“If we start right it is easier to go right all of the time; but if we start wrong, it’s hard to get the matter right. ~ Joseph Smith
The Atonement of Christ is the most basic and fundamental doctrine of the gospel, and it’s the least understood of all revealed truths.” ~Bruce R. McConkie
“Sometimes we think of the restoration of the gospel as something that is complete, already behind us,” Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught in April 2014, but ‘in reality, the Restoration is an ongoing process; we are living in right now..” 1
This book (“Original Grace”) is an attempt to participate in that ongoing Restoration. Consider it an experiment in ongoing Restoration thinking.
As a tradition, it seems to me that Latter-day Saints have yet to fully develop a native, homegrown way of talking about Christ’s grace. We often default to traditional Christian ways of talking about grace, even when those traditions have been undercut by the deeper truths of the Restoration. While unintentional, this tendency may be especially evident when it comes to the doctrine of “original sin.”
My proposed experiment is this: what if, instead of implicitly affirming the logic of original sin, Latter-day Saints emphasized the deeper reality of God’s original Grace?
Throughout this experiment, readers should bear in mind that I have no authority and no commission. As a scholar, I may help start conversations, but never finish them. This experiment sketches just one possible approach among many. Take what’s useful, build something better, and leave the rest.
What’s more, readers should keep in mind that, as part of this thought experiment, I do what scholars commonly do: I disagree with other scholars. I not only contrast my approach with larger Christian tradition, I contrast it with Stephen Robinson’s powerful book Believing Christ. That doesn’t mean, However, that I don’t deeply love them both. In my view, Believing Christ is the most important book of lay theology in the history of our tradition. Honoring its legacy requires not only to appreciate its contributions but to carry forward its unfinished work.~~Adam S. Miller, Original Grace (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book:2022) p.ix-x
