Do Latter-day Saints believe in ALIENS?! | Ep. 207

Do Latter-day Saints believe in aliens? The simple fact is that you’re probably never going to hear Latter-day Saints talking about aliens and UFOs and outer space at church on Sunday. That said, you could say that Latter-day Saints do believe in extraterrestrial life in at least 3 different ways. Tune in to learn more!

Video transcript: https://saintsunscripted.com/faith-an...

— Moses 1: https://tinyurl.com/5fpbu24v
— Doctrine and Covenants 76: https://tinyurl.com/ynjv9dmf
— See the talk by Elder Spencer W. Kimball from the April 1962 general conference here: https://tinyurl.com/mr7breyc (this talk also appeared in pamphlet form under the title, “Modern Scientific Findings Harmonize with Revelation Through the Ages”).
— “Civilizations Out in Space,” by Hollis R. Johnson (BYU Studies, 1971): https://tinyurl.com/r35s8jeh
— “Worlds,” via the Encyclopedia of Mormonism: https://tinyurl.com/4c57u7ts
— Mormon Q&A about Kolob, plus database of sources: https://mormonr.org/qnas/6F7xbc/kolob
— Full CSPAN debate between Daniel Peterson and Michael Shermer (though this link will start you in the middle of the “extraterrestrial” part, at about 45:00): https://tinyurl.com/3jmstuc5


Notes:

— Where the heck did History Channel get the idea that Moroni claimed to have come from the Pleiades star cluster? The only source I can find is this 1873 article (link below) from The Saints’ Herald (publication of a group that split off from the main Church) which suggests that Kolob might be in or near the Pleiades star cluster. So I think somebody thought that if Moroni came from the presence of God, and God lives on/near Kolob, and Kolob is in the Pleiades star cluster, then Moroni must have come from the Pleiades star cluster as well. I see the logic, but they certainly had to jump through a lot of hoops to get there, and were basing their conclusions on an extremely shaky, thin-as-ice documentary foundation. They really should have been more careful, but hey, it’s Ancient Aliens. They take quite a bit of artistic license. Source: https://tinyurl.com/yrfpbbu4

— I tried to include in this video the most authoritative information sources I could find (i.e. scripture, Elder Kimball’s fairly broad statements from general conference, Encyclopedia of Mormonism). There are, however, some statements from past leaders that are outliers and have not persisted as established, accepted doctrine. For example, Brigham Young’s view that “Mankind are here because they are offspring of parents who were first brought here from another planet, and power was given them to propagate their species, and they are commanded to multiply and replenish the earth" (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 14, page 71). This may be true if referring to the premortal spirits of Adam and Eve being placed on earth (from elsewhere) in mortal bodies, but the notion that the physical bodies of Adam and Eve came from another planet has not persisted or been popularized.

— For the sake of space and organization I omitted this line from the Moses 1 verses quoted in the video: “And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many.” I don’t quite know what “which is many” means in this context. In Stephen O. Smoot’s “Pearl of Great Price Study Edition,” he writes, “The gloss provided in this verse identifies Adam as ‘many’ (although the antecedent to ‘many’ could also be ‘man’ or ‘men,’ a reading that is reinforced by Moses 4:26). Coupled with 1:29, this may suggest a plurality of ‘Adams’ who inhabit many lands called ‘earth’ throughout God’s Creation.”

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