The Antiquity of the Gospel.--The Gospel originated in the heavens before this earth was formed, and was revealed from God out of Eternity at the very beginning of Time. It was the means whereby our great ancestor, Adam, after his expulsion from Eden, regained the Divine Presence from which he had been banished; and it is the means whereby his posterity, such as are obedient to the Gospel's requirements, may follow him into the Celestial Kingdom. The same ladder that he climbed, until beyond the reach of the fatal consequences of his transgression, the whole human race, inheriting from him the effects of the fall, must also climb, or they will never see the face of God in eternal glory. The Path to Perfection.--But the Gospel is more than a means of escape from impending ills. To all good Christians it is as a life-boat, or a fire-escape, a way out of a perilous situation. To the Latter-day Saints, it is all this and more. A divine plan for human progress, the foreordained Pathway to Perfection--such is Christ's Gospel, as revealed to and proclaimed by Joseph the Seer. The Word Made Flesh.--The English word "Gospel" comes from the Anglo-Saxon "Godspell" or God-story--the Story of God. It derives its significance from that great central idea of the Christian faith, the coming of God as the Son of God to redeem and save mankind. "God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people; and because he dwelleth in flesh, he shall be called the Son of God." [3] The fulfillment of this and similar foretellings is recorded in the opening verses of the Gospel according to St. John, referring to "The Word" that was in the beginning "with God"--the Word that "was God," and was "made flesh." In Him, as Paul affirms, "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." [4] Basic Principles.--When we consider the Gospel, therefore, we should bear in mind that the term means something more than faith, repentance, baptism, and the laying on of hands for the gift (giving) of the Holy Ghost, with other rituals and requirements in the Church of Christ. We cannot separate "the laws and ordinances of the Gospel" from the basic principles upon which they rest-the mighty foundation stones of Sacrifice and Redemption, without which all this sacred legislation would be of no effect. Nor can the basic principles and powers that vitalize and make operative these laws and ordinances be dissociated from the idea of Eternal Progression, the great and paramount purpose for which the Gospel code was framed, the Gospel in its fulness instituted. [5]