Watching "The Mole People" (1956) for my traditional Saturday night creature feature movie reminded me of this. I'm not going to let them push this little gem under the rug.
They want to the world to think they never taught this nonsense.
Oh yes they did... :)
https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/qblhl/the_infamous_mormon_hollow_earth_theory_actually/The infamous Mormon "Hollow Earth" theory, actually taught in my home ward as I was growing up. (Bonus space traveling ten tribes)
The ten tribes are hidden in a hollow of the earth somewhere. Sources include Benjamin F. Johnson, personal friend of Joseph Smith, who records the following conversation: "I asked where the nine and a half tribes of Israel were. 'Well,' said [Joseph Smith], 'you remember the old caldron or potash kettle you used to boil maple sap in for sugar, don't you?' I said yes. 'Well,' said he, 'they are in the north pole in a concave just like the shape of that kettle. And John the Revelator is with them, preparing them for their return.'" [Benjamin F. Johnson, My Life's Review (Independence, MO: Zion's Printing and Publishing Co., n.d.), pg 93.]
Another published version of the hollow earth theory takes us to Mexico, where there is a large cave opening on the side of a cliff which David O. McKay is said to have said "led to the center of the earth, and that it was the access to the outer world for the ten tribes." The cliff is, of course, too high to scale from the bottom and is protected from the top by a large overhanging ledge. No one has ever been able to enter it. [Susan Peterson, "The Great and Dreadful Day: Mormon Folklore of the Apocalypse," Utah Historical Quarterly, Fall 1976, No. 1, pg 373.]
Yeah, David O. McKay, that really level-headed teacher guy who became prophet, he taught that. But only in private I guess.
This isn't Hollow-earth, but it's connected:
We learn from a son of Philo Dibble that Joseph Smith drew a picture for his father to show him where the ten tribes were. The picture consisted of a circle with a smaller circle on each side, something like a round face with round ears. The Prophet explained that one of these lobes (the one above the north pole) represented the orb upon which the ten tribes resided. Presumably the other lobe, beneath the south pole, was for the city of Enoch. It is also assumed that these smaller planets are connected to the earth by an invisible neck of land. [Matthew W. Dalton, A Key to This Earth (Willard, Utah: 1906; See also Walt Whipple, "A Discussion of the Many Theories Concerning the Whereabouts of the Lost Ten Tribes," BYU Library, unpublished typescript; and Brough, pg 51-55.]
And this guy wrote a book on the subject of the Hollow Earth.
The argument in this instance is that the ten tribes live in a mysteriously camouflaged area somewhere near the North Pole. Among is strong advocates have been W. W. Phelps [W. W. Phelps, "A Letter to Oliver Cowdery," Messenger and Advocate 2:194 (October 1835).], who we are reminded acted as scribe at times for the Prophet Joseph, Orson Pratt, and George Reynolds. Elder Pratt expounded on the often-quoted text from 2 Esdras (an apocryphal work, which we must consider), which speaks of the ten tribes escaping from their Assyrian captors, crossing the Euphrates, and marching into the north to dwell in a land never before inhabited. He reconstructs the route they followed, giving distances and travel times, detailing little-known facts concerning the "comparatively pleasant" climate that would greet them and speaks of the grain and other vegetables they would raise. [Orson Pratt, "Where are the Ten Tribes of Israel?" Millennial Star 29:200-4.] George Reynolds, following Elder Pratt's lead, wrote of the feelings of awe these vagabonds of Israel must have experienced as they faced the icy waters of the Arctic Sea. [George Reynolds, "The Assyrian Captivity," Juvenile Instructor 18:26-29.]
I also think this is relevant:
Joseph Smith once said: "I have taught all the strong doctrines publicly, and always teach stronger doctrines in public than in private." [Joseph Fielding Smith, comp., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (SLC: Deseret Book Co., 1961), pg 370.]
But honestly these are all stupid silly theories, because we KNOW that the lost tribes are in outer space:
Eliza R. Snow, who wrote about space tribes in the form of a lyric which appeared in the Church hymnal from 1856 to 1912. They key stanzas were as follows:
Thou, Earth, was once a glorious sphere Of noble magnitude, And didst with majesty appear Among the worlds of God.
But thy dimensions have been torn Asunder, piece by piece, And each dismember'd fragment borne Abroad to distant space.
When Enoch could no longer stay Amid corruption here, Part of thyself was borne away To form another sphere.
That portion where his city stood He gain'd by right approv'd; And nearer to the throne of God His planet upward moved.
And when the Lord saw fit to hide The "ten lost tribes" away, Thou, Earth, wast sever'd to provide The orb on which they stay.
And thus, from time to time, thy size Has been diminish'd still Thou seemest the law of sacrifice Created to fulfil.
Just picture singing that in conference on Sunday!
Charles Lowell Walker, in his diary said that when he inquired about the meaning of this him, Eliza told him he got the doctrine from Joseph, himself (she being one of his wives. Thus, this was a doctrine that Joseph taught to his wives and his closest friends. There is also a supporting statement attributed to the grandson of a man with whom the Prophet once stayed. In response to his grandfather's question as to where the ten tribes were, Joseph Smith reportedly took him outside and pointed to a star twenty feet (from their position) to the right and below the north star. [R. Clayton Brough, The Lost Tribes (Horizon Publishers, 1979), pg 47-48]
Eliza R. Snow also purportedly told his grandfather that she got her information on this matter from the Prophet. [Robert W. Smith, The Last Days (SLC: Pyramid Press, 1947), pg 225-27.]
In addition, we are told by a son of Anson Call, a particular friend of the Prophet, that Joseph told him in company with others on a number of occasions that the ten tribes were on a portion of the earth that had been taken away. [Ibid., pg 215. See also Parley P. Pratt, Millennial Star, Vol. 1, pg 258 (Question 7), and Writings of Parley P. Pratt (Parker Pratt Robinson: SLC, 1952), pg 306-307.]
And we know that the City of Enoch is in Outer space:
"Joseph (Smith) also said that when the City of Enoch fled and was translated, it was where the Gulf of Mexico now is. It left that gulf a body of water" (Waiting for World’s End, The Diaries of Wilford Woodruff, p. 305, published in 1993 by Signature Books, Salt Lake City, UT)
And let's not forget that this doctrine gave us Battle Star Galactica, so it MUST be true. (yeah for cylons! I bet you didn't know that the reason that Commander Adama is named Adama in order to try and resolve the Adam-God doctrine, did you?)
So clearly the Hollow-Earth theory is malarkey. But if you don't believe me, use Moroni's promise to have it personally revealed to you. After all, there are many, many accounts of members who have followed Moroni's promise and had each one of these different locations of the ten tribes revealed to them. That's how we know that the spirit is reliable, it gives everyone different answers.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2021 02:30AM by anybody.