An LDS perspective on the ‘Law of One’ Material

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The Law of One is kinda crazy. But even for a sceptic, if you can get past the information on bigfoot, aliens and government conspiracies… it’s got some great insight, woven within the crazy.

It is one of a handful of foundational channeled texts which have helped define the New Age Movement. It is a collected series of transcripts, of more than 100 sessions, reputedly authored by an extra planetary intelligence claimed to be a group of individual souls at a “higher level of spiritual evolution” that were “channeled” by Don Elkins and Carla L. Rueckert (McCarty) in the early 1980s.

I can’t say I would recommend it to an orthodox Christian– because I think it is a back door to very esoteric knowledge and false information, but I find myself repeatedly drawn to it because of its cohesive cosmology. If you’re very open minded and feel like there’s an unbridgeable gap between Christian Theology and modern science, it’s a must read. Anyone can write a channeled work and blow smoke about this or that, but what sets truly good religious works apart is their ability to cohesively describe the cosmos and cosmological phenomenon. As well as to describe the complexity of human thought and behavior. Despite its very difficult prose literary style and strange verbiage I am amazed at this material’s ability to harmonize the foundational concepts of all religions and tie it together with UFO-ology, and the modern New Age context.

I’ll get around some time to finishing this article and showing how its cosmology fits well with that taught in both Mormonism and Oahspe. I suspect the bulk of the truth within the work is actually based on ideas that came from the Oahspe. It also has profound material on the Christ/Lucifer dichotomy. (Service to self, autocratic governance in the Universe vs. Service to Others democratic governance in the universe). It does a good job of tying eastern religious ideas and concepts with those of Christianity and Christian mysticism. It puts many new age ideas which usually come across as hokey or superstitious, such as crystal work (ie The Urim & Thummim) and energy work / pyramid structures, on a ‘scientific’ foundation. It gives explanations for Atlantis and Lemuria which seem to tie-in well with LDS concepts of the antediluvian record (Garden of Eden in the Americas or somewhere other than Babylon). It adds to Oahspe’s view of how UFO and extraterrestrial phenomenon fit with religious notions of God and extra-planetary Gods.

Views on God

The Law Of One or Ra series one the most profound views I’ve come across of the differing aspects of God or higher intelligence. The text defines the “One most high God” of Judeo-Christianity as “intelligent infinity”. This term represents the infinite intelligence that exists within and throughout all creation. All aspects of intelligence exists within a fractal relationship to this intelligent unity which binds all creation. This intelligence is passive, and any individuated self-conscious being has the potential to access this intelligent unity of all creation. It is a concept somewhat like the Nicene concept of God, mixed with non-anthropomorphic eastern concepts of God. The text also talks of “intelligent energy” which is the use of focus of intelligent infinity–a concept somewhat similar to the Mormon priesthood power or Jedi force of star wars.

Below this it speaks of many echelons or fractal levels of sub-intelligence. The Law Of One borrows the Hellenistic term “logos” for these. Our galaxy is an example of a logos, as is our solar system. Within these systems exists an intelligent unity which exists as a fractal of the higher governing bodies they are within (a system somewhat similar to that described in the Mormon Book of Abraham and hypocephalus). It states that there exists within each logos an 6-8th density level of consciousness which is the culmination of all intelligence independent of time. (somewhat similar to the Mormon view of the Celestial level of glory) The closer a self-conscious being can come to accessing this realm of consciousness, the more powerful he is. This is similar to the Mormon view that Christ and other God’s became “gods”, by growing “grace by grace” as they learned to use the priesthood or “powers of heaven” (D&C 121).

Ra teaches that each individual is also a “logos” and exists as a fractal or microcosm of these higher levels of consciousness… also possessing an 6-8th density aspect which is independent of time. This is something referred to as “the higher self” or personal God. Ra teaches that because this aspect of each individual’s and groups consciousness exists apart from time–it knows the outcome of every alternate reality, or possible experimentation in our personal evolution. Thus, by gaining access to this level of consciousness, we may be led to the most advantageous path of any circumstance. This is similar to the LDS views on “the spirit”–and its ability to personally lead us to happiness and salvation.

Apart from this, however, there are other levels of beings Ra speaks of. They state that any highly cohesive group has the potential of forming what Ra calls a “social memory complex”. These are a 4rth density (terrestrial in Mormon terms) phenomenon and are the “god” of most Christian Scripture. These groups create most global religions and are the source for much of the most well known channeled information. These are group consciousnesses of Carl Jung and creators of the archetypes found in religion. 

Problems & Contradictions

The material will probably not resonate with devout religious adherents, and some of its erudite descriptions of the “negative path” are a bit dark and uneasing. Much like many gnostic works, the material pokes behind the veils of organized religions, and in so doing tends to diminish fundamentalism.  The opportunities for misunderstanding are high.

As I read it, I am constantly reminded of the following verses from Oashpe,

33/3.19. O man, beware of angels who say…
33/3.28. …Behold me, I am from the highest, most exalted sphere, or from a far-off star, or,
33/3.29. Who says: I have visited the planets, or,
33/3.30. Who says: Resurrection comes by reincarnation: first a stone, then lead, then silver, then gold, then a tree, then a worm, then an animal and then man; or that a spirit re-enters the womb, and is born again in mortality, or,
33/3.31. Who says: You are blessed; for a host of ancient spirits attend you—you have a great mission.
33/3.32. For all of these are the utterances of the angels of the first resurrection. And though they may inspire great oratory and learned discourses, yet they are flatterers, and will surely lead you into grief.

33/5.6. Consider then the seers and prophets (who hear the angels) whether they have grown constitutionally to be one with Purity, Wisdom and Goodness.
33/5.7. For this is required of those who presume to hear me and my holy ones. And having attained to this, who, except those who have attained to the same, can judge them?
33/5.8. Shall a man ask a magician regarding the inspiration of the prophets of your God? Or the angels of the first resurrection be consulted as to their opinions of my revelations, and their words taken for truth without substantiation?

-Of course, to be fair, most accepted religious “prophets” are guilty of claims entailing of many of these warnings. (Including Christ himself). So obviously these wise words are not saying “don’t believe those who say these things” but instead, take caution because more often than not the inspiration is coming from a flatterer.  So keeping on our skeptical hat, yet putting judgement of the source aside (including Elkin’s troubling martyr-like suicide), I’ll go through just a few of the ideas taught in the Law of One works and show how they harmonize and fit within the framework of other restorationist and new age revelatory/channeled material.

-It says Oahspe is another work “given by the counsel” (the same council of Saturn to which they belong), but its descriptions of Jesus’ death as well as its descriptions of the building of the great pyramid, completely contradict each other.  (The law of One states that they helped build the pyramids by thought forms, Oahspe says the false Osiris inspired hojax to build it using natural means).

-Unlike most other channeled texts (Oahspe in particular) The book has virtually nothing which inspires the reader to morally better themselves. In fact it tends to do the opposite.

-Don Elkins, the mastermind behind the work seems to be associated with Adrija Puharich and Uri Geller, which should raise some eyebrows and be cause for skepticism from those familiar with these individuals.

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A few other thoughts…

-The work is theoretical  and largely impractical (compared to a practicable religion at least).  It offers a lot of amazing information but little to no support framework to carry out the exercises in group consciousness that it details.

-The way in which the answers, commonly contradict the questioner give it added validity in my mind. (The questioner will say “I believe this is how it is”, and the answer will say “no, you’ve got it all wrong, its more like this…)

-Its ideas on the 7 densities are spectacular. The idea that the Spirit World and its 7 divisions (which it says can be arbitrarily divided into 3 or 7 or infinite sets of 7) are a microcosm for 7 larger major densities or dimensions which the physical earth will progressively transition into, seems very original and rational.

-Its description of the highest level of the earth’s spirit world (or inner planes) as an exact microcosm/fractal of intelligent infinity (or the most-high god), solves a major enigma of how the Biblical god can call itself “The Most High God…” who “beside me there is no God” and yet still be just a planetary God.

-Its description of a “social memory complex” is spectacular. It helps to explain Oahspe’s logic of group harmony and cooperation being the key to raising higher in the heavens.

-Thus it seems to suggest that the pre-resurrection “Degrees of Glory” of Mormonism, and the “Atmospherea” of Oahspe (which it calls Time/Space or the earth’s inner planes) are a perfect microcosm of larger cycles of “Resurrection” (which can be made to fit well with Mormon scripture).

-Its advice on healing and crystal work should be of particular interest to Mormons and other faiths which share the mystical world-view.

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definitions

The Law of One uses a very difficult-to-read literary style. Here are just a few of its unconventional but descriptive words and the concepts they represent.

Ra = The material purports to come from a large group consciousness called Ra, as in Is-ra-el (Isis-ra-el) or the sun god of ancient egypt.  They suggest they are a planetary group consciousness which influenced early Egypt. This is significant to Christians as Judaism was influenced by Egyptian religion and priesthood perhaps more than any other nation. According to the Book of Mormon, Israel was till using an Egyptain based writing system up until at least 600 BC.

Social Memory Complex = basically a term for a collective or group consciousness. Similar to the Christian communion. A concept esoterically taught by the Christian Eucharist. The “body” (church) of Christ.

mind/body/spirit complex = a term better translated ‘an individual’ or person. this term seeks to specify that each individual has three primary components; a mind, a physical body and a spirit.

Intelligent Infinity = This is essentially a term for what Mormons might call ‘The Most High God’ or ‘The infinite intelligence’. In the Law of One this concept of God is more like the ‘Great Spirit’ of Oahspe. It is differentiated from lower gods with bodies. It is the aspect of all creation which is intelligent and can be accessed by any fractal or individuated intelligence like mankind.

space/time & time/space = In LDS terms these are essentially the mortal world and the spirit world. More specifically these terms come from the cosmology of Dewey Larson. His premise was that all reality is just different manifestations of motion; that time and space are both different aspects of motion. space over time being where space is large compared to time as is the case in our physical or mortal world. time over space being where time is large compared to space as is in the spirit world. However, an LDS person should realize that while roughly analogous, these concepts have different meaning in the Law of One which may take a while to come to grasp.

learn/teach, ask/receive, & other dualities = The law of one teaches that all dualities are just different manifestations of the same thing, so in its verbiage it often pairs dualities with their opposites

Law of One Summarized

6.14 The Law of One states simply that all things are one, that all beings are one. There are certain behaviors and thought-forms consonant with the understanding and practice of this law. Those who, finishing a cycle of experience, demonstrate various grades of distortion of that understanding of thought and action will be separated by their own choice into the vibratory distortion most comfortable to their mind/body/spirit complexes. This process is guarded or watched by those nurturing beings who, being very close to the Law of One in their distortions, nevertheless have the distortion towards active service.

1.7 …That which is infinite cannot be many, for many-ness is a finite concept. To have infinity you must identify or define that infinity as unity; otherwise, the term does not have any referent or meaning. In an Infinite Creator there is only unity. You have seen simple examples of unity. You have seen the prism which shows all colors stemming from the sunlight. This is a simplistic example of unity.

In truth there is no right or wrong. There is no polarity for all will be, as you would say, reconciled at some point in your dance through the mind/body/spirit complex which you amuse yourself by distorting in various ways at this time. This distortion is not in any case necessary. It is chosen by each of you as an alternative to understanding the complete unity of thought which binds all things. You are not speaking of similar or somewhat like entities or things. You are every thing, every being, every emotion, every event, every situation. You are unity. You are infinity. You are love/light, light/love. You are. This is the Law of One.

4.20 The Law of One, though beyond the limitations of name, as you call vibratory sound complexes, may be approximated by stating that all things are one, that there is no polarity, no right or wrong, no disharmony, but only identity. All is one, and that one is love/light, light/love, the Infinite Creator.

72.12 Questioner: Could you explain what you mean by “raises up any personality?”
Ra: Clues, we may offer. Explanation is infringement. We can only ask that you realize that all are One

1.10 Firstly, you must understand that the distinction between yourself and others is not visible to us. We do not consider that a separation exists between the consciousness-raising efforts of the distortion which you project as a personality and the distortion which you project as an other personality. Thus, to learn is the same as to teach…

Similar concepts from LDS scripture

21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:21–23)

27 And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name; for behold, verily I say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one. (3 Nephi 11:27)

43 And the Father and I are one. I am in the Father and the Father in me; and inasmuch as ye have received me, ye are in me and I in you. D&C 50:43

2 I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, even as many as will believe on my name, that they may become the sons of God, even one in me as I am one in the Father, as the Father is one in me, that we may be one. D&C 35:2

18 And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them. (Moses 7:18)

Read the Law of One at lawofone.info

Download the pdf’s here

Emanuel Swedenborg and Mormonism

emanuel swedenborg

emanuel swedenborg

 

It’s been years since I first noticed the marked similarities between many of the teachings of Joseph Smith and Emanual Swedenborg. I’v read many of Swedenborg’s books and got a lot from them. His writing style is quite drawn out (wordy) and often hard to get through. Perhaps some of the awfully verbose nature of his writing (especially his first work, Arcana Coelestia) might have to do with the poor translation of Swedish to English? At any rate, I would have to say my views on his writings have changed a lot, the more I have read from the occult or mysticism movements. I meant to write an article on this a while back when I bought “Heaven & Hell” and began reading many of his other works on sacred-texts.com (see the Swedenborg library at http://sacred-texts.com/swd/).

I recently came across this essay compiled by Craig Miller and thought I would re-post it. It does a great job of going through the many similarities, although I don’t necessarily agree with which aspects arose from inspirational congruence and which were parroted doctrines.

One important note on on Miller’s essay below: It’s a common thing to hear that Joseph’s three degrees of glory are similar to (and possibly borrowed from) Swedenborg’s view of heaven. I personally don’t think the correspondence is strong enough to suggest this. It’s likely Joseph was familiar with Swedenborg (he supposedly owned a copy one one of Swedenborg’s many books). It’s also very likely the saints where influenced by Swedenborg in how they interpreted D&C 76, since It’s also true that Swedenborg taught of three degrees, and a ‘spirit world’. But they are not called Celestial, Terrestrial, Telestial… and they don’t look anything like Joseph’s. Joseph’s three degrees in D&C 76 look a lot more like the Catholic view of heaven, hell and purgatory, than they do Swedenborg’s Celestial, Spiritual and Natural heavens. (which depending on how you read it…. may have been contrasted by three additional degrees of hell). Read D&C 76’s description of the “terrestrial” and compare it to St Ambrose’s purgatory… they’re almost synonymous. Likewise D&C 76:84, calls the telestial kingdom, “hell”. That is nothing like Swedenborg’s realms. Only those who know next to nothing about Swedenborg pass around that myth. (which is a lot of people).

Did Emanuel Swedenborg Influence LDS Doctrine?

by Craig Miller[1]

Born in Sweden in 1688, Emanuel Swedenborg claims that at the age of 57 he was visited by the Savior and commanded to write the inner meaning of the scriptures and to explain life awaiting man after the death of the physical body. He claims to have been a citizen of both the physical and the spiritual world for approximately 27 years[2], conversing with angels on a daily basis. The Swedish mystic wrote thousands of pages explaining what he learned from angels and inspired insights into the scriptures and claims that he wrote only as the Lord directed.

Emanuel Swedenborg’s teachings, discussed later in more detail, are startlingly recognizable to the student of LDS theology. For example, he taught that there are three heavens, the celestial being the most inward and refined. There are three levels within the celestial glory and marriage for all eternity is an absolute requirement for entry into the highest of these heavens. He witnessed a marriage in heaven and stated that the husband was arrayed in the priesthood robes of Aaron and the wife wore apparel suggestive of a queen with a crown on her head.

Large portions of what many consider to be unique teachings of the LDS Church are found in the Swedish mystic’s writings. Nevertheless he is not a mirror of all LDS teachings since, for instance, he taught that God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Ghost are a single individual; concepts about a pre-mortal existence are a misunderstanding; and that our Lord did not make any payment for our sins on the cross; among other things.

Swedenborg shows us that God has his hand in many aspects of human history and is mindful of more than just his LDS children. Few LDS know of Emanuel Swedenborg, let alone his teachings, so that he seems nearly invisible in LDS writings and study. Perhaps we should heed the Doctrine and Covenants exhortation to Aseek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom.[3] My study of the Writings[4] has enriched my understanding of the gospel and its importance for mankind. From my own observations of his teachings I believe that the study of Swedenborg’s writings can help solve some of life’s knotty problems.

A Brief History of Emanuel Swedenborg[5]

Swedenborg was an eighteenth century renaissance figure, who investigated and wrote extensively on areas ranging from scientific and philosophic matters to engineering and political economy. A member of the nobility, he was well known and respected in his time, and even today, for his scientific accomplishments. Having had a major spiritual awakening, he began to write books about the nature of God, the spiritual life, heaven and hell, a deeper meaning to the Bible, providence, marriage, and the second coming of Christ. He believed that his teachings were Divinely inspired and that they would be the foundation for the rebirth of Christianity.

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, on the 29th of January, 1688, the son of a clergyman and professor of theology, Swedenborg grew up in a household filled with moral, political, intellectual and philosophical dialogue. The family also did well in worldly affairs. Their mine and land holdings could have comfortably supported Emanuel apart from any salary he received from his employment if he had chosen not to work.

After his formal education at Uppsala University, at the age of twenty-two, Swedenborg began to travel. While in England and Holland he immersed himself in studying many subjects, including: physics, astronomy, mathematics, anatomy, physiology, economics, metallurgy, mineralogy, geology, chemistry, watchmaking, bookbinding, and lens grinding, only a sample of the intense, self-directed program of education he embarked on in the early part of his life.

During this time of travel and scholarship, Swedenborg began his career of public service. In 1716, the King of Sweden appointed him Extraordinary Assessor in the Royal College of Mines. Also in 1716 he was hired by Christopher Polhem, recognized as one of Sweden’s greatest inventors. Christopher offered Emanuel the hand of his eldest daughter Maria, but Emanuel preferred Maria’s younger sister, Emerentia and employed some intrigues to avoid marrying Maria while keeping himself in everyone’s good graces. Unfortunately the brilliant and beautiful Emerentia preferred a younger gentleman, which deeply disappointed Emanuel. Matrimony is one area where Emanuel’s efforts ultimately went unrewarded, although he made more than one serious attempt.

In 1719, he took a seat in the House of Nobles (a part of the Swedish legislature), in which he served the Swedish government for some fifty years. Also, the King of Sweden, impressed with Swedenborg’s contributions as editor of Daedalus (a periodical dedicated to the discussion of natural sciences), asked Swedenborg to serve as his engineering advisor. In that capacity, Swedenborg devised numerous feats of engineering to aid the military and industry. He also designed many inventions. Although most were never built, they included a submarine, an airplane, a steam engine, an air gun and a slow-combustion stove. Befitting a man of his intellectual strength and fervor, Swedenborg published many books on a vast number of subjects. Two subjects that he made particular advances in were metallurgy and biology. Especially impressive is the work he did in connection with the nervous system; he is generally credited with being the first to accurately understand the significance of the cerebral cortex and the respiratory function of the brain tissues.

Throughout all this Swedenborg wasn’t satisfied with a purely physical approach to studying humanity and the universe. In particular, his ambition was to comprehend more fully the nature of the soul and to develop a new, more accurate cosmology than had ever before been proposed. Based upon his conviction that underlying all matter in the universe was Divine force, he wrote of the relationships between matter and energy, between the finite and the Infinite, and between God and humanity. Among the books he wrote on these topics were: The Economy of the Animate Kingdom, The Brain, The Senses, and Rational Psychology.

Then, in 1744, his life took an unexpected turn. He began to have vivid, disturbing, and exhilarating dreams and visions. Not knowing what to make of these odd experiences, he revealed them nowhere but in his personal journals. Moved partially by the need to understand his own recent experiences and partially by the direction his studies in cosmology and the human soul were taking, he began a meticulous study of the Bible.

In the month of April, 1745, Emanuel Swedenborg had an experience that forever changed his life – The Lord appeared to him and told him something amazing: a human person was needed to serve as the means by which God would further reveal Himself to humanity, somewhat in the manner of the Biblical visions of the Old Testament. So began Swedenborg’s life as a spiritual revelator.

From then until his death, Swedenborg studied the Bible, perfected his knowledge of Hebrew and Greek, and wrote numerous theological works which he claimed revealed the new Truths that have become the foundation for The New Church. Throughout this time, and confirming what the Lord was revealing to him, he was in periodic communication with spirits in Heaven and in Hell – exploring all the wonders of the world to come. In the numerous books, he revealed the hidden, inner meaning to the stories of the Old and New Testaments, the fundamental nature of God, Humanity and Creation, the truth about the afterlife, the keys to our own personal spiritual growth, the real meaning of the Book of Revelation, and the beautiful inner secrets behind true loving marriages, just to name a few things.

At first, his books went largely unnoticed. He published them anonymously at his own cost, sending them to the learned people of his day, but the general public was still unaware of his newfound truths. This began to change after a strange occurrence in July 1759. Swedenborg was in Gothenburg, dining with friends at the home of a wealthy local merchant. During the dinner, he suddenly became pale and distraught-looking and withdrew from the table. When asked what was the matter, he replied that he had just had news that a horrible fire had broken out in Stockholm (which was 300 miles from Gothenburg), not far from his own home. Then, at around eight o’clock that same evening, he just as suddenly became relieved, explaining that the fire had been extinguished three houses down from his own home.

His words and behavior of that evening became the talk of the town just a few days later, when a messenger arrived from Stockholm with news about the fire Swedenborg had described. Upon questioning, it was discovered that his description of the event had perfectly matched, in much detail, what had actually happened that summer evening. Soon afterward, the first surge of interest in his theological writings began, spurred on not only by the strange story of his uncanny knowledge of the Stockholm fire, but also by several other episodes which demonstrated an ability to communicate with people in the spiritual world.

For the remainder of his life, Swedenborg visited the other world and published books revealing the truths he believed God had summoned him to write. He also maintained an active life in this world, taking part in political discussions in the House of Lords, of which he was a member, and writing on such diverse topics as Sweden’s monetary policy and how to inlay tables. Then, on Sunday, March 29th, 1772 at five o’clock in the afternoon, Emanuel Swedenborg entered into the Spiritual World for the final time, never to return again (incidentally, dying exactly when he had earlier predicted he would). Since then, his Writings have affected thousands of people, both directly and indirectly. The universal theology put forth in his works has contributed to advancement of religious thought all across the world, from Christianity to Buddhism, and has inspired many a great person, including William Blake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Wesley, Helen Keller, Johnny Appleseed, and many others. Most importantly (at least, to people in the New Church) The Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg have served as the foundation for a New Christian Church.

How LDS Teachings Compare with Swedenborg’s

The similarities between LDS doctrine and Swedenborg’s teachings are striking – and impossible for me to imagine as mere coincidences. Likewise, the differences are also just as outstanding and cause me to wonder how the similarities can coexist with such marked differences.

I list here some similarities which include a few ideas which are embraced by both Swedenborg and the LDS religion but which are far from a comprehensive list. Volumes could be written about each topic and how they compare. I will leave to the theologians of both the LDS Church and New Churches[6] the in-depth examination of these concepts. The majority of my citations are from Heaven and Hell, Swedenborg’s most popular work.[7]

Swedenborg numbered paragraphs in his writing so that no matter in what format they might be published, readers could follow the same numbering scheme. In his own works his references are always listed in this fashion. I have also adopted this system for the references to Swedenborg’s works. Other works are referred to by page number. Scriptures, LDS or otherwise, use standard scriptural notation.

Vocabulary differences between Swedenborgian writings and LDS scriptures should also be noted. In Swedenborg’s writings Mormons should generally substitute the word perdition for hell to understand the proper context. The spirit world, for Swedenborgians, includes perdition, heaven, and a realm of more-or-less recently departed spirits while the term ‘world of spirits’ in Swedenborg’s Writings refers to an intermediate realm between heaven and hell for the relatively recently deceased. Since world of spirits can be understood by both an LDS or Swedenborgian reader, this term is used throughout the text.

Unique Similarities

In the entire congregation of all historical Christian theologians the following similarities, according to the understanding of the author, are only found in the LDS religious tradition and the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg. One such similarity would be an interesting coincidence, two completely unexpected, three a practical impossibility, and four a strong indication that there is something much more to the similarities than mere chance. An analogy might be that a unique gene in two otherwise very dissimilar individuals may still be an indication that common ancestry is a either a high probability or an absolute certainty.

1. There are three heavens (D&C 76, Heaven and Hell chapter 5). Swedenborg divided the heavens into three: celestial, spiritual, and natural, with divisions so absolute that direct communication is generally not possible without divine help. Those of lower heavens in general cannot see the inhabitants of the higher heavens. Communication does occur between higher and lower realms, but those of the lower heavens are, in general, not so aware of its occurrence. The communication originates from what Swedenborg calls correspondences, which are in the nature of the relationship of a symbol or allegory and which are a central feature of all creation, providing the means by which higher or more inner degrees of reality, beginning with God Himself, are related, typically in cause and effect fashion, to lower, more external degrees. The LDS parallel of Swedenborg’s heavens are the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial heavens. Swedenborg’s terms for the heavens are all biblical, and can be found in the scriptures that Mormons believe refer to these heavens, 1 Cor 15:40–42.[8] The counterpart of Swedenborg’s spiritual heaven is the LDS terrestrial heaven, which despite its name, is not depicted as being earthlike in LDS scripture. To describe the lowest of the heavens Joseph Smith invented a new term, telestial. Swedenborg stated that the heavens were arranged in layers around the central Sun of heaven, or the Lord God Jesus Christ. The natural heaven is the furthest from the center.

2. Priesthood robes are worn in heavenly marriage ceremonies. Swedenborg witnessed a marriage ceremony in heaven in which the husband wore robes like those of Aaron while the wife was arrayed as a queen. (D&C 131:2, Conjugial Love 20, 21). LDS doctrine mostly speaks of two orders of the priesthood, the Melchizedek and Aaronic, but also speaks of the patriarchal order as another order of the priesthood (D&C 132). Swedenborg’s description of the attire of the heavenly couple in the marriage ceremony of Cojugial Love 21 will strike a chord with all Mormons who have witnessed a temple marriage.[9]

3. There are three heavens in the celestial glory or kingdom (D&C 131:1, Arcana Coelestia 9993). Swedenborg states that there are three heavens, the celestial, spiritual and natural, and two kingdoms of heaven, the celestial and the spiritual. The organizational relationship between the three heavens and two kingdoms is complex and has long been a source of discussion among students of Swedenborg. In Arcana Coelestia 9993 [2], Swedenborg states that the celestial kingdom has three divisions, and also stated in Arcana Coelestia 5922 [2] that the celestial kingdom is the celestial heaven. Through the Lord’s direction and by means of angels that communicate between them they act in unison. Mormons understand D&C 131:1 to mean that the celestial heaven, glory in D&C 131:1, is divided into three heavens. Swedenborg also used the word glory to refer to kingdoms, Arcana Coelestia 5922 [2]. While, again, the exact interpretation of the three heavens-two kingdoms distinction remains a matter of discussion in the New Church, the parallels with LDS doctrine are still obvious.

4. You must be married in heaven to inherit the highest heaven (D&C 131:2, Conjugial Love 54(5), 155). Monogamy is central, according to Swedenborg, to all of heaven, although there are a few exceptions, such as sincere celibates and some Islamics in polygamous relationships, who live at the fringes or side of the lower heavens. Marriage mimics (or, in Swedenborg’s term and concept, “corresponds to”) the relationship between God and His Church since their ultimate destiny is approach unity. Again, Swedenborg states that an absolute requirement to inherit the highest heaven is heterosexual marriage. Marriage, according to Swedenborg, means the separate minds of man and wife become so closely spiritually linked that they become one mind (and married couples in heaven, seen from a distance, may appear on occasion as one individual). The Doctrine and Covenants simply states that the highest heaven in the celestial glory cannot be attained without eternal marriage (D&C 132:2). Without eternal marriage men and women cannot fulfill the purpose of their creation or reach the highest degree of spiritual attainment which is possible for them, or in Swedenborg’s words, “cannot approach the Lord” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, Vol.3, p.333, Conjugial Love 155). Swedenborg saw married partners in heaven as being two halves of good and truth or love and wisdom. The unity of these two is fundamental to creation, the husband bringing wisdom externally and love internally and the wife bringing love externally and wisdom internally to the union. LDS ideas aren’t so specific but similar concepts are hinted at in the temple.

5. The world of spirits is a place of preparation for either heaven or perdition (Alma 12:24, 34:32-34, 40:21, Heaven and Hell 421, 422). Both LDS doctrine and Swedenborg state that the world of spirits is the portal through which all mankind passes on to prepare for either heaven or perdition. This idea is distinct from the Catholic idea of purgatory in which only the righteous go who are destined for heaven. Purgatory is also seen as a place of punishment. Most of Christianity rejects the idea of purgatory, or a spiritual abode separate from heaven or hell, as being non-scriptural. Swedenborg taught that for newly arrived spirits, the world of spirits is nearly identical to this one. LDS doctrine refers to the world of spirits as a continuation of this life where men make decisions about their eternal outcome and eventually inherit one of the three heavens or perdition (Alma 12:24, Alma 34:32–34 where “this life” is taken to extend into the world of spirit). This is echoed in Swedenborg’s teachings as well, but for Swedenborg the ultimate fate of the soul is determined by the individual’s “ruling love,” or basic spiritual orientation toward good or evil, at the time of passing from mortality (Heaven and Hell 427). LDS doctrine states that men are not only judged by their actions, but the desires of their heart (Alma 41:3, Helaman 14:29–31, Mosiah 2:34–39; Doctrine and Covenants 137:9) . The LDS concept of the world of spirits allows a wide range of choice for those who have never encountered true principles during their lifetime. Mormons believe that a person may remain in the world of spirits for hundreds or thousands of years while Swedenborg generally limits this time of preparation to a mere thirty years (1 Peter 3:18–20, Heaven and Hell 426. It might be noted that Swedenborg teaches that there was an exception to the thirty year rule in past history, at a time when there existed “false heavens,” realms created in the spirit world which trap those who would otherwise progress to heaven or perdition, but that these were eliminated at the time of the Last Judgment, which Swedenborg states occurred in the year 1757 (Last Judgement 64). LDS teachers indicate that repentance is much easier in the physical realms than in the world of spirits while Swedenborg indicates that it is impossible anywhere but the physical existance (Journal of Discourses 3:230 and 3:371, Heaven and Hell 480).

6. There are angels who communicate between heavens (Doctrine and Covenants 76:86–88, Heaven and Hell 27, 35). Swedenborg states that higher heavens communicate with lower ones through intermediary angels and through correspondence (Heaven and Hell 35, 88). Swedenborg’s description of angelic communication between heavens is fascinating, “as is often done, angels are raised up by the Lord out of a lower heaven into a higher that they may behold its glory; for then they are prepared beforehand, and are encompassed by intermediate angels, through whom they have communication…” (Heaven and Hell 35). Communication is facilitated by raising the awareness of lower angels to that of the higher heaven so that the message can be perceived or understood. The Doctrine and Covenants states that “some” of the celestial heaven minister to those in the terrestrial (spiritual?) heaven, and “some” of the terrestrial (spiritual?) heaven minister to those of the telestial (natural?) heaven. Swedenborg describes societies of angels whose principal function is communication between the kingdoms of heaven (Heaven and Hell 27). Doctrine and Covenants 76:88 states that the angels who communicate to lower heavens are “appointed” for this task, paralleling the Swedenborgian idea that angelic societies tend to have a specialization.

7. Likens the celestial, spiritual (terrestrial?), and natural (telestial?) heaven to the sun, moon, and stars (D&C 76:50,71,81, 88:7-9, Heaven and Hell 117-120, 129, Apocalypse Revealed 65). I place this at the end of the list because there is a significant difference embeded in the similarity, namely that Swedenborg speaks of the heavens and their illumination while LDS scriptures speak of the bodies of the inhabitants of those heavens. Nevertheless, the aspects of the teachings that are similar are unique in Christianity and not clear in the King James version of 1 Cor 15:40–42. Allegorically, Swedenborg likens both the nature of each heaven as well as the illumination in the sky of each heaven to the sun, moon, and stars (Heaven and Hell 119). He states that the sun of the celestial heaven and the moon of the spiritual kingdom is the Lord (Heaven and Hell 118). Swedenborg states that the communities of the natural heaven appear as stars in the sky to inhabitants of the world of spirits (Apocalypse Revealed 65). In the Joseph Smith translation of I Cor 14:40–42 and in Doctrine and Covenants 76:70,71,81; the resurrected bodies of those in the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial heavens are likened to the sun, moon, and stars. In Doctrine and Covenants 88:7,8, the Lord is said to be the light of the sun and is in the sun and also the light of the moon and is in the moon. Verse 9 states that He is also the source of the light of the stars but does not state the He is in the stars. It could well be that these verses speak of the spiritual realms more than the physical.

Other Similarities

These following similarities are interesting, but common to more than just LDS Church and New Church teachings. There are significant differences embedded in some of the similarities. These are explained as far as understood by the author.

8. The church Christ established has passed from the earth (Joseph Smith—History 16, etc., Last Judgement 33-39). Swedenborg stated that the first Christian church died spiritually, due to falling into falsities, ending its ability to serve as a spiritual link between heaven and earth.[10] While Swedenborg lamented the loss of spirituality and truth, Smith emphasized the loss of authority.[11] LDS doctrine teaches that the church established by Christ had ceased to exist on earth among mortal men due to apostasy, thus ending of transferring priesthood authority given by Christ to His apostles. Mormons believe the Lord’s Church has a link to heaven through this priesthood, which priesthood has the authority to act for God on earth and perform ordinances necessary for salvation, such as baptism. While this similarity will pique the interest of LDS readers, it should be noted that many protestant reformers also claimed that Christ’s church had ceased to exist among men.

9. The Lord will establish a New Church on the earth once more (D&C 1, the First Vision, True Christian Religion 647). The Lord’s Church would be reestablished, the truth would be taught again and serve as a link to heaven. To Mormons this link is revelation which is granted to the Lord’s servants, more specifically those that are ordained to the priesthood and who are called to guide the Church. New Church people believe that only Swedenborg received such revelation, not church members. The idea of a latter-day restoration of Christ’s church is not totally unique to LDS or Swedenborgian thought, however, since a number of Christian reformers stated that the church had fallen away and needed to be reestablished.[12] What is unique about Swedenborg is that although he recognized the need for reestablishing Christ’s church on the earth, he did little to bring about its organization beyond publishing the Writings.

10. Little children who die, Christian or not, go directly to heaven (Moroni 8:7–10, Heaven and Hell 332). Swedenborg states that they still require instruction. Both Swedenborg and LDS doctrine states that small children are not capable of understanding the results of their actions are not therefore culpable. LDS doctrine holds that all little children who die are bound for the celestial heaven (Doctrine and Covenants 137:10). Swedenborg states that little children are immediately taken into heaven after death (Heaven and Hell 332).

11. Since God creates man in free will, God does not send man to heaven or perdition. Man makes this choice himself. (2 Ne. 2:26–30; 10:23; Alma 13:3; Hela. 14:31, Heaven and Hell 452, Conjugial Love 48b) Swedenborg taught that hell-bound individuals cannot bear to be in heaven’s proximity. Orson Pratt indicated that the wicked would rather be in hell than the presence of God (Journal of Discourses 16: 331).

12. Without “opposition in all things”, or what Swedenborg terms the equilibrium between good and evil, the universe would not exist and men would appear dead (2 Ne. 2:11–13, Mosiah 2:21, Heaven and Hell 589, 592, 594, Arcana Coelestia 2887). Opposition means, in the words of the Book of Mormon, the opportunity for mankind to choose either eternal life and liberty or captivity and death. In other words, all men at all times are attracted by good and evil during mortality and have the opportunity to choose one or the other. This opposition, or balance, allows men to be free to choose (2 Nephi 2:16, Heaven and Hell 589). Swedenborg also states that “without equilibrium… nothing can come forth and have permanent existence,” (Heaven and Hell 589) and “all things and each thing in the universe, that is, both in the natural world and in the spiritual world, endure by means of equilibrium” (Heaven and Hell 592). The Book of Mormon similarly states that without opposition nothing could exist “neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away” (2 Nephi 2:13). Both balance (Swedenborg) and opposition (LDS) seem to indicate the opposed play of forces discovered by science in the physical world which allows it to exist. Swedenborg states that men are constantly in touch with (though not conscious of) both angels and evil spirits and if this were to cease that men would appear dead (Arcana Coelestia 2887). The Book of Mormon similarly states that without opposition creation would “remain as dead, having no life neither death” (2 Nephi 2:11).

13. Man is not saved by faith alone but must show works from a changed heart (Alma 11:34–37, True Christian Religion 340-342, Heaven and Hell 427). Swedenborg taught that justification by faith alone is one of the great errors of Christianity. The Book of Mormon teaches that we are saved by grace AFTER all we can do (2 Nephi 25:23).

14. Swedenborg echoes concepts found in the LDS sacrament prayer. If these principles are followed, men are guided on earth and the spirit world (Moroni chapters 4&5, Heaven and Hell 528-535). We must live the commandments (Moroni 4:3, Heaven and Hell 528-535). We must take upon us the name of the Son, which to Mormons means to lead a life of charity and service (Mosiah 18:8–11). Swedenborg also speaks of taking upon us the name of Christ in similar ways which emphasize charity and service.[13] (Moroni 4:3, , Heaven and Hell 528-535). We must think on heavenly things, or, more specifically, for Mormons, Christ or, for followers of Swedenborg, the Lord’s Divine Human (Swedenborg’s words) (Moroni 4:3, 5:2, Heaven and Hell 534).

15. One way to qualify for perdition is to know the truth and deny it, or in Swedenborg’s terms accept the truth and then later deny it (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith pg 358, Heaven and Hell 456). According to Joseph Smith, knowing the truth and then denying it is not mere disagreement. He stated that the candidate for perdition “has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy.” Swedenborg explains that heavenly visions are withheld from man because “there is danger in confirming any thing by visions when men are in falsities, for they would then first believe and afterwards deny, and thus would profane the truth itself, since to believe and afterwards deny is to profane; and those who profane truths are cast down into the lowest and most grievous of all the hells” (Heaven and Hell 456).

16. Celestial beings incorporate the law of consecration into their lives. In Mormon vernacular this means that our goods, time, talents, and all else that we appear to possess in fact belongs to God. (LDS traditional teachings, D&C 42, Moses 7:18, Heaven and Hell 8, 408). Swedenborg states that heavenly beings believe that all the good they have is from the Lord, not themselves, and that their role is to be tools for use by the Lord.

17. The creation and the garden of Eden stories are allegories to our spiritual progress (Arcana Coelestia vol. 1). The LDS counterpart of this idea is found in the temple and cannot be described in detail here.

18. All things in the physical world exist due to existence of a spiritual quality cause that then brings about a physical world effect, by means of what Swedenborg terms “correspondence” of the spiritual to the physical entity (e.g. water has a correspondential origin in truth, with which it thus shares symbolic qualities) (Moses 3:5&7, Heaven and Hell chapter 12) Mormons typically believe that there exists an image of our world in the spiritual realms. Swedenborg teaches that this is mostly true for the recently departed (Heaven and Hell 493), but that at a deeper spiritual level, things in the physical realm are mere symbols for the profound truths found in heaven.[14] Mormons also believe that the world was created completely in spiritual form before the physical creation. For Swedenborg, this is true through “correspondence” (Heaven and Hell 89), since the physical realm corresponds to the antecedent spiritual realm.

19. God is man. (Moses 6:57, 7:35, Matthew 16:13, Arcana Coelestia 9359, 9361, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith p. 345) Swedenborg states that “God is very Man” (Divine Love and Wisdom 11, New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 1). According to Swedenborg the difference between God and man is that while God has assumed humanity, he remains infinite in power, love, intelligence, and glory, while man merely approaches that ultimate by degrees and is finite. Before his birth, Swedenborg maintains that God was invisible to man and was represented on earth by His angels, who assumed His form when speaking with men. After His birth the resurrected Christ appears as Himself to men (True Christian Religion 786, 787). To Swedenborg, the whole of heaven, each angel, and all men are created in the image and likeness of the Divine humanity of God (Heaven and Hell 78-86). In this Greatest Human Being we find the structures and functions of both sexes (Apocalypse Explained 985:2). Joseph Smith taught that God is a man and is now exalted but was once Himself a mortal on earth. While the humanity of God is a common element there are some major differences between Swedenborg’s and Joseph Smith’s concepts of God’s humanity, especially since the LDS concept appears to encompass the idea that God is finite. The LDS view of God’s humanity is echoed in the King Follett Discourse of Joseph Smith:

“God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by his power, was to make himself visible,CI say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in formClike yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man….” Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg 345.

Some Differences

1. God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Ghost are a single individual in Swedenborg’s teachings. (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22, True Christian Religion 6 [3]). Current LDS Doctrine on the nature of God is clear that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are separate deities within the Godhead.

“Latter-day Saints believe in God the Father; his Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost (Article of Faith 1). These three Gods form the Godhead, which holds the keys of power over the universe. Each member of the Godhead is an independent personage, separate and distinct from the other two, the three being in perfect unity and harmony with each other (Articles of Faith, chap. 2)” Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “Godhead.”

According to Swedenborg’s teachings, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three aspects of God in the same manner that man had a body, a spirit, and individual thought. One Swedenborgian minister summarized Swedenborg’s explanation of the triune nature of God as follows:

Father ‘ Divine Itself ‘ invisible God ‘ Soul

Son ‘ Divine Human ‘ visible God ‘ Body

Holy Spirit ‘ Divine Proceeding ‘ Operation/Activity[15]

The Lectures on Faith, written in the first half of the 1830’s and later included in the standard works, teaches that the Father was a personage of spirit, the Son a personage of tabernacle, and that the Holy Ghost was their common mind.[16] If it could be understood that two personages with a common mind are one individual, then we have almost an exact corollary to Swedenborg’s teachings. Dan Vogel presents evidence that the earliest conceptions of God in the LDS Church portray the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as one individual, but that later teachings clearly contradicted this point of view.[17] This eventually disappeared from LDS teachings until finally the idea that the Father possessed a body of flesh appeared in LDS scripture fully endowing the Father with a separate physical and spiritual identity.

To illustrate the importance of the unity of God Swedenborg claims that the angels in heaven can not even pronounce the word “gods” (True Christian Religion 6 [3]). Nevertheless, Swedenborg seems to affirm the LDS view that the Father and the Son may appear as separate beings while rejecting how Mormons would interpret outward separateness. Swedenborg states that often in heaven the Lord appears as an angel apart from the sun of heaven where the Lord dwells (Heaven and Hell 121). He also teaches that during Christ’s earthly ministry He altered between states of temptation, when God the Father appeared as remote from Himself, and states when it was clear to Him that “I and my father are one.” but that this alternation ended with the conclusion of His temptations at the crucifixion (True Christian Religion 104-105).

2. Polygamy, if continued past the spirit world, assures that you will not enter the highest heaven (D&C 132, Heaven and Hell 379, Conjugial Love 141, 332, 348) or, with a handful of exceptions, that you will enter heaven at all since the monogamous married relationship is “in the image of God” and fundamental to heavenly existence. (Swedenborg does mention an exception in the form of a separate heaven of sincere Islamics, but it is clear that the quality of this heaven is below that of the rest of heaven as a result.) LDS scripture indicates that women sealed to a man with proper authority will be married to him for the eternities and they will become gods. Swedenborg agrees that marriages are, again, fundamental to heaven, but that all, again except for some Islamics, are monogamous. As already noted, this is because marriage there melds two minds into one and the forces that allow this to happen do not operate outside a monogamous relationship. Swedenborg states, “Polygamy is not a sin for those whose religion allows it,” but seems to exclude Christians from this exception (Conjugial Love 332). Swedenborg classifies polygamy among Christians as adultery, so that a husband of a polygamous marriage must renounce that state and choose a single wife in order to come in to heaven and establish the unity that allows higher understanding.

3. The Church of God is not an earthly organization and encompasses the entire world with those who follow true principles. The true church’s membership, according to Swedenborg, is fundamentally spiritual and its membership known but to God. New Church people are always very careful to distinguish human organizations designed to implement such uses as religious instruction from the true spiritual church, despite the same word being used to refer to both. (Arcana Coelestia 8152, Apocalypse Explained 304). The earliest concept of “Christ’s Church” taught in LDS teachings was fairly close to Swedenborg’s teachings.[18] The present LDS concept is that the Church of Christ is a specific organization places less emphasis on the nature of the members and gives far more importance to the institutional church (Doctrine and Covenants 1:30).

4. Christ redeems the world, but there is no vicarious payment for the sins of others (True Christian Religion 132, 133). LDS doctrine and mainstream Christianity state that Christ was slain for the sins of the world (D&C. 29:40-45; 2 Nephi 9:6–9; 2 Nephi 11:3). According to Swedenborg, the idea that God would be sufficiently angry with the human race to withhold his blessings until he killed his own Son to appease that anger is more characteristic of a monster than a gracious God. According to Swedenborg, Christ came to reset the good-evil equilibrium among men, since it had become unbalanced in the direction of evil as a result of men’s actions over history up till that time and so was interfering with free agency. In his system, anyone who goes to hell does so, not because of being punished for sins in the world, even terrible ones, but because, if he is of a hellish nature, he will want to continue such sinning in the other world. And the only place you can do that is hell. Christ’s temptation and suffering, according to Swedenborg, was primarily on the spiritual plane and continued from the moment of his birth, though only manifested externally (and correspondingly) at the end. As part of what Swedenborg terms the glorification process, Christ eliminated all of his human nature derived from the Mary-based heredity and brought about a new level of union with the Divine. Swedenborg states that Christ restored the hells to order through his life and sacrifice reopened the spiritual link of men with the heavens to operate on the earth through men once more (True Christian Religion 116). LDS doctrine holds that despite the intervention of Christ in behalf of mankind, we must still reform our lives and obey laws and ordinances (Rev. 13:8; Heb. 5:8–11; Matt. 7:21; 2 Ne. 2:22–27). LDS doctrine represents something a midpoint between Swedenborg and mainstream Christianity since LDS doctrine maintains that the atonement was mainly accomplished in the Garden of Gethsemane (2 Ne. 9:21, JC, p. 613, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Atonement, Vol 1). Rather than viewing the atonement as a vicarious punishment, LDS doctrine sees it as Divine assistance, allowing men to be resurrected (an LDS term which means to inherit one of the heavens or hell after being reclothed with flesh, 2 Nephi 2:8, 9:6-7, 9:12, Mosiah 3:11), nullifying the sin of Adam. LDS doctrine also contains the traditional Christian understanding that Christ was punished vicariously for our sins to satisfy the demands of justice imposed on mankind by the Father (2 Nephi 9:26, Alma 34:8–10, 16, Alma 42:22–24) which Swedenborg declares is incorrect.

5. We should strive to become one with God, not gods. Swedenborg lays great emphasis on the first commandment, and says that the idea of multiple gods in the Christian church’s concept of the trinity was so fundamentally evil that it brought about the spiritual death of that church (Heaven and Hell 391, 508, 535, Conjugial Love 264) Mormons believe that God is infinite, possesses all things and created all things that were created. They also believe that God can share all things with His children, allowing them to be co-creators and act His stead and call this state godhood (D&C 76:58, 132:20). Swedenborg equates those who believe they are gods in the afterlife with those who indulged in self-love in this life, and are consequently in hell in the eternities (Conjugial Love 262, 264). Swedenborg agrees with the current LDS view that when Bible says “gods” it can refer to heavenly beings (Heaven and Hell 8). According to Swedenborg, referring to angels (inhabitants of heaven) as “gods” in no way implies that they are worthy of worship.

6. Resurrection does not require the reconstruction of the physical body (Arcana Coelestia 4459, 4783, Divine Love and Wisdom 221, Heaven and Hell 445, 447, 456, Divine Love and Wisdom 221). For Swedenborg, resurrection occurred as a spirit enters the world of spirits immediately after death. In this state the spirit discovers that they exist with a body and feelings and lives exactly as before, with the exception that the body and all the surroundings are spiritual, that is, made out of spiritual rather than physical substance. Swedenborg says that the sharper senses of those in the spiritual realm make it far more clearly sensed to be “real” than is possible in the physical realm. The corporeal nature of the spirit being is so much like its former state that some spirits are not immediately aware that they have died. Swedenborg denies that a physical resurrection occurs with one exception, Christ (Divine Love and Wisdom 221). He indicates, however, that the nature of Christ’s body has become spiritual as physical aspects are purged from it. LDS doctrine has similar ideas with respect to the sameness of the human existence immediately after death (Alma 40) and that the body after the resurrection is spiritual by nature (Doctrine and Covenants 88:27). Many LDS scriptures speak of the reuniting of the spirit and body (Alma 40:15–18) and are understood to mean that the deceased physical frame shall be reconstructed and reunited with the spirit. Mormons interpret scriptures like Matt. 27:52 and 3 Ne. 23:9–10 which speak of graves being opened to be further evidence of a physical resurrection. Mormons claim that 1 Cor 15:41–42 (“There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the starsY. So also is the resurrection of the dead”) and those in Alma mean that the resurrection happens immediately before our entry into one of the heavens or hell. Swedenborg specifically addressees belief in a physical resurrection as being typical of Christianity and incorrect (Heaven and Hell 456). Alma agrees somewhat with Swedenborg’s definition of the resurrection by speaking of entering the spirit by stating “Yea, I admit it may be termed a resurrection” (Alma 40:15, Heaven and Hell 445, 447). Alma goes on to explain that he feels that the resurrection is more than that, implying a physical resurrection.

7. Swedenborg indicates that the spirit commences its existence at conception, but is not fully formed until its first breath is drawn (Moses 3:5, Arcana Coelestia 3570). According to Swedenborg, being born in heaven would remove free agency since there would be no choice but to follow good and truth. The LDS concept is that in the preexistence we make choices concerning life experiences, family, etc. Otherwise, God Himself is responsible situations in which we find ourselves in life.

8. It is our motives and our thoughts and actions derived from those motives that take us to heaven, rather than ordinances (nearly all of Swedenborg’s works). This is largely a matter of difference of emphasis between the teachings of Swedenborg and LDS doctrine since LDS ideas echo that baptism cannot allow evil people to enter heaven or the lack of baptism will not be an absolute obstacle for the righteous. For example Heber C. Kimball stated, “You might as well go and be baptized for a devil as for a man who will not receive the Gospel in the spirit-world” (Journal of Discourses, Vol.5, p.90). It should be remembered that all LDS ordinances are covenants that require performance on the part of the individual who partakes of them.

9. Swedenborg said that no children are born in marriages in heaven because to be born in heaven would eliminate free will (Heaven and Hell 382b). There are, however, correspondential equivalents of children in heavenly marriages, in the form of the “birth” of new goods and truths.

History and Possible Influence

The question of whether Joseph Smith borrowed heavily from Swedenborg is implied by the many similarities between the teachings of the two men and the fact that Swedenborg’s work was written and distributed prior to Joseph Smith’s lifetime. The mix of similarities and differences raises the question of whether Joseph Smith filtered a great deal and extrapolated the rest to come up with what we today recognize as LDS doctrine.[19] Whether Joseph Smith actually knew much of Swedenborg’s teachings, however, is difficult to answer. I found that Joseph Smith could have had access to all of Swedenborg’s teachings but whether he was significantly influenced by those teachings cannot be proven from the evidence I have gleaned. Any influence would not detract from the reality of the experience of either Joseph or Swedenborg but might add additional insight into how the Lord helped the latter-day work along.

New Church members in New York conducted a media campaign during Joseph Smith’s era using newspapers to inform the public about Swedenborg and his teachings.[20] These efforts may have born fruit in Joseph’s home area because a piece on Swedenborg appeared on the front page of the Canadaigua newspaper, a town some 12 miles from the Smith home, in 1808.[21] This may have been submitted to the paper by New Church members rather than being the work of the paper’s own editors since, according to Brooke, interest in Swedenborg in this area was not great.[22] However, it is unlikely that this influenced the Smiths greatly since they did not move to New York from Vermont until 1816.

A mail-order newspaper advertisement for Heaven and Hell appeared in the Canadaigua newspaper in 1826.[23] New Church members used this book as a missionary tract, and the fact that it was being sold for a time does not necessarily mean that it was causing a great stir or attracted much interest, since some LDS researchers could find no evidence that the local library owned a copy[24]. The individual who placed the ads may have been Charles Harford, a Swedenborgian who moved to Rochester, New York in 1826 and stayed till 1834.[25] Rochester is about 24 miles from Palmyra on today’s roads. I could find no evidence that Mr. Harford ever had any communication with anyone from the LDS population other than the advertisements which appeared in local papers.

Swedenborg’s works were distributed to the public and at least 7,000 copies of Swedenborg’s works were produced in the United States prior to the organization of the LDS Church in 1830.[26] It is likely that these were mostly Heaven and Hell. Michael Quinn, a well known Mormon historian, indicates that Joseph Smith did read books that contained information about Swedenborg and his doctrines,[27] about 20 pages which seem to have been digested from Heaven and Hell. but does not indicate that Joseph had access to works written by Swedenborg himself.[28]

Could Joseph have obtained knowledge about Swedenborg’s teachings from someone intimately acquainted with “The Writings?” Some estimate of the possibilities can be gained by trying to determine where New Church members may have been located in the area.

There were three congregations of New Church members in Spencer, Platkill, and Newburgh, about 75 miles from the Smith home.[29] As previously stated, New Church records also show a member in Rochester, New York, about 24 miles from the Smith home in Palmyra. In 1817 a census of the New Church showed that in New York city there were 45 members.[30] By 1830 the membership of the New Church had nearly doubled.[31] New Church members tended to be found mostly in larger cities or other refined metropolitan areas, not in small towns like Palmyra. I could find no record of New Church presence in the Palmyra area, unless Rochester and its member are counted.

One potential New Church acquaintance was Hannah Holland. When the Smith family resided in Sharon, Vermont, a New Church member from Holland, Hannah Holland[32], lived about twenty miles away in Woodstock Vermont. She moved there in 1775 and later married a man named Smith. Hannah brought all of Swedenborg’s works in Latin from the Old World. Some of her ten sons later migrated across the country to Cincinnati to establish a New Church society in that area. Had the Smiths known Ms. Holland they would have had access to all of Swedenborg’s writings, but Hannah would have been required to explain the Latin versions. I could find no evidence that Hannah Holland had any connections with the Smiths or the Church at any time. Since the Holland children were later effective ministers and the family had the training to read the Writings in Latin, they must have been very enthusiastic and willing to speak to others. This could eventually be one link to the Smith’s, but firm documentary evidence is slim.

One other interesting connection between Swedenborg and Joseph Smith is through Sarah Cleveland, a plural wife of Joseph Smith who, according to the historian Todd Compton, was sealed to him around 1842.[33] At the time of her plural marriage, Sarah Cleveland was married to John Cleveland, a Swedenborgian who apparently knew nothing of her plural marriage to Joseph Smith. Sarah joined the LDS Church in 1835 and in 1836 she and her husband moved to Quincy, Illinois. When Nauvoo became the center of Mormonism in 1839 after the saints were expelled from Missouri, the Clevelands found themselves living near the center of the Church. The Smiths and Clevelands became friends after Emma Smith and her children lived with the Clevelands for a short time in 1839 while Joseph was in jail. Joseph rewarded the Clevelands with a plot of land in Nauvoo. There is no mention in Todd Compton’s documentation of this story that Joseph had any conversations with Mr. Cleveland about Swedenborg’s teachings, nor did Mr. Compton mention that Sarah exhibited any interest in Swedenborg after her baptism.

Individuals with Joseph Smith’s educational and financial background were generally not interested in or exposed to the teachings of Swedenborg, nor did they have the social connections to introduce themselves to Swedenborgian teachings. Marguerite Block writes concerning the growth and popularity of the New Church, “This rather slow growth was due to the nature of the doctrines themselves, which required a fairly high degree of education and intelligence for their comprehension, as well as considerable leisure for their perusal.”[34] To be truthful, from my own experience, Swedenborg’s writings are not an easy read, and require a high degree of dedication to grasp what is written. Joseph Smith was neither highly educated nor endowed with a great amount of leisure time, which would appear to make him an unlikely candidate to be reading the sage’s teachings.

Joseph Smith’s only quote about Swedenborg made in 1839 is rather cryptic, “Emanuel Swedenborg had a view of the world to come, but for daily food he perished.”[35] This was directed to Edward Hunter, a Swedenborgian convert who later became a presiding bishop of the Church. Brother Hunter took this to mean that Swedenborg’s teachings were lacking and from that point on gave Swedenborg’s teachings no credibility. Edward Hunter converted to the LDS Church in 1839 after protecting the Mormon elders when they came through the area preaching the gospel. Joseph stayed with Edward for three days and discussed a number of topics, among them the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg. From these conversations Joseph may have received all of the information required to give this opinion before they parted.

There are no close associates of Joseph Smith who mention Swedenborg or his teachings who give any indication that they had actually read, first-hand, anything he had written. For example, Orson Pratt stated the following.

Did Swedenborg, Irving, Wesley, or any other person, not only teach a pure system, but at the same time did they declare that it was committed to them by an angel from heaven? If not, however pure and holy their teaching, they were not divinely authorized to administer in ordinances. Divine Authority No.1, pg 3

Swedenborg claimed many times to have spoken with angels; which indicates that Orson Pratt had little knowledge of his writings. His other comments reveal his belief that Mormonism is true, and that all others are false, which was common among Church leaders of that time. Brigham Young, who spoke his mind freely on numerous topics, never mentioned Swedenborg in any recorded talks. In Parley Pratt’s only statement about Emanuel Swedenborg he claims that Swedenborg denied the resurrection[36]. It seems that early LDS Church leaders and members had dismissed Emanuel Swedenborg without a great deal of thought. It also seems that their knowledge about Swedenborg may have come from unsympathetic third parties who summarized Swedenborg’s teachings with a negative slant.

I did investigate whether Joseph Smith may have learned of Swedenborgianism through Masonic ritual, but discovered this would have been very unlikely and present the evidence here for future researchers. Emanuel Swedenborg was a Mason from the age of eighteen and actively involved until 1740 with the exception of a visit in 1769 to a Lodge in France.[37] After Swedenborg published his first theological works, former associates came to him wanting to know his opinions of the Masonic order and what errors he might wish to correct in its teachings. He replied to these queries and in 1769-1770 wrote to the Royal Society of Stockholm in which he explained Egyptian hieroglyphics by means of his new system.[38] Eventually the modified ritual in Sweden had an influence on Masonry in the United States, but not until 1859, which would have been too late to have been of any importance to the beginnings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.[39]

Not many others have delved into these similarities. Recently Brent and Wendy Top wrote Beyond Death’s Door, which quoted many pages of Swedenborg’s Heaven and Hell and revealed many similarities with LDS doctrine. Before that time a historian who has studied Swedenborgians, Mary Ann Meyers, wrote Death in Swedenborgian and Mormon Eschatology[40], in which she outlines some of Swedenborg’s teachings and hints that Joseph Smith may have borrowed from him.[41] BYU Studies has included some articles which briefly mention Swedenborg. D. Michael Quinn dedicated a few pages to Swedenborg in Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, but evidently never read much of Swedenborg’s writings or he would have covered more similarities than just the three heavens.

Conclusions

If Swedenborg’s teachings did have a profound influence on Joseph Smith, I find it unlikely that Joseph Smith would have received all his information about Swedenborg’s teachings from reading the Writings first hand. First, his mother states that by the age of eighteen he hadn’t read the Bible through and was less inclined to reading than any other of the Smith children.[42] Secondly, most New Church members have only read a few of Swedenborg’s works because, though interesting, they are not an easy read. Joseph Smith may have been exposed to Heaven and Hell in English during his lifetime or a digested review of Swedenborg’s teachings. A digest or Heaven and Hell would seem an unlikely source for some of the detailed information like the use of priesthood robes in heavenly marriage or the division of the celestial heaven/kingdom into three, neither of these ideas being found in Heaven and Hell nor are these common topics of study among students of Swedenborg.

If there has been influence from the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg on the teachings and writings of Joseph Smith, to me the most likely scenario may be that Joseph Smith knew a well read New Church member or members who were very familiar with the “Writings.” At least one of these individuals would have had to have known Joseph Smith before the Book of Mormon was written. We don’t know how brushes with individuals who were acquainted with the Swedish mystic’s teachings such as Hannah Holland of Vermont who possessed a complete edition of the “Writings,” the missionary minded Charles Harford of Rochester, the converts Edward Hunter or Sarah Cleveland may have influenced Joseph. I did not make a serious attempt to determine how much Emma Hale Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, David Whitmer, or others closely associated with the prophet may have known of Swedenborg’s teachings.

I’m sure that as researchers dig further more possible connections will be found, all of which probably still not prove a positive connection with Swedenborgianism. Given the uniqueness of some of the ideas found in Swedenborg’s and Joseph Smith’s teachings, it still seems likely that some sort of connection between the two must exist. Is this is as the result of Joseph becoming aware of the Swedish mystic’s teachings or another connection with influences beyond the veil?

Perhaps Joseph Smith has copied portions of Swedenborg’s teachings. Certainly the information provided here cannot rule that out. Nevertheless, it may be helpful to remember that simultaneous discovery is common in science. A look at history reveals a number of instances where ideas pop up at nearly the same time in far flung locations on the earth, known in philosophical circles as a “zeitgeist,” or spirit of the times. This can be observed in spiritual matters as well. Consider, for example, others whose teachings were similar to LDS or Swedenborgianism but who have no obvious connection with the LDS Church or Swedenborg. Allow me to illustrate one example.

Indian mystics call the Christian heaven, hell, and world of spirits the “astral world.”[43] The heavenly realm is divided into three regions.[44] The middle region and lowest region also appear to have three divisions.[45] In the highest realm can be found “Alakh Niranjan” or the Unknowable God.[46] The lowest three regions (chakras) involve a focus on wealth, power, sex, and violent battles.[47] Barbara Brenan in Hands of Light also mentions that beings in the afterlife occupy spiritual realms related to the nine major chakras.[48] Brenan also stated that she does not observe spirits who are related to the first three levels.[49] However, this may be because those beings avoid healers, or as Swedenborg noticed, spirits from the hells (the lowest 3 levels of the spiritual realms) tend to turn away from spiritual light.[50] Ms. Brennan did not get this particular piece of information from other sources since she stated that she could not find a reference to these nine levels in any literature.[51] To me, these ideas sound very similar to both the “Writings” and LDS doctrine, more so than they would be to traditional Christian philosophy. The question of who copied from whom may well mask another connection between all these teachers – the possibility that they all have knowledge which arises from personal experience.

Why all the differences? People at the scene of an accident will report all sorts of stories about the same events. From our own experience we know that personal perception of any truth is flawed. More flaws creep in when we attempt to describe that perception to someone else not present at the time of the accident. Perhaps for this reason, the Lord has stated that out of the mouths of two or three witnesses shall every ecclesiastical case or accusation be established (Deuteronomy 19:15, Matthew 18:16, 2 Corinthians 13:1, 1 Timothy 5:19). Perhaps a similar standard should be established for verifying spiritual truth since those who claim spiritual experience seem to vary in their witness as well.

In the end our conclusion about whether Joseph was influenced by the Swedish mystic will be a personal one, illustrating the teaching of Swedenborg and the Book of Mormon which state that we are suspended at all times between opposing choices (Heaven and Hell 591, 2 Nephi 2:11). My own bias is that while Swedenborg may have influenced LDS teachings, that Joseph Smith was also the recipient of his own unique spiritual experience. Nevertheless, this information is not presented to persuade the reader, but rather to help illustrate the importance of a little known Servant of the Lord from a far off land in Northern Europe.

References.

Block, Marguerite Beck, The New Church in the New World, Swedenborg Foundation, 1984.

Brennan, Barabara Ann, Joseph A. Smith (illustrator), Hands of Light, Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1988.

Beswick, Samuel, The Swedenborg Rite, Kessinger Publishing Company, photographic reprint of an 1870 version.

Dole, George F., and Robert H. Kirvin, A Scientist Explores Spirit, Swedenborg Foundation, 1997.

Gladish, Richard, New Church Life, Oct 1947, pgs 473-474.

Hunter, William E., Edward Hunter, Faithful Steward, ed. Janath Russell Cannon, Mrs. William E Hunter, 1970.

Meyers, Mary Ann, “Death in Swedenborgian and Mormon Eschatology,” Dialogue 14 (Spring 1981), pages 58-64.
Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, LDS Collectors Library, InfoBase, 1997.
Pratt, Orson, Divine Authority, LDS Collectors Library, InfoBase, 1997.
Puri, Prof. Raj Lekh, Radha Soami Teachings, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1993.
Quinn, D. Michael, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, Signature Books, 1998.
Quinn, D. Michael, The Mormon Hierarchy, Origins of Power, Signature Books, 1994.
Swedenborg, Emanuel, translated by Rev. John Elliot, Arcana Coelestia, Swedenborg Foundation, 12 Volumes, 1998.
Swedenborg, Emanuel, translated by John Whitehead, Apocalypse Explained : According to the Spiritual Sense in Which the Arcana There Predicted but Heretofore Concealed Are Revealed, 6 Volumes, Swedenborg Foundation, 1997.
Swedenborg, Emanuel, translated by John Whitehead Apocalypse Revealed : Wherein Are Disclosed the Arcana There Foretold Which Have Hitherto Remained Concealed, 2 Volumes, Swedenborg Foundation, 1997.
Swedenborg, Emanuel, translated by Samuel M. Warren, edited by Lois H. Taffel, The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love : After Which Follow the Pleasures of Insanity Pertaining to Promiscuous Love, Swedenborg Foundation, 1998.
Swedenborg, Emanuel, translated by John C. Ager, Angelic Wisdom Concerning Divine Love and Wisdom, Swedenborg Foundation, 1995.
Swedenborg, Emanuel, translated by George F. Dole, Heaven and Hell, Swedenborg Foundations, 1994.
Swedenborg, Emanuel, Rotch edition, The Final Judgement and the Destruction of Babylon, All the Predictions of the Apocalypse Now Fulfilled from Things Heard and Seen, Massachusetts New-Church Union, 1955.
Swedenborg, Emanuel, translated by John C. Ager, True Christian Religion, 2 Volumes, Swedenborg Foundation, 1997.

Widstoe, John A., Discourses of Brigham Young, Deseret Book Company, 1993.

Yogananda, Paramahansa, Autobiography of a Yogi, Self Realization Foundation, 1994.

[1] Significant contributions were made to this article by devoted followers of the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg. My sincere thanks to Kurt Simons who corrected numerous errors and suggested many rewrites and to Victor Odhner who waded through one of the first drafts. Carroll Odhner, Swedenborg Library Director for the College of Bryn Athyn, PA (a sort of Brigham Young University for Swedenborgians) and John Odhner, a Swedenborgian minister from the Los Angeles area, made contributions to the text as well. All have shown great patience in helping prepare the information presented here.

[2] “For it has pleased the Lord to manifest Himself to me, and to send me to teach those things which will belong to His New Church, which is meant by >the New Jerusalem’ in the Apocalypse. For this purpose He has opened the interiors of my mind or spirit, whereby I have been permitted to be in the spiritual world with angels, and at the same time in the natural world with men, and this now during twenty-seven years.” True Christian Religion 851.

[3] Doctrine and Covenants 88: 188.

[4] Swedenborg’s works are often referred to as “The Writings” by those who study his works.

[5] For a more in-depth but still fairly brief overview read A Scientist Explores Spirit by George F. Dole and Robert H. Kirvin, Swedenborg Foundation, 1997, and for the definitive biography, see C.O.Sigstedt, The Swedenborg Epic (New York: Bookman 1952, reprinted 1981) The text of this section has been mostly directly extracted from the www.newchurch.org webpage.

[6] Swedenborg stated that the Lord would establish a New Church, referring to a spiritual entity. The churches which follow the teachings of Swedenborg use this as a term to refer to their organized bodies in the world as well.

[7] Heaven and Hell, part of Arcana Coelestia (Heavenly Secrets), the Last Judgement, The Heavenly City: A Spiritual Guide Book, and parts of Conjugial Love, and True Christian Religion are available online at http://members.iserv.net/midminc/. A searchable version of Swedenborg’s complete works is available at the NewSearch web site at http://www.ns98.org. A CD-ROM version of NewSearch is also available for $25.

[8] It is interesting to note that Swedenborg never refers to 1 Corinthians 15:40–42 in any of his discourses and his followers generally don’t see the three heavens in the words of these scriptures. The reference to three heavens in these scriptures seems to only be clear in the Joseph Smith translation of the Bible where Joseph has added the Swedenborgian idea that those in the three heavens should be compared to the sun, moon, and stars.

[9] From Acton’s translation of Conjugial Love 21, >One of the wedding guests, a wise man, then asked them, “Do you understand what the things you have seen signify?” They answered, “A little.” They then asked him why the bride-groom, now the husband, was arrayed in such apparel.

He answered: “The bridegroom, now the husband, represented the Lord, and the bride, now the wife, represented the Church, because in heaven a wedding represents the marriage of the Lord and the Church. That is why he wore a miter on his head and was arrayed in a robe, a tunic, and an ephod, like Aaron; and why the bride, now the wife, wore upon her head a crown and was attired in a mantle, like a queen. But tomorrow they will be clothed differently, for this representation lasts only today.”‘

[10] Swedenborg’s definition of what is meant by the term “church” is not a matter of worldly organization. Thus, in his Arcana Coelestia 8152. “From this it is evident that the Lord’s Church is not in this particular location or in that, but that it resides wherever people lead lives in keeping with the commandments of charity, both within the kingdoms in which the Church exists and outside them. So it is that the Lord’s Church is spread throughout the whole world, and yet is one; for when life constitutes the Church, and not doctrine separated from life, there is one Church. But when doctrine constitutes the Church there are many.”

[11] Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg 375 speaks of apostasy as the loss of authority and priesthood. Arcana Coelestia 4717 speaks of apostasy or falling away in terms of not living in accordance with truth.

[12] “I have sought nothing beyond reforming the Church in conformity with the Holy Scriptures. . . .I simply say that Christianity has ceased to exist among those who should have preserved it.” E.G. Schweibert, Luther and His Times, p. 509; and John M. Todd, Martin Luther, p. 188. American poet and editor William Cullen Bryant, in discussing an early religious group in Providence, Rhode Island, wrote: AMr. Williams continued to be its pastor for only four years, when he withdrew, not only form his official relations, but also ceased any longer to worship with his brethren, having come to the conclusion that there is ‘no regularly-constituted Church on earth, nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance; nor could there be, until new apostles were sent by the great Head of the Church, for whose coming he was seeking.'”– In William Cullen Bryant, ed., Picturesque America, vol. 1, pp. 500, 502

[13] “[2] Who does not see that “the name of the Lord” in these usages does not mean merely His name, but the acknowledgment of Him as being the Redeemer and Savior, together with obedience, and finally faith in Him? … therefore a man’s taking the name Christian means his quality, – that he has from Christ faith in Christ and charity toward the neighbor.” True Christian Religion (Ager) 682. “And My new name, signifies that they will also acknowledge the Lord’s Divine Human. This is evident from the signification of “I will write upon him My new name,” as being that they will acknowledge the Lord’s Divine Human.” Apocalypse Revealed 224. Swedenborg says much more about the name of the Lord in the context of these

passages, and elsewhere, such as in Apocalyse Explained 102, Apocalypse Revealed 81, 148, Arcana Coelestia 2009, 6674, 9310, 2724.

[14] Swedenborg often stated that the animal world is symbolic of heavenly principles (Conjugial Love 418, True Christian Religion 12[6], Arcana Coelestia 3000).

[15] John Odhner, personal communication. See True Christian Religion 2, 26, 92(4), Heavenly Doctrine 290, 293. Swedenborg also equates “spirit” (for example: the Holy Spirit) with mind, making the parallel even stronger. “A person’s spirit is his mind, and whatever comes from it.” (True Christian Religion 156).

[16] Lectures on Faith, pg 48. “There are two personages who constitute the great, matchless, governing, and supreme power over all things, by whom all things were created and made, that are created and made, whether visible or invisible, whether in heaven, on earth, or in the earth, under the earth, or throughout the immensity of space. They are the Father and the Son — the Father being a personage of spirit, glory, and power, possessing all perfection and fullness, the Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, a personage of tabernacle, made or fashioned like unto man, or being in the form and likeness of man, or rather man was formed after His likeness and in His image.” Thomas Alexander who wrote AThe Reconstruction of Mormon Doctrine,” Sunstone, June 1999, Volume 22:3-4, Issue 115-116, pg 16, indicates that the earliest conception of the Holy Spirit as understood from the Lectures on Faith was as the common mind of God shared by the Father and the Son.

[17] Dan Vogel’s article, “The Earliest Mormon Concept of God,” in Line Upon Line, by Gary James Bergera, Signature Books, 1989, pp17-33. He indicates that many passages in the the Book of Mormon identify the person of Christ with the Father (for example: Ether 3:14, 16, 4:12, 1 Ne 11:18 [original edition which states that the Lamb of God is the very Eternal Father], Alma 11:28–29, Mosiah 15:1–5, 7). In Luke 10:22 (Joseph Smith translation) “No man knoweth that the Son is the Father, and the Father is the Son, but him to whom the Son will reveal it.” A religious debate between the Mormon Elder, Stephen Post and Oliver Barr of the Christian Connection portrayed the LDS view as believing that the Father and the Son were one individual and that the Son provided a tabernacle for the Father (pgs 25, 26) .

[18] D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy, Origins of Power, pgs 5-7. Before the organization of the LDS Church in 1830, Doctrine and Covenants 10 equated “my people” with a non-institutional “my church” (Doctrine and Covenants 10:40, 46, 52). No ordinance requirements for belonging to the Lord’s church were referred to here except, “Behold this is my doctrine-whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church” (Doctrine and Covenants 10:67). As evidence that this was a change perceived by the members of the Church, David Whitmer voiced his discomfort with the concept that after April 6, 1830 that the concept of the Lord’s church changed from a community of believers to an institutional organization.

[19] Immanuel Kant and Mary Baker Eddy apparently did this. The influence of Swedenborg on Kant is discussed in “Under the Influence” by Scott McLemee in Lingua Franca, May/June 1998 and in a number of articles in the scholarly Swedenborgian journal, The New Philosophy. Kant only spoke negatively of Swedenborg in public while borrowing heavily from his philosophy privately. In a more directly parallel situation to that of Joseph Smith, there is some evidence that Mary Baker Eddy may have been influenced by Swedenborg, via possible influence of Swedenborg on the thinking of Phineas Quimby, on whose system Ms Eddy based Christian Sciene (Marguerite Beck Block, The New Church in the New World, New York: Holt, Rinhhart & Winston, 1932, reprint, Octagon Books, 1968)

[20] Block, op.cit., page 94.

[21] D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, pg 153. “Swedenborg’s testimony of his own theophany had already been published on the front page of the Western Repository of 6 December 1808, at Canandaigua, a few miles from Palmyra.”

[22] Brooke, The Refiner’s Fire, page 99.

[23] According to Carroll Odhner, Director of the Swedenborg Library at the Bryn Athyn College (a Swedenborgian oriented college), the advertisement for Heaven and Hell was usually a mail order offer if no one lived in the area. Otherwise the address of the New Church member living there would be given. Since Michael Quinn indicates that the advertiser was a book store it appears likely that the individual who placed the advertisement did not live in the immediate area.

[24] Personal communication with Brent Top, 1998. Also Michael Quinn, controversial Mormon historian, who was looking for such books and did not find them. However, Quinn did find books that spoke about Swedenborg and his teachings.

[25] Journal of the General Convention of the New Jerusalem. This information was provided by Carroll Odhner, library director for the Bryn Athyn College.

[26] Block, pg 75, 78.

[27] In the library near the Smith home (possibly Canadaigua) Sibly’s Complete Illustration of the Occult Sciences, which Michael Quinn claims is a source for the family’s magic parchments, stated, “There are three degrees in man corresponding to the three heavens,” as part of its twenty-page summary of Swedenborg’s teachings about “spirits and departed souls of men,” and heaven and hell (Sibly 1784, 1062-81, esp. 1071n)” Quinn also notes that a three volume text on religions of the world had an article on Swedenborg.

[28] Personal communication with Brent Top in 1998 who mentioned that he commissioned a study of whether books written by Swedenborg appeared in libraries near the Smith home.

[29] Block, page 100.

[30] Ibid. Pg 170.

[31] Ibid. Pg 173.

[32] Richard Gladish, New Church Life, Oct 1947, pgs 473-474 and also Edna Silver, Sketches, pg 289. My thanks to Carroll Odhner, Library Director, Swedenborg Library, Bryn Athyn College for this information.

[33] Todd Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith, Signature Books, pgs 275-278.

[34] Block, page 171.

[35] Hunter, William E., Edward Hunter, Faithful Steward, 1970, pg 51. Joseph Smith was visiting members on his trip back from Washington, D.C. where he had just visited Pres. Buchanan seeking relief from the mobbings.

[36] Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, Ch.12, p. 121

[37] Samuel Beswick, The Swedenborg Rite, pg 1 gives Swedenborg’s age as eighteen in 1706 when he was initiated into the Scottish Rite in Lund, Sweden. Page 56 explains that from about 1740 to 1769 Swedenborg did not meet with the Masons. In 1769 he met with a science related lodge in France, pg 56.

[38] Ibid. pg 69.

[39] Beswick, pg165.

[40] Dialogue 14 (Spring 1981), pages 58-64.
[41] Ms. Meyers noticed that Joseph Smith’s and Swedenborg’s teachings about life after death were very similar, something which has been outlined in the pages of this article. In addition their insights into the meaning of the “last days” are similar.

[42] Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith, pg 82.

[43] Radha Swami Teachings, pg 189. Autobiography of a Yogi, chapter 43.

[44] Radha Swami Teachings, pgs 189, 190. Here Radha Swami equates each of the realms of the astral world with the nine chakras studied in the Sikh system. The top three regions (chakras) are seen as the first stage of saints. The bottom six are not of concern to those who are on a spiritual path to know God.

[45] Swedenborg divided the world of spirits into three levels and the hells into three levels (Heaven and Hell 491, 542). In yoga, the first three chakras are associated with wealth, power, survival, and sex (Radha Swami Teachings, pg. 194, and any other yogic manual covering the chakras) and are not considered a destination or a focus for the saintly, although in life these may be able facilitate spiritual progress in the devoted seeker as do all things in the universe. See also Heaven and Hell 545-564, 586 which describes hell in great detail. In Heaven and Hell 586, hell is described as a place where humans dwell upon these lusts and desires.

[46] Radha Swami Teachings, pg 191. Paramahansa Yoganada claims that on of Christ’s destinations after His agony on the cross was the highest region of the astral realm, an astral planet far removed from the earth. Swedenborg states that Christ is “in” the sun but is not the sun of the heavens.

[47] Radha Swami Teachings, pg 194. Autobiography of a Yogi, chptr 43, “Among the fallen dark angels expelled from other worlds, friction and war take place… These beings dwell in the gloom-drenched regions of the lower astral cosmos, working out their evil karma.” Swedenborg mentions these conflicts in Heaven and Hell 574, 575, and 586.

[48] Barabara Brennan, Hands of Light, pgs 51, 230-233.

[49] Ibid. pg 230.

[50] Swedenborg, Apocalypse Explained, 78, “When evil spirits, however, who have not yet … become fixed in their ruling love, enter any angelic society, then because the Divine of the Lord is there present they are direfully tormented, and not only turn away but even cast themselves down into the depths, where no light from heaven enters; some into dark caverns of rocks; in a word, into the hells (see what is shown in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 54, 400, 410, 510, 525, 527). This turning away and removal from the Lord is what is called spiritual death..”

[51] Brennan, pg 54.

The Oahspe Text and Mormonism

Note

This article is an unfinished outline, it needs to be finished. Add charts which show the correlations of kingdoms, terms, etc…

This article outlines many of the unique correlations between the contents of Oahspe and Mormon theology and scripture.  For an introduction to Oahspe, see my article here.

This article outlines many of the unique correlations between the contents of Oahspe and Mormon theology and scripture.  For an introduction to Oahspe, see my article here.

Here are just a few of the concepts in Oaspe which support esoteric Mormon doctrine.

1. Oahspe’s view of the great spirit, or most high god, and how it accords with Mormonisms.
2. Oahspe’s view of the ruling gods and hierarchy of heaven. how they are simply ascended men. ‘
-also the degrees of heaven and how they accord with Mormonism
3. Oahspe’s view of the apostasy (caused by cosmic regions of darkness), and how the “great and abominable church came to be”, the apostasy of heaven and setting up of the self-made god’s who fight against Jehovah.
4. Oahspe’s view of true religion, which is in works and not words.
5. Could the unbelievable similarities between Oahspe and particularly the United Order it promotes be part of the ‘greater things’ that the LDS Saints would have gotten had they proved worthy in Nauvoo?

Overview

One interesting aspect of the Oahspe text is how its generally hostile toward organized religion. Its teachings on this matter come across a lot like other Mormon sources which insinuate that organized religions are often revealed by gods & angels but quickly corrupted through apostasy.

Oahspe’s four false gods of the lowest heavens are part of anti-organized religion theology reminiscent of the “mother of harlots” or “great and abominable church” aspect of Nephi’s vision of the Book of Mormon. Suggesting the true church of Jehovah exists in heaven, not often on earth. It suggests the medieval or Gentile Christian Church was part of the 4 false religions on earth run by lower false gods, doing things such as the inquisition, political and military control, forced conversion, manipulation, etc.

1 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld many nations and kingdoms.
2 And the angel said unto me: What beholdest thou? And I said: I behold many nations and kingdoms.
3 And he said unto me: These are the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles.
4 And it came to pass that I saw among the nations of the Gentiles the formation of a great church.
5 And the angel said unto me: Behold the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches, which slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity.
6 And it came to pass that I beheld this great and abominable church; and I saw the devil that he was the founder of it.
7 And I also saw gold, and silver, and silks, and scarlets, and fine-twined linen, and all manner of precious clothing; and I saw many harlots.
8 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the gold, and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen, and the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the desires of this great and abominable church.
9 And also for the praise of the world do they destroy the saints of God, and bring them down into captivity.

Differences

However, unlike modern Mormonism Oahspe gives VERY specific tests to differentiate between true and false religion, many of which modern Mormonism (but not necessarily original Mormonism) flatly fails. These include 1. Worshipping any God born of a woman. 2. The use of armies and navies and false priests and borders to maintain political systems. (finish…)

Finish this section -> If one were to believe Oahspe, it would suggest that Modern Mormonism was likely created by the high Gods of Jehovah, but quickly corrupted and taken over by Leeomelang the false god, who changed the Book of Mormon, and influenced many of Joseph’s revelations in ways to support the apostate Gentile Christian doctrines of Christ being The ONLY savior and means to heaven instead of one of several, and having the LDS church be the ONLY true church instead of one of several.

Commonalities

-Oahspe teaches that the cause of the Great apostasy was cosmological. (see article on degrees of glory) That our earth and Solar System go through differing regions of the Galaxy with differing levels of light. That the “light” in these regions determines our “glory” (see D&C 88 & 76). That when we pass through dense, or dark nebula regions man and his heavenly rulers loose spiritual contact with the galactic creator and his ruling hosts and fall into apostasy.

-Another parallel is the teaching that the united states was formed to help man escape bondage of the “beast” or great and abominable church… but during the fullness of the gentiles, the beast was allowed to overrun america and even over-power the LDS saints. We as a church have adopted many of their false beliefs and practices, but will be eventually freed.

28/60.31. Behold, they [the four false Gods of Medieval Gentile religion, Gentile Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism] have appropriated four great divisions of the earth to themselves; and the heavens above them have become their dominions. Let them, therefore, keep what they have taken.
28/60.32. Because they have bound mortals by their religions, and established themselves by mortal laws and by force of their standing armies, you shall give to them all they have bound on earth and in the heavens.
28/60.33. But, behold, I have another continent, lying beyond the ocean, America, where My people know Me, and worship Me.
28/60.34. You shall inspire mortals to go there from the east and find America, and inhabit it.
28/60.35. And there, it shall come to pass, none of the false Gods shall establish their doctrines by mortal laws, and bind My people.
28/60.36. And, as for the spirits of those mortals whom the false Gods caused to be slain in the inquisitions, leave them to those Gods that took them.
28/60.37. And, though such spirits have vengeance in their hearts, and will be the means of ultimately casting the false Gods into hell, yet you shall not go near them.
28/60.38. But you shall look to the mortals, whom you shall take over to inhabit the western continent.
28/60.39. And when they have arrived, you shall send loo’is there, and raise up, by birth, certain mortals, who shall ignore the doctrine of enforced worship for any False God, Lord or Savior.
28/60.40. For the people of that land shall be free, not only in body, but in spirit also.
28/60.41. And it shall be guaranteed to them to worship in My way, so that their conscience may dictate.
28/60.42. And when the dawn of the arc of The millennium (Kosmon) comes, behold, I will open up My heavens to mortals, and prepare the foundation of My kingdom on earth

-Oahspe teaches that group association is the “beginning of the Second Resurrection” (Terrestrial Resurrection of Mormonism). It details how most rise into group association as part of one of the “four beasts” or earthly religions; and that these religions seek to help people grow into unselfishness. When people have reached a sufficient enough grade or level of unselfishness, they are allowed to ascend yet further into the highest “etherean heavens” as brides and bridegrooms of Jehovah. Since the apostasy, the earth’s predominant religions no longer seek to willingly raise adherents to higher these ever higher levels, but make themselves out to be the “all-highest” and thus impede eternal progression.

28/59.10. We admit the declension of our grades, as you have said; but, behold, your emissaries carry off our highest grades.
28/59.11. If you would carry away only our drujas, we would not interdict the travel of your ships in our heavenly dominions. But as soon as your ships come, behold, our highest grades rush for them.
28/59.12. For which reason, we have been obliged to prohibit your laborers within our dominions. (Eskra 59:10-12)

-This seems remarkably similar to the degrees of glory explained in D&C 76. Thus the Telestial Kingdom of Joseph Smith matches the fist Atmosherean resurrection in Oahspe. A location where individuals exist singly and separately and have not learned to “associate in groups”. Most of the world’s religious people end up at the top of this heaven. Oahspe describes this heaven as belonging to those who have started to learn organic association, but have “not learned to put into practice their faith and are still psychologically bound to a self-made God. (The demiurge as other texts put it, or a God who is a projection of one’s own ego.) The second Atmosherean resurrection in Oahspe correlates to Joseph Smith’s Terrestial Kingdom. Joseph Smith described it this way,

98 And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one; for as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world;
99 For these are they who are of Paul, and of Apollos, and of Cephas.
100 These are they who say they are some of one and some of another—some of Christ and some of John, and some of Moses, and some of Elias, and some of Esaias, and some of Isaiah, and some of Enoch;
101 But received not the gospel, neither the testimony of Jesus, neither the prophets, neither the everlasting covenant. (D&C 76:98–101)

The “Some of Christ” mentioned here is obviously a false Christ. The Jesus who most Christians young in the faith worship, a self righteous Jesus who is a projection of a believers one’s own ego. A religious group who has “a form of godliness but denies the power thereof”. A Jesus who leads churches divided in sectarianism and self-righteousness, who….

-Oahspe teaches a system of spiritual adepthood similar to the law of one. That God came to earth long ago and made a race of men able to perceive Him through clairvoyance and claraudience. That many of a certain race called the I’huans (house of Israel) had this gift. Perhaps this is what Christ is referring to when he says in 3rd Nephi 15:23, ” And they understood me not that I said they shall hear my voice; and they understood me not that the Gentiles should not at any time hear my voice—that I should not manifest myself unto them save it were by the Holy Ghost.” Oahspe calls this “gift of the Spirit” of being able to see, speak to, or hear beings from the higher realms “sargis”. It tells of how Moses, Samuel and Elijah had this power in full, and where “true prophets” in that they used this gift to commune with etherean angels from the etherean (celestial) realms. We could

-The “angel of the Lord” that Joseph and Hiram quote as telling them to start polygamy or he would “cut them down” is the false God “piad” taught of in Oahspe. If these accounts are true, then Joseph really was a “fallen prophet” in that respect at least. But as D&C teaches, those with calling and election sure are “saved” as long as they don’t murder, and if they screw up, they are “destroyed in the flesh” and taken home, since an etherean has covenanted to mentor and father them. Whatever repercussions their ill motivated behavior has, becomes their joy or their bondage and all things end up working for the god’s greater good in the end.

Tell Zina, I put it off and put it off till an angel with a drawn sword stood by me and told me if I did not establish that principle upon the earth I would lose my position and my life.

“An angel came to him [Joseph Smith] and the last time he came with a drawn sword in his hand and told Joseph if he did not go into that principle, he would slay him. Joseph said he talked to him soberly about it, and told him it was an abomination and quoted scripture to him. He said in the Book of Mormon it was an abomination in the eyes of the Lord, and they were to adhere to these things except the Lord speak… [The Prophet reported that] the angel came to me three times between the years of 1834 and 1842 and said I was to obey that principle or he would slay me.” (1905 BYU Testimony of Mary Elizabeth Lightner)

see http://mormonhistoricsites.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Encouraging-Joseph-Smith-to-Practice-Plural-Marriage-The-Accounts-of-the-Angel-with-a-Drawn-Sword.pdf for a discussion on some 20 accounts of this motivation for introducing plural marriage.

-oahspe teaches against saviors and gods born of woman. (find quotes) I believe the doctrine and covenants is trying to teach the same principle… that christ was a living archetype of Jehovah. This teaching seems anti-christian at first and offended me. but the more I meditate on this, the more I see it is true and is a teaching Joseph Smith, and the Doctrine and Covenants is trying to slowly get gentile christianity to understand. Jesus, was a type of the father. Jehovah, is the name given to the most hight God, etc//

1 Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, and rejoice ye inhabitants thereof, for [Jehovah] is God, and beside him there is no Savior. (D&C 76:1)

-whole thrust of righteousness in oahspe supports Joseph smiths teaching that the Zion community is the hallmark of true religion.

-god requires discipline…

-oahspe’s view of solar system traveling in a circuit and falling under the dominion of god is very similar to Abraham cosmology.

09/1.1. First, the earth travels in a circuit around the sun, which is divided into four arcs called spring, summer, autumn and winter.
09/1.2. Second, the sun, with his family, travels in a large circuit, which is divided into one thousand five hundred arcs, the distance for each arc being about three thousand years, or one cycle.
09/1.3. During a cycle, the earth and her heavens travel through the etherean regions of hundreds of etherean worlds, which are inhabited by Jehovah’s high raised angels, whose Chiefs are involved in the management of worlds.
09/1.4. During the time of a cycle, the earth is therefore under the control and management of such angels of Jehovah for the resurrection of man of the earth.

-etherean worlds (inhabited inside and out) are Joseph Smith’s Celestial Worlds or “like see of glass”.

-Atmospherea is Mormonism’s terestial kingdom.

-Both Oahspe and the Law of One detail how terrestrial beings use technology. They use “fire ships” or spacecraft to travel, and use solar currents, etc.. But that Celestial beings can travel by “thought” using a “line of light”.

-Joseph Smith taught that when the lord comes “many will think it is a star, a commet, etc.. but it will be the lord”. Oahspe details how this comes about, and how celestial words do indeed look like stars.

-Oahspe teaches that North America will be Zion or the land the Millennial Kingdom

-Oahspe teaches of Pan that was destroyed by flood, and details how this occurred, and that is was essentially where the Americas are now, even though Japan is the closest remnant.

-Oahspe teaches much about the Jaredite culture which it calls the “Algonquin” people. It tells of the founder which sounds like the brother of Jared.

-Oahspe’s temple rites are similar to Mormon one.

-Oahspe teaches that the “most high god” is a “great spirit” or a god not born of woman who is a composite of all that is, and that it is lower “Gods” who manage our world who are “born of woman”. The book of Mormon teaches this too…

26 And then Ammon said: Believest thou that there is a Great Spirit?
27 And he said, Yea.
28 And Ammon said: This is God. And Ammon said unto him again: Believest thou that this Great Spirit, who is God, created all things which are in heaven and in the earth?
29 And he said: Yea, I believe that he created all things which are in the earth; but I do not know the heavens.
30 And Ammon said unto him: The heavens is a place where God dwells and all his holy angels.
31 And king Lamoni said: Is it above the earth?
32 And Ammon said: Yea, and he looketh down upon all the children of men; and he knows all the thoughts and intents of the heart; for by his hand were they all created from the beginning.
(Alma 18:26–32)

Those whose faith is in a most high god who loves all his children equally and believe god just wants people to live a good life in peace and harmony to others, need not worry. They will enter Jehovah’s kingdom when they die.

25/42.5. But be attentive to My Chosen, the Believers (Faithists), in all parts of heaven and earth; not letting one of them fall into the hells of My enemies.

Note: This came to me in a dream. For those with whom Oahspe resonates more than Modern Mormonism, you should consider the possibility that Mormonism was begun by the true messengers/angels of Jehovah, but that it was quickly high jacked by angels of the lower heavens. This would include the stealing of the 116 pages of the Book of Mormon and replacing it with a channeled version of the same text which supports the doctrines of Leomalang instead of Jehovah and the Great Spirit. This explaining why parts of the book are wrong, like the date of the final battle, and the coming of Christ. Because the text was channeled by Ixtlilxochitl and other well-meaning angels of the lower heavens under the influence of Leomalang. I personally am not entirely sure what to believe concerning the particulars of which parts are right/wrong of both Oahspe & Mormonism, as I believe they both have truth and error.

Introduction to The Gospel of The Holy Twelve

The Gospel of the Holy Twelve is a revalatory text, suggesting to be a restoration of the original gospel of christ.

The Gospel of the Holy Twelve is a revalatory text, suggesting to be a restoration of the original gospel of christ.

 

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The Gospel of the Holy Twelve
The Gospel of the Holy Twelve is a very unique and interesting Restorationism Text. Like a few other assorted texts, it purports to be a restored version of the original Gospel from which the four Gospels were loosely copied. It is said to have been written by Saint John along with the Book of Revelation. One forward reads,

This Gospel record is the recovered document from which the Four Gospels as we have them today were built upon. It was the first formulated life of the Christ and was written by St. John about the year 70 AD., when he was imprisoned in Rome and given page by page to one whom he could trust.

When the scroll was completed and after its contents had been made known to the Apostles, it was taken to Tibet by the same disciple, who left it in the care of a unnamed lama.

Mormonism, of course, has a number of scriptures that support the idea that assorted parts of the bible were corrupted through time, and that these corruptions would be corrected by new finds and revelations in the latter days.

20 … I, Nephi, beheld… a book, and it was carried forth among them [the Gentiles in America].
23 And he said: Behold it proceedeth out of the mouth of a Jew….
24 And the angel of the Lord said unto me: Thou hast beheld that the book proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew; and when it proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew it contained the fulness of the gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bear record..
25 Wherefore, these things go forth from the Jews in purity unto the Gentiles, according to the truth which is in God.

Now this could be talking about the Old Testament as compiled by Ezra or it could be talking about the parts of the New Testament possibly compiled by John. Either way, Mormonism holds that the that the version of this bible that has been passed down to us through Roman era rabbinism and early catholicism has many plain and precious things taken out. Parts which may still exist in Tibeten libraries and other buried locations. Note this additional LDS scripture concerning the idea that John the beloved will help reveal additional distorted truths in the latter days…

25 But the things which thou shalt see hereafter thou shalt not write; for the Lord God hath ordained the apostle of the Lamb of God that he should write them…
26 And also others who have been, to them hath he shown all things, and they have written them; and they are sealed up to come forth in their purity, according to the truth which is in the Lamb, in the own due time of the Lord, unto the house of Israel.
27 And I, Nephi, heard and bear record, that the name of the apostle of the Lamb was John, according to the word of the angel.

So we learn in essence that the “in the due time of the Lord” we will get a “pure” or uncorrupted version of the Old Testament (Obviously this will occur when the Plates of Brass are given back to man, but I believe it is happening in part to those ready to receive by the restoration of these Tibetan versions). Furthermore we may get an uncorrupted version of the Book of Revelation written by John the Revelator. Is it possible that this too was sent to Tibet and is one of the “Rich Treasures [to be brought] unto the children of Ephraim” when “they who are in the north countries [sic] come in remembrance before the Lord; and their prophets [sic] hear his voice, and [sic] no longer stay themselves; and [sic] smite the rocks, and the ice [flows] down at their presence.” (D&C 133:26–30) [Read my article on the Lost Ten tribes in Tibet and Mongolia here -link]

Now I’m not so sure that the Gospel of the Holy Twelve is an uncorrupted original gospel. If fact, I tend to believe it a channeled text which introduces its own bias into the Gospels. But I think it may actually restore some great aspects of the Gospel of Christ, and that the original certainly could have been given to St John by revelation and sealed to be sent to Tibet with the Book of Revelation that they could come forth in purity during the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. Furthermore, I speculate that the “mission and ordinance, for [John] to gather the tribes of Israel… and restore all things” spoken of in D&C 77:14 will be centered in bringing forth these records hidden in Israel, Tibet, Great Britain and the other locations where Israel was largely scattered. As an echoed witness to John’s mission we have these quote from the Doctrine & Covenants Church Manuals,

The Apostle John ministered to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in 1829 when he assisted Peter and James in the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood (see D&C 27:12).

In a conference of the Church on 3 June 1831, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught concerning John’s ministry: “John the Revelator was then among the Ten Tribes of Israel who had been led away by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, to prepare them for their return from their long dispersion” (History of the Church, 1:176).

In trying to get to the bottom of how the Gospel of the Holy Twelve got from its supposed residence in Tibet to England, The Christian Gospel Trust of Sussex writes that it remained in Tibet

“until a friar, named Placidus, visited the monastery in the eighteen seventies and asked if he might show it to the Church Authorities in Rome.

The scroll was then given to him and on the way home, which took a long time, he translated a portion of it into Latin and on his arrival in Rome read it to the assembled Cardinals. At first they were impressed, but as he proceeded to reveal the contents they realised that to make it known would discredit the Church which had, during the Council of Nicea, eliminated from the Gospels the Master’s teaching about the love and care of animals and about abstaining from eating flesh-foods. And so the scroll was hidden away in the archives of the Vatican, where it remains to this day”

I don’t think that this story is a total fabrication, but one does wonder how it fits into another preface written in another version where supposedly Rev. Gideon Ouseley claims that the first publication of The Gospel of the Holy Twelve as written by him was communicated to him “in numerous fragments at different times, by Emmanuel Swedenborg, Anna Kingsford, Edward Maitland, and a priest of a former century giving his name as Placidus, of the Franciscan Order, afterward A. Carmelite”, who were the translators thereof. He also refers to certain “spiritual manifestations” which he says accompanied the transcription. So perhaps the story pieced together here is that it went from John to Tibet, to the Vatican where it has been since the 1800’s. But deceased seers including Emmanual Swedenborg translated the work from latin and revealed in to Gideon Ouseley in visions whereafter he wrote it down and published it. Sounds quite fantastic to me, but perhaps no more fantastic than the translation/revelation of the Book of Mormon or Pearl of Great Price.

It has become my practice to judge spiritual books by their content, not by the stories surrounding their coming forth.

To end, I will showcase some of the unique content found in the text….

In the following passage we have a list of the twelve apostles as well as the tribe of israel each represented. This is a Jewell of information lost to the new testament gospels but that I had been searching for for many years.

Now the names of the twelve apostles are these who stood for the twelve tribes of Israel:
2. Peter, called Cephas, for the tribe of Reuben; James, for the tribe of Naphtali; Thomas, called Dydimus, for the tribe of Zabulon; Matthew, called Levi for the tribe of Gad; John, for the tribe of Ephraim; Simon, for the tribe of Issachar.
3. Andrew, for the tribe of Joseph; Nathanael, for the tribe of Simeon; Thaddeus, for the tribe of Zabulon; Jacob, for the tribe of Benjamin; Jude, for the tribe of Dan; Philip, for the tribe of Asher. And Judas Iscariot, a Levite, who betrayed him, was also among them (but he was not of them). And Matthia and Barsabbas were also present with them. (17:1-3)

Now these are too inspired to be made up. Note that Judas “who was among them, but not one of them” was a Levite. Not to be counted just as the tribe of Levi in the apportioning of Israel to each tribe. Note also that John the beloved is of Ephraim… Of Course! I’ll let you chew on the rest. They are an absolute revelation.

Secondly, lets look at… I”ll complete this when I have some time…

Note

Article under construction from this point.

In truth there are just too many deep wonderful principles to even do justice. Take the four-fold ministry for instance… (add quotes, see other article)..

However, the two doctrines that are suspect and may have been added by Buddhist/Tibetan scribes may be the parts on animal cruelty. But judge for yourself.

See my posts here (link) to see an explanation of what may appear to some to be a teaching on reincarnation (Christians would just call it resurrection).

Also a bit on marriage…. I’ll have to write an article on this because many texts (including Paul in the new testament) clarify the whole concept of their being a time to marry and a time to be celibate.

also…

 

Read the Book Here

The Kolbrin: Background and Synopsis

Note

Note that much of what you find written online about The Kolbrin is sensationalized fabrication. Since the text claims to predate copyright laws, a publisher took the manuscript for the Kolbrin from the Culdian Trust, renamed it “The Kolbrin Bible”, republished it under their own name and then marketed it to catastrophism planet X fanatics as a End Times book (of which it says little). In reality, it makes no claims of its own to be a Bible other than the fact that the word Kolbrin almost certainly comes from the Welsh word Coelbren which mean “written word” or “books”. The Kolbrin is simply a published compilation of an assortment of ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian scriptures hidden and passed down from generation to generation in Great Britain.

“The canonicals of the Arch-Druid were extremely Gorgeous… on his breast the ior morain, or breast-plate of judgment, below it, the glanneidr, or draconic egg.. before him were the coelbren, or volume of esoteric mysteries and the golden corsier… His robe was of white linen.. When Druidism merged into Christianity, these rites, festivals and canonicals became those of the Christian Church. Little variation exist[ing between them] and those of Druidic Britain two thousand years since” (Historian William Morgan, 1857) Image Description: The gold pages above are The Pyrgi Tablets: written in the Phoenician / Proto Hebrew around 500 BC, they are evidence of the type of records mentioned in the Kolbrin.

OVERVIEW

The Kolbrin claims to come from a large collection of manuscripts and tablets engraved on scrolls parchments and even metallic plates by ancient spiritual leaders/historians, taken to Great Britain from the Middle East some time around 1000-500 BC. The book is predominantly composed of spiritual material but also contains a fair amount of obscure yet verifiable history. The earliest manuscripts in the book appear to have been written in Egypt at least as early as the first or mid second millennium BC, although most are written and compiled later by a religious cult referred to as “the sons of light.” (Likely an Israeli priestly cult, like the group by the same name who buried the dead sea scrolls — see Hoskia and the Northern Kingdom below.)

The first quarter of the Culdian publishing of the Kolbrin, with its important prologue or origin, is available at archive.org at this link. A hard copy can be bought here. The full 'Master Edition', brilliantly broken into verses referenced in this article can be read here. 

In the section entitle ‘Sons of Fire’, one King Hoskiah is said to have “brought the Children of Light to the Land of Mists” (Britain) from his short exile in Kadesh (Northern Israel/Syria) some during the first millennium BC — possibly remaining a relatively cohesive unit until they were converted to Christianity just after the death of Christ. These records were then handed down through some type of monastic druid, and then unorthodox Christian order until persecution devastated the order and destroyed many of the manuscripts during the Romanization and later Christianization of Britain between 400-1100 AD. The book, much like the LDS, Book of Mormon is already the source of deep controversy. Skeptics, such as the authors of RationalWiki, claim the book to be a clever forgery (a stance they’ve softened on as more evidence has come forward).  Much like the Book of Mormon, early skeptics called the book a hoax. But as more and more evidence of ancient origins come to light, some skeptics have changed their tune; now suggesting the historically accurate aspects of the text must have been forged from other ancient texts.

In reality, the text is EXACTLY what one might expect from ancient translated documents, and their contents and history are incredibly relevant to any Book of Mormon scholarship. Their mere existence, in light of the monastic order which claims to have guarded these records through the centuries gives legitimacy to the LDS idea that similar ancient hermetic groups may have guarded North American records brought from the Near East as well.  In fact a section of the text tells about how the ‘sons of light’ cult saw it their God-given duty to preserve ancient written scripture and text, and did so by sending them to remote locations in ‘the ends of the earth’.

Historically, the manuscript collection could even be what Richard Williams Morgan, wrote about in his 1857 book “Britons of Cambria” where he related that the ancient head Arch-Druid had before him a “volume of esoteric mysteries” referred to as “the Coel-bren.”  The wisdom of which allowed Druidism to merge seamlessly into Christianity, stating that Druidian “rites, festivals, canonicals became those of the Christian Church. Little variation exist[ing] between the modern ceremonials… and those of Druidic Britain two thousand years since.  (reference)

A careful reading of the Kolbrin shows how and why this would be the case. As Druidism had its roots in the Jewish, Egyptian, and Near-Eastern myths and texts brought by the “sons of light” described in more detail below. (Some suggest Coelbren could also just be an ancient Welsh word for ‘books’ much as the word ‘Bible’.)

MODERN PUBLISHING

(excerpt taken from “thekolbrin.com”)

Although the last major spiritual writings in the Kolbrin date to at least the seventh century AD, the modern publishing of the Kolbrin are said to trace back to a large collection of manuscripts salvaged from Glastonbury Abbey during an arson attack that was intended to destroy the ancient church’s library, presumably in 1184 AD. It was the time of history when there was a great suppression of monasteries. As fate would have it, the once considered heretical works were transcribed on bronze tablets by the religious druids of the time. Since they were thought to be destroyed during the fire, they were preserved in secrecy.

Since then, much of the original text was lost or destroyed due to the passage of time, their environment, and human error. Each caretaker though, has gone to painstaking efforts to preserve what was left and to fill in the gaps with the correct knowledge in order to preserve the original meaning. During the early fourteenth century, John Culdy, the leader of a small community in Scotland, owned The Kolbrin and took steps to ensure its survival beyond his care.

The Kolbrin eventually became known as The Bronzebook of Britain, and the contents of additional salvaged manuscripts known as The Coelbook were later incorporated into it to form the modern version. In the early parts of the twentieth century, the responsibility of The Kolbrin’s preservation rested with a small religious group in England that never gained much power due their very restrictive membership requirements.

The current custodian is The Culdian Trust, which was formed in 1980. The Culdian Trust inherited The Kolbrin and other books when the Hope Trust was deregistered around 1995 in accordance with its constitution. Around 1992, an elderly man from the Hope Trust who is now deceased put together the current draft from the originals. His character, reputation and relatives are still living. He was an extremely private man while alive and the trust are respecting his wishes with regard to continued privacy.

The Culdian Trust members were not allowed to see the original manuscripts on which the most recent version of The Kolbrin was derived, nor do they understand how they came into the elderly man’s possession or where he sent the originals upon completion. Despite the continued ambiguity of The Kolbrin’s origins, a Culdian Trust representative that knew the man for approximately twenty years held him in high regard and found him to be a man of extremely high integrity.

Much like the Book of Mormon, it would appear that guardians of the metal and paper manuscripts upon which the book came, are purposefully withholding any physical scientific evidence of the ancient record from the world.

CONTENT OF THE KOLBRIN

Much like the Old Testament, (and the “Jaredite 24 plates” of the Book of Mormon), the Kolbrin starts with a creation story. Although it shares some similar aspects with the Bible account it gives several versions and uses very different wording. The sophistication of the language has more of an eastern flavor than most ancient western creation accounts. It is quite similar to (and I believe shares a common source with) the Hindu Veda, Manusmriti or laws of Manu (extent texts typically dating from the 2nd to 3rd century BCE – read one version here).
The other sounds far more like an expanded adaptation of the works of the Phoenician author Sanchuniathon, who wrote around 1200 BC, than the biblical creation story (which many say dates the the Ezra era of 500-350 BC). You can read the eight cosmogonies of Sanchuniathon at this link to https://syriacpress.com And the expanded version of The Theology of the Pheonicans perserved in Eusebius’ Praeparatio Evangelica. See Chapter X here.

-It also contains two separate flood accounts (one global and what seems to be a local flood and tower story likely added at a later date). Perhaps a more original version of what’s found in the Sumerian texts of Atrahasi .

-It also contains a Biblical exodus story given in a format, detail and style much different than that in the bible. (These accounts are from an Egyptian perspective, but are explicitly said to have been added at a later date, and of questionable origin. This is probably the most suspect of the texts in the Kolbrin, and says that it ‘was added later’ which may suggest it is a modern addition to the collection).

-The account of the destruction and recreation by flood and fire shares similarities to both the biblical Noah’s flood and the Hindu Yuga cycles  & Mayan Baktun cycles (which each were split into four creation ages and each sharing a period of 144,000–years in Yugas and days in Baktuns).

-Note the CRAZY correlation between CRT:7:5 and the 52 year Maya and Aztec Calendar Round. Book of Creation 7:5 says, “These and many other things were taught by Habaris, but many of his teachings displeased the people of Krowkasis who were then as they were before Herthew’s forefather was led away. So Habaris concealed many things from them and taught, by simple tales, things within their understanding. He taught them the mysteries concerning the wheel of the year and divided the year into a Summer half and a Winter half, with a great year circle of fifty-two years, a hundred and four of which was the circle of The Destroyer.”  Note that the Aztec & Maya calendars are completely built around the 52/104 year Venus century. (see my article to understand how it was computed)

-The stories of Maya & Lila (Book of Gleanings), and numerous usage of the concept of Illusion and the Lotus (Book of Gleanings, Book of Scrolls), as well as names like Bramathamlin also suggest a common origin with some Mesopotamian and/or Hindu texts. (compare the epics of Maya Sita with Maya & Lila for instance)

-Much is spoken of Osiris and other early Egyptian myths. Many late period Gnostics adapted these myths into Israel’s Abraham. Comparison of these ancient texts with early Jewish, later gnostic, or the channelings of Joseph Smith on Abraham may give insight into possible truths which often lie behind ancient mythos and the modern cultural adaptations.

-It seems almost certain that the Kolbrin’s story of Hurmanetar is simply a slightly different version of the various Sumerian & Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh narratives. Mostly likely they all derive from a single parent epic. See many details of correlations in this article of Hurmanetar as Gilgamesh. The Babylonian Enkidu, obviously correlates to the Kolbrin’s Yadol, and the Babylonian Gilgamesh with the Hurmanetar. Both characters in both stories go off on a quest to find the secrets of eternal life, culminating in a journey to the Underworld, to speak with Noah/Utnapishtim in the Babylonian story, and the departed spirit of Yadol himself in the Kolbrin. Both tales imply a sort of psychic/astral journey rather than a physical one, in the Babylonian story, Noah/Utnapishtim hands him a physical herb which is the Tree of Life, the herb that guarantees immortality, and in the Kolbrin, Yadol tells him of the Secret of Life, or rather the reality of life beyond death, in which the soul is immortal, and experiences the real life, of which physical existence is but a faint echo.

-The “Twice Born” Egyptian cult mentioned pervasively throughout many chapters of the text is a well known concept in Hindu ancient literature. See Dvija (Sanskrit: द्विज) Particularly in the “Laws of Manu“, and ancient script associated with the Rig Veda. Manu being the archetypal man or Adam in Hindu texts. Undoubtedly many of the Kolbrin mythological heroes like Hahrew, Yosirah and Kohar are proto Hindu concepts which can be found in Hindu texts under different names.

-The “serpent” who should only be aroused by the twice born and “sleeps at the bole of a tree from which hangs the body of man, the tree of his backbone” of SCL:9:18 very obviously corresponds to the teachings of kundalini in Hindu thought.

– Ramsis in SOF:2:9, who “built the Great Temple of Ramen” is obviously one of the Ramesses of Egypt.   SOF 2 details the rebirth and temple rights of the “twice born” in Egypt.

-A second variation spelled Rasmus is given in MAN:25:4. This time in association with an Egyptian Coup of some sort.  “Rasmus, they slew in the antechamber, he died not from the blows before his face but from the steward’s knife behind… Neferlehi, they took; they carried her off. Proud and upright, she went, to die in a foul place by the terrible hooks of the tormentors. Her greater loveliness will live forever in the Halls of Eternity. It will exceed the radiance of the sunlight and enfold the heart like the pale glory of the moonbeam. The son of Rasmus and his children, they slew and tormented, his residence they defiled and laid in ruins.”   Could this be Ramesses III and Tiyi his mother who was assassinated in the Harem conspiracy led by his secondary wife Tiye and her eldest son?  This small section seems to have come to England late, as the excerpt notes “The records… survive, they journey on and they come to you.”

-MAN:33 gives an incredibly unique version of the Osiris Myth. In this version Osiris is called Osireh, in MAN:33:28 Horus, his son is called Hori, Aten called Atem. Isis his wife is called “Esitis… or in the tongue of the old river people the name became Ness. Later, this was changed to Nesit, which in the old tongue meant she who was Ness”.  In this version Set (called Setis here) is the brother of Isis instead of Osiris.

-Osiris in MAN 33, sounds a LOT like a hybrid of Abraham and Moses and has a section prophesying about a Messianic figure. See MAN 33:18 where Osireh prophesies.. “Behold the land before you, it is a chosen land for safeguarding the Sacred Mysteries. Out of its womb shall come the Child of Truth. which shall die and rise again to lead men in the struggle to glory”.

-Setshra in MAN 24:24 somewhat resembles the story of Jezebel persuading king Ahaz to set up Baal worship. “Now, Setshra gained the ear of the king and, pouring in a flood of venom wrapped up in fine speech, he overwhelmed the heart of his Majesty. None in the land had a tongue more subtle than that of Setshra. Then, new shrines were set up in the temples; new forms of worship appeared, pandering to the weaknesses of men. The hidden places of the Enlightened Ones were profaned with wickedness, and the secret chambers of the Twice Born were polluted with vile rites. Therefore, the Enlightened Ones and the Twice Born withdrew from the eyes and knowledge of men.”

-“Shina” in MAN 24:28 is a known region, language and people in Kashmir/Ladakh Pakistan/India. (see Shina or Gilgitis people) A place with a rich monastic tradition which has long been suspected to have ties to Zoroastrianism. (and israel?) “Shari” is a word perhaps associated with Assyria. It reads “The Leader of light and those with him fled into the land beyond Shari and built there the Temple in the Rock, which stands against Shina. In this land, the forces of the Dark Ones were cast back.” This region seems to be mentioned a few times in the Kolbrin. There’s also some very famous rock cut churches in Armenia, which I believe are mentioned in Herodotus or some history of how Darius tried to capture them.

-Tathomasis in Man 34:29 is said to have “came to make the name of Egypt known throughout all the lands”.  He immediately precedes “Nabihaton” who is undoubtedly the historical Akhenaten or Amenhotep meaning that Tathomasis is likely one of the Thutmose’s (likely Thutmose I the Great) who campaigned deep into the Levant and Nubia, pushing the borders of Egypt farther than ever before in each region.

-Starting in MAN:34:33, an incredibly interesting version of Akhenaten (called Nabihaton) is given concerning his corruption of Egyptian religion and the people’s rejection of Atenism. Note that Akhenaten’s mother Tiye is called “Towi” in v. 35

-Pharaoh Nafohia could be Nefaarud, known to have ruled after Egypt’s revolt of Persia’s king Darius.

-‘Pharaoh Athmos’ mention in Sons of Fire 6:9, is almost certainly Pharaoh Ahmose of the 18the dynasty who ruled around 1550 BC and expelled the ‘Hysos’ or shepherd kings from Canaan. The Kolbrin mentions that sometime after “Egypt was at war with the Abramites for their great red-headed king had committed adultery with the wife of a prince of Paran… The remorseful king reaped as he had sown, for his favourite daughter was ravished by her own brother”.   This is certainly King David who the Bible says was “ruddy [red haired] and had beautiful eyes and was handsome” (1 Samuel 16:12). The daughter is Tamar from 2 Sam 13:1–22 who is raped by her brother Amnon who is then killed by Absalom. (The implications of knowing that the Hysos are King David’s empire are HUGE!)

-Given the identification of David, “Hiram” in SOF 6 is obviously referring to Hiram of Tyre, or some other Mediterranean King with this popular ancient name.

-Many other correlations can be drawn between Egyptian pharaohs mentioned in the Kolbrin and Historically verified accounts of Egyptian history.

-OGS:1:22 mentions King Bladud who is a legendary king of the Britons who supposedly ruled for twenty years from 863 BC or perhaps 500 BC.  At some point, someone should go through the orginal source of the legends to see if the wife Kelwinith, daughter of Molmed or other names mentioned are corroborated in the ancient annals. Bladud and his son Leir (of Shakespeare’s King Lear) are supposedly of the house of Brutus of Troy. However, none of the other historical names of that line seem to agree with those given in the Kolbrin.

-Lucius Clorus mentioned in BRT:9:1 who it says “was named King Coel” is undoubtedly the same as Lucious of Britain  or Lles map Coel in Welsh, credited with introducing Christianity into Britain in the 2nd century.

-The death of “Okther 165 years ago” could refer to Octha, founder of Saxon Kent. This would give 677 AD minus 165 = 512; Octha’s death date is unknown, usually put at 522 or later. But he is not mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and in British sources like Nennius seems to be earlier, taking over from his father (or grandfather) the legendary Saxon leader Hengist after 488 AD.

-However, we also have a date of 677 AD as year 2 of Ketwin’s kingship of West Saxondom and year 14 of Ardwulf’s reign over the East Saxons. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle has a ‘Centwine’ ruling Wessex 677-, yielding 678. Ardwulf is not the name of any recorded Anglo-Saxon king, but there was an Aldwulf ruling East Anglia from 663/4-, which would give us a writing date of 677/678 AD.

“The “fourth year in the reign of Lothir, king of all the Kents” leads us to Kentish king Hlothhere (Latin Clotharius or Lotharius) who acceded 674/675, yielding a date of 678-9.

-There are various similar mentions in both Manuscripts 6 and in the Admonitions/Lament of Ipuwer.

Table of Pharaohs mentioned in the Kolbrin and possible correlations.

Pos. DateKolbrin NameEquiv?Details
??Namah, & MinisNamer & Menes?MAN:34:3 “He carried the sword among the striving peoples, and in his day, the might of Mantethrop prevailed. The spirit of Hori, who took the land from Namah, and of Minis, who united it, were with him. Then, the lands of the North and the lands of the South were delivered in to the hands of the king, and they became one. They were united, though they remained two.”
??Yosira, OsirehOsiris/ WsirMAN:33:12-35 “Now this Osireh, of whom I speak, is even he whom the people of this land have made a god… it was ordained that Osireh should marry his sister, and Esitis (Isis) gave birth to the manchild Hori (Horus)… and Setis (seth) her brother”. GLN 11:1-14 ” Yosira spoke to his Sons in this manner, “I am the Viceregent of the God of Gods. I am the custodian of the Books of Power. I am the Voice of Heaven. I am one sent into Tamerua as a lightbearer”
2600 BCPahophaApopha?MAN:34:29 “…in the generation of Pahopha, the name of Osireh began to be known in the land, and for twelve generations, it grew in greatness. The Upuru departed; the Ameluka came” [Amalekites/Hyksos?]. Hophra (589 BC) was called Apries by Greeks, and is equated with the myth of Amasis/Sethos. The ‘Book of Sothis‘ tells of a “Aphophis/Apopha) who “first called Pharaoh, and that in the 4th year of his kingship Joseph came as a slave into Egypt.”
1870 BCSetshraSenusret III?Sesostris/Setshotri in Greek. MAN:34:21. twenty generations before the evil Amuleka descended like locusts upon the land… This is set forth in the scroll belonging to Kabitkant, son of Nemerath, copied from an old writing copied from another which was the property of a temple in Pinhamur
1450 BCAnkedAnkhhaf?MAN 6:1-48 Story of Moses & the Destroyer. “Kair taught these things to the Children of Light.. before the death of the Pharaoh Anked”. Mentions places: Remwar, Noshari, Maha, Pikaroth, Mara. City/God called “Thom”. And other names of Alkenan, Anturah, Rageb & Kair.
??RamsisRamesses II ?SOF 2:9 “when Ramsis built the Great Temple of R’amen, it contained within itself both temple and shrine of the All Highest God. Also, there were Caverns of Initiation underneath. In the hall of the temple, which faced East and West, between pillars of pure stone, was the portal of the outer sanctuary. As the sun rises in the East, to give life to the day, so was the Devoted Priest placed in the East of the sanctuary, to open the services of worship and to instruct”. (Temple of Amun @ Jebel Barkal?)
~970 BCAthmosAhmose?SOF 6:9 HUGE. “In the days when Hiram came to Egypt, the Pharaoh Athmos ruled. In those days, Egypt was at war with the Abramite”. If Athmos is Ahmose, the verses following this suggests that the Hyksos were Davidic Israel. David warred with Egypt at the same time Ahmose chased the Shepherd kings out. Could also possibly be Thutmose I.
~910 BC?TathomasisThutmose IV?MAN:34:29 “Tathomasis came, to make the name of Egypt known throughout all the lands. He, too, could no more stay the hand of decay than could the meanest slave. Then, in his day Nabihaton came to rule in the land of Egypt.” Africanus calls Thutmose IV, “Touthmosis”, Joseph = Thmosis. Akhenaten rules 38 years later.
~772 BC?NabihatonAkhenatenMAN 34:29 Starts the story of how he had a demon and corrupted Egypt. Kolbrin names mother as Towi (obviously Tiye). Name composed of Fathers ‘Nab’ and ‘henaten’.
~720 BCNafohiaNeferkare?SOF 1:1 “Father of sons of light (Hoskiah) came out of Egypt in days of Pharaoh Nafohia. (Should be about the time of the Assyrian conquest or Sargon of Akkad? So Neferkare (Shabaka/Pepi II fits well. But could also be Neferibre (Psamtik II, 595-589 BC)

Other Possible Historical Characters

Pos. DateKolbrin NameEquiv?Details
??Auma & AtemAdam & EveCRT:5:12 The man awoke and sought food from the fruits about him and, having refreshed himself, wandered about the garden. Wherever he went he saw the wraith, but was unafraid because she smiled encouragingly, bringing comfort to his heart. He built himself a shelter and grew strong again, but always, wherever he went, the wraith was not far distant…
??HanokNoahGLN:4:29 Hanok and the Ark/great ship. Had three brothers who divided the land. MAN:34:4 Then [after Namah & Minis] came the year of the great flood of waters… when the salt seas rose upon the East and covered the land…
??HurmanetarrGilgameshThe Babylonian Enkidu, obviously correlates to the Kolbrin’s Yadol, and the Babylonian Gilgamesh with the Hurmanetar. Both characters in both stories go off on a quest to find the secrets of eternal life, culminating in a journey to the Underworld, to speak with Noah/Utnapishtim in the Babylonian story, and the departed spirit of Yadol himself in the Kolbrin
??
BeltsheraBabel?GLN 3:7-9 The floodgates [of Atuma] were opened… “the people left… Shinara..fled up a mountain… built a gateway to heaven”
600BCGatumGuatamaOGS:1:11 Those generated from the seed of Dada were the three Heaven-sent forebears of mankind, named Magog, Gatuma and Keili. …It is known only that Magog ruled in the North and East, Gatuma in the South and Keili in the West. OGS:3:1 Over the sea now called Basabrimal, came a far-ranging race from Krowkasis, the Motherland where Gatuma ruled, where skyreaching mountains rise out of a wide, green, dark-soiled plain. They were horsefighters, known among themselves as the Wildland Cultivators, and they landed at the place beforetimes called Haltraith, in the land of the Horsefolk, now held by Engling. They built the woodwalled town called Hovenlee in the new tongue, near where the great sea king sleeps beneath his mound.

HOSKIAH & THE CONNECTION TO THE NORTHERN TRIBES OF ISRAEL

(Its important to remember when reading these sections of the Kolbrin, that Israel was part of the Egyptian empire for much of its history. From Moses’ captivity, to David’s dealings with Sheba in Cush or Upper Egypt to the Marriage of Solomon to a daughter of Pharaoh, to Jeroboam’s vassalage to Pharaoh which likely didn’t end until hundreds of years later. Even to the Hasmonean period where the Egyptian Ptolemaic Pharaoh’s ruled Israel.)

Its hard not to draw a connection between the early King “Hoskiah” of SOF 7:1 who “was the Bowman of God and brought the Children of Light to the Land of Mists” and Egyptian ally (or perhaps even vassal) to Hoshea the last king of the Northern kingdom of Israel in the Bible (likely carrying on the work of Hezekiah & his religious reforms effectuated because of the fear brought onto Judah by the demise of the Northern Kingdom).

The Kolbrin’s account of King Hoskiah begins describing him as one who “knew the Almighty God and looked up to Him as the God of his fathers.” Much as the southern kingdom of Judah would have looked upon the kings of the Northern Kingdom, the scribe seems to see Hoskiah and his people as somewhat apostate, “knowing the truth only in part, for having stolen Him they were unable to know Him fully.”  In verse 4 we learn that apparently his people are destroyed by a stronger hand and Hoskiah escapes to Kadesh, Syria on the ancient Samarian border of Egypt where “those who remained alive with him slept in strange places, for they were sought by the king who had been victorious.”   This “victorious king” is likely a reference to Shalmaneser V of Assyria who came against Samaria in 727-725 BC, deposing Hoshea and later taking the kingdom and deporting its residents around 720 BC. The bible and other written histories do not indicate what happened to king Hoshea.

In the story Hoskiah’s brother Isais is placed on the throne in his stead, taking his kingdom and wives. Soon after Hoskiah’s favorite wife Athelia is mauled, defaced and banished for insubordination.  A somewhat mythically natured tale is then given of their reuniting and her suicide causing Hoskiah to flee to the ‘ends of the earth’ in remorse. Much of the story of his background in SOF 7-15 casts a fanciful epic of the king… Almost certainly like Greek epics it is part of a common near-eastern tradition of recasting popular rulers into Gilgamesh-like mythic epics as a gift or pot-mortem homage to the monarch.

Greater evidence to the likely Israelite background of Hoskiah is given when after travelling to “the land of Mists” (England or Ireland) Hoskiah “sent to Pelasi for the remnants of” the Children of Light“… “who went Northward after the scattering” (SOF 13:34). None of them came, for they said it was not meet for them to journey to the edge of the Earth to dwell among barbarians”. They said, “We will retain the light here, for out there, it will surely be extinguished.” Later, four ships did come, but they “carried the standards of Ashratem. With them came Enos Husadim of the Sons of Dan, a learned man from the slopes of the mountain, which rests in darkness and reaches up to the limits of light” (SOF 11:9-10).  The location mentioned would likely be a mountainous area existing at the northern edge of the era’s Near-Eastern civilized boundaries (limits of light). The Caucasus region of Armenia and Punjab region of the Indus seem good candidates.

The fact that the only known Old testament books or references in the Kolbrin are the revelations or “light of Amos” is another good indicator of its Northern Kingdom of Israel roots as well as the timing of its arrival to Britian. Amos was the first of the Prophets of the bible to testify, prophesying to the Northern Kingdom around 750 BC.

In SOF 13:21 we read that the Sons of light’s “destiny lies in a much bleaker land, where our seed will be planted in strange soil. It will lie within the bosom of an untamed land, until quickened to growth by the warmth of the desires of men.”  This is undoubtedly quoting from Amos 7:17 & 9:15,

17 Therefore thus saith the Lord; … thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. 14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel… 15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.

A bit later the scribes even describe how keeping records was part of the temple practice of the Children of light. As well as how they were later “scattered” and lost.

32 Our light was lit in the land of our beginnings. Many books were made and kept in four places, and we were in truth Children of The Written Word. There were scribes and readers, officials and guardians. There were servants and those, who served in the courtyards…. 34 As the name, The Children of Light, is written in the old characters, it may also be read as The Children of The Written Word, and this is a truth. We alone preserve our secrets in this manner. The Children of Light followed a destined course by abandoning their altars in the land of their beginnings, and went to dwell among strangers, where many ate at one table. We do not know what befell of their books, for those we have are rewritten. We know the Children of The Written Word went Northward after the scattering, but we do not know what were their journeyings. (SOF 13:32-34)

Abundant myths exist which suggest that some of Zedekiah’s children (the last king of Judah) also fled to Ireland after the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. See this site for instance.

For Book of Mormon believers, of note is the Kolbrin verse which talks about ships full of settlers from the near-east coming to England about this time who “were divided and… wished to set up the eagle and serpent [see Uraeus & relationship to feathered serpent cult of the era] and went to the Harbour of Giants in Belharia, The same giants are builders of great temples, and they are six cubits tall.” (SOF 12:15)  One of King Hezekiah of Judah’s main reforms about this time was to destroy the Nehushtan or Bronze Serpent of Moses which had come to be the focus of an idolatrous cult. (see 2 Kings 18:4, and this reference)  This is noteworthy as many early Aztec & Mixtec codices also mention the “giants” as the first newcomers to New Spain followed by the Olmeca-xicalanca who seem to coincide with a rise in Quetzalcoatl or worship of the feathered Serpent.

Verse one of the Book of Manuscripts (MAN:26:1) also mentions the name “Laman,” which for those familiar to the Book of Mormon is the brother of Nephi. Although obviously a different individual in the Kolbrin, it at least proves that this name was of common early Jewish origin and associated with record keepers. The Kolbrin says of him “The words of the Great Scribe of the Universe, by Laman, Keeper of the Watergate by the Outlands. To the Children of Laka at Kemwar, Keepers of Secrets, wise in the words of God.”

In MAN:25:3, the reference to Neferlehi is likewise interesting in its phonetic similarity to NephiLehi, part of the name given to the Lamanite converts who became Nephites (Alma 23:17). The Kolbrin name invites speculation on whether the Book of Mormon names have an Egyptian origin instead of Hebrew origins.  Known names such as Neferhotep, Nefertiti, Nefertari & Neferuaten of the 18th dynasty show us that ‘Nefer‘ was a common Egyptian morpheme meaning perfect, complete, pleasant, good or beautiful. This is remarkably similar to the proposed Hebrew root of nephesh (נֶפֶש), which literally means the “complete life of a being.”

Hypothetical scattering of Israeli people and their records as suggested in the Kolbrin.

THE RECORDS OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL

The Kobrin teaches that the “Children of Light” were brought to Britain by Hoskiah (who we assume from his backstory and mention of the prophet Amos but no later prophet, was likely Hoshea, the last King of Israel), who saw it as a sacred duty to maintain records which would persist until the “latter days”.  The “Sons of light” is a well known monastic cult in Israel which persisted into the Christian Era at Qumran. In the contents of the Third Egyptian Scroll we learn,

This is the manner whereby the Sacred Records shall be kept, and their number is twelve books and four hundred and forty-two scrolls.
Four copies shall be made, and each shall be rolled on a stick of blackwood. Each shall be enclosed within a pickled skin and bound with a leathern throng. It shall be placed with spices in a box of copper, which shall be enclosed in a box of wood bound about with hide and pitched.
At each of the four appointed places shall be four hewn masonry receptacles, within which shall be contained the Great Arks. They shall be kept by the Guardians at the four quarters of the Earth, and no copies shall be made, except one be destroyed.
Nothing shall be added and nothing taken away from the books, except it be done according to the books, and the signs of the books shall be counted according to the custom of writing. (MAN:7:1 -4)

This sounds reminiscent of the story of Thoth on the Emerald Tablet in Egypt. A story given life in the account of Hojax/Thoth (the builder of the Great Pyramid) in Oahspe who builds outposts in “the distant lands of the earth, to observe the winds of heaven, and and the drought upon the earth; and the abundance of the yield of the earth in different regions, in different years and seasons; and to observe famines and pestilences, and all types of occurrences on the face of the earth.” After taking careful astronomical measurements for many years “throughout [Arabi], [India], [China], [Persia], [Greece], and [Europe], even across to the western sea [Atlantic Ocean]; and to the southern extreme of [Africa], and to the great kingdoms in the interior; and to the north of [Europe] to the regions of everlasting snow… Thothma had these things rewritten and condensed into books, and named them books of great learning, and they were deposited within the south chamber of the pyramid, where harm could never come to them.” In addition, “copies of this book were made and sent into the [same various lands], to the priests of God” (Oahspe, Book of Wars against Jehovih; 24/50.19-20,22,24)

One might dismiss the above account for its spurious nature, except that there are many pyramids and megalithic structures in the various corners of the earth which all seem to date to about the same time of 2400 BC, as the Great Pyramid. These include, Stonehenge in England, Caral in Peru, Several Dolmen’s in Spain, Pukuhara Pyramid in Indonesia, Senegambian stone circles in Senegal and more. We assume therefor that this practice started with the builder of the Great Pyramid around 2400 BC.

However, as mentioned, the Kolbrin account suggests the Israelite cult adopted this same practice somewhere between the time of King David (SOF:6:9) and the prophet Amos/Hoskiah (SOF:11:10). More clues as to the location of these four record vaults comes a few chapters later where we learn that one of the locations was in India (likely the Punjab region) and later moved to England.

Yet, even the Children of Light have become divided among themselves and one institution became two. The institution of the East claims it is the true guardian of the written records, but now we have books written even before those copied by the scribes of Hoskiah. We are not the Children of the Lesser Light, and we know the mysteries of the Hidden Light. Only we in the cold north will survive, for did not Amos write. “Our destiny lies in a much bleaker land, where our seed will be planted in strange soil. It will lie within the bosom of an untamed land, until quickened to growth by the warmth of the desires of men.” (SOF 13:21)

Another verse hints to the fact that the “institution of the East” was in India. And that the primary record vault there was later moved farther away “among the barbarians” in Britain. However, as the vaults simply served as master copies from which monastic scribes then made numerous copies and spread them to other monasteries, we’d expect many of those copies to have survived in various hidden convents. Particularly places with strong ancient monastic traditions. The Kashmir province of India is likely the best candidate for the possibility of this occurring.

SOF:13:35 We know about Lothan and Kabel Kai, designer of houses, who sailed around the edge of the Earth. With them was Raileb, the scribe, who knew hidden mysteries. They gathered the records, which were in Kindia, and carried them the long sea journey, believing the records safer among the barbarians than among those who sought to destroy them. If the records are destroyed by barbarians, it will be done in ignorance and not in the knowledge of wickedness. Many books were laid open to the eyes of ignorant men and destroyed.

The previous verse and the next suggest that the records were taken from India or “the eastern quarter” and brought to England. The new repository in England is then associated with ancient circular temples, of which Stonehenge is only one of many in Iberia and Britain.

SOF:8:12 Within the wall and circle of water, I have built the temple, but not all go in there with me. We are not one people. The gates of the temple are on pillars of wood and turn on a stone, and wooden are the pillars within. Great beams support the roof, and the walls are of wood and mud brick. The floor is of sand finely raked, and before the heir, the altar rests on stones. There are no images designed to confuse men, for though the temple is poor, it does not enshrine ignorance. We have no evil men with us. There are men of valour and men of skill, men of the land and men of the sea, no more.

SOF:8:13 Beneath the altar is the Grave of Life, kept dry with mortar. In its place is the Great Chest of Mysteries and in the Urns of Life are the records. Well kept, they are and safe from the unlearned, all the records of the Eastern Quarter.

One indication that the above is an account of the Sons of Light of Israel instead of an earlier group of Egyptians guarding only Egyptian records comes a bit later in the Kolbrin in ‘Two Sections of an Unnamed Scroll’ in the Book of Manuscripts. Here we read:

MAN:28:1 Praise to the Great Lords of Eternity who, once such as we, now sit in the Everlasting Halls. Sanctified forever be the name of The One God, to Whom Alone shall be given reverence and glory… Two generations have passed into judgement since the wild dogs came swiftly in the night and scattered the seeds of wisdom to the winds. [likely the Babylonian destruction given mention of Cambyses below] The Great Land shall no more know the true greatness of wisdom. The black soil shall not nourish its seed. The seed shall spring up and burst forth into leaf in foreign lands, among strange people.

MAN:28:6 Our destiny lies Northward, and such is foretold in the Sacred Writings. I go and my household, and Jothan the Sartisian with his household. My brother Kabel also and his daughter, with Karob and Agab of the house of Moshes [Moses]. We go by way of Kambusis [likely ‘The Market of Cambyses‘ of Pliny by Premnis on the Nile delta] and the waters of Jabel [Jebel Sahaba on Nile at Sudan border], over the wild wilderness to the Mountains of Winds. Beyond them we journey into Kndia [India], where there are pines. We shall take the records of [to?] the Eastern Quarter and the Guardians, who remain with us. None among all who know our ways shall be forced to go, neither shall we condemn those who remain. The scrolls in four chests and the Books of Wisdom in their canopies go with those who depart. Our thoughts remain with Semlis; may he sail in peace with moderate winds and find everlasting glory and beauty in the Netherworld. (MAN 28:1-9)

Just after this verse, we next read a reference to bringing other records from the “swamplands”, an obvious reference to the headwaters of the Nile in Sudan or ancient Ethiopia/Cush. This same author mentions bringing “the four books to safety” by traveling through Ethiopia.

MAN:29:1 I am Kison, son of Nesubot and Nektorab, a citizen of Hakarnak. I am he, who brought the Sacred Writings from the swamplands and gathered men together, who are the Sons of Light. MAN:29:9 I brought to safety the Four Great Books, of which one is the Book of the Masters Words and one the Book of the Masters Deeds. One the Book of the Masters Ways and one the Book of Awaking to Life in the Dawnlight. With them were the Books of Beginning and End and the two and seventy scrolls. Not one was lost.

Another verse in this section connects Ethiopia to the homelands of the Sons of Fire, and mentions a character who sounds a lot like Moses, who it places in Upper Egypt or Ethiopia. It might seem strange that the priests feign ignorance of a character like Moses, but remember that even Moses’ Pentetuch fell into disuse in Israel and had to be “re-discovered” buried in the temple in the days of Josiah. (2 Chronicles X) The parallel here gains its strength, not so much from the Bible and its mention of Moses’ Ethiopian wife (Num. 12:1–15), but the record of Josephus and the medieval Arab-Christian historian Agapius of Manbij, who writes “in the year 28 from the birth of Moses […] the Ethiopians declared war on the Egyptians and devastated much of their country.” and then goes on to talk about the part he played in the war with them. Of course his mentioned “death” is where the similarities end, and suggests we might be talking about someone else, such as one of the Sons of Joseph, or even someone after the time of David when Israel was vassal to Egypt.

SOF:13:25 We know that the first Leader of Light was among the highborn of Egypt and his name was struck on marble pillars. He was cast down because he carried the lamp of Truth, and his name was removed from the records of Egypt. He raised an army, but it was like a goat attacking a wild bull, and he was slain in the great marshlands lying near Ethiopia.

SOF:13:26 He wrote the book, which is known to all, and the Book of Rites and Ceremonies, which is known only to the elect. He did not write the three books in the Lion Urns, which we alone know, or the Book of The Secret Way. He may have written the Book of Instruction For The Children of The Written Word Within The Children of Light. The manner of keeping the book is taught from generation to generation. The books are our foundation, our shield and our sword. They are our promise and our hope, our guide and our defence.

Given the above information it would seem that simply by searching for locations related to modern Israel with strong ancient monastic traditions might be our best bet for guessing the other two record vaults. And perhaps no better contestants exist than Ethiopia and Armenia. Both are two of the first nations (along with Britain) to convert to Christianity. Both have scores of ancient monastic libraries dating to the pre-Christian era. Ethiopia claims to be home to the Arc of the Covenant with monastic accounts of David & Solomon’s dealings with their ancient kings. Armenia has its own quarter in Jerusalem as a consequence of its ancient alignment with Judaism & Christianity.

The accounts above of the four stone record boxes sound unbelievably similar to the account of the Book of Mormon. An ancient record hid up in the earth in a buried masonry box. A dispersion after the Babylonian captivity. Joseph Smith records the contents of the box he was shown by the angel Moroni in JS-H 1:51–53.

On the west side of this hill, not far from the top, under a stone of considerable size, lay the plates, deposited in a stone box. This stone was thick and rounding in the middle on the upper side, and thinner towards the edges, so that the middle part of it was visible above the ground, but the edge all around was covered with earth.
52 Having removed the earth, I obtained a lever, which I got fixed under the edge of the stone, and with a little exertion raised it up. I looked in, and there indeed did I behold the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate, as stated by the messenger. The box in which they lay was formed by laying stones together in some kind of cement. In the bottom of the box were laid two stones crossways of the box, and on these stones lay the plates and the other things with them.
53 I made an attempt to take them out, but was forbidden by the messenger, and was again informed that the time for bringing them forth had not yet arrived…

If the above account is to be believed, many questions arise.  First, could Joseph Smith’s record repository be the same as one of those spoken of in the Kolbrin, to which we must answer no. This because the Book of Mormon states that the Book of Mormon was only an abridgment of the greater records vault, which by 300 AD had been moved from its unknown original location to the ‘Hill Shim’ in the Land of Desolation. Later when the Lamanites were about to take over that land, the records were again moved to the ‘Land Cumorah’. Moroni selected from these many records to create the abridgement which is the Book of Mormon. However, given the similarity of the relics stored with the Book of Mormon to those mentioned in the Kolbrin (the shield, knife and crystal seer stone) it seems very likely that the Book of Mormon vault was fashioned after the original.  As to where the originals were stored I have included my guess after much prayer & meditation. (map coming soon)

Also of note is an early Egyptian scroll in the Kolbrin that speaks not just of the trade of “lions tails, cowhides, spices, worked and unworked ivory, blackwood, oils and paint” from Punt [ancient Ethiopia], but also this tale of a trade expedition to what is undoubtedly Indonesia.

The same lord Torka is he whose father, now in port. took his vessel south of Pontas [Punt or Ethiopia] from Ofir [Ophir] towards the sunsetting [east], past Kindia [India] to the land of Bemer. He returned when the waters had risen four times and fallen thrice [3.5 years], and sorrow gave way to rejoicing. To the rim of the great circle he went, to where the fires [volcanoes] of the Netherworld were revealed and men were the brothers of dwarfs [pigmies]. He it was who brought back the great hairy giant who rests with Thosis (MAN:24:8 )

If this was indeed a known trade route as early as 600 BC (or2400 bc) it adds to the possibility that the Lehites of the Book of Mormon followed this route, stopping at known ports, to make their way toward the Americas.

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RELICS PASSED DOWN WITH THE BOOKS

Those familiar with Joseph Smith’s description of the items he found within the cement container which housed the golden plates of the Book of Mormon might find this excerpt included in the Kolbrin familiar. It describes the items passed along with this ancient record…

“When I was young my grand-father told me that the Kolbrin had been brought back to light by his grand-father’s people in the place known to them as Futeril Cairn, beyond the pool of Pantlyn at Carclathan by way of Gwendwor in Wales.”
“I remember him saying it was originally written in the old alphabet of thirty-six letters. The books were stored in a tinker’s budget box, the lid of which was not hinged but held with flanges and lifted off after being heated, a cunning device of the wayfaring tinkers [Traveling MetalSmiths]. It was also secured with pins and stirrups. There were goblin heads at the corners and it was fastened by locking bars inside and out. I never saw it, nor did I know anyone who knew whether it still existed.”

“I remember being told that inside the box was a clear glass roundish ball about the size of a large apple, which at one spot reflected all the colours of the rainbow. It was encased in a precious cagework inside a protective cover of horny hide which had raised swellings, the like of which my grand-father had never seen before. He knew a lot about animals and their hides, but could not tell what this was; he thought it might have been the hide of some kind of large, horny snakelike creature such as those which live in deep lakes.”
“There were two stones of dullish glass like rainstones, one being whitish at one end. Each was oval in shape and somewhat flattened and tapered towards one end. Grand-mother used to tell fortunes with these and they went to cousin Sarah in America. There were two other pieces of rounded glass set in something made of bone which had pretty designs engraved on it. The bone setting was falling apart and was of no conceivable use. There was also a bluish coloured cross with an opening at the top and its arms were forked at the ends. This was fastened by a small chain curiously worked, to piece of round brass about the size of a small plate which was engraved with figured, of which a bird, a wand, two billhooks, a whip and some heads could be made out. There were beads of blue and red and a brooch shaped like a hook and made of gold. There was a acorn-like cap such as Flamens wear.”
“There was also a longish brass object like a knife, with engraving, in a wrapping of rotten wood. That is all there was, except for the books which were not like books at all. I do not know what became of the other items. I saw the glass ball once when I was a small child but cannot remember much about it, except that it was hollow at one end and when I put a finger in the hollow it felt warm.

It would almost seem that both the Kolbrin and Book of Mormon were preserved using the same interesting protocol. Each containing a record, a knife/sword, a shield of some sort and some type of seer stones or crystals to aid mystics in “translating”. In LDS and Jewish tradition there were multiple “seer stones” like the Urim and Thumim given by God (or might we presume, higher beings of some sort?) to man in the early days of civilization. As the Book of Mormon says concerning the seer stones they found of the Jaredites… “I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations. And now, my son, these interpreters were prepared that the word of God might be fulfilled…” (Alma 37:23–24). It has been said by some sources that these stones were made of crystal and were fashioned to use the natural properties of these crystals to enhance the “psychic” or revelatory abilities of one with spiritual gifts (the ability to communicate with the dead or across dimensional boundaries? See Law of One, Crystals). This is likely where the idea of gypsies with “crystal balls” came from and why in this account the author accounts that his grandmother used these to “tell fortunes”. In the Book of Mormon, Ammon warns of this type of misuse of seer stones saying, “no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish” (Alma 37:23).

Also of special note to Book of Mormon readers is the way in which the ancient authors of the Kolbrin reconciled their Egyptian (and Jewish?) concepts of God and a Messiah to the Christian concepts brought to them by early missionaries.

“13. How straightly comfortable a scribe am I, who reconciles the mystic daughter with the lowly mother! Who places the crystal-clear chalice beside the blood-filled golden cup! Who combines the divine circle with the eternal cross and the sorrowful son with the triumphant fighting father!” (Britain Book or BRT 5:13)

Also of interest is the section reminiscent of the “voice from heaven” in 3 Nephi 8-11 as well as other Old Testament revelations in the Book of Mormon.  In the Book of Gleenings an account is given of a revelation matching remarkably with that of Jeremiah and Isaiah regarding sacrifice and burnt offerings

GLN:15:1 The Voice of God came out of the Heavens unto His servants even before the days of Wunis, but in these days, it has come to certain of His Devoted Ones who heard it within the cavern of visions. Afterwards, each wrote it down according to his own hearing, and lo, when they came together, it was seen that each had recorded the same words. Thus, the things, which were heard by the three and set down by them in writing, all being agreed alike are things recorded forever.

GLN:15:2 “I am the Voice of God Who is the God of All Men and Ruler of their Hearts. I have many aspects and come differently to all men, I am the God of Many Faces. To you, My servants, I give these words, that they may be carried to all men. Obey My commands, and I will be your God. I will enlighten and instruct you, guiding you along the way. I desire your love and loyalty, and your adherence to My plans, but I do not desire your servility. I am not only your God, but your Commander, as well, and so I expect obedience and discipline, as befits those who prepare for harsh and grim battles such as those, which lie ahead.”

GLN:15:3 “My desire is for love rather than futile sacrifices of burnt offerings, but it should not be a passive love but one expressing service in My Cause. A certain knowledge of right and wrong, with free choice of the former, is of greater value in My sight than pointless, ritualistic worship. I derive no [30]pleasure from the wasteful shedding of blood from bulls and lambs. I gain nothing from the fat of sheep and the flesh of goats. I am the Creator of All, so what can men give that would increase My greatness? Men are misled if they believe that their sins can be purged by vain rituals. Only active goodness can obliterate the stain of sin…  (see GLN:15:1)

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KOLBRIN TEMPLE RITES

The Kolbrin incorporates these motifs into a secret temple rite which the “sons of light” participated in. (under construction. I’ll finish presenting the evidence here sometime. Also I need to finish adding the animal references below… and the Mithraism stuff — showing that Mithraism was actually just Israeli theology from the divergent group in Armenia which the Persians & West Hindus later adopted and mixed with their own myths.


“1.1 Herein are recorded sacred things, which should never be written, but the memory of man is like a storehouse made of straw… placing his trust fully in the protecting wings which are spread by the words issuing… 1.7 Look now at the great dark water mirror and see what is reflected there from the mists… 10. Even as it was in the Land of the Great River [Egypt], so let it be here. Let him not be cut off by distance.

1.29 O everlasting Kohar, take this man of goodness… he is the drop returning to the filled pitcher, the leaf returning to the tree [of life] 3.1 wearing white sandals and fine linen… many come bearing cakes of fine meal and barley cakes, large, fat-bodied fish and meats… honeywine in jars… his arm is strong and he issues his commands to the guardians… 3.8 If there be benevolent Life Shadows beyond the protective pale, they may enter…according to the rites of the Sons of Fire, and thus it shall be for those who enter the chambers of stone.

5.2 He has passed through the Wide Hall and through the Narrow Portal… He continues past the Place of Waiting Souls and sees the awaiting Kohars who will unite with the ascending spirits of men. He bears in his hand the Book of Life and glides over the pure pastures, past the bright dividing flame…”  5:4 The ferryman hesitates; he says, “Show me your token, that I may know you have truly passed the tests”… he is not of Earth, neither is he of Heaven. He is at the place where the two meet and intermingle.. He eats the fruit of the [sic] tree… 21.1 Lord of Life and Light, Creator of the Tree of Life, who made the herb and fruit to nourish men and grass to feed the cattle…  hear the cry of my spirit!  (Kolbrin, Sacred Registers, SCL ch 1-20)

Read the rest of the amazing temple rite in the Kolbrin

CONCERNING THE DRUIDS

The Kobrin teaches a substantial amount about the ancient religions of Britain and Druidism.

“BRT:9:2 Of the druids, it is said that Pair Keridwen, the Cauldron of Higher Love, represented to them the womb and that the fire, with which it was associated, was the lifeforce. It is said that the representation was in more than one form, but what this means none now knows. To become a druid required immersion in a bath with a decoction from the cauldron. After immersion for a prescribed time, the residue from the bath, infused with the man�s evil, was poured into a pit. His spirit was thus cleansed and renewed, but henceforth, any wrongdoing would have a twofold effect.

BRT:9:3 A band of Troubadours, being people who held some secret of life, came to Britain in the days when England was Saxonised. They had a secret book said to explain all the mysteries of life, but the book itself explained little; yet, they who followed the secret book became the wisest among men. Written words, when read without thought, are valueless, and this is how most men read. Troubadours have a secret place in the Ogmosian hills.”

BRT:5:14 In the beginning, only the Absolute existed in the firmament, called Nuvrie by the Britons and Kewgant by the Welsh of the west. The Spirit of Life spread outwards from the hub to form Gwinvidon, the region of light and the circle of spirituality. This opened out to Anton, which is the circle of germinal existence, at the inner edge of which was the circle of corporeality. This spread out to Abred, which is the material plane and the circle of trial, testing and tribulation. It is a place of experiment and experience for gaining knowledge, wisdom and spirituality. Below this is Anoon, the sea of souls. Here is the lake of unspecialised soul stuff, which is forged and fashioned in Abred and perfected in Gwinvidon. In Abred was the Garden of Karahemish, through which flowed the river Nara. Here dwelt Keili and Kithwin. Here were born Derwiddon, the first of the Druthin, Gwinidendon who composed the first song, and Tydain who was the first bard.

BRT:5:15 It is said that there were two classes of druids: the Dryones who were masters of medicine and divination, and the Druthin who were superior and gifted with twinsight and magic. The first had their seat at Abri, while the Druthin had their seat at Innisavalon, the island of indestructible apples.

BRT:5:16 The druids believed in the One Supreme Being, but also held that there was a body of lesser Beings. They believed in a fairyland of Nature Spirits, which manifested to mortals. All happenings were motivated by an interplay of unseen rays from The Source. Therefore, the running of a hare, flight of birds, fall of leaves, patterns in sand, the sound of waters, were meaningful.

BRT:5:17 Their seven deadly sins were: hypocrisy, theft, cowardice, fornication, gluttony, indolence and extortion. Above all precepts were the three manly qualities: honour, courage and manliness, and the three womanly qualities of decency, decorum and chastity. There were female temple attendants, but no female druids. The druids who taught were called Nemids. There were Waiths who knew the secrets of Nature, and these would not eat birds. Once every three years there was a firewalking.

BRT:5:18 Under the great night reflector, only four animals appear as ghosts: the dog, cat, horse and hare. The ghosts of these could be forewarners of the crack of doom. Will-o-the-wisps haunt the marshlands, but few are enlivened by ansis. Nick-o-the-nights haunt the stony places and fells.

BRT:5:19 Joseph Idewin and his brave band came to flowering Britain three years after the death of Jesus. He converted Gladys, sister of Caradew, who married a Roman, and her sister Aigra who was the wife of Salog, lord of Karsalog. After landing, he and his band passed through an avenue of oaks and standing stones. They first built huts over against the holy vineyard where the fruits were bitter.

BRT:5:20 After all the saints had gone to their rest, the first church and its surroundings became a wild place, a refuge for wild creatures. Then, as the land remained holy, saints came from Gaul, who restored it, and one was Fairgas the Briton, who had served at this place as a youth. Idewin was buried in a shirt of fine linen, which he had worn when burying Jesus, and which was stained with three spots of blood on the chest. He was buried by the two-forked cross. The saints had lived in twelve huts around a never diminishing well at the foot of the holy hill.

BRT:5:21 Joseph Idewin was related to Avalek, whose kingdom bordered that of Arviragus, through Anna the Unfaithful. He converted Claudia Rufina, the daughter of Caradew previously called Gladys, who married Pudens, a Roman, and had a daughter Pudentia. In his twenty-eighth year, Caradew was betrayed to the Romans by Arisia, queen of Bryantis. He married Genuissa, daughter of Claudius, to bind the peace agreement. The name �Caradew� means �filled with love,� but he preferred to use a warrior name.

THE DESTROYER

The destroyer is a Egyptian term given in the Kolbrin as the cause of catastrophic event mentioned over a dozen times in a few of the manuscripts of the Kolbrin. It almost certainly serves as the source material for Toltec, Aztec and Hindu Yuga creation and destruction cycles which I speak of elsewhere. The term is also used in the bible in verses such as Ex 12:23, 1 Sam 24:16 & Jer 48:8. But its important to note that the Kolbrin sections on the more biblical ‘Flood’ and ‘Exodus’ could very well be later additions to the text. Each reader will have to judge for themselves whether they believe the accounts of the destroyer are original.  The end of the more biblical sounding Exodus tale has a note by the scribe which perhaps suggests the section was written (or perhaps just translated?) much later in England, not Egypt at a later date than the earlier Egyptian texts.

This is written in this land and in our tongue by Leweddar who, himself, chose it for saving. It was not seen until the latter days. (MAN:6:48)

Regardless of one’s thoughts on the level of mythology or even later forgery possible in the Moses accounts of the Destroyer (its spoken of in many sections not related to Moses), I think its important to understand what the text says it is not.   It is not planet X or Nirubu. It sounds much more like a catastrophic CME event. The text says clearly,

MAN:5:1 …It was not a great comet or a loosened star, being more like a fiery body of flame.

MAN:5:2 Its movements on high were slow; below it swirled in the manner of smoke and it remained close to the sun, whose face it hid. There was a bloody redness about it, which changed as it passed along its course. It caused death and destruction in its rising and setting. It swept the Earth with grey cinder rain and caused many plagues, hunger and other evils. It bit the skin of men and beast until they became mottled with sores.

MAN:5:4 This was the aspect of the Doomshape, called the Destroyer, when it appeared in days long gone by, in olden times. It is thus described in the old records, few of which remain. It is said that when it appears in the Heavens above, Earth splits open from the heat, like a nut roasted before the fire. Then, flames shoot up through the surface and leap about like fiery fiends upon black blood. The moisture inside the land is all dried up, the pastures and cultivated places are consumed in flames, and they and all trees become white ashes.

MAN:5:5 The Doomshape is like a circling ball of flame, which scatters small fiery offspring in its train. It covers about a fifth part of the sky and sends writhing snakelike fingers down to Earth. Before it, the sky appears frightened, and it breaks up and scatters away. Midday is no brighter than night. It spawns a host of terrible things. These are things said of the Destroyer in the old records; read them with solemn heart, knowing that the Doomshape has its appointed time and will return. It would be foolish to let them go unheeded.

Note that these descriptions and the others not quoted here sound more like some kind of enormous solar flare or micronova which somehow rocks the earth’s axis to a degree which causes massive fissures, flood basalts and earthquakes in conjunction with strong red radiative aurora phenomena. The myth described in the text gives a cyclicity of 110 Egyptian generations (Which Oahspe puts at 33 years) or 3630 years. This author believes that if truly cyclical, these massive flares are simply the result of our Solar System encountering large gravity waves emanating out from Sagittarius A the middle of the Milky Way Galaxy, which in turn cause solar flares and reduced radiation protection from earth’s geomagnetic shield.  Oahspe gives a periodicity ranging from 3000 to 5000 years for crossing these waves.  A small true polar wandering event in conjunction with crossing the waves does seem to have been a real possibility given the evidence shown in the rapid change in distribution of ice age ice before radiocarbon dates of 9000 years ago.  See this application and associate article on true polar wandering events (TPWE). Note if such an event were to happen, it would undoubtedly greatly affect both carbon-dioxide and radiocarbon levels in the atmosphere causing C14 dates to give skewed results in a predictably skewed curve leading to a later stabilization point.

As far as the authenticity of the destroyer sections goes… there are 29 instances or usages of the term “destroyer” in the bible. Many of them matching the usage in the Kolbrin. So there seems to be some correlation, although each reader will have to judge if post-Christian Kolbrin translators/scribes borrowed the term from the Bible, or whether Biblical scribes who compiled the modern Old Testament between the days of Ezra and the Vulgate (500 – 300 BC) borrowed the term from the same Egyptian/Babylonian sources as the Kolbrin. See this list of biblical references to the destroyer.

STORY OF HURMANETAR AS GILGAMESH

Not only do these two stories follow the same basic plot line, but some aspects are nearly identical and form the basis of entire religious sects. For instance notice how even the Wikipedia article describes “Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the Bull of Heaven after which the gods decide to sentence Enkidu to death and kill him. In the second half of the epic, distress over Enkidu’s death causes Gilgamesh to undertake a long and perilous journey to discover the secret of eternal life.” In the Kolbrin the battle with “the Bull of Heaven” (GLN 7:9) leads to the death of Yadol in GLN:7:19/23, also causing Hurmanetar to take his journey in GLN chapter 8. (I’ll go through here when I get time and add the hundreds of correlations).

This story is obviously the foundation for Mithraism and the Mithraic mystery temple cults of both Persia and Rome. These cults not only form the basis of freemasonry cultic practices, but eastern Mithraism also shares amazing similarities to Christianity. (see articles like this one)

PLACE NAMES IN THE KOLBRIN

The kolbrin mentions many names of places, but most of them are in an old tongue difficult to correlate to modern places. A few exceptions include.
-The “fighting men of Sparsia” in SOF:12:13 is undoubtedly Sparta.  Especially since the land is associated with the “sea of the Great River past the lands of white copper”.  White copper was known in Greek times as ‘oreichalcos’, which was made by mixing tin and copper with a special earth called ‘calmia’ that came originally from the shores of the Black Sea.
-The “Land of Copper, which was the Land of The Golden Light” where “one man in twelve was a priest” was undoubtedly Crete & Cyprus, which anciently had the greatest copper mines in the Mediterranean.  In 570 BCE Cyprus was conquered by Egypt which may explain the markedly Egyptian traditions explained in SOF:13:14 of priests attempting to leave and reinhabit their bodies.
-The land of “Pontus” in MAN:24:3 where lions tails, cowhides, spices, worked and unworked ivory, blackwood, oils and paint are traded to Egypt is undoubtedly the land of ancient Punt.

-see this article for many more geographic correlations.

In the last 15 years since its publishing, the Kolbrin has gained an often cult-like following of supporters and defenders. Much like the Book of Mormon, these followers use their own cultural knowledge to attempt to find parallels between things found in the book and modern historical knowledge. See the Culdian Message Boards for examples.

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READ THE KOLBRIN

Find more information about the Kolbrin here at the Culdian Trust

Read the Kolbrin here and here.

There is also a version on archive.org here

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Ancient Histories of Britain (which can be used to corroborate Kolbrin Material)

De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae by 6th-century AD British cleric St Gildas

Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, by the English monk Saint Bede in the 8th-century

Historia Brittonum ascribed to Nennius

The 10th-century Annales Cambriae

Medieval Welsh genealogies (such as the Harleian Genealogies) and king-lists, the poems of Taliesin, the Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen