The Restoration of All Things: Cosmology Pt. 2
5. The Cosmism Manifesto
CHOKUZUKI - THE RESTORATION AND OPPOSITION
Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion states,
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Lehi in the Book of Mormon confirms this principle,
11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so… righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad.
Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one;
wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
As a youth - I also learned to internalize this principle while practicing martial arts. The very fundamental form of throwing a straight punch involves both the pushing of one hand and the simultaneous pulling of the other.
Let’s watch this whole video - I’m primarily pointing out this idea of force and motion and opposition, but there are other notable principles being demonstrated in this basic martial arts demo that I want to incept you with.
NOTES
Stance
Fist position - straight/perpendicular - channeling of force
Target: solar plexus - no muscle/no bone - the fleshy center, knock the “wind” out
Push and Pull - 360-degree rotation of limbs - opposition
Hips Squared to target
(I have found that these concepts that explore channeling energy/force through our own body have parallels to channeling spiritual energy/force within the body of a Temple - something to explore in more detail in the future)
The Restoration of the Gospel through Joseph Smith is the Lord’s chokuzuki to the Kingdoms of the World and to any corruption riding upon that beast. Through Joseph, the right hand of truth struck the very foundation of the World of lies; the left hand of deceit coiled in power and combined forces in reciprocation.
This image is the continued application of the ‘House of God v. House of the Devil’ binary we have been exploring. It is a continuation of the war in heaven.
Here, we will zoom-in and focus on how it is manifesting in the final chapter of ‘time’ in which we live, in what we call the ‘Latter-days’; from the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints circa 1830 to the present day.
Doctrine and Covenants 38:11-13 (1831):
11 For all flesh is corrupted before me; and the powers of darkness prevail upon the earth, among the children of men, in the presence of all the hosts of heaven—
12 Which causeth silence to reign, and all eternity is pained, and the angels are waiting the great command to reap down the earth, to gather the tares that they may be burned; and, behold, the enemy is combined.
13 And now I show unto you a mystery, a thing which is had in secret chambers, to bring to pass even your destruction in process of time, and ye knew it not;
In 1831 - the ‘powers of darkness prevail upon the earth’, the ‘enemy [was/is] combined’ - and they seek the destruction of the Church and Kingdom of God in secret chambers. So at the same time that the Lord is laying a foundation for Zion and the Final Kingdom of God on this Earth - the opposition is also making moves and conspiring to set up a final ‘Kingdom of the Earth’ that is foundationally at odds, just as in the beginning.
Scientist and Saint M. Garfield Cook has a chapter titled ‘Parallel Dispensations of Truth and Deceit’ in his book Restoration in Geometric Symbolism that sheds light on this Latter-day polarity. I’m going to insert pages 29-30 here in their entirety:
[p.29]
In this vision, Joseph saw the Prince of Darkness surrounded by unnumerable hosts. He saw opposing forces: “the good and the evil, the holy and the impure, the glory of God and the power of darkness,” that he might always remember to distinguish between the two forces, and “never be…overcome by that wicked one.” Near the end of the vision Joseph was forewarned that the powers of darkness would fight bitterly against the work which was about to come forth through him. He was told that as soon as the teachings contained in the Book of Mormon would begin to become known, the forces of evil would be greatly aroused and seek to overthrow the restored work. Success of the work would cause “the righteous to rejoice and the wicked to rage; with one it shall be had in honor, and with the other in reproach; yet with these it shall be a terror because of the great and marvelous work which shall follow the coming forth of the fulness of the gospel.”
This vision also suggests that a dispensation of deceit would arise among the Christian nations (1 Nephi 13; 22:7-8) in parallel with and in opposition to the dispensation of deceit to replace true doctrines with false doctrines and to take the life of the prophet through whom the dispensation of truth was introduced. Shortly following the publication of the Book of Mormon and restoration of the Church in 1830, doctrines of deceit began to arise. [Charles Lyell] came forth in 1830 with “uniformitarianism and its geologic time scale;” Marx claimed to have been “suddenly awakened” in the early 1830’s Darwin began formulating his theory on the origin of the species while on a voyage on the Beagle. This led to his loss of faith in the biblical story of man’s creation in favor of evolution, a doctrine which has, perhaps more than any other, led to the secularization of our society.
[p.30]
The “great awakening” in the development of geology in the early years of the 19th century was described by Erling Dorf as follows:
In the middle of the eighteenth century, [contemporary] Geology as such had not yet been conceived. The origin and history of the earth and its inhabitants were thought of in terms of the supernatural rather than the natural. There was no need for a concept of a geologic time scale, so long as the world’s history was reckoned in terms of only a few thousand years. With respect to the origin of fossils,…spontaneous generation was giving way to the Diluvial or Flood Theory, which considered fossils as remnants of the annihilation of living plants and animals by the Noachian deluge…. Until about the end of the eighteenth century, the Flood Theory remained the prevailing and dominating concept. There was still no need of a geologic time scale… The early years of the 19th century ushered in the great awakening in Geology…. The determination of the value of fossils as chronological documents has done more than any other discovery to change the character and accelerate the progress of difference between the conditions of the silence before and after that discovery was made. One of the results of this important discovery was the conception and development of a geologic time scale…(Erling, Dorf, Geol. Soc. Am., Special Paper 62, 1955, pp.575-577)
In light of Joseph Smith’s “Vision of Darkness,” one is led to ask what caused the great awakening which resulted in the development of the theories of modern geology which have tended to take away from belief in the flood of Noah and provided an illusory foundation for evolution.
[6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.]
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
In ‘the House of the World’ - the ideological pendulum swings within disciplines of specialization (the example given above of changes in Geology described by Cook and Dorf post-1830) are a an example of the satanic dialectic deployed in the parallel ‘dispensation of deception’.
Chapter 4 of Ephesians warns of this deception of the world. Paul exhorts us to be unified in the body/house/faith of Jesus Christ and to avoid being “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive”,
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
Through the centuries/generations leading up to and through the Restoration - this idea of ‘spontaneous generation’ gave way to a belief in Flood/Diluvial Theory, only again to have the worldly pendulum of ‘intelligence’ swayed with the seeming necessity of a ‘geologic clock’ once a way to estimate the age of fossils was presented as a definitive way to chronologize geology.
The ‘fossil record’ is a topic for another day.
President Joseph Fielding Smith had this to say about the present topic of “spontaneous generation”:
The House of the World teaches that Man has evolved from a primitive form and that we are at the pinnacle of intelligence. Some even advocate that we must merge with machines to take mankind to the next evolutionary level.
The House of God teaches that Man has regressed, or de-volved - fallen. We teach that we must seek the Spirit of God in order to ‘take it to the next level’. While on the topic of regression, I want to re-emphasize this point: the Great Apostasy continues. The Restoration did not stop the downward spiral of apostasy and pride for the House of the World. But what it did do, is set up a foundation in the midst of the modern Tower of Babel that will survive the coming catastrophe and the disintegration of the Kingdoms of the World. (Once again, let’s bring to memory Daniel 2 and the Church as the stone cut without hands)
“And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” (Daniel 2:35)
I believe the cosmology that Joseph Smith Restored will survive and ultimately unify all civilizations through a correct understanding of our proper Genesis when the Kingdoms of the World collapse and the Times of the Gentiles are officially closed.
I will now enumerate a list of 12 specific points of doctrine (and supporting scriptures/quotes) that pertain to Restored Cosmology that I use as a starting ideological measuring line. This list could be much longer, undoubtedly - yet my goal at present is not to be entirely comprehensive in examining all of our glorious eternal doctrines but to understand enough to enable us to compare our cosmological framework to those presented to us by the House of the World.
1. GOD EXISTS - AND IS A GLORIFIED MAN
"Our God and Father in heaven, is a being of tabernacle, or, in other words, he has a body, with parts the same as you and I have."
Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p.24
We have already explored this principle quite a bit - but it is officially the number one spot on my cosmic map and key. Anyone speaking about the beginning or mysteries of anything who does not acknowledge God as our literal Father in Heaven with a perfect, resurrected body in whose form and likeness we were organized - and Jesus Christ as his Son and Creator and Avatar, is already operating from a faulty foundation that is off-axis of the truth. Our cosmological framework is unique in that we proclaim to know exactly what the purpose and plan of the Creator is, our cosmology isn’t a guess > we have the general ‘end-game’ purpose and we work our way backwards to understand the finer details.
Doctrine and Covenants 130:1-2, 22-23:
1 When the Savior shall appear we shall see him as he is. We shall see that he is a man like ourselves.
2 And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.
—
22 The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.
23 A man may receive the Holy Ghost, and it may descend upon him and not tarry with him.
Not only is God a Glorified Celestial (Light) Being of Human form, but his goal and purpose is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of all mankind - to offer Apotheosis (Moses 1:39). Our God organizes and is God over the planets and the stars.
The Restored Cosmism of Joseph Smith provides a physical/literal connection to the Heavens and it restores again the divine eternal purpose behind it all.
We are Children of God - Gods in embryo.
Most all of the current cosmological ‘theories’ promulgated by the House of the World will fall short of meeting this first and most important requirement. This is expected - I am reinforcing the idea that we must have present in our minds and hearts as we explore ideas from the Enemy’s House - all of them will fall short in this regard, EMBRACE THIS CONFLICT. Only an Eternal Perspective that is set upon the Axis of the Restored Temple and Gospel of Jesus Christ will place the Divinity of Man and the Purpose of God at the center correctly.
This doesn’t mean we don’t still seek every good thing from the world - we are commanded to draw it out and to purify it, and to add it to the collective mortal understanding of truth that testifies of Jesus and the Plan of Salvation to lift us from our fallen nature.
2. THE UNIVERSE IS INFINITE AND ETERNAL
3 And God spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this endless?
4 And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease.
The concept of ‘infinity’ or ‘endless’ is a perplexing one - I admit. But the Scriptures and the voices of the Prophets are clear on this doctrinal point, the Universe is endless. From Elder Bruce R. McConkie,
“When the prophets speak of an infinite atonement, they mean just that. Its effects cover all men, the earth itself and all forms of life thereon, and reach out into the endless expanse of eternity. … And through the power of his atonement the inhabitants of these worlds, the revelation says, ‘are begotten sons and daughters unto God’ (D&C 76:24), which means that the atonement of Christ, being literally and truly infinite, applies to an infinite number of earths”
Mormon Doctrine
We cannot entertain seriously theories that claim to know a beginning or who proclaim to predict an end. This should be self-explanatory - but I’m looking directly at what is popularly accepted in “Big Bang” cosmology as a glaring example of a violation of this principle.
We cannot suggest that we can even determine a ‘beginning’ or an ‘end’ to something that is stated by God to be without beginning or end.
I hope the direct contradiction here is enough - I know some will still fall into the secular trap of attempting to ‘reason’-away the idea that it is currently impossible to comprehend the nature of eternal things from a temporal point of view.
We simply cannot put timelines on the timeless. It is futile.
3. NO IMMATERIAL MATTER: INTELLIGENCE & ELEMENTS ARE ETERNAL
Doctrine and Covenants 131:6-7:
7 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;
8 We cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter.
All is spirit - all is matter. We are materialists and literalists in this.
The elements and the intelligence of life are eternal components and cannot be created or destroyed. This is the Restored Cosmism take on the law of conservation of mass/energy.
Our “Temple” is made of elements and it is our intelligence (spirit) that gives it light/life.
Doctrine and Covenants 93:33-36:
33 For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;
34 And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy.
35 The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple.
36 The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.
This scripture and principle negates theories of creation ex nihilo, or creation ‘out of nothing’.
Take Joseph Smith’s elaboration from the TPJS here:
The Great Celestial Family is one who organizes and seals (binds) chaotic matter/element to spirit/intelligence. True “order out of chaos” - organization out of unorganized matter.
Remember:
ELOHIM: Jehovah, Michael, see--yonder is matter unorganized. Go ye down and organize it into a world like unto the other worlds that we have heretofore formed. Call your labors the first day, and bring me word.
Let’s also read the entry for ‘Matter’ in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism:
“In this unique LDS doctrine, matter in all of its many forms, instead of occupying a subordinate role relative to philosophical paradigms, assumes a sovereign position, along with the principles and laws governing its properties and characteristics”
Our God is a God of Law and Order.
In General Conference in April of 2000, President Nelson affirms this:
I also love this quote from Elder Maxwell:
God elevates element and spirit - but they exist co-eternally with Him, and have from the beginning.
With these principles regarding the nature of matter - we cannot entertain seriously theories or cosmological ideas that contradict the eternal nature of matter and spirit.
4. LIGHT IS THE ULTIMATE MOTIVE FORCE IN THE COSMOS
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
The Spirit(Light) moves - the command is given, “Let there be LIGHT!”
The very power of creation, or organization of matter/element is LIGHT and after the Law of Likeness. The Lord elaborates through Joseph Smith as to the power of LIGHT exercised by in the organization and governance of element.
Doctrine and Covenants 88:6-13:
6 He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth;
7 Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made.
8 As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made;
9 As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made;
10 And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand.
11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;
12 Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—
13 The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.
In my paradigm from an eternal perspective, as I read the scriptures these words are synonymous: Word/Verb, Word of the Lord, Light, Truth, Spirit
Why?
Doctrine and Covenants 84:45-47:
45 For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
46 And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit.
47 And every one that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit cometh unto God, even the Father.
Remember also - that every Word was first formed a thought, even the spark or light of faith in the Mind of God. Word spoken is a wave, an electromagnetic frequency - just as visible light is the same.
Light is the ultimate motive force of the cosmos - our Restored Cosmology on this is very clear and unique.
5. PLANETS ARE LIVING BEINGS AND HAVE AGENCY
Our doctrine is clear that the Planets are living beings and are alive. The Guide to the Scriptures expressly identifies the Earth as a ‘living entity’:
Let’s read that scripture in Moses, where the Earth mourns,
Moses 7:48-49:
48 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?
49 And when Enoch heard the earth mourn, he wept, and cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, wilt thou not have compassion upon the earth? Wilt thou not bless the children of Noah?
How can the Earth mourn and cry out this way - if it is not a living entity?
Doctrine and Covenants 88:25-27:
25 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—
26 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.
27 For notwithstanding they die, they also shall rise again, a spiritual body.
How can the Earth abide any law, let alone Celestial Law, if it doesn't have agency?
The answer per Restored Cosmism is clear - the Earth is a living a being and exercises agency and is passing through the same Plan of Salvation as we are.
6. STARS ARE CELESTIAL PLANETS
We know and have read how the Earth will be Celestialized and appear as a ‘sea of glass’ or as a crystal in the resurrection - the Earth is a Star in embryo passing through a process of exaltation, just as we are Gods in embryo.
And from Doctrine and Covenants 130:4-9,
4 In answer to the question—Is not the reckoning of God’s time, angel’s time, prophet’s time, and man’s time, according to the planet on which they reside?
5 I answer, Yes. But there are no angels who minister to this earth but those who do belong or have belonged to it.
6 The angels do not reside on a planet like this earth;
7 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.
8 The place where God resides is a great Urim and Thummim.
9 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.
God and Angels live on crystal planets/stars - and our Earth is destined to become the same and the very footstool and dwelling place of Jesus Christ once his Throne is established in the final judgment.
In Doctrine and Covenants Section 76 - after a long section where the glory and reward of exalted beings in the celestial kingdom is detailed, we have this parallel given:
Paul made the same comparison and we do it as well when we teach from these about the Plan of Salvation. The Celestial Kingdom is typified in the in the Sun - which is a planet or a star.
I will also point to the Prophet Joseph Smith’s explanation of Facsimile 2 as further evidence of the ‘like’ nature of Planets to Stars. Here he (as any true Prophet will do) interchanges freely the terms ‘planet’ and ‘star/sun’:
Consider this from the Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith,
We not only understand the future divine destiny of Man - but that also of Planets - The Hosts.
7. THE EARTH WAS FORMED NEAR A DIFFERENT STAR/PLANET
The revelations of Joseph Smith teach us that the Earth was not organized in our present configuration of planets and stars. It was organized near a star/planet called Kolob in a Celestial Nursery of sorts. This is a hard concept for most to wrap their minds around. We must attempt to comprehend that the Earth has changed position in the cosmos during the fall and history of mankind - and it will yet move still.
Let’s go right back to Joseph Smith’s explanation of Facsimile 2 Fig.5 as shown in the previous section: it suggests that in the beginning, the Earth was created in an environment involving the congregation of at least 15 fixed planets/stars in very near or close proximity to the dwelling place of God - a place of everlasting burnings and intense glory and energy.
Abraham adds more context,
1 And I, Abraham, had the Urim and Thummim, which the Lord my God had given unto me, in Ur of the Chaldees;
2 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;
3 And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.
The Earth was not formed originally in this current Solar System. It has literally fallen into its current captive state. Any cosmology that does not explore this truth is blind. This is a concept you must write upon your heart because very few in the world even entertain it - yet it is an integral part of Restored Cosmology.
I have another quote from Brigham Young that supports this idea very clearly - but I will use it for a later point in our framework. Hang tight.
8. 7000 YEARS/[7 DAYS] OF TEMPORAL HISTORY - FROM THE FALL
We believe that the temporal age of the Earth will be 7000 years.
Let’s keep the rule of D&C130:4-5 in mind - that TIME is reckoned or given to man according to the PLANET which he resides on; which is DEPENDENT on the Sun/Star/Planet powering or governing the system/group/family of planets.
We know from Abraham that Adam and Eve in the Garden were in an intertwined Paradisical/Celestial environment where time was reckoned according to a different star (Kolob). The TIME that we understand wasn’t given unto this Earth until after the fall - when Earth and Man were plunged into mortality, or a temporal existence - one that is finite and has a beginning and an end.
This is how Adam surely did die in the same ‘day’ that he partook of the fruit though he lived to be nearly 1000 years (930 years) old according to our current reckoning - that statement from God was made to Adam in the Garden where the reckoning of time was according to Kolob.
The foundation for understanding this issue of Men living longer than we recognize as normal in the ante and post-diluvial eras is reconciled when we contextualize their lives in the correct cosmic environment. The “Earth” and Solar System were drastically different than the sky and land we witness today.
We are an ‘adventist’-type religion, we anticipate the ‘advent’ of the 2nd Coming of Christ. This will be a Catastrophe, meaning literally destruction from heaven, the planets/stars. When Christ returns - there will be TIME NO MORE, why? Because our solar system will change, a new ‘Sun’ (read Star/Planet) will govern the Earth according to the Lord’s time and the Earth shall REST on the Sabbath.
We will address the question of the ‘fossil record’ and ‘geologic clock’ in a dedicated essay on Dinosaurs. For now - we are establishing our initial layers of doctrine and cosmology. We believe the Earth’s temporal existence, from the Fall to the Final Judgement after the Millennium will be 7000 years.
9. A CONGREGATION OF PLANETS SHARING A COMMON AXIS
This point uses in part an anecdotal source that I have found most of the LDS Scholars lamentably ignore altogether. Joseph Smith taught and drew a diagram for his body guard Philo Dibble of what the Earth and near heavens looked like in the past in order to teach about the return of the Lost 10 Tribes. For if there is to be a restoration of all things - the planet too will need to be restored to a paradisiacal state and near again unto Kolob, to a stellar environment conducive to Terrestrial and eventual Celestial Glory.
This diagram was notarized and Philo Dibble who is considered to be a reliable source by the Church.
The Diagram showed planets ‘stacked’ in polar axial alignment and connected via ethereal bridges. It’s a fruitful Tree or Congregation/Body/Temple of Worlds - the original Tree of Life that will return again during the Millennium as the Earth is re-connected to a Celestial power-source [read star/planet] or governing body capable of the Transfiguration.
While the diagram may be anecdotal- Job, Peter and Joseph Smith all suggest a planetary history that lends more than a little support for this very type of phenomenon and planetary configuration previously. Start to imagine planets in this peapod formation - or as pearls on a string or grapes on a vine, or figs... As we continue to explore this line of thought, I encourage you to test these concepts for yourself in the scriptures and in prayer and meditation at the Temple. I’m not trying to be the most speculative at all with this - and if you wanted you could throw out this point [#9] altogether and still have the necessary tools to steer away from the philosophies of the World. But I want and desire to lean faithfully into everything the Prophet Joseph taught and left behind - and the more I do so, the more I am convinced myself that there is merit to the Dibble diagram.
From Job:
The Earth had to be hanging from ‘something’ for verse 7 to make any sense - add to this, the entire chapter and book is covered in typical cosmic language. We will explore this language in depth naturally little by little in future essays.
With a cosmic lens on - Job is describing a catastrophe where the ‘North’ (heavens/space) was stretched out over the ‘empty space’. If we are taking the Dibble drawing seriously, this makes way more sense to visualize that Job may have been lamenting the deconstruction of what was once a family of planets suspended above the North - all now captured into separated orbits around a new captive star. Else what was the Earth suspended from in the North, and what are these pillars of heaven that tremble at this reproof?
I promise we will revisit this in more detail - but for now, the point is made that Job’s statements lend credence to a previous polar/axial alignment of planets that was disrupted by God.
Let’s consider the current axial alignments of the planets in our Solar System.
What do you notice?
Let’s check in with Peter:
Peter is teaching that the Flood of Noah was indeed a catastrophe wherein the entire Earth and the Heavens were transformed - passed away even (a symbolic Baptism/Death). He warns as all Prophets do that it will happen again at the Day of Judgment, but that time by fire - thereafter a new heaven and a new Earth are to be translated or transfigured. This is what he and James and John saw on the Mount of Transfiguration.
The curious phrase in verse 3 of the ‘heavens were of old’ and the Earth ‘standing out of the water and [yet] in the water’ - makes intuitive sense if the old heavens and Earth involved a co-linear alignment of planets that shared a material bond of ‘water’ [I think plasma, or a pillar of fire and a cloud of matter/smoke/vapor/water - yes, like the agent of the Exodus] but yet were separated. It was in part by that water that the Earth perished in the Flood when those same windows of Heaven opened at the separation of the Throne or Temple of Planets, when Job says ‘He holdeth back the face of His Throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it’. The star that carried the Earth from the Garden through the Fall went out with [Adam] and covered it’s face to give way to the current Sun [Sol], where Noah would start over again as the new ‘ADAM’ of a new heaven and a new earth, but one that had fallen further into mortality, further away from the original Paradise Lost, Kolob - into the lowest Telestial environment and condition, now captive strangers in a foreign land.
So why am I going to such great lengths to add this pseudo-sourced point to my framework? Because polar planetary/stellar formation theory [Z-pinch/Bierkland currents] and supporting evidence is a real thing these days - and it aligns with more points of our Restored Cosmism framework than the Standard Models of cosmology and planetary formation does. To suggest that planets could be aligned in a stacked pole-to-pole scenario not only makes the Dibble drawing that much more significant, but it also unlocks a key perspective needed to integrate the origins of mythology and idolatry and other seemingly supernatural things into our unified story. Just as one quick example - consider Yggdrasil:
We will explore this and other comparative mythology in much more detail as we go, but for now - I want to at least visually introduce what a group of modern (and essentially shunned by popular/consensus science) scientists are exploring based on a more interdisciplinary approach to reconstructing planetary and human history.
With these visuals and this ancient understanding of the Heavens in mind - let’s now revisit Facsimile 2 with this lens. We will assume that that the Egyptians had some understanding of this polar planetary situation and when we do - suddenly Joseph's explanations and the mythology of Osiris and other more mysterious things about ancient history begin to make more sense. Remember - Abraham was sent to Egypt and given cosmic knowledge with which he could teach and ‘reason upon the principles of astronomy’ in the King’s court.1
I believe a reading of this explanation from Joseph can be interpreted as a description of a congregation of planets in a formation where the governing ones and those they govern shared a common axis of rotation.
He was describing the ancient order of the Heavens and the endowment of power and eternal life that it once provided - the Priesthood and cosmology that the Egyptians tried to emulate that remembered the state of things before the Flood and for a time thereafter. They sought to ascend up into heaven like the people of the City of Enoch or Melchizedek to the higher spheres.
Here are additional anecdotal witnesses that support the general idea that Joseph Smith taught a radically different history and destiny of the Earth and other planets.
10. EARTH TO BE RESTORED TO A NEW CONFIGURATION OF HEAVEN
We have already hinted at this from Peter when he declared that we are awaiting a new heaven and a new Earth at the 2nd Coming. The State of the Earth and the inhabitants thereof will once again undergo a catastrophic and angelic change.
This change would take place on the ‘Day of the Lord’ - let’s explore that here quickly:
Let’s also recall our 10th Article of Faith - as well as Doctrine and Covenants 133:22-28 where the language is catastrophe and the returning of the Earth to certain conditions that bring about the Millennium.
The Scriptural support for this point is unanimous and clear.
Let me now introduce the Chiasmus of the Fall - where we began this journey in a Perfect Celestial environment and through successive catastrophes, our literal estate and nature was lowered to that of base mortality. At the lowest point - the Atonement was performed by the Son of God to reverse the entropy of Death and Sin and provide a pathway back up the ladder to our Celestial Home and Eternal Life.
Each dispensation is a day in this sum total week of the exaltation of man. Each degree either lowered or raised by catastrophe.
We’ll cap off #10 with this quote from Brigham Young which also applies to #8.
11. PLANETS CAN MOVE FROM THEIR ORBITS - CHANGE BEHAVIOR
The Scriptures give us plenty of examples that this is the case, that planets and heavenly bodies can move from their orbits and/or change their behavior. I feel that this is an important point to keep present as we learn from the world, because many popular theories on planetary motion and movement etc. will deny this or are hard-pressed to find an explanation for certain scriptural examples where this is the case.
We’ll start with my favorite, Isaiah:
God will shake the heavens - ‘and the Earth shall remove out of her place’ - and ‘shall be as the chased roe’ - it ‘shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage’. Isaiah is warning us that the Earth does and will move and do things that the world won’t expect.
We have the additional witnesses from the Book of Mormon and from Joshua and his ‘long day’ - or when the Earth wobbled in the days of Isaiah and Ahaz and the passover that destroyed Sennacherib’s army.
This principle leads us to my final Restored Cosmism point in our general framework.
12. THE ‘LAST GRAND SIGN’ AS A PLANET OR A COMET
Joseph Smith gave us a wonderful key. He explicitly stated that the final ‘grand sign’ that the whole world would see together would be described by the world as ‘a comet, or a planet’.
Joseph Smith was a catastrophist in the uniquely qualified sense as a Prophet and he was preparing this people and the world for the coming Day of the Lord.
We will see the ‘last grand sign’ together - I believe it is exactly in flavor with the current Prophet’s direction and declarations that the Lord will perform some of his mightiest miracles between now and when he comes again.
I believe a symbolic representation of this ‘last grand sign’ - the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the establishment of His Cosmic Throne in a polar configuration of planets is depicted on the roof of the Conference Center, as a silent yet ancient witness of the foresight and direction of God to His People. You must have the correct perspective to see the signs. You must have an eternal perspective.
I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is led by Prophets and Seers. They truly know what we are up against and they are preparing the hearts and minds of the people for what is to come.
Let’s recap our 12 points.
GOD EXISTS - AND IS A GLORIFIED MAN
THE UNIVERSE IS INFINITE AND ETERNAL
NO IMMATERIAL MATTER: INTELLIGENCE & ELEMENTS ARE ETERNAL
LIGHT IS THE ULTIMATE MOTIVE FORCE IN THE COSMOS
PLANETS ARE LIVING BEINGS AND HAVE AGENCY
STARS ARE CELESTIAL PLANETS
THE EARTH WAS FORMED NEAR A DIFFERENT STAR/PLANET
7000 YEARS/[7 DAYS] OF TEMPORAL HISTORY - FROM THE FALL
A CONGREGATION OF PLANETS SHARING A COMMON AXIS
EARTH TO BE RESTORED TO A NEW CONFIGURATION OF HEAVEN
PLANETS CAN MOVE FROM THEIR ORBITS - CHANGE BEHAVIOR
THE ‘LAST GRAND SIGN’ AS A PLANET OR A COMET
Upon this general Restored Cosmism foundation - we will continue to build and to learn more about the Savior and His Temple, the Great and Terrible day, symbolism - and much more.
I invite you to act upon promptings you have felt while reading or listening - the more we act upon them, the more we will receive.
See Facsimile 3:
Fig. 6. Olimlah, a slave belonging to the prince.
Abraham is reasoning upon the principles of Astronomy, in the king’s court.
Also see Abraham 3:15:
15 And the Lord said unto me: Abraham, I show these things unto thee before ye go into Egypt, that ye may declare all these words.
I haven't had a chance to go through all of this yet, but one thing to note [please forgive me if you've already covered this]:
The concept of an "equal" and opposite reaction isn't quite accurate in some things. Many speak of it in terms of having to go down to the depths of despair before being lifted up to the heights of the Celestial Kingdom. But the Atonement of Jesus Christ actually makes it so that we don't have an "equal" and opposite descent before being able to ascend. The descent can be and should be very minimal. There are times when we have some pretty tough things to deal with, but I would submit that it isn't always required and it is never actually possible to have an equally opposite descent to what has been promised eventually or even what is given in this life through the Atonement.
Just being a bit nit picky. Sorry.