ancients – Page 3 – Temple Study

Words: Mysticism & Orientation

July 15, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 8 Comments

I think many times our culture produces preconceptions or stereotypes about words, images, cultures, forms, meanings, etc., that may not actually be true. I have found this to be the case with the word mysticism. Oft times I think we associate this word with gypsies, palm readers, fortune tellers, monks, or other so-called strange or mysterious things. But is this a correct perception? Often we just don’t know the origin of a word, which might give us great insight. [Read more…]

Time and Eternity: An Egyptian Dualism

June 25, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 4 Comments

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…]

“Between Heaven and Earth” Videoclips

March 9, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 5 Comments

DVD Cover

In 2002 the Church released a documentary on LDS temples that was originally broadcast between sessions of General Conference. It is entitled “Between Heaven and Earth” and is available on VHS or DVD at Deseret Book, Church Distribution, or the BYU Bookstore. It is being shown at temple open houses and in temple preparation classes throughout the Church. The Millennial Star published a post on it back in 2005, with great excerpts. As the Millennial Star points out, it is very possible that Truman Madsen personally made requests of some of the non-LDS scholars to appear and speak on the subject of temples in antiquity and the Mormon practice today. Many of their comments are very insightful to the Latter-day Saints. The scholars/authorities that appear in this film include: Frank Moore Cross (Harvard), Krister Stendahl (Harvard), Lawrence Schiffman (NYU), John Lundquist, Truman Madsen, Elder Boyd K. Packer, and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, among others.

I think it is an excellent study from many angles, inside the Church and out, of the LDS practice of building and worshiping God in temples. You may see the 44-minute film below:

Interview with Professor Andrew Skinner on “Temple Worship”

February 24, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 2 Comments

Temple Worship

This morning I heard an excellent 50-minute interview on KSL News Radio on the program “People of Faith with Carole Mikita.” Today, Mikita interviewed Professor Andrew Skinner, Excecutive Director of The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, on his recent publication of the book entitled Temple Worship: 20 Truths That Will Bless Your Life available at Deseret Book.

The interview spanned a wide range of subjects relating to Skinner’s new book, including what temples are, their purpose, ancient temples throughout the world, the restoration of temples in the latter days, temples in Church history, and many other points of interest from his new book. While I have not yet read the book, this interview has peaked my interest substantially. There is a great introduction to the book at this link.

I highly recommend this interview. You can listen to it here on the website (you’ll have to scroll to about the 8 minute mark to get to the beginning of the program):

http://pandora.bonnint.net/audio/2008_02_24_people_of_faith.mp3

What Good are the Scattered Fragments?

February 14, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 2 Comments

Hugh Nibley

Since the first day I picked up a book by Hugh Nibley I have been fascinated by the parallels which he taught exist between our practices and those of the ancients. Many critics of the Church claim that Joseph Smith made this all up, that he was a charlatan, a deceiver, and a con-man. However, making that broad claim that Joseph invented it all from his fantastic mind (for even our critics offer him that), or that he plundered the practices from others, still fails to explain why parts and pieces of the gospel structure are to be found scattered around all the world in almost every time, place, and culture.

But what good does it do us in studying the ancient practices? Why is it so interesting and pertinent to our modern-day Church? Why does looking back help us look forward? Nibley gave a good explanation:

Latter-day Saints believe that their temple ordinances are as old as the human race and represent a primordial revealed religion that has passed through alternate phases of apostasy and restoration which have left the world littered with the scattered fragments of the original structure, some more and some less recognizable, but all badly damaged and out of proper context. . . .

Among the customs and religions of mankind there are countless parallels, many of them very instructive, to what the Mormons do. . . . But what about the Egyptian rites? What are they to us? They are a parody, an imitation, but, as such, not to be despised. For all the great age and consistency of their rites and teachings, which certainly command respect, the Egyptians did not have the real thing, and they knew it. . . . in the words of Abraham, “Pharaoh, being a righteous man,” was ever “seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign” (Abraham 1:26), for he “would fain claim [the priesthood]” (Abraham 1:27). If the Egyptian endowment was but an imitation, it was still a good one, and we may be able to learn much from it, just as we may learn much about the early church from the vagaries of the gnostics. But it is not for a moment to be equated with the true and celestial order of things. . . . What these few bits of added information do is to supply a new dimension to . . . [our temple] experience, along with the assurance that a wealth of newly found records confirms the fundamental thesis of its antiquity and genuineness. (Hugh Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, xxvii-xxix)