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Doctrinal Details of the Plan of Salvation: From Premortality to Exaltation
Understand the Plan of Salvation as never before! Noted author, teacher, and gospel scholar David J. Ridges brings "the great plan of happiness" (Alma 42:8), to life with his well-known teaching skills in this important contribution to understanding the Plan of Salvation. A Powerful Study Guide
• Quickly gain an overview of the big picture of the Plan of Salvation with this simple, straightforward approach to understanding the basics of the plan.
• Become a student in the "classroom" of one of today’s most popular gospel authors by taking the pretest in chapter one, and by following the question-answer format used throughout the book.
• Learn important doctrines, including details about premortal life, intelligence, spirit birth, the Atonement, the Council in Heaven, the War in Heaven, the Creation, the Fall, the veil, mortality, the postmortal spirit world, paradise, spirit prison, the Second Coming, the Millennium, the binding of Satan, resurrection, the "little season," the Battle of Gog and Magog, final judgment, qualifications for outer darkness, qualifications for each degree of glory, exaltation and godhood.
• Quickly gain an overview of the big picture of the Plan of Salvation with this simple, straightforward approach to understanding the basics of the plan.
• Become a student in the "classroom" of one of today’s most popular gospel authors by taking the pretest in chapter one, and by following the question-answer format used throughout the book.
• Learn important doctrines, including details about premortal life, intelligence, spirit birth, the Atonement, the Council in Heaven, the War in Heaven, the Creation, the Fall, the veil, mortality, the postmortal spirit world, paradise, spirit prison, the Second Coming, the Millennium, the binding of Satan, resurrection, the "little season," the Battle of Gog and Magog, final judgment, qualifications for outer darkness, qualifications for each degree of glory, exaltation and godhood.
160 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2005
19 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
David J. Ridges
132 books53 followersDavid J. Ridges taught for the Church Educational System for thirty-five years. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Brigham Young University and taught adult religion and Know Your Religion classes for BYU Continuing Education and spoke at BYU Campus Education Week for many years.
Ridges has served as a curriculum writer for Sunday School, seminary, and institute of religion manuals. His callings in the Church include Gospel Doctrine teacher, bishop, stake president, and patriarch. He and his wife, Janette, have served two full-time Church Educational System missions. They are the parents of six children and are enjoying a growing number of grandchildren. They reside in Springville, Utah.
Ridges has served as a curriculum writer for Sunday School, seminary, and institute of religion manuals. His callings in the Church include Gospel Doctrine teacher, bishop, stake president, and patriarch. He and his wife, Janette, have served two full-time Church Educational System missions. They are the parents of six children and are enjoying a growing number of grandchildren. They reside in Springville, Utah.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
January 12, 2015
I loved this book! It basically begins with several questions about the plan and then delves into the answers. I learned so much by reading this book! I would highly suggest it to all!
June 19, 2023
David Ridges adds insight to the scriptures and the Plan of Salvation. There is a quiz at the beginning of the book which helped me see just how much I really know/understand. I love the quotes for the leaders of the church as well. I added some of the quotes to my own scriptures. His writing style is easy-to-read. Very interesting.
May 18, 2017
Interesting details of premortal life, postmortal spirit world, the Second Coming and all in between.
This book definitely helps you understand the plan better and our part in. Quotes from many of the prophets. Good book.
This book definitely helps you understand the plan better and our part in. Quotes from many of the prophets. Good book.
January 4, 2019
Doctrinal Details.
Thank you for writing this book. It helped me to really understand some things that I thought I already knew. And it helped me rid myself of some things that I thought were true, but were really erroneous, that were holding me back. God bless you.
Thank you for writing this book. It helped me to really understand some things that I thought I already knew. And it helped me rid myself of some things that I thought were true, but were really erroneous, that were holding me back. God bless you.
October 15, 2025
"I loved this book so much! It is full of questions for you and then it delves into answers. I learned so much from this book." --Customer Review
December 26, 2014
I love the way David J. Ridges teaches. He is able to teach deep concepts in simple ways that are easy to understand. He also includes scripture passages, or quotes from the Prophets, to back up each of his teachings, meaning that he is teaching sound truths, and not opinion-based ideals. And though he does give his own opinions every so often, he is sure to label them as such.
One thing I didn't like is that (this being the fourth of his books I have read) I notice that he tends to use some of the same sentences, word-for-word, to explain concepts that are the same in different books. While the sentences have great teachings in them, it is annoying to realize that I read some of the exact same paragraphs in the last book of his that I read. Although this doesn't occur often in this book, I would still love for him to reword things a bit in his books, so it doesn't feel like I am learning the same things over and over (even if I am).
Aside from that, this is a great resource, especially for those hard-to-answer questions. He begins the book with an optional quiz on the Plan of Salvation, which I enjoyed. It answered many questions that I had, confirmed some feelings I had, and also gave me insight into things I had never thought of before.
Overall, this is a fantastic book, which I recommend for anyone who wants to know more about the doctrine of the LDS church.
One thing I didn't like is that (this being the fourth of his books I have read) I notice that he tends to use some of the same sentences, word-for-word, to explain concepts that are the same in different books. While the sentences have great teachings in them, it is annoying to realize that I read some of the exact same paragraphs in the last book of his that I read. Although this doesn't occur often in this book, I would still love for him to reword things a bit in his books, so it doesn't feel like I am learning the same things over and over (even if I am).
Aside from that, this is a great resource, especially for those hard-to-answer questions. He begins the book with an optional quiz on the Plan of Salvation, which I enjoyed. It answered many questions that I had, confirmed some feelings I had, and also gave me insight into things I had never thought of before.
Overall, this is a fantastic book, which I recommend for anyone who wants to know more about the doctrine of the LDS church.
March 14, 2025
1st read: A great find! Ridges has the most thorough research for quotes and scriptures to show his points clearly and succinctly. There is no fluff, it's just straight information in a very simple manner.
2nd Read - I moved my rating down to 3 stars. I read the 2005 edition this time (I don't know what edition I originally read). I don't even remember reading this previously. I give it 3 stars because it is dated and not as helpful delivery and execution for today. It LARGELY quoted Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce R. McConkie. Many, many quotes were over 100+ years old when we have had many, many quotes that could have been used from recent decades. It also was quite declarative without ever pointing out room to interpret things differently. For example, it quoted from the Book of Revelation as if it was not symbolic. That's not the most helpful at this point. So when I finished it this time I went ahead and threw the book away (I got it for free).
2nd Read - I moved my rating down to 3 stars. I read the 2005 edition this time (I don't know what edition I originally read). I don't even remember reading this previously. I give it 3 stars because it is dated and not as helpful delivery and execution for today. It LARGELY quoted Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce R. McConkie. Many, many quotes were over 100+ years old when we have had many, many quotes that could have been used from recent decades. It also was quite declarative without ever pointing out room to interpret things differently. For example, it quoted from the Book of Revelation as if it was not symbolic. That's not the most helpful at this point. So when I finished it this time I went ahead and threw the book away (I got it for free).
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October 7, 2020I enjoyed this book. It was concise and answered a lot of questions I had, as well as some concerns that I am sure I would have encountered later on in my study. I have a very visual learning style, so even by using a simple illustration of the "plan of happiness" as the chapters moved forward, helped me. This book explains some very "deep" doctrines but is written in simplistic, easy-to-understand fashion. A great piece of writing!
September 30, 2018
The Best Book Regarding the Plan of Salvation!
This is my second reading of this book but certainly not my last! I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Plan of Salvation. It answered questions I didn't even know I had!
This is my second reading of this book but certainly not my last! I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Plan of Salvation. It answered questions I didn't even know I had!
September 1, 2016
Very informative
Fast read. Very informative. I love this authors books. Very knowledgable. I got this on my kindle but everyone should get it in hard copy to add to their LDS library.
Fast read. Very informative. I love this authors books. Very knowledgable. I got this on my kindle but everyone should get it in hard copy to add to their LDS library.
April 8, 2008
I loved this book! I didn't know I didn't know so much about the Plan of Salvation. Easy, concise, and very informative! I highly recommend to any LDS reader.
August 5, 2008
Interesting book, I learned a lot, even some things that I thought I knew about the subject that were not right.
April 14, 2010
I loved the question and answer format which made the book quite accessible. It was easy to find just what you were looking for. His details were succinct yet meaty.
October 5, 2012
A good resource, but I wasn't a fan of the format. Still, a worthwhile read for a Mormon audience.
August 21, 2012
This book was an easy read and very informative.
November 5, 2012
Breaks the Plan of Salvation down into steps & then in a question/answer format, the questions are answered by scripture or words of prophets. Good resource.
January 2, 2013
Great guide for a quick overview of the plan of salvation. Clairified many things I didn't understand.
November 6, 2013
Great insights and god sources for doctrine.
January 2, 2015
A handy resource that covers a great many questions that one might have regarding the great plan of happiness. Full of wonderful quotes and good sources. Most useful.
September 24, 2014
This book does an excellent job of answering questions about the Plan of Salvation. The doctrinal sources are clearly indicated.
January 7, 2018
I enjoyed reading this book. I learned new things, and it reminded me of when I learned some of these truths directly from the author when he was my institute teacher.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews