Worlds Without Number: the Astronomy of Enoch, Abraham, and Moses by R. Grant Athay

The Universe Beheld by Ancient Prophets

"Now for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed." 3 So lamented Moses in utter humility after seeing in vision the complexities of the planet Earth and her countless inhabitants. Shortly thereafter Moses was to see once again the earth and her inhabitants ". . . and there was not a particle of which he did not behold. . . and there was not a soul which he beheld not. . . . " 4 Surely this venerable old prophet must have been filled with awe and wonder. Imagine, however, his profound astonishment when, in answer to his plea for an explanation, the Lord revealed himself to Moses and told him of even more wondrous creations. "And worlds without number have I created. . . . For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man. . . . " 5

Joseph Smith on Modern Science by Alvin K. Benson

The Lord instructed Joseph Smith and each of us to seek both spiritual and secular knowledge, to learn of "all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for [us] to understand; of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass" (D&C 88:78-79). Therefore, we should not be hesitant to pursue knowledge in all fields of endeavor, including fields of scientific inquiry. Joseph Smith was a strong advocate for acquiring knowledge, and an excellent example of doing it. In his teachings, the Prophet stated, "A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith 217; hereafter TPJS), and "The principle of knowledge is the principle of salvation" (297). As Joseph well understood, we too must realize that all knowledge is not of equal value and "to be learned is good if [we] hearken unto the counsels of God" (2 Nephi 9:29).

Apocryphal Writings and Teachings of the Dead Sea Scrolls (on the Cosmos) by Hugh Nibley

This previously unpublished talk was given at a Long Beach, California, seminary graduation, in 1967. It has circulated under the title "Teachings from the Dead Sea Scrolls."

I shall probably bore you tonight, but the subject shouldn't, because it's a very good one. I am not going to be bored at all. I love to talk about this stuff! I will get all excited, so don't pay any attention to me! Since World War II tremendous discoveries have been made. Certain ancient libraries have been discovered: the Dead Sea Scrolls; Chenoboskion (Nag Hammadi), the earliest Christian library discovered the same year, under much the same circumstances, but a thousand miles away from the Dead Sea Scrolls; and then the Papyri Bodmer, which includes the Letters of Paul, far older than anything we have ever known about before. Then there are the Manichaean and Mandaean discoveries; and earlier than them, the Chester Beatty Papyri; and also the Odes of Solomon. We can go back to the Oxyrhynchus and the Bryennios Papyrus (the Didache), and finally to the big libraries of the nineteenth century. These sensational finds have completely changed our picture of the early Christian and Jewish world.

Treasures in the Heavens by Hugh Nibley

As Christianity has been deeschatologized and demythologized in our own day, so in the fourth century it was thoroughly dematerialized, and ever since then anything smacking of "cosmism," that is, tending to associate religion with the physical universe in any way, has been instantly condemned by Christian and Jewish clergy alike as paganism and blasphemy. Joseph Smith was taken to task for the crude literalism of his religion-not only talking with angels like regular people, but giving God the aspect attributed to him by the primitive prophets of Israel, and, strangest of all, unhesitatingly bringing other worlds and universes into the picture. Well, some of the early Christian and Jewish writers did the same thing; this weakness in them has been explained away as a Gnostic aberration, and yet today there is a marked tendency in all the churches to support the usual bloodless abstractions and stereotyped moral sermons with a touch of apocalyptic realism, which indeed now supplies the main appeal of some of the most sensationally successful evangelists.

The Nature and Order of the Cosmos by Hyrum L. Andrus

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.—PSALMS.

Revelations to Joseph Smith concerning the nature and order of the cosmos indicate that there are innumerable worlds in space populated by organized beings in varying degrees of progressive attainment. One revelation speaks of the worlds that "are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof." 1 "Worlds without number have I created," God declared; "and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten." 2 The Lord explained: "As one earth shall pass away [to an anticipated redemption and glorification], and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works neither to my words." 3

Cosmology by Hugh Nibley

Now, the third question of Clement is cosmology, of all things. The most primitive rock carvings in the world are what you will find in the glyphs if you go out to Lincoln Beach which used to have a marvelous collection. That used to be a sacred place with splendid displays. There's a cave out there, and, of course, it has been mercilessly looted. A big industrialist from New York came out and covered it and walked away with some very valuable things. Of course, there's a law from 1906 that you are not supposed to do that. Well, if you look at these carvings, what will you find? You will find glyphs, spirals, swastikas, sun wheels, quadrates. You'll find these throughout the whole world. They are cosmic signs. They have to do with revolutions of the heavens-the sun, the moon, the cycles of the year, etc. Not all of them, but they are plainly marked and they are found by the thousands.