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Kolob

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Detail of Joseph Smith Hypocephalus, which according to Joseph Smith, Jr. contains a representation of Kolob (reference numeral 1). According to Egyptologists, this depicts an Egyptian creation god.

In the Latter Day Saint movement, Kolob is a star or planet mentioned in the Book of Abraham as being nearest to the throne or residence of God. Mention of a star or planet by that name is found within the Book of Abraham, which is canonized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and some other denominations of the movement (but not the Community of Christ). While the Book of Abraham refers to Kolob as a "star",[1] it appears to refer to planets as stars,[2] and therefore, some commentators consider Kolob to be a planet.[3]

In modern Mormonism, Kolob is a rare topic of discussion within religious contexts. However, it is periodically a topic of discussion with Mormon apologetics. The idea also appears within Mormon culture, including as the subject of a Mormon hymn, and the inspiration for the planet Kobol within the Battlestar Galactica universe, scripted by Glen A. Larson, a Mormon.

Kolob doctrine and exegesis

Description in the Book of Abraham

Facsimile No. 2 from the Book of Abraham, which Smith said discusses Kolob. The part Smith said refers to Kolob is numbered by a "1" in the center.

The first published reference to Kolob is found in the Book of Abraham, published in the LDS volume of scripture entitled the Pearl of Great Price. The Book of Abraham was dictated by RLDS founder Joseph Smith, Jr., after he purchased a set of Egyptian scrolls that accompanied a traveling mummy exhibition. When this show passed through Smith's town of Kirtland, Ohio in 1835, Smith was approached about the scrolls based on his reputation for having published translations of ancient texts such as the golden plates. According to Smith, the scrolls described a vision of Abraham, in which Abraham:

"saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God;....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."[4]

In an explanation of an Egyptian hypocephalus that was part of the Book of Abraham scrolls, Joseph Smith interpreted one set of hieroglyphics as representing:

"Kolob, signifying the first creation, nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God. First in government, the last pertaining to the measurement of time. The measurement according to celestial time, which celestial time signifies one day to a cubit. One day in Kolob is equal to a thousand years according to the measurement of this earth, which is called by the Egyptians Jah-oh-eh."[5]

The Book of Abraham describes a hierarchy of heavenly bodies,[6] including the earth, its moon, and the sun, each with different movements and measurements of time, where at the pinnacle, the slowest-revolving body is Kolob, where one Kolob-day corresponds to 1000 earth-years.[7] Additional, similar information about Kolob is found in the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, constituting manuscripts in the handwriting of Smith and his scribes.

Literal Mormon exegesis and speculation

According to the traditional, literal Mormon interpretation of the Book of Abraham, Kolob is an actual star or planet in this universe that is, or is near, the physical throne of God. According to Joseph Smith, Jr., this star was discovered by Methuselah and Abraham[8] by looking through the Urim and Thummim.[9] This literal interpretation has significant formative impact on Mormon belief and criticism, leading to conceptions such as that the faithful will be made gods of planets in this universe, that God dwells within this universe rather than transcending it, and that the Biblical creation is a creation of the local earth, solar system, or galaxy, rather than the entire known physical reality.

Star or planet?

The Book of Abraham is unclear about whether Kolob was a star or a planet,[10] and Mormon writings have taken positions on either side of this issue. One part of the Book of Abraham states that Abraham "saw the stars...and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God;...and the name of the great one is Kolob."[11] Thus, Kolob is referred to as a "star". However, the book defines the word Kokaubeam (a word not known to Egyptologists[citation needed], but which the book says is an Egyptian word for "star") as meaning "all the great lights, which were in the firmament of heaven".[12] This would appear to include planets as among the "stars",[13] and apparently, the earth itself as considered to be among these "stars".[14] In addition, the Book of Abraham text appear to classify Kolob as among a hierarchy of "planets".[15] On the other hand, in Joseph Smith's Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar, he classifies Kolob as one of twelve "fixed stars", in distinction with fifteen "moving planets".[16] The term fixed star generally refers to an astronomical object that does not seem to move across the sky, but may have a slow proper motion as discovered in 1718 by Edmund Halley. Though "fixed", according to Smith, Kolob moves "swifter than the rest of the twelve fixed stars".[17] Moreover, in the Book of Abraham, Smith refers to "fixed planets or stars",[18] implying that some planets may be "fixed". He also refers to the sun as a "governing planet",[19] further complicating the terminology. Therefore, there is no consensus on whether Joseph Smith intended Kolob to be a planet or a star as those terms are used in modern astronomy.

Writers in the Latter Day Saint movement have taken positions on both sides of the issue of whether Kolob is a star or a planet. Brigham Young, second President of the LDS Church, spoke of Kolob as a planet.[20] Likewise, LDS Apostles John Taylor,[21] Orson Pratt (a mathematician with an interest in astronomy),[22] Orson F. Whitney,[23] and Alvin R. Dyer[24] referred to Kolob as a planet. Other Mormon theologians have also viewed Kolob as a planet.[25] Several other Mormon writers have referred to Kolob as a star, including LDS Apostle B. H. Roberts[26] and President David O. McKay[27]

Birthplace for the earth

According to several Mormon writers, the earth was created near Kolob over a period of 6000 years (six "days" in Kolob time), and then flung to its present solar system after the fall of Adam.[28] This theory is based on oral comments attributed to Joseph Smith, Jr.[29] The theory is also based on a passage from the Book of Abraham stating that in the Garden of Eden, time was measured "after the Lord's time, which was after the time of Kolob; for as yet the Gods had not appointed to Adam his reckoning".[30] According to the theory, the reason that Earth time was measured in Kolob time was because the earth was physically located near Kolob. As a corollary, some Mormon writers argue that at the end times, the earth will be plucked from the solar system and returned to its original orbit near Kolob.[31]

Using traditional creationist reasoning, influential LDS theologian Bruce R. McConkie came to a different conclusion, arguing that during the first "day" of creation (not necessarily a 1000-year "day" in Kolob time; it could have been any length of time), the earth was formed and placed in orbit around the sun.[32]

Speculative astronomy

Two Mormon authors have published books speculating that Kolob is a star at the Galactic Center, Sagittarius A*, of our own Galaxy.[33] Our galactic center is known to be a very bright (and a very compact) source of radio waves, possibly a supermassive black hole. [1]

Another Mormon author has speculated that Kolob is Polaris[34]

Metaphorical exegesis

A metaphorical interpretation—orthodox, but relatively uncommon in Mormonism—suggests that Kolob represents Jesus Christ rather than a physical object and location in this universe. The symbolic interpretation was explained by Hugh Nibley in The Temple and The Cosmos (see Kolob, time and temples). Advocates of the symbolic interpretation believe it harmonizes better with other Mormon beliefs, and with beliefs in the greater Christian community, as it does not require that God have a physical throne within this universe.

Analysis and criticism of the Kolob doctrine

Origin of the doctrine

According to Joseph Smith, Jr. biographer Fawn Brodie, Smith's idea of Kolob may have been derived from the "throne of God" idea found in Thomas Dick's The Philosophy of a Future State,[35] which Brodie said Smith "had recently been reading" before dictating the Book of Abraham, and which "made a lasting impression" on him.[36]

Rejecting the theory that the Kolob doctrine is of 19th century origin, some Mormon apologetic scholars have sought to link the Kolob doctrine to ancient astronomy. Gee, Hamblin & Peterson (2006) have sought to show that this astronomy is more consistent with ancient heliocentrism than with 19th century Copernican and Newtonian astronomy, and thus carries with it the misconceptions of ancient astronomy.[37] For example, in their interpretation, Kolob is the highest and slowest-moving of a series of concentric heavenly spheres centered around the earth.[38] These authors believe that Joseph Smith, in the 19th century, would not have made this heliocentric "mistake" about Kolob, and therefore, they argue that the Book of Abraham is of ancient origin.[39]

Validity of Smith's translation of the Book of Abraham

Main article: Book of Abraham

Modern Egyptologists have made an analysis of the facsimile, and with fragments of the papyrus from which the Book of Abraham was translated, and disagree with Joseph Smith's interpretation. The facsimile is widely regarded as a typical Hypocephalus. In response to criticism that Joseph Smith's interpretation is not consistent with Egyptologists interpretation, some Mormon apologists promote a loose, symbolic interpretation of the facsimile they say is consistent with Smith's translation.[40] Other Mormon apologists cite various evidence that the fragments found were not actually the source of the Book of Abraham itself. See Book of Abraham.

Putative Egyptian origin of the word Kolob

The predominant scholarly view is that the word Kolob is a neologism by Joseph Smith, Jr., who was not familiar with the Egyptian language when he dictated the text of the Book of Abraham.

Some Latter-day Saint apologists assert that Kolob derives from a Semitic root. On the origin of the word, Michael D. Rhodes states:

The word most likely derives from the common Semitic root QLB, which has the basic meaning of "heart, center, middle" (Arabic qalb "heart, center"; Hebrew qereb "middle, midst", qarab "to draw near"; Egyptian m-q3b "in the midst of"). In fact, qalb forms part of the Arabic names of several of the brightest stars in the sky, including Antares, Regulus, and Canopus.[2]

Facsimile 2, the hypocephalus (meaning "under the head"), belongs to a class of Egyptian religious documents called hypocephali, which were amulets the Egyptians placed under the heads of their dead that were highly individualized for each of them (see Book of the Dead and Book of Abraham). Hypocephali first appeared during the Egyptian Saite Dynasty (664-525 B.C.), and it is in chapter 162 of the Saite version of the Book of the Dead that directions for the construction and use of hypocephali are given. The section to which this chapter belongs (chapters 162-165) contains many strange words and concepts, which some Egyptologists believe contain foreign influences, possibly Semitic or Nubian.[citation needed]

It may also be noted that the Egyptian and the Semitic language families are believed to derive from a common ancestor (Proto-Afro-Asiatic), thus both branches are included as members of the Afro-Asiatic super-group. Concerning their relationship, John A. Tvedtnes writes:

Egyptian hieroglyphs were used to transliterate Semitic words borrowed during the late period, as Albright's study of the "Egyptian Syllabic Orthography" shows. Moreover, it was Egyptian symbols that were used in the Proto-Sinaitic script that became the ancestor of the Hebrew and other alphabets. [3]

Most Egyptian language scholars (who are neither critical of nor interested in Mormon theology) believe that while Kolob may be of Semitic origin, it was not translated (rendered) from the papyri Smith possessed, but merely transliterated from a word he may have heard M. H. Chandler, the previous owner, use; and this prior to Smith's translation of some of the papyri's characters.[citation needed] In this theory, the word is specifically claimed to be the Arabic "qalb" (plural "qulob"), meaning "heart" or "center." It is contended that M. Antonio Lebolo, the one who found the mummies with the papyri in Egypt, must have heard an Arabic speaker there use the word to describe the "center" figure (Kolob) of the hypocephalus. According to this theory, Lebolo later related the word to his nephew Chandler, and in turn Chandler related the word to Smith. Smith then transliterated the word as Kolob and managed to successfully present it as the actual translated name of the figure. This theory is weakened by the fact that Chandler had not spoken with Lebolo, his relative (a claimed uncle), upon obtaining the mummies, which were left to him upon Lebolo's death.[citation needed]

Arabic was the language most widely spoken in Egypt during the 19th century when the mummies were discovered there. Archaeology, and especially Egyptology, was not an established discipline at the time of Smith's procurement of the hypocephalus, and the ancient Egyptian language had not yet been translated into English when Smith produced the Book of Abraham. It was common for Arabic speakers to assist English and French treasure hunters, and also for ancient Egyptian artifacts to be sold to English and American collectors with embellished stories, or legends surrounding them. The hypocephalus was one such artifact, with almost one hundred known similar examples.

The hypocephalus was written with hieroglyphs and hieratic script. No instance of the Semitic root "qlb" is known to have been found on any other actual hypocephalus, and although no two such documents are the same, some share certain hieroglyphs and hieratic characters with the one Smith obtained. There is little evidence to support the position that the word was translated from any of the hieroglyphs themselves, although some have attempted to show correlation. Although many hypocephali do have additional languages written on them such as Greek, this particular hypocephalus does not exhibit a strong Semitic influence, nor is a possible root for Kolob found in any other Egyptian writings.

There is a second theory proposed attempting to account for Kolob.[who?] They allege Smith's own knowledge of Hebrew due to his experiences with Andrew Seixas reveal a habit of modifying Hebrew words, by either inserting or changing a letter in a particular word. For example, changing the Hebrew kokob for "stars" into Kolob for "the star nearest to the celestial."

Some critics supporting and discounting Smith are apt to find legitimate Semitic origins and relations to the hypocephalus in order to empathize a non-African presence in Egypt. This has caused widespread controversy.

Figure 1 in the Facsimile is referenced directly from the pictograph in the center, and has none of the hieroglyphs anywhere in the papyrus as a reference. However, Joseph Smith's notes, Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar, contain exact replications of the hieroglyphs in the hypocephalus with corresponding English translations made by the prophet Joseph Smith. This 'key' to translating the facsimile is useless in any other Egyptian document or artifact.

Although Smith stated the translation he gave "was given" to him (thus not giving any insight into how the translation was accomplished), he indicates clearly that he was following an already established linguistic system, and not a uniquely given process. According to Joseph Smith, quoted from the Documented History of the Church 2:238:

The remainder of this month (July, 1835) I was continually engaged in translating an alphabet to the Book of Abraham and arranging a grammar of the Egyptian language as practiced by the ancients.

Therefore according to Smith he was translating Kolob from the hieroglyphs, as the pictographs themselves, although interpretable, are by their nature beyond the realm of translation.

It has also been suggested that Kolob derives from the Hebrew word for "dog", thus "The Dog Star," i.e., Sirius, the brightest star visible to the naked eye.

Popular expressions of the Kolob doctrine

"If You Could Hie to Kolob", the Hymn

"If You Could Hie to Kolob"[41] is a Latter-day Saint hymn that was written by W. W. Phelps, a prominent early Mormon. The music is taken from a well-known folk tune known as "Dives and Lazarus". It is hymn number 284 in the hymnal for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The hymn reflects doctrines unique to Mormonism, such as the eternal nature of spirit (including man's spirit) and matter. It also conveys doctrines elaborated by Joseph Smith, Jr., the first Latter-day Saint prophet, about the plurality of gods and eternal progression. The word hie means To go quickly; hasten.

The lyrics can be found on the Church's online hymnal.

Kolob as the inspiration for Kobol in Battlestar Galactica

Some of the elements of the two Battlestar Galactica science-fiction television shows seem to be derived from the Mormon beliefs of its creator and chief producer, Glen A. Larson. In both the original series from 1978, and the 2003 new series, the planet Kobol is the ancient and distant mother world of the entire human race and the planet where life began, and the "Lords of Kobol" are sacred figures to the human race. They are treated as elders or patriarchs in the old series, and versions of the Twelve Olympians in the new series. According to Jana Reiss, author of What Would Buffy Do? [4] "Kobol" as an anagram of "Kolob" is only one of many plot points Larson has borrowed from Mormonism.

Other instances

  • Kolob was the name of a short-lived record label/production company founded by the Osmond Brothers in the 1970s. Released in association with MGM Records (which was absorbed by Polydor in 1976), the logo consisted of a hand holding a ball of clay resembling the planet. The Osmonds also recorded an album called The Plan which deals with themes in Mormonism related to Kolob.
  • Daniel Steven Crafts has a movement called The Great Arches of Kolob in his Southwest Sinfonia, originally named after Kolob Canyons in Zion National Park.
  • Kolob was also the name of the alien probe in the children's sci-fi series Children of the Dog Star, transmitted in 1984 in New Zealand.
  • In Levi Peterson's The Backslider, released in 1986, the Mormon protagonist, feeling distant from God, wonders "how God [is] feeling this morning up on the royal star of Kolob."[42]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Abraham 3:2-3
  2. ^ Gee, Hamblin & Peterson (2006) (noting "confusion between the uses of the terms stars and planets").
  3. ^ See, e.g., Alvin R. Dyer, "BYU Speeches", April 7, 1964, pp. 14-15.
  4. ^ Abraham 3:2-3.
  5. ^ Book of Abraham, Facsimile 2, Explanations to Fig. 1.
  6. ^ Abraham 3:4.
  7. ^ Abraham 3:4; see also Book of Abraham, Facsimile No. 2, explanations to Figs. 1 and 2.
  8. ^ Smith (1835, p. 34) ("Kolob…signifies the first great grand governing fixed star which is the fartherest [sic] that ever has been discovered by the fathers which was discovered by Methusela and also by Abraham.").
  9. ^ Smith (1835, p. 24)
  10. ^ Gee, Hamblin & Peterson (2006) (noting "confusion between the uses of the terms stars and planets").
  11. ^ Abraham 3:2-3.
  12. ^ Abraham 3:13.
  13. ^ Gee, Hamblin & Peterson (2006) (suggesting that the planets were considered to be "wandering stars" in their ancient sense).
  14. ^ Abraham 3:3 (referring to the earth as one of the "stars").
  15. ^ Abraham 3:9 (referring to a hierarchy of "planets", each with a longer day than the one below it, "until though come nigh unto Kolob, which Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lord's time").
  16. ^ Smith (1835, p. 24).
  17. ^ Smith (1835, p. 25).
  18. ^ Book of Abraham, Facsimile No. 2, Explanation to Fig. 5.
  19. ^ Book of Abraham, Facsimile No. 2, Explanation to Fig. 5 (stating that Enish-go-on-dosh "is one of the governing planets also, and is said by the Egyptians to be the Sun").
  20. ^ Young (1851) (describing Kolob as "the planet nearest unto the habitation of the Eternal Father"); Young (1853, p. 652) ("Why cannot we behold the inhabitants of Kolob or the inhabitants of any of those distant planets?").
  21. ^ Taylor (1857, p. 1001-02) ("Thou longed, thou sighed and thou prayed to thy Father in heaven for the time to arrive when thou couldst come to this earth, which had fled and fallen from where it was first organized, near the planet Kolob.").
  22. ^ Pratt (1866, p. 561) (referring to "a certain world, called Kolob, whose diurnal rotation on its axis equals one thousand of our years"); Pratt (1873, p. 317) (referring to "a certain great world, called Kolob, placed near one of the celestial kingdoms, whose diurnal rotation takes place once in a thousand of our years").
  23. ^ Whitney (1907, p. 48) ("But there is a great planet called Kolob, nearest to the throne of God."); Whitney (1920, p. 83) ("Joseph [Smith] taught that there is a great planet named Kolob, nearest the Celestial Throne, and that it revolves once in a thousand years."); Whitney (1930, p. 392) (referring to Kolob as "a mighty governing planet nearest the Celestial Throne, a planet revolving once in a thousand years").
  24. ^ Alvin R. Dyer, "BYU Speeches", April 7, 1964, pp. 14-15 ("As yet we do not know where the planet Kolob is located, but it, as well as the throne of God, must be a tremendous distance from the earth. Any personage coming from the presence of God would need to travel a tremendous distance to reach earth.").
  25. ^ Andrus (1968).
  26. ^ Roberts (1923, p. 434) (referring to Kolob as "some very distant, far off central sun").
  27. ^ David O. McKay, "Conference Report", Oct. 1969. Improvement Era (referring to Kolob as a great star "somewhere out in the great expanse of space").
  28. ^ Taylor (1857, p. 1001-02) ("Thou longed, thou sighed and thou prayed to thy Father in heaven for the time to arrive when thou couldst come to this earth, which had fled and fallen from where it was first organized, near the planet Kolob."); Evans (1894, p. 779) ("The earth doubtless fell also an immeasurable distance from the presence of its Maker, from the mansion or abode of Kolob."); Timmins (1995) (arguing that the earth was originally in orbit around Kolob, and was knocked out of its orbit gravitationally, then captured by the present solar system).
  29. ^ Andrus (1968).
  30. ^ Abraham 5:13.
  31. ^ Timmins (1995).
  32. ^ McConkie (1982).
  33. ^ Eric N. Skousen, Earth in the Beginning, pages 230-234; Lynn M. Hilton (2005), The Kolob Theorem: A Mormon's View of God's Starry Universe.
  34. ^ Greer (1913).
  35. ^ Dick (1829, pp. 241–247).
  36. ^ Brodie (1946, p. 171-72).
  37. ^ Gee, Hamblin & Peterson (2006).
  38. ^ Id.
  39. ^ Id.
  40. ^ See, e.g., Michael D. Rhodes, "A Translation and Commentary on the Joseph Smith Hypocephalus," BYU Studies 17 (1977):259-274.
  41. ^ Phelps (1985).
  42. ^ Levi Peterson, The Backslider (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1986), p. 253.

References

External links

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