Many wonderful and inspirational surprises lie within the covers of this book and its companion, Volume 2. W. Cleon Skousen’s deep love for the life, mission and atonement of Jesus Christ culminated in more than 75 years of research and scholarship into the Savior’s eternal role in his Father’s kingdom, here on earth, and into the eternities.

Dr. Skousen’s broad expanse of research led him to interviews with living prophets and apostles, to the records and commentaries by the world’s leading scholars on the Savior’s life, and to the neglected ancient histories that shed so much new light on the role of Jesus Christ in our individual lives. After these many decades of inquisitive searching, compilation and distillation, the exquisitely simple but dynamic insights into the most important individual ever to enter mortality are finally brought together in these two volumes with more than 2,500 citations. Dr. Skousen’s riveting telling of the real story of Christmas lays the background and foundation to understand the love Jesus had for the Jewish people. Their role in Christ’s crucifixion and atoning sacrifice is beautifully explained, shedding a new and surprising light on Peter’s denial of the Savior. After the resurrection of Jesus, the savior’s most noble work is then initiated through the humble and loving missionary labors led by Peter and the apostles.

As the Jews began to embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they formed the foundation as the first Christians, and started the spread of his teachings that today fills the hearts of more than one-third of the world’s population. These are just samples of the treasures that lie within the scriptures and which come to light as one reads the Days of the Living Christ.