Doctrine & Covenants 76; the Vision of the Degrees of Glory

Compiled by Dennis B. Horne

Elder Harold B. Lee told a close friend (who decades later told me) that, “Twenty years ago, the most electrifying and most interesting man in the Quorum of the Twelve was Melvin J. Ballard. People used to travel miles just to go and hear him at a stake conference. People just flocked to hear him. Hardly anyone knows who he is now.” Elder Lee told the Ballard family that of all the men he knew, he most wanted to be like Elder Melvin J. Ballard.

Elder Melvin J. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve (Pres. M. Russell Ballard’s grandfather):

Excerpts from his famous address, “The Three Degrees of Glory”:

The greatest revelation the Lord, Jesus Christ, has ever given to man, so far as a record is made, was given to the Prophet Joseph Smith on the 16th of April, 1832, known as the 76th section of the book of Doctrine & Covenants, commonly called for years and still known as “The Vision.” This to my mind is the climax of all wonderful revelations that have come from the Lord from the days of Father Adam until the present moment. . . .

Your minds and hearts are set upon knowing what you must do to obtain the greatest thing the Lord has offered. I want to talk about that more than anything else because I do not discover many of you who would be satisfied with second-hand things, and you are not contented or happy by having second best or third best. So we will begin by reading a description of the terms and conditions that we must comply with to obtain the celestial glory. I think it will be worth every sacrifice required and a hundred times more if need be. Personally, I would give it to attain that which God has offered to men and women who enter into the celestial glory.

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Dennis B. Horne grew up in south Davis County and he served in the Independence Missouri mission. He attended BYU and Weber State Universities, earning a degree in Communications. After working in television broadcasting for a number of years he became a technical writer for the LDS Church Material Management Department. He became an independent researcher/author because of his love of church history and doctrine. This pursuit led him to write a biography of Elder Bruce R. McConkie, an edited publication of the diaries of Abraham H. Cannon, and biographies of President Lorenzo Snow and Orson F. Whitney. He also wrote about callings to serve in the church, the doctrine of giving healing blessings, and a compilation of the teachings of prophets and apostles about how to determine doctrinal authority. He has twice presented at the BYU Church History Symposium. His articles occasionally appear at Truth Will Prevail, Interpreter, and FAIR.