Jesus, satan and joseph smith: the mormon cosmic triad

This book explores Mormon theology in new ways from a scholarly non-Mormon perspective. Bringing Jesus and Satan into relationship with Joseph Smith the founding prophet, Douglas Davies shows how the Mormon Plan of Salvation can be equated with mainstream Christianitys doctrine of the Trinity as a driving force of the faith. Exploring how Jesus has been understood by Mormons, his many Mormon identities are described in this book: he is the Jehovah of the Bible, our Elder Brother and Father, probably also a husband, he visited the dead and is also the antagonist of Satan-Lucifer. This book offers a way into the Mormon problem of evil understood as apostasy, from pre-mortal times to today. Three images reveal the wider problem of evil in Mormonism: Jesus pre-mortal encounter with Lucifer in a heavenly council deciding on the Plan of Salvation, Jesus Christs great suffering - engagement with evil in Gethsemane, and Joseph Smiths First Vision of the divine when he was almost destroyed by an evil force.