A previous post entitled Inspirational Poetry includes Joseph Smith’s poetic rendition of Doctrine and Covenants 76 or the three degrees of glory. Philo Dibble was present when “the vision” was given in an upper room of the John Johnson farm in Hiram, Ohio.

John_Johnson_home Concerning the vision of the three degrees of glory, Larry E. Dahl explained:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an optimistic view of the eternal rewards awaiting mankind in the hereafter. Members of the Church believe that there are “many mansions” (John 14:2) and that Christ’s Atonement and resurrection will save all mankind from death, and eventually will reclaim from hell all except the sons of perdition (D&C 76:43-44). The saved, however, are not placed into a monolithic state called heaven. In the resurrection of the body, they are assigned to different degrees of glory commensurate with the law they have obeyed. There are three kingdoms of glory: the celestial, the terrestrial, and the telestial.1.

These kingdoms were also referred to by the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. He said the glory of each kingdom differed “from one another as the sun, moon, and stars differ in brilliance.”2

Philo Dibble stated the following about Joseph Smith’s vision of the three degrees of glory:

Joseph would, at intervals, say: ‘What do I see?’ Then he would relate what he had seen or what he was looking at. Then Sidney replied, ‘I see the same.’ Presently Sidney would say, ‘What do I see?’ and would repeat what he had seen or was seeing, and Joseph would reply, ‘I see the same.’ This manner of conversation was repeated at short intervals to the end of the vision, and during the whole time not a word was spoken by any other 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.’3

On another occasion Mr. Dibble stated the following:

Philo and Hannah DibbleWhen Joseph was ready to go back to Hiram, I took him in my carriage. Soon afterwards I had occasion to visit Hiram again. On my way there I was persuaded to stop at the Hulet Settlement and attend a meeting. When I arrived at Father Johnson’s the next morning Joseph and Sidney had just finished washing up from being tarred and feathered the night before. Joseph said to Sidney: ‘We can now go on our mission to Jackson county’ (alluding to a commandment given them while they were translating but which they concluded not to attend to until they had finished that work). I felt to regret very much that I had not been with them the evening before but it was perhaps providential that I was not. On a subsequent visit to Hiram I arrived at Father Johnson’s just as Joseph and Sidney were coming out of the vision alluded to in the book of Doctrine and Covenants, in which mention is made of the three glories. Joseph wore black clothes but at this time seemed to be dressed in an element of glorious white, and his face shown as if it were transparent, but I did not see the same glory attending Sidney. Joseph appeared as strong as a lion but Sidney seemed as weak as water, and Joseph noticing his condition smiled and said: ‘Brother Sidney is not as used to it as I am.4

Philo Dibble also provided the following reminiscence and of the glory that rested upon Joseph Smith:

Mrs. Sarah N. Williams Reynolds of Salt Lake City, dictated the following highly important statement to the Compiler of this book: I was a close neighbor of Philo Dibble who visited me very often. He had been very familiar and intimately acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith, and took great delight in rehearsing his wealth of information concerning this acquaintance. Brother Dibble stated to me that the Prophet Joseph told him in connection with the others who were present in Father Johnson’s home at the time the Vision was given to the Prophet Joseph and Sidney Rigdon, that (the Prophet speaking): ‘My whole body was full of light and I could even see out at the ends of my fingers and toes.’5

Philo Dibble6, like Wilford Woodruff7 and Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner8, bore powerful testimony of the glory that accompanied their experience with Joseph Smith.

Sources:

  1. Dahl, Larry E. “Degrees of Glory”. 1992. Encyclopedia of Mormonism. 15 Aug 2009
  2. Ibid. 1 Cor. 15:40-41; cf. D&C 76:70-81, 96-98.
  3. Cook, Lyndon W. The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1985. 157-158.
  4. As quoted in Lundwall, N. B. The Vision: Or the Degrees of Glory. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1951. 11.
  5. Ibid.
  6. For additional information, see the Autobiography of Philo Dibble.
  7. Wilford Woodruff’s Testimony Video.
  8. Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner Testimony.

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