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Drawn, not photographed

Diagrams & maps

14 figures, each drawn for this library rather than borrowed — which is why they carry the same ink and rules as the pages around them, and why they redraw themselves when you switch to dark. Every one appears inside the lesson it belongs to; this page collects them so you can find one you half remember.

The plan of salvation

DiagramThe plan of salvation
The plan of salvationPremortal lifeOrganised, taught, andgiven a choicebirthMortalityA proving, with agency andcovenantsdeathSpirit worldParadise and prison; thegospel taughtResurrectionSpirit and body reunited —for everyoneJudgmentCelestialThe presence of the Father;exaltation by covenantTerrestrialThe presence of the SonTelestialThe ministration of the SpiritMoses 1:39 · Abraham 3:24–26 · Alma 40–42 · D&C 76 · 1 Corinthians 15:40–42

Where we were, why we came, and where it goes — with the two veils marked, and the judgment fanning out into three degrees rather than two outcomes.

Abraham 3:24–26 · Alma 40–42 · D&C 76

The two deaths, and the two remedies

DiagramThe two deaths, and the two remedies
The Fall introducedThe Atonement answersPhysical deathThe body separated from the spirit.Universal, and no one escapes it.The ResurrectionUnconditional. Comes to every person whohas ever lived.free gift · 1 Cor. 15:22Spiritual deathThe person separated from the presenceof God.ReconciliationConditional on faith, repentance,ordinances and covenant.conditional · Hel. 14:17–18Keeping the two apart is what makes the grace-and-works question tractable.

The Fall introduced two separations. One is undone for everyone without condition; the other requires a response. Most confusion about grace and works comes from applying a statement about one to the other.

Helaman 14:16–18 · 1 Corinthians 15:22

How mercy satisfies justice

DiagramHow mercy satisfies justice
Alma 34:14–16 · Alma 42:22–25The lawA commandment, with a penalty affixedJusticeHas a real claim. It cannot bewaived without God ceasing tobe God.The personOwes the penalty, and cannotpay it.The MediatorNo debt of His own. Pays itvoluntarily.appealspaysJustice is satisfied — not suspended“Mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the atonement.”Most confusion comes from imagining a system with only two parties in it.

Three parties, not two. Justice is not waived; the penalty is paid by someone who did not owe it, which is what gives mercy a claim.

Alma 34:14–16 · Alma 42:22–25

The covenant path

DiagramThe covenant path
2 Nephi 31 · 3 Nephi 27:16–20the gate1Faithin Jesus Christ2Repentancea turning3Baptismby immersion, byauthority4The Holy Ghostconferred by thelaying on of hands5The templeendowment andsealing6Endurerenewed weekly inthe sacramentthe sacrament renews it, weeklyBaptism is a gate, not a destination — everything after it is the walk.

Faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, the temple, and enduring — with the gate marked, and the weekly loop back through the sacrament.

2 Nephi 31 · 3 Nephi 27:16–20

The degrees of glory

DiagramThe degrees of glory
D&C 76 · 1 Corinthians 15:40–42CelestialThose who received thetestimony of Jesus, werebaptized, and overcame byfaithD&C 76:50–70TerrestrialHonourable people who wereblinded by the craftiness ofmen; those who received thegospel after deathD&C 76:71–80TelestialThose who received not thegospel, nor the testimony ofJesus — after suffering fortheir own sinsD&C 76:81–90Beyond the three, D&C 76:31–38 describes perdition — and says how few it applies to.The Vision replaced a two-outcome heaven with a graded one, in February 1832.

Sun, moon and stars — Paul's figures, given a doctrinal reading in the vision of February 1832.

D&C 76 · 1 Corinthians 15:40–42

Lehi's dream, as a map

MapLehi's dream, as a map
Lehi's dream · 1 Nephi 8, interpreted in 1 Nephi 11–15a dark and dreary waste643512The great andspacious building“it stood as it were in the air” — no foundation7The angel's interpretations1The treeThe love of God — 1 Ne. 11:21–222The fruit“Most desirable above all things”3The rod of ironThe word of God — 1 Ne. 11:254The strait and narrow pathLeads to the tree, along the river5The mist of darknessThe temptations of the devil — 1 Ne. 12:176The riverThe depths of hell — 1 Ne. 12:167The great and spacious buildingThe pride of the world — 1 Ne. 11:35–36Four groups set out; only one holds fast through the mist — 1 Nephi 8:21–33. Lehi's first act after tasting is to look for his family (v. 12).

Every element of the vision in one frame, with the angel's interpretations keyed to it — including the detail that the great and spacious building has no foundation.

1 Nephi 8 · 1 Nephi 11–15

Abraham's journey

MapAbraham's journey
Abraham's journey · Genesis 11:31–12:10 · Abraham 2The Great Seathe fertile crescentEuphratesTigrisNileUr of the ChaldeesAbraham 1:1 — where he was bornHaranTerah dies; the call is renewedShechemGen. 12:6–7 — the first altarBethelHebronGen. 13:18EgyptGen. 12:10 — a famine12341 Ur · 2 Haran · 3 Canaan — where the covenant is given · 4 Egypt, during the famineSchematic. Distances compressed; the site of Ur is itself debated, with candidates in both southern Mesopotamia and the north near Haran.

Ur to Haran to Canaan, and down into Egypt during the famine — the arc of the fertile crescent, which is why the journey goes north before it goes west.

Genesis 11:31–12:10 · Abraham 2:1–15

The Exodus

MapThe Exodus
The Exodus · Exodus 12–19 · Numbers 33The Great SeaNileEgyptSinaiGulf of SuezGulf of AqabaDead SeaJordanGoshenEx. 12 — the PassoverMount SinaiEx. 19–20 — the lawKadesh-barneaNum. 13–14 — the spiesEdompassage refusedPlains of MoabDeut. — Moses' last sermonsJericho12341 Out of Egypt · 2 Sinai, and the law · 3 Kadesh — and forty years · 4 Around Edom to the plains of MoabSchematic. The route and the location of Mount Sinai are both disputed; the southern traditional site is shown.

Out of Goshen, across the sea, to Sinai and the law, then Kadesh, then forty years, then around Edom to the plains of Moab.

Exodus 12–19 · Numbers 33 · Deuteronomy 1–3

The land of the ministry

MapThe land of the ministry
The land of the ministryThe Great SeaSea ofGalileeJordanDead SeaGalileeSamariaJudeaPereaCapernaum“his own city” — Matt. 9:1CanaNazarethLuke 2:51 — where He grew upSycharJohn 4 — the woman at the wellBethabarawhere John baptizedJerichoJerusalemthe temple; the last weekBethanyLazarusBethlehemSchematic, with distances compressed. Roughly seventy miles separate Nazareth from Jerusalem —three days on foot, and the journey the Gospels assume without ever describing.

Galilee, Samaria, Judea and Perea, with the places the Gospels name most. Roughly seventy miles separate Nazareth from Jerusalem.

Matthew 4:12–17 · John 4:3–5 · Luke 2:41–52

Chiasmus, using Alma 36

StructureChiasmus, using Alma 36
Chiasmus · Alma 36A Hebrew figure in which the second half mirrors the first, so the turning point sits at the centre rather than at the end.aKeep the commandments and prosperv. 1bRemember the captivity of the fathersv. 2cTrust in God and be supported in trialsv. 3dBorn of God — not of the temporal but the spiritualv. 4–5eAlma seeks to destroy the churchv. 6–9fThree days and nights, racked with tormentv. 10–16g“I remembered one Jesus Christ, a Son of God”v. 17g“O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me”v. 18fCould remember my pains no more; harrowed up no morev. 19eAlma labours to bring souls to repentancev. 24dBorn of God — many have tasted as I have tastedv. 23–26cSupported in trials and troublesv. 27bRemember the captivity of the fathersv. 28–29aKeep the commandments and prosperv. 30The centre of the chapter is the moment Alma calls on Christ — and the relief arrives at exactly that verse.

A Hebrew figure in which the second half mirrors the first, so the turning point sits at the centre. In Alma 36 the centre is the moment he calls on Christ — and the relief arrives at exactly that verse.

Alma 36

Hebrew parallelism

StructureHebrew parallelism
Hebrew poetry works by parallelism, not by rhymeThe commonest mistake is reading the second line as new information. Usually it is the same thought, turned.SynonymousThe second line restates the first“The heavens declare the glory of God;and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” — Ps. 19:1AntitheticThe second line states the opposite“A wise son maketh a glad father:but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.” — Prov. 10:1SyntheticThe second line completes or advances the first“The law of the Lord is perfect,converting the soul.” — Ps. 19:7EmblematicThe second line supplies the image the first compares to“As the hart panteth after the water brooks,so panteth my soul after thee, O God.” — Ps. 42:1

Four kinds, with examples. Reading the second line as new information is the commonest mistake made with the Psalms, Proverbs and Isaiah.

Psalm 19:1 · Proverbs 10:1 · Psalm 42:1

The tabernacle

StructureThe tabernacle
The tabernacle · Exodus 25–27, 40the court — 100 × 50 cubitsentrance, on the eastAltar ofsacrificeEx. 27:1–8Laverwashing — Ex. 30:18the holy placeTable ofshewbreadLampstand(menorah)Altar ofincensethe veilholy ofholiesArk of thecovenantthe high priest, once a yearThe plan is a sequence of thresholds: court, holy place, holy of holies — each one entered by fewer people, through more preparation.Matthew 27:51 records that the veil was rent from the top down at the moment of the Crucifixion.

A sequence of thresholds: court, holy place, holy of holies — each entered by fewer people, through more preparation. The veil is the last of them.

Exodus 25–27 · Exodus 40 · Hebrews 9:1–12

The records behind the book

StructureThe records behind the book
The records behind the bookLarge plates of NephiThe full history — reigns,wars, politicsSmall plates of Nephi“For a wise purpose” — theministry and the propheciesPlates of EtherThe Jaredite record, found bythe people of LimhiBrass platesTaken from Laban — thescriptures Lehi's familycarriedMormonabridging, c. AD 385Cuts the large plates downto what a later reader wouldneed, and adds his owncommentaryMoroni finishes the workappended whole, unabridgedThe Book of Mormonas we have it1 Nephi – Omni · from the small platesWords of Mormon · the seamMosiah – Mormon · Mormon's abridgementEther · Moroni's abridgementMoroni · his own bookThe 116 pages, lost in 1828Mormon's abridgement of the large plates covering Lehi to Benjamin. Notretranslated — the small plates cover the same period instead.Words of Mormon 1:6–7 · D&C 10:38–45 — Mormon included the small plates “for a wise purpose in him, which I know not.”

Which record each part of the Book of Mormon comes from, where Mormon's abridgement begins, and what the 116 pages would have contained.

Words of Mormon 1:3–7 · D&C 10:38–45

The Godhead, compared

DiagramThe Godhead, compared
The creedsThe Restorationone substanceFatherSonSpiritThree persons of one essence; withoutbody, parts or passionsFatherembodiedSonembodiedHoly Ghostpersonage of Spiritone in purposeThree distinct beings, perfectlyunited in mind, will and gloryD&C 130:22 · Joseph Smith—History 1:17 · John 17:20–22, where the unity Christ describes is one He prays His disciples will share.

One substance in three persons, against three beings perfectly one in purpose. The difference is not a technicality — it changes what the baptism of Jesus and John 17 are describing.

D&C 130:22 · John 17:20–22 · Matthew 3:16–17