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Kolob: Difference between revisions
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==Mormon exegesis and speculation== | ==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 Smith, this star was discovered by Methuselah and Abraham | 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 Smith, this star was discovered by Methuselah and Abraham by looking through the [[Urim and Thummim]], a set of seer stones bound into a pair of spectacles. LDS Church leader and historian B. H. Roberts (1857–1933) interpreted Smith's statements to mean that our solar system and its governing "planet" (the Sun) revolved around a star known as Kae-e-vanrash, which itself revolved with its own solar system around a star called Kli-flos-is-es or Hah-ko-kau-beam, which themselves revolve around Kolob, which he characterized as "the great centre of that part of the universe to which our planetary system belongs". Roberts was confident that this hierarchy of stars orbiting other stars would be confirmed by astronomers. | ||
The literal interpretation of Kolob as an actual star or planet had significant formative impact on Mormon belief and criticism, leading to conceptions such as that God dwells within this universe, and that the Biblical creation is a creation of the local earth, solar system, or galaxy, rather than the entire known physical reality. | The literal interpretation of Kolob as an actual star or planet had significant formative impact on Mormon belief and criticism, leading to conceptions such as that God dwells within this universe, and that the Biblical creation is a creation of the local earth, solar system, or galaxy, rather than the entire known physical reality. | ||
In addition to the literal interpretation of Kolob as an actual heavenly body, the LDS Church has proposed that Kolob is also "a symbol of Jesus Christ", in that like Kolob, Jesus "governs" all the stars and planets similar to the earth. | In addition to the literal interpretation of Kolob as an actual heavenly body, the LDS Church has proposed that Kolob is also "a symbol of Jesus Christ", in that like Kolob, Jesus "governs" all the stars and planets similar to the earth. | ||
<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolob Kolob]</ref> | <ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolob Kolob]</ref> | ||
==HGS Session References== | ==HGS Session References== | ||