[Page 1]Abstract: The third chapter of Abraham considers two types of times regarding the moon, the earth, and the planets: “times of reckoning” and “set times.” A straightforward interpretation of these two times, if correct, sheds light on the cosmology known to Abraham. “Times of reckoning” may be understood as the times of celestial movements directly observed or reckoned by someone standing on the surface of the earth. These times would most likely be synodic, meaning the motion being considered is referenced to the sun, but they could also be sidereal, meaning referenced to the stars. Observed from the earth’s surface, times of reckoning would naturally have a geocentric perspective. “Set times,” on the other hand, may refer to times of motion established or set by God. These would be the orbital motions intrinsic to the bodies themselves. They would be sidereal and, with the exception of the moon — which would still be geocentric, would be from a heliocentric or even wider galactocentric point of view. With this interpretation, Abraham 3:5‒10 may be an account of God elevating Abraham’s knowledge of heavenly motions from that which is seen and measured by looking at the sky to that which actually exists in space. Such knowledge, likely possessed by the prophet Mormon as well, provided a natural means for Abraham to teach Pharaoh of the supremacy of God.

 

It is well established that the prophet Abraham, as well as being the father of nations revered by Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike, was described by ancient historians as a man who studied and understood the heavens.1 For example, the Jewish historian Josephus in Antiquity of the Jews — Book 1 7:2, writes,

[Page 2][The Babylonian historian] Berosus mentions our father Abram without naming him, when he says thus: “In the tenth generation after the Flood, there was among the Chaldeans a man righteous and great, and skillful in the celestial science.”

In Book 1, 8:2 he speaks of Abraham teaching mathematics and astronomy to the Egyptians:

He [Abraham] communicated to them [the Egyptians] arithmetic, and delivered to them the science of astronomy; for before Abram came into Egypt they were unacquainted with those parts of learning.

Josephus may be giving too much credit to Abraham. The prophet lived in Mesopotamia around 2,000 BC. Studies of the Pyramid Texts show that the Egyptians were practicing observational astronomy hundreds of years before this time.2 Temples and pyramids built before 2,000 BC were aligned with north by use of astronomical techniques a...