Book of Moses Evidence: Adam, Enoch, and the Plan of Salvation

Latter-day Saints sometimes assume that the theme of a divine plan—often referred to as the “plan of salvation” or “plan of redemption”—is unique to the Book of Mormon.1 The Book of Moses, however, traces this teaching to the very beginning of mankind, depicting it as a revelation given by the Lord to Adam.2 In conjunction with instructing Adam about the doctrines of Creation, the Fall, repentance, forgiveness, Atonement, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and eternal life, the Lord declared, “This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time” (Moses 6:62).3

Although initially given to Adam, these teachings were conveyed by Enoch as he went about fulfilling his divine commission to preach to the people.4 It is therefore worth exploring whether extrabiblical sources describe similar ideas about God’s divine plan and if these concepts are ever associated with Adam or Enoch.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

According to Dana Pike, the “plan of salvation consists of all the principles, powers, and ordinances necessary for the children of God to return to his presence and enjoy eternal life.” When viewed in light of this broad and all-encompassing definition, Pike argues that the Plan of Salvation, as a fully fleshed-out concept, is not clearly presented in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Nevertheless, he still recognizes “concepts attested in the Dead Sea Scrolls that are similar to … components of the plan of salvation.”5

One obvious and important example of this overlap in the corpus of Qumran literature is the frequent language of divine purpose, counsel, design, or decree—ideas often rendered in English as “plan.” This divine plan was also associated with a mystery or heavenly secret intended to be revealed to the righteous. It encompassed not only the creation and ordering of the world but also knowledge of God’s purposes and of human affairs across the full sweep of time—past, present, and future.

A Dead Sea Scrolls document called 1QS states, “Before things come to be, [God] has ordered all their designs, so that when they do come to exist—at their appointed times as ordained by His glorious plan—they fulfill their destiny.”6 Another passage from this same text explains, “All that shall be, [God] foreknows, all that is, His plans establish; apart from Him is nothing done.”7 In 4Q503 we read, “‘Blessed be the God of Israel … he [has] enlightened us with the plan of his gr[eat] wisdom.”8 In 4Q402 there is first a discussion of God apportioning knowledge to the righteous, in contrast to those who are unclean. A discussion of a “war of heaven” is then followed by an explanation of how all things were part of God’s “gracious plan.”9 Similar examples could be cited.10

One particularly significant discussion comes from a text labeled 4QInstruction:

1. for a[l]l … and all [wi]th a[l]l … He [has l]aid out for their un[de]rstanding every d[ee]d so that one may walk
2. in [the inclination of] his intelligence, and he spread out for A[dam] … for … and with precision of intelligence were made kn[own the sec]rets
3. of his plan, together with his walking [for (he is) pe]rfe[ct in all] his [d]eeds. These things seek constantly and understand [al]l
4. their consequences. And then you will know the glory of [his] st[rength together] with his wondrous mysteries and the mighty acts of his deeds. And you,
5. understanding one, inherit your reward in remembrance of the per[iod for] it comes. Engraved is ^the statute and ordained is all the punishment
6. because engraved is that which is ordained by God against all the in[iq]uit[ie]s of the sons of Sheth. And the book of remembrance is written before him
7. for the ones who keep his word—that is, the vision of meditation of the book of remembrance. He bequeathed it to Adam (אנוש) together with a spiritual ^people be[cau]se
8. according to the likeness of the holy ones he fashioned him. But no more did he give what is meditated upon to the fleshly spirit, for it did not distinguish between
9. [go]od and evil according to the judgment of its [sp]irit. vacat And you, understanding son, gaze vacat upon the mystery that is to be.11

These passages associate God’s overarching “plan”—a concept later designated as the “mystery that is to be”—with divine secrets that were revealed to Adam. Although some scholars have understood this plan as merely a revelation of the future, Benjamin Wold views it as having broader significance:

This mystery may relate to the consequences of human action in future, but it is unconvincing that this mystery is about a person’s predetermined eternal fate. Indeed, in the opening column of 4QInstruction (4Q416 1), the structure of the cosmos serves to justify future judgment on those who do not live according to the knowledge of good and evil, as evident around them, and sets the context for teaching about the need to live wisely.12

This interpretation aligns well with the discussion leading up to the description of the Plan of Salvation in Moses 6:56–57: “And it is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto themselves, and I have given unto you another law and commandment. Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent.”

Wold further explains that “the mystery of existence,” as described in 4QInstruction, “is concerned with relating humanity to their position in the cosmos and instructing them how to conduct themselves accordingly. By presenting the plan of the world from creation to judgment, human beings are able to understand good and evil and the consequences for failing to live accordingly.”13 This, again, dovetails nicely with the “plan of salvation” in Moses 6:62, as it describes God’s comprehensive plan in connection to repentance and saving ordinances—in other words, to righteous works.

Perhaps even more remarkable, though, is that God’s divine plan is associated in 4QInstruction with a “book of remembrance.” It is reported that this peculiar book was given to Adam (or possibly Enos, depending on the interpretation) and a spiritually enlightened people, presumably the righteous among Adam’s posterity.14 This book of remembrance is also associated with something called the “vision of meditation,” suggesting the book is somehow linked with divine revelation.

This is quite intriguing when it is remembered that a “book of remembrance” is also mentioned in Moses 6. This book, in fact, serves as the launching point in Enoch’s discussion of the Plan of Salvation:

For a book of remembrance we have written among us, according to the pattern given by the finger of God; and it is given in our own language. … And he said unto them: Because that Adam fell, we are; and by his fall came death; and we are made partakers of misery and woe. … And [God] also said unto [Adam]: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Moses 6:46–52)

This suggests that the “book of remembrance” was part and parcel of teachings collectively summed up as the “plan of salvation” in Moses 6:62. The “book of remembrance” is also mentioned earlier in Moses 6 in connection to a righteous priesthood lineage and Adam’s prophecy of future generations:

And then began these men to call upon the name of the Lord, and the Lord blessed them; And a book of remembrance was kept, in the which was recorded, in the language of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration; And by them their children were taught to read and write, having a language which was pure and undefiled. Now this same Priesthood, which was in the beginning, shall be in the end of the world also. Now this prophecy Adam spake, as he was moved upon by the Holy Ghost, and a genealogy was kept of the children of God. And this was the book of the generations of Adam, saying: In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him. (Moses 6:4–8)15

All of this resonates with the notion in 4QInstruction that the “book of remembrance” was “bequeathed to Adam (אנוש)” and a “spiritual people” and that it was associated with a “vision of meditation”—apparently some type of revelatory gift or vision.16 Since the phrase “book of remembrance” is exceedingly rare in scripture, it seems quite improbable that it arose in such similar contexts by chance alone.17

2 Enoch

Another relevant set of parallels arises in 2 Enoch. In this text, Enoch received a vision of the Creation and was then shown a history of humankind from Adam until the end of the world.18 After this, God explained that “all these things I planned to accomplish” (2 Enoch 33:3).19 While this, again, does not fully capture the concept of the “plan of salvation” described in Moses 6, these separate presentations of God’s divine plan and foreknowledge overlap to an appreciable degree.20

The relationship is solidified even further as one compares the attending contextual details in each text. Notable parallels include at least the following elements: (1) a contrast between God not needing human counsel but humans needing God’s counsel, (2) the importance of God’s reality and preeminent status, (3) God’s creation of the heavens and the earth and the foundations thereof, (4) an emphasis on revelatory books, (5) the need to instruct children and pass on sacred knowledge, (6) the repetition of all-inclusive descriptions in connection to God’s creations, and (7) God’s wisdom being integral to his creative capacity. As demonstrated in the following chart, these parallels are fairly densely packed, showing up in limited ranges of passages in each text:21

While these similarities may not be strong enough to establish a direct textual relationship, they provide additional reason to see each text’s presentation of God’s divine plan as being historically connected, presumably through a shared tradition or set of traditions.

Pseudo-Titus

The concept of God’s plan being associated with books arises once again in an early Christian work known as Pseudo-Titus. Although nothing is said of Adam in this instance, the concepts of Enoch, God’s divine plan, and sacred books all cluster together:

So Elijah, a noble man who still remains in the body, asked a boy to be his servant, one to whom he also left his cloak as a sacred pledge when he was taken up into Paradise in a fiery chariot. There Enoch too remains in the body, who was transferred (there) during the first age. O excellent plan of God which has provided for the future age! From among the earliest people Enoch the righteous was appointed to write down the deeds of the first humans, and the holy Elijah records the new deeds of this later people!22

The Testament of Adam

The Testament of Adam associates God’s divine plan with Adam’s prophecy of the future, delivered before his death.23 Similar to the account in Moses 6, Adam learned that mankind’s redemption would be wrought through Christ. Adam then disclosed this foreknowledge to his son Seth:

Adam said to Seth, his son, “You have heard, my son, that God is going to come into the world after a long time, (he will be) conceived of a virgin and put on a body, be born like a human being, and grow up as a child. He will perform signs and wonders on the earth, will walk on the waves of the sea. …

“He spoke to me about this in Paradise after I picked some of the fruit in which death was hiding: ‘Adam, Adam do not fear. You wanted to be a god; I will make you a god, not right now, but after a space of many years. I am consigning you to death, and the maggot and the worm will eat your body.’ … ‘But after a short time there will be mercy on you because you were created in my image, and I will not leave you to waste away in Sheol. For your sake I will be born of the Virgin Mary. For your sake I will taste death and enter the house of the dead. For your sake I will make a new heaven, and I will be established over your posterity.

“‘And after three days, while I am in the tomb, I will raise up the body I received from you. And I will set you at the right hand of my divinity, and I will make you a god just like you wanted. And I will receive favor from God, and I will restore to you and to your posterity that which is the justice of heaven.’

“You have heard, my son Seth, that a Flood is coming and will wash the whole earth because of the daughters of Cain, your brother, who killed your brother Abel out of passion for your sister Lebuda, since sins had been created through your mother, Eve. And after the Flood there will be six thousand years (left) to the form of this world, and then its end will come.”

And I, Seth, wrote this testament. And my father died. (T. Adam 3:1–6)24

Adam thus received a comprehensive explanation of God’s plan for humanity, extending from Adam himself to the end of the world, as well as an explanation of Christ’s central role in that plan. The very next chapter then launches into a discussion of angels and how they are also organized according to God’s “plan” to help facilitate his divine purposes for the mortal realm:

The heavenly powers: what they are like and how each of their orders is occupied in the service and the plan of this world. Listen, my beloved, as they are set in order one after another from the bottom, until we reach those who carry our Lord Jesus the Messiah and bear him up. The lowest order is the angels. And the plan has been revealed to it by God concerning every human being whom they watch over, because one angel from this lowest order accompanies every single human being in the world for his protection. And this is its service.

The second order is the archangels. This is the service: directing everything in this creation according to the plan of God, whether powers or animals, birds, or creeping things, or fish, and to speak briefly and in short, whatever exists in this creation, besides human beings, they care for it and guide it.25

Angels likewise play an integral role in the Book of Moses, as one of their purposes is to communicate the Plan of Salvation to mortals.26

The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan

According to an early Christian text, commonly known as The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, knowledge of a future savior was first communicated to Adam and Eve as part of a covenant in the Garden of Eden. Then, when they were cast out, that knowledge had to be reexplained to them (perhaps because the veil of mortality had caused them to forget this crucial knowledge). Adam was essentially told that after a designated period of time a being known as the “Word” would come to save him and his seed:

God said to Adam, “I have ordained on this earth days and years, and thou and thy seed shall dwell and walk in it, until the days and years are fulfilled; when I shall send the Word that created thee, and against which thou hast transgressed, the Word that made thee come out of the garden, and that raised thee when thou wast fallen. Yea, the Word that will again save thee when the five days and a half are fulfilled.” …

And Adam wept, and prayed God to explain it to him.

Then God in His mercy for Adam [who was made after] His own image and similitude, explained to him, that these were 5000 and 500 years; and how One would then come and save him and his seed.

But God had before that made this covenant with our father, Adam, in the same terms, ere he came out of the garden, [when he was] by the tree whereof Eve took [the fruit] and gave it him to eat.27

The Cave of Treasures

A text known as the Cave of Treasures provides a similar account. After Adam and Eve’s transgression, the Lord declared,

Leave now, because you transgressed my commandments, but do not grieve, for after the completion of the time declared for you to spend in exile upon the cursed earth I shall send my son. He will descend for your salvation, dwell within a virgin and put on a body. Through him your salvation and return will be wrought. … Then God revealed to Adam all that the Son was going to suffer on his behalf.28

This recalls how Adam and Eve’s grief over their transgression was turned into joy in Moses 5:11: “And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption.”29 It also resonates strongly with 2 Nephi 2:25–26: “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall.”30

On the Creation of the World

A late medieval Armenian poem called On the Creation of the World also deserves to be highlighted, as it contains references to a divine plan in its discussion of the book of Genesis.31 When commenting on Genesis 1:26 (“And God said, Let us make man in our image”), the text declares, “The Son was not uninformed of his uncreated Father’s plan, He descends for our sake among us so that we might become knowers of all.”32 This indicates that Christ’s role to save and enlighten mankind was part of the Father’s plan from the beginning.

Later in the poem, it is mentioned that Satan “did not know the plan” of God. This is especially interesting, as a similar detail arises in a very similar context in Moses 4:6–7:33

Clearly, both passages correspond to and expand upon Genesis 3:1–5. The fascinating thing is how the expansions parallel one another on multiple points. Both texts specifically depict Satan as conscripting the serpent into his service through some type of deception. Likewise, both texts emphasize that Satan spoke through the serpent, using it as a medium of communication. Both texts also associate Satan’s efforts with forms of the word “destroy.”34 Most relevant to this article, though, is how the phrase “for he [Satan] did not know the plan” in the poem closely parallels “for he [Satan] knew not the mind of God” in Moses 4:6. What are the chances that both texts would independently add such a similar detail in their retellings of the very same passages from Genesis 3?35

Conclusion

As demonstrated by the foregoing evidence, the concept of a comprehensive divine plan was well established in ancient Jewish and Christian literature. The Dead Sea Scrolls repeatedly speak of God’s “plan,” “glorious plan,” “gracious plan,” and the “plan of his great wisdom,” while 2 Enoch portrays God explaining to Enoch that everything he had created, from the highest foundation to the lowest and “to the end,” was something he had previously “planned to accomplish.” Other texts extend this concept more explicitly into salvation history, portraying humanity’s redemption through the Son of God as something anticipated and established by God from the beginning.

Especially significant are traditions that associate this divine plan with Adam and Enoch—the same two figures involved in the revelation and transmission of the plan of salvation in Moses 6. The Testament of Adam, Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, and Cave of Treasures all depict Adam receiving advance knowledge concerning Christ’s future redemption of humanity. The Testament of Adam further describes angels administering the created world according to God’s “plan,” while 2 Enoch and Pseudo-Titus associate God’s plan with Enoch, sacred records, and the transmission of revealed knowledge to later generations.

Two parallels are particularly noteworthy. First, Moses 6 and 4QInstruction associate the exceptionally rare concept of a “book of remembrance” with Adam and knowledge of God’s plan. This distinctive combination goes well beyond anything suggested by the phrase’s lone biblical occurrence in Malachi 3:16. Second, the Armenian poem On the Creation of the World provides a remarkable parallel to the account of Satan’s deception of Eve in Moses 4. In both texts, as each expands upon Genesis 3:1–5, Satan uniquely fails to comprehend the “mind” or “plan” of God.

As for Smith’s access to these sources, most were not realistically available when the Book of Moses was produced in 1830. The Dead Sea Scrolls had not yet been discovered, while the other works remained inaccessible in obscure languages and manuscript traditions. Although general ideas such as the creation of the world and God’s foreknowledge were certainly present in the Bible and in Smith’s environment, many of the distinctive and text-specific parallels highlighted throughout this article cannot reasonably be attributed to Smith’s reliance on available sources.

The cumulative picture is thus quite striking. The Book of Moses situates the divine plan within the primordial history of Adam and Enoch, portraying it as a comprehensive design for creation, human history, and redemption that was revealed from the beginning. Ancient and medieval sources preserve a surprisingly similar picture, associating God’s plan with Adam and Enoch, future salvation through Christ, angelic administration, sacred records, and the transmission of revealed knowledge. Within this broader pattern are several surprisingly specific points of correspondence that are hard to explain under naturalistic assumptions. Taken together, these convergences support the authenticity of the Book of Moses and Joseph Smith’s revelatory gifts.