![\"Earth](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/03\/600px-Blue_Marble_Eastern_Hemisphere.jpg\")
<\/a>In his very brief article \u201cThe Seven Seals, the Age of the Earth, and Ongoing Revelation\u201d (BYU Studies<\/em> 64\/1 [2025]: 95-96<\/a>, Professor Nicholas J. Frederick argues that Doctrine and Covenants 77 \u2014 which is built upon a revelation received by the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1832 \u2014 should not be taken in isolation when Latter-day Saints discuss their doctrinal position (if we really even have<\/em> one -dcp) on the age of the earth. \u00a0Dr. Frederick says that statements that Joseph made years later, in 1843, cast Doctrine and Covenants 77 in a rather different interpretive light, allowing (by implication) for a greatly expanded chronology that is more in line with the findings of contemporary science than some have imagined.<\/p>\n The NASA photograph above, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, reveals just a small section of the Andromeda Galaxy \u2014 a spiral galaxy rather like our own Milky Way, and our closest galactic neighbor. \u00a0The photograph is thought to depict nearly two billion stars, which offers at least a suggestion of Andromeda\u2019s immense scale and beauty. \u00a0And the Milky Way and Andromeda are just two of the currently estimated two trillion \u2014 that\u2019s two trillion<\/em> \u2014 galaxies in the observable universe. \u00a0How many stars do they contain? \u00a0Current estimates suggest that there are approximately\u00a01024<\/sup> stars \u2014 in other words, more stars (and, potentially, more Earth-like planets) than all the grains of sand on all of the beaches of Planet Earth.<\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t help but think, in this context, of words revealed to Joseph Smith in June 1830:<\/p>\n And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were inhabitants on the face thereof.<\/p>\n And it came to pass that Moses called upon God, saying: Tell me, I pray thee, why these things are so, and by what thou madest them?<\/p>\n And behold, the glory of the Lord was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the presence of God, and talked with him face to face. And the Lord God said unto Moses: For mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom and it remaineth in me.<\/p>\n And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth.<\/p>\n And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.<\/p>\n And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many.<\/p>\n But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them. \u00a0(Moses 1:29-35)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n While I\u2019m thinking about outer space: \u00a0For what it\u2019s worth, after we had finished our filming for the Becoming Brigham<\/em> documentary series in upstate New York and then in Kirtland, Ohio, a couple of weeks back, we spent our final night in an airport hotel \u2014 The Orbit Hotel<\/a> \u2014 in Cleveland, waiting for our return flights the next morning. \u00a0The Orbit Hotel is a curious place. \u00a0Online, it\u2019s described as featuring \u201cmid-century modern design.\u201d \u00a0In other words, it feels like something from the 1950s or 1960s, decades that constitute prime historical territory for the beginnings of NASA\u2019s manned space program. \u00a0(Some of the things that I read about it described it as reminiscent of Lost in Space<\/em> or The Jetsons<\/em>.) \u00a0It turns out that The Orbit is situated within a former office building that belonged to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. \u00a0it\u2019s oddly located for a hotel, even an airport hotel, and is part of a much larger but architecturally consistent complex.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also located directly across a busy road from NASA\u2019s Glenn Research Center<\/a>, which sits adjacent to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. \u00a0The place is obviously named after the late Marine fighter pilot and pioneer astronaut John Glenn (1921-2016), who was born in Ohio and died in Ohio and, of course, represented Ohio in the Senate of the United States from 1974 until his retirement from office in 1999. \u00a0The Glenn Research Center\u2019s main campus, Lewis Field, includes such facilities as wind tunnels, drop towers, vacuum chambers, and a research aircraft hangar. \u00a0To the best of my recollection, I had never heard of it before. \u00a0But it seems an interesting place.<\/p>\n My blogging may or may not be very regular here between today and Saturday, 3 May, and I want to offer an explanation (and an apology) for that in advance: \u00a0I leave tomorrow morning to participate in a Muslim\/Christian conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. \u00a0The travel arrangements are fairly brutal \u2014 \u00a0driving up to Salt Lake City for a flight to Houston and on to Dubai and on to Samarkand, then the conference sessions, then an overnight bus trip to Bukhara, returning back by bus to Samarkand, then going by train to Tashkent, then flights from Tashkent to Dubai, on to Houston, and finally to SLC, arriving very late on Friday, 2 May, for the drive back home to Utah Valley (I\u2019m wallowing in self-pity at the moment) \u2014 and there are hints that the WiFi while there in Samarkand may not be altogether reliable. \u00a0So we shall see.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 In his very brief article \u201cThe Seven Seals, the Age of the Earth, and Ongoing Revelation\u201d (BYU Studies 64\/1 [2025]: 95-96, Professor Nicholas J. Frederick argues that Doctrine and Covenants 77 \u2014 which is built upon a revelation received by the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1832 \u2014 should not be taken in isolation when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":37150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8322,38611,3814,38605,2872,38608],"class_list":["post-109993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-andromeda","tag-cleveland","tag-hubble","tag-john-glenn","tag-nasa","tag-orbit-hotel"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>\n
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