And There Shall Be a New Heaven and a New Earth: The Prophecy Trilogy, Volume III

AND THERE SHALL BE

A NEW HEAVEN

AND A NEW EARTH

THE PROPHECY TRILOGY—VOLUME III

Anthony E. Larson

Copyright 2016 Anthony E. Larson

All rights reserved. Smashwords Edition

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader! The purchase of this ebook helps continue the research into this crucial new understanding of the times we live in. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ISBN: 9781310609923

The views expressed here are those of the author and make no claim to represent those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Table of Contents

Title

Preface

1 – They Taught of Catastrophe

2 – Where the Past and the Future Meet

3 – The Search Begins

4 – The Ancient Saturn

5 – Enoch, Zion and Heaven

6 – Noah, Nimrod, Peleg and Abraham

7 – The Prophet, the Brethren and the Saturn Myths

8 – The Millennium

Bibliography

More From This Author

About This Author

Contact Anthony E. Larson

Preface

This third volume of the Prophecy Trilogy is the capstone of the series. As such, it brings together the elements of the first two volumes, adds to them, and then focuses where the course of future events will finally lead—the Millennium. The conclusions reached in this book regarding the future condition of the Earth and the appearance of the heavens during that great coming epoch will be truly startling to many, while giving new meaning and added importance to scriptural accounts and statements by LDS General Authorities regarding the Millennium.

The caveat expressed in the preface of the second volume applies equally well here. For those who have not read the preceding volumes of The Prophecy Trilogy, this volume may seem completely fanciful and unsupportable. It is vital that a proper foundation be laid to support the thesis. May I therefore recommend that the reader not attempt to read the books out of order, as this would surely cause the thesis of these books to be rejected without due consideration of the facts.

In conjunction with the above advice, may I also note that a volume this small cannot go into any lengthy analysis of history or prophecy. At most, this book (indeed, the entire trilogy) can be but a cursory survey of the subjects considered. Ample, scholarly information, supportive of these theories, can be found with a modest effort. The volumes from which the evidence has been taken are large and numerous. The series is designed to be only an introduction to the subject—a brief overview—although the evidence presented in these pages should be persuasive enough to establish the credibility of the thesis and generate a desire to discover more.

Of the three books, the third volume may seem the most speculative, yet it will serve to answer some of the most enigmatic references to the future found in scripture and statements by the Brethren. The speculative nature of this volume is due, in part, to the nature of the subject. It is also due to the fact that it draws upon obscure data from very recent discoveries and newly advanced theories in archaeology, astronomy and mythology. Publishing a work that deals with information from the cutting edge of any discipline is risky business (scholastically speaking) because time and new discoveries may reveal the folly of rushing to premature conclusions. It may appear almost foolhardy to use such information to substantiate an unorthodox and speculative point of view. From that perspective, any properly trained scholar would certainly hesitate (at the very least) before proceeding, if not abort the project altogether for fear of ridicule or ostracism from the ranks of his fellows! However, as this author is, at best, simply a lay investigator, making no claim to scholastic credentials (which might be endangered by publishing speculative material), the thesis of this volume is presented for consideration—flaws and all—with the hope that it will be enlightening to those who read it and encourage further inquiry into the subject by those of more able intellect. In addition, my confidence in these concepts is sufficiently strong that I believe the primary thesis of this volume will stand the test of time (though some specifics, in time, may prove to be erroneous)—and be proven valid by future events.

In an 1832 revelation (called The Olive Leaf) given to Joseph Smith, the Lord gave specific instructions to the Latter-day Saints.

And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom.

Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you 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 ... . (Doctrine & Covenants 88:77–79; emphasis added)

Another revelation further stated:

And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come ... . (Doctrine & Covenants 93:24)

Because of its scope, the title of this trilogy could easily have been taken from the preceding scripture: Things as They Are, and as They Were, and as They Are to Come. In fact, these books are an attempt to fulfill the mandate given in the first scripture by suggesting new interpretations of past events, focusing attention on what appears to be present ignorance of ancient events, customs and conventions, and by analyzing future events and conditions in light of this proposed perspective.

The Prophecy Trilogy series offers a new direction—a few tentative steps down an untrodden path. If these books can illuminate new vistas of knowledge, then the time and effort spent to prepare them will have been well spent. It is the author’s hope that those who scan these pages will gather up these simple clues and then proceed to discover the answers to questions yet unasked as well as those still unanswered.

TABLE of CONTENTS

1 – They Taught Of Catastrophe

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts. (2 Peter 1:19)

There are many statements by early Latter-day Saints and General Authorities that have been largely misunderstood by later generations. They spoke and wrote of catastrophic changes in the heavens—changes both past and future. We who are educated to disbelieve such wild and speculative postulates, seem to have little basis for understanding their statements. Without some instruction in the principles of catastrophism and the ancient order of the heavens, we may be incapable of comprehending their intended meaning.

It is clearly evident that some early Church members believed that the world had changed dramatically in the past. Almost totally disregarded until now, their opinions have only seemed to be the amusing, but irrelevant, meanderings of fertile imaginations. Even when the source of their statements can be traced directly to Joseph Smith, many of today’s Church members appear loathe to accept them as true because they speak of things that seem too fantastic to be believed. There simply seems to be no rational basis for believing statements which allude to such mammoth catastrophes: colliding planets, great comets, dismembering of the Earth, etc! However, since the recent renaissance of catastrophism and its reconstruction of Earth’s past, the accounts recorded by the early Saints that once seemed so strange and speculative now become meaningful assessments of past and future events. Apparently, as a group, the early members of the Church perceived the history of our Earth and the solar system very differently than many of us do today.

The Prophets spoke

Considerable space has already been dedicated in these volumes to delineate the differences between the principles of catastrophe and uniformity. (See Vol. 2, Chapter 6) The principle of catastrophism seems to have been advocated by the early Saints. Their comments indicate that the principle of catastrophe was well understood and accepted by many of the Brethren during the early days of the Church. For example, Elder Orson Pratt, an early Apostle and associate of the Prophet Joseph Smith, explicitly stated his preference for catastrophe over uniformity:

Many geological speculations have been put forth to account for the great changes that have happened in the surface strata of the earth. But it is not our intention to examine the probability or improbability of those conjectures; but merely to give some few facts from divine revelation to show that the present geological conditions of our globe, are not, in their general characteristics, the result of slow and gradual changes [i.e., uniformity]; but the effects of sudden convulsions and catastrophes under the control and superintendence of the All-powerful Being who formed all things. (The Seer, Vol II, No. 4, April, 1854; italics added)

Brother Pratt informed his readers that divine revelation teaches the principles of catastrophe. There seems to be no doubt about what Elder Pratt believed regarding how the major changes in the Earth have been affected. Such statements are unequivocal, and they are not unique.

Another example of how well this principle seems to have been understood by the Prophets can be found in the writings of the third president of the Church, John Taylor. President Taylor, writing in an official church publication, affirmed his conviction as to the permanence of gospel truths. Notice how he cites the effects of planetary catastrophes as an accepted fact in order to make his point. Such usage implies a conviction on his part of the principle of catastrophe. That is, he felt so comfortable with the concept that he used it as a vehicle to demonstrate the permanence of gospel truths. And he seems to have taken it for granted that his readers held the same point of view.

Times and seasons may change, revolution may succeed revolution; thrones may be cast down; and empires be dissolved; earthquakes may rend the earth from center to circumference; and mountains may be hurled out of their places; and the mighty ocean be moved from its bed, but amidst the crash of worlds and the crack of matter, truth, eternal truth, must remain unchanged, and those principles which God has revealed to His saints be unscathed amidst the warring elements, and remain as firm as the throne of Jehovah. (Times and Seasons, December 15, 1844, 5:744; italics added)

Of particular interest in this quotation is President Taylor’s use of the phrase crash of worlds. Recall that Velikovsky chose to use the phrase worlds in collision as the title of