What about the Planet Kolob?

"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him?" Psalm 8:3-4

Unfortunately, the mention of the star Kolob in the Pearl of Great Price is a subject which many people have taken much joy and pleasure in their scoffing and mocking at the Mormons.  There is no shortage of jokes on the subject, often originating from those who profess to be Christian, who ought to know better than to ridicule.  Because they don't believe the Mormon religion is true, and because they believe the Mormon religion is deceiving people, they are willing to go to any lengths to cast the Mormons in as negative a light as possible.

 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, wo be unto him that lieth to deceive because he supposeth that another lieth to deceive, for such are not exempt from the justice of God."  D&C 10:28

It is because of this constant ridicule originating from Christians and others concerning such a sacred subject for believing Latter-day Saints, that we have written this article.

"That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts" 2 Peter 3:2-3

For those among us who are more open minded and not bound down so much by the traditions and beliefs of their various religions and philosophies, we wish to shed a little light on the belief of Mormons concerning the mention of Kolob in the Scriptures, that it is not quite as preposterous as so many Christians have led people to believe.  We hope to present a few certain facts, and let people decide for themselves between Mormons and contemporary Christians - whose beliefs are more reasonable and logical, and whose are not.

When we look into the night sky, we can see more stars in the sky than we can count.  The sun which gives light to our planet earth is just one small star among the outer edges of a typical galaxy containing many billions of other stars.  Yet, our enormous galaxy is only one of innumerable numbers of other galaxies in the universe.  It has been estimated that with the powerful telescopes we have invented of late, that we can see more than 50 billion of these galaxies.  Each and every one of these galaxies contains billions of suns or stars like the one which which gives light to our own world.  Around each of these innumerable numbers of suns are even more planets just like ours.  On each planet, are innumerable numbers of people, and varied forms of life.

Just what we can see is incredibly immense.  We can't even begin to comprehend the enormity of the universe before our vision.  We can't even begin to number the stars we can see.  There has always been something beyond what we can see.  With each new telescope invented we are able to look ever deeper into space, and our estimation of the size of the universe grows accordingly.  There is no reason not to suppose that the universe does not continue far, far beyond what we are ever capable of viewing.  It is truly endless.  

The light generated from these distant suns and galaxies takes countless numbers of years just to reach us here on distant earth.  How many years we can never accurately estimate, but knowing what we know about the speed of light, it could easily predate the creation of the earth six thousand years ago.

"And God spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this endless?

"And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease.

"Wherefore, no man can behold all my works, except he behold all my glory; and no man can behold all my glory, and afterwards remain in the flesh on the earth." Pearl of Great Price, 1:3-5.

 "27 Moses cast his eyes and beheld the earth, yea, even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God.

 "28 And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore.

 "29 And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were inhabitants on the face thereof." Pearl of Great Price, 1:27-29.

"31 And the Lord God said unto Moses: For mine own purpose have I made these things.  Here is wisdom and it remaineth in me.

 "32 And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth.

 "33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.

 "34 And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many.

 "35 But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you.  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; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.

 "36 And it came to pass that Moses spake unto the Lord, saying: Be merciful unto thy servant, O God, and tell me concerning this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, and also the heavens, and then thy servant will be content.

 "37 And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine.

 "38 And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.

 "39 For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Pearl of Great Price, 1:32-39."

It is strange that so many Christians and atheists do not believe there is any life anywhere outside of our own little world, in spite of the immense size of the universe.  The universe is so enormous, and the earth itself is so small that it is no more than a speck of dust floating around in the darkness of space.  Yet, each one of us people are so small that we are little more than specks of dust on the surface of the earth.  The Scriptures plainly teach us that we should acknowledge our own nothingness before God, that we are less than the dust of the earth.  The Christians have imagined among themselves, that the earth is something special, that it is better than any other planet in the universe, because they believe that it is the only place where there is life.

"25 And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves?  I answer you, Nay.  Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you." Book of Mormon, Mosiah 2:25.

Many Christians don't just believe that the earth is the only place where life exists.  They have also historically gone so far as to believe that the earth itself is the center of the universe and that the Sun and the stars revolved around the earth.  It used to be a Catholic Canon, and it was considered heresy to state otherwise.  They are as wrong as they could be, and have since been forced to renounce part of their belief, due to the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.  Although many Christians continue to persist in the second part of that same belief that the earth is still the center of God's universe, and there are no other people in the universe because it has not yet been proven otherwise. 

Why would God create such an immense universe, with more worlds than we can possibly count and yet confine all of His souls to this little speck of dust we call the earth?  It just doesn't make any sense.  It is not reasonable. It serves no purpose.  Why wouldn't God put His children on His other planets he created besides ours?  How can the glories of the eternities be confined to this tiny little mud ball we call the earth?  If God is endless, then are not His creations and the workmanship of His hands endless also?  To suggest otherwise would be saying that God is finite, that He has an end.

But no one has ever seen the end of God's creation, for God is truly endless.  There is a purpose for everything God does.  The Mormon religion teaches that not only are God's creations endless, but the age of the universe is endless as well.  The matter which the world is made, and also the matter which compose our bodies is also endless in it's age.  Joseph Smith taught that matter is neither created nor destroyed.  Although the world was created six thousand years ago, the elements which compose the earth are endless in their age.  God and the universe He created are endless in age.  Like a man would use raw materials to build a house, so likewise was the earth made.  The house may be new, but the material the house is composed of is far older.  The material existed in some form before the house was built, and that same material will still be in existence long after the house is gone.

On the other hand, many Christians believe that matter did not exist before the earth was created.  Neither did the universe.  They believe that everything had a beginning at the time the earth was created, even though it takes countless ages just for the light from these distant stars to reach the earth.

"You ask the learned doctors why they say the world was made out of nothing, and they will answer, "Doesn't the Bible say He created the world?" And they infer, from the word create, that it must have been made out of nothing. Now, the word create came from the word baurau, which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos - chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time He had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and reorganized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning and can have no end."  Joseph Smith, King Follet Sermon

Pure science and pure religion, both devoid of personal opinions and philosophies are in perfect harmony with each other.  There is no provable fact, no unalterable scientific law known in the world by the limited knowledge of man, which conflicts in any way with anything which Joseph Smith had received to be written in the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price.  But these books do conflict with the personal opinions and philosophies of almost everyone alive, including most Mormons.

The opinionated conclusions of Christians that the entire universe was created out of nothing six thousand years ago is absurd.  It is equally absurd for Christians to suggest that there is no other life besides what we see on the planet earth.  That the earth is the center of everything in the universe.  That all these countless worlds were created without purpose, never to be inhabited by God's creations.

It is even more absurd for atheists to believe that the beauty and order which we see in the universe came about by chance through some sort of "big bang."  That all the varied forms life on the earth "evolved" from a rock, overcoming enormous odds through mathematically impossible chance.

Contemporary Christians and atheists must both swallow a bitter pill and be "willfully ignorant" of the numerous contradictions and absurdities in both of their religions to continue believing in them.  Only in the Mormon religion, do we see perfect harmony and unflinching truth.

Joseph Smith also taught that each of our souls are endless in their age.  The revelations on our website also teach that "And, for as much as you know that man is formed in the likeness and image of God, who is eternal spirit, you know also that man is eternal spirit, like unto God; and like unto God neither was nor could be created." Second Message 7:5.

Mormons believe that each of our souls are eternally progressing and learning, and each of us will continue to progress and learn knowledge throughout the eternities to come.  If you live forever, will there ever be a time when you will stop learning knowledge and wisdom, and progressing in your situation?  Knowledge is power.  What do you think you can do with this knowledge, if you are able to obtain it?  

These revelations teach us that the vastness of the expanse of heaven was created for the benefit of the redeemed of the Lord.

"And behold, if you will turn your face unto the heavens, and look into the bosom of the immeasurable expanse, where countless worlds like unto this move in trains of never ending glory before the vision of the eye, you will behold the heritage of the Son.

14. And unto his redeemed he will deliver the title deeds of their eternal estates; for all the fullness of the Father's kingdoms are the heritage of the righteous; and their birth-right of free-agency abideth in them forever, as in the Son.

15. And to this end, even that man might inherit all things, Jesus Christ came into the world to suffer for them, and be lifted up before them, that they might see him suffer, and thus seeing him suffer, might know of the fullness of the measure of his love for them, yea, that they might marvel and be astonished."  First Message 9:13-15

The Christians with their beliefs limit God and man to a finite existence.  Mormons believe that each and every one of us, without exception will inherit endless glories, powers and dominions which we cannot even begin to imagine if we live for it.  Many Christians believe that all those who have not accepted the testimony of Christ in their lifetimes will burn in hell forever.  Mormons know that there are many people on every continent in the world who have lived and died throughout history without ever being given the chance to learn of their Redeemer, who might have gladly accepted their Lord if given the half a chance. It would not be justice to allow them to burn in hell for all time.  Mormons believe that it is possible for all people to eventually believe and be saved and receive their inheritance from God.  Why would God create so many people just to send most of them to burn in hell forever and ever?  So many of our ancestors, both yours and mine.  Where is the justice and mercy of God in that kind of belief that Christians have?

"For man have I created that he might have joy hereafter, even to partake of the joys of eternity, which exceed all imagination of the heart and all calculation of the mind. And I would that he might inherit the powers of endless dominion, and not that he might have misery. And for this cause do I call men to repentance." First Message 7:9

Hopefully, the mention of the planet Kolob will not quite sound as bad as many Christians have made it sound, when considering the logic behind the Mormon perspective.  These Christians who do these things can make jokes about it, and laugh, and ridicule and scorn all they want.  We do not wish to tear down the Christian religion, the way so many Christians try to tear down our religion.  We wish to build up their religion with the truth, and the fullness of the Gospel of Christ.  We do not wish to destroy the Christian's faith in Christ, like so many of them wish to destroy the faith of Mormons in their religion.  We wish to enlighten all people with the truth, as far as we understand it, and to deceive no one.  The Christian religion contains many truths, but these truths are only in fragments, and not in their fullness.  Forcing Christians to speculate to fill in the holes, in which case they are often in error.

The Pearl of Great Price mentions Kolob, because it is the chiefest of the order of the worlds to which the earth belongs, and it is the closest to heaven.

 "And I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were near unto it;  And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; 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 (the earth) upon which thou standest."  Pearl of Great Price 3:2-3.

"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.  And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.  And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is." Book of Mormon, Moroni, 10:4-6.