T H I S I S I M P O R T A N T !
A discourse on the Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost
Victor F. Flagg
In the doctrine and theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there are two foundational and overarching spiritual realities we recognize and seek to make operational in our life. These two realities are the Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost. In saying there are two, I am not intending to say there are ‘only’ two. There are other foundational and overarching realities of our religion that merit our prioritized recognition and attention. These include the sinless life and infinite Atonement of Jesus Christ, the First Vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the angelic heralding of the Book of Mormon, priesthood restoration , moral agency, (sometimes also referred to as free agency) and still others.
However, in order to face and successfully navigate the spiritually and morally dangerous times we are living in – the particular challenges of our era – I believe the two spiritual realities I have identified above need clarification. Thus, the focus of this essay is on the Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost. We will begin by referencing both from official church doctrine sources. Then I will attempt to expand our understanding by sharing some personal experience of these two realities as I have encountered them in my own life. I hope to show by this combined doctrinal and experiential approach not only how important this subject is but also that this is ‘a dimension of gospel truth that too few understand.’
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The Light of Christ…from the Church’s website:
“The Light of Christ is the divine energy, power, or influence that proceeds from God through Christ and gives life and light to all things. The Light of Christ influences people for good….One manifestation of the Light of Christ is what we call a conscience…This power is an influence for good in the lives of all people. In the scriptures, the Light of Christ is sometimes called the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, or the Light of Life…It is not a personage”.[1] (emphasis added)
The Holy Ghost…from the Church’s website:
“The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead. He is a personage of spirit, without a body of flesh and bones. He is often referred to as the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, or the Comforter. The Holy Ghost works in perfect unity with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, fulfilling several roles…He “witnesses of the Father and the Son” and reveals and teaches “the truth of all things.” We can receive a sure testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ only by the power of the Holy Ghost…He is the Comforter. Through His power, we are sanctified as we repent, receive the ordinances of baptism and confirmation, and remain true to our covenants.”[2](emphasis added)
In April 2018, Russell M. Nelson, at the very first General Conference he presided over as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gave a talk entitled Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives. In that message the word ‘revelation’ was mentioned sixteen times and eleven of those times referred to revelation for individuals for their own lives. His words include the following:
“If we will truly receive the Holy Ghost and learn to discern and understand His promptings, we will be guided in matters large and small…Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take…I urge you to stretch beyond your current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation…In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost…My beloved brothers and sisters, I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation…Choose to do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the Spirit more frequently and more clearly.”[3]
Surely this is one of the most emphatic and explicit teachings ever given by any Apostle in any General Conference of the Church, emphasizing the individual’s right and need for personal revelation. The sense of urgency and personal appeal by a Prophet of God is striking!
From time immemorial, it has always been the case that the Lord wants his children – individuals and families – to be empowered by their own vision and testimony of the Plan of Salvation. This only happens through personal revelation by receiving the spirit.
We read of this direction of God to his children to receive the spirit in the earliest times in human history. In the Book of Moses 5:8 and 8:24 the following is recorded :
And thus the Gospel began to be preached, from the beginning, being declared by holy angels sent forth from the presence of God, and by his own voice, and by the gift of the Holy Ghost…Believe and repent of your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, even as our fathers, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost, that ye may have all things made manifest; (emphasis added)
Another example from ancient times comes from the Old Testament.
A significant episode of sacred history occurred when the Prophet Moses had led the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt to their promised land. It came about that the Lord revealed himself in vision and prophecy to Moses and he was directed to share his vision with the people. We read in Numbers Chapter Eleven that the Lord spoke to Moses as follows:
“…gather unto me seventy men of the Elders of Israel…and bring them unto the tabernacle”[4]…and “the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease”
Then something remarkable happened that left a lesson for all time:
But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.
And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.
And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.
And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them! (emphasis added)
‘Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!’ Amen! This episode of sacred history, coupled with teachings from the earliest times along with President Nelson’s inaugural teaching to ‘do the spiritual work required’ to receive personal revelation emphasizes the Lord’s desire and expectation :
We, his children, each and all, are to receive the spirit.
Yet it remains to ask, do we sufficiently understand what it means to receive the spirit and to hear the voice of the spirit?
While neither I (nor anyone else) can claim to have a perfect knowledge of these fundamental spiritual realities, I can claim to have a store of relevant experience I deem beneficial to share. It is worth remembering that we are, all of us, yet children in our understanding of heavenly things. Sometimes we may need to unlearn some things, in order to advance our understanding, make a new beginning, and prepare to receive the fullness of learning the Lord desires to bless us with.
In the October 1985 General Conference in an address titled The Abundant Life, Elder James E. Faust quoted Elder Hugh B. Brown as follows:
“….“God desires that we learn and continue to learn, but this involves some unlearning.” [5] (emphasis added)
In the October 2025 General Conference, newly called Apostle Patrick Kearon indicated that some unlearning may even involve the basic principles of the Gospel. He wrote:
“Repentance opens the door to our new beginnings, fresh starts, and second chances. Our dear President Russell M. Nelson’s teachings have cleared up misconceptions about the divine gift of repentance, and I think we are finally beginning to grasp it.” (Emphasis added)
The perspective with which I approach this subject is one of recognizing that our Heavenly Father positively wants us, his children, as individuals, to grow our understanding of celestial principles. How to seek, recognize and receive personal inspiration and revelation from him[6]is a key area of this growth. We need to understand the guidance and guardrails the Lord has given for us to accomplish this. I hope that sharing some of my own experiences can help to facilitate this understanding.[7]
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During the many decades of my membership in the Church, I occasionally heard something that troubled me, though I did not fully understand it. I emphasize I did not hear this often but only rarely. Yet it drew my attention and left me feeling uncomfortable. I heard some people say: ‘Once you have the gift of the Holy Ghost, the ordinance, you don’t need the Light of Christ anymore.’ Despite my uncomfortable feelings upon hearing this, I went on with my life as a member of the Church, in effect you might say, putting this in my ‘X Files’ folder – to be resolved sometime in the future.
Carrying on with my life, I had a remarkable experience one evening at an event at Church. The event was over (I do not recall what it was about) and food had been enjoyed and I was in the kitchen helping with the dishes etc. For some minutes, for no reason other than the fact that the topic was of frequent interest to me, I had been reflecting silently on the subject of the Light of Christ, reflecting silently while in the kitchen and perhaps before. I finished in the kitchen, and my thoughts were circling around this subject of The Light of Christ when I stepped out of the kitchen into the cultural hall. As I did so, suddenly I was spoken to by the Holy Spirit. I knew instantly it was the Holy Ghost and I heard and felt the voice of the spirit speak directly to me. The voice of the spirit said to me: THIS IS IMPORTANT! There was no doubt at all I was being spoken to by the spirit, and this was direct revelation to me. I immediately understood that the spirit was referring to my focus on the subject of the Light of Christ and knowing my private thoughts at that instant, the spirit had spoken to me saying THIS IS IMPORTANT! That is all that was said and only once, but it was certain, leaving no doubt about the source.
You might have some empathy with me, as my follow-on thoughts were a bit like this: as if I were looking up to heaven and saying, ‘Ok, thank you Heavenly Father. Umm, I already knew that. Is there anything else?’ There was nothing more said…only ‘THIS IS IMPORTANT!’
Once again, I went on with my life, certain I had received a revelation from God but leaving me a little puzzled and asking: ‘How should I regard this and what should I do about it?’
Time went on and then sometime later I came across an address by Boyd K. Packer, the acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. His address was titled ‘The Light of Christ.’[8] The reader will appreciate that I was instantly interested and riveted by his address.
Quoting now from President Packer’s address:
“Most members of the Church have a basic understanding of the Holy Ghost. Most have experienced its promptings and understand why the Holy Ghost is called the Comforter…. But many do not know that there is another Spirit—“the light of Christ” (D&C 88:7)—another source of inspiration, which each of us possesses in common with all other members of the human family…
The Holy Ghost and the Light of Christ are different from each other. While they are sometimes described in the scriptures with the same words, they are two different and distinct entities. It is important for you to know about both of them.” (emphasis added)
Despite my own experiences and thoughts about the subject, (as outlined above) I still found it striking that President Packer had said that “many do not know that there is another Spirit—“the light of Christ—another source of inspiration”. It appears that President Packer was seeking to correct a mistaken ‘perspective’ that had ‘somehow’[9] grown up among ‘many’ members of the Church. Was he asking us to unlearn something so we would be more prepared to learn the fullness the Lord wanted to bless us with?
Continuing to quote from President Packer’s address:
Regardless of whether this inner light, this knowledge of right and wrong, is called the Light of Christ, moral sense, or conscience, it can direct us to moderate our actions—unless, that is, we subdue it or silence it… The Spirit of Christ can be likened unto a “guardian angel” for every person. (emphasis added)
It is noteworthy that he said ‘it (the light of Christ) can direct us to moderate our actions…” and act as a “guardian angel”. This ‘moderating’ influence is surely of crucial and urgent importance at the present time when so much civil discourse is anything but civil and is often full of animosity and even hatred. Surely, we need the moderating influence of the Light of Christ to guard the civility of our social discourse.[10]
Continuing again to quote from President Packer’s address:
The Spirit of Christ can enlighten the inventor, the scientist, the painter, the sculptor, the composer, the performer, the architect, the author to produce great, even inspired things for the blessing and good of all mankind. (emphasis added)
An example of how the Light of Christ can enlighten and inspire the composer, the performer for our blessing and good, surfaced in my own life this past Christmas. I had been engaged for some days with fervent prayers for divine help with a number of complex and stressful issues. On my YouTube feed for no reason I could see, a performance appeared by the 1970’s disco group Boney M, titled Mary’s Boy Child, a marvelous musical telling of the birth of Jesus Christ. I had the lyrics turned on and although I knew of this song casually from many past Christmases, on this occasion I was penetrated and spiritually electrified by this talented and inspired telling of the birth of our Savior. Along with the amazing singers led by Liz Mitchel, and the musicians, there were many children dressed in white and waving their arms depicting angels, and shepherds and Mary and Joseph. (Who cannot be deeply touched by the faces and antics of those children?!) The lyrics are truly inspiring – and I was deeply blessed and affected as the spirit of God (Light of Christ and Holy Ghost together) carried this superb rendition deep into my heart.[11] Truly this was a memorable personal experience for me as I experienced the tender loving reassurance of the Lord’s intimate awareness of me. I continue to view and listen to this inspired performance frequently for the spiritual renewal it provides.
Returning again to President Packer’s message:
“Every man, woman, and child of every nation, creed, or color—everyone, no matter where they live or what they believe or what they do—has within them the imperishable Light of Christ. In this respect, all men are created equally. The Light of Christ in everyone is a testimony that God is no respecter of persons (see D&C 1:35). He treats everyone equally in that endowment with the Light of Christ.” (emphasis added)
Echoing President Packer’s teaching of that equal endowment of the Light of Christ, a prompting or impression of the spirit recently came upon me. While I understood this prompting to be true and of God, I did not immediately understand why I was being given this impression. (yes, again!) The spirit impressed upon me several times over a few days the thought that ‘each person is significant in the eyes of God.’ Those were the words that came into my mind from the spirit. Once again, I was a bit puzzled. I already knew that and I was left pondering why the Lord was doubling down with me on something I very well knew. I now believe it was to prepare me to bear testimony of this sublime truth:
‘Each individual person IS significant in the eyes of God or to put it more directly, in the eyes of an embodied and infinitely perfected and exalted personage of light and glory, who presides over worlds and galaxies without number and possesses infinite knowledge and intimate awareness of each person, in the eyes of that personage of light and glory, in the eyes of God, each person IS significant.’
Elder Gérald Caussé Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaking in the April 2026 General Conference in an address titled Love all; Love Each gave emphasis to this marvelous reality in these words:
“This is the miracle of God’s relationship with us: The universe is vast beyond comprehension, yet every soul carries infinite worth in the eyes of our Creator. Though we may seem small in a physical sense, each of us is personally known, remembered, and loved by our Eternal Father and by His Son, Jesus Christ…the God who governs galaxies also guides our personal lives. “God is in the details!”… He knows and loves each and all of mankind! I bear witness of this truth: God and His Son, Jesus Christ, love all—and They love each… Through my service, both in and out of the Church, I have learned that even those people who at first seemed insignificant have become some of the most remarkable and uplifting individuals I know. There is wonderful depth—so much to love—in every soul.” (Emphasis added)
Think about that. There are no insignificant people[12] and there never can be. Each person is a child of God, who ‘carries infinite worth‘ and is endowed with the Light of Christ and the potential for righteous action and infinite advancement. A stunning and marvelous reality![13]
Thus, while it can be said there is an important institutional hierarchy pertaining to scope of responsibility that we covenant to sustain, we have no reason to assume there is a hierarchy of significance of people or groups of people in the eyes of God…for God is no respecter of persons[14]. Here it is important to recall the words of Apostle Paul in Acts 17:24-26 that:
“God…hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.”
It is ‘one blood’, even the blood of Jesus Christ that redeems all men and women from death and provides opportunity based on faith and repentance for all and each to progress to a degree of eternal joy and glory, even eternal life.
In an address titled Because of Jesus Christ in the April 2026 general conference, Elder Dale G. Renlund affirmed this supernal reality:
“All mankind may be saved” because of Him and His atoning sacrifice. All means everyone. If everyone, then anyone. If anyone, then even one. And if even one, then even you….Jesus Christ understands our challenges, having taken on not only our sins but also our griefs, sicknesses, and frailties. Because He endured and completed the infinite atoning sacrifice, He empathizes perfectly with us….He, and only He, can consider every factor that shapes who we are: our genetics, intellectual abilities, traditions, experiences, mental and emotional conditions, and every other circumstance that affects who we are. He, and only He, will eventually judge us “according to [our] works, according to the desire of [our] hearts.” (emphasis added)
For further emphasis and clarity, the Church website instructs us:
“The Church proclaims that redemption through Jesus Christ is available to the entire human family on the conditions God has prescribed. It affirms that God is “no respecter of persons” and emphatically declares that anyone who is righteous—regardless of race—is favored of Him.”[15]
If we have ever entertained notions of individual or group superiority, these teachings remind us that we may need to unlearn something in preparation to learn and receive the fullness the Lord is offering us?[16]
Let us consider one other unlearning we may need to experience in order to receive the ‘fullness’ the Lord intends for us. Once again quoting from President Packer:
When “the shadow of apostasy settled over the earth. The line of priesthood authority was broken. But mankind was not left in total darkness or completely without revelation or inspiration. The idea that with the Crucifixion of Christ the heavens were closed and that they opened in the First Vision is not true. The Light of Christ would be everywhere present to attend the children of God; the Holy Ghost would visit seeking souls. The prayers of the righteous would not go unanswered. (emphasis added)
Is it possible some of us have mistaken the teaching of the great apostasy to be more restrictive on our non-member neighbors, friends, family members than was intended? Is it possible that we have underestimated the need to revisit and relearn the universal and equal endowment of the Light of Christ? This is something to think about. Thinking is not only permitted in the plan of salvation…it is positively encouraged![17]
Quoting again from President Packer:
“The Spirit of Christ is always there. It never leaves. It cannot leave.”
This is a crucial teaching! If the Light of Christ ‘is always there…never leaves…cannot leave’, this strongly supports the broad policy-doctrine-inclusive missionary mandate of the Lord’s Church. As written in the Articles of Faith, “We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.”[18](emphasis added)
Continuing with President Packer’s address:
“…Once a person has received that gift of the Holy Ghost and can cultivate it together with the Light of Christ, which they already have, then the fulness of the gospel is open to their understanding. The Holy Ghost can even work through the Light of Christ.” (emphasis added)
Given President Packer’s teaching, may it not then be concluded that if we do not learn to ‘cultivate‘ the Holy Ghost and the Light of Christ together (which light all people have access to), we do not have access to ‘the fullness of the Gospel?’[19] Surely this is an error we would want to avoid. The ‘fullness of the Gospel’ is the righteous direction[20] we want to face and focus on in order to approach and build a Zion-like society. This is a society that positively values the dignity and rights of each righteously striving individual person. No matter where a person stands on or in the scale of that striving, if they are facing and striving in the right direction, they have ‘dignity and rights’ in the Lord’s eyes and claim on His mercy.[21] These rights are given of God for the benefit of all his children. They arise from the God ordained gift of freedom, including religious freedom.
Again, from President Packer:
“…why should we marvel at the promise that the Light of Christ is in all of us and that the Holy Ghost can visit any of us? It should not be difficult, therefore, to understand how revelation from God to His children on earth can come to all mankind through both the Spirit of Christ and the Holy Ghost.” (emphasis added)
The importance of this ‘understanding’ – that the Light of Christ can give revelation from God to…‘all’ mankind – is underscored by the increasing secularization that is imposed in the institutions of our society. Secularism is defined as “…the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion”[22]and “indifference to or rejection or exclusion of religion and religious considerations.”[23] Denying the spiritual foundations of society leaves us vulnerable to the perilous geo-political and techno-social circumstances of the end-times, circumstances that often war against faith and freedom.[24] A belief in the availability of a degree of divine inspiration to each individual and the practice to obtain such, is the ultimate safeguard against authoritarianism and tyranny. This is pre-eminently the role and the domain of the Light of Christ.
“The pulse of the human heart beats to the drum of freedom.“”[25]
It is precisely because of the innate reason, conscience and judgment that God has placed within each individual person that we are able to ‘search diligently in the light of Christ’[26] and avoid being pawns of mass propaganda. As we combine our inborn and innate intelligence with a humble and sincere heart, exercise faith and cherish freedom, a prosperous and secure society can arise and be maintained. Yet this is not guaranteed. It needs safeguarding and constant nourishment by a wide array of alert and thinking people.[27]
However discomforting it may be, there can come a time when it is necessary to understand that circumstances can devolve to the point that biased media and government entities may not be reliable sources for accurate reporting on threats to our freedom. Instead, they may become purveyors of artificially constructed appearances whose veiled purpose is to subvert freedom and advance authoritarianism. This subversion, whether intentional or not, aims to persuade us to think the danger is minimal and we are better off than we really are.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf has taught us about the danger of succumbing to artificial appearances in his general conference address titled On Being Genuine:
“The Savior was understanding and compassionate with sinners whose hearts were humble and sincere. But He rose up in righteous anger against hypocrites like the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees—those who tried to appear righteous in order to win the praise, influence, and wealth of the world, all the while oppressing the people they should have been blessing. The Savior compared them to “whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness”…Why do we sometimes try to appear active, prosperous, and dedicated outwardly when on the inside—as the Revelator said of the Ephesians—we have “left [our] first love”?…Such artificial discipleship not only keeps us from seeing ourselves as who we really are, but it also prevents us from truly changing through the miracle of the Savior’s Atonement.” [28] (emphasis added)
This danger of leaving our first love in favor of material appearances and godless explanations, was recognized by the Nobel prize winning Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn who warned us in 1983:
“More than half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened. Since then I have spent well-nigh fifty years working on the history of our Revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous Revolution that swallowed up some sixty million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.” [29]
Today, once again, efforts are being made to persuade us to place our trust in materialistic solutions in preference to our real need which is to return to God. These threatening circumstances do not arise overnight or without warning. But they can arise ‘in the space of not many years.’[30] The danger consists in the gradual promotion and acceptance of artificial appearances that persuade us to rely exclusively on material considerations. These ‘material considerations’ may be described as ‘secularism’ in modern language. In the scriptures they are described as ‘the arm of flesh.’[31]
Elder Christoffersen spoke of this danger in his October 2020 General Conference address:
“Trusting in the arm of flesh is to ignore the divine Author of human rights and human dignity and to give highest priority to riches, power, and the praise of the world (while often mocking and persecuting those who follow a different standard)…. I think we would all agree that those who profess no religious belief can be, and often are, good, moral people. We would not agree, however, that this happens without divine influence. I am referring to the Light of Christ. The Savior declared, “I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” Whether aware of it or not, every man, woman, and child of every belief, place, and time is imbued with the Light of Christ and therefore possesses the sense of right and wrong we often call conscience. Nevertheless, when secularization separates personal and civic virtue from a sense of accountability to God, it cuts the plant from its roots.[32] (emphasis added)
This secularized influence, magnified by advancing technology, is in direct opposition[33] to the vigorous discernment of reality that is grounded in and originates from the Light of Christ residing within each person. In our day, people of great renown[34] motivated by corrupt desires seek ‘power and gain’[35]to acquire vast wealth and corporate power. This power is often used to promote trust in state or corporate sponsored influence oriented towards materialistic explanations and solutions. Again, this is in direct opposition to the claims our Father in Heaven has over us through the inspired promptings of the innate Light of Christ and the revelations of God through the Holy Ghost. How far we allow this combination of state and corporate deterioration to progress is a serious question every conscience guided person should consider. We have been warned.[36]
The Book of Mormon teaches the same transcendent principle of the Light of Christ in connection with the freedom God has ordained for his children, including the human rights and dignity, that receives so much political attention. In Alma 61 verse 15 we read these striking words: the Spirit of God…is also the spirit of freedom… Yes…The Spirit of God IS…the spirit of freedom. This verse does not talk about the Holy Ghost. It is talking about the Light of Christ, another name for the spirit of God, which each person has access to.
It is important to understand that freedom is not a cultural matter with optional choices and obscure implications. It is not trivial. It is not merely political theatre, superficial lip service, social club networking or fanatical chest pounding. It is not a historical artifact. Freedom, including its offspring of religious freedom, is a heaven ordained reality inseparable from the spirit of God. The consequences of failing to grasp this truth are far-reaching. Left uncorrected over time, this failure is a civilization ending error. The need to recognize and access the Light of Christ-Spirit of God-Spirit of Freedom, which all people have access to, has never been greater.
The challenge in a free and democratic society is to keep freedom and truth in balance. President Dallin H. Oaks has acknowledged this challenge in the following words:
“ Each of us can strive to follow our Savior in His teachings about how to relate to one another. This does not mean surrendering our values. The covenants we have made inevitably position us as devoted participants in the eternal contest between truth and error. We balance our various responsibilities. This balancing is not easy. When we seek to keep all the commandments in our personal lives, we are sometimes accused of having no love for those who don’t. When we show personal love and support loving causes, we are sometimes misunderstood as implying support for results that contradict our other religious duties. But as followers of Christ, we should seek to live peaceably and lovingly with other children of God who do not share our values and do not have the covenant obligations we have assumed. In a democratic government we should seek fairness for all.”[37] (emphasis added)
To be successful in this ‘balancing’ act of seeking ‘fairness for all’, we surely need to cultivate the Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost together. People with feelings for ‘rights and dignity’ can be found all over the political map. However, feelings alone, without insight and understanding about the spiritual roots of society, can be manipulated and history shows they will be.[38] Understanding and clear thinking is needed. Only by cultivating the supernal realities of the Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost together, can understanding flourish. Only then can enlightened citizens discern and resist the false but sophisticated arguments that are marshaled to undermine our freedom.
In recent history and current geo-political discourse false and dangerous ideas are rising again and seek to capture the uninspired imagination of masses of people.[39] It is important to recognize that threats against human freedom can originate from either side of the so-called political spectrum.[40] Ideas presented to us for acceptance, some even in the name of Christianity, need to be seen for what they are – an effort to undermine human rights and dignity and subvert our free and democratic society.
For example, the false idea that women, who comprise one half of human society, should give up or be denied the right to vote in a so-called Christian Nation. If such were to be the case, it is not but if it were, and we apply the concept to the larger context of sacred history, which woman should top the list to be denied the right to vote? How about our glorious mother Eve who stood by and provided wise counsel to Father Adam and endured almost unimaginable disappointment and grief with her offspring committing the first murder and forsaking the faith. Yet she endured to fulfill, with stunning grandeur, her foreordained role as the mother of the human family…the mother of billions of Heavenly Fathers children. Should she be denied the right to vote? Or how about Sarah the wife of Abraham and mother of Israel who held the mission to Egypt in her hand, a mission which shook the ancient world? Should Sarah be denied the right to vote? [41] What of those remarkable women who played such a critical role in the rise and the mission of one the greatest of God’s Prophets, even Moses? What of Jochabed and Zipporah, both mothers, who played a critical lifesaving role in the birth of Israel, should they be denied the right to vote?[42] What of that most marvelous of all the daughters of God, even Mary, the very mother of the Son of God? Should we deny her the right to vote? She who was there before there were any Apostles and who met the messenger of God with the stunning words, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy word.”? She who held the future of the cosmos nestled in her arms and suckling at her breast, she who was there at the beginning and there at the end when the blood was dripping down from the cross? Shall we deny her the right to vote?
Men have filled the world with blood for thousands of years and denying the right to vote to women – whose religious and/or spiritual impulses are equal to and often superior to those of men – will insure another thousand years of blood. The courage and inspiration to resist such dangerous distortions are found in a correct understanding of the principles of revealed religion, chief among which are the Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost.[43]
To draw this discourse to a close, a final quote from President Packer’s important address, The Light of Christ:
“If we understand the reality of the Light of Christ in everyone we see and in every meeting we attend and within ourselves, and understand the great challenge that we have—the surroundings in which we live, the danger which sometimes besets us—we will have courage and inspiration beyond that which we have known heretofore. And it must be so! And it will be so! All of this is a dimension of gospel truth that too few understand.” (emphasis added)
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[1] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/light-of-christ?lang=eng
[2] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/holy-ghost?lang=eng
[3] See the April 2018 General Conference address titled Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives
[4] “The center place of Israel’s worship activities during the wanderings and until the building of the temple in Solomon’s day. The tabernacle was in fact a portable temple.” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bd/tabernacle?lang=eng
[5] LDS Historian of Religion Ben Spackman has written an article titled How to Build Resilient Faith: An Almost Ensign Article in which he cites the words quoted above of Hugh B. Brown and adds many insightful comments and citations of General Authorities on this subject of unlearning as a part of Gospel learning. He writes: “With the dangers of shallow study come the dangers of shallow certainty.” The reader is encouraged to review the entire article. Search the title in google or visit Ben Spackman’s website.
[6] Elder Richard Scott used both terms (inspiration and revelation) in his April 2012 General Conference address titled How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for Your Personal Life. He said: “The Holy Ghost communicates important information that we need to guide us in our mortal journey. When it is crisp and clear and essential, it warrants the title of revelation. When it is a series of promptings we often have to guide us step by step to a worthy objective, for the purpose of this message, it is inspiration.” (The reader is encouraged to review the entire address)
[7] Elder Richard G. Scott also taught us “When answers to urgent prayer don’t seem to come, it can be that we don’t understand some truths about prayer or because we don’t recognize answers when they come.” See his June 2014 General Conference address titled Agency and Answers: Recognizing Revelation (emphasis added)
[8] The Light of Christ By President Boyd K. Packer Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
From an address given on June 22, 2004, at a seminar for new mission presidents, Missionary Training Center, Provo, Utah. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2005/04/the-light-of-christ?lang=eng
[9] We might ask, if this mistaken perspective was possibly the result of a misguided sense of superiority. President Gordon B. Hinckley has said: “We certainly do not need to be boastful about [our religion] or to be arrogant in any way. Such becomes a negation of the Spirit of the Christ whom we ought to try to emulate….this does not put us in a position of superiority.” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-gordon-b-hinckley/chapter-20-fellowship-with-those-who-are-not-of-our-faith?lang=eng
[10] Dallen H. Oaks, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his April 2026 general conference address titled Alive in Christ has acknowledged the challenges the current environment presents in these words: “Many current writers characterize the time in which we live as toxic, a time of contempt or hostility toward adversaries. This hostility affects many different relationships in society, involving many whose Christian beliefs should orient them otherwise. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, taught us how to relate to one another. The great commandments in the law, He taught, were to love—God and neighbor….I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you”…What a revolutionary teaching for personal relationships! Love even your enemies!…even extends to any who actively oppose one another. Today we might say that we are commanded to love our adversaries.”
[11] The rendition I speak of can be found by searching youtube with the words Boney M Mary’s Boy Child (special edition) Subtitles. I urge everyone to make good use of technology and find and thrill to this amazing performance…’until the sun falls from the sky!’
[12] My own belief is that Satan wants people to act and speak in malicious ways that make other people feel of less or of no significance…and why? He wants this because he knows if a person can be made to feel of less or no significance it is easier to persuade them to commit sin. After all, if a person feels of little or no significance, they may feel and think, ‘Why not commit sin? Who cares?’ The person thinks and feels: If I am of little or no significance, no one really cares. Social upmanship, the making of people to feel of less or of no significance is not pleasing to God. It is the devil’s brew, and we drink it at our peril. Jacob 2:13-16 instructs us explicitly : “…ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they. And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? Behold, I say unto you, Nay. But he condemneth you, and if ye persist in these things his judgments must speedily come unto you. O that he would show you that he can pierce you, and with one glance of his eye he can smite you to the dust. O that he would rid you from this iniquity and abomination. And, O that ye would listen unto the word of his commands, and let not this pride of your hearts destroy your souls!” (emphasis added)
[13] In the Book of Moses chapter 7:29-31 we learn of the prophet Enoch who beheld God weeping over lost souls. We learn not only how perfectly God loves us but something of the extent of the glory of that God: “And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity? And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations; and thy curtains are stretched out still; and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and also thou art just; thou art merciful and kind forever; And thou hast taken Zion to thine own bosom, from all thy creations, from all eternity to all eternity; and naught but peace, justice, and truth is the habitation of thy throne; and mercy shall go before thy face and have no end; how is it thou canst weep?”
We also learn in Moses Chapter 1:27-29 of the infinite awareness that God possess and at times bestows on his foreordained servants: “And it came to pass, as the voice was still speaking, Moses cast his eyes and beheld the earth, yea, even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God. And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore. And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were inhabitants on the face thereof.”
[14] Acts 10:34-35
[15] See the Church’s Topical Essays on Race and the Priesthood at: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/race-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng
[16] If there was a hierarchy of significance – I am not saying there is but if there was – my bets would be as follows: First would be the little children, then their mothers, then the primary teachers, then perhaps the missionaries and then the rest of us, with yours truly being down at level sixty or more.
[17] In Doctrine and Covenants section 9 verse 8, is recorded the Lord’s instructions to all members of the Church regarding any issues or questions they may have: “you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.”
[18] Articles of Faith # 3, – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/article/articles-of-faith
[19] I have bolded the words ‘cultivate’, ‘together’, ‘all’ and ‘fullness’ in this sentence deliberately as doing so seems to make a crucial point. That point is that the word ‘cultivate’ is an etymological twin for the word ‘culture’. They are termed ‘doublets’, i.e. they share the same root traced directly to the Latin verb colere. This implicitly suggests (requires?) that members of a Zion society, ‘all‘ knowingly share the same ‘culture’, a culture of deliberately and consciously striving to ‘cultivate‘ the two spiritual realities (Light of Christ and Holy Ghost) together in order to make their fullness manifest to the benefit of each and all. I believe this is what President Packer is aiming at with his teaching.
[20] Legendary scholar Hugh Nibley put it this way: “Who is righteous? Anyone who is repenting. No matter how bad he has been, if he is repenting he is a righteous man. There is hope for him. And no matter how good he has been all his life, if he is not repenting, he is a wicked man. The difference is which way you are facing. The man on the top of the stairs facing down is much worse off than the man on the bottom step who is facing up. The direction we are facing, that is repentance; and that is what determines whether we are good or bad.” From Approaching Zion, by Hugh Nibley, p. 301-302
[21] In the April 2026 General Conference Elder Matthew S. Holland Of the Seventy gave an address titled Forsake Not Your Own Mercy, in which he counseled: “You have immediate access to divine help and healing despite your human flaws. This awe-inspiring mercy comes in and through Jesus Christ. Because He knows and loves you perfectly, He offers it to you as your “own,” meaning it is perfectly suited to you, designed to relieve your individual agonies and heal your particular pains. So, for heaven’s sake and yours, do not turn your back on that. Accept it.”
[22] Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia Secularism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularism
[23] Mirian-Webster Dictionary – secularism noun https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/secularism
[24] Elder Ulisses Soares Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the April 2026 General Conference taught us: “My beloved brothers and sisters, true wisdom in our technological day is found in using modern tools with spiritual discernment—through the Holy Ghost—without allowing them to replace the rightful voice of the True Vine. Only our Redeemer can truly redeem us.” (emphasis added)
[25] See The Seventh Seal by Victor Flagg, page 266
[26] The Prophet Mormon gave us this perennial counsel “Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.” (Moroni 7:19) The reader is encouraged to review the entire chapter.
[27] People of each of the Abrahamic religions as well as those not yet exercising what may be formally termed as a religious faith can find agreement on the existence of an inner light guiding moral choices. Dwight Eisenhour famously said: “…our form of government has no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith, and I don’t care what it is.” https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/eisenhowers/quotes
[28] The reader is encouraged to review President Uchtdorf’s April 2015 general conference address. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2015/04/on-being-genuine?lang=eng
[29] Solzhenitsyn issued this warning when receiving the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2024/08/men-forgotten-god-alexander-solzhenitsyn.html
[30] Elder David A. Bednar has testified: “Ancient voices from the dust plead with us today to learn this everlasting lesson: prosperity, possessions, and ease constitute a potent mixture that can lead even the righteous to drink the spiritual poison of pride. Allowing pride to enter into our hearts can cause us to mock that which is sacred; disbelieve in the spirit of prophecy and revelation;…” see his address titled In the Space of Not Many Years in the October 2024 General Conference.
[31] Doctrine and Covenants 1:19, 2 Nephi 4:34. See also https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/tg/trust-not-in-the-arm-of-flesh?lang=eng
[32] Sustainable Societies October 2020 General Conference – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/10/22christofferson?lang=eng
[33] See Jesus Christ—the True Vine an address By Elder Ulisses Soares Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the April 2026 General Conference in which he taught us: “…there are, in the world, other vines that present themselves as legitimate, even appearing to represent the loving voice and word of the Savior, the True Vine, and His gospel, while subtly and deviously leading minds and hearts elsewhere. We live in a world filled with many voices—voices that relentlessly seek our attention and offer persuasive messages and invitations. Some speak with eloquence and influence and are well intentioned in their desire to promote goodness. Others are attractive in appearance but lack substance. Still others are misleading and may even appear to be connected to Christ and His gospel. Over time, many of these voices grow into tangled vines, rooted in popular philosophies and spread through various forms of media. They promise security, happiness, or authenticity, yet they cannot satisfy the soul. Often, they quietly introduce doubt and division—first in the mind and then in the heart—leading to spiritual loss and sorrow….My beloved brothers and sisters, true wisdom in our technological day is found in using modern tools with spiritual discernment—through the Holy Ghost—without allowing them to replace the rightful voice of the True Vine.” (emphasis added) https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2026/04/210soares?lang=eng
[34] We recall in the book of Moses chapter 8 verses 20 and 21 the conditions the Prophet Noah faced in his century long preaching to try and save people from the judgments soon to come upon them: “And it came to pass that Noah called upon the children of men that they should repent; but they hearkened not unto his words; And also, after that they had heard him, they came up before him, saying: Behold, we are the sons of God; have we not taken unto ourselves the daughters of men? And are we not eating and drinking, and marrying and giving in marriage? And our wives bear unto us children, and the same are mighty men, which are like unto men of old, men of great renown. And they hearkened not unto the words of Noah.”
[35] See Ether 8:23, Helaman 2:5
[36] The ancient Prophet Ether speaking of our day warned us: “Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be. Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up.” (Ether 8:23-24) The Book of Mormon warns repeatedly of ‘secret combinations’ of wicked people seeking ‘power and gain’ who will be present in our day. See Helaman 2:4-8, Ether 11:15, Alma 37:30, Ether 8:16, 23-24
[37] From an address in the April 2026 general conference, titled Alive in Christ by President Dallin H. Oaks,
[38] The Nazi regime is a prime example of manipulation of almost an entire population through misguided feelings. How people define ‘all’ is the make or break deal. For the Nazis, all meant all Aryan people. For followers of Jesus Christ, ‘all’ means ‘ALL’ or all the children of God. Brave souls such as Helmut Hubener and Sophie Scholle showed that even against such terrifying odds, even young men and women, motivated and guided by the Light of Christ-Spirit of God-Spirit of Freedom can and will resist authoritarian slavery. For their stunning bravery in resisting the Nazi horror, these two no doubt are redeemed of God.
[39] It is sobering to reflect on the finding of the 9/11 Commission report that the failure of the American administration to recognize and forestall the attack was primarily a failure of imagination not of intelligence. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/26202043) The intelligence (facts about people seeking flight training in strange circumstances for instance) existed in several places but the ‘imagination’ to conceive of the same people flying planes into the Twin Towers, that imagination was lacking. Are we today failing to ‘imagine’ the threats to our freedom, threats that seem almost in-built to our present societal culture? Are we blindly flying into a catastrophe by failing to understand (imagine) the spiritual soil freedom grows from? Are we so busy ‘getting’ the material goods and outcomes a free society offers us that we ‘forget’ or willfully ignore the wise counsel of Proverbs 4 verse 7 which counsels “…with all thy getting, get understanding.’?
[40] I encourage the reader to do your own research and exercise your own conscience guided judgement. It is important to understand that all nuclear armed super power nations, and a variety of middle powers (some nuclear armed, some not), ALL are possessed of different degrees of susceptibility and motivation to subvert individual freedom. Fascism, Socialism, Nazism, communism, theocratism etc., all exist in different degrees and guises. This is a reality regardless of any surface appearances to the contrary. There are many online resources that confirm this. Do your own research!
[41] Facsimile # 2 in the Book of Abraham, records Abraham memorializing his wife Sarah’s pivotal role in the mission to Egypt that shook the ancient world. It is remarkable to me that despite half a century in the Church, I have seen no scholar or authority drawing attention to the obvious representation of Sarah in facsimile # 2. It is necessary to turn the facsimile upside down to plainly see the representation of Sarah, but it is unmistakably there. We can learn much from her posture, the direction of her gaze, what is between her eyes and her hand and what she is holding in her hand. I urge all the women of the Church to become aware of this episode of sacred history!
[42] Who cannot be moved by the heart stretching account of Jochebed, the mother of Moses who hid her infant son from Pharoah’s executioners for three months and then with startling faith had her precious infant placed in a basket in the river and sent her sister Miriam to watch and the faith of both to secure Jochebed’s place as ‘nurse’ to the infant taken and raised as her own son by Pharoah’s daughter, the princess. (see Exodus 2:2-10). Then also the amazing account of Zipporah, a daughter of Jethro Priest of Midian, (not of Israel), Zipporah wife of Moses, then an exile from Egypt, living in Midian directly called by God to liberate enslaved Israel from Egypt. God told Moses to say to Pharoah “ Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: And I say unto thee, Let my son go…” (Exodus 4:22) and on the way to fulfill his historic mission, the Lord sought to kill Moses….and why…? Exodus 4:24-26 informs us: “And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.” Scholars and religionists may debate what was going on in this family foreordained to change world history. Evidently, despite God’s explicit direction to Moses to tell the world power leader (Pharoah) “Israel is my son, even my first born” despite that explicit instruction, Moses had ‘neglected’ to perform the Abrahamic-Israel rite of circumcision to his own first born and God sought to ‘kill’ Moses due to this egregious failure. Whatever analysis is applied to this striking circumstance, it is evident that it was the intervention of Zipporah, that saved Moses from a terrible fate and insured the mission to liberate Israel would proceed according to the will of God.
It is not possible to overlook or over estimate the epoch-making historic impact of these women on world history.
[43] It takes a lifetime of discipleship to grow our understanding of these two supernal spiritual realities. Much of the focus of this essay has been on the Light of Christ while still emphasizing the need to learn to have both realities operating together in concert. In the April 2026 general conference President Christoffersen gave an address titled The Character of Christ in which he taught us the following about the Holy Ghost: “For most of us, our mighty change of heart occurs incrementally over time…it requires faith in Christ, repentance, a baptismal covenant of obedience, and the grace of Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost…it requires a consistent and sustained effort on our part, but remember, it is not simply a matter of our striving. The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that we, each of us, can call on the grace of Jesus Christ to help us…He promises us the companionship of the Holy Ghost, the messenger of His grace.”