What Joseph Knew

8/6/2019 What Joseph Knew

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THINGS ASTHEY ARE,WERE �

ARE TO COME

What Joseph Knew

ANTHONY E. LARSON



THINGS AS THEY ARE,

WERE ARE TO COME

What Joseph Knew Copyright © 2003 Anthony E. Larson

Few members of the Mormon Church today are aware that their founding

prophet, Joseph Smith, quietly taught catastrophism, the notion that the

heavens were much diferent in ancient times and that changes in the earthcome quickly and oten violently. Remarkably, these little-known teachings

are corroborated by modern comparative mythologists, astronomers and

plasma physicists.

At the heart o the exposition oered by this author in this and otherpublications is an eort to more ully connect modern Saints with

the teachings o their ounding prophet, Joseph Smith, and thus to ci r. J iully d crrcly rr-duced those ancient teachings, passing them along to a world that was,d ill i, lrgly igr ru gl d .

Tis work is vital or many reasons, which have been repeatedly cited by this author. But one reason, not oen mentioned, is that thiswork intellectually validates Joseph’s claim as a prophet, called o Godto restore the gospel and to right the awed paradigm o modern

mkid. A uc, i bcm cd, crmig i Siri.

Testimony frst, then knowledge

Wil y gd Si i quick i u v do intellectual substantiation o Joseph’s claims since we have thewitness o the Spirit, which is sufcient, it can be argued that seekingintellectual support o that witness is also a worthy quest — especially i rul i urr ligm rgrdig ig vil a comprehension o the language o the prophets, the origins andymblim ml rcic d ml icgry, ymblimand meaning o the scriptures and a corrected view o ancient history



3What Joseph Knew

and our modern view o the world around us. Such inormation can-not help but augment our testimonies, urther strengthening them.Aer all, our scriptures admonish us to “seek learning, even by study

d l by i,” d “i r gi mr kldg d il-ligence in this lie through his diligence and obedience than another,he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” (Doctrined Cv 88:118; 130:19.)

All knowledge restored?

Lest any care to argue that Joseph had communicated all knowledgeneedul or the Saints beore his premature demise, one need only

rcll ir ci gld l, cmmly rrrdto as the “sealed” portion o the Book o Mormon, never saw the lighto day, suggesting that there is much more that the Saints could learn.

Addiilly, 9 d 13 Aricl Fi, J’ i-i ubjc, rgu lquly gi uc lgic. “W blivall that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe H ill y rvl my gr d imr ig riig

Kigdm Gd … I r i yig viruu, lvly, r gd rr r riry, k r ig.”

Add dmii Lrd “k y u bbooks words o wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by aith.” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118.) Clearly, the Lord indicates r i muc y b lrd.

The never-ending story

Te topic at hand, that has been treated by this author throughouttwo decades o research and writing books and articles, presents anovel and radical view o the past and the uture, a sweeping vista soenormous that it can only be documented in small snapshots. No onei illig brb ir ry i iig, v i ribl. N ly , rdr mu b giv im imilsuch ar-reaching ideas, which contravene much o orthodox scientic,

culurl d rligiu ug.Addiilly, i i dymic ld iquiry. A Cr-im mvm, bgu i 1950 by Immul Vlikvky, grrldid, d umbr r rrcr dlvig i m-r. T rrc i gig, r rvli i rduc. N



4What Joseph Knew

inormation is orthcoming on a regular basis, thus bringing new rciv br ’ gl udy.

Tus, a ragmented, piecemeal approach is the only one possible in

such a dynamic eld o inquiry, making the process that much moredifcult. Yet, given time or elucidation, contemplation and study, m i irmi c b rdily mbld i mid’ y ivigr r rdr build lly rm-work upon which to view both ancient history and prophecy — nom ccmlim.

Correlation o inormation

Te pivotal point or Latter-day Saints, when considering the tenetso Catastrophism, is what Joseph knew and taught with regard to theseconcepts. I there were no substantiation or corroboration o Joseph’s

views in the ideas presented by modern catastrophists like Velikovsky,albott, Cardona, Cochrane, et al, then studying their theories wouldb dvg u. Bu bcu r m b lm cm-l grm b cri cig r Gd d

the research o comparative mythologists, planetary scientists, plasmayici d clr ll ig ci, i bv u iv-ig cci ully.

Tankully, the orientation o these scholars and researchers is suchthat they see proound value in the written records, cultural traditionsd bli ci — mig J uld clbr. I-d rjcig m ciul, myicl ccu — dmodern science and some religion — these ancient records, traditions

d bli r rcgizd vlubl rcrd .Subjciv ug ccu my b, y cvy vry di-

erent historical message than that commonly taught as act in allmdr ducil iiui.

Tose points o corroboration and substantiation are admittedly ew, but they are o critical importance. A brie review may be in order.

What the prophet taught

Te rst point o convergence to consider is the Joseph Smith state-ment that the last great sign o the last days will be “a comet, a planet.”A crul cidri ll r id cci many implications and ramications, all treated at one time or another



5What Joseph Knew

by i ur. W i clr rm J’ m i uurcclym ill b rly idicl ur rm .Addiilly, i vri ii clmii m rm

irrgulr mi rb i ur lr ym.Another, vital connection is the Philo Dibble acsimile, said by

Dibble to be a virtual copy o an illustration drawn or him by theprophet himsel, supported by the corroborating statements takenrm my diri d jurl rly Si.

T Dibbl illuri, -ing three planets in close prox-imity, sharing a common axiso rotation, clearly presents anunderstanding by the prophetJoseph Smith o the unique po-lr cguri l existed in antiquity. Tat is, thedotted lines and the angle they describe are clearly meant to

delineate the declination o theaxis o rotation to the plane o the ecliptic, meaning that they were ‘stacked’ pole to pole and all

rd rud m xi. Ti i vil i, mid by Dibble, yet clearly implied in his acsimile. Since only in this extraor-dinary arrangement could these three orbs have appeared to hoveri v, bv Er, u rig uiqu vi iird rly ll ci ymblim d imgry, i cimil i ivl clu J Smi k.

Again, there are many remarkable, salient connections betweenthe concepts illustrated in the Dibble acsimile and the theories o David albott, who took Velikovsky’s seminal idea o orbital disarray in our solar system in antiquity and then examined the most ancientrecords and traditions — what he called the Saturn myths — to discover

xic r-v vly dir rm ic k .



6What Joseph Knew

T cci b J’ illuri d lb’ lrconguration theory are stunning to an impartial investigator. While ccluiv, i crrli r xrrdiry.

Tis illustration o the polar conguration o planets (le to right:Saturn, Venus and Mars)demonstrates the likely reality behind the Dibbleillustration when careully comparing the two. heEr, icurd i irame, would have beensome distance away to therig icur.

O course, the iconogra-phy and design o modern

temples oer still more connections to albott’s research. ellingly,except or extensive commentary in this publication, there is a notablescarcity o inormation regarding the iconography o the Salt Lake

emple, its meaning and its origins. Researchers who tackle that issueuivrlly lm lck d xli ml ymbl. Mimly gu mig, clr idici igrc.

Te extraordinary capacity o albott’s polar conguration theories,extrapolated rom the Saturn myths, to explain the symbolism o bothcriur d ml icgry i gric vidc d rultestimony o the interpretive value o his theories, especially whencrd i irriv vcuum xi iu m.

Lastly are the dozens o statements by early Saints with corrobo-rating inormation that they universally attribute to the prophet. Notonly are numerous dreams and visions by early Saints made imme-dily mr udrdbl d rbl i lig Crim d Sur my, r ir rcllci concepts taught them by the prophet. LDS scholars can no longerdiscount statements by several early general authorities as antasy

r ivi, y v d i . Mrvr, brviby Elder Orson Pratt, or example, a world-renowned scientist in his rig, mu crry cidrbl ig i mdr Mrm.In truth, were Elder Pratt’s counsel to the Saints heeded to reject Uni-



7What Joseph Knew

ormity and embrace Catastrophism, it would revolutionize our view ci iry, gl, criur d rcy. N ly would it put church members in a position to better understand and

cc rc d ucmig ciic rvli rgrdig ciiry, i l, lr ym d uivr, bu i uld,mr imrly, rv ricl m r givig Si much more comprehensive paradigm or use in understanding thecriur d gl.

Why so little inormation?

As noted previously, the evidence or Catastrophism and the Saturn

traditions in early church literature and the statements o the brethrenis admittedly ragmented and incomplete. Tere may be two reasonsy irmi, il cmllig, i m imrci.

Assimilation o very new ideas is difcult. It takes time and requentrepetition to make a lasting impression. All early Saints were convertsto whom almost everything the prophet taught was new. Certainly,inormation about ancient history, planets and astronomy was largely

oreign to most o them; even i it weren’t, they were not accustomedto thinking o these things as part o religion. It was a lot to absorb in r im. W ug b cdry r cillry quickly ll by yid vr im.

Moreover, a one-time exposure to a genuinely new concept is boundto be poorly understood, inormation retention being as allible as it is.Te mind typically retains complicated inormation only aer repeatedxur vr im. Ay m irmi gld i

a transitory manner invariably results in distortion and ambiguity i i i rid ll. J imly r u im br culdr r r-miz id brr i riculr dthe Saints in general. Hence, nearly all the inormation connectedi J’ vi cc cm u cr d bi.

Ti mk Dibbl cimil ll mr vlubl i i ihard data, not subject to allible human recollection. It is the vital

key to Joseph’s concepts o Earth’s early heavens. It is the lynch pin o ir i J ug cc rly idicl lucidd by lb l l.



8What Joseph Knew

Pr mr i i c lrd ig rm r ug m b crd, d u rrii r uiiid r. My r ld ig ii

the connes o the temple precincts, so they kept them to themselvesor recorded them only in private journals. Dibble, or example, orwhom the prophet drew the illustration personally, did not make hiscimil ublic r lm 50 yr.

Unfnished work

Te most obvious reason why so little was written or said aboutthese concepts was Joseph’s martyrdom. Any plan he might have had

to elaborate on these concepts was cut short by his early demise, leav-ig icml icur cc udubdly idd mliy d mblli i ri rcrd d mid Si. I i m likly , d livd, J uld v dmuch more to say on these themes and modern Saints would be morecgiz m.

Evidence o this view can be ound in the act that temple icons

and discussions o planets, stars, moons and their role in ancientand modern calamities came late in Joseph’s career. Te Kirtlandtemple, or example, had none o the iconography o later temples.Early revelations were intended or basic doctrine, instruction andorganization o a edgling church. It was not until the Nauvoo erathat discussions o cosmological ideas came orth, once the essentialbusiness o organizing a church was more complete. Indeed, one canonly speculate that had the prophet been allowed to continue his

mission, much o what has been written in these pages would now b r mirm Mrmim rr mrgil mril.

Driting with the mainstream

o whatever degree some early Saints may have known and under-d cc iu r, mmbri i grl lly abandoned them as they integrated into mainstream American culture,

which was turning away rom Catastrophism throughout the latterhal o the 19th century as it adopted the tenets o Uniormitarianismi i mrgig ciic d ducil iiui. Ti gigprocess eventually resulted in an orthodox mindset, a paradigm thatl m Si ubl mk d r il vidc rm





10What Joseph Knew

Ti illuri mr r-alistically shows the relativesizes and distances o the

l i ci lrconguration as envisionedby albott and suggestedby the Dibble acsimile, al-though this view incorpo-rates considerable parallaxis,making the planets look

clr gr y cully r.Ti kldg giv mig culurl rdii, bli, rc-

ic d riul, rigi ic r l i ry iquiy. Ibrig ddd mig criurl rcrd, rd r- — ll ci rcrd rm vr urc, i c. I rvl meaning o temple symbolism, ancient and modern, connecting iti ric rdii ci ml.

Lly, i giv mig bcur cig J Smi d

those who labored with him then and since. It clearly tells us thatJoseph Smith embraced a view o history very much like that o mod-ern Catastrophists. It gives meaning to inormation he included incriur d bd i cmrri ri mmigl. I giv u ymic, uirm md r irr-ig imgry r d rcy il. Suc iig i ii vlu r d icr Lr-dy Si, urrcrmig i Siri. Idd, udyig d lrigmr bu ll ig c ly ivi ddiil crmirm Siri.

Curiosities? Or keys?

Hc, lizig bi irmi, c ug be nothing more than so much otsam and jetsam o the restoration,turn out to be invaluable keys or every Latter-day Saint who wishes to

understand all acets o God’s creation. We should have known: No bito inormation that comes by revelation, no matter how insignicanti my m, i ul kldg. Rr i i ll m ligus and enrich our understanding. Ironically, the data most disparaged



11What Joseph Knew

by mdr LDS clr d ducr ur u b ivlubl.W uld v k.

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What Joseph Knew