Abraham 3 and Einsteinian Relativity — 63 Years Early
In 1842, Joseph Smith published a revelation that time varies by sphere and observer. Einstein published the same concept in 1905. The gap is 63 years.
Abraham 3:4–9 (Published 1842)
“And the Lord said unto me, by the Urim and Thummim, that Kolob was after the manner of the Lord, according to its times and seasons in the revolutions thereof; that one revolution was a day unto the Lord, after his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand years according to the time appointed unto that whereon thou standest.”
One revolution of Kolob equals one day in God’s reckoning. That same revolution equals 1,000 years on Earth. Time runs at different rates in different spheres. The text is explicit: “the time appointed unto that whereon thou standest” — your temporal reference point determines your time rate. Different positions produce different time rates.
Abraham 3 continues this analysis across several verses, establishing a hierarchy of governing spheres and explicitly teaching that time is not uniform across the cosmos — it varies by location and governing position within God’s creative order. This was published in the Times and Seasons in 1842.
Einstein’s Special Relativity (1905)
Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity (1905) established that time is not absolute — it dilates based on velocity relative to other observers. A clock moving at high velocity runs more slowly than a clock at rest relative to an observer. His General Theory of Relativity (1915) extended this to gravity: a clock in a strong gravitational field runs more slowly than a clock in a weak field.
This is not theoretical abstraction. GPS satellites orbit Earth at high velocity in a weaker gravitational field than Earth’s surface. Their clocks run at different rates than surface clocks. GPS systems must apply relativistic corrections continuously to remain accurate. Time dilation is a measured, engineered-around physical reality.
The key principle: time runs at different rates in different physical environments — specifically, different velocities and different gravitational fields produce different time rates. Position and motion in the cosmos determine your temporal experience.
The Correspondence
Abraham 3 teaches: different spheres (orbital positions — effectively different gravitational environments at different distances from massive objects) experience different time rates. Einstein teaches: different positions in a gravitational field experience different time rates.
The structural correspondence is not loose. Both teach:
Parallel Structure
- Abraham 3 — Different spheres have different time rates based on their position in the cosmic hierarchy
- Einstein GR — Different positions in a gravitational field have different time rates based on gravitational potential
- Both — Time is not absolute; it is determined by the observer’s physical environment
- Both — A being in a different sphere/field experiences a genuinely different time rate — neither rate is “wrong”
The ratio in Abraham 3 (1,000:1) is a specific quantitative claim, not a vague metaphor. It asserts a specific time dilation factor between God’s sphere and Earth’s. Whether the exact factor is scientifically confirmable is a separate question; the structural principle — time varies by location in the cosmos — is what Einstein proved.
What Joseph Smith Could Not Have Known
Newtonian physics — the dominant and essentially unchallenged framework in 1842 — treated time as absolute, universal, and uniform. Newton’s laws assume that time is the same everywhere, ticking at the same rate regardless of position, velocity, or gravitational environment. This was not a tentative hypothesis. It was the bedrock of natural philosophy for 150 years.
The idea that time runs at different rates in different locations was not merely unconventional in 1842 — it was physically inconceivable within the Newtonian framework. There was no scientific basis, no experimental data, no theoretical structure, and no cultural exposure to the concept. What Joseph Smith published in 1842 had no scientific precursor. Einstein provided the framework 63 years later.
Verdict
This is either a remarkable coincidence — Joseph Smith accidentally published a metaphysical concept in 1842 that corresponds precisely to one of the most significant discoveries in the history of physics, published 63 years later — or it is what it claims to be: revealed knowledge from a God who lives in a sphere where time runs differently than it does here.
The apologetic value is not that Abraham 3 proves general relativity. It is that Abraham 3 assumed a principle — the locality of time — that was physically unknowable in 1842 and was confirmed as physically real in 1905. A fraud or a deluded visionary operating from the cultural assumptions of 1842 Newtonian America would not have published that. A revelation from a God outside that framework could.