Recently I’ve had an interesting, yet somewhat disheartening, discussion wherein a reader of this website questioned my motives, goals, reasoning, and aspirations. If you’d like to browse it, you may begin here.
Let it be known far and wide that my desire is that I might, in the smallest measure, be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to bring about His purposes in righteousness. Ultimately, that is all. Appendages to this might be found here.
We are planning our third fireside discussion at TempleStudy.com using Google Hangouts on Air, live online, for tomorrow night, Wednesday, August 22nd, at 7:30pm (get reminded by Google+ here). Our discussion last week was great; we discussed the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Essenes, Qumran, the Temple Scroll, Jacob at Bethel and the symbolism of Jacob’s Ladder, and some thoughts from Elder Carlos E. Asay. We should have a great chat this week too, with Professor William J. Hamblin leading the discussion.
In these discussions we talk about the history, principles, and reasons for the LDS temple, and temple worship antecedents in antiquity. Springboarding the discussion will be Andrew Skinner’s book, Temple Worship (chapter 1), which is also available as an ebook for Kindle. If you would like to be a contributor, or “panelist,” in our discussion, and you have a webcam (or have an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or Android), please let me know. Otherwise you can simply watch the discussion as it takes place here at TempleStudy.com, on the Google+ event page, or the recording later which will be here at TempleStudy.com or on YouTube.
In honor of Matthew B. Brown who passed away unexpectedly last year there will be a conference next month on September 22, 2012, from 9:15am – 5:30pm entitled “The Temple on Mount Zion.” It will be held at the Provo Public Library. Br. Brown was originally organizing this conference, and I chatted with him briefly about it in the months before his passing. Matt was very excited about the potential in temple studies, and he always had very interesting new insights to share about the temple. I’m glad to see this conference coming to fruition. Thank you David Seely and William Hamblin for organizing this.
William Hamblin shares news of this event on his blog, including the program and abstracts.
With this conference and the other temple studies conference in Logan in October, we should have plenty to discuss over the coming months!
Here we are again to have another TempleStudy.com fireside discussion about the temple. I hope you enjoyed the last one, and that tonight’s discussion will be as enlightening. You can watch it below.
Nephi was caught away in the Spirit to “an exceedingly high mountain,” where he conversed with the Spirit of the Lord. Artist: Clark Kelley Price.
If you have not had the opportunity to read David Bokovoy’s inaugural article in the new Interpreter journal, I recommend it. It discusses Nephi’s experience in 1 Nephi 11 when he was caught away to “an exceedingly high mountain” where he had a question and answer exchange with the Spirit of the Lord, and thereafter was given higher spiritual knowledge.
High mountains have always been traditionally associated with temples, and as sacred spaces. Indeed, their physical height and altitude alone contribute to this symbolism; ascending the mount gets one closer to God on high. Many times throughout the scriptures, the prophets ascend high mountains to seek spiritual refuge and converse with God. Such is the case with Moses ascending Mount Sinai, for example. Whenever a prophet or other individual in the scriptures goes to, or is taken to, a high mountain, it is well to pay careful attention to what is taking place, as it is almost always a sacred temple-type experience.
The question and answer exchange format that precedes an endowment of further light and knowledge is also a pattern often found within these scriptural accounts. Bokovoy explains that these exchanges were often to consider the worthiness and faith of the individual who had approached God, and so that there could be a divine witness, or seal by the Holy Spirit of Promise, of such righteousness before higher mysteries were given by God to that individual. At the ancient Israelite temple, such question and answer exchanges also preceded even entering a temple, when those ascending to the temple would encounter the priests at the gate, and be interrogated as to their worthiness to enter there.
I’ve been impressed for some time by the many prophets we read about in the scriptures who have apocalyptic visions of the history of the earth, the creation story, it’s purpose, the reason for our mortal lives, and concluding with visions of the heavenly temple and God’s throne. I’ve often wondered if these prophets were, in fact, witnessing the same heavenly ascent vision, as it almost always includes the same or similar elements. It would be interesting to compare further these accounts.
What were some of your impressions of Bokovoy’s article? Please share your thoughts in the comments.