Angels, Crystal Seas of Glass, and Spirit Matter
- stephenstrent7
- Nov 8
- 16 min read
Where Science Meets the Doctrine and Covenants, for the Come Follow Me lesson Nov 10-16; Doctrine and Covenants 129-132
Sections 129-131 of the Doctrine and Covenants are riddled with verses that are frequently quoted, many dealing with scientific topics. These sections contain some profound and fascinating teachings, and are one reason I decided to take on the subject of science and the scriptures in the first place. There is so much here that I will not confine this essay to one single topic but will address several individually.
Doctrine and Covenants section 129 was given February 9, 1834. For many years, from the time I first read this section, I have found it to be very interesting, entertaining, and provocative. Verses 1-3 provide a fascinating glimpse into “heaven”, where there are both “Angels”, i.e. “resurrected personages”, and “the spirits of just men made perfect”. This was the condition in 1834, and will, apparently, continue to be the case for some time to come. However, before Christ’s resurrection, heaven was almost entirely occupied by spirits, with God, our Heavenly Mother, and a few others (?) being the only resurrected beings. Also, apparently, heaven will eventually only be occupied by resurrected beings, as all people who have ever lived upon the earth will eventually be resurrected.
Then, in verses 4-9, Joseph Smith describes what we are to do if confronted by a “messenger” claiming to have come from God—we are supposed to offer to shake hands—no thank you. That may have been easy for Joseph to say, he had been visited by heavenly messengers for nearly fourteen years by the time of his statement. I have only been visited once, and offering to shake hands was the farthest thing from my mind.
A number of years ago, Kathleen and I were staying in the William Wallace room, at the top of Dalhousie Castle, just outside Newtongrange, Scotland, about eight miles from Edinburgh. It is claimed to be the most haunted castle in Scotland. The oldest part of the current castle dates from the 15th century, and sits on the site of an original 12th century castle built by Simundus de Ramesie, a Norman-English knight. We went to bed about 11 pm, and about 1 am, Kathleen whispered to me, her lips touching my ear, “What do you hear?” I nearly jumped out of my skin, being awakened like that—but then I listened intently. We both could hear the ticking of a grandfather clock—it would crescendo from very soft to quite loud and then back to soft again, over and over. Before she awakened me, Kathleen had heard footsteps in the interior hallway of our room—leading from the door of the main hotel hallway, past our bathroom. I then felt what I though was someone sit on my side of the bed. I at least had the presence of mind to blow into the air to see if the room was cold—one sure sign of a ghostly visit. As the room temperature seemed normal, I went back to sleep. Kathleen, however, said she had to pray for some time to get back to sleep. It never occurred to either of us to offer to shake hands with whatever might be in the room.
When we awoke later that morning, we confirmed that there was no grandfather clock in the room. I went down to the front desk and asked if they offered sound effects in their rooms. They asked me what room I had stayed in. When I told them we had been in the William Wallace room, and assured them we had no plans to stay a second night, they gave me a sheet of paper listing several other “ghost” encounters in that room. My advice: when confronted by a “ghost”, don’t offer to shake hands.
Section 130 consists of, “Items of instruction given by Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Ramus, Illinois, April 2, 1843”. The term “ramus” is Latin for “branch”, and several anatomical structures are so named. For example, that portion of the mandible extending from the body toward the mandible’s articulation with the temporal bone of the skull, is called the mandibular ramus. Ramus (now Webster), Illinois was a town and branch of the Church, about 20 miles east of Nauvoo. So, the Ramus Branch was the Branch Branch. Apparently, my great, great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Parsons Earl, born the 12th of May 1829, was not quite fourteen, and living in Ramus when Joseph Smith came there, teaching this section of the Doctrine and Covenants. I have often wondered what she experienced, hearing those electrifying words for the first time as a young girl.
This section of the Doctrine and Covenants opens with the Prophet Joseph stating in verses 1 and 2, “When the Savior shall appear we shall see him as he is. We shall see that he is a man like ourselves. And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.” There is such a depth of profound teaching in those two verses. If Joseph had never said anything else about the resurrected Savior and our immortal future, those two verses would have taught us more than any other Christian church understands of those facts. I have written an entire book, The Immortal Messiah: The Physiology of Resurrected Beings (Cedar Fort, 2022), which deals just with verse 1 of this scripture, and is based upon Luke 24:41-43.
Then in verses 4-9, Joseph taught, “In answer to the question—Is not the reckoning of God’s time, angel’s time, prophet’s time, and man’s time, according to the planet on which they reside? I answer, Yes. But there are no angels who minister to this earth but those who do belong or have belonged to it. The angels do not reside on a planet like this earth; But they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord. The place where God resides is a great Urim and Thummim. This earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it; and this earth will be Christ’s.”
In chapter 7 of my book, The Infinite Creation: Unifying Science and Latter-Day Saint Theology (Cedar Fort, 2020), I discuss the science behind the creation of a crystal sea of glass. I quote part of that chapter here:
“The creation of the stars apparently proceeded in the following manner. After the Big Bang, the distribution of the earliest elements, hydrogen and helium, was not uniform; but those elements were distributed as cloud-like clusters by quantum gravitational fluctuations in the foam-like background of dark matter.2 Those clouds of hydrogen and helium coalesced and condensed by the force of the gravity within halos of dark matter, to form the early stars and galaxies. The earliest stars were giant but short-lived spheres of hydrogen, lasting a matter of only a few million years each, before exploding into supernovae. Those early stellar explosions created the rest of the elements that exist today—scattering them across space and seeding the universe with the matter that would form the long-term stars and planets.
“Our sun is one of those later stars, now composed of about 75 percent hydrogen, 25 percent helium, and trace amounts of various metals. Its energy derives from the fusion of hydrogen—producing helium as the by-product. It began burning about 4.6 billion years ago and has enough fuel left to burn for approximately another 5 billion years. As the hydrogen fuel is depleted, it will consume helium and other elements by fusion, until those are also depleted.3 During this process, the helium will become compressed—speeding the rate of hydrogen combustion and expanding the outer regions of the sun into a red giant, which will consume the inner planets, including the Earth. The compressed helium in the core will become hot enough to fuse into carbon. Some of the helium and carbon will fuse to form oxygen.4
“In much larger stars, carbon and oxygen will fuse to form larger elements, but in stars the size of the sun, those two elements will collect at the center. The outer layers of the red giant eventually, after a few million years, will be shed into space as a planetary nebula and the core will remain as a white dwarf star, composed mostly of carbon and oxygen. A white dwarf is only about the size of the Earth but is incredibly dense and hot—about half the mass of the sun and 200,000 times as dense as the Earth.5 Over the next billion years or so, the white dwarf will begin to cool down. The carbon and oxygen will form a crystalline lattice resembling a diamond.5 It is estimated that this diamond in the sky will last for around 1034-1036 years or more—essentially for eternity.6
“This eternal diamond is reminiscent of the ‘sea of glass’ mentioned in Revelation, ‘And before the throne [of God] there was a sea of glass like unto crystal…’ (Revelation 4:6) John further stated, ‘And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.’ (Revelation 15:2) Joseph Smith asked God, ‘What is the sea of glass spoken of by John, 4th chapter, and 6th verse of the Revelation?’ And God answered, ‘It is the earth, in its sanctified, immortal, and eternal state.’ (Doctrine and Covenants 77:1) Joseph also taught the Saints living in Ramus, Illinois in 1843, ‘The angels do not reside on a planet like this earth; But they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord.’ (Doctrine and Covenants 130:6-7)
“Thus, it appears that the final destiny of the Earth is to be consumed by the sun, which, in turn, will become a diamond-like white dwarf resembling a sea of glass where exalted beings will dwell forever in the presence of God.”
Then, in Doctrine and Covenants 130:10-11, Joseph stated, “Then the white stone mentioned in Revelation 2:17, will become a Urim and Thummim to each individual who receives one, whereby things pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms will be made known; And a white stone is given to each of those who come into the celestial kingdom, whereon is a new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it. The new name is the key word.”
The idea of hand-held personal computers, with password protection, was still one hundred fifty or more years in the future when Joseph taught this information. Now, when I teach an Elders Quorum lessen or a Gospel Doctrine lesson, I often tell the participants to look into their “white stones” for the answer to a given question. Then, add to that the notion that our PCs will have infinite, unlimited information, and that we will be standing on a crystal sphere that, in itself, is a giant computer, a “Urim and Thummim”, that also has unlimited information. What an exciting time to look forward to!
In the future, those computers will likely function at much faster rates than the already outdated hand-held devices we currently use, which take sometimes up to several seconds to give us answers, which are not always complete or entirely accurate. Scientists are currently working on the next generation of quantum computers, which will allow us to access vast quantities of information almost instantaneously.
Joseph Smith then prophesied about the Civil War and the Second Coming of Christ in verses 12-17.
Then pow, pow, pow, there are, in rapid-fire, some profound statements, which are often quoted, and even recited as themes.
In verses 18-19, Joseph stated, “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” With the double meaning of intelligence taught earlier in the Doctrine and Covenants, of not only what we know but also the basis of our spirit selves, these verses are profound. We can literally expand our souls by what we learn. This has always been a guiding force in my life: even though I struggled to learn how to learn and read when I was young, I have always been on a quest for more and more knowledge and intelligence, since I first read those verses. I do not know where I would have been had I not served a mission, for it was there that I managed, with God’s help, to break through my disabilities and learn how to learn.
Then, Joseph taught, in verses 20-21, “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” God has specifically stated, in Doctrine and Covenants 29:34, that “all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal”. Therefore, when we receive any blessing, which we might think of as completely physical/natural, such as drinking a glass of water, the laws that govern how two parts of hydrogen come together with one part of oxygen to make water, are at play. Even how silicone can be melted and molded into a solid drinking glass follows those same pre-ordained laws.
The reason I am a scientist is because of my constant quest to understand even a twinkling of a glimpse into those eternal laws. The first lecture I give in my Biochemistry course every spring semester is about water. I am in awe of how hydrogen, a highly flammable gas, and oxygen, a gas that enhances combustion, can come together to form such a life-giving molecule as water. Its properties are in perfect balance to provide the medium in which life-giving reactions occur. The numerous laws governing how water is formed and how it functions are only the foundation in which all other—infinitely more complex chemical reactions—occur.
Section 130 then ends with this profound statement, in verse 22: “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.” This single statement sets us apart from almost all other Christians, who in spite of Christ’s resurrection, and all the witnesses of His resurrected body, who handled and felt it (Luke 24:36-40), have rejected the reality of the resurrection. This rejection occurred through the meeting of bishops in Nicaea in 325 AD, wherein it was concluded that, in some way, Jesus left His body behind (although no one has ever suggested where it might have been stashed) and mysteriously fused with God the Father, to whom he had just prayed a few days earlier to remove the cup from His lips (Matthew 26:39, Luke 22:24), to become one, fused incorporate being, even though Stephen saw them as two separate beings (Acts 7:55-56). At the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine, who wasn’t even a Christian at the time, but who convened the council and greatly influenced its outcome, proposed the word homoousios (meaning “of the same substance”). Several of the bishops attending the council, most notably Eusebius of Nicomedia, refused to sign the Creed because the word “homoousios” was not in the scriptures. The Roman Catholic bishops who supported Constantine maintained that the Church must explain scripture by a term outside it.7
Homoousios means that the Son is exactly the same substance as the Father, thus is exactly the same person as the Father, and therefore is not a separate, resurrected being. Homoiousios was the term used by the Arians and other heretics, like myself, and it means “of similar substance”, but not the same substance. It is used by those of us who believed that Jesus Christ is the “Son of God.”, who has a physical, resurrected body similar to that of God’s but not the same, incorporeal body. Notice that the difference in the spelling between the two words is the letter i, or iota in Greek. Therefore, the difference between a “true Catholic” and a heretic is just one iota.
Lastly there is section 131, also given by the Prophet Joseph Smith at Ramus, Illinois; this time on May 16 and 17, 1843, right after Mary Elizabeth Parsons (later: Earl), turned fourteen. In the first four verses, given May 16th, Joseph explained that, “In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; and in order to obtain the highest” degree of glory, people must enter into the “new and everlasting covenant of marriage”.
Then on the 17th, the Prophet stated, in verse 6, the oft quoted statement, “It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance.” One of my all-time very favorite scriptures then comes in verses 7 and 8: “There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes; We cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter.”
The following is part of Chapter 2 of my recent book, Science and the Old Testament (Cedar Fort, 2025):
“Joseph Smith’s definition of spirit matter sounds a lot like the scientific definition of dark matter. It appears from this scripture that ‘intelligence’ is some sort of matter, which is infinite, ‘fine and pure,’ and not ‘visible’ like normal matter. Modern science teaches that all visible matter was created at the time of the Big Bang, or later. Is intelligence, from which spirits are made, some sort of matter that exists outside the confines of finite space and time—unaffected by the Big Bang? Is it some sort of infinite matter?
“Visible matter is that which either emits light or reflects it. What we see in the blackness of space is either sources emitting light, such as the sun and stars, or objects reflecting light, such as the moon and planets. The ‘empty’ space across which light travels is black because there is no visible matter in that space to reflect the light. What’s more, we can only see a tiny fraction of the light given off by stars even in our own small neighborhood of the universe. If you are to gaze out into the night sky in a remote area of the world, where there is no light pollution and where the sky is full of stars, and count the number of stars you can actually see, the number turns out to be somewhat less than 10,000. That number is only about 0.000003% of the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy alone (about 250 billion + 150 billion). No wonder God told Abraham that the stars were numberless.8
“Paul told the Colossians (1:15-17), ‘[Jesus] Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.’
“Again, Paul’s ‘invisible God’ sounds a lot like dark matter, obscure matter, or invisible matter, which science has only recently identified as existing without being observable. Most biblical scholars take Paul’s statement to mean that God is without any physical form, being invisible, but modern science teaches us that just because matter is invisible does not mean that it does not exist or have any form.
“Furthermore, we learn by revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith, ‘For no man has seen God at any time in the flesh, except quickened by the Spirit of God.’9 Again, this scripture tells us that God is invisible to anyone not ‘quickened by the Spirit.’ Just like with dark matter, we know it is there, because it accounts for the extra, invisible gravity necessary to account for the shape of galaxies, but we cannot detect it with any instruments yet devised.
“The New York Times obituary for the astronomer Vera Rubin, published in December 2016, stated that she, ‘…transformed modern physics and astronomy with her observations showing that galaxies and stars are immersed in the gravitational grip of vast clouds of dark matter. Her work helped usher in a Copernican-scale change in cosmic consciousness, namely the realization that what astronomers always saw and thought was the universe ‘is just the visible tip of a lumbering iceberg of mystery.’10
“Lisa Randall, who is the Frank B. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science at Harvard University, and member of the Scientific American advisory board, has stated, ‘Perhaps the most significant sign of the existence of dark matter…is our very existence. Despite its invisibility, dark matter has been critical to the evolution of our universe and to the emergence of stars, planets and even life…[it was] critical to the creation of structures such as galaxies – within the (relatively short) time span we know to be a typical galaxy lifetime…Without dark matter, radiation would have prevented clumping of the galactic structure for too long, in essence wiping it out and keeping the universe smooth and homogeneous. The galaxy essential to our solar system and our life was formed in the time since the big bang only because of the existence of dark matter.’”11
Furthermore, as I pointed out in a recent essay, “Is This Dark Matter”, not only is the body of God, Christ, and the angels comprised of dark matter, but, apparently, also the clothes they wear. Joseph Smith described the clothing worn by the Angel Moroni, when he visited Joseph in his closed bedroom: “He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so, also, were his feet naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his bosom.”12
Wow, there is so much to learn and so little time to learn it during mortality. I can hardly wait until I pass into the post-mortal realm and can register into what I affectionately call The University of Kolob, where I can pick up my own white stone. Then I remember that only those in the celestial kingdom are given such a stone and I repent daily and asked to be kept from sin, so that I can be worthy of such an ultimate gift.
Trent Dee Stephens, PhD
References
1. Statue de Moroni, Temmple de Zollikofen, Berne, Suisse}} |Source=travail personnel (own work) |Author=MTPICHON, 07/04/2008
2. Wheeler, J. A., Geons, Physical Review, 97: 511-536, 1955; see also Ng, Y. Jack, Quantum foam, gravitational thermodynamics, and the dark sector, J. Phys.: Conf. Ser., 845: 012001
6. Adams, Fred C. and Laughlin, Gregory, A dying universe: The long-term fate and evolution of astrophysical objects, Reviews of Modern Physics, 69:337–372, 1997
7. Laux, John, Church History, A Complete History of the Catholic Church to the Present Day, p 110, Benziger Brothers, Inc, New York, etc, Printers to the Holy Apostolic See, 1930; see also my discussion of this issue in my chapter “Nicaea” in my book, The Immortal Messiah, 2022
8. Genesis 15:5
9. Doctrine and Covenants 67:11
11. Randall, Lisa, What is dark matter?, Scientific American, pp 58-59, June 2018
12. Joseph Smith—History 1:31
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