Question about the First Vision

[SoyLeche]

Aqualung asked me a question on MSN, and I'm not too satisfied with the answers I gave - so I pose it to you:

In D&C 84:22 it says that nobody who doesn't hold the priesthood can see the face of god and live, yet Joseph Smith, in the sacred grove, saw the face of God and his son and lived

Here are verses 21 and 22:

21 And without the ordinances thereof, and the aauthority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is bnot manifest unto men in the flesh;

22 For without this no aman can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.

The only answers I can come up with were:

1. An exception due to the fact that the Priesthood not being on the Earth a the time

2. I'm not entirely sure what the antecedent of the "this" in verse 22 is. Is it the priesthood or the "power of godliness" - and if it is the latter, how is that different from the priesthood, and what is it exactly?

I await your assistance.

[editorial] It's really a shame that I have to ask Aqua's questions for her. Still can't figure out what she did [/editorial]

 

[PHOTOTAKER]

i thank will help you with you answer jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

 

[jonny]

I wonder whether this verse is talking about seeing the face of the Father in this life or the face of the Father in the next life. The priesthood authority is tied very closely with Celestial Glory. No one will enter the Celestial Kingdom without the priesthood and I believe that it is the combination of us being perfected through Christ and holding the prieshood authority (which is the authority to act in God's name) that we are able to become like God.

If we read the preceeding verses, it indicates that the prieshood holds the "key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest."

Does that make sense at all or am I streching too far for an answer? I'm just thinking that saying that "without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live" is a long way of saying that without the priesthood you can't be exalted in the Celestial Kingdom.

 

[PHOTOTAKER]

What about trasfigureation? how dose this play in seeing God?

 

[SoyLeche]

What about trasfigureation? how dose this play in seeing God?

I know that it's necessary. That's what I'm wondering. Does "Power of Godliness" = Transfiguration? For some reason that doesn't seem to work, especially in the context of the chapter.