We must be grateful to Corianton.  We are blessed with a great deal of valuable knowledge because of his mistakes.  Corianton was the young son of the prophet Alma.  He succumbed to temptation, and was thereafter subjected to a 4-chapter lecture from his father.  Alma recorded what he taught Corianton, and thus we have some of the best teachings in all of scripture concerning the spirit world, the resurrection of the dead, the seriousness of sexual sin, what happens at death, the Judgment, the necessity of repentance, and a knowledge of the plans that are in place to return us to the presence of God.

To his great credit, Corianton endured that lecture.  He listened, he repented, and he became a leader in the Church who did much good.  His legacy, however, is that 4-chapter lecture by his father.  It is a treasure.  We must give credit to Alma for counseling his son, and for not sweeping his actions under the rug.

In that discourse Alma puts no less than five different names to God's plan.  It is all the same plan, but has many aspects.  It is the plan of restoration (Alma 41:2), the great plan of salvation (42:5), the great plan of happiness (42:8), the plan of redemption (42:13), and the great plan of mercy (42:31).  The prophet Nephi also called it "the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death."  (2 Ne. 11:5).  Sermons could be given on each of these aspects of the plan.

In the Church we tend to lump all six of these plans under the heading, "the plan of salvation."  Alma's preferred name for the plan was "the plan of redemption."

It occurs to me, however, that there are more plans in play than these six.  Most of the rest can be lumped together under what the scriptures label "that cunning plan of the evil one."  (2 Ne. 9:28, D&C 10:12, 23).

Alma says, "And thus we see how great the inequality of man is because of sin and transgression, and the power of the devil, which comes by the cunning plans which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men."  (Alma 28:13).

Those cunning plans are what I would call the great plan of destruction, the plan of misery, the plan of confusion, and the plan of contention.

There is currently so much contention and rancor among our national leaders that there is no room in their hearts for civility, clear thinking, or Christian thoughts.  I'm afraid that the evil one has ensnared their hearts.  That is the adversary's plan of contention at work.

Surely the adversary is particularly pleased with the effectiveness of his plan of confusion.  Having in place over a thousand variants of his great and abominable church, he has scrambled people's choices so effectively that the vast majority of the world has no idea where to look for the truth.

The adversary's sole purpose with these plans is to make all men miserable like unto himself     (2 Ne. 2:27), and to bring about their destruction.

I am grateful for the Book of Mormon which throws such great light upon all of these plans.  The Book of Mormon illuminates the plan of redemption, and exposes the cunning plan of the evil one for what it is.  I am grateful to Alma and to Corianton for showing me how to thread my way through the tangled plans of the adversary; and for putting me firmly on the plain path that is the plan of restoration, and salvation, and happiness, and redemption, and mercy, and deliverance from death.