Jan 31 2017 D&C Class 19 by Rebekah Ellsworth

Notes on D&C Section 88 and 93

“The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity—thou must commune with God.” – Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:295–96 (from a letter from Joseph Smith and others to Edward Partridge and the Church, Mar. 20, 1839, Liberty Jail, Liberty, Missouri)

“Joseph’s revelation declared that ‘the glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.’ To become like God, as the word ‘fulness’ implied, was to grow in light and truth – to be filled with intelligence. Holiness was not an end in itself but the avenue to intelligence. One kept the commandments in order to receive light and truth.”

“By the time of the May 1833 revelation, a variety of meanings clustered around the idea of exaltation. ‘The Vision’ [D&C 76] had introduced the term ‘fulness’ into the conception of celestial life. The revelation said the Saints would inherit a fulness of God’s glory. All that the Father had would be theirs. The texts put no limits on the extent of this fulness. The revelation on priesthood [D&C 84] said that ‘all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.’ These passages altered the idea of salvation from making peace with God to becoming like God. The words ‘salvation’ and ‘exaltation’ contained a world of difference. One implied escape–from sin or hell or Satan–and the other elevation to glory and godhood.”

– Richard Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, p. 208, 210 (emphasis added)