The Gospel Connection

It is important for any Mormon investigating the claims of Talbott and other scholars and scientists about the early history of Earth’s heavens to know the extent to which Joseph Smith’s views support their unorthodox views. What we find there is remarkable.

While the capacity of Catastrophism, the Saturn myths and the Polar Configuration to consistently and fully explain the most enigmatic scriptural symbolism and temple iconography argues eloquently for their validity, another verification can be found in the documented teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the subjective statements and observations of the Saints who recorded their impressions of his teachings.

It is in those revealing statements that we see how similar Joseph’s views were to those who champion these unconventional views of ancient cosmology in our day and age. Indeed, as it is with the scriptures and temple iconography, these statements by a prophet can be fully appreciated only from the perspective of Catastrophism, the Saturn myths and the history of the Polar Configuration. This provides yet another level of confirmation or substantiation of this author’s assertions that Joseph would have embraced the work of those iconoclastic scholars who pursue these ideas.

There are dozens of accounts, preserved by both the prophet and his close confidants, which point us in the same direction. Ironically, most orthodox LDS scholars choose not to explore the implications of such statements. In fact, they tend to avoid them like the plague. Hence, search as one might, explanations of these views of early Mormons cannot be found in current church manuals, recent conference talks or in learned dissertations. This is probably so because those researchers lack the frame of reference to understand such symbolism and imagery. They have been indoctrinated in the tenets of Uniformity, which blinds them to concepts beyond their training. When, on rare occasion, they do turn to such accounts, they discount them as implausible, fanciful or of dubious merit, rather than address them with the gravity and sobriety that they deserve.

A list

As we have seen, the most convincing evidence that Joseph Smith understood the concept of the Polar Configuration is in the Dibble illustration, which has been thoroughly documented and examined elsewhere. That information leaves little room for doubt that Joseph thoroughly understood the crucial role that the ancient co-linear planetary alignment played in stimulating religious symbolism worldwide, as well as in the scriptures. That is, that unique alignment of planets alone can explain the imagery and iconography of the past, as modern researchers assert. While Dibble’s facsimile is anecdotal, since the prophet himself did not document it, it nevertheless comes from a reliable source. From the time of his conversion in 1829 in Kirtland, Ohio, until his death in Springville, Utah, in 1895, Dibble was a devout and faithful Latter-day Saint. During his lifetime, Dibble was a bodyguard to Joseph Smith, as well as a close friend and confidant.

The next most revealing teaching of the prophet was his address to the Saints who gathered on the floor of the Nauvoo Temple for a General Conference in 1843. His comments at that time regarding the second coming have been thoroughly documented in Volume 5 of the History of the Church. In that talk, Joseph unequivocally designated a planet or comet as the primary heavenly sign of the last days; it contains the best evidence of Joseph’s belief that an errant or rogue orb will play a profound part in those future events. Moreover, that same belief, by inference, colored his perspective of prophecy and its meaning.

Corroborating accounts

The rest of the evidence for Joseph Smith sharing these views is anecdotal, and therefore more questionable and subject to criticism. Nevertheless, it conforms with the views cited in evidence and noted above to such a high degree that it serves as corroboration, though it should be considered with care. Much of this supportive evidence from early diaries and journals of Latter-day Saints can be found in volumes one and three of The Prophecy Trilogy, so it will not be repeated here.

The first of two accounts we will examine comes from Orson F. Whitney, who served as an Apostle from 1906 until his death in 1931. He is remembered in church history for a haunting and poignant vision, which he called a dream, of the Savior’s agony in Gethsemane. But it is his explanation of the biblical Tower of Babel event to which we turn herein that reveals Joseph Smith’s concept of ancient conditions.

Bishop Whitney, as he preferred to be called, is an excellent source since his career as a newspaper and magazine editor as well as an assistant church historian taught him the virtue of disciplined accuracy. Of course, his calling to the Council of the Twelve Apostles puts his comments beyond reproach for any good Latter-day Saint.

The Babel planet

Among his collected discourses is a remarkable allusion to Joseph Smith’s belief that Zion once hovered above the Earth. Of course, things that linger in Earth’s heavens are commonly called planets and moons.
Elder Whitney wrote:

It has been taught that it was the object of the people who built the Tower of Babel to reach heaven, to attain to one of the starry planets, one of the heavenly bodies. This sounds, indeed, like a fairy tale ... that they could actually reach the sun, moon, or one of the stars, simply by piling brick upon brick and stone upon stone. But the Prophet Joseph Smith, whose mission it was to shed light upon the darkness of this generation, is said to have declared that it was not their intention to reach heaven, but to reach Zion, which was then suspended in mid-air, between heaven and earth, or at such a height as to render the project feasible. This certainly is more reasonable.” Collected Discourses, Vol.1, p. 359.)

Such a statement by a general authority must be taken seriously. In fact, when considered in light of Dibble’s illustration and Talbott’s Polar Configuration thesis, it makes perfect sense. If the Dibble drawing represents Joseph’s belief regarding the positioning of planets with respect to the Earth anciently, then he would have naturally envisioned that the Tower of Babel was constructed to reach observable orbs in close proximity. As a result, the ancients would have perceived the project as feasible.

Using the gospel taught by the prophet as a yardstick, the novel view of Earth’s ancient past proposed by Talbott et al becomes logical and understandable, no matter how science may view it. The common axis of rotation depicted by Joseph Smith in the Dibble illustration means that the fundamental tenet of Talbott’s thesis is certainly correct: Saturn and its companion planets appeared to hover in a fixed position in the heavens above Earth’s northern horizon due to that unique alignment.

As Elder Whitney noted learning from the prophet, the Babylonians were not trying to reach some distant planet, moon, sun or star, which all appear to steadily, unceasingly traverse the arch of the heavens. They knew that reaching one of those moving, distant bodies was futile. On the other hand, a planet or cluster of planets that remained fixed in the heavens presented an entirely different prospect: It appeared close enough to be reachable and was fixed to one point in the sky. This is the implication of Elder Whitney’s observation when taken together with the Dibble drawing and Talbott’s thesis.

Thus, disparate pieces of evidence come together to further corroborate and substantiate the premise that Joseph Smith believed that the Earth was once part of a congregation of planets.

An interesting evening with the prophet

There is one more anecdotal account that sheds still more light on this confluence of ideas. Taken from a book by Robert W. Smith called, Scriptural and Secular Prophecies Pertaining to The Last Days, this account attributes some remarkable statements to the prophet, Joseph Smith. It purports to be an interview with Homer M. Brown, a past Patriarch of the Granite, Utah, Stake and grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Brown, the principles in the story.

In that interview, Patriarch Brown explains that the setting for his grandparents’ story is their home in Nauvoo before the prophet was martyred and the Saints were forced to move West. According to the account, one evening Joseph Smith came to his grandparents’ door seeking refuge, saying, “Brother Brown, can you keep me overnight? The mobs are after me.” He was granted asylum and offered a meal, which he accepted.

In the gospel discussion that followed, Bro. Brown inquired of the prophet as to the whereabouts of the Lost Tribes of Israel. Joseph Smith’s response was to take them outside. “Come to the door and I will show you,” he said. “Come on, Sister Brown, I want you both to see.”

According to the account, the reason Joseph took them out into the starlit night was to find Polaris, the North Star.

“Brother Brown, can you show me the Polar Star?”

“Yes, sir,” responded Brother Brown, pointing to the North Star. “There it is.”

“Yes, I know,” said the Prophet, “but which one? There are a lot of stars there.”

“Can you see the points of the Dipper?” asked Brother Brown.

The Prophet answered, “Yes.”

“Well,” he said, pointing up to the largest star, “trace the pointers. That is the North Star.”

“You are correct,” the Prophet answered. (Scriptural and Secular Prophecies Pertaining to The Last Days, pp. 89, 90.)

One is compelled to ask why the Prophet insisted that the Browns not only locate the North Star but that they do so using the “Dipper,” the constellation Ursa Major, to find it? What made stargazing so important in the Prophet’s mind that he would risk exposure in the midst of his flight from the mob by going out-of-doors with the Browns — even if only momentarily? Obviously, he must have felt it was a vital point to make in his attempt to answer Brother Brown’s question. But, what made it so important?

Curiously, the answer to those questions is never provided. While the prophet went on to reveal many vital and crucial concepts on that occasion, according to the account as we have it, the concept of locating the North Star is never revisited. Patriarch Brown never explained why Joseph sought to make that point.

However, a clue to why may be found in a place we might never expect to look — high up on the west wall of the Salt Lake Temple.


Many visitors to Temple Square over the years have gazed up at the temple and wondered, no doubt, why the stars of the constellation Ursa Major, the Bear or the Big Dipper are etched there in stone. Certainly, those icons were not placed on that sacred edifice by chance or whimsy.

A moment of deliberation reveals that those mute temple stones echo the concept that Joseph Smith tried to teach to the Browns on that evening in Nauvoo. They involve the same celestial bodies, Polaris and Ursa Major, and are an iconic representation of that same concept he tried to impress upon the Browns.

The presence of that illustration on the Salt Lake Temple allows us to infer that the Browns’ account is accurate and that Joseph must have taught the same concepts to others. We can also infer that, without a doubt, it was Joseph Smith who passed on the relevance and meaning of these astronomical elements to Brigham Young, Truman O. Angel and Orson Pratt, those responsible for the iconography of the Salt Lake Temple. Certainly Pres. Young, the prophet who oversaw the construction of the Salt Lake Temple, felt they were important enough to include them in the iconography of that sacred edifice.

But why?

With these two correlations in evidence — the Brown account and the temple icons — we are still left with the same question. Why were these stars important to a Prophet of God? What significance do they have to the Prophet’s teaching of the restored gospel?

To answer those questions, we must turn to the Dibble illustration, for it is in an analysis of that drawing that the answers can be found.


The logical reason for locating and focusing on the pole star is represented in this illustration. If two or three planets were ‘stacked’ one proximate to another along a common axis of rotation, where the poles of each were in alignment with one another, the inhabitants of the ‘bottom’ planet in the stack would see the other planets in only one place in their sky: at the same place Polaris sets today in ours. Thus, the exercise of locating Polaris in the heavens today is the only way of knowing where this ancient configuration of planets stood. Polaris, then, represents the polar axis drawn through the three orbs in the Dibble illustration.

Thus, in the Dibble illustration we have the explanation of the Brown account and the Salt Lake Temple icons. We find a convergence of these concepts taught by the prophet only in the arrangement illustrated in the above picture. These three bits of evidence serve to more fully explain one another, at the same time demonstrating what the prophet’s thinking was on this concept.

The correlation between these three accounts is not coincidental, invented or forced. The rational conclusion is that the prophet’s fixation on the pole star in the Browns’ account, its duplication on the west wall of the Salt Lake Temple and its representation in the Dibble drawing constitutes compelling evidence of his belief that is intriguing and eye-opening.

Further, it serves to confirm that a prophet of God held similar views of Earth’s ancient history to those of Dave Talbott, the primary proponent of the Saturn myths and the Polar Configuration of planets in modern times. Three planets did stand, anciently, in the place where Polaris stands today.

The Polar Configuration

At a distance, the grouping looked much like this illustration. Left to right, the orbs, as Talbott proposes them are Saturn, Venus, Mars and Earth.


From the perspective of earthbound observers, the grouping would have looked as they do in the next panel.


Note that from the alignment of the planets in this illustration, the three orbs appeared to hover above Earth’s north pole — precisely the alignment referred to in the present discussion.

Misguided criticism

Perhaps it should not be surprising that most Mormon scholars have been critical of this assessment as well as the Whitney account, the Brown account and the Dibble illustration. They see them as too fantastic to believe, if considered only as isolated, unrelated items, which have little or no scientific substantiation. Their worldview does not take into account the temple symbols, nor do they know anything of Talbott’s research.

That modern LDS scholars do not give much credence to the Dibble illustration or the Brown account is an indication of their ignorance. The connection with temple symbolism is unmistakable and the commonalities are undeniable to all but the most calloused observer.

Only one set of conditions in Earth’s ancient heavens can provide a context for all this evidence: Talbott’s Polar Configuration. Only a group of planets aligned on a common axis of rotation with the Earth could provide a context for understanding the intersection of these ideas. The temple icons, the Dibble illustration and the Brown account therefore form a tripartite confirmation that this was Joseph’s belief.

More confirmation from temple icons

But there is more to the account that further confirms the relevance of the Browns’ story while also expanding our view of the Prophet’s understanding. According to the Brown account, Joseph went on to point out another star in the sky that night.

“Now, do you discern a little twinkler to the right and below the Pole Star, which we would judge to be about the distance of 20 feet from here?” asked Joseph.

“Yes, sir,” said Brother Brown.

The prophet then asked, “Sister Brown, do you see that star also?”

“Yes sir,” was her answer. (Ibid., p. 90.)

Taken at face value, this part of the account seems to have little meaning. The distance of “20 feet from here” and direction the prophet cited between the “little twinkler” and the pole star is entirely subjective. Only if we could see where he gestured as he spoke could we know what star was indicated. Due to the vagueness of the account, we cannot.

However, there is a relationship between Polaris and another prominent star in our present skies, as suggested by Talbott, that may help us identify what star the prophet pointed out to the Browns. That planet is Saturn, the most prominent planet in myth and legend.

Evidence that Joseph may have been pointing to Saturn, along with Polaris and Ursa Major, on the occasion of his visit with the Browns can also be found in Salt Lake Temple iconography. The original architectural renderings (see south elevation below) of the Salt Lake Temple, where an icon of a planet with a ring around it can be seen near the top of the buttresses along the south wall, above the Sunstones, show that Saturn held a prominent place in the designers’ hierarchy of symbols for the temple.


Though these icons were not used in the final building, it is well documented in Mormon history that the designers specifically designated these as Saturnstones.

Thus, while it is not evidenced in the laconic account of the Browns, it is reasonable to conclude, based on obscure temple symbolism, that Joseph sought to point out the planet Saturn on that occasion.

Still more prophetic insights

Having established the validity of the Browns’ account while noting its deficiencies, we can proceed to the additional information that it brings to our understanding of the Prophet’s views. Patriarch Brown continued with his grandparents’ account.

After re-entering the house, the Prophet said, “Brother Brown, I noticed when I came in that you were reading the Doctrine and Covenants. Will you kindly get it?”

He did so. The Prophet turned to Section 133 and read, commencing at the 26th verse and throughout to the 34th verse. He said, after reading the 31st verse, “Now, let me ask you what would cause the everlasting hills to tremble with more violence than the coming together of the two planets?

“Now,” he said, “scientists will tell you that it is not scientific, that two planets coming together would be disastrous to both. But, when two planets or other objects are traveling in the same direction and one of them with a little greater velocity than the other, it would not be disastrous because the one traveling faster would over take the other. Now, what would cause the mountains of ice to melt quicker than the heat caused by the friction of the two planets coming together?”

And then he asked the question, “Did you ever see a meteor falling that was not red hot? So, that would cause the mountain of ice to melt.” (Ibid.,pp. 89, 90.)

The most striking thing about these comments is that the prophet was talking about planetary catastrophism, something most Mormon scholars are unwilling to acknowledge and part of the reason why the Brown story is disparaged in scholastic circles within the church. Yet, these comments are consistent with Joseph’s observation that the “grand sign” of the last days will be a “comet, a planet,” (History of the Church, Vol. 5, p. 337.) lending additional credibility to Patriarch Brown’s account.

Unmistakably, the Prophet attributed future events and conditions predicted for the last days in Section 133 to a near-collision of planets. By inference, that was the primary mechanism of change in the past as well. If we are to take our lead from Joseph Smith, then we, too, must see those events, past and future, from that same perspective.

Worlds in collision

Joseph took great care to point out to the Browns that scientists in their day would not share his scenario of one planet overtaking another. Ironically, over a hundred years later, in 1950, when Velikovsky proposed a similar scenario for the Exodus events, scientists and scholars universally condemned him. Little had changed in that time.

Sadly, little has changed in this regard today, over 160 years later. Mormons who presently accept the prophet’s view of planetary catastrophe also face ridicule and derision — as often as not from their peers in the church as well as from sectarian and secular sources.

Electromagnetic effects were clearly not part of the prophet’s paradigm since they were not known by science in his day. Nevertheless, he recognized that an overtaking of one planet by another would involve some mechanism that would produce heat, which he attributed to “friction of the two planets coming together.” While there would be no actual contact of the two orbs, which he accurately deduced, the interaction of the electrically charged plasma boundaries would, in effect, collide, deflecting the two planets from any collision while producing prodigious amounts of heat.

The same electromagnetic properties of the two planets that prevents an out-and-out collision would also serve to lock the two into an orbital embrace, one with another, if, as the prophet asserted, one gradually overtook the other. Such is the nature of electromagnetic fields in space. The simultaneous attraction/repulsion power of their respective electromagnetic fields, which is vastly stronger than the force of gravity, would cause them to “join,” in effect, either temporarily or permanently.

A new polar configuration

This is clearly the scenario the prophet envisioned in his discussion with the Browns, one that would see a reestablishment of the same celestial manifestations as those seen anciently in the Polar Configuration proposed by Talbott. Hence, the remainder of the story told by Patriarch Brown of his grandparents reflects elements already familiar to those who have embraced the concept of the polar grouping and the great pillar, river, mountain or highway that seemed to connect it to the Earth.

Thus, the meaning of the prophet’s final observations to the Browns is clear.

“And relative to the great highway which should be cast up when the planet returns to its place in the great northern waters, it will form a highway and waters will recede and roll back.”

He continued, “Now, as to their coming back from the northern waters, they will return from the north because their planet will return to the place from whence it was taken.

“Relative to the waters rolling back to the north, if you take a vessel of water and swing it rapidly around your head, you won’t spill any. But if you stop the motion gradually, it will begin to pour out.

“Now,” he said, “Brother Brown, at the present time this earth is rotating very rapidly. When this planet returns it will make the Earth that much heavier, and it will then revolve slower. That will account for the waters receding from the Earth for a great while, but it has now turned and is proceeding rapidly eastward.” (Ibid., p. 91.)

Once again, a prophet of God has a keen understanding of the forces at work in such an event. In such a ‘joining,’ two natural forces would combine to “recede and roll back” the oceans of the Earth to the poles. As Joseph noted with his bucket-swinging analogy, Earth’s rotation might slow, thus diminishing the centrifugal force that currently pushes the oceans toward the equator, allowing a more even distribution of ocean water around the globe, the net effect of which would be to lower water levels at the equator while raising them at the poles. Additionally, the gravitational tug of the neighboring body located above Earth’s north pole would create a permanent tide at both poles, thus serving to further move water to the poles. This is the sum and substance of Joseph’s final comment to the Browns, one that modern catastrophists readily acknowledge as a recognized consequence of planets locked together in a common polar alignment.

A thorny, ‘tribal’ issue

One other issue must be dealt with before closing this investigation of the Prophet’s beliefs. When Joseph Smith spoke of “they” in this account, he was speaking of the Ten Lost Tribes. Indeed, the reader should know that it was in the context of understanding the fate of those missing tribes that the entire Brown story was told.

The question of the Lost Tribes has plagued the church from the Nauvoo period forward. This is likely so because Joseph taught this concept to many Nauvoo-era Saints, as will be documented further on. Acrimonious debate among church members regarding the fate of those tribes of Israel caused the brethren to suppress the entire issue by labeling it a “mystery,” and counseling the Saints to avoid such discussions. It is not the objective of this author to violate that prohibition or incite anew a debate as to the whereabouts of those vanished tribes. Each Saint must decide this issue for himself or herself.

The vital point one would hope to make in all this is that Joseph Smith clearly believed in the two primary tenets of this author’s thesis regarding ancient history: Planetary catastrophes were the agents of ancient supernatural events and conditions recorded in the scriptures, which are also predicted for the last days; equally important is the concept that Earth was once part of a extraordinary grouping of planets that now move on independent orbits within the solar system.

More collision accounts from the prophet

Many other early accounts from those who personally knew Joseph Smith repeat the theme of planetary catastrophism in the context of the Lost Tribes question. Herewith are three additional such recollections for the reader to contemplate — one from the Patriarch Brown account we have just reviewed and the other two from personal journals.

Brother Brown, will you give us some light and explanation of the 5th verse on page 396 of the Hymn Book which speaks of the Ten Tribes of Israel, or the part of this earth which formed another planet, according to the hymn of (written by) Eliza R. Snow.

“Yes, sir. I think I can answer your question. Sister Eliza R. Snow, in visiting my grandparents was asked by my grandmother, ‘Eliza, where did you get your ideas about the Ten Lost Tribes being taken away as you explain it in your wonderful hymn?’
“She answered as follows, ‘Why, my husband (Joseph Smith) told me about it.’” (Ibid., p. 88.)

Thurs., Mar. 10 (1881) … at night paid Sister Eliza R. Snow a short visit and had some conversation with her on the dividing of the earth. She told me that she heard the prophet say that when the ten tribes were taken away the Lord cut the Earth in two, Joseph Striking his left hand in the center with the edge of his right to illustrate the idea and that they (the 10 tribes) were on an orb or planet by themselves and when they return with the portion of this earth that was taken away with them, the coming together of these two bodies or orbs would cause a shock and make the ‘Earth reel to and fro like a drunken man.’ She also stated that he said the Earth was now ninety times smaller now than when first created or organized. (Journal of Charles Walker, p. 38.)

The winter following (1840), I attended a public meeting held in Vincent Knight’s house at which the Prophet Joseph Smith gave the following instruction: ‘When this world was first made it was a tremendous big thing. The Lord concluded it was too big. We read in the Scriptures that in the days of Peleg the earth was divided, so the Lord divided the earth. When the ten tribes of the children of Israel went into the north country he divided it again, so the earth has been divided and subdivided. We also read in the Scriptures that the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunken man. What shall cause this earth to reel to and fro like a drunken man? We read that the stars shall fall to the earth like a fig falling from a fig tree.

When these stars return to the place where they were taken from, it will cause the earth to reel to and fro. Not that the planets will come squarely against each other, in such case both planets would be broken to pieces. But in there rolling motion they will come together where they were taken from which will cause the earth to reel to and fro. (Journal of Samuel Holister Rogers, p. 8.)

Such seemingly extravagant and speculative accounts, attributed to Joseph Smith by early church members and general authorities, have been discounted and all but forgotten in recent years by church members. They are never mentioned in church manuals, quoted in conference talks or discussed in any way. This is probably so because such statements contradict our present cultural views, given us by modern science, of the past history of our solar system and Earth’s career in it.

Curiously, only with the alternate perspective that Velikovsky, Talbott, et al bring to the equation do these statements attributed to Joseph Smith take on renewed meaning. Indeed, the views of those unconventional scholars serve as added corroboration for Joseph’s many, otherwise seemingly nonsensical, statements recorded by early Mormons.

For those of us who sincerely believe that Joseph was a visionary and seer, this knowledge allows us to better appreciate the depth of his marvelous contribution to our understanding of the gospel, the scriptures, the past and the future.

Now we can comprehend them as he understood and taught them.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2004

The Two Gospels

Once the symbolic nature of the scriptures is understood, as well as its origins and its implementation, an entirely new perspective of the gospel emerges. Knowledge of the events and conditions that lead to the religious symbolism of all ancient cultures allows us to see that gospel symbolism and the symbolism of idolatry both have their roots in the same ancient history. That is, the symbolism found in all ancient religions — false and true — shares the same origins.

It also allows us to make a clear distinction between the symbolism of the gospel and the truths of the gospel — hence the title of this article. One gospel is symbolic; the other is literal. The trick is recognizing which is which.

The gospel of symbolism

The symbolism of the gospel is typified by the New Testament book, Revelation. Nearly everything John wrote of was described in traditional, symbolic terms. In fact, it becomes clear that little about future events is ever revealed literally. With only a few notable exceptions, revelation given to prophets seldom explains the future in literal terms. Symbolism is the device used almost exclusively to depict future events. (It is not within the scope of this article to attempt an explanation as to why this is so. Whether symbolism is injected into the message by the prophet, who then transmits it to the people, or whether it comes from a divine source, the reader may judge for himself. Still, the question is worth asking, rhetorically. Why would revelation from an eternal source contain symbolism born in this creation only?)

This symbolic gospel can be an invaluable vehicle for communicating, but both the giver and the receiver must have a clear understanding of its use. Otherwise, the receiver is left with a multitude of confusing images and metaphors that seem meaningless and muddled — the fevered inventions of manic minds. The Savior’s use of parables is a mild form of this symbolic or metaphorical method. Those who were “enlightened” got the full meaning of his story, while the remainder simply heard a prosaic homily.

Clearly, the symbolic gospel is a kind of Gnosticism — a system of metaphors and symbols that both the giver and the receiver must know (hence the Greek term for knowing, gnosis) to properly interpret the story or lesson. Gnostic writings are cluttered with symbolism that is still largely incomprehensible to modern scholars and religionists.

Latter-day Saints fail to recognize that even modern revelation has this element of Gnosticism. Yet, they seem perfectly willing to embrace the gnostic elements of temple worship. This may be a reflection of the intellectual dichotomy the Saints exhibit, or it may be due to simple ignorance and indifference.

This universal use of symbolism is the reason the traditions of other religions — indeed, all the myths and legends of antiquity — seem so extravagant to the modern mind. We have not been schooled in their symbolic traditions. The modern, rationalist philosophy has no place for ancient symbolism. The rationalist — whether an agnostic or a believer — sees ancient symbolism as so much nonsense. Thus, any religion based in ancient symbolism holds no meaning for him or her.

Common traditions, common symbols

The common origin of ancient symbolic religious systems may explain many strange similarities between religions that are usually explained away by the process of diffusion (the migration of ideas, beliefs and practices from one culture to another). The fundamental ideas behind common beliefs and traditions originated in the same ancient heavenly events. It also explains why all ancient religions possess a cosmology in one form or another.

All ancient religious traditions, no matter the religion or culture, share a common origin in ancient heavenly events. Yet, each culture created unique stories, gods, and rituals based on those events. At first glance, the symbolic traditions of one culture appear to have nothing to do with those of another. Yet, upon closer inspection and considering those ancient celestial events, we find that they all share a remarkable degree of coincidence. Those ancient traditions all tell of gods and demons: super-human beings who ruled the heavens, whose actions determined the fate of mankind; they describe a cataclysmic creation and the near destruction of the world. Their traditions are intricately interwoven with astronomical interests: stars, suns, and planets. These religions are filled with concerns for the movement and order of the heavens: the solstice, the equinox, precession, the rising of certain constellations and planets, etc. Seen from this perspective, the disciplines of Comparative Mythology and Comparative Religion are very nearly the same discipline.

This pervasive use of symbolism also explains a small curiosity. When Joseph Smith inquired of the Lord about the meanings of certain passages in Revelation, he was given a more extensive explanation of the symbols themselves — more symbolism, in other words — not their origin or their meaning. Most Saints have the impression that the revelation gave literal explanations for the symbols, but a careful reading will demonstrate that this is not the case. Rather, he was given all the shades of meaning that have been attributed to the symbols from hoary antiquity, attributions typical of the elaboration and exposition of all such symbols that have been going on since the beginning of time. (See Doctrine and Covenants, 77, “. . . explanation of the Revelation of St. John.”)

The gospel of literalism

The truths of the literal gospel are typified by latter-day revelation. (For example, see Doctrine and Covenants 138, “. . . a vision of the redemption of the dead.”) This literal gospel invariably transmits information about the nature of our relationship with God, the pre-existence, the afterlife, the eternities and the purpose of mortality. There is nothing symbolic about it, except perhaps for the language used in a vain attempt to explain the ineffable.

Thus, what we call the gospel is really a combination of two primary elements: symbolism from ancient tradition and literalism from eternal truths. If we can discriminate between the two, there is little concern about misinterpretation. However, if we perceive the two as one, then misunderstanding is inevitable. It is this kind of confusion — mistaking imagery for reality — that has caused some of the most heated debate among Latter-day Saints in this dispensation. More apostasy and more bitter acrimony can be traced to this cause than almost any other.

Take the second coming, for example. The literal gospel teaches us that the Savior will come again to the Earth to usher in an age of peace and prosperity called the Millennium. It gives no details about the actual event, except to suggest that he will simply descend from heaven as he ascended. (See Acts 1:11.) The symbolic gospel describes his coming as if it were to be a staged media event, as the return of a conquering hero: Christ comes with fire in his eyes, wearing many crowns, riding a white horse, with a sword in his mouth, his clothing dipped in blood, and accompanied by concourses of angels. (See Revelation 19:11-15.)

The literal gospel teaches truths; the symbolic gospel employs elaborate imagery to make an entirely different point. In this case, as with so very many other doctrinal issues, this view of the scriptures helps avoid misinterpretations.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2003

Another Modern Myth

Before the advent of the nuclear age, scientists pondered the origins of the Sun’s tremendous expenditure of heat and light. Many ideas were advanced; none were universally accepted. Most shrugged their intellectual shoulders, saying that the source of the Sun’s fire was yet a mystery.

With the advent of the atomic bomb, science felt they had their answer. Physicists and astronomers advanced the idea — and the public accepted it — that the Sun was fired by the same fuel as the weapon that won the war in the Pacific, the atom. The logic was rather compelling, too, when one considered the prodigious amount of energy released in an atomic bomb. Everyone saw the awesome size and power of a nuclear detonation thanks to another, new, post-war invention — television. We were regaled with seemingly endless news reports and documentaries regarding the unthinkable devastation that awaited us if the two superpowers of the Cold War ever had the temerity and foolhardiness to employ those weapons.

Thus, the theory became fact. Nuclear fission, and later fusion, was thought to be responsible for the vast amounts of energy that the Sun radiated. Only nuclear processes, it was reasoned, could release that much energy from matter in order to power the Sun for millions of years.

Then we entered the space age. Ever more sophisticated equipment was employed to probe the workings of the Sun. Unmanned space probes were launched toward the Sun in an ongoing effort to understand it. Ironically, the more they learned, the less the data fit with their nuclear model.

The temperature problem

The first problem was discovered when they took the Sun’s temperature, so to speak.

The nuclear model of the Sun predicted that the atomic fires at its center were the hottest, that the heat and pressure at the Sun’s core were ideal for supporting nuclear fusion and fission. Moving away from the active core, they hypothesized, the temperature would gradually drop until, at the surface, it would be relatively cool, certainly cooler than the center.

What they learned surprised everyone. The sun was much cooler, relatively speaking, at the center than at the surface. Indeed, the hottest spot was above the surface, in the corona. That is, the point of greatest heat and light was not within the Sun or even on the surface. It was located high above the surface in what can be characterized as the Sun’s atmosphere.

How could that be? What could cause a nuclear-fired star like our Sun to have such anomalous heat characteristics? It was like finding that a wood stove was hottest outside rather than inside where the fire burned. The newly acquired data did not fit the model of a nuclear-powered Sun. Something was clearly wrong.

No one really seemed interested in doubting the theory, however. Rather than question the nuclear nature of the Sun, scientists sought for another explanation that might reconcile the data with the nuclear engine theory of the Sun.

Several ad hoc explanations were ginned up to explain the anomalous temperature readings within the context of the nuclear Sun theory, most of them so convoluted that the individual of average intelligence and education was unable to dispute them, much less follow the logic.

Neutrinos, neutrinos everywhere

Then there is the neutrino problem.

Neutrinos are highly energetic subatomic particles emitted by nuclear reactions. They are hard to detect because they have no electrical charge or apparent mass, and they pass easily through matter. They are ubiquitous in space. Physicists theorize that neutrinos are ejected from stars because the stars, like our Sun, are fired by nuclear reactions. We are bombarded by neutrinos from those stars every day of our lives, but they go unnoticed because they pass through us as easily as light passes through a pane of glass. Indeed, most neutrinos are so energetic that they can pass easily through anything on the Earth’s surface — walls, cars, buildings, whatever.

Scientists believed that our star, the Sun, ought to emit a huge number of neutrinos since — according to the current theory of its workings — it generates its power by a nuclear fission reaction. Scientists knew from practical experience with the atomic bomb that neutrinos are the automatic byproducts of such reactions.

An experiment was devised in order to test the theory by counting the most energetic neutrinos — those emitted by the closest star, our Sun. Of course, if you wish to sample only those neutrinos from the Sun, then you must have a way to screen out the constant rain of cosmic rays from space that would interfere with any such detection. Physicists determined that the only way they could “see” neutrinos from our sun was to go deep into an existing mine where the less energetic particles from space would have been slowed or stopped after passing a considerable distance through Earth’s crust, while more energetic neutrinos from our neighboring star would still reach their detection equipment deep within the Earth. Using sophisticated devices, they would be able to detect the most energetic neutrinos of all, those that come from our Sun.

Nuclear physicists expected to find copious numbers of neutrinos in their experiment, thus confirming their nuclear engine theory for the Sun. They were stunned to discover that the opposite was true. Instead of detecting numerous neutrinos, as should have been the case according to their theories, they “saw” almost none. How could this be?

As with the temperature problem they refused to follow the Occam’s Razor principle: The simplest explanation is probably the correct one. They could not bring themselves to question their elegant thermonuclear theories. Once again, scientists conjured up numerous ad hoc theories to explain still more data that contradicted their model of a nuclear Sun, including new categories of neutrinos that came in various “flavors.”

These and other anomalies too esoteric to discuss here point away from the theory of the Sun as a nuclear engine. Instead, they point to the Sun as an electromagnetic engine.

The light goes on

Consider this possibility: We may live in an electric universe, the only other form of energy known to have enough power to light the Sun. The galaxies may be lit, ordered and shaped by electrical energy, the stars within them powered by electricity. The Earth we live on, indeed all the planets and moons in our solar system, may be immersed in, defined and regulated by electromagnetic fields.

Many scholars and maverick scientists have speculated recently that such may be the case. They point out that the Sun may operate like a negatively charge body accumulating additional charge from the environment it moves through, then divesting itself of that energy by discharging like a great cathode in space. (The cathode in your television set does just that to light up the screen.) This accumulated charge is released in a constant discharge, creating light and heat, in a process somewhat analogous to that in a fluorescent light bulb.

It fits the observed data

This would explain the lack of neutrinos from the Sun. They would be incidental to an electric Sun, not primary as in a nuclear Sun. It would also explain the temperature anomaly. The active, energetic area, the corona or photosphere, would be the hottest, with the surface of the Sun and the interior registering progressively cooler relative temperatures. Of course, this is exactly what astrophysicists observed when they took the Sun’s temperature.

Once again, Velikovsky was the first to speculate that in past catastrophic near collisions, the complex but powerful electromagnetic forces brought to bear by planets closing on one another generated colossal interplanetary effects such as interplanetary lightning, disturbed rotation, massive inductive heating and numerous other secondary, electrical phenomena. How could a passing planet slow and stop the Earth’s rotation, then restart it again, if planets are electrically neutral? Forces other than gravity must have been at work. (Remember that Mormon wrote in Helaman that the Earth stops and even reverses rotation for a short time.) These assertions suggest that the true nature of the universe, and the Sun specifically, is electrical.

Learning from our own experience

It is ironic that a half-century of nuclear experimentation has failed to yield the abundance of power for the use of mankind that science originally promised. Except as a devastating weapon of war, the nuclear genie has little magic. Nuclear power generation is a dismal failure due to its lethality, as we learned at Chernobyl. Nuclear fission provides only a miniscule about of energy worldwide for that very reason. Nuclear fusion, the counterpart of fission, that once seemed to hold such promise as an abundant energy source, is still a costly, ephemeral, theoretical dream.

Could it be that this eventuality has a lesson for us in our view of the Sun’s fires?

On the other hand, ever since Nikola Tesla invented the polyphase, alternating current electrical system we use today, the world has been powered and lit by electricity. Together with the internal combustion engine, electricity has revolutionized our world. It has become so much a part of our existence that it is hard to imagine life without electricity to do our bidding. Yet, we still understand little of its nature or its workings. Like our ancestors who learned to use fire without understanding its nature, we have partially harnessed the energy of the cosmos with almost no understanding of it. Like light and gravity, electricity remains largely a mystery to us.

Is it merely a coincidence that we have employed electrical power so readily and effectively while nuclear power has faltered? Might it be that this is an indication of the true relative importance of the two in the universe?

The implications in such an idea are both staggering and stimulating. If true, it may explain gravity as an electromagnetic effect rather than strictly one of mass. The study of superconductors promises remarkable discoveries in the near future about the nature of electricity and the relationship between gravity, magnetism and electrical currents.

It suggests that humans, living in an extremely low frequency (ELF) electrical environment such as that on the Earth, are primarily electrical creatures rather than chemical, as modern medicine teaches. Dr. Robert Becker tried to open our eyes to this possibility years ago in his book, The Body Electric.

Perhaps most interesting of all, some form of electromagnetic levitation could explain how the ancients all around the world succeeded in moving massive stones over great distances to construct their ancient sacred temples and monuments — a technology that we will likely employ ourselves one day when we unlock the secrets to our electrical universe.

© Anthony E. Larson, 1999

The Keys to Prophecy 12: The Gospel Litmus Test

A chemist can determine the pH of any substance by dipping a bit of colored paper into it. Called "litmus" paper, its color changes depending upon the acidity or alkalinity of the compound in question — one color if it is acidic, another if it is basic. It’s a fundamental and uncomplicated test.

There is a similar such test to determine the extent of our gospel comprehension, to determine how well we study and comprehend the scriptures.

It’s called prophecy.

Most Latter-day Saints are likely to dismiss such a notion out of hand, since they consider prophecy to be a rather esoteric and narrow part of the gospel and thus the least likely candidate for such a gauge or standard. After all, prophetic symbolism seems to have little to do with the day-to-day, practical application of our religion.

So, how can one possibly construe prophecy to be a test for anything, much less the depth of our gospel understanding?

It is precisely because the colorful and peculiar imagery of prophecy permeates all of scripture, not just prophetic visions. It is the symbol and imagery-laden language of the prophets.

The beasts seen in Ezekiel’s and Daniel’s visions as well as those seen by John in Revelation are the same beasts that are seen on Joseph Smith’s facsimiles and those described in Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price.

The 'miracles' of the Exodus are the same as the 'signs' in Revelation, and they corroborate and illuminate Joseph Smith’s statements about the nature of latter-day signs in his journal, History of the Church.

The planets, stars and other enigmatic symbols that adorn our latter-day temples are also found in our sacred texts, and the explicitly symbolic nature of the rituals and fixtures found within those hallowed walls point us to the lofty value that latter-day prophets placed on that imagery, however obscure it may seem to us.

Perhaps more telling is the fact that after the heavens were effectively sealed for centuries, of all the choice scripture that the angel Moroni could have chosen to quote to the young Joseph Smith when he first appeared to him in 1823, he quoted prophecy — Malachi, Isaiah, and Joel. Its message is that important.

Prophecy is at the heart of our religion, though we seem reluctant to acknowledge that truth. The gospel was restored and the church was subsequently founded on the notion of Adventism, the doctrine that the second coming of Christ, in the wake of a worldwide destruction called the apocalypse, is near at hand.

Instead, we almost universally focus on the spiritual message of the scriptures, disregarding the imagery as mere poetic affectation. In doing so, we overlook fully half of the information in the scriptures. Like the proverbial forest in the trees, it is virtually invisible to us.

As a result, our gospel comprehension suffers. We cannot make sense of the bizarre imagery of prophecy. We also fail to see much of what the sacred texts were meant to convey. We go through temple sessions without grasping the profound enormity of the message that the imagery we see there represents. When we look at Joseph Smith’s facsimiles, we see them only as oddities and curiosities that once entertained the passing interest of a prophet rather than the very keys to gospel comprehension.

In making all these omissions, we dismiss as inconsequential the message God and his prophets have carefully placed before us. We dismiss a vital part of the gospel of Jesus Christ as mere decorative glitter.

If the spiritual message of salvation is the gospel’s heart and soul, then the imagery and symbolism are its bone and sinew. That’s why it’s found everywhere in the restored church, from the scriptures, to the temples, to the discourses of modern prophets.

This is our litmus test: To the extent to which we do or do not understand the imagery of prophecy, we also fail to understand the rest of scriptural imagery.

Our casual acquaintance with our own gospel betrays a lack of study and dedication to its comprehension. We do not "search the scriptures," as we’ve been counseled to do. We skim through them. We read, but without comprehension.

Hence, we get repeated pleas from the brethren to read our scriptures — the most recent: Read the Book of Mormon.

Thus, our comprehension of prophecy is a clear indication of our overall gospel understanding. This being the case, most of us fail the gospel litmus test, since for most Latter-day Saints prophecy is a mystery, wrapped in a conundrum, couched in an enigma.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2005

Nephite History: A Harbinger for Our Time (Part 4)

The thesis presented in this 4-part series has stood the test of time. It affirms that Nephite history is predictive, to one degree or another, of events yet to come in our time. Events and conditions that were once speculation on this author’s part nearly two decades ago in 1989, when Parallel Histories: The Nephites and the Americans was first published, have now become historic fact: The two histories mirror one another to a remarkable degree.

Lest the reader be inclined to minimize or dismiss the specific prognostic power of the parallel histories thesis, thinking that all these similarities are more hindsight than foresight and more rhetoric than fact, let’s consider the original exposition of this thesis in the context of world affairs at the time it was first published.

Contrary to all expectations at that time, near the close of the Cold War when the national mindset was still America vs. Russia, U.S. vs. U.S.S.R., West vs. East, this author predicted, based on the parallel histories thesis, that hostilities between America and Russia would cease, that the old 'us vs. them' state of affairs, which had endured for decades, would vanish.

Miraculously, it did, demonstrating the predictive power of the thesis, which is not due to any special ability of this author but rather to the foresight of ancient prophets. Consider how predictive were this author’s words, written in 1988, regarding today’s reality.

"The modern equivalent of the Gadianton band should now be present if our time is, in fact, parallel to the period of Nephite history in question. The question is, 'Who are they?'" (Parallel Histories: The Nephites and The Americans, pp. 83-84.)

The predictive capacity of the parallel histories thesis made the answer to that question relatively easy.

"While the Gadianton robbers originated from within Nephite and Lamanite society, it may be that because of the wider scope of modern political interplay, today’s Gadianton robbers originate on the periphery of the East/West interchange. The Gadianton robbers injected a third element into the duality that had existed in Nephite/Lamanite history up to that point. So it is that they must also be a third party to East/West relations today." (Ibid., p. 85.)

This assessment could not have been more accurate. Modern terrorism was born in the so-called Third World Nations.

"The Gadianton robbers were a secret combination, to be sure; but they were much more than that. Their first appearance in Nephite political problems was as a small conspiracy to take over the government. Assassination was one of their hallmarks. They were hard to attack because they hid in the wilderness or among the populace of cities where they mixed with the crowd. They surprised their victims by striking, seemingly, from nowhere — out of a crowd or out of the wilderness. After destroying an individual or a city, they disappeared again into the wilderness or into the crowd. They also kidnapped at will, taking hostages when it met their needs." (Ibid.)

This characterization of the Gadianton robbers clearly anticipated their rebirth as terrorists in modern times. The next paragraph foreshadowed their appearance on the world stage in our day.

"As they grew in numbers, they became more overt in their action, waging war on Lamanite and Nephite cities. Their strength was their ability to move within the existing political structures to further their ends, and at the same time they were an autonomous group capable of taking what they wanted by military force, if necessary. Their stock in trade was fear.

"Where do we find such a group today? What conspiratorial group forms today’s third column and finds asylum in sympathetic Third World countries? What group routinely resorts to assassination, kidnapping and the holding of hostages? Obviously these are the international terrorist groups, which match the description of the Gadianton band in every particular. Their principal weapon is fear, and they have added a new wrinkle to their modus operandi: hijacking and bombing." Ibid., pp. 85, 86.)

Once again, the perspective proffered by the parallel histories thesis nearly three decades ago allowed an extremely accurate forecast of the origins and tactics of today’s terrorists.

However, the most chilling part of this Book of Mormon insight sounds like today’s headlines.

"Struggle as they might, the Nephites and the Lamanites were unable to defeat the Gadianton robbers for many years. That leaves the modern world with the disagreeable prospect of a prolonged struggle with international terrorism.

"The prospects that this bodes for our time are truly remarkable. Will terrorism grip the world to the extent that no one will be safe? Will terrorist action assume the dimensions of full-scale warfare? Will the West and the East be forced by the growth of worldwide terrorism to cooperate to such an extent that they will stand as one people against this new menace? That appears to be the implication of the parallel history thesis." (Ibid., 86, 87.)

As this new conflict in our time drags out months and years from now, as it surely will, we would do well to keep the Nephite struggle with the Gadianton robbers clearly in mind by not letting ourselves become disheartened by the protracted nature of this struggle, nor should we allow dissention and contention to weaken our resolve.

This is the promise of the parallel histories: The Nephites successfully prosecuted this conflict in their day; it will surely be so in our time as well. Latter-day Saints should take heart, counsel and solace from the Nephite record, the Book of Mormon.

Our last consideration in this series has the most profound implications for our future — at the same time, both foreboding and inspiring. The last few chapters of Helaman and the entire book of 3 Nephi are those most likely to find equivalence in our time. Among many others, they depict:

· The seemingly intractable Gadianton wars finally came to an end, but not until the Nephites/Lamanites mustered the will and the unity to adequately address the problem in a final, winner-take-all battle.

· Samuel, a Lamanite, warned the Nephites and prophesied the signs of the Savior’s First Coming. While a few joined the church as a result of Samuel’s preaching, the greater part of the people disbelieved his message.

· Even though the signs of the Savior’s birth occurred as predicted by Samuel, the greater part of the Nephites remained unrepentant and persecuted the faithful.

· A political movement to replace the rule of judges (a republic) by that of a king (a monarchy) unraveled their nation, leaving the Nephites without a central government for the first time in their long history. Their nation degenerated into a collection of feudal clans or city-states, which agreed "that one tribe should not trespass against another."

· All that intrigue came to an abrupt halt when a great natural disaster struck, as Samuel had prophesied in painstaking detail, destroying cities and people en mass while entirely changing "the whole face of the land."

· The Savior came after the destruction and darkness subsided. He ministered to the survivors of the catastrophe and taught them the gospel.

· His coming ushered in a remarkable 200-year period of peace in the land and harmony among the people.

LDS prophetic tradition manifestly declares that our day and age will see a similar series of events: a cataclysmic destruction will befall us that will change the world so radically that we will see "a new heaven and a new earth;" the Savior will appear to the survivors in his Second Coming; and the Millennium, a new period of peace, safety and harmony, will be ushered in. One cannot help but notice this series of three events, yet to come, are virtually identical to the last three noted in Nephite history. Can that be mere coincidence?

Those predicted events and current events covered in previous installments in this series are all the more remarkable in that they serve to strengthen our thesis, leading us wonder how many other events in Nephite history may yet see fulfillment in our time.

Going down the bullet list above, many questions emerge. Will our war on terror be a protracted struggle? Will the outcome be the same in our day as it was for the hapless Nephites? Will we see a prophet come forth from a nation other than our own to call us to repentance and prophesy the proximity of the Second Coming? Will the faithful righteous in our day yet be persecuted by the greater populace, as were their Nephite counterparts — even though the signs of the Second Coming are apparent to all? Can it be that political machinations in our day will produce a struggle to alter or replace our constitutional form of government? Will that struggle dissolve our union as it did theirs?

While only time can truly answer those questions, the equivalence between the two histories pointed out in this series strongly suggests that Latter-day Saints have an obligation to study the Book of Mormon more carefully than they have done heretofore for answers to the dilemmas we face as our future unfolds.

In the give and take of national and international debate, if the rhetoric of politicians and pundits seems confusing, if it seems unclear what or who to believe regarding today’s terrorism and how to deal with it effectively, the Nephite story gives us an accurate and enlightening, prophets’ perspective of where our loyalties and efforts should lie and what we may expect in the ensuing months and years.

In that regard, the Book of Mormon is truly a roadmap or guide for our times in more specific ways than many heretofore envisioned. We would be well advised to pay heed to its message to us.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2007

Stars, Planets, Moons, and Temples

Mormonism is unique among Christian denominations for many reasons. One of the things that makes it so distinctive was its founder’s interest in bringing ancient texts to light. Another was the instigation of temple use, a practice thought to be largely pagan and thus suspiciously sacrilegious by normative Christianity.

While it may not be readily apparent at first, upon closer inspection we will see that ancient sacred texts and temple use are closely related.

While the rest of Christianity contented itself solely with the Bible, Joseph Smith endeavored to establish the Book of Mormon as an equally important ancient, sacred record. Indeed, he tried to impress on modern Christianity the value of ancient records, beyond the Bible, to the practice of true religion.

Public interest in things from Egyptian antiquity has always been high, but it was far more than mere curiosity that compelled the latter-day prophet to purchase the Egyptian papyri that ultimately resulted in the Pearl of Great Price and the facsimiles therein.

At present, much is written and said by Latter-day Saints about the Book of Mormon, its origins in antiquity and its advent in modern times via angelic ministrations. Surprisingly, little dialog is devoted to the Pearl of Great Price, even less to the Egyptian elements found therein to which Joseph devoted considerable time and effort. Perhaps that is so because it deals with some topics — stars, planets and moons — that seem largely foreign to religion, as is commonly supposed, topics that seem better suited to cosmology, astronomy or archeology. In fact, Joseph Smith and the church he founded have taken criticism from both science and religion over the years because he ventured into these areas.

Astral bodies, stars, planets and moons, are seldom foremost in the minds of Latter-day Saints when contemplating the gospel. Indeed, modern Christianity as a whole has long since divested itself of nearly all such references since discussions of such objects is more typically thought to be the purview of either ancient pagan religions or modern science. Ministers and evangelists in Joseph Smith’s day were horrified by the prophet’s penchant for discussing such things in the context of the gospel. The stigma of being a "cult," attached to Mormonism by orthodox Christianity, stems partly from these associations.

All this begs the question that nearly all Saints avoid: What seemed so vital about documents from the Egyptian culture and its religion that a prophet of God would dedicate so much time and effort to explaining their meaning and symbolism, as seen in the Pearl of Great Price facsimiles? One can easily appreciate the value of translating the books of Moses, Enoch and Abraham for the doctrines contained therein, but what value can be gleaned from studying Egyptian hieroglyphs? Did Joseph include them simply to establish his credentials as a bona fide translator of ancient texts? Or was he pointing the way to a subject helpful in a thoroughgoing understanding of the gospel?

The answer to those questions may be provided by considering the other part of the equation cited at the outset of this article: modern temples.

The two primary temples of this era, the Nauvoo and the Salt Lake, were liberally decorated with icons of stars, planets and moons. This they have in common with both ancient texts and the temples of yesteryear, those erected by all ancient cultures. Those temples, too, were decorated with symbols of stars, planets and moons, along with illustrations of their gods, goddesses and a multitude of other religious icons peculiar to each culture.

Scholars readily acknowledge the strong and pervasive influence of astral beliefs at the heart of those ancient religions, reflected in the astronomical alignments and astrological references built into those edifices — from Angkor Wat to Tiahuanaco, from Teotiuacan to Stonehenge, from Karnak and the pyramids at Geza to Solomon’s temple and those erected by all Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures, including the Greeks and the Romans. They all venerated the heavens and the orbs they saw there. It is for that reason, for example, that our modern names for the planets come from the Roman pantheon.

Thus, the Prophet not only pointed to the use of astronomical imagery in ancient texts by exploring the meaning of the icons he found on the Egyptian papyri that came into his hands, he also employed similar astronomical imagery in modern temples. Indeed, as in ancient temples, it is astral imagery that almost exclusively dominates modern temple iconography. In so doing, Joseph Smith, and Brigham Young after him, simply authenticated or validated the connection between the restored gospel and ancient cosmological beliefs.

The iconography and rhetorical imagery of the restored gospel stand side by side with those of ancient cultures as reflected in their writings and their art.

All this is as it should be if, as Joseph Smith maintained, his was a restoration of the original gospel, which was taught universally by inspired prophets anciently. The true religion should retain and display those same ancient traditions, rhetoric and icons.

But it also suggests an extraordinary value in studying ancient history to understand what the ancients knew and what a modern prophet knew about the past that compelled them to make astral iconography, past and present, an integral part of religion and temple iconography. After all, such imagery is not employed simply to keep authors and artisans busy writing and chiseling.

Perhaps the clue as to why knowledge of the heavens is a vital part of the true religion and how that knowledge spawned a multitude of icons in ancient cultures the world over can be found in several passages of scripture, each of which say essentially the same thing: the heavens and the earth we know now are not the heavens and earth the ancients knew; and conversely the heavens and the earth we know now will be replaced by "new heavens and a new earth." (Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:7, 13; Revelation 2:21, Ether 13:9; Doctrine & Covenants 29:23.)

Such dramatic language suggests radical changes in our solar system anciently. These sweeping and dynamic changes would have caused tremendous natural disasters, paroxysms of nature, wiping out large populations and dramatically altering Earth’s environment — changes that would have left few survivors to experience entirely "new heavens and a new earth," changes that compelled the ancients to make these dramatic sky shows the entire focus of their religious and cultural traditions.

Indeed, one school of thought suggests that the ancients were consumed with rehearsing the celestial drama that brought about those sweeping changes, that they made every attempt to preserve that knowledge in rite, ritual, architecture, art, text and religion since they considered it sacred as well as historical.

This would explain the compulsive use of cosmological imagery in ancient temples by their builders. Temples were specifically designed by the ancients to reflect, recall and reconstruct a lost cosmology, one that existed before the heavens and the earth suffered dramatic, sweeping changes.

Thanks to revelation and Joseph's prodigious appetite for knowledge, he must have learned all the ancients knew - including the Earth's true history. Naturally, he incorporated this perspective in the restoration, it's scriptures, it's doctrine and it's most sacred sites. Thus, our modern temples become living repositories of ancient wisdom and tradition, as well as venues for making sacred covenants.

This view would also explain the admixture of two distinct cosmologies seen in those same edifices, leading to confusion among modern LDS scholars about their meanings and use. Temple iconography juxtaposed the present cosmology and that of the past, combining both in one presentation. To those who understood the profound transformation in the heavens and the earth anciently, such juxtaposition was proper and correct, not confusing and mysterious. Only modern man, divested of his cosmological heritage, would be perplexed by this coincidence.

And those two facts explain why a modern prophet would resurrect the use of that same imagery in modern temples, they being a restoration of ancient convention.

The marvel and the tragedy is that we, the modern saints, have confused, denied and ultimately rejected that part of the record bequeathed us, that we consider it mere exaggerated myth and legend. Even the inspired efforts of a latter-day prophet to bring these ideas to light have gone largely ignored by those who practice the very religion he founded.

The fact that Latter-day Saints almost universally discount such a possibility, even though statements of their prophet, their revealed scriptures and their temple iconography indicate otherwise, reveals a fatal flaw in their comprehension of the legacy they inherited from Joseph Smith in the magnificent revelation that comprises this latter-day restoration of the gospel.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2002

Section 84: The Forgotten Commandment

Part I – The Commandment

Section 84 of the Doctrine & Covenants is a pivotal revelation for Latter-day Saints, or should be.

The preamble to this section says, "The Prophet designates it a revelation on priesthood." In it, the Lord explains some of the roles of priesthood bearers, including a thorough explanation of missionary work and how it might be carried out. "And this revelation unto you, and commandment, is in force from this very hour upon all the world, and the gospel is unto all who have not received it." (verse 75.)

This makes it plain that this "revelation" is not only a disclosure of information, but it also carries a "commandment."

In the process of explaining this mandate to teach the gospel, the Lord touches on an aspect of priesthood responsibility that is entirely overlooked in the church today when he gives this added command: "Nevertheless, let the bishop go unto the city of New York, also to the city of Albany, and also to the city of Boston, and warn the people of those cities with the sound of the gospel, with a loud voice, of the desolation and utter abolishment which await them if they do reject these things. (verse 114.)

Reading carefully, we see that this directive carries two parts. The first, is to teach the gospel: "warn the people … with the sound of the gospel." The second is to tell them "of the desolation and utter abolishment" that might befall them.

Clearly, the first directive refers to missionary work, a mandate church members have heeded and apparently fulfilled rather well, given the remarkable growth of the church in the latter half of the 20th century. But, the second reference seems quite vague. What is the "desolation" referred to? What is "utter abolishment?"

Webster’s Dictionary defines 'desolate' as "barren or laid waste … without inhabitants, deserted." It also defines 'abolish' as "to do away with, to put an end to."

Since the Lord applied these terms to three major American cities, a rather grim picture emerges. Without equivocation, God seems to be talking about reeking havoc in a catastrophe great enough to entirely wipe the cities of New York, Albany and Boston off the map, complete with all their inhabitants, if they do not accept the gospel.

But that is not all. To clarify and amplify, God reiterates the commandment. "And verily I say unto you, the rest of my servants, go ye forth as your circumstances shall permit, in your several callings, unto the great and notable cities and villages, reproving the world in righteousness of all their unrighteous and ungodly deeds, setting forth clearly and understandingly the desolation of abomination in the last days." (verse 117.)

So, we learn that this mission was not exclusive to Bishop Whitney; verse 117 extends this commandment to all priesthood holders, "the rest of my servants." We also learn that they should visit not just the three cities first named, but many others also: "the great and notable cities and villages."

Then, the Lord repeats his charge that they teach about possible, impending destructions, "the desolation of abomination."

This presents a problem for today’s priesthood bearers. Which of us can even begin to explain the "desolation" and "utter abolishment" the Lord referred to? What do those terms mean? What could cause such devastation?

While every general conference of the church has one or more talks about the vital importance of missionary work, where are the talks explaining or elucidating the second part of the commandment: teaching "clearly and understandingly the desolation of abomination?" More importantly, we must ask why this part of the commandment has not been acknowledged? How is it that we have focused so well and appropriately on missionary work without also teaching the other half of the equation, the promised devastation?

If we’ve not been instructed in these things or discovered them for ourselves, how are we to teach them, as we were commanded to do? How are we going to teach something we do not understand? In that case, how are we going to fulfill the Lord’s charge to teach it at all, let alone do so plainly?

As a matter of fact, any discussion of prophetic destructions has been almost completely banned from our discourse in the church. Over the last half-century, the subjects of prophecy and catastrophe in church discussion have become increasingly taboo. Where once they were central to our very character as Latter-day Saints, they have been almost completely marginalized in our day and age.

Our instruction manuals for teaching in the church almost entirely avoid the subject of the last days and their associated destructions. The idea is almost never addressed from the pulpit, and even then it is treated in such an oblique manner as to avoid any substantive handling of the subject.

Yet, given the wording of this section, it would seem that we are under as great an obligation to teach about the impending destructions as we are to do missionary work.

So, let’s reverse this trend. Let’s more fully perform our duty as priesthood bearers. Let’s look at this once again to see if we might regain some lost ground and thereby properly fulfill this commandment from the Lord.

One might begin by asking, what is the "desolation and utter abolishment" of which the Lord spoke? What is the "desolation of abomination in the last days" that all priesthood bearers, "the rest of my servants," are herein commanded to "set forth clearly and understandingly?"

A clue to the answers to those questions lies a little further on in that section. "For, with you saith the Lord Almighty, I will rend their kingdoms; I will not only shake the earth, but the starry heavens shall tremble." (verse 118.) The keywords in these verses are "rend their kingdoms," "shake the earth" and "the starry heavens shall tremble." Anyone schooled in the nature of planetary catastrophes that have punctuated Earth’s past and the prophetic metaphors they gave rise to will recognize what the Lord intended. These same metaphors have been used by the prophets to describe numerous episodes in Earth’s past when the entire world came to the brink of destruction — episodes such as Noah’s Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Exodus and numerous other such widespread catastrophes. The references are subtle but unmistakable. The metaphors "desolation of abomination," or "desolation and utter abolishment" are coded expressions for planetary catastrophes of the most devastating kind where nature goes on a rampage, where almost all the works of mankind crumble in worldwide earthquakes while oceanic super-tsunamis rush in upon continents, wiping vast areas of the globe clean of any vestige of life, all as the heavens appear to reel about as a result of our planet’s wobbling on its axis of rotation.

As if to put a lock on his meaning, God added this unmistakable declaration. "For I, the Lord, have put forth my hand to exert the powers of heaven; ye cannot see it now, yet a little while and ye shall see it, and know that I am, and that I will come and reign with my people." (verse 119.)

It is the powers of heaven that wreck destruction and havoc on the Earth, a frequent scriptural theme. And just to clarify, the Lord says that there is nothing unusual to see in the heavens just now, "ye cannot see it now." But the time will come when we will all see and know what the desolation of abomination is. That is, "yet a little while and ye shall see it."

Finally, as a warning against dismissing the importance of this knowledge and its conveyance, the Lord said, "And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received ... Which Vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation." (verses 54 and 55)

Make no mistake. Ignoring or dismissing this aspect of our priesthood callings by failing to obey the Lord’s commandment in this regard has brought condemnation upon us all. Perhaps not coincidentally, these are the very verses President Ezra Taft Benson quoted when he counseled church members to repent of their doubt and pride, saying also that the whole church was under condemnation.

Part II – Watch the Skies

To assure the reader that the above is not a strained interpretation of a few obscure and selected verses, we should take a moment to learn why the Lord might want his priesthood to understand the cause and nature of planetary catastrophes.

In all ancient cultures, the priestly class dominated the religious life of any culture, including the symbolic center of their religious tradition: the temple. All ancient cultures had temples wherein the priestly class administered rites and rituals of salvation, whether or not they had the true priesthood.

We learn from Abraham that this was certainly true of the Egyptians. "Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations …. Now, Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood, notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham …." (Abraham 1:26, 27.)

We know from archeology and research into the Egyptian religion that they not only had temples, but they performed resurrection rituals, much as we do in our temples today. Thus, as Abraham implies, they obviously sought to imitate true priesthood orders and rituals. (See Hugh Nibley’s extensive writings on this subject.)

Some temples were elaborately constructed edifices, such as the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. Others were merely groups of standing stones, such as Stonehenge. In the Americas, pyramids were the temples of choice, as were the Ziggurats of Mesopotamia. Native Americans in the southwestern United States constructed Kivas. All these are easily identified as temples because of the rituals practiced therein.

But the temples weren’t only ritual centers. They were observatories, and their architecture abounds in astral alignments. Research has shown us that they assiduously tracked the movements of the heavenly bodies. As we have seen, they were absolutely obsessive about fixing and tracking the points where these bodies rose over the horizon, most especially the Sun during the summer and winter solstices.

A fundamental part of priestly responsibility was to watch the skies by tracking the movements of the Sun, the Earth, the Moon, the planets and the stars, which they accomplished with a variety of ingenious methods.

Most common among these ancient sky watchers was the practice of aligning stones or architecture such that the first rays of light from the Sun as it rose in the morning would fall on a well-marked spot on another stone or marker within a building. Thus, they could track the Sun’s rising on the horizon throughout the year as it varied, moving slightly more north or south each day until it reached its most extreme positions at the winter and summer solstices. This, then, was a simple but effective way of ascertaining that the Earth, not the Sun, was moving in its normal, prescribed path. Any deviation would easily be discerned.

This proclivity has long puzzled archeologists and anthropologists. Why did the ancients seem preoccupied with astronomy? Why did they track the movement of astral bodies? Why was astronomy so important to them that they practiced it and incorporated it into their most sacred shrines, their temples?

This was as true of God’s authentic prophets and priests as it was of the pretenders. We learn this from Abraham, for example. "But the records of the fathers, even the patriarchs, concerning the right of Priesthood, the Lord my God preserved in mine own hands; therefore a knowledge of the beginning of the creation, and also of the planets, and of the stars, as they were made known unto the fathers." (Abraham 1:31.)

This notion is further confirmed when Abraham is shown stars and planets through the Urim and Thummim. It seems to be God’s desire that the prophets have an intimate knowledge of things astronomical. But to what end, if not to watch for irregularities in the skies?

This is reflected in our modern temples, where astral symbols abound, as they also did in ancient temples. This was and is information about the Sun, the Moon and the many stars or "great lights, which were in the firmament of heaven" — the very icons we find adorning the walls of our sacred temples.

But, what does astronomy have to do with religion and priesthood? It’s really quite simple.

God always warned the world’s inhabitants of impending planetary disasters. The scriptures are replete with such accounts. Adam and Noah warned of the coming Great Flood; Abraham warned Lot to flee Sodom and Gomorrah; Moses warned the Israelites, Pharaoh and the Egyptians of the plagues that would shortly befall them; and Samuel the Lamanite warned the Nephites of the destructions to accompany the crucifixion of the Savior.

Not only that, there are an even greater multitude of warnings regarding identical destructions and devastations in the last days, before the second coming. John wrote extensively in his Revelation. Isaiah, Malachi, Zechariah, Habakkuk, Nahum, Joel and even the Savior himself told of these planet wide catastrophes as a "desolation of abomination." Hence, there are a multitude of past and future warnings from the prophets in our scriptures of the "desolation and utter abolishment" that awaits the world in our day, just as they occurred in the past.

It is only natural, then, that God would charge his priesthood with the sobering task of watching the heavens to discern any change in the motions of the Earth, Sun, Moon or the planets. Alterations in any of those would likely portend trouble.

So, this is the easily discernable reason why all ancient cultures, including those led by prophets, were so invested in watching the heavens. Any deviation in the movement of the stars or planets meant almost certain disaster for Earth’s inhabitants. So, tracking them was the sure way to know at the earliest possible moment if something went awry.

A rather practical, down-to-earth approach for such an esoteric discipline as astronomy, wouldn’t you say?

Since modern astronomy denies the possibility of any deviation in the orbits of the Earth, the Sun and the other planets in our solar system, they are left with no basis for understanding the ancients’ preoccupation with the heavens. They chalk it up to superstition, and that’s where it ends.

But ancient and modern revelation, along with all the texts left behind by other ancient cultures, repeatedly and compellingly insist that the order of the heavens has altered in historic times, in spite of the insistence to the contrary by modern science.

The prophets repeatedly spoke of a change so great, so sweeping that it completely alters both the heavens and the Earth. "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. … Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth …." (2 Peter 3:7, 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.)

This principle is most clearly enunciated in latter-day revelation. "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.

"For old things shall pass away, and all things shall become new, even the heaven and the earth …." (Doctrine and Covenants 29: 23, 24.)

All this being true, then it only makes sense that God would want to reestablish this practice of watching the heavens among his priesthood in the latter days. And knowing this explains why the priesthood was assigned the duty of "watchmen" in the "watchtowers." While a watchtower in a fortress or walled city might be useful in spotting an army of approaching foes, an observatory might effectively be thought of as a watchtower and the priesthood as watchmen where the possibility of planetary disorder exists.

Hence, the Lord implores his people, and especially those ordained to the priesthood to "Watch, therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come." (Matthew 24:42.)

Also, "Gird up your loins and be watchful and be sober, looking forth for the coming of the Son of Man, for he cometh in an hour you think not." (Doctrine and Covenants 61:38.)

This, then, is a duty traditionally assigned to God’s priesthood bearers. That he would again restore this assignment to the priesthood in these latter days is perfectly natural and in harmony with the ancient pattern. That means that this is information and understanding that every latter-day priesthood holder should master, as we have been commanded, in order to fully discharge our sacred duties.

Not only can we better fulfill our callings through this study and practice, this information will further enhance our gospel understanding to a considerable degree, allowing us to better understand the scriptures, the words of the prophets and the symbolism of our temples. This is true because the symbolism that dominates the gospel actually originated in ancient astral events.

Part III – The Reiteration

Lastly, in order to better understand the 84th Section, we must turn to the 88th Section, where the Lord reiterates in much more detail what he gave in the earlier revelation. Read this revelation with the counsel and commandment of the 84th Section in mind to bring greater clarity and meaning to the Lord’s expressions.

Let’s review Section 88 verse by verse, beginning about half way through.

"77 And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom."

God here referred to the same commandment he already gave in Section 83, as will be plainly seen as we proceed.

"78 Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand …."

This is the very instruction needed to prepare a teacher to explain what the desolation of abomination is, how to watch for it and how to explain it. While we are presently doing a good job of teaching gospel principles and law, we have fallen down in the other two named categories: theory and doctrine. Otherwise, the knowledge of these planetary destructions would be common among us. Since they are not, this is prima fascia evidence of our ignorance.

And what are those things that we have failed to study and fully understand?

"79 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 … and the judgments which are on the land …."

You see, it is in studying the "things both of heaven and in the earth" that we discover the changes wrought by past planetary catastrophes, because those changes are explicit in ancient history or "things which have been." Of course, by studying "things which are," we find a basis for comparison with the past. In so doing, we learn that our world and its heavens are vastly different than they were.

Additionally, in studying "things which must shortly come to pass," we learn that coming planetary disorder will be nearly identical to past catastrophes, giving us yet another basis for comparison and a vivid idea of what the future holds for this world when planetary disorder once again nearly destroys our planet, causing "desolation and utter abolishment."

"80 That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you."

This is the heart of the matter. We cannot be fully prepared to "magnify the calling" we’ve been given if we have not prepared ourselves with this vital knowledge, which we now utterly lack.

"81 Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor."

This is a restatement of the mission: We must "clearly and understandingly" tell them of the "desolation and utter abolishment" that awaits this world.

"84 Therefore, tarry ye, and labor diligently, that you may be perfected in your ministry …."

Without this knowledge of planetary catastrophe, we cannot be "perfected" in our knowledge. And we cannot properly teach if our knowledge is incomplete or incorrect. Hence the Lord’s counsel to "tarry" while we "labor diligently" to learn these concepts.

"… to go forth among the Gentiles for the last time, as many as the mouth of the Lord shall name, to bind up the law and seal up the testimony, and to prepare the saints for the hour of judgment which is to come; …"

Notice here that this mission to teach of planetary catastrophe is not only necessary to teach the nonmembers or Gentiles, it is needful "to prepare the saints for the hour of judgment." Thus, this mission is as much to the members of the church as it is to potential converts. This is the second part of the commandment, which we have completely overlooked.

"85 That their souls may escape the wrath of God, the desolation of abomination which awaits the wicked, both in this world and in the world to come."

Just to clarify that both sections 84 and 88 are talking about the same things, notice that the Lord once again cites the "desolation of abomination," while yet further defining it as the "wrath of God."

And here’s the payoff. So that we might be certain what he’s talking about, the Lord describes the desolation’s most prominent elements.

"87 For not many days hence and the earth shall tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man; and the sun shall hide his face, and shall refuse to give light; and the moon shall be bathed in blood; and the stars shall become exceedingly angry, and shall cast themselves down as a fig that falleth from off a fig-tree."

It is these variously described, symbolic elements that are seen to comprise the effects that accompany a planetary disaster.

In Section 84, he cited another such symbolic, yet very real, element. "I will not only shake the earth, but the starry heavens shall tremble."

It is the comprehension of these metaphors, and the many other symbolically described elements, that are crucial to one’s understanding of the very things we’ve been commanded to teach, that is "set forth clearly and understandingly." It is these elements of planetary catastrophe that we must master in order to teach them to others.

"88 And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people."

The Lord said the same thing with more obscure language in Section 84 when he said, "For, with you saith the Lord Almighty, I will rend their kingdoms."

That is to say, first comes the priesthood’s warning, then comes the destruction. It’s the same pattern followed throughout world history: God calls a prophet to warn the people of impending disaster and call them to repentance. That done, the promised destructions are poured out.

For good measure, the Lord then lists many more elements of a planetary encounter.

"89 For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand.

"90 And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.

"91 And all things shall be in commotion; surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people."

Again, it is these natural phenomenon that constitute the prophesied desolation.

Next is an entirely metaphorical narrative that cannot be understood until one is thoroughly schooled in the prophetic tradition that arose from past planetary calamity. It is coded language, symbolic allusions to very real things that will be seen and heard.

"92 And angels shall fly through the midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice, sounding the trump of God, saying: Prepare ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the earth; for the judgment of our God is come. Behold, and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him."

It is in the decoding of such metaphors or symbolic language that a corrected view of ancient planetary catastrophe becomes vital. With it, we can see what such allegorical declarations truly mean.

Now comes the 'piece de resistance' of this revelation.

"93 And immediately there shall appear a great sign in heaven, and all people shall see it together."

It is this "great sign" that is the cause of these overwhelming natural phenomenon that will sweep the Earth.

Some have supposed that since the word "sign" is used here that there would be some stunning, symbolic manifestation in the heavens that would signal the onset of the destructions. But, the training and education that comes with studying past planetary encounters tell us otherwise.

Joseph Smith explained in more explicit terms what that "great sign" would be. "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; then will appear one grand sign of the coming of the Son of Man in heaven. What will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet, &c." (History of the Church, 5:337.)

Of course, the entire world will call this sign a planet or a comet because that’s exactly what it will be — a planet-sized orb that also looks and behaves like a tremendous comet.

And just so there are no loose ends to this exposition, make note that Joseph connects this "sign" with all the same devastating natural destructions as the two revelations we’ve been considering. That can lead to only one, inescapable conclusion: The planet or comet is not only a sign, it is the very agent — the single cause — of all the natural destructions that are part of God’s desolation.

Epilogue

After all this exposition, these points are worth making one last time: It is the Lord who decreed that the priesthood’s role is to be the conservators and expositors of this knowledge among church members. Not only that, they were charged with watching the heavens for deviations that might portend renewed catastrophes.

Sadly, present-day priesthood holders not only do not understand these things, they are inclined to discount and suppress them, thinking they are too fantastic or bizarre to be credible. This is due, as the Lord revealed, to our "unbelief." Most elders in the church know nothing of the simplest aspects of astronomy, thinking it something entirely and completely foreign to the gospel of Christ. Yet, a survey of teachings by general authorities from Joseph Smith on forward has revealed that these subjects have been amply treated and clarified in this dispensation, to say nothing of the preponderance of evidence found in our scriptures and the other records we have from the past.

Today’s priesthood holders have no concept of such a mandate from the Lord, even though it is plainly stated in latter day revelation. Neither have they properly searched our scriptures, otherwise these things would have been self evident. Therefore, today’s priesthood holders are unable to comply with the Lord’s mandate to teach these truths "clearly and understandingly."

Perhaps its time we stopped treating prophecy and prophetic imagery as the redheaded stepchild of the gospel. Maybe it’s time we reversed our course by taking seriously this commandment. By admitting our oversight, we can begin to correct it.

Remember God’s counsel: "And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—

"Which Vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation." (Section 84:54, 55.)

Will we allow this to continue?

© Anthony E. Larson, 2007