Why the Gospel Requires Embodied Proxies


Surfing the Internet back in February, I came across the following three questions on another blog:

“Why do people have to have ordinances performed on physical, mortal bodies, thus necessitating proxies?”

“If the ordinances can transfer to spirits via proxies, why can’t the spirits be baptized?”

“And if there is some reason why they have to be performed on physical, mortal bodies, why can’t this wait until the resurrection?”

The questions intrigued me and I endeavored to answer them. The exercise ended up drawing out new information (new to me, at least), which is why I’m copying it onto this blog. This post contains those comments I left there, but with clarifications, corrections and a little expansion. First, though, here’s a review of two scriptures concerning baptism for the living and dead.

Baptism for the living; vicarious baptism for the dead

We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. (AoF 1:4)

And as I wondered, my eyes were opened, and my understanding quickened, and I perceived that the Lord went not in person among the wicked and the disobedient who had rejected the truth, to teach them; but behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead.

And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound, even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel.

Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets.

These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and all other principles of the gospel that were necessary for them to know in order to qualify themselves that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

And so it was made known among the dead, both small and great, the unrighteous as well as the faithful, that redemption had been wrought through the sacrifice of the Son of God upon the cross. (D&C 138:29-35)

My comments with [clarifications], [corrections] and [expansions] in [brackets]

Why do people have to have ordinances performed on physical, mortal bodies, thus necessitating proxies?

It’s patterned after the way God saves us: through Jesus Christ, a[n embodied] Proxy[, even the Only Begotten Son of God, according to the flesh.]  This points our minds to Christ.

If the ordinances can transfer to spirits via proxies, why can’t the spirits be baptized?

Because they are imprisoned [referring to the bands of death, which prohibit naked spirits from getting their bodies back and being baptized]. We do the work for them because they cannot do the work for themselves.

And if there is some reason why they have to be performed on physical, mortal bodies, why can’t this wait until the resurrection?

Because they [the resurrected, damned souls] are still, technically imprisoned [referring to the chains of hell, not the bands of death]. No one can break the chains of hell without faith in Christ and no spirit in hell can exercise faith in Christ without the ordinances being done in their behalf. A resurrected, unclean spirit cannot be baptized, for they remain unclean, having never exercised faith in Christ [after dying in their sins]. Although they have left the geographical location of hell, they still have the chains of hell upon them and are still subject to the devil. In their resurrected state, having the Lord before them, they cannot exercise faith, for now they have a perfect knowledge. It is faith alone that saves. Therefore, their only hope is through vicarious ordinances performed in their behalf, and missionary proxies preaching [to] them while they are still spirits in prison. If they can exercise faith in Christ while they are there, prior to their resurrection, they can free themselves from their chains and obtain salvation.

So, LDS Anarchist, what you’re saying is: Spirits can’t be baptized because there are no fonts in spirit prison.

No, what I’m saying is that 1) they are still impenitent [referring to the chains of hell] and 2) they are bound [referring to the bands of death]. Whether there is water or not in hell makes no difference, whatsoever. They can’t be baptized because they have no faith nor repentance because they are bound by the chains of hell [as well as by the bands of death]. That’s what chains do, they stop you from doing things you otherwise might do. It’s called prison for a reason.

[In other words, the chains of hell keep them impenitent, or incapable of exercising faith and repentance, which must precede baptism to qualify for baptism, and the bands of death keep them from being baptized because they don’t have a body. The double captivity whammy of sin and death makes it, essentially, impossible to escape hell.]

[You, LDS Anarchist, wrote,]

We do the work for them because they cannot do the work for themselves.

Ironically, doesn’t that sound like Satan’s plan?

I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Satan’s plan was to save man by destroying agency. The Lord’s plan was to save man while retaining agency. Both wanted to be the Father’s proxy (His only begotten Son.) Under the Lord’s plan, there are a multitude of proxies, we [the people of the Lord] acting in the name of the Lord, in behalf of ourselves and others, as “saviors on mount Zion,” while the devil’s plan had only one proxy and savior acting under his own power and authority: him [the devil].

Are you saying they have no agency?

The spirits in hell have no agency. They are subject to the spirit of the devil and are bound in the chains of hell. He is the warden there. It operates according to his destruction-of-agency rules. Spirit missionaries traveling from paradise to hell to bring the gospel light to their darkness would be unable to get anyone to exercise faith in Christ and free themselves, because they cannot be baptized. Proxy baptism opens the way for them to exercise faith and shake off their chains.

And where does it say that there are no fonts in spirit prison?

Fonts in hell would serve no purpose, except to torment people further. Since the devil is a sadist, perhaps he does have fonts there.

One more thing. The ordinance of baptism requires complete immersion (of the soul.) Your physical body is as much a part of you as is your spirit body. So that’s the requirement. All of the fallen man must be immersed. The unbaptized spirits in prison are screwed because they have no power to get their bodies back, thus [they] cannot exercise faith unto salvation. So the Lord provides a way for their escape from prison, by making temple workers proxy souls. The ordinance of baptism, then, is of necessity an earthly ordinance. It must be performed by embodied spirits (souls.)

But what about the souls in spirit prison that have accepted the gospel and are ready to accept the proxy ordinance, but it hasn’t been performed yet…?

The principle of a future savior (on mount Zion) still applies, allowing them to exercise faith and escape. This is how the ancients who lived prior to Christ obtained faith. But if there were never any work done for the dead, none of the dead could exercise faith.

Are you saying that up until the point where the proxy ordinance is preformed they have no faith nor repentance, then as soon as someone performs the proxy ordinance, then they stop being impenitent…?

No. I’m saying that there must be a way for the ordinance to be performed, in order for the commandment to be fulfilled, otherwise no amount of preaching to the dead could allow them to generate faith. They are hopelessly bound by the devil’s chains and also by the bands of death. They have lost all agency, all hope and thus, all faith. The missionaries preaching in prison bring them agency, through the light of the gospel, and hope for escape from hell through the vicarious works and also hope of a resurrection. All of this allows them to begin to exercise faith and repent, which, if they do, shakes the chains off.

Which is it? Spirits in Spirit Prison are physically incapable of being baptized or they lack the faith and repentance to be baptized? Or some combination of the two…?

It is both. Their are two bands or bonds they are powerless to overcome. The first are the chains of hell, which subject them to the devil. To put it in more modern terms, subjection to the devil means that he takes total control over you, so that you become a mind-controlled slave, or a robot, a puppet. The “you” of you ceases to exist. Your will becomes (forcefully) swallowed up in the impenitent will of the devil. You lose all agency and become a thing that is merely acted upon. This is slavery on an absolute level. The second bond are the bands of death, which also provide many limitations.

In mortality, a person (who has not sinned unto death) can exercise faith, repent of all their sins and then fulfill the commandments of baptism, etc., because first, there are no bands of death on them and second, any chains of hell upon them are powerless to drag them down to hell (because of the body) and are also powerless to subject them to the devil. These conditions of mortality allow us to have agency and make choices according to our wills. Once we die, though, the limitations of the chains are removed and if we still have chains attached, all is lost.

Thus, people who die in their sins also die a spiritual death, as Jacob taught. This is also why if there were no resurrection, we would all become angels to the devil, again as Jacob taught. Death and hell present an insurmountable obstacle to mankind’s very existence, for according to the very laws of the universe, the devil must always win. But then the Lord provides the miracle of the atonement, providing a way for our escape.

And it is miraculous, for the spirits in hell have the will of the devil, and so are incapable of repenting or exercising faith. They can no longer choose their own path. They are powerless to get their bodies back. This makes it impossible for them to escape from their spiritual and physical death. But irregardless, the Lord provides a resurrection of the physically dead and a resurrection of the spiritually dead, doing the impossible.

If the missionaries preaching in prison bring them agency — and the hope for possible ordinances allows them to begin to exercise faith and repent, hence shake off their chains — then why can’t the missionaries in prison dedicate a spirit baptismal font and baptize them once they’ve repented?

The ordinance of baptism is a washing ordinance. We are washing “our garments.” You know how in the scriptures it says that many high priests washed their garments in the blood of the Lamb and were made clean? All things from the Spirit have both literal and symbolic meaning. There are no pure symbols in the gospel, but all symbols are based on real, concrete things. A real thing is symbolically called this or that because it reminds one of something else. So, we partake of new wine in the sacrament because wine reminds us of the blood of Christ, because it looks like blood, etc. The wine is a real thing that is used symbolically to represent another real thing: blood. To the prophetic mind, the physical body is a garment, for we put it on at birth and take it off at death, just as we do a cloth garment. Baptism is the ordinance in which we wash our “garment.” A[n] unembodied or disembodied spirit cannot wash his or her garment in baptism, for they are naked spirits, and that ordinance is specifically for the washing of the “garment.” Baptizing a disembodied spirit does not meet the requirements of the ordinance, nor its purposes. Because of this, baptizing spirits is powerless to generate faith. It must be done by embodied spirits.

Alternately, if the spirits of the dead don’t have the agency to repent and stop being mind-controlled robots, then how do they have the faith, repentance, and agency to accept the proxy baptism once it is performed?

The spirits in prison are kept in darkness by the devil. They are spiritually dead. I’ll put it another way: they are dead spirits. The devil is a murderer from the beginning and as soon as they are dragged down to hell, they die. In other words, he kills them. How do you kill an immortal spirit? By taking away their ability to perceive. If you can’t see, hear, or have any other sense, if you can’t even perceive your own thoughts, you will cease to exist as you. You lose your identity, your sense of time and everything else. This is accomplished by the darkness and the chains. Thus, they have no agency or power.

When the missionaries arrive, though, they bring with them light (if not so, the darkness would overpower even them) and this light allows the spirits to perceive once again, granting them agency. They still have to contend with the chains (which are real things that symbolically represent and look like, intertwining chains, and which also look like the tares plant, hence the prophets giving them that name, too) but they are no longer fully subject to the devil and can choose to exercise faith and repent.

Are you saying that the fact of performing the proxy ordinance breaks that spirit’s chains and allows the spirit to develop faith?

The chains of hell (also called the bonds of iniquity, since they proceed from the spirit of the devil) cannot be broken by ordinances. They have to be shaken off or shaken loose in the process of “working out one’s own salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord.” That process requires faith, repentance, and coming to the Lord with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. That process starts with faith, but no faith can be generated if the process is doomed to fail even before it begins. The spirits must be given hope. They must be given good news. If they are told, “You must have faith and repent, but you can’t be baptized nor will you ever be able to,” this would extinguish all chance of them ever attaining faith, for there is no salvation without baptism. This is why we perform baptisms for the dead.

In other words, you seem to be saying that because they died in their sins (and are bound by their chains of unfaithfulness), they can’t be baptized. OK, well then why can they be proxy-baptized? Does the proxy baptism itself somehow grant them agency so that they are no longer mind-controlled slave/robots?

The light the missionaries brings with them grants them agency. Proxy baptism allows them to be able to exercise faith unto salvation. Proxy baptism is permissible in the gospel because it develops faith, as does every other part of the gospel. Unless faith is developed, no salvation is possible. The chains of hell, once attached, are impossible to detach except through faith. In other words, it is faith that saves. Faith is the first principle of the gospel. All the other aspects of the gospel are for faith maintenance or faith development, which also makes them salvific. But nothing in the gospel saves apart from faith. You can go through all the motions you want in the gospel, if you never develop faith the chains are still attached and upon your death you will find yourself in hell, despite all your “gospel living.” So a man cannot go to paradise with chains attached, for they drag him back. A man can’t get a physical, resurrected body with chains attached and expect to be free of them by virtue of his new body. It doesn’t work that way. No, that body is Satan’s. His possession alone. Just as king Benjamin taught, the Lord does not take what belongs to another.

Summarized principles

Those were the comments, which I wrote in February earlier this year.  Now to summarize the principles:

Baptism is ineffectual in the resurrection

To qualify for baptism, faith and repentance must precede it. A resurrected, unclean spirit cannot be baptized, for they remain unclean, having never exercised faith in Christ unto repentance. After leaving the geographical location of hell, through their resurrection, they are brought before the Lord to be judged. They cannot exercise faith in this state, for they will have a perfect knowledge. Because it is faith alone that saves, baptizing them can have no power to save them, for baptism only has power to maintain and further develop the faith that a person already has. It has no power to engender faith in individuals devoid of faith, being a dead work to such people.

Soul baptism (spirit + flesh “garments”) is the ordinance

The ordinance of baptism requires complete immersion of the soul. Your physical body is as much a part of you as is your spirit body, it being the physical “garments” of the spirit. So that’s the requirement. All of the man (spirit + flesh) must be immersed. We are entirely dipped into water, while clothed in flesh, washing our garments in the watery liquid. This garment of flesh is like a physical kabod that covers the anthropomorphic part of us, corresponding to the spiritual kabod that we also have.

Baptizing a naked spirit does not fulfill the ordinance requirements

Owing that naked spirits have lost their physical bodies and have no power to get them back, spirits in hell cannot be validly baptized, nor can the spirits in paradise be baptized in behalf of those in hell, because, they, also, do not meet the requirements of the ordinance, having no physical garment to wash.

There can be no faith without baptism

We teach faith, repentance, baptism and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost as an ordered progression for those who have reached the age of accountability. The commandment is to exercise faith in Jesus Christ, repent of all one’s sins, be baptized in water and receive the Holy Ghost. If you are taught these principles but are unable to be baptized and confirmed by the laying on of hands because you do not have a physical body, you cannot comply with the commandment. It will be impossible, then, for you to exercise faith unto repentance, because you cannot see the commandment to completion and receive the remission of your sins. You cannot fulfill the required baptismal witness. Preaching the gospel requirements (the first four principles and ordinances) to spirits, then, while simultaneously telling them they cannot comply with them, has no power to engender faith in anyone.

Vicarious baptism must, of necessity, be performed by the embodied people of the Lord

Embodied, proxy baptism fulfills the gospel requirements in behalf of disembodied (disrobed) spirits, so that now, when a missionary preaches the gospel to them, they can exercise faith and escape hell, confident that the vicarious baptism has been or will be done in their behalf. Therefore only the embodied people of the Lord, prior to the resurrection, can provide the necessary proxies to save the people in hell by allowing them to exercise faith, which is why temple work must be done on this side of the veil.

One proxy vs. a multitude of proxies

God’s plan calls for a multitude of proxies, all of them becoming saviors on mount Zion, patterned after the embodied Christ who performed the ordinance of atonement in our behalf, whereas Satan’s plan called for just one proxy: himself. (The missionary work done in hell is likewise patterned after the disembodied Christ who traveled to paradise to declare to them the day of their deliverance.)

Spirits in hell can leave on the faith and hope alone of future ordinance work being done

A spirit does not need to wait for his ordinance work to be done, in order to have sufficient faith to leave hell. All he needs to know is that the work will be done at some point in the future. This allows him to have hope and to exercise faith that it will be done. The urgency of ordinance work is not that undone ordinance work prohibits spirits from shaking off the chains of hell and leaving that region of darkness, but that it prohibits a spirit that has already left hell and gone to paradise from entering paradise. They can go to paradise, but cannot enter into it until the work is done, for like all hollow spheres, there is an outer and an inner part. The outer surface is where people wait until the work is done. The inner part is for those who have the ordinances. Those “appointed there” at the gates make sure that no one can pass into the interior of paradise (see D&C 132:18), but once the salvation ordinance work is done, then the people can pass by those “set there” (see D&C 132:19.)

It’s all about engendering, maintaining and developing faith

The first principle of the gospel, faith, is engendered through the atonement of Jesus Christ. All the other principles of the gospel are to maintain that faith and to further develop it. If you exercise faith unto repentance, but afterward return again to your sins, the faith you have engendered is not maintained and you lose it. The commandment to be baptized in water after you have exercised faith and repented of all your sins maintains your faith when you comply with it. The same is true with all the other commandments of God; when you obey them, the faith in you is maintained, and when you disobey them, faith is lost. Everything, then, in the gospel, is an act of faith, either one of engendering, maintaining or developing.

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

How to receive what you ask for


It is a gospel law that if you ask God for something that is good and right, in the name of Jesus, in faith, believing that you will receive, doubting nothing, you will receive what you ask for.

A new investigation

Lately I have been perplexed by the lack of spiritual best gifts among the church of God. In my interactions with church members, I had come to the conclusion that we do not have the gifts “because [we] ask not, neither do [we] knock” (2 Ne. 32: 4), after all, Jesus said that “every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened” (3 Ne. 14: 8.) Nevertheless, with over 13 million members of record, I found it awfully strange that not even one person sought these gifts. I mean, what are the odds of that?

That got me thinking that in all likelihood the truth was that while the vast majority of the membership no longer sought the gifts, a small minority did. Yet even among them the gifts are absent. I wondered, why haven’t these people received what they are asking for?

Moroni records Jesus as saying, “Whoso shall believe in my name, doubting nothing, unto him I will confirm all my words, even unto the ends of the earth” (Mormon 9: 25.) He also gives his own prophecy, “Whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth” (Mormon 9: 21.) God cannot speak a lie and still remain a God of truth. This means that for the entire gospel to be true, all its individual parts must also be true, including this promise, because the principle is that God “never doth vary from that which he hath said” (Mosiah 2: 22; also Alma 7: 20 and D&C 3: 2.)

I decided, then, that I would put Moroni’s promise to the test and follow the prescribed steps so that Jesus would have to confirm His words to me. I believed the word of God to be true and had full confidence that I would receive what I asked for. Specifically, I was going to ask for a spiritual best gift, for the gifts of the Spirit are things that are right and good, which is one of the qualifications necessary for the promise to be fulfilled. (See 3 Ne. 18: 20 and Moroni 7: 26.)

I began my trial sometime between the 19th and 26th of January, 2011, and have continued it to this very day. This post contains what I have so far learned from this ongoing experiment with the word of God.

Ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith

And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith. (Ether 12: 6)

A trial is a proof. A proof is “any effort, process, or operation designed to establish or discover a fact or truth; an act of testing; test; trial; as to put in proof.” The trial of your faith, then, is the proof of your faith, or an effort, process or operation designed to establish or discover whether or not you have faith.

The “effort, process, or operation” that is used to establish that we have faith is a very specific type of prayer. By praying in a specific way, our faith will be instantly put in proof and we will immediately know whether we have faith.

How to pray, part one

For the purposes of this experiment, we shall attempt to obtain one of the gifts of God. In particular, we will seek a gift that is easily recognizable as having been received. Of the three lists of gifts in the scriptures, the list given to the Lamanites is the only one that contains the gift of the beholding of angels (see Moroni 10: 14 and The role of angels in Nephite preaching.) So, this is the gift we will seek, for once an angel of light appears and is discerned (see D&C 129: 4-9), there is no doubt that the gift has been received.

The instructions of how to ask God for one of His gifts, which were given by Jesus and Moroni (in Mormon 9: 21, 25; 3 Ne. 18: 19-20; and Moroni 7: 26), are summarized in the following manner:

Ask the Father

Ask in the name of Christ

Believe in Christ

Believe in the name of Christ

Ask for something good and right (the gift of the beholding of angels qualifies)

Ask in faith

Believe you shall receive

Doubt nothing

The promise is that if the above steps are followed by anyone, it shall be granted/done/given and Jesus’ words will be confirmed.

Let’s write up a sample prayer based upon the above instructions.

My heavenly Father, your name be blessed. Show mercy upon me and hear my words. Baptize me in the Spirit and cause that I speak the words of this prayer by the power of the Holy Ghost. I thank you for the gospel and your Beloved Son: His life, suffering, death and resurrection. Grant me belief in Him and in His holy name. Give me faith in your Son. Bestow upon me the belief that I will receive what I ask you for in this prayer. Take away my doubt so that I pray, doubting nothing. Confirm Jesus’ words to me. Send your angel to me. Let me behold his face. Allow me to converse with him. Have him declare the word of Christ to me. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

A deadline

On the surface, the above prayer seems to serve its purpose of putting our faith in proof. If you have faith, the angel will appear. If you do not have faith, the angel will not appear. What it lacks, though, is an element of time. When does the angel have to appear? The prayer does not specify. The time frame is left up to the Lord. If the Lord decides to send the angel at the end of your life, 60 years from now, how does this tell you now whether or not you have faith? It doesn’t. What if the Lord decides not to send an angel because you didn’t exercise faith, would you know? Nope.

Prayers that don’t have an element of time in them are insufficient to put your faith in proof. A deadline, such as a day and time, must be included so as to make a discovery of faith (or lack thereof.) If the deadline comes and goes, with no result, you didn’t pray in faith. If the deadline arrives with an angel, you now have passed the trial of your faith and have received your witness.

Here is the same prayer altered slightly so that it serves as a trial of faith:

My heavenly Father, your name be blessed. Show mercy upon me and hear my words. Baptize me in the Spirit and cause that I speak the words of this prayer by the power of the Holy Ghost. I thank you for the gospel and your Beloved Son: His life, suffering, death and resurrection. Grant me belief in Him and in His holy name. Give me faith in your Son. Bestow upon me the belief that I will receive what I ask you for in this prayer. Take away my doubt so that I pray, doubting nothing. Confirm Jesus’ words to me. Send your angel to me right now. Let me behold his face. Allow me to converse with him. Have him declare the word of Christ to me. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

All things can be asked for

Notice in the above prayers that I asked for everything. I didn’t say, “Give me this according to the faith that I have,” I said, “Give me faith in your Son.” I didn’t say, “I believe that I will receive what I ask you for in this prayer,” I said, “Bestow upon me the belief that I will receive what I ask you for in this prayer.” I didn’t say, “I have no doubts whatsoever,” I said, “Take away my doubts.” The Lord has everything I need to make a prayer work. If I lack anything, He can make up for it, if I ask Him for it.

O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things soever ye shall stand in need. (Mormon 9: 27)

Different amounts of faith

To move mountains, you need faith the size of a mustard seed. Jesus told Peter that he had little faith. The scriptures speak of having the gift of exceedingly great faith. All of this shows that faith comes in different amounts. Depending on what you are asking for, you will need a greater or lesser amount of faith.

The mere act of asking God for something, believing that you are going to receive, is an act of faith. How much faith? No one but God knows. However, if you ask, believing that you will receive, and do not receive what you ask for—and you know for a fact that you have not received what you asked for because you asked in the manner detailed above, using an element of time so that the prayer creates a trial of faith—it causes you to confront your false beliefs. You must then admit to yourself that the belief that you had that you would receive what you asked for was false. Again, you may indeed have asked in faith, because the very act of asking is an act of faith, but it was of an insufficient quantity to receive what you asked for, therefore your belief that you would receive was false.

When a man is faced with a false belief—not determined by someone else, but determined by the man himself—the natural tendency is to discard the belief. You will no longer wish to follow Jesus’ instructions to believe that you will receive, because your mind, shown by direct evidence, will tell you that that belief is false. The evidence will be incontrovertible. In order for you to pray again, again believing that you will receive, you will have to completely ignore the evidence. You will have to call black white and white black. You will have to act totally irrationally. You will have to step into the unknown. You will have to close your eyes and walk blindly in darkness. You will have to face the fear and trembling spoken of in the scriptures and work out your own salvation under these conditions.

If you are able to get back on your knees and offer another prayer, asking again for something with a deadline, so that the prayer becomes another trial of your faith, and with the (irrational) belief that you will receive, the very act of attempting the experiment again requires more faith than your first attempt.

Each subsequent attempt will again naturally increase your faith. But each time you fail to receive, you will be faced again with a religious crisis that can only be overcome by faith.

The theory in all of this is that eventually, continuing on in this manner, you will finally arrive at the amount of faith required for what you are asking for, and you will then receive the gift you seek, obtaining the witness promised in the scriptures, which comes after the trial of your faith.

The veil of unbelief

The Lord prophesied that the people of our day would have a veil of unbelief, which, unless rent, would keep us in a state of wickedness, blindness of mind and hardness of heart, and He would withhold the greater things from us.

Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel. (Ether 4: 15)

The purpose of the veil of unbelief is to hide “the great and marvelous things” of God from us. As long as it is upon us, we can pray until we are blue in the face to see angels or obtain the powers and gifts of the Spirit and we will forever remain in the dark about such things, never tasting of the goodness of God, nor feasting upon his fatness. Only those who pray to God “with a broken heart and a contrite spirit” are the ones who rend the veil of unbelief and partake of the greater things, such as the ministration of angels. To all others, the heavens are closed.

God has power to cast away the veil of unbelief from our minds

Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had overcome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God— (Alma 19: 6)

Anyone can ask for the same blessing from the Lord.

It is extremely important that the veil of unbelief be removed, because it will prohibit us from exercising faith.

And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust. (Mormon 9: 20)

Using disappointment to rend one’s soul

…when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief… (Ether 4: 15)

The disappointment of not receiving what we ask for, as promised in the scriptures, is a heart-wrenching experience. If repeated over and over again, using back-to-back deadline prayers, it feels like your whole soul is being ripped apart. This might be the reason why the Lord chose the word “rend” when speaking of what to do with the veil of unbelief.

To rend means “to part, tear off, or take away, by force.” It also means “to separate into parts with force or sudden violence; to tear asunder; to split; burst; tear; to affect as if tearing asunder; as, ‘powder rends a rock in blasting; lightning rends an oak; a lion rends its prey; to rend one’s garments; the nation was rent by discord; a heart rent with grief.’” So, there is nothing gradual or subtle about rending the veil of unbelief. It is supposed to be done suddenly and violently, creating rapid change in the individual.

What the veil is

Man cannot perceive the veil of unbelief that covers him. The word veil is used to describe it because it feels very much like a thick piece of cloth that envelops the spirit. We can’t see out through it and, in fact, can’t even feel that it is there. However, once a part of the veil is rent, suddenly we can perceive that something real (an actual thing) is covering us, like a cocoon that gets cracked, letting the airy breeze in. The breeze feels good to us and the contrast between the exposed and covered parts (where the veil is still intact) enables us to finally perceive the veil.

The first perception of the veil is an alarming experience. The initial reaction is, “Get this off of me!” It feels like an uncomfortable, alien, spiritual cloth. And indeed it is. The veil of unbelief is Satan’s spiritual garment that he imperceptibly places upon all mankind when they arrive at the age of accountability and sin. Its purpose is to reduce agency, faith, knowledge, wisdom, etc. It allows him to more easily deceive us and lead us to destruction. It is the counterpart of the garment of the priesthood.

The veil of unbelief appears to be an extension of the spirit of the devil and not an individual thing placed upon each person. The result of being subject to it is damnation (see Damnation.) Once you can perceive that it is on you, you want it off of you immediately, because you can perceive that it is not a part of you and that it has been placed there without you even realizing it and that it is stopping you from spiritually progressing. In other words, you can perceive that an enemy put it there.

Even if one goes through all the ordinances of the gospel and wears the physical priesthood garment, etc., as long as Satan’s spiritual garment (the veil of unbelief) is still being worn, spiritual progress will be stunted and the gifts of the Spirit will remain off-limits. The gospel teaches that the proper order is to first rend the veil of unbelief and take it off, and then we are to put on gospel covenants and clothing. But even if things have been done out of their proper order, it is of utmost importance that Satan’s veil be removed.

The chains of hell

The chains of hell are twin filaments of spirit matter (plasma) that twist and revolve around each other in a pattern that looks like the links of a chain.

One end of the chain leads to, and is held by, Satan (see Moses 7: 26.) The other end of the chain leads to the veil of unbelief. It is attached to the veil at the back and base of the skull. One filament is attached to the half of the veil that goes over a man’s left brain hemisphere (the mind) and the other filament is attached to the half of the veil that goes over a man’s right brain hemisphere (the heart.)

There are three modes of plasma discharge: glow, arc and dark. The chains of hell are twin filaments of plasma discharging in dark mode.

The mind operates in arc mode, while the heart operates in dark mode. The mind is designed to believe what it sees, therefore it is designed to be lit up so that it can see everything and thus believe everything. The mind is also designed to be firm or fixed. When illuminated, it clearly can see where everything is and instantly can fixate upon what it sees without any wavering. When minds are darkened, it cannot clearly see things or where things are and must waver in order to try to find its way in the darkness, just as a blind man moves his cane left and right to figure out where things are.

When a chain of hell is attached to a veil of unbelief, the dark mode discharging filament that goes into the half of the veil of unbelief that encases the mind causes the mind to go into dark mode. The mind becomes darkened, and undergoes a state of blindness. It begins to waver. As it cannot see anything or much at all, it does not believe much either, or it begins to doubt or exhibit unbelief. Wickedness is simply a state which goes against the purpose God designed. It is a perversion. The mind was designed to operate in arc mode, in a digital manner. The veil of unbelief causes it to operate in dark mode, in an analog manner. The mind is now in a state of wickedness.

As stated above, the heart operates in dark mode. It is designed to operate in this mode and is designed by God to be soft and malleable, or easily entreated. When the other filament of the chain of hell goes into the half of the veil of unbelief that covers the heart, it cannot change the discharge mode of the heart, because the chain of hell is also in dark mode. However, it does have an effect upon the organ of the heart: it causes the heart to become hard or fixed. So now, instead of feeling its way around its environment like a blind man, as it was intended to do, the heart functions like a mind, fixating on individual emotions, instead of expanding to encompass the infinite gradations of feelings. In other words, the heart is designed to embrace the infinite, or feel an infinite variety of feelings and emotions. When the veil of unbelief, powered by the chains of hell, covers the heart, it becomes selective in what it feels, acting in a digital manner instead of the analog manner it was designed to operate in. It, too, is now in a state of wickedness.

Satan is able to deceive mankind through his chains of hell and the veils of unbelief that are attached to all sinners. Through sin, the veil of unbelief and its chain becomes attached to man around the age of eight. Through continual sin, it becomes increasingly more difficult to be removed.

The chains of hell not only look like chains, but also function as chains. If a man does not, while in mortality, repent and shake off the chains of hell and rend the veil of unbelief that is attached to his mind and heart, when he dies he becomes exposed to the full captivating power of Satan. Satan has power to pull on his chains, dragging the souls down to hell, but he has no power to pull the spirits into hell while they are still in their physical, mortal bodies. Only when the spirit leaves its body can the devil pull the helpless souls into hell. The body serves as a temporary protection from the devil in this manner. Once in hell, the devil can fully subject the spirits to him, through his spirit (the chains of hell and veils of darkness). (See Alma 34: 33-35.)

Having an understanding of these things is extremely important, in order that we can work out our salvation with fear and trembling before God. (See Alma 34: 37.)

A tare sown

The chains of hell and the veil of unbelief, if turned upside down, look like a plant stalk with roots going into the heart and mind of man. This is, in actuality, the tare that is sown by the enemy. The tare seed is planted in the heart of man first (see Moses 6: 55) and then takes root in both heart and mind. In other words, the first plasma filament of a chain of hell first begins its connection to man in the heart, then the second filament connects to the mind, creating the veil of unbelief which encompasses the mind and heart of man.

(Note: the veil of unbelief only covers the heart and mind of man, not any other part of his spirit body.)

Secret works of darkness

Man cannot discover the chains of hell, nor the veil of unbelief that is upon him. If it were not for the word of God, which reveals the secret works of darkness of the evil one, no man would ever know that actual chains of hell exist, nor that veils of unbelief are secretly placed upon all mankind. These invisible plasma filaments (chains of hell) and plasma coverings (veils of unbelief) can only be detected by a manifestation of the gift of the discerning of spirits, for these are extensions of the spirit of the devil.

Satan operates in secret. As long as we have no knowledge of what he is doing to us, or what he has done or plans to do, he can work his destruction upon us with impunity. The word of God ruins his plans, because it fully exposes the danger the devil poses to us. Once a man knows that he is in chains of hell and covered in a veil of unbelief, secretly put there by the devil upon reaching the age of accountability and sinning, man can use his agency to fight it and attempt to get it off of him by calling on the power of Christ to help him. This puts a clog in the works of the devil, so he has always attempted to destroy the scriptures, or corrupt them, or get people to disbelieve them or misinterpret them. For those of us that have uncorrupted scriptures (the Book of Mormon), the devil’s strategy to stop us from liberating ourselves with the power of Christ is to deceive men into believing that all is figurative in the scriptures, or at least the parts that pertain to him. So, the expression “chains of hell” is not considered a real thing that binds man. And the “veil of unbelief” is not considered a real thing that covers the heart and mind of man. They are thought to be just figurative expressions of states of mind, not actual things that must be actively sought to be removed from one’s spirit body.

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord

O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things soever ye shall stand in need. Doubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him. (Mormon 9: 27)

Most LDS interpret this scriptural expression as referring to respect. In other words, when we fear God, we don’t actually exhibit fear of Him, meaning that we are frightened by Him, but accord Him the respect that He deserves. However, this expression does not refer to respect. Such an interpretation is a deception of the devil, a snare meant to blind the minds and harden the hearts of the church of God.

What fear in the expression actually means

The word fear in the expression “fear and trembling” signifies actual fear, as in fright or horror. It is the fear of being cast off forever.

And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them, for they were the very vilest of sinners. And the Lord saw fit in his infinite mercy to spare them; nevertheless they suffered much anguish of soul because of their iniquities, suffering much and fearing that they should be cast off forever. (Mosiah 28: 4)

Such fear is instilled in a person when the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached in its fulness and purity (see Alma 16: 21), meaning that those parts of the gospel which reveal the power and captivity of the devilthe reality of death and hell, the chains of hell, the darkness and blindness of minds, the hardness of hearts, the state of wickedness, the fallen, evil nature and nothingness of man, the bands of death, the doctrine of damnation and endless torment, the spirit of the devil, the mists of darkness and temptations of the devil, the veil of unbelief, the wavering state of the mind, the lake of fire and brimstone, the flaming sword of justice, the rivers of filthy water, etc.such parts of the gospel sink home into the heart and mind of a man, and this new awareness causes him to fear to die because of the knowledge that the instant he leaves his mortal body he will be “taken home to that God who gave him life” (Alma 40: 11) and, being found unclean and possessed by the spirit of the devil (for the chains of hell are still attached), will then be cast off into hell (Alma 40: 13), to be kept in captivity by the devil, because of his sins.

Again, this is according to the power and captivity of the devil, which the Lord respects:

And again, doth a man take an ass which belongeth to his neighbor, and keep him? I say unto you, Nay; he will not even suffer that he shall feed among his flocks, but will drive him away, and cast him out. I say unto you, that even so shall it be among you if ye know not the name by which ye are called. (Mosiah 5: 14)

Satan possesses all who have his chains of hell upon them. We are his property and the Lord respects that and will respect that so long as we have a chain upon us sealing us as the devil’s. This is why we are cast off when we return to that God who gave us life and cannot enter paradise or the gates of righteousness. The chains of hell are still attached to us, the veil of unbelief remains intact and our minds are still in a state of blindness or darkness, or “filthiness” and “uncleanness.” No unclean thing can enter the gates of righteousness, otherwise paradise would also be unclean. So, we are cast off and dragged down to hell.

What trembling in the expression actually means

The trembling is both physical and spiritual, or the trembling of the entire soul when a man is confronted with his deepest, darkest and most horrifying fear, that of being cast off forever. Trembling happens when a man is conscious of his own guilt before God, having transgressed His laws and commandments.

Now Alma, seeing that the words of Amulek had silenced Zeezrom, for he beheld that Amulek had caught him in his lying and deceiving to destroy him, and seeing that he began to tremble under a consciousness of his guilt, he opened his mouth and began to speak unto him, and to establish the words of Amulek, and to explain things beyond, or to unfold the scriptures beyond that which Amulek had done. (Alma 12: 1)

Shaking loose the chains and rending the veil

Fear and trembling before the Lord causes man to be confronted with the realization that he does not have faith unto salvation, unto repentance, unto redemption. It is faith that saves a man from the hell that is prepared for him. The realization that he does not have faith plunges his soul into its own personal hell, where darkness envelops him and hell fires scorch and burn him up, in a process that, if the man learns to trust the Lord, repent of all his sins and continue on through the darkness and fires, will sanctify him, for these are the refiner’s fires, which are meant to consume the impurities found within his heart and mind, his very soul.

The trembling and shaking is not a mental process alone, but also a physical one. When it is discovered that the devil has actual chains upon his spirit, with an actual veil of unbelief upon his mind and heart, the spirit of man reacts violently against the foreign spirit of the devil, of which the chains of hell and veil of unbelief are a part, and attempts to shake it off itself. As the spirit of man is connected to his physical body, when the spirit suffers in anguish because of the awareness of the presence and attachment of the spirit of the devil,―and such suffering is known as “the pains of hell”―and then attempts to shake the chains of hell loose, the physical body likewise begins to shake uncontrollably. (See 2 Ne. 1: 13, 23; 9: 45 and Alma 5: 9-10; 26: 14.)

Faith unto repentance brings relief and liberation

If a man is able to obtain faith unto repentance, by offering to the Lord a broken heart and contrite spirit, the fear of being cast off forever and his trembling under a consciousness of guilt is turned into the joy of the saints, knowing that the Lord has redeemed his soul from hell and forgiven his sins. This happens when the chains of hell have finally been shaken off and the veil of unbelief has been rent by all the fearing, trembling and crying to the Lord with a broken heart and contrite spirit. The man is now free from the power and captivity of the devil and can worship the Lord free from the guilt of his sins, with the understanding that Jesus has taken them away and that should he die this instant, he will go to paradise and not hell.

“O blessed Jesus, who has saved me from an awful hell!” (Alma 19: 29. These were the first words king Lamoni’s wife said, when she arose and stood upon her feet, after having been under the power of God.) The relief of liberation from the devil and deliverance from hell is the first thing on everyone’s mind.

In this state, the man is now justified (guiltless), purified (having no more desire to sin and, in fact, looking upon sin with abhorrence), and sanctified (having desires to do only good continually). He can now ask the Lord for a gift or power of the Spirit, with faith in Christ, believing he will receive, doubting nothing, and the Lord will grant his request.

Fear and trembling, part two

“O blessed God, have mercy on this people!” (Alma 19: 29; which were the second words that king Lamoni’s wife said after arising and standing upon her feet.)

Once free from sin, the liberated man turns his attention to those around him and his now acute knowledge of the power and captivity of the devil, and how narrowly he was able to escape his grasp and hell, causes him to fear and tremble for others. He begins to fear that those around him will be cast off forever and he begins to tremble and quake at the thought that if his fellowmen do not go through the same process that he just did, liberating themselves by faith on the word of Christ, that they will perish.

Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble. (Mosiah 28: 3)

The man of God, having been born as a new creature, even born of God, now desires that all should have the same privilege. Instead of fearing and trembling before the Lord because of his own sins, he now fears and trembles for the sins of others. If the man’s heart remains broken and his spirit contrite, he will continue in this purified, sanctified and justified state, working tirelessly to save as many souls from hell as he can, by exercising his faith to obtain and use the powers and gifts of God to benefit others and to help them also liberate themselves from Satan’s grasp.

This principle applies even to those who overcome the world and are translated, becoming sanctified in the flesh. Such persons still “suffer…sorrow…for the sins of the world.” (See 3 Ne. 28: 38.)

Fear and trembling, part three

The unrepentant man, whose soul is cast into hell, quickly finds himself in torment, with no apparent means of escape, bound to the devil by the chains of hell, which he can now plainly see are attached to his spirit, along with the veil of unbelief, in an environment of darkness, filthy rivers, magma, mists of darkness, surrounded by souls who are weeping and wailing and gnashing their teeth, in continuous anguish and misery.

He sees his situation as hopeless. Although he walks in every imaginable direction, hell appears to be endless and its gates are all one way. Souls continually enter but none have power to leave. There is no relief to his torment. Not even death can get him out of this prison, for he cannot die. Finding himself literally in hell, which appears to him to be a never-ending prison, he begins to fear and tremble uncontrollably and without cease, which causes him to enter a state of misery and indescribable suffering. The fearing and trembling, however, that the damned soul in hell goes through, is insufficient to shake loose the chains of hell that bind him, because he still has no faith, hope or charity. Unless he is able to obtain the word of Christ and plant it in his heart, and go through the process of repentance, by which he exercises faith unto repentance, he must remain chained as a possession of the devil and be subjected to the devil’s power to make him miserable.

All must fear and tremble

All men who arrive at the age of accountability and have chains of hell placed upon them because of their transgressions must eventually fear and tremble. A man can either do it voluntarily before the Lord during mortality and allow the hellish process to work out his own salvation, purify his heart and shake off the devil’s chains, through faith on the Son of God, thereby causing the gates of hell to be shut before him, or he can be compelled by the devil to fear and tremble while he resides within the confines of hell.

Fearing and trembling before the Lord in mortality is the same process as that in hell, except that you have a physical body. The body makes it much easier and quicker to shake off the chains of hell and rend the veil of unbelief. The fearing and trembling occurs before the Lord, in prayer, as you wrestle with the understanding that there is a satanic veil covering your mind and heart, with a chain attached to it that leads directly to the devil himself. And this veil and chain is causing you to remain in a state of wickedness, blindness of mind and hardness of heart. It is deceiving you and not allowing you to exercise faith. And unless you exercise faith, you aren’t, can’t and won’t be saved. And if you were to die this instant, with this satanic spirit attached to you, this same spirit would possess you and drag you down to hell and cause you to be in subjection to it and all would be lost. (See Alma 34: 34-35.)

These are scary thoughts, the thought that you are unsaved and doomed to hell unless you can rend the veil of unbelief. This fear, when it works its way into a frenzy, causes your spirit and physical body to start shaking uncontrollably.

Again, it is the trembling of the spirit that leads to the veil of unbelief being rent and cast away and the chain of hell being loosened and shaken off. This is how all the ancients worked out their own salvation. It is a personal trip to hell done in the presence of the Lord, where the fires of hell sanctify the person by causing him to fear and tremble, which eventually frees the man from the bonds of hell that held him tight. Mind you, these aren’t the literal fires of hell (magma), but the spirit fires of hell (the twin plasma filaments discharging into our human spirits in dark mode, known as the chains of hell.) Hell, in a very literal way, is already attached to all of sinning mankind, by way of the spirit of the devil (the veil) that is rooted in us. The spiritual fires of hell is the spiritual torment a man feels knowing that he is not saved. It is a reaction by the spirit host (the man) to the alien, devilish symbiote (the veil and chain).

No one, except it be little children, will escape the fear and trembling of hell. When little children die, they go straight to paradise, avoiding hell altogether, and while little children are alive, they are sinless and have no chains of hell placed upon them, therefore they need not go through any fear and trembling. The repentant saints of God, though, must go through hell on earth, by which they work out their own salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord. This allows them to enter paradise when they die, thus avoiding the gates of hell. The unrepentant wicked, on the other hand, do not go through this process on earth, therefore they must go to literal hell when they die, where they do not work out their own salvation, yet still fear and tremble under Satan’s power.

Suffering and sorrow is what it is all about

Suffering and sorrow are the sanctifying, purifying and justifying principles of the gospel. Fearing, trembling and having a broken heart and contrite spirit are the three principles that bring us to the Lord. The fear of being cast off forever, or, in the case of the righteous, the fear of other people being cast off forever, is a form of suffering. Trembling under a consciousness of one’s own guilt, or, in the case of the righteous, trembling under a consciousness of other people’s guilt (because of the knowledge that they will perish unless they repent), is also a form of suffering. And a broken heart and a contrite spirit is sorrow for one’s own sin (demonstrated by uncontrollable weeping), or, in the case of the righteous, sorrow for other people’s sins.

All of this suffering and sorrow is over, or about the consequences of, sin. It is sin-centric suffering and sorrow. If we go through suffering and sorrow about anything else that is not sin-centric, such as an illness, or failure at a relationship, or poverty, etc., none of such things does us any good whatsoever in the process of working out our own salvation. Only suffering and sorrow for sin sanctifies, purifies and justifies.

Deceptions of the devil

It is the intent of the devil to have all mankind fear and tremble in literal hell, under his satanic power, and not in mortality under the power of the Holy Ghost. The doctrine of working out one’s salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord destroys the devil’s captivating power, therefore, he inspires mortal men who are under his evil spirit to preach against this doctrine. One such individual was Nehor.

And he also testified unto the people that all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should have eternal life. (Alma 1: 4)

Nehor’s preaching had devastating effect among the church of God, leading many members into sin and many were excommunicated. Since the time of Nehor, however, the devil has changed strategies, but the result is the same. Now, instead of getting the church of God to believe that the doctrine of fearing and trembling before the Lord is false or unnecessary, the devil has caused the church to re-interpret it as something other than what it is. Now the church believes it is merely showing respect towards the Lord by striving to keep His commandments, with no spiritual and physical suffering needed. This new strategy of the devil is more effective, at least for our time, because the church actually believes that they are working out their own salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord, without going through any of the steps of the real doctrine.

Again, although the strategy has changed, the end result is the same. No one goes through the process of fearing that they will be cast off forever. No one goes through the spiritual and physical shaking and trembling under a consciousness of his guilt. And no one manifests the uncontrollable weeping associated with profound sorrow for one’s sins, known as a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

The doctrine of working out one’s own salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord requires that a knowledge of the chains of hell, of death, hell and the devil, of the captivity and power of the devil, and of all things associated with Satan and hell and sin and death be explained to a person. Unless a person understands that he is in the devil’s grasp and is going to hell if he does not repent, he can never fear and tremble before the Lord in mortality, and if he never fears and trembles before the Lord in mortality, he must fear and tremble before the devil in hell.

Owing to the necessity of teaching the doctrine of hell and the captivating powers of the devil as part of the plan of salvation, the devil has enacted a plan whereby he now gets the church of God to avoid all mention of hell, death, the devil, fear, sin, trembling and any other “negative” emotional state. We focus on heaven and salvation and avoid all mention of damnation and hell. Fear is never, ever mentioned, at all, and when it is mentioned, it is immediately struck down as a barbaric relic of old-time religion. (For example, see this comment.)

Nephi saw our day (as well as the days to come) and saw the strategies that would be employed by the devil to emasculate the doctrine of fearing and trembling before God:

For the kingdom of the devil must shake, and they which belong to it must needs be stirred up unto repentance, or the devil will grasp them with his everlasting chains, and they be stirred up to anger, and perish; for behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.

And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.

And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.

Yea, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment. (2 Nephi 28: 19-23)

Nephi said that “the kingdom of the devil must shake.” He understood completely the doctrine of fearing and trembling before the Lord. Also, he foresaw that hell would no longer be considered an actual place (see Teachings on hell and the spirit world), but a state of mind, as if people could release themselves from the misery of hell merely by thinking a different thought. Such deceptions are already upon us, and even greater deceptions are to come.

The gospel has already been compromised

The Book of Mormon preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ in purity. If you look at every preacher found within that book’s pages, you will notice that when they preached Christ, they also preached the devil and hell. When they preached salvation through Christ, they also preached damnation through the devil. When they preached liberation through the Son of God, they also preached captivity through the devil. When they preached of the Holy Ghost, they also preached of the evil spirit of the devil. They preached the gospel in its fulness and purity.

Now compare that to how the Gentile church of God preaches. We leave out fully one-half of the gospel when we preach it. We never talk of damnation, or captivity or hell, etc. When we talk of the atonement, we briefly mention sin and death and how the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ liberates us from that and then move on. There is no mention of fear, trembling, or any other thing that people might consider “too negative.” We focus on the positive and largely discard anything negative from our minds and conversations. As a result, we have stopped preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, for, like a scale, balanced coverage must be given to both sides in order for a man or woman to repent of their sins.

Truth be told, even the half that we do preach isn’t preached all that much. The vast majority of our conversation is centered on prophets and apostles, obedience to leaders and commandments, blessings of paying tithing, attending church and temple, and every other conceivable topic that has nothing, whatsoever, to do with Jesus Christ’s suffering, death, resurrection and judgment upon all mankind.

Now, I normally put the blame of all things wrong with the church of God on the member’s backs, but this time I point the finger at the church leadership. They are not teaching the gospel and instead of getting the people to repent, they are causing the hearts of the people to become more and more hardened.

The plan of salvation has also been compromised

The Gentile church has likewise modified the scriptural plan of salvation. The plan is, in a word, Christ. It is not a flip-chart with circles representing kingdoms of glory, earth and the Spirit World. Christ is the plan. He was sent to deliver us from death, hell and the devil. Through faith on the power of His deliverance He can blot out our transgressions, all our afflictions, all our pain, take away our temptations and even blot out death, in other words, everything that causes a tear of sadness to fall from the eyes of man. He took all this upon Himself so that He could blot it all out.

Without Christ we are subject to the devil. We are not subject to sin, but to the devil. This is an important distinction to make. Sin and death are but tools of the devil. The real danger is the devil. The plan of salvation is a plan to save us from the devil. For example, death is a problem because

“…if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more. And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself…” (2 Ne. 9: 8-9.)

And sin likewise causes us to become subject to him, so that, were there no plan of salvation, “our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils,” even angels to a devil. So, Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection is designed to save us from the devil for he is the one holding all the chains of hell.

When we focus on sin and death and leave out the devil, we destroy the plan of salvation and faith. If sin were just a nebulous concept, without an actual being of power behind it, we could all be Buddhists or of any other religion and not need Christ. But this is not the case. No one can break Satan’s chains of hell. No Buddhist, no Muslim, no religion or philosophy of men. Only faith in Christ can. He, and He alone is the plan of salvation and we need saving from Satan and Satan alone. Christ and Satan must go hand in hand when presenting the plan of salvation, otherwise, it is no longer the plan of salvation and is of none effect to save men.

The Gentile church of God has pretty much divorced sin from the power and captivity of Satan. For example, if you look at the Mormon.org page on “Jesus Christ,” sin is mentioned 24 times with no mention of the devil. (A little better is that site’s page, “God’s Plan of Happiness,” which mentions sin 7 times, with Satan mentioned twice.) As a result, no one can properly exercise faith as a principle of power. Instead, we get hit and miss manifestations and no gifts.

Also, the focus of the plan of salvation is no longer Christ. Now when we think of the plan of salvation, instead of viewing the sufferings, death and resurrection of Christ, we think of three degrees of glory and of exaltation in the celestial kingdom. And we most certainly do not think of the devil and hell. In fact, we don’t even use the word hell anymore, having replaced it with the more politically correct term, “spirit prison.” Yet, even with that term, we do not see it as an actual prison, with real shackles upon a person. All has become figurative states of mind.

All fear is negative and bad and inspired by me,” says the devil

All of this is according to the deceptions, plans and power of the evil one, for it is his intent to remove both Christ and himself from our conversations. As long as he remains out of sight and out of mind, he is free to go about destroying souls.

In this way, the people are deceived and never realize the danger they are in, nor do they learn the process by which to go about removing themselves from that danger. They are deceived into thinking that fear, meaning actual fear, as in fright, is contrary to the gospel, and that fear can only be inspired by the devil. So, they never enter the process by which all the ancient saints went through to shake off the chains of hell and rend the veil of unbelief and save themselves, which is the process of fearing and trembling and crying before the Lord.

Again, what is it that we are to fear in this process? We are to fear being cast off forever. (See Mosiah 28: 4.) It is this fear that causes the body and spirit to tremble. And, why should we fear this? Because as long as the chains and veil are attached to us, we cannot exercise faith, cannot be saved and will be dragged down to hell once we leave our physical bodies, to become subject to, and possessed by, the devil’s spirit. Once people learn of these things, they begin to fear death, while the righteous, who have been liberated from this captivity, have no fear of death.

To be clearer in writing, no one can be saved without faith in Christ and no one can exercise faith in Christ unless they go through the process of fearing, trembling and crying before the Lord. So, to ascribe all fear as inspired of the devil is to commit spiritual suicide, for you will then never be able to exercise faith unto salvation.

The scriptures explain these things in plainness, so that people can understand that they ought to go through this process right now, this very moment, while they are still alive. Such plainness necessitates Satan’s strategy to get us to misinterpret these real things as mere symbols.

The one mighty and strong is a deception

There are many who are waiting for “one mighty and strong” to show up and save the day, performing miracles and wonders and signs. Such a doctrine is inspired of the devil. I’m not saying that there will not be one or more persons arriving who will be mighty and strong and manifest miracles and perform great works. Of course there will be. However, the waiting for such a man or men to arrive is inspired by the evil one, that he might keep all those who believe such a doctrine in the status quo and ever relying upon the arm of flesh and looking for someone to lead them.

The true doctrine of Christ is that every man and woman is to repent of their sins and harden not their hearts, receiving a remission of their sins, and then asking God in faith to obtain the gifts and powers of the Spirit, so as to work miracles themselves, and not to wait for miracle workers to show up. Those who wait for miracle workers to show up, without learning how to work miracles themselves, will end up being deceived, for Satan will send miracle workers with the intent to deceive such people.

We are to obtain the gifts ourselves so that we are not deceived (see D&C 46: 8.) If you do not obtain the gifts, but merely wait for a savior to arrive, you will get a savior, but he will be sent from the evil one.

Pray against the power of the devil

The scriptures indicate that we must pray always and not faint, that we be not led into temptation. In other words, we are to pray against the power of the devil, against his power to tempt and deceive us and others.

Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness. (Alma 34: 21.)

The Lord will grant us what we ask for in faith, but if we do not ask for something, He will not grant it. The ancients always prayed against the devil’s power and taught all men to do so. The Gentile church typically neglects this duty.

The ordinance of prayer

Prayer is an ordinance (see New thoughts on prayer) by which we offer a sacrifice to the Lord. He only accepts one type of sacrifice: that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. A broken heart and contrite spirit is a heart that is inundated with sorrow for sin. Initially, it is sorrow for one’s own sins. Later, when forgiveness through faith on Christ has come, it is sorrow for the sins of the world.

Prayer only works if this sacrifice is offered up. If any man or woman prays to God without presenting before Him the required sacrifice, which is the only sacrifice He will accept, the prayer is counted as evil and profits the man nothing. (See Moroni 7: 6-9.) Just as Cain brought the wrong sacrifice to the Lord and was rejected by Him, while Abel brought the right sacrifice and was accepted, so if we pray to God without a broken heart and contrite spirit, our prayers will not be answered, or will be of no profit to us.

The Son of God is “quick to hear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers” (Alma 9: 26), but only if they offer the required sacrifice. If they go to the prayer altar and offer up nothing, or some substitute sacrifice, they have no such promise.

If you are not weeping, you are not broken-hearted

The Lord has given us a key whereby we might know if we have a broken heart and contrite spirit: the crying of tears of sorrow. When we are crying tears of sorrow for our own sins, or for others’ sins, then we are broken-hearted. If we have not, as yet, reached that point, our hearts are still hard.

Yea, his weeping for Zion I have seen (D&C 21: 8 – The Lord, speaking of Joseph Smith, Jun.)

For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry. (2 Ne. 33: 3 – Nephi)

There is a reason why the scriptures tell us to “cry unto the Lord.” The word cry can mean “to make a loud call or cry, as in an effort to be heard, in prayer or supplication, in pain or anger, etc.; to call out or exclaim vehemently or earnestly; to shout; to vociferate.” But it can also mean “to utter lamentations; to lament audibly; to express pain, grief, or distress, by weeping and sobbing; to wail; to shed tears with or without making a sound; to weep.” It is the latter type of crying that demonstrates a broken heart and contrite spirit.

When we cry to the Lord, with uncontrollable weeping for our sins, the Lord is “quick to hear the cries.” Only those who have a broken heart and contrite spiritwho are they that are truly penitent and sorry for their sinshave access to the atonement of Jesus Christ, “and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered” (2 Ne. 2: 7.) This means that unless you are brought to tears for your own sins, or for the sins of the world, you are currently in a state of damnation, because your heart is still hard, the veil of unbelief is still intact, the chains of hell are still attached to you and you are still in subjection to the devil, being an enemy to God.

The condition of the heart

It all comes down to our hearts. Our hearts are hard, like a stone. This is the reason, the only reason, why those of us who ask God for a gift of the Spirit, do so in vain. This is the reason why we do not receive.

No one can exercise faith while in a state of damnation. No one can be saved in his sins. He must be saved from his sins. A hard heart is a wicked heart. As long as his heart is hard, a man is still in his sins. The heart must be broken before salvation goes forth. Before Christ can forgive anyone of any sins, there must be the all-important sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Simply saying you are sorry for your sins does not cut it. You must feel sorrow for your sins. And this must be the sorrow unto repentance spoken of in the scriptures. This is sorrow that is accompanied by tears, by uncontrollable weeping. It is this sorrow that causes you to turn from (repent of) your sins.

And for those of us who have turned from our sins without the accompanying sorrow for sin (the weeping of a broken heart), such “repentance” is but a change of lifestyle and profits us nothing in the afterlife. The Lord looks upon the heart. Regardless of how one has stopped using drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and breaking the law of chastity and other laws of God, if the heart is still hard, that man is still in a state of wickedness, with veil of unbelief firmly attached, and has no faith unto salvation, which is why he cannot perform any miracle and will find himself in hell upon his death if he continues in the iniquity of his heart. So, it is sorrow for sin (the broken heart and contrite spirit) that is the first and chief gift of God that one needs to be saved.

But before you can attain to that state of sorrow, you must understand the consequences of sin. You must have a proper understanding of death, hell, and the devil and the captivity of the devil. And this understanding must work in you until you fear being cast off and tremble under a consciousness of your guilt before God. Only then can you come close to obtaining a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

All of this brings us to the role of the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon is the solution

The word of God, found in the Book of Mormon, contains everything necessary to bring people to repentance, to the broken heart and contrite spirit required before miracles can go forth. This volume of scripture is designed to “pull down all the pride” (see Alma 4: 19) of the church of God. The opposite of pride is humility, meekness, lowliness of heart. These words refer to the broken heart and contrite spirit, not to mere “teachableness” as many LDS would interpret them to mean.

The church of God is currently in a rising pride cycle, which means that it does not desire to repent, nor feels the need to. It enjoys the status quo just fine. It resembles the Nehor perversion in certain aspects.

(The order of Nehors created exceedingly hard-hearted people. It was the Nehors of Ammonihah who murdered the women and children believers by fire. See Alma 14. It was also mostly the Nehors who slew the Anti-Nephi-Lehies who were prostrate and praying to God. See Alma 24.)

So, many members no longer care about obtaining the gifts. But even the members that are concerned about the lack of gifts, and that attempt to receive them, are incapable of doing so because they “are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.” In short, the devil has the entire world under darkness, both within and without the church.

The Book of Mormon is the Lord’s solution to this problem. It is intended to give us the word of God in purity so that we can learn everything we need to know about Christ’s atonement and His power of deliverance, as well as the devil’s power of captivity. It continually calls us to repentance and shows us exactly what to do to escape the grasp of the devil and avoid entering hell, how to obtain a glorious resurrection, how to repent and receive forgiveness of sin, and how to obtain any gift or power that God has ever given to any saint of any age. In short, it gives us exactly what we need to gain the victory over the devil and overcome the world by faith.

Enos and Amulek as our models

Enos knelt before his Maker and “cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication” for his own soul, “all the day long.” And when the night came, he did still raise his voice in prayer. And then the Lord spoke to him and told him his sins were forgiven.

It took Enos less than 24 hours of “crying to the Lord,” or less than the waking hours of a day, before the Lord finally spoke to him and he obtained a remission of his sins. It was accomplished in a single day.

Amulek said:

Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you. (Alma 34: 31)

Again, the implication is that it takes but one day to obtain forgiveness.

How to pray, part two

Remember the list of steps? Pray to the Father, in the name of Christ, with faith in Christ, believing that we will receive, doubting nothing, for something good and right? Well, if you pray that way without a broken heart and a contrite spirit, you won’t receive a damn thing.

Before approaching the Lord in prayer to obtain the gifts of the Spirit, you must first obtain a remission of your sins, and before that you must first obtain a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And to do that you need to be harrowed up with guilt, you need to tremble and fear before the Lord, and nothing does that like the pure gospel of Jesus Christ, even the word of God as written in the Book of Mormon. The broken heart is the first thing to ask for. With prayer and the word of God, as found in the Book of Mormon, pride will eventually be pulled down and your heart will be softened and the tears will flow for your sins.

At that point, you must pray to God for forgiveness, while in your state of tears, or broken-heartedness, for as long as it takes. As demonstrated by Enos, it won’t take longer than a day, for the Lord is quick to hear the cries of His people. When you finally receive forgiveness of sin and have had your sorrow wiped away and replaced by joy, being full of the Holy Spirit and being baptized with fire, with the ability to speak the tongue of angels, etc., then, and only then, will you be able to ask and receive whatever you want.

Right after Enos received a forgiveness of sins, he got back onto his knees and poured out his whole soul to God for his brethren the Nephites. His broken-heartedness was in their behalf. Again, the Lord spoke to him. Later, he again prayed in this same manner, this time asking for something specific regarding the preservation of their records. He received what He asked for, because once again, he prayed with a broken heart and contrite spirit.

This is the grand key to the doctrine of ask and receive. If you have a hard heart, you receive the lesser portion until you know nothing and are taken captive by the devil. If you do not harden your heart, but keep it broken, you receive the greater portion of the word until you know the mysteries in full. (See Alma 12: 10-11.) Again, the key to know if you have a hard or soft heart is whether you weep over sin.

The Atonement has power to melt hearts

And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me. (Alma 7: 11-13)

The suffering that Jesus went through is designed to move the Universe to tears, compassion and forgiveness. All mankind would unavoidably perish were it not for the redemption of Christ, and He came down to save us, not to save Himself, because He loves us and does not want the workmanship of His hands to perish. So, this was a completely selfless sacrifice. Both the reasons for the sacrifice and the intensity of it work on all who plant this word in their hearts.

This means that when we plant this word in our hearts and believe it, viewing the cross of Christ and all the suffering that He underwent, we, too, can be moved to tears, compassion and forgiveness. In other words, the atonement has power to take away our stony hearts and give us a heart of flesh. For this reason, studying the word of God tends to pull down pride and humble us to the dust, making it easier for us to obtain a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

For those of us who find that we cannot cry to the Lord, meaning that we cannot feel the sorrow for sin necessary to obtain blessings from the Lord, because the tears do not come, the Lord, in His infinite foreknowledge and mercy, knowing that the preaching of the word in purity has power to break hearts and that the Gentile church would not preach the word in purity, began the foundation of the church with the Book of Mormon, for the Book of Mormon prophets preached it in purity. In this way, anyone who desired to obtain a broken heart and a contrite spirit, could do so by reading the Book of Mormon with a believing heart. This would be as effective as hearing the pure word preached in power.

A doctrine of two atonements

The process of working out your own salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord, and of calling upon the name of the Lord with a broken heart and a contrite spirit is an atonement. To be saved, two atonements are required. The infinite atonement of Christ in which He feared that we would all be cast off, trembled with a perfect consciousness of all our guilt, and sorrowed under the enormous weight of our sins, was the first one, without which no one would be saved. But a second one, a finite one, in which each person must also go through this process of fearing, trembling and sorrowing, is necessary to activate the first one.

A sense of our own nothingness

Ammon said, “Yea, I know that I am nothing” (Alma 26: 12.) Mormon said, “O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth” (Helaman 12: 7.) And king Benjamin said, “The knowledge of the goodness of God at this time has awakened you to a sense of your nothingness, and your worthless and fallen state” (Mosiah 4: 5.)

The broken heart and contrite spirit is attendant with a sense of our own nothingness. Lehi preached the nothingness of man to his children (see Deep Waters: Lehi’s model of the universe) who then kept up the teaching throughout their generations to the end of their civilization. We are, quite literally, nothing, having come from the nothingness. All that we are and possess has been given to us, or leased to us, by the generosity and charity of God. If we do not turn the lease into a permanent ownership, by filling our hearts with charity, which is the love of God, our lease will end and we will return to the nothingness from whence we came. Just as from dust we are taken and to dust we shall return, so from nothing we come and to nothing we shall return, unless we take advantage of the atonement of Christ.

Even before obtaining a broken heart and a contrite spirit, getting a sense of one’s own nothingness assists in softening the heart, for the contrast between God’s absolute greatness, being a possessor of all things, and our nothingness, causes us to quake and tremble. Shaking, quaking and trembling are helpful in softening the heart. And after the broken heart is received, always remembering one’s nothingness and the greatness of God keeps everything in a proper perspective, so that it becomes that much easier to retain a remission of sin.

Retaining a remission of sins

And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel. And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true. (Mosiah 4: 11-12)

The key to retaining a remission of sins, given by king Benjamin, is to continually perform the ordinance of prayer, offering a sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit, which is the required sacrifice or atonement that is acceptable to the Lord. Doing so will fill us with the love of God (charity) so that it will be well with us at the last day, for whoever does not possess charity is counted as nothing and must return to the nothingness from whence they came, while those who do possess charity remain in the kingdom and receive an inheritance.

It is imperative, then, that we pray always and do not faint, after the prescribed manner.

There is no going back

To those who wish to use the information in this post, know going into it that once you start the fearing and the trembling, there is no going back. The pure gospel awakens you from the sleep of hell into a state of torment, even the pains of hell. The realization that you do not have faith will torment you as if your soul has been set on fire, for without faith no man can be saved.

One option (temporary at best) is to reject the gospel altogether and to believe that the promises of the Lord are false and thus the plan of salvation is a sham. But that will only work until you die and then you will find yourself in hell, in your unsaved condition. So death does not bring relief from this misery.

If you make an agency choice to continue to believe that what the Lord has promised in the scriptures is true, and that all who ask in faith, believing they will receive, nothing doubting, will indeed receive, then you must remain in your miserable, faithless state until you obtain the promised witness.

The very misery you find yourself in, then, knowing that you have no faith sufficient to save yourself, will either impel you forward to ask again and strive to obtain the witness, or drive you backward to reject the entire gospel. In this way, all who arrive at the trial of faith must make a choice. There is no middle ground. It is all or nothing.

Closing summary: A gospel prescription

Just as one goes to a doctor who then prescribes a medication or procedure to cure the ailment, so we can write a prescription based upon the above information to “cure” the world of a deficiency of gifts and miracles.

There are three steps to receiving what you ask God for. The first is the fear of being cast off forever. The second is a trembling under a consciousness of your own guilt before God. The third is a broken heart and a contrite spirit, which is extreme sorrow for your sins, manifested by uncontrollable weeping.

Once a man has the fear we are speaking of, this automatically leads him to trembling. The fear and trembling, if they are continued through prayer and studying the word of God, will eventually lead to a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

It is the broken heart and contrite spirit that rends the veil of unbelief, shakes off the chains of hell and casts away every doubt. Once a person has a broken heart and a contrite spirit, he can pray to God for forgiveness of his sins and within a single day of prayer become justified, sanctified and purified. This is because God is quick to hear the cries of those that have a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

After his sins are remitted, the man must continue in prayer and fasting, praying against the power of the devil, acknowledging the greatness, goodness and long-suffering of God and His hand in all things, and always remembering his own nothingness, and by so doing, he will always retain a remission of his sins.

Such a man, whose sins are now remitted due to his broken heart and contrite spirit, can ask the Lord for any gift or power of the Spirit and it will be granted him. So long as he remains broken-hearted and with a contrite spirit, he will grow in the knowledge of the glory of God, and partake of as many gifts, marvels, signs, wonders and powers as he asks for.

Now, backing up a bit: the first step is fear. To obtain this fear, a man must have the gospel preached to him in its purity, so that he has a good understanding of the power and captivity of the devil, of hell and of death, and also of the power and deliverance of the Son of God, of heaven and of the resurrection and judgment. The volume of scripture that God has given to us to preach the gospel in purity is the Book of Mormon. Therefore, to all who are serious about obtaining and exercising faith and receiving the gifts and miracles of God into their lives, may I make a suggestion?

Put every other book you are currently reading and studying aside and just read the Book of Mormon, preferably out loud, so that you actually hear it preached. Every available moment that you have, read from its pages, with the above understanding in mind, and allow it to soften and affect your heart, afflict your soul, harrow you up with your sins, instill fear in you and cause you to tremble under a consciousness of your own guilt. This can only be accomplished if you believe everything that you read and apply all the sermons of repentance to you, as if they were spoken directly to you and with you in mind. Do this until your pride has been pulled down by the word of God and you have obtained the broken heart and contrite spirit that you seek.

Also, pray to God in the above prescribed manner, using a deadline so that each prayer becomes a trial of your faith. In this way, you will be able to plainly see that you do not have faith, which will cause you to fear and tremble exceedingly.

Continue on with these prayers and scripture readings, and petition the Lord for the broken heart and contrite spirit and to rend the veil of unbelief and shake loose the chains of hell. Use every available moment to do these things and submit yourself fully to the fearful and trembling pains of hell. Eventually, the Lord will take away your stony heart and replace it with a heart of flesh and you will finally feel the relief that comes from uncontrollably sobbing because of your sins. You will finally be able to feel sorrow for your sins, instead of just saying you are sorry and not really feeling it.

When those tears come, continue crying (with tears) to God, in your broken heart and contrite spirit, asking for forgiveness of your sins until you obtain forgiveness.

Once you obtain forgiveness, you can now ask God to see an angel or a vision or whatever, and it will be given to you. Then go and bear testimony to others of what you have seen so that they can exercise faith to see the same things. This is how it works.

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

Teachings on hell and the spirit world


The following is some of what I recently taught my wife and daughter about hell.  For the most part it is a re-hash of things I had learned previously, but it does contain a couple of new concepts (new to me, at least), so I’m putting it on this blog.

The spirit world is the Earth’s spirit

When we speak of the spirit world, we are not speaking of a different planet made of spirit matter, but of the spirit body of our planet Earth. Latter-day saints are taught that “the spirit world is here” because the Earth’s spirit is still attached to its physical body, just as mortal, human spirits are connected to their physical bodies. The Earth’s spirit body, like all spirit bodies, conforms to the configuration of the physical elements that make up its physical body.

How the physical world is configured

The Earth’s physical body (the physical world) is a hollow, spherical shell that has north and south polar openings. The shell has inner and outer surfaces which meet at these two openings. At the exact center of the hollow is another spherical object, which is also a hollow shell that has its own polar openings, but much smaller in diameter than the larger shell that surrounds it. The smaller shell discharges plasma in glow mode, like an inner sun.

In appearance, the Earth is constructed as “a tree yielding fruit, whose seed is in itself”. When the Earth is stacked with other planets, a plasma column connects the planets through their poles, creating a visual display that looks like a tree. The “seed” of this “tree” is the small hollow shell found at the exact center of the larger hollow sphere.

Men live and walk upon the outer surface of the larger shell. They also walk upon the inner surface. Gravity (the Earth’s spirit) pushes all matter towards a point between the two surfaces of the shell. (Everything in the Universe is a push; there is no such thing as a pull.) So, a man walking on the outside of the shell will be pushed inward towards the inner surface; and a man walking on the inner surface of the shell will be pushed outward towards the outer surface. To each of these men, gravity is pushing them “down” even though “down” is in opposite directions for them. Almost all of the physical matter of the Earth is found within the larger shell and this is where most of the gravity is concentrated.

Above each surface side (inner and outer) there is an atmosphere, in which man and other creatures can live and breath. The atmosphere extends upward only to a certain distance. Above that, we find the apparent vacuum of space. In the case of the outer surface, this vacuum is called by us “outer space,” but in the case of the inner surface, the vacuum of space above their heads, it being above the atmosphere, might be termed “inner space.”

The inner sun is held in the very center of the inner space vacuum by gravitation. It is pushed equally in all directions towards the outer shell and thus is held stationary (or fixed) in the center of the hollow of the larger shell. However, just as the outer shell rotates or spins, so does the inner shell, though at a different rate.

To men living on the inner surface of the outer shell, the inner sun appears to be roughly similar in size to how the outer Sun appears to the men living on the outer surface. The outer Sun is exceedingly large, hot and radiant, yet very distant, and so appears kind of small to people on the outside of Earth, whereas the inner sun is miniscule by comparison, but fairly close to the inner surface; and so the inner and outer Suns appear to approximate each other in size.

The inner sun is not as brilliant or as hot as the outer Sun, so that the inner surface of the Earth’s larger shell is not scorched with heat and radiation, but is bathed in amounts conducive to human life.

Limit of gravity field is apparent limit of spirit world

The spirit world proceeds outward beyond the confines of the physical world, just like every other spirit body. The extent of the Earth’s gravitational field is the apparent extent of its spirit body. In other words, once something leaves the confines of Earth’s gravitational field, it has apparently left the confines of the spirit world.

The same principle of spirit encompassing element applies to all spirit bodies connected to physical bodies. The spirit body of a man, for example, contains the physical body of the man within its confines, and extends some distance beyond the physical element. It is incorrect, then, to say that one’s spirit body is entirely within one’s physical body. The reverse is the true nature and pattern of the Universe. Every spirit body surrounds the physical body it is connected to, the spirit matter of the spirit body surrounding each particle of the elements that compose the physical body and moving it around with a push. This is one of the reasons why sometimes people can “sense” the presence of another person without their physical senses apparently being involved (because an outer edge of a person’s spirit has come into contact with an outer edge of some other person’s spirit), or why those who see people’s auras say that they extend beyond the physical body, or how two celestial objects can interact with each other at a distance, etc.

The spirit world is divided into two parts

Just as the physical world is divided into two parts, a large outer shell and a small inner shell, so the spirit world has two parts, spirit prison (otherwise known as hell) and paradise.

Where everything is located

Paradise is located where the inner sun is found. Spirit prison (or hell) is found in the depths of the larger, outer shell. To men walking on the outer surface of the larger shell, as well as on the inner surface, hell is found below them, or below their feet. Hell is also called the underworld because it is underneath the surface of the Earth (deep within the larger, outer shell).

Spirit world hell is patterned after universal outer darkness

Outer darkness is that area outside of the inner sphere of light known as the created Universe. The boundary between outer darkness and the inner sphere of light is a lake of fire and brimstone “which ascended up forever and ever.”

The hell of the spirit world is also called outer darkness because it lies in the larger, outer shell of the Earth. When men die, their spirits go to “that God who gave them life,” meaning that they go to the inner sun (a god-star), which is the location of spirit world paradise. The righteous among them are received into paradise (see the gates of righteousness below), while the unjust spirits are cast out into outer darkness (hell).

Spirit world hell is a place of darkness and powerlessness. Gravity in hell is different than that at the surface, it being either largely reduced or altogether canceled out. Hell is the abode of Satan and his angels and is their base of operations. From there they travel to the two opposing surfaces of the planet where mortal men are found and tempt them to break God’s commandments. The departed spirits of men found in hell are subject to the spirit of the devil, who keeps them miserable like himself.

Hell fire

Spirit world hell is also surrounded by fire and brimstone (magma) or what the scriptures call hell fire or God’s “fiery indignation.” All these terms are descriptions of real things, as well as states of mind and heart.

The gates of hell

The scriptures speak repeatedly of “the gates of hell.” These gates are openings found upon the Earth that lead down to the physical location of hell. They include certain volcanoes, as well as cave systems that seemingly go on and on, and also holes and cracks in the earth that appear to be bottomless pits. They are found in various locations around the planet and are often called by the local population by some name indicating hell, such as Mouth of Hell, etc. No one typically tries to go down these apertures and cavities due to dangerous conditions, such as noxious gases, magma flow, utter darkness, fearful noises (which sound like the screams of the damned souls in hell), etc.

The gates of righteousness

The scriptures also speak of “the gates of righteousness.” These gates are the polar openings found upon the two shells that compose the physical world, or four gates total. Paradise, which is located within the inner sun, cannot be seen by those living on the outside surface of the planet. One would need to enter either the north or south polar opening (gate of righteousness) to view the physical location of spirit world paradise (the inner sun). In the same way, in order to actually enter into spirit world paradise, one would need to go through either the north or south polar opening (gate of righteousness) of the inner sun so as to be on its inner surface, where paradise is found.

The gates of righteousness are, essentially, “narrow gates,” hidden from the view of most people, or unknown or disbelieved to exist by almost all men. Few men find them. The gates of hell, on the other hand, are well-known, documented and often wide gates.

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus

In Luke 16: 19-31 the Savior mentions “a great gulf fixed” between hell and “Abraham’s bosom” (the paradise of the inner sun). No one could pass from hell to paradise, nor from paradise to hell because of this gulf. The gulf is the space that exists between the inner sun and outer shell of Earth.

After Jesus’ death, He went to paradise and “organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead.” (See D&C 138.)  These messengers required power to cross the “great gulf fixed.”

Scriptures are both spiritual and temporal

As the above shows, many of the scriptural terms that we take to have strictly figurative or symbolic meaning also have a literal or physical counterpart. Or, as Nephi told his brothers Laman and Lemuel, the prophets spoke of things both temporal and spiritual.

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Every one of us had a perfect, wonderful and happy childhood


Old Photos

My wife recently asked me to scan in some old photos of our family.  As I looked over them, it made me once again realize how fleeting childhood is.  My kids are currently all over the childhood age spectrum.  They are all adorable to me just as they are right now, but viewing these photos and seeing how very young they were and how cute and cuddly they used to be in their earlier childhood stages, caused me to feel an acute nostalgia.  I longed for another chance at holding each one of them again in my arms, as babes and infants, or playing with them as toddlers, or watching them develop again as boys and girls.  It pained me that I wasn’t able to do that and also that my memory of those years wasn’t absolutely perfect, so as to re-live those precious experiences merely by accessing my memory.

My own childhood was very happy, but again, my memory of it is only of instances, not of continuous days, hours and minutes.  I cannot relive it by memory.  The most I can do is enjoy the childhood my kids are currently going through and to take advantage and cherish every moment I can.

Although my childhood was what I consider a happy one, it wasn’t perfectly so, of course.  None of us live perfectly happy lives, in perfect conditions.  And very many of us go through childhoods that are very far from happy, miserable even.  This is quite the shame, as childhood is so different than adulthood.  Childhood comes once and then is gone forever, whereas adulthood comes and stays with you throughout the eternities.

To have experienced a rotten childhood is such a bummer.  A child is the most alive creature on the planet and deserves to be around adults who are also alive and vibrant.  Often, though, life turns adults sour and adults take out that sourness on everyone around them, including the children.  This is unfortunate because once the sparkle of childhood, which can be seen in each child’s eyes and in their smile, is gone, it is gone forever.

At least, that is the conventional view.  My understanding is a bit different.

Memory of Mortality

When I was eighteen years old, I was once praying to God about something and in the midst of the prayer the Holy Ghost responded.  I cannot recall what I was praying about, but I do recall the communication.  It made quite the impression on me because it was the first time I had received anything from the Spirit while praying.  Here I was talking to God and then I get interrupted by a message.  Anyway, the Spirit told me that, by divine design,  our memory during mortality was not perfect.  She told me that the ability to forget was a gift of God given to us during our mortal existence, so that the purposes of God would not be thwarted.  Apparently, a perfect mortal memory, meaning a perfect memory of mortality, or of our mortal existence, would create tremendous guilt in mankind and we, having a perfect remembrance during mortality of all the bad things we’d done, would, essentially, end our lives.  Guilt, apparently, if it cannot be removed from one’s brain or mind or heart, is an unquenchable fire that destroys humanity.  Mankind self-destructs if faced with non-stop, perfectly rememberd guilt.  The atonement has power to remove that guilt, but much of mankind does not apply the atonement, or does not know of it, therefore, if mankind had a perfect memory here on earth Satan would conquer all and frustrate the plans of God.  The Spirit explained to me, then, that God had given us the ability to forget with the passage of time and the inability to recall things perfectly, to extend the lives of man upon the earth, giving them the opportunity to learn of the gospel and accept the atonement.

Again, I don’t recall exactly what I was praying about, but I think I was praying about memory, which is why I got this answer.  At any rate, I remember I was satisfied by this answer, and I was content to not have a perfect memory during mortality.

Memory of Pre-Mortality

We are all taught that there was a veil of forgetfulness placed upon us before we were born here on Earth.  This is why we cannot remember our pre-mortal existence.  This veil of forgetfulness allows us to exercise faith in the Lord because it takes away our memories of Him.  If we all had perfect memories of our pre-mortal existence, there would be no test or trial.  Mortality would be as easy to pass as if we were still living in God’s presence, for with a perfect memory of our life there, sin would hold no temptation to us here.  So, God temporarily took away our memory of our life there, so that we wouldn’t be influenced in our decisions here.  This veil of forgetfulness appears to have been placed upon our spirits, or spiritual bodies.  In other words, the veil of forgetfulness is not an aspect of our physical, mortal bodies.  On the other hand, I learned from the Spirit that God made our physical, mortal bodies in such a way as to limit our mortal memories.  In other words, the faulty or imperfect memory we have here during mortality is a result of the physicality connected to our spirits, the physical clothing acting as a dampener of the spiritual senses, limiting what we can see and perceive (and remember) through the spiritual senses.

The Restoration of All Memories

In the resurrection, we get our memories back.  We’ll remember both our pre-mortal existence perfectly and also our mortal experiences perfectly.  The immortal bodies we receive will have the intentional limitation that was placed there taken out, so as to be able to recall every instance of our lives, back to the very starting day when we first came into existence.  The blood of Christ will have been applied to everyone who inherits the kingdom of God (any of the three glories), so there will be no more guilt upon us and it will be expedient to see the sum of our lives finally.

Again, this happens in the resurrection, not in upon death.  Upon death, we all will enter into the spirit world, some of us going to paradise, others to spirit prison.  Without the physical body, the limitation that the body imposed upon our spirits concerning the dampening of the senses, including the memory, will be lifted, so that all will be able to sense fully, with perfect remembrance of every instance of their mortal lives.  Those with unrepentant guilt will have that guilt ignited into a fire that will consume them until they accept the gospel and repent, while those who have already repented will have peace of mind.  Unlike mortality, the guilt felt by the unrepentant sinners in the spirit world will not cause them to take their lives, for they cannot die, being immortal spirits, but it will merely give them the misery associated with the suffering of the damned, with gnashing of teeth, etc., until they repent and obtain the relief brought by the blood of Christ and forgiveness of sin.

The spirits in prison or in paradise, although possessing a perfect memory of their mortal existence, will still not remember their pre-mortal existence, as the veil of forgetfulness was placed upon their spirit bodies and will not be lifted until the resurrection.  Because of this, missionary work still needs to be done among the spirits in prison, for, if they could remember their pre-mortal existence, they would also be able to remember the plan of salvation and all that we learned then, and would have no need of missionaries preaching to them.  Their memories would be a sufficient preacher.  However, while residing in the spirit world, prior to the resurrection, nobody will recall their pre-mortal existence.

Two childhoods

Childhood being such a special time of life, one of the blessings that God has in store for each of His children is the restoration of the memory of their mortal childhood.  Now, that can be both good and bad.  Good if you had a happy childhood, bad if you were abused or otherwise had a miserable childhood.  However, He’s got that covered, too.

In the heavens, we also had a childhood.  Unlike our earthly parents, our heavenly Parents did everything right.  They provided the best environment, full of love and opportunities to learn and grow.  Whereas our mortal childhood is fleeting, our heavenly childhood lasted a veritable eternity.  We were perfectly happy in every sense of the word.  We enjoyed our siblings, our environment, the animals and other creations of God, the beauty seen everywhere, our own spirit bodies and those of others, and most especially, we enjoyed our Parents.  They were perfect in every way.  Every expression they had, ever word they spoke, every action they took, was perfectly calculated to make their children happy.  We were ectatic in their presence.  They understood how special childhood is and did not let time slip away from them.  They enjoyed our childhood as much as we did.

No comparison

Take the happiest child in the world, or the adults who claim to have had the happiest children of all and compare them with the childhood we all had in the heavens and we’d all see that there is no comparison.  The heavenly childhood lasted virtually an eternity.  In comparison, here it is less than an instant.  There we had all our needs taken care of, with perfect bodies, with unlimited opportunities and an infinite number of new things to confront our senses.  It was a continuous marvel of new wonders 24-hours a day, non-stop.  Imagine a kid in such a situation!  He or she would be giddy with excitement.  Such was our heavenly childhood.  Here, as children we have the same inclinations of wonder at all the new things, but rarely do we get to indulge ourselves in wonder and excitement.  Mostly, children are taught here to conform to the rules, not to explore their world.  Children often don’t have their needs taken care of.  Many are in loveless or abusive environments.  And many have imperfect bodies, being lame, blind, mutilated, etc.  Still, the spirit inside is a child and thus, is holy and heavenly, having come from a place of wonder.

Additionally, children here on earth have their adulthood forced upon them.  They get to a certain age and their bodies forcibly change them into an adult.  There is nothing they can do about it.  In yonder heavens, though, we had untramelled agency.  Want to stay a child?  Okay, stay a child for as long as you want.  Want to become an adult? (and the adult of our species is called a god, with reproductive capabilities), well, okay, you can go through the process of becoming an adult by being born into a physical, mortal body and then following the plan of salvation.  This is why our heavenly childhood was of a seemingly endless duration.  Every child placed into such a heavenly situation would voluntarily choose to stay in that state for an exceedingly long time, a veritable eternity.  Only when we had had our fill of being children, having reached the point of learning and playing that the next new wonders were with adulthood, only then did we have the desire to become an adult, and only then did we leave behind our heavenly childhood and enter mortality to begin the process.  Due to the quantity of new wonders in heaven, our heavenly childhood must have been mindboggingly long and exciting.  Any way you look at it, the heavenly childhood was superior to what we experience here.

When our memories come back

In the resurrection, we all will remember our heavenly childhood and will be able to re-live it, through our perfect memory, over and over again.  That memory will bring us so much joy and will wipe away or overpower any sorrow we might have felt about our mortal childhood.  Everyone, then, is going to get the memories of the perfect childhood.  With the perfect Parents.  And the perfect environment.  The Lord, in His mercy and foreknowledge, in this way can mend our broken mortal childhood memories and give us something infinitely better.

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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 role of agency in political systems


The heavenly principle of agency is fundamental to both the plan of salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ

Agency is the ability to act for oneself1, and not to be acted upon2.

All created things are given agency3, but this article addresses only the agency of man.

The Lord taught that agency was given to man from the very beginning4. In fact, it is the very reason we exist5.

Agency is tied to awareness6. Both light and truth allow us to become aware and the more light and truth we possess, or the more aware we are, the greater agency we have7.

The scriptures indicate that agency was given twice. First, it was given at the beginning8, when we first came into existence or when we first became aware of our existence9. The second time it was given was in mortality10, after we passed through the veil of forgetfulness and became newly aware of our existence, as at the beginning.

Agency is power and, in fact, it is the very power of God, as well as our own power11. It can be increased until one becomes as God is, namely, omnipotent or almighty, or it can be decreased until it reaches zero, in which case, the sorry being who has lost all his agency is acted upon12, instead of acting. (This is what Lehi spoke of when he mentioned that we were created to act and not to be acted upon, except for those who receive the punishment at the last day. This is why some are cast down, or thrust down, or fallen, terms which signify that the agency or power to keep themselves in the presence and kingdom of God is lost, due to their own actions.)

God does all things through agents13. All who possess agency are known as agents14.

Agency, being a gift15 from God, is centered in God, meaning that the more God-like we are, the more agency we possess, and vice versa.

First faith, then agency

The precursor to agency is faith, another gift of God. It is faith that allows agency to be possessed, even faith centered in God. The more faith we possess, the more agency is granted, the less faith possessed, the less agency. If we lose all faith, we lose all agency and thus become like Satan, who is devoid of both faith and agency. If we gain all faith, we gain all agency, and thus become entirely like God.

Faith and agency are heavenly principles and the entire kingdom of God operates on them. This is why all things are done (the action or power to do being agency) according to the faith of men and why God works (the action or power to work being agency) according to the faith of the children of men. (Nevertheless, the link between faith and agency is not the topic of this article and I will refocus my remarks on agency alone.)

Agency’s counter-principle

The power of God, agency, is based upon the actions of agents, which voluntarily cooperate to get things done, with no means of compulsion employed. God has granted that all creation act for itself and not be compelled to do his will. Compulsion, or force, then, is anti-god, or against the nature of God and thus is the opposite of agency.

Satan claims all things diametric to the principles and character of God. The devil works not just on different principles than God, but also on completely opposite principles. He has embraced force and coercion and all things that have his stamp upon them inevitably work to a greater or lesser degree on the principle of compulsion, slavery and bondage. Coercion is as much power as is agency; both principles get work done. Nevertheless, there is a world of difference between doing something voluntarily and being forced to do the same thing. In this way, what is of God and what is of Satan can be easily recognized.

Jesus was for agency, Satan was for force

In the pre-mortal existence, at the council in heaven, both Jesus and Satan desired and offered to become our Savior, the Only Begotten of the Father. The difference in their approach, though, was that Jesus wanted to keep our agency intact, whereas Satan wanted to remove it and replace it with compulsion, making us his slaves. His amendment to the Father’s plan would have changed the state of things entirely and we would have been forced to obey his will.

Rebellious spirits in heaven lost their agency

Agency, as always, was active in the pre-mortal existence and two thirds of the heavenly host supported or sustained the Father’s calling of Jesus as our Savior, whereas one third went with Satan. Due to their rebellion, the one-third lost their agency, something they had sought to destroy anyway, and are now temporarily residing upon this planet under the control of Satan, who uses them to tempt us to commit sin. They have no free will of their own and all of their actions, words and thoughts are done, spoken and thought under duress, which is why all the temptations of these devils are directly attributed by the scriptures to Satan himself. Although these fallen spirit children of heavenly Father have become like the devil in nearly all ways, becoming devils themselves, they are not co-equal with him in his kingdom, but are merely angels to the devil, for they are his slaves.

How Satan destroys agency

It is important to understand that Satan’s heaven-originated plan to destroy the agency of man and compel them to obey him, which was 33% successful in the courts on high, is also used here on earth. I quote one of the paragraphs above to illustrate how this is done:

Agency is tied to awareness6. Both light and truth allow us to become aware and the more light and truth we possess, or the more aware we are, the greater agency we have7.

As Satan cannot compel man in any way, because men who are born on this planet still have their agency, nor can he forcefully take away a person’s agency, his tactic is to deceive men into giving away their agency (to him), thus gaining control over them or compelling them to do his will. If Satan can reduce the amount of light and truth we possess and/or substitute them with darkness and falsehoods, he can succeed in reducing or eliminating our agency.

It is agency that stops Satan from gaining control over us. If you eliminate agency altogether, he gains full control over us. If you reduce agency partially, he gains partial control over us. Whatever happens, one form of power will reside in us: either agency or coercion. If the power is agency, we are in control, meaning we can act and not be acted upon. If the power is coercion, the devil is in control, meaning we act only under duress by the devil, becoming his slaves.

As agency nullifies the power of the devil, it is the major obstacle to Satan’s plan to rule the universe. In heaven Satan could not compel anyone to do his will, nor could he deceive anyone, but on earth the rules are different. Those who come under Satan’s power and influence can use their physical bodies to force others to do things they would not otherwise do. They can also use their influence to spread lies. Thus, Satan’s approach here on earth is two pronged: first, get as many of the children of men sinning through the temptations of devils (his angels), thereby giving up portions of their agency to Satan and making them his servants and slaves, to do his bidding; and secondly, to use these mortal servants to enslave the masses physically and to surround them in an environment of sin and deception, thereby making it easier to destroy the agency of mankind.

Satan got his wish

Satan desired (or sought) the opportunity to destroy16 the agency of man while he still resided in heaven. He effectively destroyed the agency of one third of the children of God, but the other two thirds he couldn’t touch, as they would not follow him. Afterward, he was placed in a position by God whereby he might destroy the agency of the other two thirds. In other words, God granted Satan according to his desire17. He wanted to enslave the children of God and he was given the opportunity to do so. Had Satan and his angels been immediately banished into outer darkness, the spirits who chose Jesus in the pre-mortal existence (the two-thirds) would have come down to earth without a devil to tempt them. This would have been akin to living in the Millennium, whereby infants grow up without sin and live to the age of a tree. It is only because God placed Satan upon the earth that it is possible for agency to be destroyed and for men to become captives18.

A description of the kingdom of heaven

The governments of God and Satan are both called kingdoms. In the case of God, his heavenly government is based upon the voluntary cooperation of his subjects, with himself as their King, their God, their Father, their Judge and their Lawgiver. He holds these titles and positions because his subjects choose him to hold them. He does nothing without the consent of the governed. There is no compulsion, whatsoever, only complete and utter freedom, all things being done by agency and voluntary cooperation. On a political scale, although it would rightly be called a kingdom, it resembles more tribal anarchy, with the tribal Chief being God himself and the tribal or customary law used in the anarchy being given by the tribal chief and voluntarily accepted by the tribal members.

Advancement in the kingdom of heaven is determined by the individual. As all members of the kingdom are given unfettered agency and the possibility and opportunity to possess more of it, or less of it, due to their own actions, each person can, of his own free will, choose to advance to the highest rung in the kingdom by acquiring and exercising great faith, by which they obtain great agency (power.) While others, exercising less faith, obtain less agency. None are constrained in any way to reach the top or stay at the bottom. All are created with an equal footing and all have an equal chance to obtain whatever measure of happiness and joy they so desire.

A description of the kingdom of the devil

Lucifer, in his rebellion, established a new order, setting himself up as king, with the one third who followed him giving up their agency to him, becoming slaves and servants to him, or as the scriptures say, angels to the devil. They are forced to do his will and he is in complete control of his kingdom. This concept is important to understand, as there is a common misconception that the angels to the devil have agency. They don’t. Many have heard of, and perhaps even read, The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, which is a fictional account about a senior demon advising his nephew demon on how to tempt a Christian. Although it is a fine piece of literature, it is, nonetheless, entirely fictional. The kingdom of the devil belongs solely to the devil, not to any of his angels. They do not decide what they do, how they do it, where they go, etc. All the reigns of control are in the hands of the devil (Lucifer) and he directs his mindless, soulless minions, compelling them to do his will in all things.

Divisions are non-existent, for different reasons

Neither the kingdom of God, nor the kingdom of the devil, is divided. Both kingdoms have kings, both kingdoms have laws, both kingdoms have order, but the difference is that those in God’s kingdom follow him willingly, based on agency and common consent, whereas those in the devil’s kingdom are his captives and slaves and servants and are compelled to do his will. The spirits that followed the devil are called devils themselves, but they are never equated with him, as they are merely angels to a devil. Thus, Satan is the only ruler of his kingdom, not sharing the rule with anyone else. On the other hand, God is willing to bring us all up to his level, so that we become joint heirs with Christ. The one is generous and sharing, the other is stingy and selfish.

In the 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate, with Frank Sinatra, U.S. servicemen were kidnapped and programmed (brainwashed) by the Chinese government, to be later used in a plot to control the United States. The mind-control consisted of hypnosis and was triggered with certain images and code-words, after which the mindless robot of a man would do his master’s bidding without hesitation, no matter what it was. The 2004 remake of the film, with Denzel Washington, had essentially the same plot, although brain and body chip implants (such as the VeriChip) were added to bring it up to technological speed. The recent Jason Bourne films followed the same pattern, except that it was our government creating the mindless assassin. Jason Bourne, in the last film, The Bourne Ultimatum, finds out that he made a choice to give up his agency and to do the bidding of the government, no matter what it was, so that he could more fully serve his country. Once that agency was given over, he became not much more than a programmed robot.

Although these films appear to be science fiction, this is in fact how Satan’s spiritual kingdom functions. All of his angels initially gave up their agency to Lucifer so that he became their master controller. Unlike human brainwashers, who control certain aspects of their victims or only at certain times, such as when the need to control them arises, Satan’s control and programming over his legions is continual and absolute. This is why all of the evil deeds mentioned in the scriptures are directly attributed to Satan only and not to his angels. As they have no agency and are compelled in all things to obey their master, all of their actions are what he would do in that very moment. They do nothing, say nothing, feel nothing and think nothing of their own free will. They are commanded in all things.

(In case there are any questions as to how Satan is able to remotely control these fallen spirits and his mortal servants, the Lord has explained through Amulek that the devil possesses a spirit19 which allows such action at a distance. This “spirit of the devil” is both similar and dissimilar to the Holy Spirit in certain ways. The Spirit of Christ, or Light of Christ, being spirit matter, fills the immensity of space20, governs all the kingdom of God, defines the boundaries of that kingdom and is light itself. The spirit of the devil likewise controls the kingdom of the devil, defines its boundaries and is composed of spirit matter, but it is darkness. Just as in science there is positive and negative (electricity), north and south polarity (magnetism), upspin and downspin (electrons), and glow/arc and dark modes (plasma discharge), so the spirit of the devil is the opposite of the Spirit of Christ.)

Zion and Babylon

The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of the devil have their counterparts here on Earth. The kingdom of heaven on Earth is known as Zion. The kingdom of the devil on Earth is known as Babylon. When Zion exists on this planet, it exactly corresponds to the kingdom of heaven, whereas Babylon exists wherever Zion does not exist. Zion, then, is a copy of the heavenly kingdom, whereas Babylon does not have to be a replica of the kingdom of the devil. All it need be is the Zion model altered in some way so as to make it not quite Zion. Nevertheless, it is the goal of Satan to destroy agency, so any time Babylon exists, the tendency will be to make it a replica of the spiritual kingdom of the devil, complete with mind-controlled human drones.

The State, a tool of the devil

There are many tools Satan uses to destroy agency: temptation, sin, deception, drugs, technology, etc. But the main instrument used is the State. (By the term “State” I mean a compulsive government, one which uses violence, force, propaganda or threat of violence and force to control the actions, words or thoughts of its citizens.) Only with the inception of a State can Satan duplicate the spiritual kingdom he has set up and control every aspect of those who pertain to it.

Prisons follow the satanic blueprint

The kingdom of the devil is one, gigantic, spiritual prison. The angels to the devil do not possess free will, or freedom of choice (agency), but are compelled to obey the will of Satan in all things. They are prisoners and he is the warden. As all earthly States are inspired by the devil, inevitably, with the establishment of a new State, prisons will start popping up.

It is the doctrine of the devil to imprison everyone; however, he starts with what he can. At first, the prisons are for the law-breakers, meaning those people who violate the laws of the State. But eventually, as the State becomes more centralized and totalitarian, Satan starts inspiring those under his control to make the State resemble ever more closely the spiritual kingdom of the devil. Soon, the State itself is converted into a prison and its geographical boundaries become the walls keeping everyone in. It is the ultimate goal of the devil, though, not to have separate State prisons on this planet, but to merge all States into a single Super-State and convert this world into a prison planet. Nevertheless, way before that ever happens, the handiwork and inspiration of the devil can be seen in the building and use of prisons for law-breakers.

The gospel is “anti-prison”

It is noteworthy that Jesus came to “free the prisoners.” (See D&C 128: 22 and Isaiah 49: 9.) Most of us are conditioned (by State propaganda, which is inspired by the devil) that those who commit crimes should be imprisoned, but we have no evidence that the revealed laws of the Lord ever contained provisions for prisons. Under the Law of Moses, there was no prison system set up, nor is there any evidence of prisons under the full law of Christ (revealed during the Lord’s visit to the Nephites.) However, in virtually every instance of an earthly State, there are always found prisons. Always.

The State: a means to limit and destroy agency

Although Satan owns and controls every State21, none are identical to each other. Each one varies in the degree in which it controls the lives of its citizens. Those that control to a greater degree, are under a greater amount of influence of the devil, while those that control to a lesser degree, have less demonic influence, but all States, even minimalist ones, that exercise any degree of compulsion upon the children of men, immediately come under Satan’s influence22.

In two of the movies I mentioned above (the Frank Sinatra original of The Manchurian Candidate and the last Jason Bourne flick,) it is instructive that the State was responsible for all the mind-control techniques employed which destroyed the agency of the characters of the films. This is because the State is the most natural mechanism of mind control (agency destruction), as its only function is to limit the agency of those who fall under its jurisdiction. Let me say that again: the State’s only function is to limit the agency of those who fall under its jurisdiction. As it already limits agency, the tendency is to limit it even more and eventually to destroy it altogether through mind control, chip implantation, false State propaganda and other brainwashing techniques.

Any search on the Internet or in a good bookstore under brainwashing and mind-control will bring up a plethora of supposed eyewitnesses who testify that these techniques exist and that they are being employed by secretive organizations and governments right now. Whether these witnesses are credible or not is not the point. The point is that we can reliably bet on Satan pursuing technology and methods that allow him to totally control us, whether that be drugs, chemicals and other poisons in the water we drink, genetically-altered food supply, alterations in the medicines we routinely take, chip implants, false propaganda, violence techniques and scare tactics, electromagnetic manipulation, sound, light or other types of devices. We can be assured that if something can be used to limit or destroy agency, Satan is going to use it. His goal, after all, is to make Babylon exactly conform to his spiritual kingdom.

One of the reasons why the State is the preferential device used in the hands of the devil is that the resources of a State are vastly superior to any organization existing within its boundaries. As a State can gain jurisdiction into virtually every aspect of our lives, with the creation of new laws, it can amass money, raw materials, labor and technology very quickly, and perform horrendous things all under the guise of legitimacy.

Anarchy (Agency) is the Antidote

Typically the solution proposed to the problem of the wickedness of Satan, his spiritual kingdom and his earthly kingdoms (States) is restriction of agency. More laws are passed to restrain wickedness and force people to be good. This just plays into Satan’s hands, though, as it feeds or gives power to his main creature of agency destruction, the State.

The real solution is agency, more of it, not less. Unfettered agency nullifies Satan’s power to destroy, to deceive and to cause misery. Politically, only one system is representative of unfettered agency: anarchy.

Anarchy is decentralized power shared by all – Anarchy is based upon the spiritual kingdom of God, in which power (agency) is shared by everyone and not just found in the hands of one individual. It naturally prohibits the concentration of power into one or a few hands, thereby checking all attempts at tyranny.

Anarchy is voluntary – Anarchy is always voluntary. Those who want to participate, do, while those who do not want to participate are not forced to. Like the kingdom of heaven, all things are done according to the desires of the children of men.

Anarchy is ordered – In anarchy, there are private, traditional, customary, tribal or clannish laws that inevitably become established, that allow order to flourish.

Anarchy is mutually beneficial – In anarchy, all have a voice, all have an influence, all have a choice and there is no compulsion. Every decent trait flourishes while wicked ones tend to be naturally restrained. Voluntary cooperation, mutual benefit, compassion, kindness, politeness, common decency, and private, traditional and customary laws: these are the things that attend and make up ordered anarchy.

Anarchy is the political system of agency – As anarchy is based upon voluntary cooperation, freedom of choice and mutual benefit, with no compulsion to obey, anarchy and agency go hand in hand.

I return to the heading at the beginning of this article:

The heavenly principle of agency is fundamental to both the plan of salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ

As that statement is absolutely true, anything that destroys or limits agency is inspired by the devil, whereas anything that increases it is inspired by God. By using the fundamental principle of agency as a gauge to measure the political systems of the day, we can plainly see that anarchy is the only system that preserves agency in its entirety, all others destroying or limiting it to a greater or lesser degree. Anarchy, therefore, is the only political system that is fully compatible with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

References

1. All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence. Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light. (D&C 93: 30-31)

Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. (2 Nephi. 2: 16)

2. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given. (2 Nephi 2: 26)

3. All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence. (D&C 93: 30)

4. Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light. (D&C 93: 31)

5. All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence. (D&C 93: 30)

6. Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light. (D&C 93: 31)

7. Light and truth forsake that evil one. (D&C 93: 37)

8. And it came to pass that Adam, being tempted of the devil-for, behold, the devil was before Adam, for he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power; and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency; and they were thrust down, and thus came the devil and his angels; and, behold, there is a place prepared for them from the beginning, which place is hell. (D&C 29: 36-38 )

Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light. (D&C 93: 31)

Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down; and he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice. (Moses 4: 3-4)

9. The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency; and unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood; and the fire of mine indignation is kindled against them; and in my hot displeasure will I send in the floods upon them, for my fierce anger is kindled against them. (Moses 7: 32-34)

10. The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency; and unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood; and the fire of mine indignation is kindled against them; and in my hot displeasure will I send in the floods upon them, for my fierce anger is kindled against them. (Moses 7: 32-34)

11. And it came to pass that Adam, being tempted of the devil-for, behold, the devil was before Adam, for he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power; and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency; and they were thrust down, and thus came the devil and his angels; and, behold, there is a place prepared for them from the beginning, which place is hell. (D&C 29: 36-38 )

[God’s power is his honor because all things honor him, or obey him, giving him deference, of their own agency. The great “secret” to God’s power lies in that he accomplishes all things through agents who obey his will. As all things honor him, he has all power. Man’s power likewise comes from the things which honor him, meaning obey him. Man’s honor is obviously less than God’s honor. Agency and honor are both descriptions of the same thing: power. Agency is power because it is the ability to act and it is only increased as the agents that surround an individual heed or obey him (cooperate), allowing further actions to occur. Honor is power in that it is what the agents do towards the one they are honoring, namely, heeding (cooperating with) his instructions. Thus, agency and honor both describe the same power, but from different perspectives.]

12. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given. (2 Nephi. 2: 26)

13. Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down; and he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice. (Moses 4: 3-4)

14. See D&C 29: 35, 39; 58: 28; 104: 17; Moses 6: 56.

15. Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down; and he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice. (Moses 4: 3-4)

The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency; and unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood; and the fire of mine indignation is kindled against them; and in my hot displeasure will I send in the floods upon them, for my fierce anger is kindled against them. (Moses 7: 32-34)

16. Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down; (Moses 4: 3)

17. I ought not to harrow up in my desires, the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction. (Alma 29: 4)

18. Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down; and he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice. (Moses 4: 3-4)

19. For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth deal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked. (Alma 34: 35)

20. Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space- (D&C 88: 12. See also D&C 88: 4-13.)

21. And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. (Luke 4: 5-6)

22. Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson-that the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, 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. Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God. (D&C 121: 34-38 )

[When the heavens withdraw themselves, Satan moves into the spiritual vacuum and begins to exercise control over the individual. This is why the man starts exercising compulsion, under Satan’s power and influence, and starts kicking against the pricks, persecuting saints and fighting against God. It is important, also, to understand that the heavens withdraw themselves prior to a man exercising compulsion, not after. It is when a man merely undertakes to exercise compulsion, or starts the planning and process to go about doing it, that the heavens withdraw and the gates of hell enter the picture, as compulsion is jurisdiction of the devil. It is how the devil works and is the power he operates under. Agency (non-compulsion) is the power of God, whereas compulsion (non-agency) is the power of Satan. Keep this in mind to understand these scriptures.]

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