Matthew (New Testament)
25:1 - Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
25:2 - And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
25:3 - They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
25:4 - But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
25:5 - While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
25:6 - And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
25:7 - Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
25:8 - And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
25:9 - But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
25:10 - And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
25:11 - Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
25:12 - But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
25:13 - Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
25:14 - For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
25:15 - And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
25:16 - Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
25:17 - And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
25:18 - But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.
25:19 - After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
25:20 - And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
25:21 - His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
25:22 - He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
25:23 - His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
25:24 - Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
25:25 - And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
25:26 - His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
25:27 - Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
25:28 - Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
25:29 - For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
25:30 - And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
25:31 - When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
25:32 - And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
25:33 - And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
25:34 - Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
25:35 - For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
25:36 - Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
25:37 - Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
25:38 - When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
25:39 - Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
25:40 - And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
25:41 - Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
25:42 - For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
25:43 - I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
25:44 - Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
25:45 - Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
25:46 - And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
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I myself have enjoyed Brother Huchel’s scholarship for nearly 40 years now.
I have not yet had a chance to read “The Genesis Round Dance” or “The Cosmic Ring-Dance of the Angels: An Early Rite of the Temple”, but I am very much intrigued with the topic. Reading your post immediately brought to mind 1 Nephi 1:8, wherein it reads: “And being thus overcome with the spirit, he was carried away in vision, even that he saw the heavens opened, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angles in the attitude of singing and praising their God.” I’m interested in learning more. Thank you Bryce for your outstanding work.
Thanks, Brad, for your kind words. Both I and Br. Huchel mention 1 Nephi 1:8 in our papers, I believe.
An awesome read. Thanks for sharing! It’s fascinating what has been preserved, and now restored.
Thank you!
Frederick Huchel’s , The Cosmic Ring-Dance of the Angels’s, is a 30 minute talk given at Margaret Barker’s Temple Studies Group in London. He references a more in-depth 100 page study giving much more details of early Christian references. Wondering if any one knows if the more detailed paper has been published or Frederick’s email????
The more detailed paper has not been published yet, but Br. Huchel is working on getting it published soon.
It appears that Huchel’s book has now been published.
http://www.heavenlyascents.com/2009/08/18/huchels-the-cosmic-ring-dance-of-the-angels-an-early-christian-rite-of-the-temple-released/
Fra Angelico's depiction of the “Last Judgment,” as some of his other paintings, preserves some aspects of earlier Christian mysteries. Fra’s works, “Christ as pilgrim,” preserve some aspects of Christ’s world wide trek, derived from (Matthew 25); plus his “Christ's descent into limbo”; shows different types of hand & wrist grips too.
Fra’s "Last Judgment," painted about 1429 during his stay at Fiesole, for the Camaldolese monks of Santa Maria degli Angeli; now in the Academy, Florence; shows more temple evidences. Fragments of the doctrine of deification= becoming gods, is also preserved, to a certain extent in the way Fra Angelico depicted the "saved" as having their faces shine! Commenting on “The Last Judgment,” painting, Albert E. Bailey, cites without a reference to Old Testament Prophet Daniel 12:3. "They that be wise shall shine as the sun, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever."
Irenaeus, AD 120-202, Bishop of Lyons, a disciple of Polycarp, who was St. John’s pupil; quotes Daniel to suggest that the deifieds' faces would shine with great glory & light.
Bailey: "Some of the shining ones act as ushers to lead the new-comers to the celestial garden-party already going on in the pastures of the blessed."
Off to one side, the far right side of Christ’s right hand, symbolic of the right hand path, in contrast to the left hand side of Christ. Those on Christ’s right hand side are in the process of being deified, perfected & glorified. Those on Christ’s left hand side are being demonified, the opposite of deification, for they are becoming more like the devil & demons.
Light shines from a heavenly city, towards which two shining souls float towards, it’s light of the celestial city, "Jerusalem the Golden" that shines through the entrance way. The saved are also depicted as if joining a sort of hand clasping circle dance with the angels.
Synesius, in one of his Hymns has this to say about the soul: "Soon commingled with the Father Thou shalt dance a 'god' with God."
Sources:
Fra Angelico. The Last Judgement. c.1431. Tempera on wood. 105 x 210 cm. Museo di San Marco, Florence, Italy.
http://www.abcgallery.com/A/angelico/angelico39.html
Fra Angelico. Christ as Pilgrim Received by Two Dominicans. c.1441. Fresco, 108 x 145. Museo di San Marco, Florence, Italy. Two monks welcome the wandering Christ, guised as a Pilgrim, by grasping Christ’s wrist.
http://www.abcgallery.com/A/angelico/angelico45.html
Fra Angelico. Christ in Limbo. c.1450. Fresco, 183 x 166. Museo di San Marco, Cell 31, Florence, Italy. Adam(?) is the first to grasp Christ’s right hand, as Christ rescues souls out of limbo.
http://www.abcgallery.com/A/angelico/angelico63.html
Albert E. Bailey, The Gospel In Art, by 1916, Pilgrim Press, Boston & Chicago, p.415-421; The Ante Nicene Fathers, 1:488-90, & 497, Irenaeus; The Nicene & Post Nicene Fathres, 5:502, note 4, citing Synesius. See also: Encyclopedia of World Art, Vol.I, pl.63, The birth of the Virgin, Panel, Munich, Pinakothek, Pub. in 1959, by McGraw-Hill Pub., Co., Lon., Also in 1958 by the Istituto per la Collaborazione Culturale, Rome, this art work shows angels in the air, in a circle clasping hands. Compare: Clement of Alex., Cohortation ad gentes xii, in Migne, PG 8:241; The Collected Works of Huge Nibley, Vol.4, Mormonism And Early Christianity, 1987, Pub. by FARMS, & DBC., Provo & SLC., Utah, chap.3, pp.45-99; earlier published as: The Early Christian Prayer Circle, by FARMS, BYU Studies XIX, #1, 41-78 (Fall 1978). See also: Art of the Early Renaissance by Michael Batterberry, 1964 & 1968, by Fratelli Fabbri, Ed., Milan Italy, pp.78, 80-1, & 184, fig.79; The Encyc. of Visual Art, Vol.3, p.273, angels in a circle in the air clasping hands.