Religions and outer space

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Daniel_Marsh

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I am finding that some groups have some strange views about outer space. I am sure we all remember the recent suicide cult that believed that they were going to end up on a spaceship behind that comet. In the 70’s SouthWest Radio Church claimed that sciencists spotted the New Jersulem descendig towards earth from the edge of our galaxy. At one time Jehovah’s Witnesses taught that God lived in the constellation of Pleiades. Joseph Smith taught that there were men on the moon. Brigham Young not to be out done also said men live on the Sun. Ellen White had a vision of planets, which had some facts wrong. Dake of Dake’s Study Bible beleives that there is life in outer space. The Uranta book teaches that christ came from a planet named Satania. So, have you encountered any other strange views of religions about outer space?
God’s Home Planet: Where does God live? “The constellation of the seven stars forming the Pleiades appears to be the crowning center around which the known systems of the planets revolve even as our sun’s planets obey the sun and travel in their respective orbits. It has been suggested, and with much weight, that one of the stars of that group is the dwelling-place of Jehovah and the place of the highest heavens…The constellation of the Pleiades is a small one compared with others which scientific instruments disclose to the wondering eyes of man. But the greatness in size of other stars or planets is small when compared with the Pleiades in importance, because the Pleiades is the place of the eternal throne of God” (Reconciliation, p. 14).
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In an 1892 LDS publication under the heading “THE INHABITANTS OF THE MOON,” this interesting information is given by Oliver B. Huntington:
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"Nearly all the great discoveries of men in the last half century have, in one way or another, either directly or indirectly, contributed to prove Joseph Smith to be a Prophet.
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"As far back as 1837, I know that he said the moon was inhabited by men and women the same as this earth, and that they lived to a greater age than we do – that they live generally to near the age of 1000 years.
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"He described the men as averaging near six feet in height, and dressing quite uniformly in something near the Quaker style.
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“In my Patriarchal blessing, given by the father of Joseph the Prophet, in Kirtland, 1837, I was told that I should preach the gospel before I was 21 years of age; that I should preach the gospel to the inhabitants upon the islands of the sea, and to the inhabitants of the moon, even the planet you can now behold with your eyes.” (The Young Woman’s Journal, published by the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Associations of Zion, 1892, vol. 3, pp. 263-64)
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President Brigham Young not only taught the moon was inhabited, but the SUN as well. In a sermon delivered in the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, President Young made these unbelievable statements:
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“Who can tell us of the inhabitants of this little planet that shines of an evening, called the moon?..when you inquire about the inhabitants of that sphere you find that the most learned are as ignorant in regard to them as the ignorant of their fellows. So it is in regard to the inhabitants of the sun. Do you think it is inhabited? I rather think it is. Do you think there is any life there? No question of it; it was not made in vain.” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, p. 271)
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challengemin.org/moon.html

google.com/search?hl=en&q=Ellen+White+vision+of+planets

google.com/search?hl=en&q=Finis+Jennings+Dake+life+in+space

google.com/search?hl=en&q=urantia+book+satania+christ
 
Daniel_Marsh said:
I am finding that some groups have some strange views about outer space. I am sure we all remember the recent suicide cult that believed that they were going to end up on a spaceship behind that comet. In the 70’s SouthWest Radio Church claimed that sciencists spotted the New Jersulem descendig towards earth from the edge of our galaxy. At one time Jehovah’s Witnesses taught that God lived in the constellation of Pleiades. Joseph Smith taught that there were men on the moon. Brigham Young not to be out done also said men live on the Sun. Ellen White had a vision of planets, which had some facts wrong. Dake of Dake’s Study Bible beleives that there is life in outer space. The Uranta book teaches that christ came from a planet named Satania. So, have you encountered any other strange views of religions about outer space?

challengemin.org/moon.html

google.com/search?hl=en&q=Ellen+White+vision+of+planets

google.com/search?hl=en&q=Finis+Jennings+Dake+life+in+space

google.com/search?hl=en&q=urantia+book+satania+christ
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Those ideas are “believable” enough - but I find more appealing the notion that the planets are intelligent 🙂​

What is harder to believe is the idea that Purgatory is at the centre of the earth, as a book published by TAN suggests. The difficulty is caused by the sense of oddness that comes from thinking of purely spiritual beings as related to a particular location accessible to man. These are not accessible to man in the way that the centre of the earth is, so the sense of oddness is not as sharp. The same applies to mythological locations - the underworld of Homer’s Odyssey Book 11 is completely inaccessible, so it doesn’t strike one as odd: it is too remote for that. Whereas purgation of some kind is not - it is a real likelihood, at the very least, whatever it may in fact amount to.
 
The Urantia, Raelian and Scientology cults have some strange ideas about aliens putting humans here in the first place.
 
What about those who simply subscribe to life on other planets, its a religion onto its own.
 
Mormon belief in life on the moon or the sun can be easily interpreted in terms of spiritual beings. No problem there.

Belief in Pleiadian divinity goes way back. That’s nothing new, and, again, can be interpreted either physically (since there might actually be physical intelligent life in that star system) or spiritually. Actually, I’m from the Pleiades, but don’t tell anyone – only my girlfriend is supposed to know.👍

If there is so much space in outer space, then one would sort of expect life (either physical or spiritual) to be there, somewhere. The Mormons and Raelians know a good idea when they see it.😃 Oh, I almost forgot the Scientologists!:eek:
 
Kitty_Chan said:
What about those who simply subscribe to life on other planets, its a religion onto its own.
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Are you refering to the “UFOs are real” type or the SETI type? I’d certainly agree about the UFO groupies, but I don’t think there’s much religiousity in SETI, not that I’ve seen anyway.
 
from reading the sources, a “spiritual” interpretation is ruled out,

According to Oliver B. Huntington, Joseph Smith taught that

"The inhabitants of the moon are more of a uniform size than the inhabitants of the earth, being about 6 feet in height.

"They dress very much like the Quaker style and are quite general in style, or fashion of dress.

"They live to be very old; coming generally, near a thousand years.

“This is the description of them as given by Joseph the seer, and he could `See’ whatever he asked the father in the name of Jesus to see,” (Journal of Oliver B. Huntington, Vol. 3, p. 166; as recorded at the Utah State Historical Society).

:eek:
 
Daniel_Marsh said:
from reading the sources, a “spiritual” interpretation is ruled out,

According to Oliver B. Huntington, Joseph Smith taught that

"The inhabitants of the moon are more of a uniform size than the inhabitants of the earth, being about 6 feet in height.

"They dress very much like the Quaker style and are quite general in style, or fashion of dress.

"They live to be very old; coming generally, near a thousand years.

“This is the description of them as given by Joseph the seer, and he could `See’ whatever he asked the father in the name of Jesus to see,” (Journal of Oliver B. Huntington, Vol. 3, p. 166; as recorded at the Utah State Historical Society).

:eek:
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Don’t you know that the lower spirits can appear to be wearing ‘human-type’ clothes?😃 When people see ghosts, they often see the ghost wearing clothing of some sort. A naked ghost is unheard of!🙂
 
whatabout Islam in outerspace. how are muslims going to pray? their prayers are dependent on:
  1. directions towards mecca
  2. sunrise & sunset
  3. being attached to the floor so they could prostrate.
that would be challenging in outer space.
 
Daniel_Marsh said:
I am finding that some groups have some strange views about outer space. I am sure we all remember the recent suicide cult that believed that they were going to end up on a spaceship behind that comet. In the 70’s SouthWest Radio Church claimed that sciencists spotted the New Jersulem descendig towards earth from the edge of our galaxy. At one time Jehovah’s Witnesses taught that God lived in the constellation of Pleiades. Joseph Smith taught that there were men on the moon. Brigham Young not to be out done also said men live on the Sun. Ellen White had a vision of planets, which had some facts wrong. Dake of Dake’s Study Bible beleives that there is life in outer space. The Uranta book teaches that christ came from a planet named Satania. So, have you encountered any other strange views of religions about outer space?
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The strangest ones I have heard are the Catholic Purgatory and Limbo.

zerinus
 
^ Zerinus, did Joseph Smith really say there were men in the moon?
 
AgnosTheist said:
^ Zerinus, did Joseph Smith really say there were men in the moon?
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No direct quotes that I know of.

He did say one thing though. He said that the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated was delivered to him by an angel of God.

zerinus
 
AgnosTheist said:
whatabout Islam in outerspace. how are muslims going to pray? their prayers are dependent on:
  1. directions towards mecca
  2. sunrise & sunset
  3. being attached to the floor so they could prostrate.
that would be challenging in outer space.
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Very thought provoking, as always
 
ralphinal said:
Very thought provoking, as always
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What kind of “thought” did it provoke? The Jews were commanded to pray towards the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 8:44–50; Daniel 6:10; Ps. 5:7; Jonah 2:4).

zerinus
 
I had never considered the problems a Muslim astronaught would face. It made the think about things in new and exciting ways.
 
zerinus said:
The Jews were commanded to pray towards the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 8:44–50; Daniel 6:10; Ps. 5:7; Jonah 2:4).
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directions alone is not much of a problem outside of the earth. but what about sunrise & sunset, and the act of prostration? i guess a space muslim would have to strap himself onto a platform facing mecca. but what about the sun thingie? many muslims are strict about that. especially during ramadan. no food while the sun is up!
 
AgnosTheist said:
directions alone is not much of a problem outside of the earth. but what about sunrise & sunset, and the act of prostration? i guess a space muslim would have to strap himself onto a platform facing mecca. but what about the sun thingie? many muslims are strict about that. especially during ramadan. no food while the sun is up!
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I am sure it is nothing that a Moslem Jurist or legal expert would not be able to find a solution to, based on the Koran, the Hadith, etc. They are known to be pretty good at that.

zerinus
 
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