SANDY, Utah — When the Big Bang theory emerged around 1930, Joseph Smith's views of the universe didn't look good from a scientific perspective, according to a former NASA physicist.

But times, and the climate of cosmology, have changed.

Ron Hellings, a believing Latter-day Saint who earned a doctorate in physics and spent 25 years as a research scientist at NASA, is well-aware of the contradictions and uncertainty out there.

"In the last 20 years, we have learned so much about the universe that we are now mystified and profoundly confused," Hellings said. " � This is no time for anyone to criticize anyone else's beliefs based on what cosmologists know."

That applies to the Mormon Prophet, whom Hellings is convinced knew something about the cosmos and did his best with the language at his disposal.

"There is something there for us to learn about the cosmos by looking at the statements of Joseph Smith," Hellings said.

Read the full story on MormonTimes.com.