ASTRONOMY OF ABRAHAM.

July 3, 1835, a man by the name of Michael H. Chandler came to Kirtland, Ohio, to exhibit four Egyptian mummies, together with some two or more rolls of papyrus, covered with hieroglyphic figures and devices. They had been obtained from one of the catacombs of Egypt, (near a place where once stood the renowned city of Thebes) by the celebrated Antonio Sebolo [Lebolo], in the year 1831. Joseph Smith, upon examining the rolls of papyrus, discovered that one of them contained the writings of Abraham and another the writings of Joseph who was sold into Egypt. The whole collection was bought by the Saints, and Joseph subsequently translated the writings of Abraham which, together with a number of illustrations, were published in the Times and Seasons, at Nauvoo, Ill., in 1843, and which we now have in the little excellent work called the Pearl of Great Price, under the caption of the Book of Abraham. This book, besides giving a history of the creation of the earth and man, also introduces a new doctrine in regard to astronomy. It tells of a planet called Colob, near which is the throne of God, and around which everything in the great universe revolves in regular order. At that time the generally accepted theory among astronomers was that, with the exception of the few planets (among which is our own earth) which sweeps regularly around the sun, all the heavenly bodies called stars, were fixed or stationary, and that the sun furnishing light and warmth for our earth, besides being the centre of gravitation for our solar system, was the nearest fixed or stationary star. Hence, when Joseph Smith in the astronomy of Abraham, introduced the doctrine that there was a grand centre set far beyond the limits of our own solar system, he was derided by not a few who ascribed the idea to his ignorance, in not having even a superficial knowledge of the principles of astronomy. But the theories of men change as the Lord gives them more light and intelligence, and today the doctrine advanced in the Book of Abraham is a generally accepted one among astronomers. In proof of this I will introduce the following extract of a letter from Lieutenant M. F. Maury, of the United States Navy, a man acknowledged on all sides as one of the most eminent scientific men living, dated, Washington D. C., Jan. 22, 1855.

“It is a curious fact that the revelations of science have led astronomers of our day to the discovery that the sun is not the dead centre of motion around which comets sweep and planets whirl; but that it, with its splendid retinue of worlds and satellites, is revolving through the realms of space, at the rate of millions of miles in a year, and in obedience to some influence situated precisely in the direction of the star Aleyon, one of the Pleades. We do not know how far off in the immensities of space that centre of revolving cycles and epicycles may be; nor have our oldest observers or nicest instruments been able to tell us how far off in the skies that beautiful cluster of stars is hung, whose influences man can never bind. In this question alone, and the answer to it, are involved both the recognition and exposition of the whole theory of gravitation.” (Family Bible, published by Henry S. Goodspeed & Co., New York, page 18.)

Here is another proof that Joseph was a prophet and an inspired man, and that the Book of Abraham is true.