Title: And There Shall Be a New Heaven and a New Earth
Author: Anthony E. Larson
Series: The Prophecy Trilogy – Volume III
Publisher: Originally self-published, now available on Smashwords
Analyzed Edition: Full-text (user-supplied)
Overview and Summary
This final volume serves as the culmination of Anthony Larson’s planetary cosmology theology, bringing together symbolic prophecy, Restoration scripture, and ancient myth to present a coherent vision of Zion’s emergence following divine judgment. While the first two books explore catastrophic destruction via celestial phenomena, this third entry is more eschatological and redemptive—concerned with what comes after the destruction.
Larson contends that the promised “new heaven and new earth” will not merely be a metaphorical transformation but will be the result of actual astronomical changes, including the realignment of Earth’s axis, the restoration of its original orbit, and the establishment of a new celestial order visible in the skies—what ancient peoples revered as the “heavenly council.”
Core Themes:
- Millennial Transformation: The earth will be physically renewed—both geologically and cosmically—ushering in the Millennium. This includes a cessation of axial tilt, a return to a paradisiacal climate, and the visual restoration of the ancient sky configuration seen by early prophets.
- The Cosmic Temple: Larson makes the case that the temple on Earth is a mirror of the temple in heaven, and that the true heavenly temple is symbolized by a celestial configuration of planets and plasma phenomena, now lost to modern skies but preserved in scripture and myth.
- Restoration of Symbolic Order: Mythological motifs such as the “throne of God,” “four beasts,” “seraphim,” and “the woman clothed with the sun” are reinterpreted as literal descriptions of ancient planetary plasma formations in Earth’s polar sky, centered on Saturn, Venus, and Mars.
- The Final Gathering: Zion is portrayed not just as a societal transformation, but as the literal drawing away of the righteous to a place of safety, either physically lifted or shielded from global calamities by divine intervention tied to celestial changes.
Analysis and Interpretation
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From Catastrophe to Cosmos
The third volume transitions from doom to deliverance. Larson envisions a divinely orchestrated planetary reset that will fulfill the vision of John the Revelator and Isaiah—an act of creation akin to Genesis, not just metaphor but cosmological engineering. The new heaven is not merely moral; it’s orbital.
Interpretation: He views salvation as not only spiritual but spatial—restoring the earth to its Edenic state via realignment with cosmic truth.
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The Divine Council as Astronomical Reality
Larson proposes that the ancient notion of gods assembled in the heavens (e.g., El Elyon’s council in the Old Testament, or the council of Kolob in Abraham 3) was a sky-based memory of plasma formations and planetary bodies seen in polar alignment from Earth.
Interpretation: The prophets did not dream these images—they witnessed them, recorded them, and encoded them in religious architecture and liturgy.
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Zion as an Electromagnetic Refuge
Echoing ideas from earlier books, Larson implies that those attuned to God’s revelations will be physically gathered to places of safety—not just spiritually sanctified zones but perhaps locations electromagnetically shielded or aligned with divine protection during upheaval.
Commentary: This radical idea bridges temple theology, physics, and eschatology in a way rarely attempted in LDS discourse.
✍️ Writing Style and Tone
- Tone: Reverent, visionary, didactic, and occasionally admonitory.
- Voice: A mix of prophet, teacher, and seer—Larson positions himself as someone revealing rather than persuading.
- Pacing: More reflective than earlier volumes; the urgency is replaced by grandeur.
He speaks now not of warning, but of glory—the restoration of divine order and the return of a heavenly configuration once known to man.
Intended Audience
- Latter-day Saints familiar with temple symbols, apocalyptic prophecy, and Restoration scripture.
- Readers of Velikovsky, David Talbott, or Electric Universe theory.
- Seekers of a spiritually infused cosmology that takes both scripture and sky seriously.
✅ Strengths
- Doctrinal originality: No other Latter-day Saint work so thoroughly links the temple, the heavens, and the Millennium.
- Visionary coherence: The trilogy now ends where it began—tying together cosmology and covenant.
- Sacred imagination: Larson’s work is, in effect, a sacred cosmological myth retold through LDS scripture.
❗ Limitations
- Unorthodox cosmology: Still unaccepted by mainstream science or Church leadership.
- Absence of peer engagement: There is no engagement with dissenting LDS views or scholars like Hugh Nibley, Truman Madsen, or Terryl Givens.
- Open questions remain: No concrete timetable is offered, and the mechanics of how celestial restoration will occur remain speculative.
Commentary: Larson is not interested in academic debate. His work functions as modern apocalyptic scripture, not apologetics.
Final Evaluation
And There Shall Be a New Heaven and a New Earth is a visionary capstone to Larson’s trilogy—less an argument than a revelation. For readers willing to see the temple, the cosmos, and the covenants as intimately entwined, Larson offers a radical, unified cosmology that transforms the Restoration’s apocalyptic expectations into sacred astronomy.
He concludes with hope: not just for survival, but for renewal—for the restoration of what was once lost both on Earth and in the sky above.
