Month: June 2008

The Degree Ceremonies of Oxford University – Part 3

2 Comments

Interior, Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, prior to degree ceremony

(Continued from Part 2)

For those of you who don’t want to wade through my analysis of the Oxford degree ceremony in the last part, or if you’d just like to see what the presentation is like, the degree ceremony that took place on September 28, 2007 at Oxford University was formally videotaped and posted on YouTube just recently.  Be prepared to hear some Latin.  It is divided into seven parts, and is about an hour long total.  I think you will find the ceremony very interesting to watch.

You may see them below: (See below these for another version, with subtitles).

Part 1 – Expand/Collapse

Part 2 – Expand/Collapse

Part 3 – Expand/Collapse

Part 4 – Expand/Collapse

Part 5 – Expand/Collapse

Part 6 – Expand/Collapse

Part 7 – Expand/Collapse

There is also a homemade videotaped version of the ceremony posted on YouTube.  It follows the experience of a graduate named Jacob and his family as he goes through the commencement exercises.  It is shorter, divided into three parts, and has subtitles in English (for those of you who are not fluent in Latin).  You can see it here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

(Continued in Part 4)

The Degree Ceremonies of Oxford University – Part 2

10 Comments

Exterior, Sheldonian Theatre at Oxford University where most degree ceremonies take place - built 1664-1668

(Continued from Part 1)

Dr. Hugh Nibley’s opening remarks in his earthshaking address, “Leaders to Managers: The Fatal Shift,” given at the BYU commencement ceremony on August 19, 1983, would have fit even more perfectly in an Oxford setting. In refering to his statement in a commencement prayer he gave in 1960 in which he said, “We have met here today clothed in the black robes of a false priesthood,” he took this opportunity to explain:

Why a priesthood? Because these robes originally denoted those who had taken clerical orders; and a college was a “mystery,” with all the rites, secrets, oaths, degrees, tests, feasts, and solemnities that go with initiation into higher knowledge.

But why false? Because it is borrowed finery, coming down to us through a long line of unauthorized imitators. It was not until 1893 that “an intercollegiate commission was formed . . . to draft a uniform code for caps, gowns, and hoods” in the United States. Before that there were no rules. You could design your own; and that liberty goes as far back as these fixings can be traced. The late Roman emperors, as we learn from the infallible DuCange, marked each step in the decline of their power and glory by the addition of some new ornament to the resplendent vestments that proclaimed their sacred office and dominion. . . .  [Read more…]

The Degree Ceremonies of Oxford University – Part 1

6 Comments

A degree ceremony at the Sheldonian Theatre of the University of Oxford, England

The University of Oxford in Oxford, England is “the oldest university in the English-speaking world” ((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Oxford)).  It is also one of the “world’s leading academic institutions” ((ibid.)).  Its history dates back to the 11th century CE, and its Christian ties are evident from its crest which reads “The Lord is my Light” in Latin ((ibid.)).  When an argument broke out in 1209, some disbanded and headed north-east to found the University of Cambridge, “the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world” ((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Cambridge)).

While there are many interesting implications that could be stated from the antiquity of this institution, the aspect which interests us here is that they claim their commencement ceremonies have remained unchanged for over 800 years. [Read more…]

Added ShareThis to TempleStudy.com

Leave a Comment

I have added a new feature to TempleStudy.com.  It is called ShareThis.  This is a really great tool for sharing things about the temple that you read here with your friends, family, coworkers, associates, ward members, and anyone else you might like to pass along these articles to.  Each article now has a little green icon with the words “ShareThis” at the bottom of every post.  Clicking on this icon will allow you to share TempleStudy.com articles via:

  • Social Web – share or bookmark the article on Facebook, Digg, del.icio.us, Technorati, StumbleUpon, Google Bookmarks, and a host of other social bookmarking sites.
  • Post – post the article directly to your profile or blog on Facebook, Blogger, WordPress, Twitter, LiveJournal or others.
  • Send/Email – share the post with others directly by email, SMS (cell phone text message), instant message MySpace friends, or instant message AIM friends.

I hope you find this new tool useful, and that you will help spread the word about TempleStudy.com and help others learn more about the LDS temple.

Time and Eternity: An Egyptian Dualism

4 Comments

King Tut's Burial Chamber - Osiris embracing Tutankhamun, "Giving all life for time and eternity." The ankh, neheh, and djet symbols are highlighted in yellow.As I was researching for the posts on the ankh, I came across some information which was interesting, describing the Egyptian concept of “time” and “eternity.” These concepts almost seem repetitive and redundant to our modern way of thinking, but to the Egyptians each of these terms represented something concrete and distinct, and both were invoked in certain rituals, texts, and illustrations.  It is clear that the Egyptians considered these two ideas as unique, but they often used them together, and so it seems difficult for our present Egyptologists to distinguish or disambiguate what the Egyptians meant by them individually.  There has been plenty of speculation.

The two symbols used for the commonly translated “time” and “eternity” are neheh (nhh) and djet (dt), respectively, and looked something like this:

from Kemet.org Daily Devotions (http://daily.kemet.org/archives/archive-052003.html)

Jan Assmann described the difficulty of pinning down an understanding of these hieroglyphics:  [Read more…]