The
idea had among members of the Church that the earth was created near Kolob and
then transported to its present position in the solar system at a later time.
This idea dates back to the time of Joseph Smith, and an extended treatment of
it along with references to the documentary evidence which support it is given by
Andrus ([God, Man, and the Universe] 1968). It is not my purpose here to
discuss the pros and cons of this idea from the point of view of scriptural or
historical documentary evidence. I am not sufficiently acquainted with all the original
sources to be able to add anything new to such a discussion, but there are some
interesting astronomical implications involved which I would like to point out.
If
the earth were brought from Kolob and placed in the solar system, why are all
of the other bodies, planets, satellites, comets and so forth present in the
system? Are they needed for some purpose? If so, what is that purpose? Since no
explanation is given for hem, and hardly any mention is made of them in the
scriptures, they seem almost superfluous or even out of place—unless they had
some role to play in the origin of the earth. If the earth originally came from
somewhere else than in the solar system, then the other planets and bodies in
the system seem to be simply a confusion factor. And, as we have seen in
preceding paragraphs, their evident inter-relationship with the earth
constitute a very complex confusion factor.
Another
serious question that arises is that of the stability of the solar system. This
is a puzzle that astronomers have debated for many years. The question is: if
the planets move about the sub subject to mutual gravitational interactions one
with another, will they continue to move in approximately their present orbits indefinitely,
or will there be radical departures from their present positions and orbits? Might
there eventually be possibilities of collisions, or near encounters, with one
another, or might some bodies be ejected from the system entirely? Or might
similar departures and encounters have occurred in the past? Various attempts
have been made over the years to analyze this question mathematically, and to date
no one has been able to prove conclusively that the solar system is in fact
stable. There are papers being published in the scientific literature today
both pro and con on this subject.
The
reason the question arises in the first place is that the solar system is a
multiple-body system with many complex interactions taking place. If the system
consisted only of the sun, the earth and the moon, the three bodies specifically
mentioned in the creation accounts, then it would be relatively simple to prove
that the system would be stable. But with all the other bodies present the
problem becomes so complex mathematically that no definite proof yea or nay can
presently be made and the doubt still remains among a significant number of astronomers
as to whether or not it is stable. So my question becomes: if the earth were
brought here from near Kolob, why was it not placed in a system that would
definitely be stable, that is, in a simple system involving only the sun, the earth,
and the moon/ Why was it placed in a multiple-body system, where the possibility
of instability arises, if those other bodies are not necessary to the purposes
of the earth? I do not say that I know definitively that they have no purpose: all
I say is that we have no revelation that tells us what their purpose is; and
according to our present scriptural knowledge they seem unnecessary if the
earth was not created among them and jointly with them. (H. Kimball Hansen, “Astronomy
and the Scriptures,” in Science and Religion: Toward a More Useful Dialogue,
ed. Wilford M. Hess and Raymond T. Matheny, 2 vols. [Geneva, Ill.: Paladin
House Publishers, 1979], 1:187-88)
Further Reading:
B.H. Roberts Foundation: QNA on Kolob and Primary Sources on Kolob
Answering Cecil Andrews on "Kolob" in the Book of Abraham
