2012 - and the Earth shall reel to and fro

Book by Anthony E. Larson

2012 and the end of the world was discussed in last week’s article. Research on 2012 inspired the branching out and looking at other books about the end of the world. This led to a trilogy called the “Prophecy Trilogy” by Anthony E. Larson, a local LDS author.

The first book “And the Mood Shall Turn to Blood” introduced the work of Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky and his theory of catastrophism which is the belief that catastrophic changes have come to the earth by coming in close contact to celestial bodies (planet/comets). The second book in the series is called “And the Earth Shall Reel to and Fro”.

The first 50 pages of the book take a closer look at some of the obscure books in the Old Testament and some of the references they make to catastrophes that befell people of the earth. These books include Habakkuk, Isaiah, and Joel. These are in-depth looks at specific scripture references and while impressive, only whet the appetite for those looking for more significant ties of catastrophism to famous biblical events.

The real meat of the book comes in the second half as Larson goes in to more detail about what catastrophism is and how it differs from traditional uniformitarian views. Uniformitarian science believes that the earth was formed over millions of years and that changes to it have come from millennia of small changes to temperature, erosion, and landmass movement. It is what we have all been taught in science classes through school. Dr. Velikovsky and catastrophists assert that these same changes have been brought about through major historic catastrophes. One of the interesting theories of catastrophism that is brought forward in the book is that the ice age was caused by a planetary close encounter that dropped elements from its atmosphere that became sheets of ice and cooled the earth down below freezing temperatures in a matter of days not years. Evidence of this is in the Wooly Mammoths that have been found as ice melts. If Uniformitarian beliefs hold true then mammoths that were frozen millions of years ago through a progressive freeze would have had severe amounts of tissue damage from slow freeze. Yet, mammoths that have been found are surprisingly intact  which supports the theory that it happened very quickly like a freeze dry process. Larson goes in to more detail about the differences between catastrophism and uniformitarianism including explanations of how the ice age would have come about according to catastrophists, and how old the earth is according to both sides.

Another interesting point made by Anthony Larson is about the great Chicago fire of 1871 – the one supposedly started by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow. According to Ignatius Donnelly, another catastrophist, there were multiple fires throughout the United States of immense power for weeks before and after the Chicago fire. Some of the descriptions from eye witnesses of the 1871 Chicago fire talk about spontaneous combustion and fire starting in the air. Donnelly maintains that this was because the Earth travelled through the tail of Biela’s comet a month after it crossed the Earth’s path resulting in strange atmospheric pressures and makeup that explain these fires.
The remainder of the book talks about what may happen if catastrophic events occur. Some of these topics include how humans would react, what the landscape would look like, and information in scriptures that foretell of this doom and gloom.

This book is very enjoyable if read to get another point of view on science. Thinking outside of the box has lead to many great discoveries. The next article will review Anthony E. Larson’s 3rd book called “And There Shall be a New Heaven and a New Earth” which discusses where the earth may have been before its current orbit, myths from ancient civilizations about the origins of our planet, and the theory of why they built the pyramids.

While these books don’t specifically mention 2012 and the end of the world, they give us a good glimpse into what that may look like if the end is near.

For more info on:

Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky and the theory of Catastrophism, click HERE.

Anthony E. Larson or to purchase his books, click HERE.

The LDS Church, click HERE.