The Kingdoms of Glory

“The Vision”

If we did not have the revelations in D&C 76, 131, and D&C 137, we would know very little about what our condition will be after we are resurrected. President Wilford Woodruff, the fourth President of the Church, said this about the vision recorded in D&C 76:

I will refer to the ‘Vision’ alone, as a revelation which gives more light, more truth, and more principle than any revelation contained in any other book we ever read. It makes plain to our understanding our present condition, where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. Any man may know through that revelation what his part and condition will be.

(The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, sel. G. Homer Durham [1946], 47–48).

Great value comes from having the big picture of the Plan of Salvation in mind as we pursue our journey through this mortal life. The “plan of salvation” (Alma 42:5), or “great plan of happiness” (Alma 42:8), is the big picture. It is our Heavenly Father’s plan for providing the growth and development necessary for us to become like Him, to become gods and create our own worlds for our own spirit children. It is the plan that brings the highest joy, happiness, and satisfaction during the journey, as well as in the eternities.

Overview:

This lesson reviews

• The kingdoms of glory and the “testimony of Jesus”
• Perdition
• The telestial kingdom
• The terrestrial kingdom
• The celestial kingdom

Perhaps the most authoritative and insightful commentary we have on Section 76 is “The Vision,” the Prophet’s poetic version of this revelation. This rendering, published in Nauvoo in 1843, is the only poem extant that purports to have been written by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Here is the handout for this week’s lesson: D&C-Church History Lesson 20.

pax vobiscum