Texts

Levi Rightmyer on “Kings and Priests of the order of Melchisedec”

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Title Page

Title Page

I was doing some research this morning when I stumbled upon a very interesting passage from a book published in 1916 by Levi Rightmyer entitled, The Light of Truth as Revealed in the Holy Scriptures.  The entire text of the book is available for perusal on Google Books here.  The author is not LDS, although he appears to have known something of the Church (see page 482 for his reference to “Joseph Smith and the Mormons of Utah”).

What I found was a passage which discusses Christ, a priest after the order of Melchizedek, and that “all who are called to God’s kingdom and glory are called to fill the positions of Melchisedec kings and priests in the ages to come under the Lord Jesus Christ…” and if this truth is not so today it is because of apostasy:

…mankind have been deceived by false and ignorant teachers who in the early days of the church corrupted the way of the Lord as the antediluvian sons of God did before the flood, who walked after the vain imaginations of their own evil hearts even as it is now.  The world is full of religion, but nearly empty of the true knowledge of God. There are many great revivals in which are developed a high degree of religious feeling, but unfortunately they are attended with a very low degree of scriptural knowledge and true religious intelligence. (p. 740)

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Third Nephi Conference at BYU September 26-27

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The Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies at BYU has announced that they are sponsoring a conference next month devoted to Third Nephi.  The conference is entitled “Third Nephi: New Perspectives on an Incomparable Scripture.”  It will be held in the Wilkinson Center at BYU on September 26th and 27th, and will be open to the public.  There will be presentations on the following topics:

  • New Insights Into the Temple Setting of the Sermon on the Mount in Reference to the Sermon at the Temple – John Welch
  • Preparing the Way of the Lord’s Coming
  • Experiencing the Lord
  • The Lord’s Prayers
  • The Lord’s Prophecies
  • Theological Implications
  • The Written Record
  • What we have learned about Third Nephi and the Savior’s post-resurrection ministry in the new world – Panel Discussion

Some of the scholars that will be participating are John Welch, S. Kent Brown, Grant Hardy, Robert L. Millet, Richard Dilworth Rust, Daniel Belnap, Dana Pike, Kristine Fredrickson, Patrick R. Steffen, Daniel McKinlay, and Jane Allis-Pike.  This looks like it will be really good.  I’m planning on going on Friday, September 26th, and I’ll see if I can liveblog it here, like I did for the FAIR Conference.  Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend on Saturday.

See more information on the conference here.

Job’s Covenant: Hebrew Tav and “Behold my sign!” in Job 31

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A few days ago I wrote about a post I read over at Lehi’s Library which quoted a paper by Kevin Christensen in which he referenced Margaret Barker.  The subject was the use of the Hebrew word/letter tau or tav, translated as “mark” in Ezekiel 9:4-6, and what it meant in Ezekiel’s day, and what it may have meant to the Nephites who also referenced it (Jacob 4:14).  The conclusion was that it may have referred to an anointing that the high priests received on their foreheads, having literally taken upon themselves the name of God.  I was curious to investigate the Hebrew word/letter tav more, which I did, and I want to share some of the intriguing things I discovered.

A small disclaimer.  I am most definitely an amateur when it comes to Hebrew, so any insights I might gather should be taken with a grain of salt.  Perhaps someone with greater expertise can make a greater inquiry into this particular subject.  These are just some of my observations as I’m learning. [Read more…]

The “Mark” of Anointing

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The Annointing of David by Samuel

The Annointing of David by Samuel, Breviary of Martin d'Aragon, 14th Century.

A few days ago I read a post by James over at his superb blog, Lehi’s Library, entitled, “Looking Beyond the Mark: Insights from Margaret Barker.”  In it, James refers to an excellent article by Kevin Christensen who talks about the Deuteronomist de-Christianizing of the Old Testament and Josiah’s reforms ((Kevin Christensen, “The Deuteronomist De-Christianizing of the Old Testament,” FARMS Review, 16.2, http://farms.byu.edu/publications/review/?vol=16&num=2&id=547)).  I thought he made some great points that I want to reiterate and further discuss.  [Read more…]

Keys of Authority in the Book of Mormon

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Detail from Alma Baptizes in the Waters of Mormon - Minerva Teichert - 1935 ca.

Detail from "Alma Baptizes in the Waters of Mormon" - Minerva Teichert - 1935 ca.

Note:  This is a comment I made on my last post, but I thought it was pertinent enough to make it into a post of itself.

The concept of “keys” is not absent from the Book of Mormon. Whenever God has chosen to give authority to man to perform ordinances in His name, it has been by ordination and a dispensation of keys.

Taking the example of Alma, where did he get his authority? President Joseph Fielding Smith said this:

We should take into consideration in the study of the Book of Mormon the fact that it is an abridgment taken from the records or history that had been kept by the prophets among the Nephites. Therefore, many of the details are lacking. This is equally true of the history of Israel as it has come down through the years to us in the Bible. We are left to accept the fact that Lehi, when he left Jerusalem, held divine authority and that this divine power was handed down from generation to generation until the time of the visitation of the Savior. Moreover, while the detail is lacking, the evidence is very clear that the Melchizedek Priesthood was possessed by the Nephites. [Read more…]