Chapter 23: Anthropology and the Plan of SalvationPreexistence, the Council in Heaven, and the Fortunate Fall

In brief

Where did we come from, and why are we here? Seaich traces the doctrine of premortal existence through the Wisdom of Solomon, Paul, and John, up to its condemnation in A.D. 553. He explains the “law of opposition” (2 Nephi 2:11) and the early Christian view of Adam’s fall as a felix culpa, a “fortunate fault.” Drawing on 1 Enoch, rabbinic texts, and the Nag Hammadi library, he reconstructs the Council in Heaven, where the Son volunteered and Satan rebelled. He concludes that the newly discovered sources match “the basic doctrines of Mormonism and the Restored Gospel.”

This page summarizes Chapter 23 of Understanding Mormonism: The Restored Gospel of Christ and Its Biblical Foundations in Latter-day Saint Belief by Eugene Seaich (2026 Annotated Edition, edited by Eric Hendrickson). The summary is quoted from the book’s “In brief” and is editorial material, not the author’s words. The full chapter, with its notes and argument, is in the book.

Independent scholarship by Eugene Seaich. Not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.