, the same thing about a bishop who is honored and obeyed and therefore from them he derives his power. God and his servants acquire their power from those over whom they preside. It is everybody in their places for the Sunday services. It is deacons ready to serve the sacrament and worthy priests to bless it. It is teachers well prepared and radiant with the Spirit. It is young priests who make themselves conversant with the gospel and are anxious to be called on missions.

It is vigilant Relief Society visiting teachers who are quick to detect the needs of the sick and the poor. Then he continued: "It is the same way with God. The honor and obedience which he receives from his vast legion of intelligences is what gives him his power. God is all-powerful. At least that is what I was always taught. The Father wants us to know that if he doesn't maintain the confidence and honor of the host of intelligences in this round of creation, they would cease to honor him, and then cease to obey him, and without his honor, he would cease to be God.

This is the powerful message set forth in Alma, chapter 42 and Mormon Having set down these amazing and somewhat surprising principles, he continued by saying: "Now, we are ready to learn why the Atonement of Jesus Christ was indispensable to the Father. He needed Jesus to do something of supreme importance, which the Father could not do himself.

If he tried to redeem his children after they had fallen, he would cease to be God! Once I recognized the dilemma of the Father in the second estate, I asked, "Why was the fall necessary? On the pathway of eternal progression it is necessary during the Second Estate for mankind to learn the difference between good and evil.

They must not only know the difference between the two but they must engrain into their very souls a determination to embrace the good and abhor the evil. They must reject the evil with an instinctive vehemence that will characterize their behavior in the family of the Gods forever.

This is of paramount importance, particularly for those who are aspiring to become Gods. Our Heavenly Father knew that we are incapable of encountering sin without partaking of some of it. It is inherent in our very nature that by attempting to learn about sin we cannot avoid some degree of contamination. Therefore, under celestial law, our encounter with sin automatically cuts us off from the presence of the Father. This is what led Nephi to say: "No unclean thing can dwell with God; wherefore ye who have sinned while learning about sin are cast off forever.

But, of course, if we have learned the difference between good and evil but cannot get back to the domain of our Heavenly Father so as to continue our eternal progression, the Father's plan to have us exalted and become Gods is defeated. Therefore, the family of the Gods had to adopt a device that would justify the Father in restoring us to his celestial realm and continue our eternal progression without jeopardizing his Godhood. The Protestant scholars believed that this was accomplished by having Jesus "pay for our sins" through his suffering and thereby balance the scales of justice.

However, this theory involves a monumental problem and that is the fact that it isn't just to have one person pay for the sins of another.

Amulek points this out in Alma Alma It turned out that this was the genius of the Atonement. How Does the Atonement Work? There are three essential requirements in a divine Atonement to accomplish something, which the Father could never do himself. First, there must be someone who is loved by all the hosts of intelligences. They must love this person as much as they love God himself. This was achieved by making the Redeemer the general manager of the entire round of creation. By this means every intelligence learned to love and honor the great Jehovah.

Second, this much-loved person must go through a horrendous crisis of infinite agony and suffering which is so intense that it arouses an outcry of compassion in every single intelligence who belongs to this round of creation.

Third, this much-loved person must then require repentance and a complete surrender to the requirements of the gospel so that Jesus will intercede and petition for the sake of his suffering that the convert can return to the Father and continue on the pathway of eternal progression. Therefore, to summarize: With each round of creation there has to be an infinite sacrifice that arouses such a flood of mercy in the consciousness of every intelligence that it consents to permit the Father to bring us back into his presence so as to continue our training and exaltation.

Now we come to the climax of our discussion. In order to provide a redemptive sacrifice, someone must slay the Savior under excruciating circumstances. Who should do this? Should it be planned in advance, or just left to chance and circumstances? No doubt this ugly question was discussed at length between the Father and the Son in the preexistence.

We are led to presume that a discussion similar to the following dialogue must have taken place because that is exactly the way it turned out: The Father: My son, as you know, with each new round of creation we have to choose someone to make a redemptive sacrifice. I am grateful that you volunteered to provide the needed sacrifice for this present round of creation. Now, whom are you planning to be responsible for bringing to pass your redemptive sacrifice?

In other words, who should slay you? The Son: I would like to have my redemptive sacrifice brought about by some of those who loved me and who valiantly supported me during the War in Heaven.

Since I will be coming into mortality through the loins of David, I believe I would like to have the Jews bring about my crucifixion. The Father: But they would never crucify you if they knew who you were. In fact, as Paul will later say, "Had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory" 1 Corinthians The Son: Then I must arrange it so they will not realize who I am until after the crucifixion is over. The Father: How will you bring that about? The Son: Here is my plan.

I will have the Jewish prophets reveal that the Messiah will be a Jew and that the Jews will think he is an impostor and slay him.

Of course, their leaders will say that they would never kill their Messiah. No doubt they will denounce the prophecy as a myth and consider it an insult to the Jewish people. They will not only forbid anyone to preach this doctrine but pronounce a death penalty on anyone who dares to preach it.

I am sure they will also remove from the scriptures the writings of any prophet who has taught that the Messiah will be killed by his own people. As a result of this, they will have no way of knowing who I am when I come among them as the Redeemer. As a result, when I come to the earth the first time, they will expect me to come in power and set up a worldwide Jewish kingdom.

When this fails to materialize, they will think I am an impostor and allow me to be killed. The Father: Then what will happen to those who consented to your death because they thought you were an impostor?

The Son: Since they merely assented to my death, thinking I was an impostor, they will not be guilty of murder. Therefore, they can be forgiven because of my atoning sacrifice, which they themselves will have helped me bring about. After my resurrection I will explain to them that this was arranged in heaven before the world began.

I will tell them that I wanted to have the Jews, my own people, assist in bringing about my sacrifice. Once it is explained to them how they innocently helped me through my redemptive ordeal, they can repent of their sins, including assenting to my death. I can then invite them to be baptized for the remission of their sins and welcome them into my kingdom.

The Father: But what about any of those who do not accept your invitation to enter your kingdom or still believe they assented to the crucifixion of an impostor? The Son: They will be like anyone else who knowingly sins against the truth and rejects the message of the gospel.

They will have to suffer the consequences. The Father: I approve of the plan. It is identical with the one we have used in other rounds of creation throughout eternity. This seemed to be understood and fully accepted, but around a thousand years later, when several prophets taught how the Jews would help Jesus through this ordeal they were stoned to death for preaching it.

This exciting anticipation was based on an erroneous interpretation of a prophecy in the second chapter of Daniel. It will be recalled that around B. The king threatened to execute all of his wise men if they did not tell him what the dream had been and what it meant. Daniel saved the lives of himself and three companions, as well as all of the king's wise men, by receiving a revelation from the Lord, which told him what the king had dreamed and also what it meant.

The king had seen a huge, grotesque image in his dream. The image represented the future kingdoms that would rule the world. The head was of gold, which turned out to be Babylon itself.

The chest and arms were of silver, which turned out to be Persia that would conquer Babylon. The belly and thighs were of brass, which turned out to be Greece that would conquer Persia.

Then the hips and legs, which were made of iron, turned out to be the Romans who conquered Greece and later divided into the two legs of the eastern and western Roman Empires. The feet of the image were made of iron and miry clay which turned out to be the many European gentile nations, which developed, in more recent times after the Roman Empire collapsed. Daniel then told Nebuchadnezzar that in the days of these kings those of iron and miry clay shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand forever.

They felt it would not only destroy all of the existing worldly kingdoms, but last forever. The Jewish rabbis were not willing to wait until the latter days but wanted to interpret the second chapter of Daniel as being fulfilled in their day. The supreme key to their distorted interpretation was the overthrow of the Romans. They therefore taught that no matter how many miracles Jesus might perform, if he didn't overthrow the Romans, he was not the Messiah.

So the people were waiting for Jesus to set up his kingdom and overthrow the Romans. And we learn to our amazement that his apostles were expecting the same thing. It was by providential design, that all of the Jews including the apostles-were allowed to think that Jesus had appeared on earth to fulfill the glorious prophecies of Daniel concerning the coming of the King-Messiah.

After all, hadn't Jesus said: "I appoint unto you a kingdom Matthew The New Testament makes it clear that Jesus was successful in delivering his message without revealing the fact that he had come as the Redeemer rather than the King-Messiah.

This was true even though Jesus spoke of his crucifixion and resurrection several times. Nevertheless, the Spirit hid it from the apostles and also those who considered themselves the Savior's disciples. Speaking of Peter and John, the scripture says: "They knew not the scripture, that he would rise from the dead.

John The Savior's Heavy Burden We do not know exactly when Jesus first learned during his earth life that he was to provide the Father's redemptive sacrifice. We know that by the age of twelve Jesus knew that his real father was Elohim and that he should "be about his Father's business. We speculate that a logical time for ministering angels to share the message of the redemptive sacrifice might have been right after his baptism.

It will be recalled that immediately after his baptism he was quickened and led into the wilderness. There he received spiritual ministrations during forty days and forty nights. This would seem to have been the sacred interlude when ministering angels could have prepared Jesus for what lay ahead.

It was a holy season of spiritual reinforcement when he thrived six weeks without bread. Jesus performed his first spectacular miracle at the wedding feast in Cana and then prepared to go to Jerusalem when he would turn thirty years of age and be eligible, according to Jewish tradition, to launch his ministry. Right from the beginning the ministry of Jesus was spectacular.

He performed miracles by the hundreds. He healed the sick, raised the dead, walked on water, calmed turbulent seas, and fed hundreds of people with fish already cooked and bread already baked. Their belief that he was the King-Messiah persisted right up to the last week of his life. But then their expectations collapsed. By the end of the week he had not only failed to overthrow the Romans but the Romans had crucified him.

Furthermore, Jesus suffered death when the students of the prophecy of Daniel had declared he would live forever. Jesus Falters at the Last Supper As Jesus drew near to the time of his betrayal he seemed engulfed by a dark and ominous shadow and could not avoid contemplating the horrible agony of the task that lay immediately before him.

Finally he couldn't help telling his apostles that he was about to leave them. Peter immediately wanted to know where he would be going.

The chief apostle assured the Savior that no matter where he was going, Peter wanted to accompany him and protect him from the enemies that seemed to be increasing by the hour. Jesus cut him short and said: "Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till, thou hast denied me thrice.

However, Jesus knew that within a few hours Peter as well as all the other disciples would have lost their testimonies and become totally confused concerning his divinity. In connection with his great High Priest prayer recorded by John, Jesus said: "Father, the hour is come And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

By the time they reached Gethsemane the apostles became alarmed with the drastic change in the Savior's demeanor. It seemed as though a morbid depression had settled on his spirit.

He had always been so steadfast, so courageous, and so full of self-confidence. They had seen him defy storms, walk on the sea, raise the dead, and cast out devils.

They had always been so proud of their King Messiah. But now he had changed and the disciples were shocked as his spirits crumbled and he began acting like an ordinary frightened human being.

They heard him say: "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. There the apostle sat down and almost immediately went to sleep. But Jesus went off by himself and fell full length upon the ground. Take away this cup from me, nevertheless, not what I will but what thou wilt. You are all-powerful. Please work this out some other way.

Don't make me go through with it. At this moment the Father was suffering a pang of the deepest anguish. He knew the overwhelming torment through which Jesus was passing, but he also knew that unless he fulfilled his mission this whole round of creation would disintegrate and return to outer darkness.

Of course, the Father knew the end from the beginning and realized that Jesus would persevere. But this knowledge did not diminish the penetrating anguish, which he knew his Son was having to endure. He therefore sent an angel to comfort the Savior. Luke We don't know who he was but I would not be surprised if it turns out to be Adam or Michael. We also don't know what he said, but we can well imagine that it might have gone something like this.

You still have your free agency. But if you do not fulfill your calling, you ought to know what the consequence will be. The Book of Mormon specifically describes what would have happened to the human family if there had been no Atonement Mosiah and we feel this merely represents what would happen to this entire round of creation.

Concerning mankind, every one of us would suffer the same fate as Lucifer and his dark angels. We would have been disembodied and left without any tabernacle, either spiritual or physical.

Then we would have been cast "back" into outer darkness as stripped, naked intelligences. He says: "Jesus was foreordained before the foundations of the world were built, and his mission was appointed him in eternity to be the Savior of the world, yet when he came in the flesh he was left free to choose or refuse to obey the Father.

But, praise be to God, Jesus chose the thorny pathway of terrifying torture for which he was born. He said to the Father: "Thy will be done. As a result, he sweat great drops of blood. After the passion of it all had subsided, he awakened his apostles and went down toward the gate where Judas was already coming with the soldiers from the temple.

Events leading up to the Apostles Losing their Testimonies Peter knew that Jesus did not have to be taken captive by the soldiers. All he had to do was disappear as he had done during crises on a number of occasions in the past.

But he didn't disappear and when Peter saw that they were about to take him prisoner he drew out his sword and struck at Malchus, a relative of the high priest. Add this book to your favorite list ». Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details.

More filters. Sort order. Start your review of Gospel Trilogy. Mar 19, JamesBread Nabahe rated it did not like it. This book is full of assumptive rhetoric and disregards the role of the eternal laws of justice and mercy in the Saviors atonement; as explained in Alma Ch. Not worth the time. Just read the scriptures or the words of the Prophets and Apostles. An extended version of one of Cleon Skousen's most popular talks about the meaning of the Atonement.

Gospel Trilogy digs deeper into the doctrines and quotations that form the foundation for that talk. Many of the doctrines are what the Apostle Paul referred to as 'meat' of the gospel.

Meaning it requires a strong foundation of understanding before trying to read these deeper doctrines. Topics include the building blocks of the universe and the secret mission of Jesus Christ. Robert Boylan rated it did not like it Nov 24, Rube Rodrigues rated it it was amazing Feb 26, Talon Kartchner rated it it was amazing Sep 16, Tammy Bell rated it it was amazing Jun 16, Christian Tempest rated it really liked it Oct 20, Anissa Wardell rated it it was amazing Feb 12, Ogaya rated it it was amazing Mar 26, Mark Jrod rated it it was amazing Aug 20, Andrew Jayasinghe rated it it was ok Mar 11, Thomas Murphy rated it it was amazing Dec 23, Chris Caro rated it it was amazing Sep 17, Cameron Mcfadden rated it it was amazing Jan 21, Stephanie rated it really liked it Jun 27, Dennis Monday rated it really liked it Jun 08, Jun 15, Jordan Thomas rated it it was amazing.

Larissa Cardoso souto marked it as to-read Aug 25, Danilo Lopes marked it as to-read Aug 30, Santiago added it Jan 27, Bienvenida marked it as to-read May 24, Fivewincs marked it as to-read Jun 22, Hassan Ali marked it as to-read Jan 26, The Works of W.

Read More. Cleon Skousen View Products. Filter by Keyword. Showing 1 - 2 of 2 reviews. Average Rating 5. Cleon Skousen is one of my favorite authors. Download speeches from Ezra Taft Benson, W. Cleon Skousen and more. Visit ldsfreedombooks. Displaying 1 to 98 of 98 files. Our homes are not as strong unless we are using it to bring our children to Christ. Our families may be corrupted by worldly trends and teachings unless we know how to use the book to expose and combat the falsehoods in socialism, organic evolution, rationalism, humanism, etc.

Free Timeline Map. He was in the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover. Skousen was a very popular church fireside talk speaker for decades. Most all of his books and teachings are still available today. Some bloggers have maligned the reputation of Skousen calling him a racist or associating him with the globalists.

Last visit was: Tue Feb 23, am. It is currently Tue Feb 23, am. Visit our Amazon. The views and content on this site reflect only the opinions and teachings of the authors of the respective content contained herein. Cleon Skousen This talk was first presented, at the invitation of President Mike Glauser, to approximately missionaries at the Georgia Atlanta Mission on November The morning hours were spent covering the basic structure of this presentation.

While there, he attended the Juarez Academy and was employed for a time as a race horse jockey. Skousen then returned to California, graduating from high school in College , graduating in He married Jewel Pitcher in August , and they raised eight children together.

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