Damnation


I recently (Sept. 17) had the opportunity to participate in a discussion on The Millennial Star blog.  The topic was on the meaning of the word “damned” in D&C 132: 4-6.  I stopped participating when I realized that I needed more room than a comments section to explain my understanding of damnation.  So, I thought I’d take the topic up in earnest on this blog.

Bible Dictionary definition of damnation

BIBLE DICTIONARY
Damnation
As used in the KJV this word has a wider meaning than is at once apparent from modern usage. Damnation is the opposite of salvation, and exists in varying degrees. All who do not obtain the fulness of celestial exaltation will to some degree be limited in their progress and privileges, and hence be damned to that extent. See Matt. 23: 14, 33; Mark 3: 29; Mark 16: 16; John 5: 29; Rom. 13: 2; 1 Cor. 11: 29; 2 Ne. 9: 24; 3 Ne. 18: 28-29; D&C 58: 26-29; D&C 84: 74; D&C 112: 29; D&C 132: 4, 6, 27.

This is the definition that the modern Mormons have accepted, and which they routinely teach.  According to this interpretation, there are four degrees of damnation:

  • Sons of perdition. These are people who are cast into outer darkness, who inherit the kingdom of the devil.   They receive the full measure of damnation, being fully limited in their progress and privileges.  They are damned in that they do not partake of either the Telestial, Terrestrial or Celestial kingdoms of glory and the happiness which is found therein.  The kingdom of the devil is not a kingdom of glory, but a hell, and all who inherit it are miserable forever.
  • Telestials. These are people who inherit the Telestial kingdom of glory and the happiness found therein.  They escape the misery of outer darkness, but partake of the misery in knowing that they will eternally miss out on the glories of the Terrestrial and Celestial kingdoms.  Although this kingdom of glory is termed a heaven (see the section heading of D&C 76), because of the damnation of these individuals in what they might have received, but did not, they feel regret and longing and are miserable forever.  And thus their kingdom of glory is also a hell.
  • Terrestrials. These are people who inherit the Terrestrial kingdom of glory and the happiness found therein.  They escape the misery of outer darkness and the misery of the Telestial kingdom, but partake of the misery in knowing that they will eternally miss out on the glory of the Celestial kingdom.  Although this kingdom of glory is termed a heaven, because of the damnation of these individuals in what they might have received, but did not, they feel regret and longing and are miserable forever.  And thus their kingdom of glory is also a hell.
  • Celestial angels. These are people who inherit the Celestial kingdom of glory and the happiness found therein.  They escape the misery of outer darkness and the misery of the Telestial and Terrestrial kingdoms, but partake of the misery in knowing that they will eternally miss out on the glory of the exalted, those who are gods in the Celestial kingdom.  Although this kingdom of glory is termed a heaven, because of the damnation of these individuals in what they might have received, but did not, they feel regret and longing and are miserable forever.  And thus their kingdom of glory is also a hell.

Under this model, there is only one type of person that is not damned:

  • Celestial gods. These are people who inherit the Celestial kingdom of glory and the happiness found therein, and who are exalted.  They escape the misery of outer darkness and the misery of the Telestial and Terrestrial kingdoms, as well as the misery of Celestial angels.  This kingdom of glory is termed a heaven, and it verily is to these individuals, because they have no regrets and long for nothing, for they possess all things and thus are not miserable, but have a fulness of joy and happiness.

Salvation, who gets it and who doesn’t

As the Bible Dictionary mentions salvation in its definition of damnation, it might be helpful to give the Mormon understanding of who gets saved.  Specifically, we know of four types of people who receive salvation:

  • Celestial gods. These are people who inherit the Celestial kingdom of glory and the happiness found therein, and who are exalted.  They dwell in the presence of God and Christ and receive that salvation known as eternal life (exaltation), becoming like God.
  • Celestial angels. These are people who inherit the Celestial kingdom of glory and the happiness found therein, but who are not exalted.  They are servants to God and Christ and dwell in their presence, but are not exactly like them.  They are in a saved condition, like gods, but without exaltation.
  • Terrestrials. These are people who inherit the Terrestrial kingdom of glory and the happiness found therein.  They do not dwell in the presence of God, but receive of “the ministration of the celestial.”  Like the Celestials, these people are saved.
  • Telestials. These are people who inherit the Telestial kingdom of glory and the happiness found therein.  They do not dwell in the presence of God, nor receive of the fulness of Christ, but receive of the Holy Spirit through “the ministration of the terrestrial.”  These people are also “heirs of salvation.”

There is only one type of person that is not saved:

  • Sons of perdition. These are people who are cast into outer darkness, who inherit the kingdom of the devil, a kingdom which is not of glory.

Damned and saved at the same time?

The Bible Dictionary model creates a conflict in which it is possible to be damned and saved at the same time, to be eternally happy and eternally miserable at the same time. Despite damnation being “the opposite of salvation,” according to the Bible Dictionary these two opposite conditions will exist in Celestial angels, Terrestrials and Telestials.  This thought goes contrary to the principle of like things cleaving unto like things:

For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things.  (D&C 88: 40)

The way around this quandary is to redefine the word damnation (or damned) to mean something other than what it traditionally means.  The Bible Dictionary would have us believe that damnation means “to be limited in one’s progress and privileges” in certain passages of the scriptures, in other words, that “this word has a wider meaning than is at once apparent from modern usage.”

Acceptance of this theory creates an internal conflict of regret and longing, and a judgmental attitude, with comparisons of those “above us” and “below us,” and ultimately will and does lead to depression.  In other words, according to this model, happiness comes from knowing you got more than someone else and unhappiness comes from knowing you didn’t get as much as others.  This is what LDS look forward to in the eternities, having accepted this doctrinal theory, and this is what they routinely display in their mortal lives.

Correcting an error

The redefining of the words damnation and damned to fit certain passages of the scripture, assigning them a meaning of “a limiting of one’s progress and privileges,” has become systemic throughout the church.  Every LDS I know believes the Bible Dictionary assertion.  I do not know how or when it crept into the church, but I am a convert member of some decades and I have never heard another model other than this one since my baptism, so I know it’s been around a long time.

It is a bit embarrassing to admit that I not only accepted it myself from the beginning without question, but also preached it as a missionary to others. It wasn’t until September 17, 2009, that I actually got around to checking to see if the model held up to scriptural scrutiny.  It was then that I discovered that the standard LDS damnation model (of being saved and damned at the same time) is incorrect.  Many thanks go out to JA Benson and his/her Friday Forum post at The Millennium Star blog, as well as the comments of others on that post, for providing me the excuse and impetus to investigate this subject.

Although I don’t know the origins of this particular doctrinal theory, it seems apparent that it was the result of not understanding the scriptures.  So, to correct it, I will attempt to lay out the scriptures to the understanding of the reader and expound the real meaning of the words damned and damnation.  Perhaps with a proper understanding of these words, LDS won’t be such chronically depressed people.

Number of scriptural uses of damned and damnation

Damn In the scriptures, there are ZERO uses of the word damn.

Damning In the Doctrine and Covenants there is but ONE use of the word damning. (See D&C 123: 7Damning in this verse means detestable and so it doesn’t need to be addressed.)

Damned In the New Testament there are THREE uses of the word damned. (See Mark 16: 16; Rom. 14: 23; and 2 Thes. 2: 12.)  In the Book of Mormon there are EIGHT uses of the word damned. (See 2 Ne. 9: 24; Alma 14: 21; Alma 36: 16; 3 Ne. 11: 34; Morm. 2: 13; Morm. 9: 4, 23; and Ether 4: 18.)  In the Doctrine and Covenants there are TEN uses of the word damned. (See D&C 42: 60; 49: 5; 58: 29; 68: 9; 84: 74; 112: 29; and 132: 4, 6, 27.)  And in the Pearl of Great Price there is but ONE use of the word damned. (See Moses 5: 15.)  The total number of scriptural uses, then, of the word damned, comes to 21.

Damnation In the New Testament there are ELEVEN uses of the word damnation. (See Matt. 23: 14, 33; Mark 3: 29; 12: 40; Luke 20: 47; John 5: 29; Rom. 3: 8; 13: 2; 1 Cor. 11: 29; 1 Tim. 5: 12; and 2 Pet. 2: 3.)  In the Book of Mormon there are NINE uses of the word damnation. (See Mosiah 2: 33; 3: 18, 25; 16: 11; Alma 9: 28; Hel. 12: 26; 3 Ne. 18: 29; 26: 5; and Morm. 8: 33.)  In the Doctrine and Covenants there are THREE uses of the word damnation. (See D&C 19: 7; 29: 44; and 121: 23.)  The total number of scriptural uses, then, of the word damnation, comes to 23.

So, there are only 44 verses in the English Standard Works that mention damn or damnation.  It shouldn’t be too hard for us to figure this all out.

1828 Webster’s Dictionary definition of damned and damnation

First let’s establish what people understood these words to mean during the time of Joseph Smith:

DAM’NED, pp.

1. Sentenced to everlasting punishment in a future state; condemned.

2. a. Hateful; detestable; abominable;

A word chiefly used in profaneness by persons of vulgar manners.

(Taken from the damned entry of the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary.)

DAMNA’TION, n.

1. Sentence or condemnation to everlasting punishment in the future state; or the state of eternal torments.

How can ye escape the damnation of hell. Matt. xxiii

2. Condemnation.

(Taken from the damnation entry of the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary.)

From the same dictionary, here are the definitions of the words condemned and condemnation:

CONDEMNED, pp. Censured; pronounced to be wrong, guilty, worthless or forfeited; adjudged or sentenced to punishment.

(Taken from the condemned entry of the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary.)

CONDEMNATION, n.

1. The act of condemning; the judicial act of declaring one guilty, and dooming him to punishment.

For the judgment was by one to condemnation. Romans 5.

2. The state of being condemned.

Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation. Luke 23.

3. The cause or reason of a sentence of condemnation.  John 3.

(Taken from the condemnation entry of the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary.)

Okay, so the words damned, damnation, condemned and condemnation all deal with a judicial act of declaring one guilty (no mercy applied) and dooming him to punishment.  In the case of the words damned and damnation, this can refer to either eternal (everlasting) punishment or temporal punishment (condemnation).  Condemned and condemnation usually refer to temporal punishment unless the scriptural text is speaking specifically of the last day (day of judgment) and eternal punishment.  Regardless of which word you use, though, the meaning always is that a judgment has taken place, you have been found guilty because no mercy has been applied and you are to receive a punishment.

To condemn means to damn

In the scriptures, the verb to damn is never used.  Instead, the verb to condemn is used.  This makes sense from an etymological standpoint:

Etymology of condemn: Middle English, from Anglo-French condempner, from Latin condemnare, from com- + damnare to condemn

See that damnare? Damnare means damn, or to damn. So, the verb to condemn is really just the verb to damn with the prefix con- attached to it.

Damned and damnation in Spanish

Remember those 44 total verses listed above?  If you look them up in Spanish, you will find that in 40 of them the word damned is translated as condenado and the word damnation is translated as condenación.  The Spanish word condenado means condemned and condenación means condemnation.  Also, regardless of whether the word in English is damned or condemned, the Spanish word is almost always condenado (condemned). In the same manner, regardless of whether the word in English is damnation or condemnation, the Spanish word is almost always condenación (condemnation). So, in Spanish there is no distinction made between damnation and condemnation and the Spanish speaking population merely allows the context to indicate whether we are talking of temporal or eternal condemnation (judgment, verdict of guilty and punishment).

The other four verses are translated as follows:

Matt. 23: 33 reads in English, “damnation of hell,” but in Spanish it reads, “juicio del infierno” (judgment of hell).

Mark 3: 29 reads in English, “eternal damnation,” but in Spanish it reads, “juicio eterno” (eternal judgment).

1 Cor. 11: 29 reads in English, “damnation,” but in Spanish it reads, “juicio” (judgment).

2 Pet. 2: 3 reads in English, “judgment” and “damnation,” but in Spanish it reads, “condenación” (condemnation) and “perdición” (perdition).

All of this shows that in the scriptures, whenever it speaks of damnation (or condemnation), it is always talking about a judgment being passed, no mercy has been applied, a guilty verdict is the result and punishment is inflicted.  Always.

Abinadi’s definition of damnation

Even this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on incorruption, and shall be brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to their works whether they be good or whether they be evil—if they be good, to the resurrection of endless life and happiness; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of endless damnation, being delivered up to the devil, who hath subjected them, which is damnation—having gone according to their own carnal wills and desires; having never called upon the Lord while the arms of mercy were extended towards them; for the arms of mercy were extended towards them, and they would not; they being warned of their iniquities and yet they would not depart from them; and they were commanded to repent and yet they would not repent.  (Mosiah 16: 10-12)

According to Abinadi’s definition, damnation consists of “being delivered up to the devil.”  Those who are damned are subject to the devil. Notice that Abinadi says that there is an endless damnation. There is also a damnation that ends.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man marry a wife according to my word, and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, according to mine appointment, and he or she shall commit any sin or transgression of the new and everlasting covenant whatever, and all manner of blasphemies, and if they commit no murder wherein they shed innocent blood, yet they shall come forth in the first resurrection, and enter into their exaltation; but they shall be destroyed in the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the buffetings of Satan unto the day of redemption, saith the Lord God.  (D&C 132: 26)

So, we see from this verse that it is possible to be delivered up to the devil for a time, and then be redeemed when repentance occurs.

Two types of damnation

This shows that there are two types of damnation: eternal damnation (that damnation that comes after the resurrection) and temporal damnation (that damnation that comes prior to the resurrection and which has an end prior to the resurrection.)  This is why the scriptures speak of two time frames of forgiveness: this world and the world to come.

But whoso breaketh this covenant after he hath received it, and altogether turneth therefrom, shall not have forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the world to come. (D&C 84: 41)

And now, behold, I speak unto the church. Thou shalt not kill; and he that kills shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come. (D&C 42: 18)

And we saw a vision of the sufferings of those with whom he made war and overcame, for thus came the voice of the Lord unto us: Thus saith the Lord concerning all those who know my power, and have been made partakers thereof, and suffered themselves through the power of the devil to be overcome, and to deny the truth and defy my power—they are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born; for they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity; concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come—having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame.  (D&C 76: 30-35)

Those who do not have forgiveness in this world, but who receive forgiveness in the world to come are those who are temporally damned, meaning that they are delivered unto the buffetings of Satan until the day of their redemption.  They are subject to the devil in the mortal world or in the spirit world, being delivered up to him until the day that they finally have faith in Jesus and repent of their sins.  At that point, they are washed clean in the blood of the Lamb and are no longer damned.  In other words, at that point they no longer have a judgment with a guilty verdict and a punishment hanging over them, because mercy and forgiveness is extended to them and they become heirs of salvation.  This applies to all mankind who inherit any of the three glories.  None of these people will be among the “filthy still” because they will have accepted Christ and mercy will be applied to them.

Those who do not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come are those who are eternally damned, meaning that they are delivered up to the devil, are in subjection to him and remain subjected to him, having no deliverance.  These are the sons of perdition.  (Remember the 2 Pet. 2: 3 Spanish scripture above, where condemnation was translated as perdition?)  These are the people who are cast into outer darkness, who inherit the kingdom of the devil.

Greater damnation, lesser damnation

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. (Matt. 23: 14)

Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. (Mark 12: 40)

Which devour widows’ houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation. (Luke 20: 47)

What is the greater damnation?  It is eternal damnation. What is the lesser damnation?  It is temporal damnation.

It is impossible to be saved and damned at the same time

Remember that I wrote above that condemnation requires that no mercy is applied?  It is a judgment of guilty with punishment executed upon the party.  Well, consider Jacob’s words:

Wherefore, he has given a law; and where there is no law given there is no punishment; and where there is no punishment there is no condemnation; and where there is no condemnation the mercies of the Holy One of Israel have claim upon them, because of the atonement; for they are delivered by the power of him.  (2 Ne. 9: 25)

By the same token, where there is mercy, there is no condemnation and where there is no condemnation, there is no punishment.  Speaking of the day of judgment (the last day), there is only one punishment or penalty affixed to the law: death.  The spiritual death that is the second death means dying as to things pertaining to righteousness, meaning that those who receive it are banished from the kingdom of God and cast into outer darkness, where the devil will eternally subject them (Abinadi’s definition of damnation).

None of the inhabitants of the three degrees of glory receive this punishment.  In fact, it is impossible for them to receive it because Satan will be cast out into outer darkness.  Once out of the kingdom of God, he cannot subject anyone in the kingdom of God to himself.  Only those cast out with him (the filthy still) can be subject to him.  So, the inhabitants of the three kingdoms will be free forever from the power and influence of Satan.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  (John 3: 16-18)

The above scripture shows that you are either saved or condemned (damned) based upon your acceptance of Christ.  It is one or the other, not both. If you do not accept Him now, you are condemned (damned) already (temporal damnation).  But once there is acceptance of Christ, there is salvation not damnation. This is why the inhabitants of the three glories are only spoken of as being saved.  There is not a single scripture that indicates that these people are eternally damned.  They may be temporally damned (for a time) but eventually they, too, will be redeemed and be heirs of salvation.

Mormonism is so much more excellent and merciful than apostate Christianity because the people they say are damned to hell, we say are saved in a kingdom of glory.  Unfortunately, we go awry of the pure doctrine of Christ by adopting the man-made precept found in the Bible Dictionary theory of damnation.

The misunderstood scripture

I believe the reason why people generally accept the Bible Dictionary model of damnation is due to a misunderstanding of D&C 132: 4-6.  Here are those verses, along with the comments I gave on them over at The Millenial Star blog:

For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory.  For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world.  And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fulness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fulness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God.  (D&C 132: 4-6)

And now my comments:

The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary definitions, which gave how these words were used in Joseph Smith’s time, are consistent with the usage of the word damned in the above quotes.

I will break it down for you:

For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory.

The key word here is “abide.” To “abide…that covenant” means “to endure or sustain” or “to bear or endure; to bear patiently” the covenant. You cannot abide a covenant without first entering the covenant, so the use of the word damned here refers to people who have entered the covenant and have not abided it, or, as the Lord states later in the same sentence, to people who have entered the covenant and then “reject” it. These people are damned. The verse does not refer to people who never enter the covenant.

Next, the following verse:

And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fulness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fulness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God.

The key here to understanding the verse are the words “he that receiveth a fulness thereof.” The Lord doesn’t say “he who would receive a fulness thereof,” but refers to people who already received a fulness thereof. These people must and shall abide the law or they shall be damned. In this particular verse, the damned people we are talking about have already entered the covenant and have received a fulness of the Lord’s glory, who then do not abide (or, in other words, they reject) the law. However, we are assured by the Lord that such people “shall abide the law,” so there is no danger of such being damned, because they will not reject it after receiving such a fulness.

However, those who enter the covenant and who have not yet received of this spoken fulness, who reject the covenant, are damned.

These verses, then, are explicitly referring to one type of damnation: that received by the sons of perdition (see verse 27) and not to merely not receiving exaltation (a stopping of progression.)

27 The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall not be forgiven in the world nor out of the world, is in that ye commit murder wherein ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after ye have received my new and everlasting covenant, saith the Lord God; and he that abideth not this law can in nowise enter into my glory, but shall be damned, saith the Lord.

My comments were meant to show that there is no need to invent another shade of meaning of the word damned to fit into these particular verses, as the normal shades of damned work just fine.  When the above scriptures are misunderstood to mean that “if you don’t enter the covenant, at all, you will miss out on the opportunity for exaltation,” then you must invent a new shade of meaning of the word damned, giving it the meaning of a “stopping or limiting of progress and privileges,” which is what LDS appear to have done.

Apparently, I am not the only one to come to this conclusion.  Another person commented on the same Millennial Star post, one Rob Osborn, and he essentially said the same thing:

As for defining “damnation”, in Joseph Smiths day he grew up with a protestant background and upbringing. In their day they used the word “damned” to mean “condemnation to hell”. I have done a lot of research on this noting how Joseph himself used the word outside of scriptural text. In every account I have run accross, Joseph uses it in the traditional protestant sense of condemnation to hell. To this day, that definition is what other Christian religions use. It is only our LDS religion that uses the word out of context. This is almost entirely due to a misunderstanding of the scriptural text. As has already been discusssed, section 132’s usage of the word “damned” literaly is used in the context of “condemantion to hell”. Verse 26 speaks of those who enter into the fulness and then perhaps sin in the new and everlasting covenant. It says they will be destroyed in the flesh and delivered over to the buffetings of Satan (in hell). This is the usage of “damned” in verses 4-6.

The three glories are not punishments; they are rewards

Only those who go into outer darkness receive punishment after the resurrection.

Wherefore, he saves all except them—they shall go away into everlasting punishment, which is endless punishment, which is eternal punishment, to reign with the devil and his angels in eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which is their torment—  (D&C 76: 44)

So, if everyone else gets saved and receives a fulness of joy and endless happiness, why is everyone put into one of three glories?  Why not have one glory, instead of three?  Why do all the Telestials eventually receive a fulness of the Telestial glory, the Terrestrials a fulness of the Terrestrial glory and the Celestials a fulness of the Celestial glory, without being able “to go up a glory?”  If the assignment to a kingdom of glory is not a punishment for wicked deeds, but a reward, upon what principle is the reward based?

I will simply say that these questions and their answers have to do with the doctrine of the resurrection.  They could be explained with a review of D&C 76, D&C 88 and Alma 41, but I am done with expounding scripture for today.  This post is long enough already and I want to keep it on the topic of damnation and not delve into the mysteries of the resurrection.  However, I will say that assignments to one of the three glories has nothing to do with dishing out punishments.  None of the saved people long for something they could have had, but are eternally blissful, content, happy and joyful in their saved condition.  Assigning them to a kingdom of glory does not, and cannot, damn them.  I hope this post is sufficient to get that point across.  If there is still confusion, I will open it up further in the comments section.

I have listed above and hyper-linked all of the scriptures that mention damned and damnation. I invite everyone to read those verses again, with the information in this post fresh in your mind, and see if the scriptures are not more plainly unfolded to your view.

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Our Living Hollow Earth


Our Living Hollow Earth

by Rodney M. Cluff
2008
for more information, visit
http://www.ourhollowearth.com

The Aurora Australis Over Antarctica

For centuries, people have referred to our earth, the planet upon which we live, as “mother earth.”

In nature, seeds germinate in fertile soil to become giant trees, crops of our fields, or the humble grass we walk on. We don’t even think about the air we breath, but we couldn’t live without it. The soil and waters of earth grow the food we eat. The gravity of earth holds our feet firmly on the ground. Without the gravity of our mother earth, we would float out into outer space and be lost. Our lives depend entirely upon the fortitude of our mother earth. From space, earth appears as a beautiful jewel shining in the light of the sun. Our lives depend so much on mother earth that most of the time we take her for granted, but some people even worship her.

It would seem that mother earth indeed is the source of all life upon it. Seeds germinate in its soil, fish lay their eggs in the sea and hatch to fill the oceans with life. Our very own bodies are made from mother earth — made from the minerals taken up in the plants that we eat. And when we die, our bodies disintegrate into soil once more to provide the fertilizer for yet another life to begin its life’s journey in the light of the sun. Yet science has utterly been unable to generate life from lifelessness. It seems to be an indisputable law of the universe that only life can beget life. Therefore, it is a logical assumption that our earth must be alive in order for it to beget life on and within it.

Indeed, God’s revealed word to man indicates that our earth is alive. It appears that God would have us know that our earth upon which we live is actually a living being. This is not a new idea. The indigenous people of many lands believe to this day that the earth is alive. For example, the American Indian treat the earth with great respect because they believe it is alive.

Is there any scriptural or scientific evidence that would indicate that our earth is alive? Believe it or not, there is an abundance of this evidence. Not that the earth should be worshiped like many ancient peoples apparently did when they worshiped the earth, the sun, the moon and stars. But at least, this knowledge should generate within us a deep respect for the planet upon which we live which provides us our home in the vastness of space.

The scriptures do indicate that our “mother” earth is alive. In the scriptures, we find that the Earth has many characteristics of a living being. It has a mouth, a womb, a heart, a navel, with openings into it’s interior, breathes, and can even “speak” as an intelligent being. Indeed, the scriptures when describing the earth, describe a hollow planet with polar openings and an interior sun with people living throughout its entirety — on its outer surface, within it’s shell, on it’s inner surface and within the interior sun.

Earth’s Premortal Existence

As all living beings, the earth was “born” spiritually first, and then came into existence physically second. It acknowledges the existence of its creator, God, and “obeys” God’s celestial law. As a righteous living being, the Earth underwent a baptism of immersion in water at the time of Noah’s flood. At the beginning of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ upon the Earth, it will undergo a baptism of fire, and at the end of it’s temporal existence, the earth will “die” and be brought forth in it’s resurrected form as a celestial kingdom to be inhabited in the eternities by those of its inhabitants worthy of a celestial glory.

All life had it’s genesis with God. Jesus Christ is the creator of heaven and earth — the Great “I Am,” who revealed himself to Moses. And all living things were created first spiritually before they were created temporally upon the earth.

In Genesis 2:5, we learn that “every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew” were created first spiritually before they were created physically upon the earth.
This was clarified in Joseph Smith’s re translation of the Book of Moses: “For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth. For I, the Lord God, had not caused it to rain upon the face of the earth. And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air;” (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 3:5)

All living beings, including the earth, have a spirit body, as well as a physical body. Jesus Christ revealed to the prophet Joseph Smith, “that which is spiritual being in the likeness of that which is temporal; and that which is temporal in the likeness of that which is spiritual; the spirit of man in the likeness of his person, as also the spirit of the beast, and every other creature which God has created.” (Doctrine & Covenants 77:2) It is the spirit within each living being that gives it life. When that spirit leaves the physical body at death, then that body becomes life-less.

From this we learn that within our bodies, we have a spirit that looks like us, but is made of a “spiritual” substance. To the prophet Joseph Smith, it was revealed that, “There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes; We cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter.” (D&C 131:7-8)

What’s more, it is evident from the scriptures that the spirit of every living thing had parents in Heaven that gave it life. Concerning our heavenly parents, the scripture states, referring to Our Father in Heaven, “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?” (Hebrew 12:9) And Christ told his disciples to pray to “Our Father which art in heaven…” in which Christ is telling us that we all have a father in heaven — the father of our spirit bodies, and if we have a father, we also, of course, have a mother in heaven, — for wherever was there a father without a mother?

Even so, if our earth is a living entity, it must also have a spirit that gives it life. Indeed, it is so, for the spirit world of this earth is where the spirits of all men go at death. The Mormon Apostle, Bruce R. McConkie, in his book, MORMON DOCTRINE wrote, “The spirit that enters the body at birth leaves it at death, and immediately finds itself in the spirit world. That world is upon this earth.” (MORMON DOCTRINE, p. 68) Since the spirits of all living entities have the same shape and appearance as their physical bodies, so the earth’s spirit world has the same shape and form as it’s physical body — and is what makes the earth alive.

Joseph Fielding Smith, the great nephew of Joseph Smith, stated that, “This earth is a living body.” (DOCTRINES OF SALVATION, Vol. I p. 72) As a living body, the earth actually obeys God’s commands. It is a mortal being and will die and be resurrected the same as all of us by the power of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, “And again, verily, I say unto you, the earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law. Wherefore, it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall DIE, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it.” (D&C 88:25, 26).

As a living being, our earth has a spirit — it is the spirit world where all men go at death. That spirit world had it’s beginning in heaven as did the spirits of all men. The earth was created spiritually in heaven before being created physically here in our solar system. If the earth’s spirit were created in the presence of God, most likely it was created in His world. God, our Heavenly Father’s planet is a star in the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. The largest stars are located in the center of the galaxy and control all the other stars throughout the galaxy by reason of their great size, mass and central position.

This was revealed by God to Abraham, “And I Abraham, had the Urim and Thummim, which the Lord my God had given unto me, in Ur of the Chaldees; And I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was NEAREST UNTO THE THRONE OF GOD; and there were many great ones which were near unto it; And the Lord said unto me, by the Urim and Thummim, that Kolob was after the manner of the Lord, according to its times and seasons in the revolutions thereof; that one revolution was a day unto the Lord, after his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand years according to the time appointed unto that whereon thou standest. This is the reckoning of the Lord’s time, according to the reckoning of Kolob.” (ABRAHAM, The Pearl of Great Price, 3:1-3) Verse 9 clarifies that it is Kolob that governs our galaxy wherein our earth resides: “And thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one planet above another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob, which Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lord’s time; which Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all those planets which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.”

In the explanation of Facsimile No. 2 in the book of Abraham, Figure 2 says, “Stands next to Kolob, called by the Egyptians, Oliblish, which is the next grand governing creation near to the celestial or the place where God resides…Fig 4…the time of Oliblish, which is equal with Kolob in its revolution and in its measuring of time.”

Therefore, as revealed through Abraham, at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy which is “the same order (in the same galaxy) as that upon which thou standest,” are two stars of gigantic size, in rotation about a common center of gravity — a double star system with the rest of the galaxy rotating about them. Both Kolob and Oliblish are the same size and take 1,000 of our earth years to complete one rotation or day. Oliblish “…is the next grand governing creation near to the celestial or the place where God resides…” and Kolob is the “…nearest unto the throne of God.” Therefore, I conclude that the throne of God is INSIDE Kolob and Kolob is HOLLOW as are all stars and planets. In fact, the stars ARE planets — the planets of the Gods.

Since a hollow planet or star essentially consists of matter in orbit about its central sun, perhaps we could use Kepler’s 3rd Law of Planetary Motion to calculate the size of Kolob. Using Kepler’s 3rd Law of Planetary Motion, we can use the following formula to calculate orbital radii,
R=VxT
where
R = a planet’s distance from the sun in astronomical units. One AU equals 93,000,000 miles, the average distance from the earth to the sun.
T = the time for a planet to orbit the sun in earth years
V = 1 divided by the square root of R.
Knowing this formula and the time it takes for one revolution of Kolob,
100 AU = 1/10 earth velocity X 1000 years

From this, we can deduce that the distance to Kolob’s outer surface from God inner throne, “…the celestial or the place where God resides…” would be 100 astronomical units, or 9.3 billion miles. That is 2.5 times the distance from the sun to the planet Pluto. The diameter of Kolob and its companion double star then, would be about 18.6 billion miles — plenty of space could be found within its hollow interior for the creation of planets.

Since spirit beings are the offspring of celestial parentage — just as the human race has celestial parents of their spirits, it is logical to assume that the earth’s spirit body would have celestial parentage also — that being the planet of Our Heavenly Father and His Throne in Kolob at the center of our galaxy.

Earth’s Physical Origin and Characteristics

Just as our physical bodies were created on this earth, the Earth’s physical body probably also originated within our own solar system — a best guess would be the planet Uranus.

One of the physical characteristics the scriptures give in describing our planet earth as a living entity, is that it has a “womb” within it, and that our earth is the “mother” of mankind and can actually utter words.
In the Book of Moses, Chapter 7, verse 48, we read, “And it came to pass that Enoch looked upon the earth; and HE HEARD A VOICE FROM THE BOWELS THEREOF, saying: Wo, wo is me, THE MOTHER OF MEN; I am pained, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall I rest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is GONE FORTH OUT OF ME? When will my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest, and righteousness for a season abide UPON MY FACE?” Thus Enoch testified that the earth is an intelligence living entity that he heard speak words.

In recent decades with the mapping of earth’s sea floor, it appears that our “mother” earth is expanding, and even has stretch marks in many places on the ocean floor, and many continents appear that they could have at one time fit together as the scriptures indicate that in the beginning there was but one continent that came up out of the sea, and at the beginning of the millennium that the many continents shall be “returned to their own place” as they were before they were divided.

In Genesis, we read, “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:9-10)

Even the earth’s oceans shall be driven back into the north countries of our hollow earth where they came from at the time of Noah’s flood, and the many continents and islands will become one continent again in the time of the restitution of all things.

As the Apostle Peter wrote, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:19-21)

At the beginning of Christ’s millennial reign, “He shall command the great deep, and it shall be driven back into the north countries, and the islands shall become one land; And the land of Jerusalem and the land of Zion shall be turned back into their own place, and the earth shall be like as it was in the days before it was divided.”

The mid-Atlantic ridge was probably where they were divided. It goes from pole to pole paralleling the “everlasting hills” of the Rocky Mountains that joins up with the Andes Mountains that extend even down into Antarctica and on into Inner Earth.

There is a continual series of earthquakes along the mid-Atlantic ridge and around the Pacific “ring of fire” where molten lava emerges pushing the continents apart as the earth expands. Perhaps, when the earth “dies,” after the short period of time after the millennium, the earth will break apart at the mid-Atlantic ridge, and then roll up like a scroll.

After His resurrection, Jesus came to ancient America and spoke of this to the Nephite Nation, “And he did expound all things, even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his glory—yea, even all things which should come upon the face of the earth, even until the elements should melt with fervent heat, and the earth should be wrapt together as a scroll, and the heavens and the earth should pass away;” (3 Nephi 26:3)

The ancient American prophet Mormon wrote, “Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power, and at his great command the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll?” (Mormon 5:23)

If the earth is hollow, then earth’s shell could conceivably break apart down the seam of the mid-Atlantic ridge and then roll up like a scroll at the time the earth dies at the end of the earth’s temporal existence.

The earth also has polar orifices that lead into its interior.

Concerning the north polar orifice, God told the prophet Job, “He stretcheth out the north over the EMPTY PLACE, and hangeth the earth upon nothing…” (Job 26:7,9)

The people that live in that region of the earth, the Eskimo, claim that there is a hole in the Arctic Ocean that leads into the interior of the Earth. They have accounts of Eskimos who have gone into the opening and found cousin Eskimos living within the earth. They believe that the woolly mammoth found frozen in Arctic wastes originated within the earth, perhaps because those that have been there have seen them there wandering around alive.

A Baby Mammoth found frozen in Siberia in 1977

Norwegian fishermen claim to have also gone through this polar opening in the Arctic Ocean into the Hollow Earth where they saw great herds of woolly mammoths, and describe how in winter when the Arctic sun has dipped below the horizon, that within the earth sometimes baby mammoths wander out onto the frozen rivers that empty into the polar opening where they fall into crevasses in the ice and are instantly frozen. Later, when the summer sun shines through the polar orifice, the frozen rivers are thawed out and carry their frozen animals and dump them onto the northern shores of Siberia and Alaska. When these frozen mammoths are opened up, they find undigested green vegetation in their stomachs indicating they were frozen so fast the food was unable to be digested before they froze. The remains of other exotic animals have also been found entombed in arctic ice, such as the woolly rhino, steppe lions, giant deer, mammoth and foxes and a hardy breed of horse — that originate from Inner Earth.

One of the things that God describes in His scriptures that comes “out” of the earth’s womb through polar orifices is the fresh water icebergs found in Arctic and Antarctic waters.

To the prophet Job, God asked, “OUT OF WHOSE WOMB CAME THE ICE? and the hoary frost of heaven, who had gendered it? The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen (icebergs).” (Job 38:29-30)

The ice comes out of earth’s womb through polar orifices. The Norwegian fishermen describe how great rivers dump into the Arctic ocean within the north polar opening, but the river mouths freeze over in the winter. Come summer, they thaw out and the river waters shove the icebergs out into the Arctic Ocean where they cover the entire Arctic basin.

Water vapors also come out of the earth’s womb from the polar orifices.

“When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth THE VAPOURS TO ASCEND FROM THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.” (Jeremiah 51:16)

These water vapors condense into ice and snow and fall onto the Greenland and Antarctic icepacks to the awesome depth of three miles in thickness!

Apparently, all planets have “wombs,” which makes for the possibility that planets could be “born” from the “wombs” of larger planets.

Immanuel Velikovsky wrote that, “The Greek authors described the birth of Athene (which became the planet Venus), saying she sprang from the head of Jupiter.” (WORLDS IN COLLISION, p. 175)

If the planet Jupiter is hollow, then the “head” or north polar area would be the logical place for a planet to be “born” or ejected — out of a polar orifice. Such an ejection could be effected by manipulating the electromagnetic fields of the two planets.

A perplexing discovery was made by Apollo astronauts when they brought moon rocks back to earth to be analyzed. Prior to the Apollo moon shots, scientists had assumed that the moon was made out of the same materials as the earth. Yet the rocks brought back from the moon were found to consist of materials very different from those found on earth, containing very dense rare earth materials. Testing also determined that the moon is much older than the earth.

A prominent LDS geologist, Eric N. Skousen, (son of the late famous LDS author, Cleon Skousen) believes this indicates that the moon may have been here first. According to his theory, the moon originally possessed earth’s orbit about the sun BEFORE the earth was placed here, and that the earth was created somewhere else INSIDE another planet in an actual planetary birth process. (See, pp. 92-96, EARTH, IN THE BEGINNING, by Dr. Eric N. Skousen) Dr. Skousen, quotes one of the earlier LDS church leaders, Heber C. Kimball, as asking, “Where did the earth come from?” To which he answered his own question: “From its parent earths.” (November 8, 1857, Journal of Discourses, 6:36)

Dr. Skousen proposes that the earth could have been ejected out of the planet where it was built by the Gods, and then was guided into the orbit in our solar system that the moon had about the sun in close enough proximity that it caused the moon to go into permanent orbit about the earth.

https://i0.wp.com/www.ourhollowearth.com/EdeninH1.JPG

Man’s Physical Origin Within Mother Earth

Our Earth is literally the “mother” of men.

The scriptures indicate where the original Garden of Eden is located — within the earth’s “womb.”

Out of the Garden of Eden flow four rivers that divide the earth into four parts which converge at the “four corners” of the earth — at Eden.

The prophet Isaiah testified that the four corners of the earth, which is Eden, would still exist in the Latter Days. He wrote that in the Latter Days, that the God of Heaven, “…shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the FOUR CORNERS of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:12)

So if earth is the “mother of men” and has a “womb,” then the logical place for the origin of man would be from the earth’s interior. This would mean that the original Garden of Eden must be located, even today inside the earth.

When Enoch heard the earth speak, he heard it say that it was “the mother of men,” and that the children of men came “forth out of me.” (Moses 7:48)

From THE FORGOTTEN BOOKS OF EDEN we read of the manner in which Adam and Eve arrived on the surface of the planet from the Garden of Eden within. In the book of ADAM AND EVE, we find that when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, the Lord commanded them to go into the Cave of Treasures where they wandered for a long time before emerging in their new home on the exterior of the planet. (Chapter III:17, XII)

The sun they saw when they came out of the cave was not the same that gave them light in the Garden of Eden. Chapter XVI says that when Adam came out of the cave, he was afraid of the sun and its extraordinary heat because, “Inasmuch as while he was in the garden and heard the voice of God and the sound He made in the garden, and feared Him, Adam never saw the brilliant light of the sun, neither did the flaming heat thereof touch his body.”

By passing through the earth’s cavern systems from the earth’s “womb” inside to come to the surface, Adam and Eve were “born” into this world by “mother” earth. Their second home on the earth’s surface was near the cavern that brought them here.

Brigham Young taught that, “Joseph, the prophet told me that the Garden of Eden was in Jackson County, Missouri. When Adam was driven out, he went to the place we now call Adam-ondi-Ahman, in Daviess County, Missouri.” (WILFORD WOODRUFF, by Cowley, p. 431) Joseph Smith was right. The Garden of Eden IS in Jackson County, Missouri, but NOT on the surface. It is located 800 miles down — on the inner surface of the earth on the highest mountain plateau of the Inner Continent.

The 16th century Spanish scholar Bernardino de Sahagun recorded in his History of the Things of New Spain that the original settlers of America, the ancestors of the American Indians, came in boats from the East in search of the terrestrial paradise. They settled in Central America near the highest mountains they could find, because they had with them an account that the earthly paradise is a very high mountain. (Ancient America and The Book of Mormon, pp. 31, 156.)

Since Christian explorers, among them Christopher Columbus, have sought earnestly the lost Garden of Eden, it is with interest that the actual discovery should fall to a non-Christian, in fact, a worshiper of the Norwegian gods, Odin and Thor. This explorer, Olaf Jansen, actually a fisherman, has related in his book, THE SMOKY GOD, of his voyage with his father into the inside of the earth in their small sail boat via the North Polar Opening in 1829. They were taken in by the people there, taught their language and shown their country. Hence, their great discovery was brought to bear when after one year, they were taken to the capital city which the inhabitants called the City of Eden.

In THE SMOKY GOD, Olaf Jansen gives a description of where the Garden of Eden is located. Inside the earth, Olaf Jansen says, “The City of ‘Eden’ is located in what seems to be a beautiful valley, yet, in fact, it is on the loftiest mountain plateau of the Inner Continent, several thousand feet higher than any portion of the surrounding country. It is the most beautiful place I have ever beheld in all my travels. In this elevated garden all manner of fruits, vines, shrubs, trees, and flowers grow in riotous profusion. In this garden four rivers have their source in a mighty artesian fountain. They divide and flow in four directions.” (THE SMOKY GOD, pp. 113, 114)

Mercators Map of the Arctic

Mercator’s Map of the Arctic

That mountain can be seen on Mercator’s map of the arctic which first appeared as a vignette in his 1569 world map. The Flemish geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator’s methods of map-making were so accurate and reliable that they are still commonly used today (for example, the Mercator projection) and have remained virtually unchanged for nearly 450 years! His maps of Europe and the known world were exceptionally accurate and were commonly used with a great degree of reliability for navigation and commerce.

Bear in mind that prior to the advent of GPS and satellite navigational aids, exploration was the sole method of acquiring the data necessary for accurately portraying geographical details on a map. So, when we view Mercator’s representation of the Arctic as containing a large landmass, equally divided into four sections by massive rivers, it stands to reason that this data was acquired by means of thorough exploration. It also is apparent that, according to the perspective of the early explorers, they had no way of knowing that the land mass they were then encountering actually lay at the interior of the earth. Instead they assumed, as did many at the time, that the massive island or continent they found was actually an “island at the top of the world.” Mercator’s representation of the Arctic also very closely parallels the experiences of Olaf Jansen and his father in their exploration of the inner world.

So, it can be seen why and how these myths of an “undiscovered” northern region … a land beyond the north wind came to be and how a man, so obsessed with details as was Mercator, painstakingly reproduced the knowledge he had in his possession on his map of the Arctic.

In 1827, William Morgan, whose wife later became one of Joseph Smith’s plural wives, was taken on a mission to Inner Earth — most likely through the same cavern system that Adam and Eve wandered through on their journey from the Garden of Eden within to their home without.

William Morgan had joined the Free Masonic movement with the intent on learning their secrets so he could subsequently publish their secret rites, which he did. As punishment for this, the Masons, had him thrown in jail for a debt, then stole him out of prison. They took him to a secluded shack out in the woods. They dug up a body that resembled him, and threw it into a river and published an account in the papers that it was William Morgan. There was a big uproar by the people that lived in the vicinity — all neighbors of the prophet Joseph Smith — with preachers and citizens rising up against the Masons for what they had done.

But the Masons didn’t kill William Morgan. They secretly took him to live as a prisoner to a cabin in the woods until he grew a long beard. They then added some chemicals to his skin and beard and hair on his head to turn it so he looked like a very old man. They then took him back to his wife, who claimed he wasn’t her husband, that she had seen the dead body of her husband, and that she didn’t now know him. Then the Masons took Morgan to Kentucky, near the Mammoth Cave where he was taken by an Inner Earth guide through the cavern systems to our hollow earth. Many years later, Morgan reappeared as a translated being and gave the account of his trip to inner earth. It was later published by John Uri Lloyd as Etidorpha. Bruce Walton, hollow earth researcher from Provo, Utah, discovered that William Morgan was the I-AM-THE-MAN in the book, ETIDORPHA.

The Lost Ten Tribes in Inner Earth

“I was then really ‘the bosom friend and companion of the Prophet
Joseph.’ … Sometimes when at my house I asked him questions relating
to the past, present and future; … one of which I will relate: I asked
where the nine and a half tribes of Israel were. ‘Well,’ said he, ‘you
remember the old caldron or potash kettle you used to boil maple sap in
for sugar, don’t you?’ I said yes. ‘Well,’ said he, ‘they are in the
north pole in a concave just the shape of that kettle. And John the
Revelator is with them, preparing them for their return.”

– Benjamin Johnson, My Life’s Review, 1947, p. 93

The scriptures indicate that the Lost Ten Tribes have been hidden by God within the earth’s “womb” from which they will emerge in the Latter Days when the earth will “travail” and “bring forth her strength.” (D&C 84:101)

Dr. Clay McConkie, with B.A. in history and a Ph.D. in education, declared in his book, The Ten Lost Tribes, A People of Destiny, that after a thorough analysis of all scriptural references to the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel that the scriptures indicate that the lost tribes …”are presently living in a locality not on the earth, but somewhere in the earth… in …an area capable of accommodating a relatively large civilization of people and keeping them hidden from the world for more than twenty-five centuries.” He points out that scripture indicates that this large area inside the earth must be where most of the water came from that covered the earth’s surface at the time of Noah’s flood, and that the exit point in the Arctic must also be the entrance to inner earth that the Lost Tribes took when they disappeared into the north country 25 centuries ago and from which they will someday soon reappear with great fanfare to help spread the Kingdom of God throughout the earth in preparation for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The earth’s “womb” where the Lord has hidden the Lost Tribes is also called in scripture, “the outmost parts of heaven.” The Lord told Moses, “If any of thine be driven out unto the OUTMOST PARTS OF HEAVEN, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.” (Deuteronomy 30:4)

The earth’s “womb” and “the outmost parts of Heaven” to where the Lord took the Lost Tribes in scripture is also called the “North Countries” because it can be accessed through the north polar orifice to the earth’s interior. Jeremiah testified that, “In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together OUT OF THE LAND OF THE NORTH to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.” (Jeremiah 3:12-18)

Some of the house of Judah are also there, because the scriptures indicate that that is where the lost and legal inherited throne of David is located.

The Political Kingdom of God in Inner Earth

According to the Bible, the Kingdom of Israel in Palestine under King David and his son Solomon became divided at Solomon’s death. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin resided in the south around Jerusalem, and the other Ten Tribes resided in the north of Palestine with their capital at Samaria. In 721 BC, Assyria conquered the northern Ten Tribes and took them into captivity.

A century later, in 687 BC, when Assyria encamped outside Jerusalem to take it captive also, the record of the Jews reported that a blast from space killed all 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. They were preparing to attack Jerusalem the next morning. It was not a flame, but a consuming blast: “Their souls were burnt, though their garments remained intact,” the record stated. The phenomenon was accompanied by a terrific noise. It was probably an interplanetary lightning bolt from a passing planetary body such as a comet.

This event allowed the Ten Tribes to escape their Assyrian captors. Apparently, they were considering returning to their homeland in Palestine, but upon reaching the Euphrates River, they discovered that an earthquake that accompanied the blast from Heaven, had caved in the narrow canyon in the upper reaches of the river, and so the river ran dry at their crossing point. Their leaders were inspired to direct the Israelites to instead of cross the river, that they would instead travel up the dry river bed until they reached a natural caved-in dam caused by the earthquake where they climbed out. The next day, when the home-standing army of the Assyrians in pursuit reached the river, it was again flowing with the turbulent waters of the flood from the broken dam. They could see the tracks of the Israelites entering the river, but could not see where they had come out on the other side. Thus, the Lord assisted the Ten Tribes in their escape from Assyrian captivity.

The Ten Tribes then continued north over the Caucasus Mountains and encamped north of the Black Sea, where many stayed. But a sizeable group continued their trek north into Russia, Mongolia and Siberia, where some of their remains have been found to this day. But they didn’t stay there either. Their trek took them even further north through the northern aperture of the earth led by a prophet of God where they live today in the “North Countries” of Our Hollow Earth.

The Apostle John, gave us an indication where the Lost Tribes of Israel went — through the Earth’s “mouth” into the bowels of the earth where the waters of Noah’s flood had come from and subsided to. In Chapter 12 of Revelations, the “woman,” which is the House of Israel, was persecuted by the “dragon” which is Satan and his followers. The House of Israel escaped into the “wilderness” of Russia, Mongolia and Siberia and passed through the earth’s “mouth” into the interior of the earth 2,500 years ago where they reside to this today.

John recorded, “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child (referring to Jesus Christ — a descendant of Judah of the House of Israel). And to the woman (the House of Israel) were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent (another reference to Satan. The Lost Tribes went to the Hollow Earth 2,500 years ago. One time = 1,000 earth years, being one day of the Lord). And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed (remnants of the House of Israel that stayed on the earth’s surface), which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Rev 12:13-17)

To the prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord Jesus Christ revealed that the Lost Tribes have prophets, and shall lead the Lost Tribes when they come out of the Land of the North to outer earth to receive their endowments in the House of the Lord by the hand of the children of Ephraim who are the Servants of the Lord, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — in the New Jerusalem, which Joseph Smith said they will help build.

“And they who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord; and their prophets shall hear his voice, and shall no longer stay themselves; and they shall smite the rocks, and the ice shall flow down at their presence.
And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep.
Their enemies shall become a prey unto them,
And in the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land.
And they shall bring forth their rich treasures unto the children of Ephraim, my servants.
And the boundaries of the everlasting hills shall tremble at their presence.
And there shall they fall down and be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by the hands of the servants of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim.
And they shall be filled with songs of everlasting joy.” (D&C 133:23-33)

This scripture says the Lost Tribes have prophets of God and have the gospel of Jesus Christ — the Jehovah of the Old Testament. They were visited by the Lord Jesus Christ after his visit to ancient America. He told his disciples in Jerusalem, “And OTHER SHEEP I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” (John 10:16)

When the resurrected Christ came to ancient America, he told them, “And verily, verily, I say unto you that I HAVE OTHER SHEEP, which are not of this land (America), neither of the land of Jerusalem, neither in any parts of that land round about whither I have been to minister…I have received a commandment of the Father that I shall go unto them, and that they shall hear my voice, and shall be numbered among my sheep, that there may be one fold and one shepherd; therefore I GO TO SHOW MYSELF UNTO THEM. And I command you that ye shall write these sayings after I am gone, that if it so be that my people at Jerusalem, they who have been with me in my ministry, do not ask the Father in my name, that they may receive a knowledge of you by the Holy Ghost, and ALSO OF THE OTHER TRIBES WHOM THEY KNOW NOT OF…” (3 NEPHI 16:1-3)

“But now I go unto the Father, and also to show myself unto the LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL, for they are not lost unto the Father, for he knoweth whither he hath taken them.” (3 Nephi 17:4)

After the Lord visited the Nephites in Ancient America, he visited the Lost Tribes of Israel in the North Countries of Inner Earth. And the record of that visit will be found in their holy scriptures when they return to outer earth to expand the Kingdom of God to all the world.

To those that reject the Word of God given to prophets in Ancient America found today in the Book of Mormon, the Lord Jesus Christ saith,

“Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews? Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and IN THE EARTH BENEATH; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth? Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another?…For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I HAVE LED AWAY, and they shall write it…And it shall come to pass, that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews.” (2 NEPHI 29:7-14)

Many today reject the record of the Jews, which is the Holy Bible, as the word of God, saying that is just myth and stories made up by the Hebrews. Many more today also reject the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ that testifies that He came to ancient America after his resurrection where he set up his church and taught his everlasting gospel. But when the Lost Tribes return and bring their scriptures, those that reject this third witness that Jesus Is the Christ, the Savior of the World — will be burned at His Coming in Glory.

The law of God and His people Israel, is that in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall all truth be established, and according to the Law given to Moses on, Mt. Sinai, which was Mt. Horeb in the Land of Midian in Arabia, a man cannot be condemned to death by God’s law, except at the testimony of two or three witnesses. “…at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.” (Deut 19:15) During the Millennium, the wicked will be ashes beneath the feet of those who have accepted God’s word in righteousness. “And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 4:3)

Before leaving the ancient Americans, Jesus prophesied unto them regarding the Latter Days, “…Verily I say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my people, yea, EVEN THE TRIBES WHICH HAVE BEEN LOST, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem…” in which they will come forth to help preach the gospel to the whole earth for the last time before His Coming in Glory. (3 Nephi 21:26)

The Lost Tribes will bring forth the political Kingdom of God to our surface world.

To King David the Lord promised that he and his sons would rule over the house of Israel forever: “Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, ‘Although my house be not so with God; YET HE HATH MADE WITH ME AN EVERLASTING COVENANT, ordered in all things, and sure…'” (2 Samuel 23:1,5)

This was the covenant that the Lord made with David: “And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee; THY THRONE SHALL BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan (the prophet) speak unto David.” (2 Samuel 7:16-7)

And of David’s son Solomon, the Lord said, “He shall build an house for my name, and I WILL ESTABLISH THE THRONE OF HIS KINGDOM FOREVER.” (2 Samuel 7:13)

The Lord had explained to David, as he recorded in Psalms 89: Verse 3. “I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, 4. Thy SEED will I establish FOREVER, and build up THY THRONE TO ALL GENERATIONS. Selah. 28. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. 29. His SEED also will I make to ENDURE forever, and his THRONE AS THE DAYS OF HEAVEN. 30. If his children FORSAKE my law, and walk not in my judgments; 31. If they BREAK my statutes, and keep not my commandments; 32. Then will I visit their transgression WITH THE ROD, and their iniquity with stripes. 33. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I NOT UTTERLY TAKE from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. 34. MY COVENANT WILL I NOT BREAK, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. 35. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. 36. HIS SEED SHALL ENDURE FOREVER, AND HIS THRONE AS THE SUN BEFORE ME. 37. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.” (PSALMS 89:3, 4, 28-37)

“For thus saith the Lord; there shall NOT BE CUT OFF from David A MAN to sit upon the throne of THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL.” (Jeremiah 33:14, 17)

From this scripture we discover that there will never be a time that A MAN, a descendent of David, will not sit upon the throne of David. However, the scripture makes clear that the throne of David is now not over Judah but over THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL — the ten tribe nation which went into the North Countries of Our Hollow Earth.

The throne of David today exists in the North Countries. It is the living, legal, righteous and acceptable throne of David. The government of the Lost Tribes is a Theocracy. It is the political Kingdom of God.

Olaf Jansen, the Norwegian fisherman, described his interview with the King of Israel. After obtaining the North Countries in their fishing craft through the North Polar Opening, he and his father were taken before the Great High Priest, Ruler Over All the Land:

“The surprise of my father and myself was indescribable when, amid the regal magnificence of a spacious hall, we were finally brought before the Great High Priest, ruler over all the land. He was richly robed, and much taller than those about him, and could not have been less than fourteen or fifteen feet in height. The immense room in which we were received seemed finished in solid slabs of gold thickly studded with jewels of amazing brilliancy…” (The Smoky God, p. 114)

Joseph Smith spoke of this last of the Kings of Israel before Christ takes over the throne at the commencement of the Millennium, “Although David was king, he never did obtain the spirit and power of Elijah and the fullness of the priesthood; and the Priesthood that he received, and the throne and kingdom of David is to be taken from him and given to another by the NAME OF DAVID in the last days, RAISED UP OUT OF HIS LINEAGE.” (TEACHINGS, p. 339)

This King David, a descendant of David lives today and is the King of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel in Our Hollow Earth. He is a prophet of God, necessarily under the direction of the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who today holds the keys given by Moses to Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple. At that time, Joseph Smith recorded that “…the heavens were again opened unto us; and Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north.” (D&C 110:11)

The prophet Jeremiah testified that a righteous branch of the House of Israel were taken by God to Inner Earth, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a RIGHTEOUS BRANCH, and a KING SHALL REIGN and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice IN THE EARTH.”

“In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

“Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;”

“But, the Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the North Country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.” (JEREMIAH 23:5-8)

When the Ten Tribes return, a portion will go back to Palestine to join the descendants of Judah there, “And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.”

“And I the Lord will be their God, and my SERVANT DAVID a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it.” (EZEKIEL 34:22-24)

The political Kingdom of God presently is headquartered at the City of Eden, in that primeval Garden where our race began, within Our Hollow Earth whose King is a descendant of David, his name is David and he sits on the inherited throne of David of old. He rules over the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. And in fulfillment of prophecy, the political Kingdom of God under the guidance of the living throne of David will expand to the surface of the earth. A highway will be cast up in the midst of the Arctic Ocean, probably a mono-rail train on posts, which Olaf Jansen described they presently use extensively, and “their prophets shall stay themselves no longer” but will proceed to connect a permanent link between their capital city in Eden with the New Jerusalem–the future capital of the Kingdom of God in America to be built in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri. Near there, at Adam-Ondi-Ahman, Adam’s home after being evicted from the Garden of Eden, a grand council will be convened.

At this grand council, the resurrected Adam, and all the prophets down through the ages who held keys in the Kingdom of God, including Joseph Smith and our current living modern prophet, together with the presently reigning King David of Israel will deliver the throne of David and all the keys of the Kingdom — to Jesus Christ who will henceforth reign as King of Kings forever more. Christ is “the root and the offspring of David.” (Revelations 22:16) And thereby will the scripture be fulfilled that said that there will never be a time when a son of David will not sit upon his throne which throne will endure forever.

The scripture testifies of the earth, “And truth is established in her bowels;” (D&C 84:101) It explains that truth is established in the earth’s bowels because people live there who have the truth and live by it. During the Millennium there will be three world capitals of the political Kingdom of God — Jerusalem in Palestine, the New Jerusalem in Missouri, and the City of Eden inside the “bowels” of the earth from whence the word of the Lord will issue forth to all the world.

In fact, the scriptures refer directly to a people who live within the earth’s crust in giant cavern cities, and to the Ten Tribes who live within Our Hollow Earth. In Section 88, verse 104, it is written: “And this shall be the sound of his trump, saying to ALL PEOPLE, both in HEAVEN and IN THE EARTH, and that are UNDER THE EARTH–for every ear shall hear…”


The Heart of the Earth

The “outmost parts of Heaven” to where the Lost Tribes were taken, also gives us an indication of where the Heaven of this earth is located within the “heart” of the earth. Christ told the thief on the cross, “Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise,” (Luke 23:43)

The Apostle Paul told us where Paradise or “Heaven” is located — in the “lower parts of the earth.” Paul wrote of Christ saying, “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high (referring to the ascension into heaven after his resurrection)…Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also DESCENDED FIRST INTO THE LOWER PARTS OF THE EARTH?…” (Ephesians 4:8,9)

The scriptures teach us that Mother Earth has a heart. It is the location of Paradise, or the Heaven of this earth, where Christ’s spirit went while his body lay in the tomb. He told the Jews where he would be going. Christ told them, “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights IN THE HEART OF THE EARTH.”

Since the “heart of the earth” can be considered the “center” of the earth, Paradise must be located in the center of the earth, or as Paul expressed it, in “the lower parts of the earth.”

It is covered by a bright cloud and “shines.” The Lord said to Job, “Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God. Doest thou know when God disposed them, AND CAUSED THE LIGHT OF HIS CLOUD TO SHINE?” (Job 37:14.15)

It is the location of God’s throne in the Heaven of this Earth in the center of the earth’s womb. “He holdeth back the FACE OF HIS THRONE, and spreadeth his CLOUD upon it.” (Job 26:9)

Paradise, the Heaven of this earth in the “heart of the earth,” is also where Jesus Christ reigns from his throne on this earth. He told the prophet Nephi, “…that I rule in the heavens above and IN THE EARTH BENEATH;” (2 Nephi 29:7)

It is the place that Jesus hides himself. Joseph Smith prayed saying, “O, God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy HIDING PLACE?” (D&C 121:1) To which fact, the prophet Isaiah also testified, “Verily thou art a God that HIDEST thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.” (Isaiah 45:15)

The throne of our Savior in Paradise has a cloud that shines and covers it indicating that Paradise is a place of light. Indeed, the Prophet Joseph Smith stated that when the righteous die and go to Paradise (which is another word the Savior used for Heaven), they will be enveloped in “flames of fire.” He stated, “The spirits of the just are exalted to a greater and more glorious work; hence they are blessed in their departure to the world of spirits. ENVELOPED IN FLAMING FIRE, THEY ARE NOT FAR FROM US, and know and understand our thoughts, feelings, and motions, and are often pained therewith.” (TEACHINGS OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH, p. 326)

In Nephi’s vision of the Tree of Life, in which he saw Paradise, he testified that, “…the brightness thereof was like unto the brightness of a flaming fire”… (I Nephi 15:30)

The prophet Enoch testified of Paradise saying, “My spirit saw around the CIRCLE OF THIS FLAMING HABITATION, on one of its extremities, that there were rivers of living fire, which encompassed it.” (Lost Books of the Bible, The Book of Enoch 70:8) He saw this fire coming from Paradise streaming towards the ends of the earth, “Where I beheld the operation of a GREAT FIRE BLAZING AND GLITTERING, in the midst of which there was a DIVISION. COLUMNS OF FIRE struggled together to the end of the ABYSS, and deep was their descent…” (The Book of Enoch 21:4-5, From Lost Books of the Bible) These are the source of auroras that emanate out from the earth’s womb from Paradise within through the polar orifices which are literally the “ends of the earth” from whence the Lost Ten Tribes will come in the latter days. The Lord said through the prophet Isaiah, “I will say to the NORTH, GIVE UP; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the END OF THE EARTH;” (Isaiah 43:6)

The “ends of the earth” are the earth’s polar openings that lead into the interior “womb” of “mother” earth.

The earth’s womb, in scripture, is also called the Abyss, or “Bottomless Pit,” because it has neither a top nor a bottom consisting of the “empty places” spoken by the prophet Job — which are the polar orifices, and is also referred to as the “Great Gulf.” It is a great hollow within the earth’s bowels.

The prophet Abraham in Paradise was speaking to the rich man in hell and said, “And beside all this, between us and you there is a GREAT GULF FIXED: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.” (Luke 16:26)

The prophet Nephi also saw this great gulf in his vision of the Tree of Life. He testified that between Hell and Paradise was “an awful gulf which separated the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the saints of God.” (2 Nephi 15:28)

Apostle Bruce R. McConkie wrote, “The Spirit World is divided into two parts: PARADISE which is the abode of the righteous, and HELL which is the abode of the wicked.” (MORMON DOCTRINE, “Spirit World” p. 68) They are separated by the great gulf.

Thus, the scriptures describe a hollow spirit world, with Hell located down in the earth’s shell, and Paradise in the center or “heart” of the earth in the “lower parts of the earth” separated by a “great gulf” of space. And since the spirit of all living beings have the same shape and form as their physical bodies, the physical world must also be hollow with a central sun.

“Spirit Prison” would be located on the surface of the planet where spirits that haven’t been cast down to Hell are waiting to hear the gospel, which if they do, and repent and receive a proxy baptism in the Temples of God, they are then empowered to cross the great gulf into Paradise.

Hell, in scripture, is called “outer darkness” because it is dark underneath the surface as anyone who has been in a cavern knows, — and because it is located “outer” or away from the center Paradise or Heaven of this earth. Many who have died and are medically resuscitated report that after leaving their bodies, they are taken through a dark tunnel through the earth’s shell and then come out in brilliant light in Paradise in the center of the earth.

The Tree of Life originally was in the Garden of Eden, but when Adam and Eve were driven out, the Lord transplanted it to Paradise-Heaven, where he placed “Cherubims and a flaming sword which turned everyway to keep the way of the tree of life” so that Adam and Eve could no longer eat the fruit thereof and live forever in their sins. The only way the fruit could to be partaken of again by humans was on condition of repentance and purification of all sin. Then they could be caught up to Heaven to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life. Christ said regarding the blessing of translation, “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” (John 11:26)

Many Saints have achieved unto this blessing of translation. The City of Enoch, the people who repented in the time of Noah’s preaching that were caught up to heaven, King Melchizedek’s City of Salem, Elijah, Moses, Alma the Younger, many Masters of the Far East, the Three Nephites, and the Apostle John, the Beloved of the Savior, all have partaken of this blessing wherein the righteous that are cleansed from all sin and wickedness may fore-go death and be caught up to Paradise to become translated beings by partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Life in a special gift from the Savior.

Jesus Christ revealed to John that, “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” (REVELATION 2:7) Many who have died and were medically resuscitated report that after passing through a dark tunnel through the earth’s shell, they arrive in Paradise in the heart of the earth and see a City of Light in the distance. That City of Light in Paradise is the City of Enoch that was physically taken to Heaven — buildings and all — many years before Noah’s flood. It will return to the earth’s surface at the beginning of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ when Heaven and Hell will change places.

The Celestial Destiny of Earth

In forming the earth, physical matter was controlled and governed by spirit matter. Therefore, a hollow spirit world with a central paradise-sun was organized from spirit matter upon which the physical matter was superimposed. So explained the guide to I-AM-THE-MAN in Lloyd’s ETIDORPHA:

“Matter has no strength, matter obeys spirit, and spirit dominates all things material. Energy in some form holds particles of matter together, and energy in other forms loosens them…The spirit that pervades all material things gives to them form and existence. Take from your earth its vital spirit, the energy that subjects matter, and your so-called adamantine rocks would disintegrate, and sift as dust into the interstices of space.” (ETIDORPHA, p. 253)

The Inner Earth guide further explained, “The earth forming principle consists of an invisible sphere of energy that, spinning through space, supports the space dust which collects on it, as dust on a bubble. By gradual accumulation of substance on that sphere a hollow ball has resulted, on the outer surface of which you have hither to dwelt. The crust of the earth is comparatively thin, not more than eight hundred miles in average thickness, and is held in position by the central sphere of energy (center of gravity, or central sphere of gravity) that now exists at a distance about seven hundred miles beneath the ocean level.” (ETIDORPHA, p. 193)

When we look at the Earth, it may seem to be just one big lump of rock covered with some dirt and water. But if we look at it from God’s perspective, he describes the earth as having two separate parts.

In Genesis, we read God’s account of the Earth’s creation. The Lord spoke to Moses saying,

“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.”
Notice that “heaven” and “earth” here are both singular. From this we learn that our Earth consists of TWO parts, a “Heaven,” and an “Earth.”
“And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.”

Now, since God placed the Sun, Moon and Stars on the 4th Day of Creation, the question that must be asked is, “What lit up on the first day of creation?”

God goes on to describe this light that he lit up on the first day of creation.
“And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the FIRST DAY.”
Here we learn another characteristic of this light, is that God divided it into a light side and dark side. How unusual. What light could have a dark side so that is causes Night? The phrase, “The evening and the morning were the First Day” indicates that this light rotates.

Then God, describes this light even more.
“And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the SECOND DAY.”

Here we learn that this light is in the midst of the waters of the earth, and it actually divides the waters below it from the waters above it. How unusual! What kind of light could be suspended between two oceans of water?

Then God describes where this light is located. He says it is located in a “firmament.”

The word “firmament,” translated from the Greek means “expanse.” The dictionary says firmament means, “sky, considered as an arch.” A characteristic of an arch is that it is curved. Apparently, God is describing something that is curved, is in the sky, and it separates an ocean, or “waters” above it from an ocean, or “waters” beneath it, and is an “expanse.” What is more, God gives this expanse a name. He calls it “Heaven.” This part of the creation occurred on a separate day from the first day, so this firmament must have been an important part of the creation of the earth. Where could this expanse, firmament, or Heaven be located?

Planetary Nebula NGC 6369
taken by the Hubble Space Telescope

There is a pattern in God’s creations. Take an atom, for example. It has two separate parts — the nucleus and the electron shell. And they are separated from each other by a considerable space. In other words, an atom is hollow. It has a nucleus suspended within the center of its electron shell. Our sun is located at the center of the solar system surrounded by orbiting planets. And if we look out into space we see many similar creations — all having a central star surrounded by orbiting stars and dust. It seems that all of God’s creations have this pattern.

If we would consider that our earth is built with a similar construction, with two separate parts, one inside the other, then we can begin to understand the Creation account in Genesis. The “light” that God lit up on the first day of creation is the core of the earth, or the “heart” of the earth. And it shines.

This is the discovery made by polar explorers. Through polar openings in the Arctic, at the “end of the earth” they have seen through an “empty place” in the earth’s shell. And what do they see? An inner sun shining within the hollow of our earth!

This inner sun produces a solar wind that emanates out through the polar openings to light up the auroras at both poles. And our astronomers report that most of the planets in our solar system have been found to have auroras at their poles just like earth.

The Norwegian fisherman-explorer, Olaf Jansen, described this inner sun in his book, The Smoky God.

It was the first part of August 1829. They had been sailing in the Arctic about 15 days northeast of Franz Josef Land through leads in the ice when Olaf recorded:

The Inner Sun

The Inner Sun

“One day about this time, my father startled me by calling my attention to a novel sight far in front of us, almost at the horizon. ‘It is a mock sun,’ exclaimed my father. ‘I have read of them; it is called a reflection or mirage. It will soon pass away.'”

“But this dull-red, false sun, as we supposed it to be, did not pass away for several hours; and while we were unconscious of its emitting any rays of light, still there was no time thereafter when we could not sweep the horizon in front and locate the illumination of the so-called false sun, during a period of at least twelve hours out of every twenty-four.”

“Clouds and mists would at times almost, but never entirely, hide its location. Gradually it seemed to climb higher in the horizon of the uncertain purply sky as we advanced.”

“It could hardly be said to resemble the sun, except in its circular shape, and when not obscured by clouds or the ocean mists, it had a hazy-red, bronzed appearance, which would change to a white light like a luminous cloud, as if reflecting some greater light beyond.”

“We finally agreed in our discussion of this smoky furnace-colored sun, that, whatever the cause of the phenomenon, it was not a reflection of our sun, but a planet of some sort–a reality.” (THE SMOKY GOD, pp. 85-7)

Fridtjof Nansen saw a mirage of this inner sun when he was caught in the ice on his ship, the Fram, in February 1894, at 80 degrees 1’ N Latitude. He reported, “Monday, February 19th… Both today and yesterday we have seen the mirage of the Sun again; today it was high above the horizon, and almost seemed to assume a round, disk-like form.” He remarked that it had a hazy, smoky-red color.

As the Norwegian fishermen explorers, Olaf and his father Jens Jansen passed through the North Polar Opening to Inner Earth, they met the Inner Earth inhabitants who were very friendly to them. They were very large in stature, very refined, highly educated and were in many respects as fair and similar in appearance to North Europeans. In fact, his father considered them his cousins. He told Olaf, his son, that their Norwegian legends told of a country in the far north that was a terrestrial paradise where the “Chosen People” lived. They were cousins, descendants of some of his ancestors, whom Norwegians worshiped, such as Odin, and Thor, whom now they considered to be Gods.

Similarly, members of the Church of Latter-day Saints consider some of their ancestors to be Gods also. Members are taught that they are “modern” Israel, many of which are actual descendants of the tribes of Israel, and if not, all who join the church are adopted into the House of Israel — and if they live their lives righteously, taking upon themselves the sacred covenants with God of baptism, and covenants of His holy temple, they become worthy of all the inherited blessings God promised to their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel by an angel of God.

To the prophet Joseph Smith, Jesus Christ revealed, “I am the Lord thy God, and will give unto thee the law of my Holy Priesthood, as was ordained by me and my Father before the world was.

Abraham received all things, whatsoever he received, by revelation and commandment, by my word, saith the Lord, and hath entered into his exaltation and sitteth upon his throne. Abraham received promises concerning his seed, and of the fruit of his loins—from whose loins ye are, namely, my servant Joseph—which were to continue so long as they were in the world; and as touching Abraham and his seed, out of the world they should continue; both in the world and out of the world should they continue as innumerable as the stars; or, if ye were to count the sand upon the seashore ye could not number them.”

In fact, the righteous of any age can become Gods, if they live God’s full law — which is Celestial Marriage performed by authorized servants in the Holy Temples of God.

Concerning those who will be privileged to live here when our earth becomes celestialized and they become Gods and angels therein, Jesus Christ revealed to the prophet Joseph Smith, July 12, 1843:

“And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of Promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of the priesthood; and it shall be said unto them–Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths–then it shall be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fullness and a continuation of the seeds (children) forever and ever.”

“Then shall they be GODS, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be GODS, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.”

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory.”

“For strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives (posterity), and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me.”

“But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation; that where I am ye shall be also.” (D&C 132:19-23)

However, unlike some of our ancestors that went astray in the worship of their ancestors, our worship must be confined to the true and living God of Heaven, even Jesus Christ, of whom the Apostle Peter testified when he healed a man by God’s holy priesthood power, “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12)

In his sojourn in the hollow earth, Olaf Jansen was very interested in the inner sun and gave several descriptions of it. He called it, “the Smoky God,” because the Inner Earth inhabitants, he reported, believed it was the throne of their “Jehovah.” Here, it is curious that he would mention that the Inner Earth inhabitant’s God was Jehovah — the God of the ancient Israelites, because Olaf and his Father were worshipers of the Norwegian Gods, Odin and Thor, to their dying days.

He wrote, “In the meantime, we had lost sight of the sun’s rays, but we found a radiance ‘within’ emanating from the dull-red sun which had already attracted our attention, now giving out a white light seemingly from a cloudbank far away in front of us. It dispensed a greater light, I should say, than two full moons on the clearest night.”

“In twelve hours this cloud of whiteness would pass out of sight as if eclipsed, and the twelve hours following corresponded with our night. We early learned that these strange people were worshipers of this great cloud of light. It was ‘The Smoky God’ of the ‘Inner World.'” (THE SMOKY GOD, pp. 102, 103)

He further wrote, “The great luminous cloud or ball of dull-red fire–fiery-red in the mornings and evenings, and during the day giving off a beautiful white light, ‘The Smoky God,’–is seemingly suspended in the center of the great vacuum ‘within’ the earth, and held to its place by the immutable law of gravitation…”

“The base of this electrical cloud or central luminary, the seat of the gods, is dark and non-transparent, save for innumerable small openings, seemingly in the bottom of the great support or altar of the Deity, upon which ‘The Smoky God’ rests; and, the lights shining through these many openings twinkle at night in all their splendor, and seem to be stars, as natural as the stars we saw shining when in our home at Stockholm, excepting that they appear larger. ‘The Smoky God,’ therefore, with each daily revolution of the earth, appears to come up in the east and go down in the west, the same as does our sun on the external surface. In reality, the people ‘within’ believe that ‘The Smoky God’ is the throne of their Jehovah, and is stationary. The effect of night and day is, therefore, produced by the earth’s daily rotation.” (THE SMOKY GOD, pp. 108-110)

All living things have been found to have an electromagnetic field about them. It is sometimes called an “aura.” So, the fact that the earth has an electromagnetic field could be an indication that it is alive. Similar to a dynamo, the earth produces an electromagnetic field because it has two parts, both with electrical charges, one rotating about the other. Olaf Jansen reported that the inner sun appeared to be stationary, however, it does rotate very slowly — originally it was once every 1,000 earth years, but since creation, the earth’s rotation has slown down, and has been pushed into an orbit further from the sun, so that the inner sun now rotates about once every 623 years.

Similar to a magnet, the magnetic flux emerges from within at the south magnetic pole, and enters again at the north magnetic pole, which means that within the earth, the directions of the compass are opposite ours on the surface. This is what Olaf Jansen discovered. Their compass continued to point north even after passing through the north polar opening into Inner Earth.

Some people have thought that Olaf’s description of how the inner sun appears to come up in the morning in the east and go down in the west, was an indication of the falsity of his story. But they didn’t think about this carefully enough. Since magnetic flux flows out of the earth at our south pole, and goes in the north pole, and continues towards the south pole within the earth, then our south pole is their north pole and our north pole is their south pole. Since the earth rotates from west to east on the outside of the earth causing the sun to appear to rise in the east in the morning. and the directions of the compass are opposite inside the earth, then the inner sun’s bright “day side” cloud would appear in the east in the morning as seen from the inner surface of the hollow earth, and appear to go out on the west side in the evening so that the dark side of the inner sun then appears for night time.

God’s Genesis account appears to now make sense. The light that lit up on the first day of creation was a different sun that our outer sun that was placed in the sky on the 4th day of creation. (Actually, the earth was probably just put in orbit about the sun so that the sun, moon and stars then appeared in the sky.) That “light” that lit up on the first day of creation has a day and night side, and rotates once for every day of the Lord, which God told Abraham was once every 1,000 earth years. That “light” that lit up on the first day of creation is an inner sun suspended within the “expanse,” “womb,” or hollow of the earth. It is the “heaven” or “heart” of this earth, and “paradise” of the spirit world of earth.

We, as inhabitants of earth, can be grateful to God, our creator, Jesus Christ, and His Father for such a nice place to live. And we can have great respect for our “mother” earth knowing that she is alive, and obeys God’s will. In fact, God’s prophets have taught that our earth after its resurrection, will be the celestial kingdom for those of us found worthy to live on and in it.

Jesus taught his disciples, that the “meek” will inherit the earth. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt 5:5) John, the Beloved, saw the death of the earth and its resurrection in his Revelation.
“And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.” Notice the special mention of “the earth and THE heaven, ” again “heaven” is singular.

“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. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” (Rev. 21:1-3)

The celestial city, the New Jerusalem, that John the Beloved saw, is being build right now inside our outer sun by Jesus and his Saints and Prophets. Phoebe Marie Holmes in 1933, told in her book, My Visit To The Sun, of her visit to the Celestial City of God within the Sun.

She described how she was taken in the Spirit by angels to the heart of the Sun where the New Jerusalem is today being built. It will be brought to earth after the earth’s resurrection when the earth becomes celestialized and becomes the abode of the righteous. Since it is so big, 1,500 miles long, wide and high, it will probably take the place of the earth’s inner sun in the celestialized earth.

Christ, on his Sermon on the Mount said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” A mansion is being built there right now for each of us, in the New Jerusalem, by our actions here on earth. Phoebe was taken by the angels of God to visit her unfinished mansion, where she found her husband, who had already passed on. She then was brought back to earth to finish her life’s work.

Phoebe reported that the city in the Sun is a giant terraced mountain with a square bottom — having a pyramid shape. John, the Beloved, in Revelations 21 reported that the New Jerusalem is as long and wide as it is tall and gave the measurements, which in our units of measure comes to 1,500 miles, with a wall 1/2 mile thick. So perhaps the ancient Meso-Americans, Chinese and Egyptians knew the New Jerusalem would have the shape of a pyramid, and so built their temples with that shape.

The angels told Phoebe that the Sun is a giant crystal. Joseph Smith also taught, “The angels do not reside on a planet like this earth; But they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a SEA OF GLASS AND FIRE, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord.”

“The place where God resides is a great Urim and Thummim.”

“This earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it; and this earth will be Christ’s.” (D&C 130:6-9)

Scientists, on the other hand, claim the Sun is entirely gaseous. But if it is hollow and has a shell thickness 10% of its planetary diameter, — that would give the Sun’s shell a density of 2.9 gm/cc, and so would have a solid surface! Glass has a density of 2.6 gm/cc.

The scientific work of Michael Mozina at his website at http://www.TheSurfaceOfTheSun.com, presents considerable evidence that the sun has a solid surface covered by some kind of liquid, perhaps silica. In recent satellite images of the sun in various wave lengths, surface features such as mountains and hills can be seen. He even shows a movie on his website taken by satellite of a “sun quake” on the surface of the sun, which sent out a tsunami from it’s epicenter and you can see the waves passing over the mountains.
This evidence that the Sun has a solid surface indicates the Sun is a hollow globe — since it does not have enough mass to be solid all the way through.

And it’s not that hot inside the Sun as scientists claim either. Phoebe described a nice warmth is provided for the celestial city suspended within the Sun’s hollow interior.

Joseph F. Smith, wrote in his book, DOCTRINES OF SALVATION, of the Celestial Destiny of our earth:

“The earth will be cleansed again. It was once baptized in water. When Christ comes, it will be baptized with fire and the power of the Holy Ghost. At the end of the world, the earth will die; it will be dissolved, pass away, and then it will be renewed, or raised with a resurrection. It will receive its resurrection to become a celestial body, so that they of the celestial order may possess it forever and ever. Then it will shine forth as the sun and take its place among the worlds that are redeemed. When this time comes the terrestrial inhabitants (those living terrestrial laws, Phoebe said would be taken to the Moon) will also be taken away and be consigned to another sphere suited to their condition. Then the words of the Savior will be fulfilled, for the meek shall inherit the earth.”

The Meek are those living celestial laws–which includes baptism in the true church of Jesus Christ and subsequent righteousness throughout this life. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by an authorized servant of Jesus Christ and reception of the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and continued living “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matt 4:4) are the requirements for entrance into the Celestial World.

President Joseph F. Smith, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, continued:

“It is my opinion that the great stars that we see, including our sun, are celestial worlds; at least worlds that have passed on to their exaltation or other final resurrected status. This is in conflict, of course, with the teachings of scientific men, who declare that the sun is losing energy and gradually cooling off and will eventually be a dead world. I do not believe the Lord has any such thing in his plan. The Lord lives in ‘everlasting burnings’ we are informed. President Brigham Young has said that this earth when it is celestialized will shine like the sun, and why not?” (DOCTRINES OF SALVATION pp. 88, 89)

Isaiah wrote, “The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall DWELL WITH THE DEVOURING FIRE? WHO AMONG US SHALL DWELL WITH EVERLASTING BURNING?: He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that stayeth his hand from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil: He shall dwell on high…” (Isaiah 33:14)

Indeed, our LIVING earth is alive, and will continue to be our home forever — if we are worthy of such a great an honor. After the resurrection, our Living Earth will become a Celestial World for its righteous inhabitants and will take it’s place as a Star — another of God’s jewels shining in the vastness of space.

— * —

The Keys to Prophecy X: What Joseph Taught


784 words

© Anthony E. Larson, 2005

 The Keys to Prophecy X:

What Joseph Taught

Certainly, some will say that discussions of ancient myths, gods, goddesses and pagan beliefs have little to do with the restored gospel.  To others, perhaps all this analysis of prophetic symbols, planets, stars, beasts and dragons seems a bit removed from core gospel principles.

Most Saints pay little heed to such things in their gospel study, seeing it as irrelevant and therefore largely valueless.

After all, if reading the scriptures and praying are sufficient to understand the gospel, why not leave the study of planets and stars to the astronomers and analysis of pagan gods and goddesses to the mythologists?

The reply to such dismissive notions is the evidence that Joseph Smith taught these things.

It was Joseph who first wrote and spoke of planets and stars in connection with both ancient and prophetic events.  It was Joseph who placed the Egyptian documents alongside modern revelation and then included explanations.  It was Joseph who gave the pattern for those icons collocated on modern temple walls-not as mere décor, but as teaching tools.

Isn’t that incentive enough to look into these keys?  Indeed, the fact that Joseph taught these things makes it incumbent upon every Latter-day Saint to learn all they can about them.

If he deemed them important enough to reveal, we ignore them at our own peril.

These keys bear directly upon otherwise arcane aspects of the restored gospel, successfully explaining what has heretofore remained a mystery to most Saints-things such as temple symbols, the Pearl of Great Price facsimiles and a uniform system for interpreting prophecy.

Who would have thought that a systematic approach to the symbolism of prophecy would also explain such divergent elements as temple icons and Egyptian facsimiles?

A few examples that amplify one theme should suffice to convince us.

We have already seen Joseph’s “planet, comet” description of the “grand sign” of the last days and the second coming, recorded in his own journal, History of the Church.  That puts cosmic phenomena squarely under the prophecy heading.

In keeping with Joseph’s statement, in a 1951 General Conference talk, Elder LeGrand Richards reinforced the concept, saying that the latter-day signs will be caused by “some great phenomenon in the heavens, (a) misplacement of planets ….”

An interview with Homer M. Brown, a past Patriarch of the Granite, Utah, Stake, father of Elder Hugh B. Brown and grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Brown, who gave Joseph Smith sanctuary from a mob in Nauvoo one evening, more fully explains the role of this misplaced planet and its effect on our Earth.

According to Patriarch Brown, these are Joseph’s words to his grandparents regarding a future encounter between a rogue planet and our Earth.  “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, 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 overtake the other.”

Corroboration comes from the journal of another early Saint, Samuel Hollister Rogers.  He paraphrases the prophet thusly:  “Not that the planets will come squarely against each other, in such case both planets would be broken to pieces.  But in their rolling motion they will come together … which will cause the earth to reel to and fro.”

Further confirmation is found in the Charles Walker journal, wherein he recounts learning from Eliza R. Snow that Joseph had taught her “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.'” 

The prophet obviously elaborated on this theme on many occasions, as we learn from yet another journal.

Wandle Mace described the same planetary conjunction scenario, adding this anecdote from the prophet:  “Some of you brethren have been coming up the river on a steamboat, and while seated at the table, the steamboat (ran) against a snag which upset the table and scattered the dishes.  So it will be (when these planets come together).  It will make the earth reel to and fro like a drunken man.”

Without the keys presented in this series, such remarkably consistent statements, attributed to Joseph Smith by early church members, have been discounted as extravagant and speculative by LDS scholars and all but forgotten in recent years by church members.  Yet, when seen as corroborative, they argue eloquently for Joseph’s view of the role that a vagabond planet will play in our future.

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The Keys to Prophecy IX: Apollyon, the Destroyer


720 words

© Anthony E. Larson, 2005

The Keys to Prophecy IX:

Apollyon, the Destroyer

Like the histories of all ancient cultures, that of the Hebrews-the Old Testament-tells the very same story of sky-spanning marvels and manifestations that profoundly and directly impacted their culture and beliefs.  Comparing the names of the gods they worshipped supports this conclusion, as we have seen.

Having made that connection, we can now turn to the scriptural record to see how well that knowledge helps our comprehension of symbolism that otherwise seems unfathomable: prophecy.

For example, Baal, a figure we see often in the Old Testament, was the god of the Canaanites, sometimes neighbors and enemies of the Israelites.  From time to time in their history most Israelites worshipped him as well, to the dismay of the prophets.

Apollo was the Greek equivalent of Baal.  In fact, the name is the same, altered only by linguistic preferences.  The Greeks added an antecedent ‘a’ (a-baal), softened the hard ‘b’ sound to a ‘p’ and then added an ‘o’ ending (a-paal-o).

The conclusion: The Greeks worshipped the same sky god as the Canaanites and the apostate Israelites.

Although the Greek’s god Ares is more typically associated by scholars with the Roman war god, Mars, others insist that Apollo (Apollon/Apollyon) was also a Greek equivalent. For that reason, Apollo was virtually adopted intact into the Roman pantheon. So, as we make cross-cultural connections of these gods, we learn that the Old Testament god Baal is the same are the Greek Apollo and the Roman god of war, Mars.

The planets in our solar system, such as Mars, were not arbitrarily assigned the names of mythical gods, as most suppose.  The nine known planets bear the names of Roman gods and goddesses because some of them were the ‘gods’ that once stood near to or passed perilously close to the Earth, illuminating and dominating the ancient heavens as well as occasionally raining destruction on the world’s civilizations.

In fact, Revelation’s Apollyon is usually translated “destroyer,” a fitting description of Apollo’s Roman counterpart, the warrior god Mars.

These connections become particularly useful when we consider the following enigmatic passage from John’s vision.  “And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.”  (Revelation 9:11.)

Earlier in that same chapter, it is a “star” that opens the bottomless pit.  Of course, we’ve learned in earlier installments in this series that the ancients commonly called planets that once hovered near the Earth “stars.”

Can you see where this is leading?  John implied that, this “king,” “angel” or “star”-Apollyon-was the planet Mars.  This is the key.

Thus, we learn many things from John’s carefully worded explanation in these few verses.

Foremost, we learn that this “king,” which is also the “angel of the bottomless pit” and the “star” that fell to the earth, is a planet.  Thus, we must conclude that other references to kings, angels, beasts, stars and creatures in John’s account may be references to planets as well.

This tendency to use common images to describe celestial objects is still practiced today where star constellations are given names like Great Bear, Lion and Archer, and where the greatest star cluster is called the Milky Way.  It’s a cultural tradition from antiquity, employed by John, which we preserve in the present.

It also fits perfectly with Joseph Smith’s teaching that the beasts seen by prophets in heavenly visions are not beasts at all but “images” meant to represent something else.  (For clarification of this, see “Joseph Smith’s Marvelous Key.”)

We can also now see that John drew upon traditions common to all cultures around the Mediterranean to describe the future.  This practice of drawing on the past to describe the future is a common literary device used by the prophets-Nephi and Isaiah, for example-one that John employed throughout his record.

Also implied is the idea that the imagery of the entire vision draws heavily upon the cultural traditions of John’s time, employing the sacred, “mythical” stories of those pagan cultures of the “seven churches which are in Asia” that John addressed to explain the place of Christ in those traditions as well as events of the last days.

Thus, the images or icons embodied in those ancient cultural traditions are the keys to interpreting all the imagery of John’s enigmatic vision, Revelation. And so it is, too, with all the visions of the prophets recorded in scripture. Armed with these keys, which are an understanding of the meaning of that imagery, the most mysterious symbolism of the scriptures becomes easy reading.

In order to properly understand all these mysterious, symbolic references, we must know both what these traditions were and their origins.  We cannot simply guess at their meaning, as most modern expositors of prophecy do.  Such gratuitous speculation is commonplace, though dangerously misleading.

In order to grasp the meaning of prophecy, we must know as much about the past as we do the present.

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The Keys to Prophecy VII: A New Heaven, a New Earth


721 words

© Anthony E. Larson, 2005

The Keys to Prophecy VII:

A New Heaven, a New Earth

Our culture knows nothing of the incredible changes wrought in the heavens anciently.  This is so because of our ‘scientific’ view that there have been no significant changes in the solar system’s arrangement during recorded history.

But the scriptures and the prophets are insistent, in spite of our ‘scientific’ beliefs:  The heavens have repeatedly changed throughout ancient history.  This is a primary message the ancients and the prophets sought to convey to us across the millennia.

The result: Our modern ignorance of the true past blinds us to the unanimous declarations of our distant ancestors.

The concept of sweeping changes in the sky and the earth are found everywhere in the scriptures.  For example, in the Doctrine & Covenants we read: “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 all old things shall pass away, and all things shall become new, even the heaven and the earth, and all the fullness thereof, both men and beasts, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea.” (D&C 29:23, 24.)

Also, “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.)

Perhaps the apostle Peter said it best when he spoke of the Deluge, explaining that it was the defining event that changed the ‘old heavens’ into the sky we see today.  “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water.  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:  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.”  (2 Peter 3:5-7.)

Then, he went on to further explain that a similar change was in store for us in the last days.  “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”  (Ibid. 3:10.)

We read the same sort of language in the texts of all ancient cultures, where we find the pervasive, ever-present fear that something terrible that happened in the past would repeat itself in the future.  Indeed, all ancient cultures relate that there have been dramatic changes in the heavens, calling the epochs in between “ages” or “suns.”  The Greek philosopher Hesiod associates these ages with various metals, as does Daniel in his Old Testament vision of the statue with a head of gold, a torso of silver, belly and thighs of brass and legs of iron.

These fearsome changes were universally attributed to stars or planets in the form of gods, goddesses, beasts or serpents.  Surely, then, Joseph Smith was correct to call these images of the ancients “stars” and “planets,” as we have seen.

Even our language retains this key.  The words for world-changing cataclysms are catastrophe (cat-astro-phe) and disaster (dis-aster).  Both bear the same ‘astr’ root as the goddess-stars of antiquity: Aster, Astarte, Ashtoreth or Hathor.  In fact, one interpretation of the word “disaster” is literally “from the star.”

This the ancients feared above all: destruction from the stars that changed everything.

No wonder they were fiercely dedicated sky watchers, including prophets like Abraham, preoccupied with the motions of planets and stars.  No wonder they endlessly adorned their texts, temples and tombs with symbols and metaphors of star gods, goddesses and beasts derived from the appearance of those planets.

But because our culture and science turn a blind eye to these declarations, Latter-day Saints frequently fail to appreciate the many statements by Joseph Smith that echo the beliefs of the ancients: Planets and stars are the origins of almost all scriptural and prophetic imagery.

 Stars and planets on the Salt Lake Temple reflect an ancient, customary obsession with the heavens.  On the west wall buttresses, near the bottom of the photo are Sun Stones.  In the middle are the stars of the constellation Ursa Major, the Big Dipper.  Immediately above those is a repeated pattern of circles within a ring, called Saturn Stones by Brigham Young.

That’s why those images dominate the exterior of LDS temples, just as they did their ancient counterparts.  Our temples reflect both realities, the past and the present heavens.

The prophets, both ancient and modern, understood this key.  So should we.

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The Keys to Prophecy VI: A Great Star


790 words

© Anthony E. Larson, 2006

The Keys to Prophecy VI:

A Great Star

If we look closely at the images venerated by the ancients from the point of view that they may have been inspired by planets standing in close proximity to the Earth, we see them with new eyes.  And because we adopt this view, we can read the explanations of symbols on Egyptian papyri by the prophet Joseph Smith with a fresh perspective that also gives an entirely new dynamic to the imagery of prophecy.

This key is crucial because ancient sky gazers the world over drew remarkably similar pictures and offered stunningly similar descriptions of things that do not exist in our sky, though this vital truth has not been generally recognized.

Amazingly, when we heed Joseph Smith’s hints that the gods, goddesses, beasts and other images of antiquity all found their inspiration in Earth’s ancient heavens, some of the most mysterious icons suddenly appear to be virtual snapshots of what the ancients saw in Earth’s skies.

The star-in-crescent symbol, for example, so dominant in ancient symbology, appears to be a combination or blending of two astral elements: One is the sunlit limb of a planet; the other is an aurora-like discharge from another planet.

These images of “stars” look nothing like things seen in our present heavens.  Yet, Joseph Smith implied that these are the planets and stars of antiquity.

Hence, the confusion of a star/planet symbol with the moon and stars is natural.  The only heavenly object we see today with a bright crescent is the moon.  But if other planets hovered near the Earth anciently, they would have also manifested this same crescent feature.

Certainly, the lighted crescent on the limb of neighboring planets became the basis for a multitude of symbols: the horns of a bovine, the crescent-shaped ship of heaven or the outspread wings of a bird, three of the most common symbols in ancient iconography-all seen in the Joseph Smith papyri as well as in apocalyptic and prophetic imagery.

If the planetary god’s crescent looked like outspread wings, then it could properly be described as a great heavenly bird and subsequently illustrated as a hawk or eagle.

Of course, its planetary disk is displayed over its head as well so there is no mistaking where the image originated.  This is precisely what we see in the ancient symbols.

If the planetary god’s or goddess’ crescent was seen as horns, he or she could be depicted as the bull or cow of heaven, a commonplace description in ancient texts of gods and goddesses.  For emphasis, again the planetary disk is set between the horns.

If the planet’s crescent appeared to be a ship carrying the planet around heaven, then the god-with a disk over his head, naturally-would be depicted sitting on the ship of heaven.  This, too, was a nearly universal depiction in Egyptian iconography.

Significantly, these same images, and many more like them, can be seen in the Joseph Smith Facsimile No.2, where they are most often called stars or planets.

Moreover, there must have been much more involved anciently than the simple, pacific presence of large orbs in the sky.  They must have been active, changing, interacting and dynamic powers to evoke the expressions they inspired.

For example, Sumerian texts celebrate the “terrifying glory” of Inanna (Ishtar, Astarte, Venus), invoking the goddess as “the Light of the World,” “the Amazement of the Lands,” “the Radiant Star,” “Great Light,” and “Queen of Heaven.”  The texts depict the goddess “clothed in radiance.”  And it was said that the world stood in “fear and trembling at [her] tempestuous radiance.”

Thus, we get the picture from the texts and the illustrations of a discharging planet, emitting aurora-like rays that form the basis for all ‘star’ imagery of antiquity.

The Sumerian “Exaltation of Inanna” says, “I want to address my greeting to her who fills the sky with her pure blaze, to the luminous one, to Inanna, as bright as the sun, to the great queen of heaven.

“You make the heavens tremble and the earth quake.  Great Priestess, who can soothe your troubled heart?  You flash like lightning over the highlands; you throw your firebrands across the earth.  Your deafening command…splits apart great mountains.”

An illustration taken from an Akkadian cylinder seal shows Ishtar (star) and her symbol, a planet with aurora-like discharge.

The wheel symbol of the Babylonian god Shamash (Sun) looks nothing like the Sun and further illustrates the discharge streamer or star idea.

Both the texts and the images of the ancients tell the same story, each complimenting the other.

In fact, this more fully explains why stars and planets were interchangeable in the ancient mind: In antiquity, a great, nearby planet metamorphosed into a brilliant, awe-inspiring object that earthlings chose to call “star.”  This alone explains the graphic language and the myriad star symbols used by the ancients for their star goddesses.

This also explains why all the ‘star’ icons, familiar to cultures worldwide, look nothing like the mere pinpoints of light in the night sky that we designate as stars.

No wonder Joseph explained that all these archaic images were either stars or planets.  They were!

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The Keys to Prophecy V: Stars and Planets


758 words

© Anthony E. Larson, 2005

 The Keys to Prophecy V:

Stars and Planets

Up to this point in our examination of the many clues to the extravagant images of prophecy, we have learned that we need not look to mystical texts or veiled mysteries for our answers.  Nor have we found that the answers lie in interpreting prophetic imagery with modern eyes.

Instead, we have found the answers in a more mundane source, in the scriptures and in ancient history-evidence that has been hiding in plain sight all along.

We discovered that the dragons, man-beasts, women, kings, angels, stars and other extravagant images encountered in the scriptures are but descriptive word pictures of the images that the ancients worshipped, the same icons seen in ancient temples, tombs and monuments.  We have seen that the imagery of prophecy and mythology spring from the same, ancient source, hence their similarities.

The next step is a bit larger leap of logic, but a crucial one: What do those images represent?

Looking at the Egyptian gods, we often see large circular icons on their heads, what scholars call “sun disks.”  The juxtaposition of the disks and the gods is extremely meaningful.

A common Egyptian theme, Ra (Re) is pictured seated in a bark or ship with a disk above his head.  This same scene can be seen on Facsimile No. 2, Figure 3, in the Book of Abraham.

Scholars explain that the ancients were sun worshippers, so those disks must represent the sun.  However, Joseph Smith contradicted that assumption when he gave us another key, and it has been before our very eyes for generations now.

Those disks and creatures, as Joseph repeatedly asserts in his explanations of the Pearl of Great Price facsimiles, represented planets and stars, not the sun.  The only exception is in Figure 5 in Facsimile No. 2, first called by Joseph a “governing planet.”  He then adds the comment that the Egyptians called it the Sun, which is true of the late, corrupted Egyptian traditions his papyrus represented.  But according to the earliest beliefs, her name designates this cow goddess as a star.

The cow depicted in Figure 5 was called Hathor, as we have seen.  Along with her equivalents in other cultures-Astarte, Aster and Ishtar-her name bore the root ‘s-t-r’ sound of our word ‘star’ (the ‘s’ and ‘t’ were pronounced with the ‘th’ sound in Hathor.) 

Keep in mind that the ancients’ designated all celestial objects as stars.  The word ‘planet’ (derived from the Greek ‘planeta,’ meaning ‘wanderer’) is a recent invention, thanks to the telescope that allows us to differentiate between stars and planets. 

Hence, Joseph Smith’s designation of a ‘s-t-r’ goddess as a planet is symbolically consistent and extremely meaningful.  He thus implies that the stars they worshipped were actually planets, the very thing the juxtaposed disks suggest.

Putting both the creature and the disk together-common practice in early Egyptian religious art-was symbolically accurate and a proper way to emphasize that they both represented the same thing, a planet or star.  In fact, this was a functional way to label the figures, since most people were illiterate.  Instead of text that read “star,” those pagan gods often carried or wore a symbol that bespoke their astral origin.

Some of the more elaborately rendered disk images, painted and rendered in relief, look to be nearly virtual snapshots of planets, a few complete with a sun-lit crescent.

Joseph Smith’s explanation of disk images such as these was that they represented planets, which is what all such Egyptian disk images resemble.

Let’s look closely at how emphatic Joseph Smith was in his explanations of these disks and creatures.

Kolob is said by Abraham to be “the greatest” of the stars (Kokaubeam), but it is represented in Facsimile No. 2, Figure 1 by a figure Egyptologists identify as Amon-Re or Khnum, the creator-god, thus implying that the god was an astral body.

The baboons on either side have what scholars call “moon disks,” presumably because of the crescent beneath the disk, placed over their heads in the traditional Egyptian manner.  But these disks do not represent the moon any more than others represent the sun.  Joseph insists that they are stars in his explanation of Figure 5.

What becomes clear is that the objects the early Egyptians called stars would be called planets in our time.  What we see in the disk illustrations are not stars, but planets.  Additionally, only planets have sun-lit crescents, as depicted in ancient art, not stars.

Joseph Smith understood.  He did not confuse the issue, as do modern scholars.  Indeed, one can suggest that what looks like confusion at first blush was no mix-up at all.  By freely substituting the two terms, Joseph honored the ancient tradition.  He acknowledged the ancients’ reality that some of today’s stars, now mere pinpoints of light, were actually great, nearby planets in antiquity, which dominated Earth’s heavens and were worshipped by their ancestors as gods.

Indeed, this hypothesis fits much better with Abraham’s vision of the ancient heavens and Joseph Smith’s explanations of the facsimile images than any current view.

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Deep Waters: What would have happened if Lucifer had won the vote?


In our pre-mortal existence, we took sides as to who we would follow, Jesus or Lucifer. Two-thirds of us went with Jesus, while one-third went with Satan. Jesus had accepted the plan of the Father, while Satan had sought to amend it. The amendment was sufficiently attractive that one-third of us went with it. I’ve never been in a meeting that has fully discussed the ramifications of a winning vote by Lucifer (other than with what4anarchy.) I intend to publicly discuss this topic now in this post.

The universe consists of a family of gods, with angels attending them and other lesser creations. Each individual that achieves godhood, does so through the laws of the universe, which operate on the principle of agency, not coercion.

“The powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness….When we undertake … to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men,…the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.” (D&C 121: 36-37)

“No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy; that he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death.” (D&C 121: 41-44)

The above principle is heavenly and applies equally to God as it does to man. God cannot use coercion ever, or he will cease to be God.

Each exalted individual in the family of gods was guaranteed their godhood forever. Should a single one of these gods lose his or her godhood, in other words, should any of them cease to be a god, all of them cease to be gods together. It is a domino chain that is only as strong as its weakest member. As there are no weak members, the chain remains strong forever. They remain gods because they desire to remain gods. And thus it is.

Nevertheless, there is a risk to godhood. Satan sought to exploit that risk. The family of gods work by the principle of agency, not by coercion. Contrary to what you may believe, God the Father accomplishes all things through free agents. Compulsion is anti-god, so to speak, as is lying, etc. So, if Satan can make any of the gods lie or commit anything contrary to their own laws, they all cease to be gods and the universe loses faith in them, stops honoring them, and all creation reverts back to what it was prior to creation, returning to outer darkness from which we all came.

But no god freely will commit an act that causes them to lose their power, which is understandable. So, the risk is minimal. Nevertheless, as they operate on the principle of agency, Satan sought to force the hand of God by taking advantage of the law of common consent. The law of common consent is a heavenly law, not an earthly invention. We voted for Jesus to be our Savior, after he was called of God to that holy office. God never forces anyone to do anything, so Jesus was not forced upon us. We could accept him or reject him. Satan understood that if the vote went his way, if 51% of us voted for him (Lucifer), that the plan of the Father would have been frustrated. So, there was a possibility that the Father could be frustrated, through the common consent of his children. God allows for this possibility and so God the Father and all other gods had their godhood put at risk during this voting time.

Satan didn’t want to just be the Savior, suffering for the sins of mankind. His intention was to do away with agency altogether. If agency were to be done away with, as it is guaranteed by God to all created things in the universe, it would have meant that God would have ceased to be God, as he would have been caught in a lie. All creation would have lost respect and honor for him. The God that promised heavenly Father his eternal exaltation would also cease to be a god, and a chain reaction would result, all gods losing all power. The result would have been the dissolution of the created universe. (See 2 Ne. 2: 13. If there is no God, all things must vanish away.) Everything in it would have returned into that lake of fire and brimstone, or what we now call outer darkness, only then it wouldn’t be an outer darkness, as there would be no inner light (the created universe) to distinguish between the two locations.

A common misconception that LDS have is that when Satan said, “wherefore, give me thine honor,” that he merely wanted the power of God. But it wasn’t like that, at all. Satan didn’t want the universe, all the gods, and everything else (including himself) to return to outer darkness. Yet, his amendment, had it been approved by vote, would have had that very result. And he knew this and so did we. So, he added a requirement to his amendment that was needed to make it work: he required that God worship him (honor him.)

If God worshiped Satan, then Satan beats God. The honor of all creation which is directed at God, the greatest of all, now becomes directed at the individual that beats God. So, when the amendment is enacted, agency becomes suspended, coercion rules, and God and every other member of the family of gods cease to be gods, the universe still has faith in one individual: Satan, the being who conquered all of god-dom.

Satan’s cunning plan wasn’t in that he would rule over this particular God (our heavenly Father,) but that the whole family of gods would be disintegrated and return to the lake of fire and brimstone. The created universe would still remain created, under a new system, a new principle, the principle of coercion, with only one single god, Lucifer, ruling everything. The universe would be reorganized according to Lucifer’s vision of an ideal universe.

So, it wasn’t that Lucifer wanted the honor of God, it was that he needed it to make his plan work. Without the honor of God, all created things revert back to that state prior to creation, including Lucifer himself.

The appeal of Lucifer’s plan was that no one, not a single particle, would return to outer darkness, from whence we all came prior to creation. The only victims in this plan would be the gods, who, through agency, allowed for the possibility of souls returning to outer darkness in misery. His selling points probably were that although God is loving, etc., it is not fair that a single soul should return to outer darkness, therefore, they (the gods) deserve this fate, as they have assigned this very fate to others. Or, he may have justified his amendment to the Father’s plan by saying that we would go into outer darkness and re-create the souls of the former gods, bringing them back into the universe so that they didn’t suffer for all eternity, though they would not obtain their former glory.

So, in our vote between Jesus and Satan, outer darkness and who would be cast into it played a big part of our decision-making process. In the Father’s plan, only sons of perdition would return to outer darkness, of their own agency, not being willing to repent. In Satan’s amendment to the plan, only the gods of the universe would return to outer darkness, having lost all power and being compelled to go, and not a single soul or particle (other than the family of gods) would go back into those outer regions.

We already know what happened. God the Father and the family of gods were before us, we could see them and know of their love for us, of their qualities, yet despite that tremendous influence, one-third of us sided with Satan and rebelled when the vote went in favor of Jesus and the Father’s plan of agency.

There is one more aspect of this topic that I will address in a follow-up post.

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