In 1869, God called Dr. Teed, a US Civil War veteran and doctor who dabbled in alchemy, to be a messiah who would turn people to Christ. Renamed Koresh, Teed began a prophetic mission. His most interesting teaching is that the earth is round—but it’s also hollow, and we’re on the inside. It’s a strange belief now, but in the 1880s…it was plausible. However, as sciences advanced, Koresh’s hollow world began to implode. The histories of Koreshanity and Mormonism follow a parallel course to the martyrdom of their prophets and beyond.

Steven L. Richardson