To download past handouts, go to: hvssnotes.blogspot.

com

Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in. ~Mark Twain (Mark Twain: A Biography by Albert Bigelow Paine)
#1 President Brigham Young: When God revealed to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon that there was a place prepared for all, according to the light they had received and their rejection of evil and practice of good, it was a great trial to many, and some apostatized because God was not going to send to everlasting punishment heathens and infants, but had a place of salvation, in due time, for all, and would bless the honest and virtuous and truthful, whether they ever belonged to any Church or not. (Journal of Discourses, 16:42) #2 President Brigham Young: My traditions were such that when the Vision first came to me, it was so directly contrary and opposed to my former education, I said, Wait a little; I did not reject it; but I could not understand it. I then could feel what incorrect tradition had done for me. (see history.lds.org) #3 Joseph Holbrook, a missionary sent to New York, said, We held a prayer meeting and found there was a wrong spirit with some of the brethren, the presiding elder even forbidding us to believe in the vision of Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon. In June 1837 Joseph instructed the first missionaries to England not to teach the vision until the Saints were prepared. He told them to adhere closely to the first principles of the Gospel, and remain silent concerning the vision until such time as the work was fully established, and it should be clearly made manifest by the Spirit to do otherwise (Ed J.

Pinegar, Richard J. Allen and Karl R. Anderson, Teachings and Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, 265).

#4 President Wilford Woodruff: I had been taught that there was one heaven and one hell; and everybody that was not sprinkled or baptized, infants and all, would have to go to hell. It made no difference whether the individual had committed no wrong. ...On the other hand, everybody that was sprinkled would go to heaven. ...I did not believe one word of it. ...But this vision opened my eyes. It showed me the power of God and the righteousness of God in dealing with the human family. Before I saw Joseph I said I did not care how old or how young he was; the man that advanced that revelation was a prophet of God. I knew it for myself. (Remarks, Deseret Weekly News, Sept. 5, 1891, 322) #5 The Prophet Joseph Smith: I could explain a hundred fold more than I ever have of the glories of the kingdoms manifested to me in the vision, were I permitted, and were the people prepared to receive them. The Lord deals with this people as a tender parent with a child, communicating light and intelligence and the knowledge of his ways as they can bear it. (History of the Church, 5:402)

#6 President Brigham Young: The vision given to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon is the greatest vision I ever knew given to the children of men, incorporating more in a few pages than any other revelation I have any knowledge of. (Journal of Discourses, 8:36)

person. Not a sound nor motion made by anyone but Joseph and Sidney, and it seemed to me that they never moved a joint or limb during the time I was there, which I think was over an hour, and to the end of the vision. Joseph sat firmly and calmly all the time in the midst of a magnificent glory, but Sidney sat limp and pale, apparently as limber as a rag, observing which, Joseph remarked, smilingly, Sidney is not used to it as I am.
(Juvenile Instructor, 27:304)

#8 The Prophet Joseph Smith: Nothing could be more pleasing to the Saints upon the order of the kingdom of the Lord, than the light which burst upon the world through the foregoing vision. John Johnson farm, Hiram, Ohio (30 m. from Kirtland Every law, every commandment, every #7 An eyewitness, Philo Dibble, wrote: The promise, every truth, and every point touchvision which is recorded in the Book of Doc- ing the destiny of man, from Genesis to trine and Covenants was given at the house Revelation, where the purity of the scripof Father Johnson, in Hiram, Ohio, and dur- tures remains unsullied by the folly of men, ing the time that Joseph and Sidney were in go to show the perfection of the theoryof different degrees of glory in the future life the spirit and saw the heavens open there and witnesses the fact that that document is were other men in the room, perhaps a transcript from the records of the eternal twelve, among whom I was one during a part of the timeprobably two-thirds of the world. The sublimity of the ideas; the timeI saw the glory and felt the power, but purity of the language; the scope for action; the continued duration for comdid not see the vision. Joseph would, at inpletion, in order that the heirs of salvation tervals, say: What do I see? as one might may confess the Lord and bow the knee; the say while looking out the window and berewards for faithfulness, and the punishholding what all in the room could not see. ments for sins, are so much beyond the Then he would relate what he had seen or what he was looking at. Then Sidney replied, narrow-mindedness of men, that every I see the same. Presently Sidney would say, honest man is constrained to exclaim: It came from God (HC 1:252) What do I see? and would repeat what he had seen or was seeing, and Joseph would #9 President Brigham Young: There are reply, I see the same. This manner of conmyriads of people pertaining to this earth versation was repeated at short intervals to who will come up and receive a glory acthe end of the vision, and during the whole cording to their capacity.(JD 6:347) time not a word was spoken by any other

#10 President Brigham Young: Some might suppose that it would be a great blessing to be taken and carried directly into heaven and there set down, but in reality that would be no blessing to such persons; they could not reap a full reward, could not enjoy the glory of the kingdom, and could not comprehend and abide the light thereof, but it would be to them a hell intolerable and I suppose would consume them much quicker than would hell fire. I would be no blessing to you to be carried into the celestial kingdom, and obliged to stay therein, unless you were prepared to dwell there
(Discourses of Brigham Young, 95)

#12 Hugh Nibley: Glory is shared intelligence.

(see A House of Glory, at maxwellinstitute.byu.edu)

#13 Elder John A. Widtsoe: The book [Doctrine and Covenants] explains clearly that the lowest glory to which man is assigned is so glorious as to be beyond the understanding of man. It is a doctrine fundamental iin Mormonism that the meanest sinner, in the final judgment, will receive a glory which is beyond human understanding, which is so great that we are unable to describe it adequately. Those who do well will receive an even more glorious place. (Widtsoe,
The Message of the Doctrine and Covenants, 167)

#11 The Prophet Joseph Smith: It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God

#14 President Brigham Young: When you see our Father, you will see a being with whom you have long been acquainted, and (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 345) He will receive you into His arms, and you If any man does not know God, ...he will will be ready to fall into His embrace and realize that he has not eternal life; for kiss Him You will be so glad and joyful there can be eternal life on no other prin- When you are qualified and purified, ...you ciple. (Ibid.) can endure the glory of eternity. (JD, 4:54-55)

Other thoughts too great not to include:

Hugh Nibley: We are told time and again that when Jesus came down to earth he took flesh so that we could comprehend him. He became like us. "Among the angels he was an angel. Among men he was a man. He descends to the level of the people whom he must teach, because he must do it in order to teach them. Because of this principle you comprehend what you are like, and comprehension means a lot. You comprehend others only to the degree that you are like them. (Unscrolling the Scrolls Some Forgotten Witnesses, Old Testament and Related Studies, ch. 6.) Jordan Vajda: [Father Vajda was a Roman Catholic Dominican monk. His research supports Joseph Smiths teaching that humans can become like God. He does so by exploring ancient Christian documents.] It seems that if one's soteriology [doctrine of salvation] cannot accommodate a doctrine of human divinization, then it has at least implicitly, if not explicitly, rejected the heritage of the early Christian church and departed from the faith of first millennium Christianity. However, if that is the case, those who would espouse such a [doctrine of salvation] also believe, in fact, that Christianity, from about the second century on, has apostatized and "gotten it wrong" on this core issue of human salvation. Thus, ironically, those who would excoriate [denounce] Mormons for believing in the doctrine of exaltation actually agree with them that the early church experienced a "great apostasy" on fundamental doctrinal questions. And the supreme irony is that such persons should probably investigate the claims of the LDS Church, which proclaims that within itself is to be found the "restoration of all things. I firmly maintain that the Latter-day Saints are owed a debt of gratitude by other Christians because the Saints remind us all of our divine potential. ("Partakers of the Divine Nature: A Comparative Analysis of Pa-

tristic and Mormon Doctrines of Divinization, 1998 master's thesis at Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley,

California, reprinted by Neal A. Maxwell Institute. Elder Quentin L. Cook reported that Father Vajda later become a latter-day saint. This good man is completely active in the Church, has been to the temple, teaches the Gospel Doctrine class in his ward, and has a management position in a hospital in Seattle. BYU Speeches, 13 March 2007.) Quentin L. Cook The conversion of Jordan Vajda, a fine young man who had been a Catholic priest, is instructive. When he was in grade school he had Latter-day Saint friends in his class who shared with him their love of the gospel. At age 13 he found an offer from the Church for a free Book of Mormon. He sent for it, and two sister missionaries responded. They were surprised that he was only 13 and had requested the Book of Mormon. He was impressed with what they taught and what he felt, but after discussions with his family, he decided to become a priest in the Catholic Church. As he prepared to be a priest, he remained interested in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He studied at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He became acquainted with many who take the position we are not Christians, but he also associated with the students at the Latter-day Saint institute of religion at Berkeley. He decided to write a masters thesis on why certain people maintain that we are not Christians. Two of the issues he addressed in his masters thesis were: The nature of God and our belief that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ are the two separate individuals the Prophet Joseph beheld in the First Vision. Exaltation and our belief in eternal progression that we can progress to live with and be like God. He compared these doctrinal issues with PreNicene Creed early Christian writers and determined that there was significant support for the position of the Church of Jesus Christ. He concluded in his masters thesis, which has since been published by the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies: Ironically, those who would excoriate Mormons for believing in the doctrine of exaltation actually agree with them that the early church experienced a great apostasy on fundamental doctrinal questions. This was primarily an academic pursuit. He became a priest in the Dominican order and had assignments in Arizona and then at the University of Washington. There he came in contact with our missionaries. After being taught by missionaries and praying sincerely, he received inspiration that he should resign as a Catholic priest and be baptized and confirmed into the Church of Jesus Christ. His letter of resignation expressed his love and appreciation for the Catholic Church and then stated: But why am I doing what I am doing? To put it most simply: I have found a fuller truth and goodness and beauty in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After years of study and reflection, I have come to believe that the LDS Church is the only true and living Church of Jesus Christ, guided and led by living apostles and prophets. I believe that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, called and ordained for this, the dispensation of the fullness of times. I love the Book of Mormon; I believe it to be the word of God for us in these latter days. I can no longer deny my feelings, my heart, my conscience. I cannot deny the confirming witness of the Holy Ghost which has come after much prayer and soul-searching. At this point in my life, at this moment, as I look forward to and prepare for my convert baptism, I have found a happiness greater than I ever imagined possible. (Be a Missionary All Your Life, BYU Speeches, 13 March 2007.) Ernst W. Benz: One can think what one wants of this doctrine of progressive deification, but one thing is certain: with this anthropology Joseph Smith is closer to the view of man held by the Ancient Church than the precursors of the Augustinian doctrine of original sin were, who considered the thought of such a substantial connection between God and man as the heresy, par excellence. We must remember here that for the Ancient Church salvation stood in direct correlation to embodiment. Athanasius, the great Bishop of Alexandria, the head of the Church in all Egypt, summarized the Christian doctrine of salvation in the words, God became man so that we may become God. The goal of salvation is deification, and Athanasius invokes in this context the words of Jesus: Be ye there perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). (From his chapter titled "Imago Dei: Man in the Image of God," in Reflections on Mormonism: Judaeo-Christian

Celestial Terrestrial Telestial

Revelation 12:79; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6).

Outer Darkness
Inheritors 1. Satan and the one-third of the hosts of heaven who followed him became sons of perdition (see D&C 76:2530; 29:3638;

1. The inhabitants of the terrestrial kingdom will enjoy the presence of the Son but not the fulness of the Father (see D&C
76:77).

2. Those in the terrestrial kingdom will minister to those in the telestial kingdom
(see D&C 76:81, 86).

2. Those who in mortality have known the power of God, been made partakers of it, and then later denied the truth and defied Gods power will also be sons of perdition (see D&C 76:3132). 3. Those who deny the Holy Ghost after having received it and crucify the Savior unto themselves will have no forgiveness and will be sons of perdition (see D&C
76:3436; Matthew 12:3132).

3. The terrestrial kingdom exceeds the glory, power, might, and dominion of the telestial kingdom (see D&C 76:91). 4. Those who inherit the terrestrial kingdom will come forth in the First Resurrection after those who inherit the celestial kingdom have been resurrected (see
D&C 88:99; 45:54).

1. The celestial kingdom is a kingdom of resplendent glory (see D&C 137:14). 2. Faithful members of the Church will come forth in the morning of the First Resurrection and receive a glorified, celestial body (see D&C 76:6465; 88:2829). 3. Those who inherit the celestial kingdom will dwell in the presence of God and Christ forever (see D&C 76:62). 4. Those in the celestial kingdom will minister to the inhabitants of the terrestrial kingdom (see D&C 76:8687). 5. Those who inherit exaltation, the highest degree in the celestial kingdom, will become kings and priests unto God and members of the Church of the Firstborn (see D&C 76:5457). 6. Through the Atonement and their own faithfulness, those who obtain exaltation become gods (see D&C 76:58; 132:19 Inheritors 1. Those who inherit the terrestrial kingdom are described as honorable people who, either in this world or in the spirit world, receive the testimony of Jesus but are not valiant in that testimony (see D&C
76:7179).

20).

4. Sons of perdition will suffer the wrath of God and partake of the second death (see D&C 76:33, 3738). 5. Those who become sons of perdition in mortality will be resurrected but will not be redeemed in a kingdom of glory
(see D&C 76:3839, 4344; 88:24, 32).

7. Exalted beings receive all things that the Father has (see D&C 76:55, 59; 84:38). Inheritors 1. We must receive the testimony of Jesus, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and keep the commandments (see 2. Among those who inherit the terrestrial kingdom will be people who died without the law, spirits kept in prison, and some members of the Church who were not sufficiently valiant (see D&C 76:72
75, 79).

6. Only those who become sons of perdition will be able to comprehend the magnitude of the misery of those who inherit such a state (see D&C 76:4448).

D&C 76:5152).

2. We must overcome all things by faith and be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise (see D&C 76:53, 60). 3. We must comply with the new and everlasting covenant of marriage (see D&C 131:13).

3. Those who reject the prophets in this life and then accept the gospel in the spirit world will inherit the terrestrial kingdom (see D&C 76:7374; 138:32).

1. The inhabitants of the telestial kingdom will suffer the wrath of God and be cast into hell until the end of the Millennium (see D&C 76:84, 1046; 2 Nephi 28:15). 2. Those in the telestial kingdom will receive the Holy Ghost through the ministration of those in the terrestrial kingdom (see D&C 76:86, 88). 3. Telestial glory surpasses all human understanding (see D&C 76:89). 4. Those obedient to telestial laws will be resurrected with telestial bodies in the Second, or Last, Resurrection (see D&C 76:85; 88:31; Mosiah 15:26). 5. Those in the telestial kingdom will be servants of God, but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end (D&C 76:112). Inheritors 1. Those who profess to follow Christ or the prophets but willfully reject the gospel, the testimony of Jesus, the prophets, and the everlasting covenant will inherit the telestial kingdom (see D&C 76:99101). 2. The inhabitants of the telestial kingdom will include those who were murderers, liars, sorcerers, adulterers, and whoremongersin general, the wicked people of the earth (see D&C 76:103; Revelation 22:15). These inhabitants of the telestial kingdom will have become clean through their suffering so that they can abide telestial glory. 3. The inhabitants of the telestial kingdom will be as innumerable as the stars (see D&C 76:109).

 The higher ordinances in the temple of God pertain to exaltation in the celestial kingdom. (D&C 88:22) (Joseph Fielding

Smith, Doctrines of Salvation , 2:4142).

Into the terrestrial kingdom will go all those who are honorable and who have lived clean virtuous lives, but who would not receive the Gospel, but in the spirit world repented and accepted it as far as it can be given unto them. Many of these have been blinded by tradition and the love of the world, and have not been able to see the beauties of the Gospel (Joseph
Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:28788).

Terrestrial glory may be all right for honorable Gentiles, who have not faith enough to believe the Gospel and who do right according to the best knowledge they have; but celestial glory is our aim If there is a law that God has revealed and it is necessary to be obeyed before celestial glory can be reached, I want to know it and obey it. (George Q. Cannon, in

Conference Report, Apr. 1900, 5556).

Those who enter into the telestial kingdom [are] the filthy who suffer the wrath of God on the earth, who are thrust down to hell These are they who receive not the gospel of Christ and consequently could not deny the Holy Spirit while living on the earth. They have no part in the first resurrection and are not redeemed from the devil and his angels until the last resurrection, because of their wicked lives and their evil deeds. Nevertheless, even these are heirs of salvation, but before they are redeemed and enter into their kingdom, they must repent of their sins, and receive the gospel, and bow the knee, and acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of the world (Joseph Fielding
Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:22). 6:314).

After the Lord and the righteous who are caught up to meet him have descended upon the earth, there will come to pass another resurrection. This may be considered as a part of the first, although it comes later. In this resurrection will come forth those of the terrestrial order, who were not worthy to be caught up to meet him, but who are worthy to come forth to enjoy the millennial reign (Joseph
Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:296).

When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave (Joseph We read of others who receive glory of a secondary order, differing from the highest as the moon differs from the sun in the firmament. These are they who, though honorable, failed to comply with the requirements for exaltation, were blinded by the craftiness of men and unable to receive and obey the higher laws of God. They proved not valiant in the testimony of Jesus, and therefore are not entitled to the fulness of glory. (James E.
Talmage, The Articles of Faith, 9192)

All sins shall be forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Ghost; for Jesus will save all except the sons of perdition. What must a man do to commit the unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against him. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy. This is the case with many apostates of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Joseph Smith, History of the Church,

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith , 348).

Even to hell there is an exit as well as an entrance; and when sentence has been served, commuted perhaps by repentance and its attendant works, the prison doors shall open and the penitent captive be afforded opportunity to comply with the law, which he aforetime violated. . . . Their lot shall be that of servants of the Most High, but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end. (v. 112) Deliverance from hell is not admittance to heaven (James E. Talmage,
The Vitality of Mormonism, 25556).

In the realms of perdition or the kingdom of darkness, where there is no light, Satan and the unembodied spirits of the pre-existence shall dwell together with those of mortality who retrogress to the level of perdition. These have lost the power of regeneration. They have sunk so low as to have lost the inclinations and ability to repent, consequently the gospel plan is useless to them as an agent of growth and development (Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of
Forgiveness, 125).

Some might suppose that it would be a great blessing to be taken and carried directly into heaven and there set down, but in reality that would be no blessing to such persons; they could not reap a full reward, could not enjoy the glory of the kingdom, and could not comprehend and abide the light thereof, but it would be to them a hell intolerable and I suppose would consume them much quicker than would hell fire. It would be no blessing to you to be carried into the celestial kingdom, and obliged to stay therein, unless you were prepared to dwell there (Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham

Young, 95).

(Lesson by Zan and Misty Larsen. These 2 pages are adapted from Doctrines of the Gospel, institute student manual, chapter 33, Kingdoms of Glory and Perdition.)

D&C LESSON 20 OUTLINE ~D&C 76: Whats it about? (The three degrees of glory...and so much more!) My guess is, that if you grew up in the Church, like I did, you probably take this revelation for granted. Yes, its a great revelation, but it makes a lot of sense. I dont think any of us would call it shocking, would you? Would it surprise you to know that quite a few of the Saints fell away from the Church when it was revealed? It would be interesting to hear from those of you who are converts what you thought about these teachings when you first heard about them, if you feel so inclined. Lets try to put D&C 76 into historical perspective, by summarizing the beliefs of the major religions of the day: ON BOARD: ~Calvinists? (Predestination) ~Catholics? (Eternal hell for the wicked, purgatory for the repentant, then heaven) ~Universalists? (All will be saved) ~Protestants? (No purgatory, just heaven and hell eternally) ~Hinduism & Buddhism? (Reincarnation until worthy of heaven, or Nirvana) ~Islam? (Non-believers go to hell eternally, believers go to Paradise eternally) That covers it, more or less. Lets see how members of the Church responded to this radical, new-fangled idea of kingdoms of glory for all but sons of perdition. Quotation #1 It was even a struggle for Brigham at first: Quotation #2 Interestingly, Wilford Woodruffs response was different: Quotation #4 ~Did Joseph write everything he and Sidney Rigdon saw? (No, see 76:115) Heres what Joseph had to say about this revelation: Quotation #5 A hundred times more than the length of section 76 would be more than the full length of the Doctrine & Covenants! ~Do you think there are truths and doctrines that might be given to us if we were prepared to receive them? (One thing we know if is what is contained in the 2/3 of the Book of Mormon that was sealed, see 2 Ne. 27:10) Later on, heres what Brigham Young had to say about D&C 76: Quotation #6 ~Werent most of the revelations given to Joseph only?

~Why do you think Sidney Rigdon saw the same vision at the same time? (law of witnesses for such a significant revelation of restored doctrine?) ~Were there others present as well? Quotation #7 Hopefully youre all anxious to dig into the revelation already, but Id like to get one more perspective on it, that of Joseph himself: Quotation #8 Due to time constraints, Ive decided not to cover the specifics of what qualifies us for the different kingdoms, but Ive included a chart in the handout. If you have questions, please ask, since someone here will certainly have insight! As I was researching this lesson, there was one concept that kept coming to the fore, and Id like to introduce it by asking this question: ~When you were in school, did you study to get a good grade on the test, or did you study to master the concepts you were learning about? I bring this up because of all the coursework Ive done in my life, there was only one professor, at BYU, who really emphasized and made it possible to master a chapter before moving on to the next. It happened to be a physics class, and it was very challenging for me. But the professor had been a teacher in the military. In the military they teach a little differently! You see, those he taught would be making life-anddeath decisions in the defense of their country! It wasnt good enough just to pass a testthe goal was to master the subject. He taught the same way at BYU, even though it was more work for him. The course was taught like any other, but at the end of a chapter you had about a week to take the test in the testing center. If you didnt like your grade, you could take a different test on the same material. If I remember correctly, he always had five different tests-five opportunities to master the topic. Whereas in other classes if you blew it on one or two tests, your chances of getting an A were nil, in that physics class if you wanted an A, you could get it! It was very motivating, even though it was one of the most difficult classes I took. Youre probably wondering what this has to do with D&C 76. ~Well, do you think the Plan of Salvation Earthlife test is a pass/fail? Or is it more of a master-the-concept test? (Actually, its neither. We know Satan has mastered the concepts! Its more of a what-have-you-become test!) Quotation #9 ~According to their capacity to do what? (endure the glory of that kingdom) Quotation #10 I imagine it would be somewhat like suddenly finding yourself in a foreign country,

unable to understand the language and unfamiliar with the culture, and never being able to figure any of it out! ~Does not this reflect a loving Father in Heaven? Joseph Smith said: (read) Quotation #11 (1st half) ~Do these philosophies (on board) reflect a loving Father? Joseph went on to say: Quotation #11 (2nd half) ~So, we know this earthly test is to see if we will be obedient (see Abr. 3:25) But what is the purpose of that obedience? (To help us become like God) ~And why must we be like Him to inherit the Celestial Kingdom? (in order to be able to endure the glory of that kingdom.) ~And what is glory? (read D&C 93:36) ~What is the opposite of light and truth? (darkness and falsehood) ~Who personifies darkness and is the father of all lies? (Lucifer) The next verse tells us how intelligence relates to Satan: D&C 93:37 Heres food for thought: Hugh Nibley said, (Quotation #12), Glory is shared intelligence, or we could say shared light and truth. Apparently, its not enjoyable to be in the presence of such an intelligence as is God, unless there is no darkness or falsehood in us. Hence, the reason for obedience and repentance. ~Doesnt that motivate us to do our best to become as like Him as we possibly can while were here? One other concept: We know the Earth itself is passing through a progression of glory. ~What state is the Earth in now? (telestial) ~Does that mean that the Telestial Kingdom is about the same as regular earthlife now, but continued on forever? Quotation #13 ~What is the glory of the Telestial Kingdom likened to? (the stars) ~And the Celestial? (the sun) I pray that we will have a change of mindset, if need be, from I need to stop doing such and such, and start doing so and so, to I want to do whatever it takes to become capable of enduring Celestial glory so I can life with my Father in Heaven and my family eternally! Let me end with a thought from Brigham Young: Quotation #14