Try to name all of the changes that the atom bomb and technology brought to our world in the middle of the last century. It certainly changed warfare; even populations far from any battle could be held hostage to utter annihilation. It changed politics and diplomacy; nuclear capable countries became overnight superpowers. It changed science; nothing since Newton’s laws of gravity or Copernicus’ heliocentrism has so profoundly effected our views of the universe. In reality, it’s hard to find some aspect of our lives that hasn’t changed in one way or another, due to the advent of the atomic age.
In fact, as unlikely as it may seem to the average Latter-day Saint, the atom bomb even changed our view of the scriptures and prophecy. Today’s Mormons, and Christians in general, have a radically different view of scriptural prophecy than their ancestors, thanks largely to the advent of the atomic age.
Historically, from the days of the primitive church up until the restoration, prophesied destructions of the last days such as those uttered by Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, the Apostle John in his Revelation and even the Savior himself were viewed as the acts of an all-powerful God. The pronounced tumult and cataclysm in the heavens and on the earth, predicted to occur prior to the Savior’s second coming, were seen by Christians as the forces of nature responding to the commands of their creator.
The founder of this dispensation, Joseph Smith, also foresaw the calamities of the last days as a series of natural disasters. So, that’s how Mormons saw things up until the middle of the 20th century.
All that changed the day the first A-bomb was detonated in July 1945. "A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent," recalled J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the A-bomb, who witnessed the first explosion in the New Mexico desert. The awe-inspiring power of that blast reminded Oppenheimer of a line from the Hindu sacred book, the Bhagavad-Gita: "I am become death: the destroyer of worlds."
Oppenheimer wasn’t the only one to see mankind in a new, world-destroying light. From that point on, Christians began to see the atom bomb as the embodiment of God’s prophesied wrath. From Herbert W. Armstrong’s "World Tomorrow" radio ministry of the 1950s to Hal Lindsay’s book and movie, The Late, Great Planet Earth in the late 1960s, Christian ministers began to interpret the fantastic imagery seen in prophecy as immensely powerful super-weapons, nuclear weapons being the cornerstone of their exegesis — Armageddon.
It’s easy to see why. The bomb’s mushroom cloud looked like the pillars of "fire and smoke" envisioned in prophecy, its shockwave became the "blast from heaven," the soot and ash from its fallout darkened the sky, as in prophecy, and the long, deafening roar and rumble it produced became the "sound of many waters." Given its remarkable similarity to biblical "fire and brimstone," and the effects of nuclear radiation exposure from fallout to the "sores, boils, blains, blights and murrains" of prophetic scripture, the A-bomb was seen as the tailor-made fulfillment of prophecy.
What’s more, the 20th century brought with it the development of extremely sophisticated equipment that completely replaced the crude weapons of yesteryear. Thanks to the development of airplanes, missiles and rockets, modern warfare expanded into an entirely new realm: the skies above us. This advanced technology brought us aircraft that "roar upon the tops of the mountains," tanks and attack helicopters with a "sting like scorpions tails," and a multitude of other high-tech weapons such as missiles and lasers whose effects seem similar to the extravagant imagery of prophecy.
Then, the space age took man and his technologically advanced weapons into the very heavens themselves. Once the sole venue of God’s prophesied vengeance, the heavens were now mankind’s domain as well. Man could now wield god-like power both on earth and in the heavens.
All this technological development brought about a revolutionary revision in biblical interpretation among Christians and Mormons as well. These astounding technical advances and these super-weapons had a profound effect on the thinking of the clergy as they read and interpreted prophecy. A whole new breed of millennialists appeared who saw the fulfillment of latter-day prophecies in the technological advancements of mankind. Religionists now proclaim that man with his super-weapons, not God, will be Apollyon, the destroyer, as noted by the apostle John in his Revelation. Mankind now had the power to single-handedly fulfill all prophecy of the last days and bring about Armageddon all on his own.
In fine, God was no longer necessary to the fulfillment of prophecy. Mankind would now provide all the elements of prophecy: pillars of fire devastating vast expanses and destroying whole populations, a quaking earth ruptured by super-powerful atomic bombs and the roaring of incredibly powerful and lethal flying machines, ashen skies that turned the moon red and darkened the sun, death from virile plagues and toxic poisons unleashed on a hapless world populace in chemical and biological weapons, a "scorched earth" type of warfare that would leave a vast wastelands in the wake of advancing armies with super weapons.
God could sit on the sidelines, a celestial spectator, while we would bring about the end of the world all on our own. Deus ex machina! Deus ex homonum!
Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. Clearly, the egotism and myopia of modern man had overtaken the proper view of prophecy.
The problem is that this twisted view of prophecy has been allowed to stand. Nearly every Christian — Latter-day Saints included — sees the fulfillment of prophecy in these same terms. But it is a badly flawed view that should be corrected - most especially in the restored church. This kind of myopic, egoistic interpretation is easily demolished when we look to the scriptures as accurate, eyewitness accounts of God’s dealings with his children.
For example, no Latter-day Saint in his or her right mind would suggest that the fire and brimstone that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah was really an atomic bomb. Early man had neither the technology nor the knowledge to produce such a weapon. It was destruction from God, not man.
And what about the fire from heaven that consumed Elijah’s sacrifice on Mt. Carmel or the blast that destroyed the Assyrian army of Sennacherib as he lay siege to Jerusalem in the days of Isaiah? Ancient man could not have done that, but God could. Recall that "all the face of the land" was changed in the "tempest," "tumult" and "darkness" that overtook the Nephites at the Savior’s crucifixion. Was that their doing? Or was it God’s doing?
Was the Exodus’ "pillar of fire and smoke," bloody water, darkness, earthquakes or plagues due to some super weapon? Or were these simply the forces of nature obeying the command of their creator?
Why, then, do we allow descriptions of such latter-day calamities to suggest the cause is other than God-sent?
There is no hint of a role for man in Joseph Smith’s statement about latter-day destructions. He said, "It is not the design of the Almighty to come upon the earth and crush it and grind it to powder."
The crux of this argument is the strikingly similar language used in the scriptures to describe both ancient catastrophes and those prophesied for the future. This logic is a vital key, axiomatic to understanding the scriptures and the fulfillment of prophecy that every Latter-day Saint should internalize: The calamities of the last days, prior to the Second Coming, will see a return of all the catastrophic types of destruction from the past, enumerated in the scriptures.
As an example, compare the "miracles" of Exodus and Revelation for yourself.
Ask yourself, why would God use the irresistible forces of nature to do his bidding in the past and not in the future, leaving that to the hand of man instead? Isn’t it more logical to assume that the striking similarities between ancient destructions and those prophesied for our future are an indication that they will be of the same nature, kind and source?
While it is true that "there will be wars and rumors of wars," fought by man, the true agents of destruction, according to Joseph Smith, will be the forces of nature, "signs in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, the sun turned into darkness and the moon to blood, earthquakes in divers places, the seas heaving beyond their bounds."
Mormons were not immune to the distorted view of scripture induced by advanced technology and the atom bomb, but they should have been. Isn’t this what the scriptures mean when they urge us to reject any reliance on the "arm of flesh?"
We Saints have fallen prey to the delusions of our Christian brethren where the interpretation of prophecy is concerned because we failed to heed the teachings of the modern prophets, from Joseph Smith to the present, and because we have failed to study the scriptures. We have been seduced by the same illogic to which our Christian cousins succumbed.
Perhaps it is time we returned to the proper perspective, rather than the distorted view induced by our myopic, egocentric modern views. Perhaps it is time we took man, with his puny and fragile devices, out of the equation — puny when compared to the forces of nature at God’s command — by recognizing that God alone will fulfill the promises made by the mouths of his holy prophets. Perhaps this should also remind us of just how widespread, devastating and earthshaking the catastrophes of the latter-days will be — far greater by many orders of magnitude than any man-made calamity — when they do come upon us.
© Anthony E. Larson, 2002
Friday, September 12, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
New Heavens, New Earth: Suddenly or Slowly?
The heavens and the earth are repeatedly referenced in the scriptures by the prophets as the objects of remarkable, sweeping changes in the past and in the future.
"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." (Isaiah 65:17.)
"Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." (2 Peter 3:13.)
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." (Revelation 21:1.)
"And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new." (Ether 13:9.)
"And the end shall come, and the heaven and the earth shall be consumed and pass away, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth." (Ibid.)
"For all old things shall pass away, and all things shall become new, even the heaven and the earth, and all the fullness thereof, both men and beasts, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea; ...." (D&C 29:23, 24.)
Descriptions of these alterations are couched in emphatic terms that strongly suggest dramatic differences — changes so great that only the terms “new,” “old,” “consumed” and “pass away” seem to suffice in order to fully illustrate the radical degree of change seen in the past and foreseen for the future.
Typically, these changes are said to occur in transitional eras, relatively short periods of time either during the Deluge at the end of the Patriarchal Age or in a time immediately prior to the Second Coming of the Savior at the ushering in of the Millennium.
Of course, we learn from modern geology and astronomy that such a dramatic change is physically impossible in the space of a few years or decades. Change comes very slowly, we are told by scientists and scholars. The renowned astronomer Carl Sagan, given science’s view of the tediously slow rate at which these things seem to change, was fond of saying "billions and billions of years" when referring to the periods of time needed to change the heavens above us and the face of the earth at our feet.
Nevertheless, the preponderance of the evidence from the scriptures, cited above, indicates just the opposite: A rapid and dramatic change has occurred in the past and will occur yet again in the future.
This contradiction between science and the prophets puts Latter-day Saints on the horns of a dilemma. Do we believe science or the prophets with regard to how rapidly change takes place on the Earth and the solar system — indeed, in our universe? Why is this of any concern to us?
The answer comes in two parts. The first part rests in a brief history lesson to examine two opposing scientific theories of how change comes about in the earth and in the heavens.
The two opposing theories were passionately debated in the scientific community in the mid-19th century. One group of scientists and scholars felt that the most profound change in the earth and in the heavens came in sudden, sweeping, dramatic and catastrophic events, such as Noah’s Flood. Hence, the term “Catastrophism” was coined to designate that theory. A second group insisted that such change comes only very slowly and gradually, in the same consistent and uniform manner as we see it operating in the forces of nature all around us today where mountains rise ever so slowly while water and wind ever so slowly wear them away, gradually and inexorably altering the entire face of the earth. Hence, the term "Gradualism" was coined, also sometimes called the theory of Uniformity or Uniformitarianism.
By the end of the 19th century, the debate was over. The precepts of Gradualism carried the day — to such a degree that the scientific community unwaveringly refused to seriously considered Catastrophism for nearly two centuries. Scientists and scholars derisively lumped catastrophists together with religionists as a class of people for whom rational thought and empiricism were foreign processes.
Even today, when the patently catastrophist idea of an asteroid impact catastrophically wiping out the dinosaurs — suddenly and irreversibly altering the face of the earth and its entire ecosystem in an instant — has made an unprecedented comeback, reconsidering Catastrophism still seems to be out of the question for science. Even when the whole world has been treated to a graphic demonstration of the sudden, catastrophic, planet-altering power of incoming comet fragments when Shoemaker/Levi 9 repeatedly impacted Jupiter in 1994 — a celestial visual aid presented by the Creator, if you will — science steadfastly refuses to re-evaluate its decision to opt for Gradualism as the primary mechanism of change on the earth and in the heavens. Even more incomprehensible still is the religionists’ proclivity for turning a blind eye to these things, ignoring the implications of these discoveries for their perception of scriptural accounts.
The second part of our answer seems to lie in a short declaration made by Elder Orson Pratt, an early Apostle and confidant of the prophet Joseph Smith.
"Many geological speculations have been put forth to account for the great changes that have happened in the surface strata of the earth. But it is not our intention to examine the probability of improbability of those conjectures; but merely to give some few facts from divine revelation to show that the present geological conditions of our globe are not, in their general characteristics, the result of slow and gradual changes; but the effects of sudden convulsions and catastrophes under the control and superintendence of the All-powerful Being who formed all things." (The Seer, Vol. II, No. 4, April, 1854, italics added.)
Once again we see that revealed knowledge pointed to the more correct of the two theories and foreshadowed the most recent discoveries at the end of the 20th century about our world that have only recently begun to revolutionize science and replace old scientific dogma.
Elder Pratt was a recognized scientist and mathematician in his day, having worked out part of the equation to more accurately describe the orbits of planets. In addition, his direct observations of the phases of the moon from a small observatory constructed on the temple grounds in Salt Lake City formed the basis for the Moon Stones, which accurately depict the phases of the moon on the walls of that sacred temple.
That said, it becomes evident that Elder Pratt spoke with both the authority of good science and "divine revelation." Indeed, it is apparent that he could appropriately be called a catastrophist. Moreover, he emphatically declares that the idea of slow and gradual change is not the scriptural perspective revealed to the prophets.
So, how should modern Saints see all this? What would be the benefit of altering our views?
Only by seeing scriptural references such as those quoted at the beginning of this article through the eyes of Catastrophism, as espoused by Elder Pratt, can we properly conceive of the import of their message. Otherwise, seen from a Gradualism perspective, they seem like largely inconsequential, lyrical rhetoric, indicative of little.
Seen in the Catastrophism context, the only circumstances that would cause the ancient prophets to speak of changed heavens and earth would be dramatic changes in Earth’s orbit and position in our solar system. Though science vehemently denies that possibility, the only logical conclusion is that our planet has changed its position in the solar system with respect to the other planets, the stars and our sun and that it will do so again in the last days. Only such sweeping changes could give earthlings a "new heaven" and a "new earth." Given Elder Pratt’s assertions and the scriptural statements of past and future changes, the conclusion is inescapable.
No wonder the prophets characterized the Earth as reeling "to and fro" during such events.
© Anthony E. Larson, 2002
"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." (Isaiah 65:17.)
"Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." (2 Peter 3:13.)
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." (Revelation 21:1.)
"And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new." (Ether 13:9.)
"And the end shall come, and the heaven and the earth shall be consumed and pass away, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth." (Ibid.)
"For all old things shall pass away, and all things shall become new, even the heaven and the earth, and all the fullness thereof, both men and beasts, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea; ...." (D&C 29:23, 24.)
Descriptions of these alterations are couched in emphatic terms that strongly suggest dramatic differences — changes so great that only the terms “new,” “old,” “consumed” and “pass away” seem to suffice in order to fully illustrate the radical degree of change seen in the past and foreseen for the future.
Typically, these changes are said to occur in transitional eras, relatively short periods of time either during the Deluge at the end of the Patriarchal Age or in a time immediately prior to the Second Coming of the Savior at the ushering in of the Millennium.
Of course, we learn from modern geology and astronomy that such a dramatic change is physically impossible in the space of a few years or decades. Change comes very slowly, we are told by scientists and scholars. The renowned astronomer Carl Sagan, given science’s view of the tediously slow rate at which these things seem to change, was fond of saying "billions and billions of years" when referring to the periods of time needed to change the heavens above us and the face of the earth at our feet.
Nevertheless, the preponderance of the evidence from the scriptures, cited above, indicates just the opposite: A rapid and dramatic change has occurred in the past and will occur yet again in the future.
This contradiction between science and the prophets puts Latter-day Saints on the horns of a dilemma. Do we believe science or the prophets with regard to how rapidly change takes place on the Earth and the solar system — indeed, in our universe? Why is this of any concern to us?
The answer comes in two parts. The first part rests in a brief history lesson to examine two opposing scientific theories of how change comes about in the earth and in the heavens.
The two opposing theories were passionately debated in the scientific community in the mid-19th century. One group of scientists and scholars felt that the most profound change in the earth and in the heavens came in sudden, sweeping, dramatic and catastrophic events, such as Noah’s Flood. Hence, the term “Catastrophism” was coined to designate that theory. A second group insisted that such change comes only very slowly and gradually, in the same consistent and uniform manner as we see it operating in the forces of nature all around us today where mountains rise ever so slowly while water and wind ever so slowly wear them away, gradually and inexorably altering the entire face of the earth. Hence, the term "Gradualism" was coined, also sometimes called the theory of Uniformity or Uniformitarianism.
By the end of the 19th century, the debate was over. The precepts of Gradualism carried the day — to such a degree that the scientific community unwaveringly refused to seriously considered Catastrophism for nearly two centuries. Scientists and scholars derisively lumped catastrophists together with religionists as a class of people for whom rational thought and empiricism were foreign processes.
Even today, when the patently catastrophist idea of an asteroid impact catastrophically wiping out the dinosaurs — suddenly and irreversibly altering the face of the earth and its entire ecosystem in an instant — has made an unprecedented comeback, reconsidering Catastrophism still seems to be out of the question for science. Even when the whole world has been treated to a graphic demonstration of the sudden, catastrophic, planet-altering power of incoming comet fragments when Shoemaker/Levi 9 repeatedly impacted Jupiter in 1994 — a celestial visual aid presented by the Creator, if you will — science steadfastly refuses to re-evaluate its decision to opt for Gradualism as the primary mechanism of change on the earth and in the heavens. Even more incomprehensible still is the religionists’ proclivity for turning a blind eye to these things, ignoring the implications of these discoveries for their perception of scriptural accounts.
The second part of our answer seems to lie in a short declaration made by Elder Orson Pratt, an early Apostle and confidant of the prophet Joseph Smith.
"Many geological speculations have been put forth to account for the great changes that have happened in the surface strata of the earth. But it is not our intention to examine the probability of improbability of those conjectures; but merely to give some few facts from divine revelation to show that the present geological conditions of our globe are not, in their general characteristics, the result of slow and gradual changes; but the effects of sudden convulsions and catastrophes under the control and superintendence of the All-powerful Being who formed all things." (The Seer, Vol. II, No. 4, April, 1854, italics added.)
Once again we see that revealed knowledge pointed to the more correct of the two theories and foreshadowed the most recent discoveries at the end of the 20th century about our world that have only recently begun to revolutionize science and replace old scientific dogma.
Elder Pratt was a recognized scientist and mathematician in his day, having worked out part of the equation to more accurately describe the orbits of planets. In addition, his direct observations of the phases of the moon from a small observatory constructed on the temple grounds in Salt Lake City formed the basis for the Moon Stones, which accurately depict the phases of the moon on the walls of that sacred temple.
That said, it becomes evident that Elder Pratt spoke with both the authority of good science and "divine revelation." Indeed, it is apparent that he could appropriately be called a catastrophist. Moreover, he emphatically declares that the idea of slow and gradual change is not the scriptural perspective revealed to the prophets.
So, how should modern Saints see all this? What would be the benefit of altering our views?
Only by seeing scriptural references such as those quoted at the beginning of this article through the eyes of Catastrophism, as espoused by Elder Pratt, can we properly conceive of the import of their message. Otherwise, seen from a Gradualism perspective, they seem like largely inconsequential, lyrical rhetoric, indicative of little.
Seen in the Catastrophism context, the only circumstances that would cause the ancient prophets to speak of changed heavens and earth would be dramatic changes in Earth’s orbit and position in our solar system. Though science vehemently denies that possibility, the only logical conclusion is that our planet has changed its position in the solar system with respect to the other planets, the stars and our sun and that it will do so again in the last days. Only such sweeping changes could give earthlings a "new heaven" and a "new earth." Given Elder Pratt’s assertions and the scriptural statements of past and future changes, the conclusion is inescapable.
No wonder the prophets characterized the Earth as reeling "to and fro" during such events.
© Anthony E. Larson, 2002
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Modern Signs
Joseph Smith's most profound and enlightening sermon on the signs of the last days, given on the temple grounds at Nauvoo in April, 1843, demonstrates his views of the origin and nature of those signs, as well as our ability to recognize them for what they are.
"There will be wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, the sun turned into darkness and the moon to blood, earthquakes in divers places, the seas heaving beyond their bounds; … " (History of the Church, 5:337.)
Of particular interest is his addition of a truly remarkable sign to the customary list — one to which Latter-day Saints should give special heed. "… then will appear one grand sign of the coming of the Son of Man in heaven." (Ibid.) This is clearly a reiteration of the Savior’s statement in Matthew 24 wherein he said, "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven …."
Until this last dispensation of the gospel, no other prophet or passage of scripture had added the superlative "grand sign." Typically, all the signs are given equal weight or value; none is designated as special or more notable. Indeed, the only other mention is found in modern revelation wherein a slightly altered version of the term is used. Speaking of the last days, the Lord declared to Joseph in December 1842, "And immediately there shall appear a great sign in heaven, and all people shall see it together." (Doctrine & Covenants 88:93.)
Indeed, Joseph may have intended that this sermon, given a mere four months after the revelation recorded in Doctrine & Covenants, reaffirm and amplify on that revelation since Section 88 is remarkable for its catalog of latter-day signs.
On that occasion, Joseph continued his sermon by explaining what that marvelous sign might be. "What will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet, &c. But the Son of Man will come as the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, which will be as the light of the morning cometh out of the east. (Ibid.)
It is a stunning statement, when carefully considered. The greatest or grandest of signs will be a comet or planet. Assumably, this comet or planet will be doing something well out of the ordinary to attract special attention.
Note that the Prophet is not saying the world’s assessment is incorrect, as some have supposed. Rather, he is merely noting that the worldly or scientific terminology for this eye-catching sign would be "a planet, a comet, &c."
In light of what modern science has discovered in recent years about rogue comets and asteroids, this observation by Joseph Smith is striking. Mention of this great or grand sign is unique to this dispensation and is therefore worthy of special attention by Mormons — especially in light of what occurred in the heavens a decade ago.
In July 1994, fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy repeatedly slammed into the planet Jupiter, as forecast by astronomers. At least one of those impact sites left a pockmark on Jupiter's face that was larger than the Earth. Estimates were that the first fragment alone struck with the force of 200,000 megatons of explosive power! Nineteen more followed, leaving visible impact scars around Jupiter's southern hemisphere.
This was an unprecedented, historic, celestial event. Nothing even remotely as spectacular has occurred in our solar system since Galileo invented the telescope. From Joseph Smith’s time forward, scientists had utterly dismissed the possibility that comets or asteroids might menace the Earth. Even the prominent astronomer Carl Sagan denied the likelihood of cometary impact. As far as science was concerned, such nonsense was "impossible."
Due to comet Shoemaker/Levy, the scientific community did a conceptual about-face that was as dramatic as it was sweeping. They had been treated to a celestial visual aid of cosmic proportions; the "impossible" had occurred before their very eyes. There was no denying catastrophic impacts any longer.
As a result, today the idea of an impact dramatically altering Earth’s ecosystem is well accepted. Cosmic collisions do occur, scientists acknowledge, as in the instance of the dinosaurs’ extinction. Moreover, if it can happen to Jupiter, it can happen to the Earth.
Almost overnight, scientists began speaking of the threat posed by Earth-crossing asteroids and comets. NASA proposed a program and sought funding to find and track any object that might collide with the Earth.
A cosmic collision could result in a range of consequences, much like those signs listed by Joseph, from something no greater than any local disaster — as in an earthquake, flood or famine — to a worldwide event with long-term implications. The models proposed by researchers differ only in scale.
Even a moderate size impactor could ultimately lead to the death of at least one-fourth of the world's population. A near collision by a planet passing nearby us could be as devastating or worse, depending upon the proximity of the intruder. The extent of the damage would be determined by the size, composition, incoming velocity, angle and location — ocean or land, populated or unpopulated — of the impactor. For example, if the Tunguska meteorite of 1902, which exploded in the upper atmosphere without even hitting the ground, were to fall on Moscow today, the death toll would be about 9 million dead!
Especially significant is the fact that the "grand sign," — making an impact in the case of a comet, a very close pass or near miss in the case of a planet — would cause all the signs listed by Joseph Smith in his discourse. That is, the "grand sign" would be the direct cause of the other signs listed by the Prophet, as well as by the scriptures.
Everyone on the planet would be in peril.
The location of a strike would ultimately determine the nature of the aftermath, while a close planetary pass would cause uniform but devastating destruction worldwide. If the impact were an ocean strike, it would generate a tsunami ranging in size from a few feet up to hundreds of feet in height, with the potential of destroying up to 100 million people worldwide. A close pass would raise prodigious ocean tides drawn up by the gravitational pull of the offending planet, with very nearly the same effect as an ocean impact. This would be "the seas heaving beyond their bounds" Joseph described.
If it were a landfall, the shock wave would cause global geological stress that would certainly generate massive "earthquakes in divers places," as would a close pass by gravitational 'tugging' at the landmasses.
The ejecta from the impact or from colossal volcanic eruptions in the event of a planetary near miss would take the form of gas, dust and stones, which would be blown high into the atmosphere. The debris would fall back to earth in showers of hot stones, like so many artillery shells. Widespread rains of these hot stones would almost immediately create hemisphere-wide fires and destruction.
The dust would be transported around the Earth by high-altitude winds, casting the world into near-total gloom — "the sun turned into darkness — followed by freezing cold, leading to the suppression of photosynthesis for months, even years.
The gas released would eventually cause intense acid rain and destruction of the ozone layer, signs suggested elsewhere in scripture. Agriculture would collapse, resulting in famines, as suggested in prophecy, and the breakdown of global economic, social and political structures would result in "wars and rumors of wars," among other things.
Latter-day Saints' opinion on the subject of potential impacts, past and present, differs little from that of the general public. They see it as very unlikely. Yet, that probably should not be so, given the scriptural certainty of the last days and Joseph Smith’s enlightened statement regarding the last great sign being a comet or planet. He clearly held a view of history and prophecy that included disasters emanating from the heavens, which would have devastating effects here on Earth.
When we consider the magnitude and import of seeing a comet impact Jupiter in our own time as we approach the second coming, one wonders if this astronomical visual aid might not have been God's way of making a point, just as he gave a celestial sign to the Nephites prior to the Savior’s first coming. Have we been forewarned, just as were our Nephite cousins? Could it have been meant to awaken us from our apathetic complacency about the times we live in and the planet we live on? Should not Latter-day Saints — the "children of the light" — be the first to recognize the true import of this sign?
Remember, Joseph Smith placed great store in the validity of latter-day signs, especially those that can be described as planets or comets.
© Anthony E. Larson, 2003
"There will be wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, the sun turned into darkness and the moon to blood, earthquakes in divers places, the seas heaving beyond their bounds; … " (History of the Church, 5:337.)
Of particular interest is his addition of a truly remarkable sign to the customary list — one to which Latter-day Saints should give special heed. "… then will appear one grand sign of the coming of the Son of Man in heaven." (Ibid.) This is clearly a reiteration of the Savior’s statement in Matthew 24 wherein he said, "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven …."
Until this last dispensation of the gospel, no other prophet or passage of scripture had added the superlative "grand sign." Typically, all the signs are given equal weight or value; none is designated as special or more notable. Indeed, the only other mention is found in modern revelation wherein a slightly altered version of the term is used. Speaking of the last days, the Lord declared to Joseph in December 1842, "And immediately there shall appear a great sign in heaven, and all people shall see it together." (Doctrine & Covenants 88:93.)
Indeed, Joseph may have intended that this sermon, given a mere four months after the revelation recorded in Doctrine & Covenants, reaffirm and amplify on that revelation since Section 88 is remarkable for its catalog of latter-day signs.
On that occasion, Joseph continued his sermon by explaining what that marvelous sign might be. "What will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet, &c. But the Son of Man will come as the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, which will be as the light of the morning cometh out of the east. (Ibid.)
It is a stunning statement, when carefully considered. The greatest or grandest of signs will be a comet or planet. Assumably, this comet or planet will be doing something well out of the ordinary to attract special attention.
Note that the Prophet is not saying the world’s assessment is incorrect, as some have supposed. Rather, he is merely noting that the worldly or scientific terminology for this eye-catching sign would be "a planet, a comet, &c."
In light of what modern science has discovered in recent years about rogue comets and asteroids, this observation by Joseph Smith is striking. Mention of this great or grand sign is unique to this dispensation and is therefore worthy of special attention by Mormons — especially in light of what occurred in the heavens a decade ago.
In July 1994, fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy repeatedly slammed into the planet Jupiter, as forecast by astronomers. At least one of those impact sites left a pockmark on Jupiter's face that was larger than the Earth. Estimates were that the first fragment alone struck with the force of 200,000 megatons of explosive power! Nineteen more followed, leaving visible impact scars around Jupiter's southern hemisphere.
This was an unprecedented, historic, celestial event. Nothing even remotely as spectacular has occurred in our solar system since Galileo invented the telescope. From Joseph Smith’s time forward, scientists had utterly dismissed the possibility that comets or asteroids might menace the Earth. Even the prominent astronomer Carl Sagan denied the likelihood of cometary impact. As far as science was concerned, such nonsense was "impossible."
Due to comet Shoemaker/Levy, the scientific community did a conceptual about-face that was as dramatic as it was sweeping. They had been treated to a celestial visual aid of cosmic proportions; the "impossible" had occurred before their very eyes. There was no denying catastrophic impacts any longer.
As a result, today the idea of an impact dramatically altering Earth’s ecosystem is well accepted. Cosmic collisions do occur, scientists acknowledge, as in the instance of the dinosaurs’ extinction. Moreover, if it can happen to Jupiter, it can happen to the Earth.
Almost overnight, scientists began speaking of the threat posed by Earth-crossing asteroids and comets. NASA proposed a program and sought funding to find and track any object that might collide with the Earth.
A cosmic collision could result in a range of consequences, much like those signs listed by Joseph, from something no greater than any local disaster — as in an earthquake, flood or famine — to a worldwide event with long-term implications. The models proposed by researchers differ only in scale.
Even a moderate size impactor could ultimately lead to the death of at least one-fourth of the world's population. A near collision by a planet passing nearby us could be as devastating or worse, depending upon the proximity of the intruder. The extent of the damage would be determined by the size, composition, incoming velocity, angle and location — ocean or land, populated or unpopulated — of the impactor. For example, if the Tunguska meteorite of 1902, which exploded in the upper atmosphere without even hitting the ground, were to fall on Moscow today, the death toll would be about 9 million dead!
Especially significant is the fact that the "grand sign," — making an impact in the case of a comet, a very close pass or near miss in the case of a planet — would cause all the signs listed by Joseph Smith in his discourse. That is, the "grand sign" would be the direct cause of the other signs listed by the Prophet, as well as by the scriptures.
Everyone on the planet would be in peril.
The location of a strike would ultimately determine the nature of the aftermath, while a close planetary pass would cause uniform but devastating destruction worldwide. If the impact were an ocean strike, it would generate a tsunami ranging in size from a few feet up to hundreds of feet in height, with the potential of destroying up to 100 million people worldwide. A close pass would raise prodigious ocean tides drawn up by the gravitational pull of the offending planet, with very nearly the same effect as an ocean impact. This would be "the seas heaving beyond their bounds" Joseph described.
If it were a landfall, the shock wave would cause global geological stress that would certainly generate massive "earthquakes in divers places," as would a close pass by gravitational 'tugging' at the landmasses.
The ejecta from the impact or from colossal volcanic eruptions in the event of a planetary near miss would take the form of gas, dust and stones, which would be blown high into the atmosphere. The debris would fall back to earth in showers of hot stones, like so many artillery shells. Widespread rains of these hot stones would almost immediately create hemisphere-wide fires and destruction.
The dust would be transported around the Earth by high-altitude winds, casting the world into near-total gloom — "the sun turned into darkness — followed by freezing cold, leading to the suppression of photosynthesis for months, even years.
The gas released would eventually cause intense acid rain and destruction of the ozone layer, signs suggested elsewhere in scripture. Agriculture would collapse, resulting in famines, as suggested in prophecy, and the breakdown of global economic, social and political structures would result in "wars and rumors of wars," among other things.
Latter-day Saints' opinion on the subject of potential impacts, past and present, differs little from that of the general public. They see it as very unlikely. Yet, that probably should not be so, given the scriptural certainty of the last days and Joseph Smith’s enlightened statement regarding the last great sign being a comet or planet. He clearly held a view of history and prophecy that included disasters emanating from the heavens, which would have devastating effects here on Earth.
When we consider the magnitude and import of seeing a comet impact Jupiter in our own time as we approach the second coming, one wonders if this astronomical visual aid might not have been God's way of making a point, just as he gave a celestial sign to the Nephites prior to the Savior’s first coming. Have we been forewarned, just as were our Nephite cousins? Could it have been meant to awaken us from our apathetic complacency about the times we live in and the planet we live on? Should not Latter-day Saints — the "children of the light" — be the first to recognize the true import of this sign?
Remember, Joseph Smith placed great store in the validity of latter-day signs, especially those that can be described as planets or comets.
© Anthony E. Larson, 2003
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Lehi's Tree of Life
The colorful symbolism of the "Tree of Life" vision given to Lehi and his son, Nephi, is well known and rather easily interpreted by today’s Latter-day Saints.
At first blush, the rich imagery these two Book of Mormon prophets employed combines to create a completely original metaphor for humanity’s behavior where the gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned. That is, it is a wonderful allegory, which epitomizes the various reactions and behaviors of mankind in connection with revealed truth.
While all this is correct and proper, there may be more traditional elements within Lehi’s and Nephi’s revelation that would have been quite familiar to their contemporaries in the Middle East. They employed cultural archetypes — already ancient in Lehi’s and Nephi’s day — that we modern Saints fail to recognize because they are entirely absent from our cultural traditions.
Yet mythologists, who study the beliefs and traditions of the past, are keenly aware of the sacred or celestial tree as a predominant motif in ancient cultures. "Sacred narratives everywhere describe a previous World Age in which a colossal tree dominated the celestial landscape, joining heaven to earth." (M. Eliade, Patterns in Comparative Religion (New York, 1958), pp. 265-326.)
Among thousands of others, a few examples are "… the Norse mima-meither or the Tree of the golden apples of immortality guarded by the goddess Idunn, or to the similar apple tree of the garden of the Hesperides. There is the world-ash Yggdrasil, the greatest and best of all trees, whose branches spread all over heaven … It was the Tree of Life, and the judgment-seat of the gods, whose chief abode and sanctuary is at the Ash Ygg's stead (or standing place) where they hold their court every day. … It is white, like the Avestan haoma, although the whiteness must rather mean brightness, as Grimm pointed out. It is a near relation of the Innensaiile, that highest universe-column sustaining all things, universalis columna quasi sustinens omnia, which is so deeply rooted an idea in German antiquity.” (John O’Neill, The Night of the Gods, I-II, London, 1893, italics added).
"Eminent archaeologists are quite familiar with the fact that almost every race and tongue alludes to a tree now universally called the "world-tree". Were I to gather half the literature that I have found pertaining to this tree of trees, "holy trees," "life-giving trees", "winged" and "flying" trees, "trees of wisdom and knowledge", and "trees of death", it would of itself fill a volume. There was the "winged oak of Jove", known among the ancients as a miraculous tree, and Jove was the sky-god of Greece and Rome, and we must therefore put this tree in the skies. There was the star-bearing tree of the Hesperian Gardens, guarded by the world-serpent Ladon, the Soma Tree of the ancient Hindus and Parsees gave long life to gods and men, and was also a celestial tree. The Assyrio-Babylonian tree spread its shining branches over the whole heaven, and this tree was guarded by the "serpent-god of the tree of life". Then the Scandinavians had a world-tree called the "Sacred Ash" and Yggdrasil, and they said its roots penetrated to the under-world and its branches spread all over the skies. The ancient scriptures of the Hindus speak of the heavens as a tree. The far eastern races, as well as the far western, say that in the most ancient times "trees spread their supporting branches against the heavens and held the sky and earth asunder." These are all immortal survivals of the one great world-tree that stood on the bounds of the earth and ramified upward as vapor stems, and beautified the universal skies." (Isaac Vail, Eden’s Flaming Sword, 1896.)
"The tree of life is a well-known concept in the ancient cultures. An increasing number of scholars now concede that the mythical tree was essentially a symbol of the cosmic axis, the column that links the rotational poles of the earth to the poles of heaven as they appear from any place on earth." (Rens van der Sluijs, The Vortical Tree.)
Literally thousands of myths describe the world axis as a prodigious fiery or golden tree, rooted in the deepest underworld underneath the surface of the earth, whose crown touched the zenith or the pole star. This tree or world axis was a golden mountain in the centre of the world, the summit of which reached until the highest heavens. Some saw this tree as the body of a gargantuan god, the cosmic giant Atlas, whose feet rest on the earth and whose shoulders support the firmament. An endless array of metaphors – tree of life, cosmic mountain, world giant, and many others – refer to one and the same awe-inspiring object: the axis in the centre of the world.
The striking similarity between these traditional trees and Lehi’s tree is undeniable. Clearly, Lehi and Nephi drew upon symbolism familiar to all Middle Eastern peoples to interpret their revelation, in keeping with the reality that they were speaking to people for whom these archetypes and motifs were very familiar. What Nephi wrote about himself was also true for all those in Lehi’s company: "… for I came out from Jerusalem, and mine eyes hath beheld the things of the Jews, and I know that the Jews do understand the things of the prophets, … wherefore I know concerning the regions round about …" (2 Nephi 25: 5, 6.)
We, today, know almost nothing of these ancient archetypes or iconic metaphors familiar to "the regions round about" Jerusalem because our culture discarded them centuries ago as colorful and elaborate but inconsequential myth or satanically pagan imagery, unworthy of the lofty spiritual values and thinking taught by the Son of God in the meridian of time.
Had it not been for one or two references to the Tree of Life scattered about in our sacred texts, that element of this vision would have been as unfamiliar to us as the others. For example, the Tree of Life symbol is first employed in the beginning of the biblical Creation account, where it was said to have stood in Eden, "in the midst of the garden." Eating its fruit imparted the knowledge of "good and evil" to Adam and Eve.
Ironically, it was employed in the end of the biblical account, in John’s Revelation. "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. … In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." (Revelation 22: 1, 2.)
The imagery in these verses is unmistakable: There exists no such tree in reality. What tree can be both “in the midst of the street of it” and “on either side of the river” at the same time? It is imagery—a metaphor—just as is the tree in Eden. This tree is clearly an icon or symbol.
Notice that John brings other elements into the picture that have counterparts in Lehi’s dream: A river and a street. We see those equivalents in Lehi’s dream. "… I beheld a river of water; and it ran long, and it was near the tree of which I was partaking the fruit. … And I also beheld a strait and narrow path …." (1 Nephi 8: 13, 20.)
These verses from Genesis and Revelation are clearly examples of what Nephi meant when he wrote: "... and there is none other people that understand the things which were spoken unto the Jews like unto them, save it be that they are taught after the manner of the things of the Jews." (2 Nephi 25: 5.)
Compare these with the tree motifs of other cultures. A dispassionate and considered analysis will demonstrate that they all draw upon a common cultural heritage.
One marvels that a young man, living on the American frontier nearly 200 years ago, published a story that is faithful in every way to these ancient cultural traditions. This convergence of iconic motifs from antiquity with those from the Book of Mormon is yet another powerful witness to Joseph Smith’s claim of prophetic inspiration.
© Anthony E. Larson, 2008
At first blush, the rich imagery these two Book of Mormon prophets employed combines to create a completely original metaphor for humanity’s behavior where the gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned. That is, it is a wonderful allegory, which epitomizes the various reactions and behaviors of mankind in connection with revealed truth.
While all this is correct and proper, there may be more traditional elements within Lehi’s and Nephi’s revelation that would have been quite familiar to their contemporaries in the Middle East. They employed cultural archetypes — already ancient in Lehi’s and Nephi’s day — that we modern Saints fail to recognize because they are entirely absent from our cultural traditions.
Yet mythologists, who study the beliefs and traditions of the past, are keenly aware of the sacred or celestial tree as a predominant motif in ancient cultures. "Sacred narratives everywhere describe a previous World Age in which a colossal tree dominated the celestial landscape, joining heaven to earth." (M. Eliade, Patterns in Comparative Religion (New York, 1958), pp. 265-326.)
Among thousands of others, a few examples are "… the Norse mima-meither or the Tree of the golden apples of immortality guarded by the goddess Idunn, or to the similar apple tree of the garden of the Hesperides. There is the world-ash Yggdrasil, the greatest and best of all trees, whose branches spread all over heaven … It was the Tree of Life, and the judgment-seat of the gods, whose chief abode and sanctuary is at the Ash Ygg's stead (or standing place) where they hold their court every day. … It is white, like the Avestan haoma, although the whiteness must rather mean brightness, as Grimm pointed out. It is a near relation of the Innensaiile, that highest universe-column sustaining all things, universalis columna quasi sustinens omnia, which is so deeply rooted an idea in German antiquity.” (John O’Neill, The Night of the Gods, I-II, London, 1893, italics added).
"Eminent archaeologists are quite familiar with the fact that almost every race and tongue alludes to a tree now universally called the "world-tree". Were I to gather half the literature that I have found pertaining to this tree of trees, "holy trees," "life-giving trees", "winged" and "flying" trees, "trees of wisdom and knowledge", and "trees of death", it would of itself fill a volume. There was the "winged oak of Jove", known among the ancients as a miraculous tree, and Jove was the sky-god of Greece and Rome, and we must therefore put this tree in the skies. There was the star-bearing tree of the Hesperian Gardens, guarded by the world-serpent Ladon, the Soma Tree of the ancient Hindus and Parsees gave long life to gods and men, and was also a celestial tree. The Assyrio-Babylonian tree spread its shining branches over the whole heaven, and this tree was guarded by the "serpent-god of the tree of life". Then the Scandinavians had a world-tree called the "Sacred Ash" and Yggdrasil, and they said its roots penetrated to the under-world and its branches spread all over the skies. The ancient scriptures of the Hindus speak of the heavens as a tree. The far eastern races, as well as the far western, say that in the most ancient times "trees spread their supporting branches against the heavens and held the sky and earth asunder." These are all immortal survivals of the one great world-tree that stood on the bounds of the earth and ramified upward as vapor stems, and beautified the universal skies." (Isaac Vail, Eden’s Flaming Sword, 1896.)
"The tree of life is a well-known concept in the ancient cultures. An increasing number of scholars now concede that the mythical tree was essentially a symbol of the cosmic axis, the column that links the rotational poles of the earth to the poles of heaven as they appear from any place on earth." (Rens van der Sluijs, The Vortical Tree.)
Literally thousands of myths describe the world axis as a prodigious fiery or golden tree, rooted in the deepest underworld underneath the surface of the earth, whose crown touched the zenith or the pole star. This tree or world axis was a golden mountain in the centre of the world, the summit of which reached until the highest heavens. Some saw this tree as the body of a gargantuan god, the cosmic giant Atlas, whose feet rest on the earth and whose shoulders support the firmament. An endless array of metaphors – tree of life, cosmic mountain, world giant, and many others – refer to one and the same awe-inspiring object: the axis in the centre of the world.
The striking similarity between these traditional trees and Lehi’s tree is undeniable. Clearly, Lehi and Nephi drew upon symbolism familiar to all Middle Eastern peoples to interpret their revelation, in keeping with the reality that they were speaking to people for whom these archetypes and motifs were very familiar. What Nephi wrote about himself was also true for all those in Lehi’s company: "… for I came out from Jerusalem, and mine eyes hath beheld the things of the Jews, and I know that the Jews do understand the things of the prophets, … wherefore I know concerning the regions round about …" (2 Nephi 25: 5, 6.)
We, today, know almost nothing of these ancient archetypes or iconic metaphors familiar to "the regions round about" Jerusalem because our culture discarded them centuries ago as colorful and elaborate but inconsequential myth or satanically pagan imagery, unworthy of the lofty spiritual values and thinking taught by the Son of God in the meridian of time.
Had it not been for one or two references to the Tree of Life scattered about in our sacred texts, that element of this vision would have been as unfamiliar to us as the others. For example, the Tree of Life symbol is first employed in the beginning of the biblical Creation account, where it was said to have stood in Eden, "in the midst of the garden." Eating its fruit imparted the knowledge of "good and evil" to Adam and Eve.
Ironically, it was employed in the end of the biblical account, in John’s Revelation. "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. … In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." (Revelation 22: 1, 2.)
The imagery in these verses is unmistakable: There exists no such tree in reality. What tree can be both “in the midst of the street of it” and “on either side of the river” at the same time? It is imagery—a metaphor—just as is the tree in Eden. This tree is clearly an icon or symbol.
Notice that John brings other elements into the picture that have counterparts in Lehi’s dream: A river and a street. We see those equivalents in Lehi’s dream. "… I beheld a river of water; and it ran long, and it was near the tree of which I was partaking the fruit. … And I also beheld a strait and narrow path …." (1 Nephi 8: 13, 20.)
These verses from Genesis and Revelation are clearly examples of what Nephi meant when he wrote: "... and there is none other people that understand the things which were spoken unto the Jews like unto them, save it be that they are taught after the manner of the things of the Jews." (2 Nephi 25: 5.)
Compare these with the tree motifs of other cultures. A dispassionate and considered analysis will demonstrate that they all draw upon a common cultural heritage.
One marvels that a young man, living on the American frontier nearly 200 years ago, published a story that is faithful in every way to these ancient cultural traditions. This convergence of iconic motifs from antiquity with those from the Book of Mormon is yet another powerful witness to Joseph Smith’s claim of prophetic inspiration.
© Anthony E. Larson, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Learning From the Scriptures
"Search the scriptures," said the Savior. So, most Latter-day Saints do just that. We search for spiritual truths and counsel that might strengthen our testimonies and help us live better, more righteous lives.
But while those spiritual truths are vital, there is much more to the scriptures that we often overlook — things that we were meant to learn as well as the spiritual truths, things that, when internalized, can immensely enhance and correct our worldview.
Take the story of Joshua’s long day, for example.
"Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
"And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed … So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. (Joshua 10:12, 13.)
Joshua’s story is a powerful example of the influence a prophet can wield when acting in the name of God, an astounding example of the use of priesthood power. This is the primary message of the story.
However, there is another side to the story — one generally overlooked. It is a secondary message, as in a parable, that holds a vital truth of its own and can prove most useful in shaping our view of science in general and astronomy in particular. Most importantly, it should teach us something about our Creator and the way he does things.
Since most readers overlook the historical accuracy of such extravagant scriptural accounts, they fail to grasp its more practical implications. In order to see this facet of the Joshua account clearly, we must focus on the implied physical nature of the event: the stopping and starting of Earth’s rotation. Of course, such an implication is unthinkable to most of us. According to all we have been taught, all that we have experienced, the Earth’s rotation cannot be stopped. The eminent astronomer, Carl Sagan, for example, declared it an impossibility.
So, what are we to make of the natural side of Joshua’s account? If the Earth really did not stop turning, as Joshua reported, what do we make of it? Is this account’s accuracy flawed? Are the scientists right, or are the scriptures right?
Happily for Latter-day Saints, there is another, unimpeachable witness in the scriptures that answers these questions definitively. That witness is the Book of Mormon.
Speaking of the power of God, Mormon editorialized, "Thus we see that … if he say unto the earth — Thou shalt go back, that it lengthen out the day for many hours — it is done;
"And thus, according to his word the earth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still; yea, and behold, this is so; for surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun. (Helaman 12:11-15.)
If there was any doubt about Joshua’s account, Mormon’s statement erases it. He makes it crystal clear; there is no equivocation, no hedging. He even goes so far as to clearly define the proper relationship between the movement of the sun and the earth.
Mormon is no geocentrist. He cannot be accused of ignorance in things astronomical. Latter-day Saints cannot question the validity of such a statement, since Joseph Smith declared the Book of Mormon to be "the most correct book."
So we have two scriptural witnesses that the earth can and has stopped turning. But there is a third, extra-scriptural witness.
The will of the Lord concerning extra-scriptural books is found in the Doctrine and Covenants.
"And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.
"… Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine … Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass …. (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118,78, 79.)
Thus, the Lord makes clear that studying theory that supports scriptural principle and doctrine is a worthy pursuit, so that we "may be instructed more perfectly."
An excellent example of such extra-scriptural text in support of Joshua’s observations is found in Plato’s Timaeus wherein Plato reveals that a Greek myth about the sun’s movement through the heavens is actually fact rather than fiction.
"There is a story … that once upon a time Phaeton, the son of Helios, having yoked the steeds in his father's chariot, because he was not able to drive them in the path of his father, burnt up all that was upon the earth, and was himself destroyed by a thunderbolt. Now this has the form of a myth, but really signifies a declination of the bodies moving in the heavens around the earth, and a great conflagration of things upon the earth …." (Timaeus)
Plato, whose works surely qualify as among "the best books," makes clear that the Phaeton myth is actually about a time when the sun went out of its normal course.
Now we have three witnesses: two from the scriptures, one from profane or secular history.
Here is where "the rubber meets the road," as one adage puts it. Time to "fish or cut bait," according to another. Do Latter-day Saints continue to believe mainstream scientists who assert that it would be impossible to halt the earth’s rotation and then restart it again, even though the scriptures plainly affirm that it has happened? Or, do we have enough faith to place our confidence in the scriptures by rejecting the view of mainstream science, even though it flies in the face of accepted scientific laws and assumptions?
So, now we have come full circle in this assessment. When we read our scriptures, we are completely prepared to accept any spiritual truth they offer. But, when the words of the prophets attempt to teach us concepts that belong in the realm of natural law or science, we find it difficult to accept. So, how much faith do we really have? How committed are we, in reality, to the words of the Prophets?
This is vital to a thoroughgoing study of the gospel. One cannot say that he or she believes or holds sacred the scriptures if a decision is made to accept only a part of what the scriptures offer while rejecting another part. We cannot embrace the spiritual message of Joshua’s story and be ambivalent about the rest.
More importantly, rejecting the fullness of the prophets’ message closes the door on untold learning and growing possibilities — both scientific and spiritual, because the two are really not in opposition once a few simple truths are established that are typically denied by modern science.
Seeing Joshua’s story as an accurate, eyewitness account, Mormon’s explanation as corroborating and supporting documentation and Plato’s explanation as substantiation from another culture, we stand poised to learn much about the true nature of God’s wondrous creation, the language of the Prophets, ancient history, prophecy and the symbolism of the scriptures.
"And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come." (Doctrine and Covenants 93:24.) In this context, Joshua’s account is truly a key to the scriptures and a test of our faith.
© Anthony E. Larson, 2002
But while those spiritual truths are vital, there is much more to the scriptures that we often overlook — things that we were meant to learn as well as the spiritual truths, things that, when internalized, can immensely enhance and correct our worldview.
Take the story of Joshua’s long day, for example.
"Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
"And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed … So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. (Joshua 10:12, 13.)
Joshua’s story is a powerful example of the influence a prophet can wield when acting in the name of God, an astounding example of the use of priesthood power. This is the primary message of the story.
However, there is another side to the story — one generally overlooked. It is a secondary message, as in a parable, that holds a vital truth of its own and can prove most useful in shaping our view of science in general and astronomy in particular. Most importantly, it should teach us something about our Creator and the way he does things.
Since most readers overlook the historical accuracy of such extravagant scriptural accounts, they fail to grasp its more practical implications. In order to see this facet of the Joshua account clearly, we must focus on the implied physical nature of the event: the stopping and starting of Earth’s rotation. Of course, such an implication is unthinkable to most of us. According to all we have been taught, all that we have experienced, the Earth’s rotation cannot be stopped. The eminent astronomer, Carl Sagan, for example, declared it an impossibility.
So, what are we to make of the natural side of Joshua’s account? If the Earth really did not stop turning, as Joshua reported, what do we make of it? Is this account’s accuracy flawed? Are the scientists right, or are the scriptures right?
Happily for Latter-day Saints, there is another, unimpeachable witness in the scriptures that answers these questions definitively. That witness is the Book of Mormon.
Speaking of the power of God, Mormon editorialized, "Thus we see that … if he say unto the earth — Thou shalt go back, that it lengthen out the day for many hours — it is done;
"And thus, according to his word the earth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still; yea, and behold, this is so; for surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun. (Helaman 12:11-15.)
If there was any doubt about Joshua’s account, Mormon’s statement erases it. He makes it crystal clear; there is no equivocation, no hedging. He even goes so far as to clearly define the proper relationship between the movement of the sun and the earth.
Mormon is no geocentrist. He cannot be accused of ignorance in things astronomical. Latter-day Saints cannot question the validity of such a statement, since Joseph Smith declared the Book of Mormon to be "the most correct book."
So we have two scriptural witnesses that the earth can and has stopped turning. But there is a third, extra-scriptural witness.
The will of the Lord concerning extra-scriptural books is found in the Doctrine and Covenants.
"And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.
"… Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine … Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass …. (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118,78, 79.)
Thus, the Lord makes clear that studying theory that supports scriptural principle and doctrine is a worthy pursuit, so that we "may be instructed more perfectly."
An excellent example of such extra-scriptural text in support of Joshua’s observations is found in Plato’s Timaeus wherein Plato reveals that a Greek myth about the sun’s movement through the heavens is actually fact rather than fiction.
"There is a story … that once upon a time Phaeton, the son of Helios, having yoked the steeds in his father's chariot, because he was not able to drive them in the path of his father, burnt up all that was upon the earth, and was himself destroyed by a thunderbolt. Now this has the form of a myth, but really signifies a declination of the bodies moving in the heavens around the earth, and a great conflagration of things upon the earth …." (Timaeus)
Plato, whose works surely qualify as among "the best books," makes clear that the Phaeton myth is actually about a time when the sun went out of its normal course.
Now we have three witnesses: two from the scriptures, one from profane or secular history.
Here is where "the rubber meets the road," as one adage puts it. Time to "fish or cut bait," according to another. Do Latter-day Saints continue to believe mainstream scientists who assert that it would be impossible to halt the earth’s rotation and then restart it again, even though the scriptures plainly affirm that it has happened? Or, do we have enough faith to place our confidence in the scriptures by rejecting the view of mainstream science, even though it flies in the face of accepted scientific laws and assumptions?
So, now we have come full circle in this assessment. When we read our scriptures, we are completely prepared to accept any spiritual truth they offer. But, when the words of the prophets attempt to teach us concepts that belong in the realm of natural law or science, we find it difficult to accept. So, how much faith do we really have? How committed are we, in reality, to the words of the Prophets?
This is vital to a thoroughgoing study of the gospel. One cannot say that he or she believes or holds sacred the scriptures if a decision is made to accept only a part of what the scriptures offer while rejecting another part. We cannot embrace the spiritual message of Joshua’s story and be ambivalent about the rest.
More importantly, rejecting the fullness of the prophets’ message closes the door on untold learning and growing possibilities — both scientific and spiritual, because the two are really not in opposition once a few simple truths are established that are typically denied by modern science.
Seeing Joshua’s story as an accurate, eyewitness account, Mormon’s explanation as corroborating and supporting documentation and Plato’s explanation as substantiation from another culture, we stand poised to learn much about the true nature of God’s wondrous creation, the language of the Prophets, ancient history, prophecy and the symbolism of the scriptures.
"And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come." (Doctrine and Covenants 93:24.) In this context, Joshua’s account is truly a key to the scriptures and a test of our faith.
© Anthony E. Larson, 2002
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Temple Symbols and Christmas
There is very little about Christ in Christmas. It’s more about Santa Claus, gift giving, decorated Christmas trees and colorful lights than remembrance of the Savior’s birth.
Perhaps that’s because Christmas is a holiday largely based on what most would call pagan festivals. In fact, it’s likely that Christians appropriated an ancient, cross-cultural tradition for our Christmas celebration that predates Christ by centuries, if not millennia.
Christ was not born in December. We learn from modern revelation that he was actually born in April. (See Doctrine and Covenants, Section 20.)
The idea to celebrate Christmas on December 25 originated in about the 4th century. The Catholic Church, based in Rome, wanted to eclipse the festivities of the original pagan religion of the Romans called Saturnalia. It was their preeminent holiday, a midwinter celebration of the birthday of their sun god, Saturnus. Church leaders decided that in order to alter pagan beliefs, they had only to superimpose the birth of the Christ child on the pagan celebration. So, they instituted the Mass of Christ or Cristes Maesse in Old English — Christmas.
In fact, there are an abundance of pagan midwinter festivals from cultures and religions the world over.
Special sanctity was attached to the period of the winter solstice in most traditional societies of Europe even before the introduction of Christianity in the first millennium A.D. The cult of the tree was especially prevalent among the early Celtic and Nordic peoples of Europe. Centuries ago in Great Britain, the Druids used holly and mistletoe as well as evergreens as symbols of eternal life during mysterious winter solstice rituals. They would also place evergreen branches over doors to keep away evil spirits. According to the Roman sources, the Celts of Gaul and Britain worshipped in groves of trees. When Europeans adopted Christian traditions, they created a blend of their winter solstice celebrations with that of the Catholic Church.
So, the roots of Christmas and its symbolic trappings lie deep in pagan cultural traditions, practices and beliefs, not in Christianity at all. This admixture of traditions — part Christian, part pagan — has created the hodgepodge holiday we know today.
For those reasons, many Latter-day Saints disapprove of the “worldly” trappings of Christmas. But that distaste may not be justified.
In an astonishing irony, a close look shows us that the iconography of latter-day temples — the Salt Lake Temple being the quintessential example — echoes the traditional, symbolic trappings from hoary antiquity that are now part of our Christmas celebration, validating symbols like Santa Claus and the Christmas tree.
The basis for this claim becomes clear when we look for indications of our Christmas traditions in numerous ancient cultures and then connect them with the symbolism found on the exterior walls of the temple in Salt Lake City.
So, let’s review the origins and history of today’s Christmas.
The controversial Gerald Massey, in two large works (The Natural Genesis and Ancient Egypt), claimed that the priest-astronomers of ancient Egypt first formulated the religion and mythology of a polar god, which tradition then spread from Egypt to the rest of the world. This may have been the starting point for our Santa Claus, a magical individual who lives at the North Pole. Additionally, ancient Egyptians treasured and worshipped evergreens. When the winter solstice arrived, they brought green date palm leaves into their homes to symbolize life's triumph over death.
Later, the Greeks memorialized the winter solstice with Kronia, a festival recalling the Golden Age, ruled by Kronos, another polar god and the father of Zeus.
Following the Greeks, the Romans adopted the same festival, the predecessor of modern Christmas-tide, renamed it Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, their father-god and equivalent of the Greek’s Kronos. They decorated their houses with greens and lights and exchanged gifts. They gave coins for prosperity, pastries for happiness and lamps to light one's journey through life. They decorated their trees with bits of metal and candles in honor of their sun god.
Trees — especially the conifer or evergreen — were objects of sacred significance in many ancient cultures. The Norse religion involved worship in sacred groves, which were trees planted to simulate the walls of a temple. This connects the tree to temple building traditions. Indeed, nearly all temples, ancient and modern, are adorned with gardens, as is the case on Temple Square.
The Canaanites, too, had sacred groves for worship, and the disobedient nation of Israel adopted this form of worship at the outset of their wanderings out of Palestine.
"For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree." (1 Kings 14:23. See also 2 Kings 17:9, 10.)
"Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols." (Ezekiel 6:13.)
We learn also that Israel’s neighbors practiced a custom startlingly similar to our practice of putting up Christmas trees. "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." (Jeremiah 10:2-4.)
This passage also alludes to the belief in ancient cultures that the tree was symbolic of something cosmological or sky-based. The mention of the "signs of heaven" in the above verse is our clue. As with so many ancient religious or sacred symbols, the "celestial" or "heavenly" tree was an integral part of archaic cultures' star worship.
In Norse mythology, the great ash tree, Yggdrasil, connects the underworld and heaven with its roots and boughs. It’s also called the World Tree, which many ancient cultural traditions remember and reverence, that links heaven and Earth and shelters all the world. The mythical world tree was said to grow from the Earth’s pole and spread its branches among the stars. This "celestial tree" or "tree of life" — a term familiar to Latter-day Saints — was central to astral worship, as Jeremiah pointed out. It’s also the reason we put a star at the top of our Christmas tree.
To Norsemen, sprigs of evergreen holly symbolized the revival of the sun god Balder, who was originally the familiar Baal, sky god of the Old Testament.
Also in the Old Testament, trees are associated with the ancient Canaanite religion devoted to the mother goddess Asherah (Ashtoreth, Ishtar, "star"), which the Israelites, intent on establishing their monotheistic cult of Yahweh, sought to suppress. The cult celebrated Asherah and her consort Baal in high places, on the tops of hills and mountains, where altars dedicated to Baal and carved wooden poles or statues of Asherah (also translated as grove, or wood, or tree) were located.
The significance of trees in ancient Assyria, the acknowledged home of Ishtar or "star" worship, is shown in the numerous reliefs of winged deities watering or protecting sacred trees. Sacred trees, or trees of life, were associated in Ancient Assyria with the worship of the god Enlil, yet another sky god.
Perhaps that’s because Christmas is a holiday largely based on what most would call pagan festivals. In fact, it’s likely that Christians appropriated an ancient, cross-cultural tradition for our Christmas celebration that predates Christ by centuries, if not millennia.
Christ was not born in December. We learn from modern revelation that he was actually born in April. (See Doctrine and Covenants, Section 20.)
The idea to celebrate Christmas on December 25 originated in about the 4th century. The Catholic Church, based in Rome, wanted to eclipse the festivities of the original pagan religion of the Romans called Saturnalia. It was their preeminent holiday, a midwinter celebration of the birthday of their sun god, Saturnus. Church leaders decided that in order to alter pagan beliefs, they had only to superimpose the birth of the Christ child on the pagan celebration. So, they instituted the Mass of Christ or Cristes Maesse in Old English — Christmas.
In fact, there are an abundance of pagan midwinter festivals from cultures and religions the world over.
Special sanctity was attached to the period of the winter solstice in most traditional societies of Europe even before the introduction of Christianity in the first millennium A.D. The cult of the tree was especially prevalent among the early Celtic and Nordic peoples of Europe. Centuries ago in Great Britain, the Druids used holly and mistletoe as well as evergreens as symbols of eternal life during mysterious winter solstice rituals. They would also place evergreen branches over doors to keep away evil spirits. According to the Roman sources, the Celts of Gaul and Britain worshipped in groves of trees. When Europeans adopted Christian traditions, they created a blend of their winter solstice celebrations with that of the Catholic Church.
So, the roots of Christmas and its symbolic trappings lie deep in pagan cultural traditions, practices and beliefs, not in Christianity at all. This admixture of traditions — part Christian, part pagan — has created the hodgepodge holiday we know today.
For those reasons, many Latter-day Saints disapprove of the “worldly” trappings of Christmas. But that distaste may not be justified.
In an astonishing irony, a close look shows us that the iconography of latter-day temples — the Salt Lake Temple being the quintessential example — echoes the traditional, symbolic trappings from hoary antiquity that are now part of our Christmas celebration, validating symbols like Santa Claus and the Christmas tree.
The basis for this claim becomes clear when we look for indications of our Christmas traditions in numerous ancient cultures and then connect them with the symbolism found on the exterior walls of the temple in Salt Lake City.
So, let’s review the origins and history of today’s Christmas.
The controversial Gerald Massey, in two large works (The Natural Genesis and Ancient Egypt), claimed that the priest-astronomers of ancient Egypt first formulated the religion and mythology of a polar god, which tradition then spread from Egypt to the rest of the world. This may have been the starting point for our Santa Claus, a magical individual who lives at the North Pole. Additionally, ancient Egyptians treasured and worshipped evergreens. When the winter solstice arrived, they brought green date palm leaves into their homes to symbolize life's triumph over death.
Later, the Greeks memorialized the winter solstice with Kronia, a festival recalling the Golden Age, ruled by Kronos, another polar god and the father of Zeus.
Following the Greeks, the Romans adopted the same festival, the predecessor of modern Christmas-tide, renamed it Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, their father-god and equivalent of the Greek’s Kronos. They decorated their houses with greens and lights and exchanged gifts. They gave coins for prosperity, pastries for happiness and lamps to light one's journey through life. They decorated their trees with bits of metal and candles in honor of their sun god.
Trees — especially the conifer or evergreen — were objects of sacred significance in many ancient cultures. The Norse religion involved worship in sacred groves, which were trees planted to simulate the walls of a temple. This connects the tree to temple building traditions. Indeed, nearly all temples, ancient and modern, are adorned with gardens, as is the case on Temple Square.
The Canaanites, too, had sacred groves for worship, and the disobedient nation of Israel adopted this form of worship at the outset of their wanderings out of Palestine.
"For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree." (1 Kings 14:23. See also 2 Kings 17:9, 10.)
"Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols." (Ezekiel 6:13.)
We learn also that Israel’s neighbors practiced a custom startlingly similar to our practice of putting up Christmas trees. "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." (Jeremiah 10:2-4.)
This passage also alludes to the belief in ancient cultures that the tree was symbolic of something cosmological or sky-based. The mention of the "signs of heaven" in the above verse is our clue. As with so many ancient religious or sacred symbols, the "celestial" or "heavenly" tree was an integral part of archaic cultures' star worship.
In Norse mythology, the great ash tree, Yggdrasil, connects the underworld and heaven with its roots and boughs. It’s also called the World Tree, which many ancient cultural traditions remember and reverence, that links heaven and Earth and shelters all the world. The mythical world tree was said to grow from the Earth’s pole and spread its branches among the stars. This "celestial tree" or "tree of life" — a term familiar to Latter-day Saints — was central to astral worship, as Jeremiah pointed out. It’s also the reason we put a star at the top of our Christmas tree.
To Norsemen, sprigs of evergreen holly symbolized the revival of the sun god Balder, who was originally the familiar Baal, sky god of the Old Testament.
Also in the Old Testament, trees are associated with the ancient Canaanite religion devoted to the mother goddess Asherah (Ashtoreth, Ishtar, "star"), which the Israelites, intent on establishing their monotheistic cult of Yahweh, sought to suppress. The cult celebrated Asherah and her consort Baal in high places, on the tops of hills and mountains, where altars dedicated to Baal and carved wooden poles or statues of Asherah (also translated as grove, or wood, or tree) were located.
The significance of trees in ancient Assyria, the acknowledged home of Ishtar or "star" worship, is shown in the numerous reliefs of winged deities watering or protecting sacred trees. Sacred trees, or trees of life, were associated in Ancient Assyria with the worship of the god Enlil, yet another sky god.
So, our Christmas tree has a long and ancient tradition.
The evergreen Christmas tree also represents "World Tree" or "World Axis." The "Star of Guidance" that crowns the Christmas tree is also related to the North Star, Polaris. This natural compatibility of Christmas celebration with late December and beliefs about the evergreen tree, the North Pole, and the spirit called Father Winter, which survives in today’s Santa Claus, are evolutions of ancient tradition.
Notably, the six primary spires on the Salt Lake Temple are the symbolic equivalent of our Christmas tree. A round ball, the equivalent of a star on our tree, tops their conical shape.
Indeed, one of them bears an angel in place of the star, just as do many of our Christmas trees.
Just as the image of the star and the angel are interchangeable in ancient traditions, so too in modern Christmas tree decoration and temple iconography.
In Europe as well as in Asia, the Sacred Tree was considered to be the living image of the axis mundi or "Axis of the World," a figurative or imaginary still point or vertical shaft around which the world turns.
The North Star, Polaris, is the celestial placeholder for that sacred spot in the sky. It’s the only star in the sky that never moves. Throughout the night and year, all the stars move in circles around Polaris, called the pole star since it is located directly over the Earth’s north pole. As the night progresses, the stars will slowly move from east to west, circling around the pole star, due to the Earth’s rotation. Hence, all ancient cultures held that spot in the sky as sacred.
They also associated the pole star with the World Tree or Tree of Life and the central axis of the universe. In tradition, the top of the World Tree touched the North Star. This is the true meaning of the star on top of the modern Christmas tree, and also the reason that Santa makes his home at the North Pole in Christmas tradition.
In South Asia, traditions concerning the enchanted World Tree or World Axis have taken somewhat different forms. And yet, despite the differences, certain common patterns persist. The sacred tree, the vertical World Axis or stambha or stupa and the generous spirit from the far north are all features of pan-Indian culture that derive, most probably, from the same traditional sources as those of Western cultures.
The precedence of the cosmic center among the great ancient cultures has been noted and documented by many scholars. Almost a hundred years ago, William F. Warren, in his groundbreaking work, Paradise Found, identified the celestial pole as the home of the supreme god of ancient races. "The religions of all ancient nations ... associate the abode of the supreme God with the North Pole, the centre of heaven; or with the celestial space immediately surrounding it."
In a general survey of ancient language, symbolism, and mythology, John O’Neill (Night of the Gods) asserted that mankind’s oldest religions centered on a god of the celestial pole.
Latter-day Saints should note that, in keeping with ancient astral tradition, the constellation Ursa Major or Big Dipper, the traditional locator for the Pole Star, is depicted on the west wall of the Salt Lake Temple where it is positioned so as to ‘point’ to the northern sky and the polar star, Polaris.
Also seen immediately above these star stones are the Saturn Stones, circles with a ring.
This is no mere oddity or casual coincidence. As Nibley pointed out, the temple is an earthly replica of the heavens. It puts the uniquely modern temple squarely in the heart of ancient tradition — especially Christmas tradition. Certainly, it speaks to the reverence which modern temple builders placed on the star Polaris and its traditional role in ancient cultures worldwide.
Though it may seem completely odd to us, the Romans, who called themselves "Saturnians" and celebrated Saturnalia at the winter solstice, also placed their god Helios at the heavenly pole where Polaris now sits. In their pantheon, Helios was called the central sun, the axis of the celestial revolutions. But, Helios was also called Saturn.
All Greek astronomical traditions agreed that their god, Kronos, was originally the planet Saturn. What is now the sixth planet from the Sun stands at the center of the Greek paradise myth. According to their traditions, Kronos, the planet Saturn, ruled the heavens for a period, presiding over the Golden Age, then departed as the heavens fell into confusion.
Likewise, the Assyrians placed their central sun, Shamash, at the pole. But, they also asserted that Shamash was Saturn.
A stunning example of the polar Saturn is provided in Chinese astronomy, where the distant planet was called “the genie of the pivot” (Santa Claus?). Saturn was believed to have his station at the pole, according to the eminent authority on Chinese astronomy, Gustav Schlegel. In the words of Leopold deSaussure, Saturn was "the planet of the center, corresponding to the emperor on earth, thus to the polar star of heaven."
Finally, the Egyptian god Atum-Ra was said to be a central sun, standing atop the world pole. But, their traditions also depict Atum-Ra as Saturn.
As peculiar as this tradition of Saturn at the pole may appear to us, it has been acknowledged by more than one authority, including Leopold de Saussure. The principle also figured prominently in the recent work of the historian of science, Giorgio de Santillana and the ethnologist Hertha von Dechend, authors of Hamlet’s Mill. According to an ancient astronomical tradition, the authors suggest, Saturn originally ruled from the celestial pole.
It is also known that Latin poets remembered Saturn as god of "the steadfast star," the very phrase used for the pole star in virtually every ancient astronomy.
Manly P. Hall, noted authority on ancient belief systems wrote, "Saturn, the old man who lives at the north pole, and brings with him to the children of men a sprig of evergreen (the Christmas tree), is familiar to the little folks under the name of Santa Claus."
Santa Claus, descending yearly from his polar home to distribute gifts around the world, is a muffled echo of the Universal Monarch, Saturn, spreading miraculous good fortune. But while the earlier traditions place this sky god at the celestial pole, popular tradition now locates Santa Claus at the geographical pole — a telling example of originally celestial gods being brought down to earth.
The origin of Santa Claus imagery can be readily seen in Egyptian religious art. Atum/Ra, the god of the north, stands in his celestial boat, bark or ark, pulled across heaven by servants or souls.
The Egyptian image metamorphosed over time and across several ancient cultures to become, in Nordic cultures, the old man of the north, Santa Claus, pulled in a sleigh by reindeer.
It is at this point that these ancient traditions most specifically intersect with modern temple symbolism.
Most Saints know of the Sun Stones depicted on the Salt Lake Temple. Given the traditions of the Egyptians, Assyrians and the Romans, it seems likely that those Sun Stones, like the Big Dipper, were placed there in recognition of the ancient traditions, which declared that a "sun" was once positioned at the celestial pole.
Additionally, most Saints are unaware that there are Saturn Stones in the Salt Lake Temple. The original architectural renderings of the building by Truman O. Angel, clearly depicted a planet with two rings around it at the top of each south wall buttress.
Note that there is no such symbol on the Salt Lake Temple as it was finally erected, as we see it today. Instead, a repeated symbol (called a 'frieze' in architecture) of a circle with a ring around it (the traditional symbol for Saturn) was installed to replace the original icon. This circle frieze can be seen on the parapet stringcourse, immediately below the three towers at each end of the temple, and is still referred to in LDS literature and tradition as Saturn Stones.
Just as the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans worshiped a central sun that we, today, can identify from cross-cultural comparisons as Saturn, the various 'stones' on the Salt Lake Temple also celebrate that connection, once again correlating temple iconography with ancient, traditional symbolism that gave rise to our Christmas traditions.
It’s no stretch to see that modern prophets would employ the ancient, traditional symbolism of antiquity on a modern temple. The fact that they would properly use the traditional, sacred, religious icons from the past serves to strengthen Joseph Smith’s and Brigham Young’s claims to being prophets of God.
So, what should we make of Christmas with all its pagan symbolism and motifs? If modern prophets chose to memorialize the symbols of ancient traditions in latter-day temples, then who are we to reject those same symbols and traditions in our Christmas celebration?
© Anthony E. Larson, 2005
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Armageddon in the Atomic Age
Try to name all of the changes that the atom bomb and technology brought to our world in the middle of the last century. It certainly changed warfare; even populations far from any battle could be held hostage to annihilation. It changed politics and diplomacy; nuclear capable countries became overnight “superpowers.” It changed science; nothing since Newton’s laws of gravity or Copernicus’ heliocentrism has so profoundly effected our views of the universe. In reality, it’s hard to find some aspect of our lives that hasn’t changed in one way or another due to the advent of the atomic age.
In fact, as unlikely as it may seem to the average Christian - including Mormons - the atom bomb even changed our view of the scriptures and prophecy. Today’s believers, in general, have a radically different view of scriptural prophecy than their predecessors, thanks largely to the advent of the atomic age.
Historically, prophesied destructions of the last days such as those uttered by Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, John in his Revelation and even Jesus himself were viewed as the acts of an all-powerful God. The pronounced tumult and cataclysm in the heavens and on the earth, the apocalypse predicted to occur prior to the Savior’s second coming, were seen by Christians in centuries past as the forces of nature responding to the commands of their creator.
All that changed the day the first A-bomb was detonated in July 1945. "A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent,” recalled J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the A-bomb, who witnessed the first such detonation in the New Mexico desert. The awe-inspiring power of that blast reminded Oppenheimer of a line from the Hindu sacred book, the Bhagavad-Gita: "I am become death: the destroyer of worlds."
He wasn’t the only one to see mankind in a new, world-destroying light. From that point on, Christians began to see the atom bomb as the embodiment of God’s prophesied wrath. From Herbert W. Armstrong’s "World Tomorrow" radio ministry of the 1950s to Hal Lindsay’s book and movie, "The Late, Great Planet Earth," Christian ministers began to interpret the fantastic imagery from prophecy as immensely powerful super-weapons, nuclear weapons being the cornerstone of their exegesis.
It’s easy to see why. The bomb’s mushroom cloud looked like the "pillars of fire and smoke" envisioned in prophecy, its shockwave became the "blast from heaven," the soot and ash from its fallout darkened the sky, as in prophecy, and the long, deafening roar and rumble it produced became the "sound of many waters." Given its remarkable similarity to apocalyptic "fire and brimstone," and the effects of nuclear radiation exposure from fallout to the "sores, boils and blights" of prophecy, the A-bomb was seen as the tailor-made fulfillment of prophecy.
What’s more, the 20th century brought with it the development of extremely sophisticated machinery that completely replaced the crude weapons of yesteryear. Thanks to the development of airplanes, missiles and rockets, modern warfare expanded into an entirely new realm: the skies above us. Technology brought us jet airplanes and missiles that "roar upon the tops of the mountains," tanks and aircraft with a "sting like scorpions tails," and a multitude of other high-tech weapons such as missiles and lasers whose effects seem similar to the extravagant imagery of the prophetic apocalypse.
Then, the space age took man and his technologically advanced weapons into the very heavens themselves. Once the sole venue of God’s prophesied vengeance, the heavens were now mankind’s domain as well. Man could now wield god-like power both on earth and in the heavens.
All these developments brought about a revolutionary reversal in biblical interpretation. These astounding technological advances and super-weapons had a profound effect on the thinking of the Christian clergy as they read and interpreted prophecy. A whole new breed of millennialists appeared who saw the fulfillment of apocalyptic prophecy in the technological advancements of mankind. Religionists now proclaim that man with his super-weapons, not God, will be Apollyon (Abaddon), the destroyer, as noted by John in his Revelation. Mankind now had the power to single-handedly fulfill all prophecy of the last days and bring about Armageddon all on his own.
In fine, God was no longer necessary to the fulfillment of prophecy. Mankind would now provide all the elements of the apocalypse: pillars of fire devastating vast expanses and destroying whole populations, a quaking earth ruptured by super-powerful atomic bombs and the roaring of flying machines, ashen skies that turned the moon red and darkened the sun, death from virile plagues and toxic poisons unleashed on a hapless world populace, a "scorched earth" warfare that would leave a vast wasteland in the wake of advancing armies with super weapons.
God could sit on the sidelines, a celestial spectator, while we would bring about the end of the world. Deus ex machina; Deus ex homonum!
The problem is that this warped view of the apocalypse has been allowed to stand. Nothing could be further from the truth. Clearly, the egotism and myopia of modern man has overtaken the proper view of prophecy.
Nearly every Christian now sees the fulfillment of prophecy in these same terms. But it is a badly flawed view that should be corrected. This kind of myopic, egoistic interpretation is easily demolished when we look to scriptural accounts as accurate, eyewitness reports of God’s dealings with his children.
For example, no Christian in his or her right mind would suggest that the fire and brimstone that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah was really an atomic bomb. Early man had neither the technology nor the knowledge to produce such a weapon. It was destruction from God, not man.
And what about the fire from heaven that consumed Elijah’s sacrifice on Mt. Carmel or that destroyed the Assyrian army of Sennacherib as he laid siege to Jerusalem in the days of Isaiah? Ancient man could not have done that, but God could.
Was the Exodus’ pillar of fire and smoke, bloody water, darkness, earthquakes or plagues due to some super weapon? Was this man’s or God’s doing?
Were these not the forces of nature obeying the command of their creator? Why, then, do we allow descriptions of similar calamities to come in the last days to suggest the cause is other than God-sent?
The crux of this argument is the strikingly similar language used in the scriptures to describe both ancient catastrophes and those prophesied for the future. This logic is a vital key, axiomatic to understanding the Bible and the fulfillment of prophecy that every Christian should internalize: The calamities of the last days, prior to the Second Coming, will see a return of all the catastrophic types of destruction from the past, enumerated in the scripture. As a test, compare the "miracles" of Exodus and Revelation for yourself.
Otherwise, why would God use the irresistible forces of nature to do his bidding in the past and not in the future, leaving that to the hand of man instead? Isn’t it logical to assume that the striking similarities between ancient destructions and those prophesied for our future are an indication that they will be of the same nature, kind and source?
While it is true that "there will be wars and rumors of wars," fought by man, the true agents of destruction will be the forces of nature, "... shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the power of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven …"
We have fallen prey to delusions where the interpretation of prophecy is concerned because we failed to heed the teachings of the Bible. Perhaps it is time we returned to the proper perspective, rather than the distorted view induced by our myopic, egocentric, modern perceptions. Perhaps it is time we took man, his puny and fragile devices out of the equation — puny when compared to the forces of nature at God’s command — by recognizing that God alone will fulfill the promises made by the mouths of his holy prophets.
Perhaps this should also remind us of just how widespread, devastating and earthshaking the apocalypse of the last days will be — far greater by many orders of magnitude than any man-made calamity — when it does come upon us.
© Anthony E. Larson, 2002
In fact, as unlikely as it may seem to the average Christian - including Mormons - the atom bomb even changed our view of the scriptures and prophecy. Today’s believers, in general, have a radically different view of scriptural prophecy than their predecessors, thanks largely to the advent of the atomic age.
Historically, prophesied destructions of the last days such as those uttered by Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, John in his Revelation and even Jesus himself were viewed as the acts of an all-powerful God. The pronounced tumult and cataclysm in the heavens and on the earth, the apocalypse predicted to occur prior to the Savior’s second coming, were seen by Christians in centuries past as the forces of nature responding to the commands of their creator.
All that changed the day the first A-bomb was detonated in July 1945. "A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent,” recalled J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the A-bomb, who witnessed the first such detonation in the New Mexico desert. The awe-inspiring power of that blast reminded Oppenheimer of a line from the Hindu sacred book, the Bhagavad-Gita: "I am become death: the destroyer of worlds."
He wasn’t the only one to see mankind in a new, world-destroying light. From that point on, Christians began to see the atom bomb as the embodiment of God’s prophesied wrath. From Herbert W. Armstrong’s "World Tomorrow" radio ministry of the 1950s to Hal Lindsay’s book and movie, "The Late, Great Planet Earth," Christian ministers began to interpret the fantastic imagery from prophecy as immensely powerful super-weapons, nuclear weapons being the cornerstone of their exegesis.
It’s easy to see why. The bomb’s mushroom cloud looked like the "pillars of fire and smoke" envisioned in prophecy, its shockwave became the "blast from heaven," the soot and ash from its fallout darkened the sky, as in prophecy, and the long, deafening roar and rumble it produced became the "sound of many waters." Given its remarkable similarity to apocalyptic "fire and brimstone," and the effects of nuclear radiation exposure from fallout to the "sores, boils and blights" of prophecy, the A-bomb was seen as the tailor-made fulfillment of prophecy.
What’s more, the 20th century brought with it the development of extremely sophisticated machinery that completely replaced the crude weapons of yesteryear. Thanks to the development of airplanes, missiles and rockets, modern warfare expanded into an entirely new realm: the skies above us. Technology brought us jet airplanes and missiles that "roar upon the tops of the mountains," tanks and aircraft with a "sting like scorpions tails," and a multitude of other high-tech weapons such as missiles and lasers whose effects seem similar to the extravagant imagery of the prophetic apocalypse.
Then, the space age took man and his technologically advanced weapons into the very heavens themselves. Once the sole venue of God’s prophesied vengeance, the heavens were now mankind’s domain as well. Man could now wield god-like power both on earth and in the heavens.
All these developments brought about a revolutionary reversal in biblical interpretation. These astounding technological advances and super-weapons had a profound effect on the thinking of the Christian clergy as they read and interpreted prophecy. A whole new breed of millennialists appeared who saw the fulfillment of apocalyptic prophecy in the technological advancements of mankind. Religionists now proclaim that man with his super-weapons, not God, will be Apollyon (Abaddon), the destroyer, as noted by John in his Revelation. Mankind now had the power to single-handedly fulfill all prophecy of the last days and bring about Armageddon all on his own.
In fine, God was no longer necessary to the fulfillment of prophecy. Mankind would now provide all the elements of the apocalypse: pillars of fire devastating vast expanses and destroying whole populations, a quaking earth ruptured by super-powerful atomic bombs and the roaring of flying machines, ashen skies that turned the moon red and darkened the sun, death from virile plagues and toxic poisons unleashed on a hapless world populace, a "scorched earth" warfare that would leave a vast wasteland in the wake of advancing armies with super weapons.
God could sit on the sidelines, a celestial spectator, while we would bring about the end of the world. Deus ex machina; Deus ex homonum!
The problem is that this warped view of the apocalypse has been allowed to stand. Nothing could be further from the truth. Clearly, the egotism and myopia of modern man has overtaken the proper view of prophecy.
Nearly every Christian now sees the fulfillment of prophecy in these same terms. But it is a badly flawed view that should be corrected. This kind of myopic, egoistic interpretation is easily demolished when we look to scriptural accounts as accurate, eyewitness reports of God’s dealings with his children.
For example, no Christian in his or her right mind would suggest that the fire and brimstone that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah was really an atomic bomb. Early man had neither the technology nor the knowledge to produce such a weapon. It was destruction from God, not man.
And what about the fire from heaven that consumed Elijah’s sacrifice on Mt. Carmel or that destroyed the Assyrian army of Sennacherib as he laid siege to Jerusalem in the days of Isaiah? Ancient man could not have done that, but God could.
Was the Exodus’ pillar of fire and smoke, bloody water, darkness, earthquakes or plagues due to some super weapon? Was this man’s or God’s doing?
Were these not the forces of nature obeying the command of their creator? Why, then, do we allow descriptions of similar calamities to come in the last days to suggest the cause is other than God-sent?
The crux of this argument is the strikingly similar language used in the scriptures to describe both ancient catastrophes and those prophesied for the future. This logic is a vital key, axiomatic to understanding the Bible and the fulfillment of prophecy that every Christian should internalize: The calamities of the last days, prior to the Second Coming, will see a return of all the catastrophic types of destruction from the past, enumerated in the scripture. As a test, compare the "miracles" of Exodus and Revelation for yourself.
Otherwise, why would God use the irresistible forces of nature to do his bidding in the past and not in the future, leaving that to the hand of man instead? Isn’t it logical to assume that the striking similarities between ancient destructions and those prophesied for our future are an indication that they will be of the same nature, kind and source?
While it is true that "there will be wars and rumors of wars," fought by man, the true agents of destruction will be the forces of nature, "... shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the power of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven …"
We have fallen prey to delusions where the interpretation of prophecy is concerned because we failed to heed the teachings of the Bible. Perhaps it is time we returned to the proper perspective, rather than the distorted view induced by our myopic, egocentric, modern perceptions. Perhaps it is time we took man, his puny and fragile devices out of the equation — puny when compared to the forces of nature at God’s command — by recognizing that God alone will fulfill the promises made by the mouths of his holy prophets.
Perhaps this should also remind us of just how widespread, devastating and earthshaking the apocalypse of the last days will be — far greater by many orders of magnitude than any man-made calamity — when it does come upon us.
© Anthony E. Larson, 2002
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