Uranus...er, Chronos and the Gospel

Interesting article here at Meridian Magazine about Uranus and its part in celestial time-keeping. (The author calls Uranus 'Chronos' in the article because it's 'much better sounding'--meaning he wants the article to be taken seriously and not constantly bringing to mind junior high school jokes like "Why is toilet paper like the Starship Enterprise?"...)

This has been an interesting series at Meridian by John P. Pratt--right in line with my Science vs. Religion line of thinking--where he uses science (astronomy) to speculate about gospel truths. It is just speculation...and you might think it's fairly presumptuous for Dr. Pratt to pick a specific date for the birth of Adam (Sat 17 Oct 4070 BC)--but hey, if the numbers fit...

Plus, his theory puts the Second Coming in or about 2044. A good enough guess as any, I figure...

I don't have the astronomy background to comment on the specifics of the articles, but it seems to make sense. Celestial timekeeping is not a new idea--the scriptures make frequent mention of it, and the star "Kolob" (wherever that is) is supposed to be a marker of the "Lord's time". It makes sense that the other planets in the solar system would play a part as well. I'll be keeping an eye on Dr. Pratt's research for future entries in the Science vs. Religion canon.

One comment: In the footnotes, Dr. Pratt also ties in the death of Ronald Reagan into the cosmic timekeeping scheme. Sorry...no. I realize there's a certain 'hero worship' with Reagan among Church members (his death was two weeks ago, and all the flags in Utah Valley are still at half-mast...), but there's no way I'm believing Pres. Reagan was a significant enough figure in God's plan that his death was marked by the planets in the same way Adam's and Jesus Christ's was.

By the way, daily readers will note I have not joined into the Reagan tributes that have covered other LDS blogs and conservative media in general. I believe he was a good President, but not in America's Top 5, and think a lot of the good things the right are saying (and the bad things the left are saying) are a little overblown...