D&C 93 Quotes and Notes

May 6, 1833

The historical background from Robinson and Garrett is insightful

Doctrinally, Doctrine and Covenants 93 is one of the more informative and important revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants, yet the Prophet gives almost no historical information concerning its reception. He simply recorded, “May 6.—I received the following.”^[1]Smith, History of the Church, 1:343. The Kirtland Revelation Book and many other early manuscripts agree with History of the Church that this revelation was received on 6 May 1833.^[2]See Woodford, “Historical Development,” 2:1209–10. Doctrine and Covenants 94 was received later on that same day. At this time, Joseph and Emma and their two small children were still living in rooms above the Whitney store in Kirtland, and sections 93 and 94 were probably received in Joseph’s translation room there.

Although the Prophet was not yet aware of it, mobs had begun combining against the Saints in Missouri in April 1833, a month before Doctrine and Covenants 93 was received. By July mobs would attack the Church printing office in Independence and destroy most copies of the Book of Commandments, which was then in the process of being printed. The defection of some leading members, both in Kirtland and in Missouri, would soon bring a threat of apostasy in both places and even the threat of a possible division between the Church in Kirtland and the Church in Missouri. This was a time when the Church would need additional light and knowledge to comfort the members and to strengthen their testimonies.

Though there is little explanation of the purpose of Doctrine and Covenants 93 in the historical record, the revelation itself states (see v. 19) that its purpose is to teach the Saints what they worship and how they are to accomplish that worship, in order that they may come to the Father through the Son and receive of the Father’s fulness. Building on information given in Doctrine and Covenants 76 and 88, section 93 clarifies the nature of the relationship between the Father and the Son. It declares the eternal nature of all human beings, and it clarifies how human beings may become like the divine Father and Son (compare John 17:3). The doctrines of the premortal existence of spirits and the human potential eventually to become like God begin to be taught here in Doctrine and Covenants 93. ^[3]Dean H. Garrett and Stephen E. Robinson, Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, volume 3, Deseret Book, 2010.

See My Face and Know that I AM – D&C 93.1

This is the quest Moses is on during the story of the Exodus narrative: to bring the children of Israel into the presence of God (see Exodus 24 and D&C 84.23-26).

Joseph F. Smith said the following:

All these your brethren who are called to the Apostleship, and to minister in the midst of the house of Israel, are endowed, or ought to be endowed richly, with the spirit of their calling. For instance, these twelve disciples of Christ are supposed to be eye and ear witnesses of the divine mission of Jesus Christ. It is not permissible for them to simply say:  “I believe; I have accepted it, just because I believe it.” Read the revelation. (Sec. 18.) The Lord informs us that they must know, they must get the knowledge for themselves, it must be with them as if they had seen with their eyes and heard with their ears, and they know the truth. That is their mission to testify of Jesus Christ and him crucified, and risen from the dead and clothed now with almighty power at the right hand of God, the Savior of the world. That is their mission and their duty; and that is the doctrine and the truth; that is their duty to preach to the world, and see that it is preached to the world.^[4]Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 4 vols., 1946-1949, 1: 75 – 76.

Elder George Q. Cannon said:

I know that God lives. I know that Jesus lives; for I have seen Him. I know that this is the Church of God, and that it is founded on Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. I testify to you of these things as one that knows-as one of the Apostles of the Lord that He lives and that He will live, and will come to reign on the earth.^[5]Roy W. Doxey, comp., Latter-day Prophets and the Doctrine and Covenants [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978], 2: 357.

Elder Melvin J. Ballard taught:

I know, as well as I know that I live and look into your faces, that Jesus Christ lives, and he is the Redeemer of the world, that he arose from the dead with a tangible body, and still has that real body which Thomas touched when he thrust his hands into his side and felt that wound of the spear, and also the prints of the nails in his hands. (John 20:26-29) I know by the witness and the revelations of God to me that Thomas told the truth. I know by witness that Joseph Smith told the truth, for mine eyes have seen. For in the visions of the Lord to my soul, I have seen Christ’s face, I have heard his voice. I know that he lives, that he is the Redeemer of the World, and that as he arose from the dead, a tangible and real individual, so shall all men arise in the resurrection from the dead.^[6]Roy W. Doxey, comp., Latter-day Prophets and the Doctrine and Covenants [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978], 2: 357.

Elder Boyd K. Packer:

One question of this type I am asked occasionally, usually by someone who is curious, is, “Have you seen Him?” That is a question that I have never asked of another. I have not asked that question of my Brethren in the Council of the Twelve, thinking that it would be so sacred and so personal that one would have to have some special inspiration-indeed, some authorization-even to ask it.

Though I have not asked that question of others, I have heard them answer it-but not when they were asked. I have heard one of my Brethren declare, “I know, from experiences too sacred to relate, that Jesus is the Christ.” I have heard another testify, “I know that God lives, I know that the Lord lives, and more than that, I know the Lord.” I repeat: they have answered this question not when they were asked, but under the prompting of the Spirit, on sacred occasions, when “the Spirit beareth record.” (D&C 1:39.)

There are some things just too sacred to discuss: not secret, but sacred; not to be discussed, but to be harbored and protected and regarded with the deepest of reverence.^[7]“The Spirit Beareth Record,” Ensign, June 1971, 87.

The Father and I are One – D&C 93.3

To know Jesus Christ is to know the Father. The Father is manifested through the Son by means of his attributes and perfection. The Savior explained to his disciples: “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also. . . . he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. . . . the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:7, 9-10). The words and works of the Son are the same words that the Father would utter and the same works that the Father would do in the same circumstances. They are one in that they have the same purpose in all things: to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).^[8]Joseph Fielding McConkie and Craig J. Ostler, Revelations of the Restoration: A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants and other Modern Revelations, Deseret Book, 2000, p. 667-668.

John Saw and Bore Record – D&C 93.6-19

This section of the revelation is Joseph Smith giving moderns insight into the mind of John the Baptist. As McConkie and Ostler write:

In this revelation John the Baptist tells of a vision in which he was shown the power, acts, and glory of Christ in the premortal realms. Likewise, Abraham saw in vision the noble and great spirits whom God appointed to be his rulers “and there stood one among them that was like unto God” (Abraham 3:24). Christ was the most intelligent of all of the heavenly hosts of our Father’s children. Indeed, he was like unto God the Father in intelligence and glory, knowing all truth. His knowledge extended to comprehending “things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come” (v. 24).^[9]Revelations of the Restoration, p. 668-669.

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “The great Jehovah contemplated the whole of the events connected with the earth, pertaining to the plan of salvation, before it rolled into existence, or ever ‘the morning stars sang together’ for joy; the past, the present, and the future were and are, with Him, one eternal ‘now;’ He knew of the fall of Adam, the iniquities of the antediluvians, of the depth of iniquity that would be connected with the human family, their weakness and strength, their power and glory, apostasies, their crimes, their righteousness and iniquity; He comprehended the fall of man, and his redemption; He knew the plan of salvation and pointed it out; He was acquainted with the situation of all nations and with their destiny; He ordered all things according to the council of His own will; He knows the situation of both the living and the dead, and has made ample provision for their redemption, according to their several circumstances, and the laws of the kingdom of God, whether in this world, or in the world to come.”^[10]Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 220.

Jesus was the Word – Λόγος – D&C 93.8

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς^[11]πρός  (prós) (governs the genitive, dative and accusative), and as πρός is used in the accusative in John 1.1, we have the following: (with accusative) the … Continue readingτὸν θεόν καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος (John 1.1)

In the beginning there was the Logos/Word^[12]Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott [Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon, revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick … Continue reading, and the Logos was toward/before God, and the Logos was God.

Hugh Nibley gives his translation of John 1.1 as well as commentary on the Logos:

“In the beginning was the Logos [counsel, discussion}, and the Logos was in the presence of God, and all things were done according to it. . .” (John 1:1, translated by the author)…

The question arises, if we decide to do things God’s way will not all discussion cease? How could there be a discussion with God? Who would disagree with him? If we go back to our basic creation story we are neither surprised nor shocked to hear that there was free discussion in heaven in the presence of God at the time of the creation, when some suggested one plan and some another… Satan was not cast out for disagreeing, but for attempting to resort to violence when he found himself outvoted. If we cannot clearly conceive of the type of discussion that goes on in the courts on high, we have some instructive instances of God’s condescending to discuss things with men here on earth. “Come, let us reason together,” he invites the children of Israel. Accordingly Abraham and Ezra both dared, humbly and apologetically, but still stubbornly, to protest what they considered, in the light of their limited understanding, unkind treatment of some of God’s children. They just could not see why the Lord did or allowed certain things. So he patiently explained the situation to them, and then they understood. Enoch just couldn’t see the justification for the mass destruction of his fellows by the coming flood; he too was stubborn about it: “And as Enoch saw this, he had bitterness of soul, and wept over his brethren, and said unto the heavens; I will refuse to be comforted; but the Lord said unto Enoch: Lift up your heart, and be glad: and look” (Moses 7:44, italics added).

God did not hold it against these men that they questioned him, but loved them for it: it was because they were the friends of men, even at what they thought was the terrible risk of offending him, that they became friends of God. The Lord was not above discussing matters with the brother of Jared, who protested that there was a serious defect in the vessels constructed according to the prescribed design: “Behold there is no light in them . . . wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness?” (Ether 2:22) Instead of blasting the man on the spot for his impudence, the Lord very reasonably asked the brother of Jared: “What will you that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?” (v. 23) So they talked it over and, as a result, the brother of Jared prepared some beautiful fused quartz, that was as clear as glass but could not shine by itself. Again he went to the Lord, almost obliterated with humility, but still reminding the Lord that he was only following orders: “We know that thou art holy and dwellest in the heavens, and that we are unworthy before thee; because of the fall our natures have become evil continually [a vivid reminder of the gulf between the two ways–that our ways are not God’s ways]; nevertheless, O Lord, thou hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee, that from thee we may receive according to our desires” (Ether 3:2). So he screws up his courage and asks the Lord to do him a favor: “Touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger . . . that they may shine forth in darkness. . .” (v. 4). The sight of God’s finger quite overpowered the brother of Jared, knocked him flat, and that led to another discussion in which the Lord explained certain things to him at length. Moroni, recording these things, also recalls, “I have seen Jesus, and . . . he hath talked with me face to face, and . . . he told me in plain humility, even as a man telleth another in mine own language, concerning these things” (Ether 12:39). Note the significant concept of humility set forth here–humility is not a feeling of awe and reverence and personal unworthiness in the presence of overpowering majesty–anyone, even the bloody Khan of the Steppes, confesses to being humble in the presence of God. Plain humility is reverence and respect in the presence of the lowest, not the highest, of God’s creatures. Brigham Young said he often felt overawed in the presence of little children or any of his fellowmen–for in them he saw the image of his maker. Even so, God is willing to discuss things with men as an equal: “In their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to an understanding” (D&C 1:24). Note that God, far from demanding blind obedience, wants us to understand his commandments.^[13]Hugh Nibley, Beyond Politics, Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011: Vol. 23 : No. 1 , Article 12, p. 135-137.

President Nelson said this about the Logos:

Under the direction of the Father, Jesus bore the responsibility of Creator. His title was the Word—spelled with a capital W. In the Greek language of the New Testament, that Word was Logos, or “Divine Expression.” It was another name for the Master. That terminology may seem strange, but it is so reasonable. We use words to convey our expression to others. So Jesus was the “Word” or “Expression” of his Father to the world.^[14]Jesus Christ: Our Master and More, BYU Speeches, February 2, 1992. See also: April, 2000 General Conference.

Nicholas Birch has given this explanation of Logos:

The Greek logos can also mean a saying. Using this meaning, the poem tells us that the gospel was what was said (taught), and it was with the Son. In addition, to the Greek philosophers, reason, also logos, was the supreme truth. To the Greek mind—Greek most likely being the language John wrote in—the text conveys that the gospel, from the beginning, is logos, reason and truth. This gospel was preached through the Son, who has reason and truth, who has logos. The author writes to an audience raised in a culture where logos is truth, and explains to them where this truth comes from.^[15]Birch, p. 94-95. As to the incorporation of a hymn into the prologue of John, Birch commented, “The gospel being a life and a light is also a Hebrew concept. Many times in the Old Testament, … Continue reading

Another explanation by Frank Judd: “The Gospel of John calls Jesus the Word (see John 1:1; l λόγος in Greek), a complex philosophical term that basically means the divine principle of reason that brings order to the universe and links the human mind with Deity. In basic gospel terms, Jesus is the mediator who was sent to reconcile humanity with God (see D&C 76:69).”^[16]Frank F. Judd, Essential New Testament Companion, 34–35.

James E. Talmage put it this way: “The Father operated . . . through the Son, who thus became the executive through whom the will, commandment, or word of the Father was put into effect. It is with incisive appropriateness therefore, that the Son, Jesus Christ, is designated by the apostle John as the Word; or as declared by the Father ‘the word of my power.’”^[17]James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 33.

Thomas Wayment explained it this way:

The opening words of the Gospel of John are formed from an early Christian hymn^[18]See: Raymond Brown, The Gospel According to John, AB 29 (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966), 1. Brown states that the Prologue is “an early Christian hymn, probably stemming from Johannine circles, … Continue reading that extols Christ as the Word of God, as equal to God, and as the Creator. There is a clear allusion to Genesis 1:1, and the message may be to emphasize a new day of creation. By referring to Jesus as the Word, John immediately engages the idea that He is the word of God’s mouth and the divine word that orders the universe (compare to D&C 93:7–8). The Joseph Smith Translation of this verse reads, “In the beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was the Word, and the Word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God.”^[19]Thomas Wayment, Scripture Study Made Simple: The New Testament, Covenant Communications, 2018.

The Light… The Spirit of Truth – D&C 93.9

Before his mortal incarnation, Jesus was, indeed, a spirit—the Spirit of truth. Thus, Ammon’s description of Christ to King Lamoni as the “Great Spirit” was at that time technically correct (Alma 18:26–29; ca. 90 B.C.). Scriptural distinctions between “the Spirit of the Lord,” “the Holy Spirit,” and several other designations of the persons and power of members of the Godhead are sometimes very tenuous—another example of the complete oneness of the Godhead (compare, for example, 1 Nephi 11:11 with 1 Nephi 11:27). The scriptural title “Spirit of truth” sometimes describes Christ (as here in v. 9), and sometimes describes the Holy Ghost (as, for example, D&C 50:17–19), and may correctly be applied to either of them.^[20]Garrett and Robinson.

He Received Grace for Grace – D&C 93.12-13

We see that section 93 teaches us that mortal man is a dual being composed of a spirit (an offspring of God) which is clothed in a physical body composed of eternal elements. God’s great design or plan is to make men happy; as Joseph Smith said, “Happiness is the object and design of our existence.”^[21]Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 255. Evidently, gaining a spirit body gives a person a certain amount of happiness (see Job 38:4-7); and gaining a physical body or tabernacle to house that spirit brings still more happiness, for “the great principle of happiness consists in having a body.”^[22]Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 181. Man is restricted in his happiness without a physical body,^[23]D&C 45.17; Abraham 3.26; Moses 1.39. and can only receive a fulness of happiness or joy after the resurrection when the spirit and the physical body are inseparably connected.^[24]Lamar E. Garrade, The Origin and Destiny of Man (D&C 93), as found in Studies in Scripture, Volume 1: The Doctrine and Covenants, edited by Robert L. Millet and Kent P. Jackson, Deseret Book, … Continue reading

The grace of which John the Baptist wrote is that which comes and grows in doing the work of God. The Savior bore witness to Nicodemus, “He that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:21). Grace is divine help, or in other words, enabling power and strength that comes from God. The Savior increased in grace as he lived the commandments of God and blessed the lives others. His growth was accelerated above that of his fellowmen because of the reciprocal nature of receiving strength of the Spirit when extending grace. That is, he called upon his Father for power and strength to bless others in their need. In answer to his prayers, he was empowered and grew beyond his previous abilities, thus, receiving grace for grace. Christ was foremost in reaching out in compassion to others. Therefore, he received greater grace from God in his efforts than any other person. He increased his capacity to give with each experience, continuing “from grace to grace” (D&C 93:13).

The point of emphasis here in D&C 93.13 is that Christ came into mortality as a helpless infant, knowing no more than any other child at birth. It was then for him to grow up into a perfect knowledge of the principles of salvation, doing so in such a manner as to mark the path that all others seeking the same end could follow.^[25]McConkie and Ostler, p. 673.

For an excellent deep dive into the understanding of the Greek concept of grace, χάρις – charis, see Brent Schmidt’s book Relational Grace: The Reciprocal and Binding Covenant of Charis. For a video of Brent’s presentation at BYU: Grace — charis (χάρις), BYU New Testament Commentary Conference 2019, go here.

Know How to Worship… Know What You Worship – D&C 93.19

Knowing who God is, and what he wants us to become is an important part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In these early years of Church history, the Lord tells the Saints that he wants to give them all he has (D&C 84.38), and that this can come through obedience to law (D&C 88.33-35). When the Saints get to Nauvoo, Joseph Smith explains that God is human, and that we are to become like God. This is mentioned briefly in D&C 76.94-95, where the Lord says, in speaking of those made celestial, “he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion, having “received of his fulness.” In his King Follett Discourse, Joseph makes the following statement:

There are but a very few beings in the world who understand rightly the character of God. The great majority of mankind do not comprehend anything, either that which is past, or that which is to come, as it respects their relationship to God. They do not know, neither do they understand the nature of that relationship; and consequently they know but little above the brute beast, or more than to eat, drink and sleep. This is all man knows about God or his existence, unless it is given by the inspiration of the Almighty.

If a man learns nothing more than to eat, drink and sleep, and does not comprehend any of the designs of God, the beast comprehends the same things. It eats, drinks, sleeps, and knows nothing more about God; yet it knows as much as we, unless we are able to comprehend by the inspiration of Almighty God. If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves. I want to go back to the beginning, and so lift your minds into more lofty spheres and a more exalted understanding than what the human mind generally aspires to.

I want to ask this congregation, every man, woman and child, to answer the question in their own hearts, what kind of a being God is? Ask yourselves; turn your thoughts into your hearts, and say if any of you have seen, heard, or communed with Him? This is a question that may occupy your attention for a long time…

My first object is to find out the character of the only wise and true God, and what kind of a being he is… I will go back to the beginning before the world was, to show what kind of being God is. What sort of a being was God in the beginning? Open your ears and hear, all ye ends of the earth, for I am going to prove it to you by the Bible, and to tell you the designs of God in relation to the human race, and why He interferes with the affairs of man.

God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by his power, was to make himself visible,-I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form-like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image and likeness of God, and received instruction from, and walked, talked and conversed with him, as one man talks and communes with another…

In order to understand the subject of the dead, for consolation of those who mourn for the loss of their friends, it is necessary we should understand the character and being of God and how he came to be so; for I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see.

These ideas are incomprehensible to some, but they are simple. It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and to know that we may converse with Him as one man converses with another, and that He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ Himself did; and I will show it from the Bible…

In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted [prepared] a plan to create the world and people it. When we begin to learn this way, we begin to learn the only true God, and what kind of a being we have got to worship. Having a knowledge of God, we begin to know how to approach Him, and how to ask so as to receive an answer.

When we understand the character of God, and know how to come to Him, he begins to unfold the heavens to us, and to tell us all about it. When we are ready to come to him, he is ready to come to us.

Now, I ask all who hear me, why the learned men who are preaching salvation, say that God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing? The reason is, that they are unlearned in the things of God, and have not the gift of the Holy Ghost; they account it blasphemy in any one to contradict their idea. If you tell them that God made the world out of something, they will call you a fool. But I am learned, and know more than all the world put together. The Holy Ghost does, anyhow, and he is within me, and comprehends more than all the world; and I will associate myself with him.^[26]Joseph Smith gave an address on 7 April 1844, in Nauvoo, Illinois, at a general conference of the church. Because a church elder named King Follett had died in an accident a few weeks before the … Continue reading

Truth (אֱמֶת) is Knowledge of Things as the Are, as they Were, and as they Will Be – D&C 93.24

Our word true is derived from the Old English treowe, which meant “faithful,” “trustworthy,” or “covenant”^[27]Eric Partridge, Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, New York: Greenwich House, 1983, 740. To be true was to be “constant,” “steadfast,” and “faithful.” The standard dictionary of Joseph Smith’s day stated that “the primary sense of the root is to make close and fast, to set, or to stretch, strain, and thus make straight and close.”^[28]Webster, Dictionary, 1828. This understanding gives greater meaning to the testimony of Nephi, in which he speaks of the words of Christ as being “true and faithful” (2 Nephi 31:15), or to the testimony of the Lord himself in which he declares that the prophecies and promises in the Doctrine and Covenants “are true and faithful” (D&C 1:37). That is, they are trustworthy; and obedient acceptance of them constitutes a covenant with God that he cannot break (D&C 82:10).

In the Hellenistic or Greek tradition, truth comes from a root meaning “to be hidden” and came to signify the unveiling of reality.^[29]This is the meaning of the Greek word ἀλήθεια, which mean “truth,” but also means “to reveal,” as it comes from the word λήθω, “to escape notice, to be unknown, unseen, … Continue reading In Semitic tradition, however, it meant to be solid or stable; one who was truthful was one who could be trusted.^[30]Truth, אֱמֶת emet, is stability and firmness. STRONGS H571: † אֱמֶת noun feminine firmness, faithfulness, truth (contracted for אֱמֶנֶת from אָמֵן) Genesis 24:48 … Continue reading For the Greek, the opposite of truth was error or deception. But for the household of faith, truth was light; and its opposite consisted of the breaking of covenants with God. Truth was something to be done rather than something to be learned. Thus, we find the Savior reasoning that he who does evil “hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,” that his deeds might be hidden, while “he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:20-21; emphasis added). Again, John writes: “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth” (1 John 1:5-6).

Of the Gospel writers, it is John who uses the word truth in its highest spiritual sense. John, for instance, preserves the Savior’s self-characterization that he is “the way, the truth, and the life” and that no man can come unto the Father but through him (John 14:6). The testimony of John’s Gospel is that Christ is light, that light is truth, that salvation is in truth, and that we obtain salvation by acquiring light and truth. Thus, salvation is the process of becoming Christlike; it is the process of learning to think as he thought, feel as he felt, and do as he did.

The scholar can define the gospel as “all truth,” but the prophet cannot. Prophetic knowledge is not the result of abstract learning. It is not a mastery of theosophic principles or subtle theories. It is something found more naturally in service than in sequestered study. It is more the product of callused hands than of a furrowed brow. It is more the child of the simple heart than the sire of eloquence of speech. It is something that rests closer to the heart than to the intellect.^[31]McConkie and Ostler, p. 675-677.

He that Keepeth his Commandments… is Glorified in Truth and Knoweth All Things – D&C 93.28

This is opening the door to understanding deification, or theosis,^[32]Also termed apotheosis. Term coined in the *Hellenistic age to express the concept, already widespread, of the divinization of a mortal being after death. Aspired to by the founders of cities, great … Continue reading the belief that God put into place the things essential for man to become like he is. The belief that man can become as God was taught in the early Christian Church, but much of these ideas are lost to many Christians today.

The scriptural evidence

The early Christians believed that God became man, that man might become God. This teaching is also recorded in scripture. The Savior Jesus Christ taught, “Be ye therefore perfect; even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) Likewise the vision which Jesus sees of the destiny of his followers in his grand prayer in John 17 has lofty ideals: the Savior has given them the glory of God with which he was endowed, and they will be one, even as Christ and his Heavenly Father are one, “that they may be perfect in one.” (John 17:11)

The idea that the saints are the children of God, with a divine future inheritance in the afterlife is a common one among the authors of the text of the New Testament, something that parallels the Savior’s prayer in John 17. As we read in the writings of Paul, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” (Romans 8:16-17)

The authors of 1 Corinthians and James allude to the creation of man in the image and likeness of God (1 Corinthians 11:7; James 3:9) and the author of Revelation tells us that “to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” (Revelation 3:21) We read in 1 John 3:2 that “are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” Many more scriptures put forth this idea (see also: Matthew 25:21, Acts 17:29, Galatians 4:7, Ephesians 4:13, 2 Timothy 2:10-12, 3 Nephi 27:27, 3 Nephi 28:30, D&C 88:107, D&C 93:20, D&C 130:1, D&C 132:1-24, D&C 133:57), but these will suffice.

There is enough evidence in the scriptures of New Testament to logically lead one to conclude that divinization is not only a possibility, but something the Savior wants each of us to receive as we come unto him, and this is exactly what those temporally closest to the apostles put forth.

Justin – Discourse To The Greeks

The Word exercises an influence which does not make poets: it does not equip philosophers nor skilled orators, but by its instruction it makes mortals immortal, mortals god. (Ante Nicene Fathers 1.272)

Theophilius (A.D. 180)

Neither, then, immortal nor yet mortal did He make him, but, as we have said above, capable of both; so that if he should incline to the things of immortality, keeping the commandment of God, he should receive as reward from Him immortality, and should become God. (Theophilus, ca. 180, To Autolycusv 2:27, in Ante-Nicene Fathers 2:105)

Cyprian (A.D. 200-258)

What Christ is, we Christians shall be, if we imitate Christ. (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 5:469)

Irenaeus (A.D. 115-202)

God stood in the in the congregation of the gods, He judges among the gods.” He [here] refers to the Father and the Son, and those who have received the adoption; but these are the Church. (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1.419).

We have not been made gods from the beginning, but at first merely man, then at length gods. (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1:522)

Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 160-200)

It [the instruction and preparation] leads us to the endless and perfect end, teaching us beforehand the future life that we shall lead, according to God, and with gods; after we are freed from all punishment and penalty which we undergo…. After which redemption the reward and the honours are assigned to those who have become perfect; when they have got done with purification … they are called by the appellation of gods, being destined to sit on thrones with the other gods that have been first put in their places by the Saviour. (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 2:539)

… knowing God, he will be made like God … and that man becomes God, since God so wills. (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 2:271)

Hippolytus of Rome (A.D. 170-235)

And thou shalt be a companion of the Deity, and a co-heir with Christ, no longer enslaved by lusts or passions, and never again wasted by disease. For thou has become God … thou has been deified, and begotten unto immortality. This constitutes the import of the proverb, “Know thyself;” ie., discover God within thyself, for He has formed thee after His own image. (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 5:153)

Origen (A.D. 185-253)

And thus the first-born of all creation, who is the first to be with God, and to attract to Himself divinity, is a being of more exalted rank than the other gods beside Him, of whom God is the God…. The true God, then, is “The God,” and those who are formed after Him are gods, images, as it were, of Him the prototype. (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10:323)

… other beings beside the true God, who have become gods by having a share of God. They may fear that the glory of Him who surpasses all creation may be lowered to the level of those other beings [ie., exalted man] called gods. (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10:323)

Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390) also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory Nazianzen, was a 4th-century Archbishop of Constantinople, and theologian. He wrote:

The incarnation of Jesus takes place, he asserts, so that “I too might become god to the extent that he became man.”^[33]Everett Ferguson, Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, Routledge, 1990, p. 339.

C.S. Lewis

It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship…It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit.^[34]C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, 39.

Intelligence… the Light of Truth… uncreated, independent in that sphere – D&C 93.29-30

Reference is to our first estate, or the premortal life, where we were schooled and trained for the experiences that would be ours in mortality.

Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made. “Some of our writers have endeavored to explain what an intelligence is,” observed Joseph Fielding Smith, “but to do so is futile, for we have never been given any insight into this matter beyond what the Lord has fragmentarily revealed. We know, however, that there is something called intelligence which always existed. It is the real eternal part of man, which was not created nor made. This intelligence combined with the spirit constitutes a spiritual identity or individual.”^[35]Joseph Fielding Smith, The Progress of Man, Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010, 11.

The God of the Latter-day Saints, unlike the God that is worshipped by the majority of Christian sects, did not create the cosmos out of nothing (ex-nihilo). In the creative act he gave form and order to existing element. ^[36]See: D&C 131:6-7; King Follett Discourse. Joseph Smith taught: You ask the learned doctors why they say the world was made out of nothing, and they will answer, “Doesn’t the Bible say he … Continue reading

The Glory of God is Intelligence… Light and Truth – D&C 93.36-37

Light and truth, emanating from God, are in all mankind as well. This is the light of Christ. This is what we read in the Book of Mormon:

For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night. For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God. (Moroni 7.15-16)

Origen (186-253 AD), an early Christian thinker, believed that Christ was in everyone, that all rational beings share in the Logos, and so have planted within them some seeds, as it were, of wisdom and righteousness, which is Christ.^[37]Origen, De Principiis, Book 1, chapter 3, verse 6. The text reads as follows (emphasis added): That the working of the Father and the Son operates both in saints and in sinners, is manifest from … Continue reading

The Preparatory Redemption – D&C 93.38

Joseph Fielding Smith taught the following:

Every spirit was innocent in the beginning. When Lucifer rebelled because of his agency, he persuaded others to follow him, then their innocence came to an end, for they were in rebellion before God and had to be cast out. It seems very reasonable that others were not valiant in that pre-mortal state, and they may have led to the gradations upon the earth. However, the Lord declares that every spirit coming into this world is innocent. That is to say, so far as this life is concerned the spirit coming here is innocent. Nothing is to be laid to its charge; this is a correction of the false doctrine which prevails in some religious organizations, that children are born with the taint of “original sin” upon them. Such false doctrine denies the mercies of Jesus Christ and declares ignorance of the atonement of our Lord.^[38]Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1946-1949, 2: 163.

Rebukes from the Lord: Frederick G. Williams, Sidney Rigdon, Joseph Smith, and Newel K. Whitney – D&C 93.41-50

These four men: Joseph Smith, Frederick G. Williams, Sidney Rigdon (the First Presidency), and Newel K. Whitney (bishop of the church in Kirtland), were the very core of the leadership of the church in 1833. They were rebuked openly and publicly by the Lord in this revelation.^[39]The exact nature of these brethren’s family difficulties is left unspoken here, for they are private matters. It is a credit to the humility and integrity of the Prophet that these verses were not … Continue reading What can we learn from this?

Notice that the Lord does not hesitate to rebuke publicly even his leaders when they neglect the proper instruction of their children. If children are taught the truth and then stray, the condemnation is upon their own heads. However, if the Saints, even Church leaders, are too busy doing Church work (or anything else) to instruct their own children, then the condemnation is upon the parents’ heads.^[40]Garrett and Robinson.

“It would be foolish to suppose that there is some point, office, or position at which one can arrive in this mortal probation that places one above temptation or beyond the reach of mistakes common to mortal men. Speaking to the newly called apostles in the New World, the resurrected Lord said, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him’ (3 Ne. 18:15). To Peter, who was destined to stand at the head of the meridian Church, the Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat’ (Luke 22:31). Again, to the first Quorum of the Twelve of our day, the Lord directed Thomas B. Marsh, their president, to pray for them and to ‘admonish them sharply for my name’s sake, and let them be admonished for all their sins, and be ye faithful before me unto my name’-this with the promise that ‘after their temptations, and much tribulation, behold, I, the Lord, will feel after them, and if they harden not their hearts, and stiffen not their necks against me, they shall be converted, and I will heal them’ (D&C 112:12-13).

“Well might we say that the best of temptations are reserved for the best of men. There is no immunity to the frailties of the flesh in offices or position. All must work out their own salvation with fear and trembling (see Philip. 2:12). Thus we make no claim that our prophets are infallible in behavior or in doctrine. We do claim, however, that they are among the best men living on the earth and that they teach the best doctrine the world has ever heard.”^[41]Joseph Fielding McConkie, Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions, Deseret Book Co., 1998, 52.

---