The ankh symbol appears frequently with several other hieroglyphics in certain formulas and invocations that immediately call our attention. These are wedja, seneb, djed, & was.
This table summarizes the different possible explanations for these hieroglyphics that I have been able to find: [Read more…]
There are a couple good firesides/lectures coming up, for those of you who are in the Salt Lake/Provo area.
First off, there will be a lecture given by John Gee this Thursday, June 19th, at 7:00pm at the Olivewood Bookstore in Provo (3330 N. University Ave., Suite C). He will be speaking about the message of the Joseph Smith Papyri. Dr. Gee received his doctorate degree from Yale University in Egyptology. He is currently William “Bill” Gay Assistant Research Professor of Egyptology at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, where he is a series editor for Studies in the Book of Abraham and a member of the editorial board of the Eastern Christian Texts series. He is also on the board of directors for the Aziz S. Atiya Fund for Coptic Studies at the University of Utah. I have read his short book A Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri, and it was a great learning experience and introduction to the Joseph Smith Papyri. Anyone who is familiar with Hugh Nibley’s classic Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment knows that this papyri has a lot to do with the temple. This will certainly be a great lecture. If permitted, FAIR might videotape it and put it on YouTube. Seating is based on a first-come, first-served basis, so make sure to arrive there early.
Secondly, the Isaiah Institute (which I haven’t heard of before) is presenting a fireside with Avraham Gileadi on Thursday, June 26th, at 7:00pm at the ScenicView Academy in Provo (Room 245, 5455 North River Run Drive). He will be speaking on “The Learning of the Jews: Isaiah’s Impact on the Book of Mormon.” Dr. Gileadi obtained a Ph.D. in ancient Near Eastern studies and Hebrew Bible from BYU under the tutelage of professor R.K. Harrison of Wycliffe College, Toronto, Canada, with Hugh Nibley as chairman. He has translated and published the book of Isaiah into modern English and published it with analyses of many literary patterns in Isaiah’s prophecy discovered during many years of postdoctoral research. This fireside has been described thus:
Book of Mormon prophets don’t just quote Isaiah. Isaiah shapes their entire world view, their concept of God’s covenant people, and their understanding of the latter days. The learning of the Jews is key to interpreting the words of Isaiah and the Book of Mormon. Come and learn the learning of the Jews!
You are asked to RSVP to orders@isaiahinstitute.com to make sure there are enough refreshments.
One of our readers, Dr. Kathy Larsen, pointed out a scripture yesterday that intrigued me. It is Leviticus 21:10:
And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;
There is a footnote on the second instance of the word “that” in our LDS King James Version. The footnote reads “HEB (literally) whose hand is filled; i.e. who is equipped, or authorized.” This means that the original Hebrew would have read something like, “and whose hand is filled to put on the garments.” Apparently the word translated as “consecrated” came from a Hebrew phrase for “a filled hand” or “a full hand.”
I did a little bit of digging into this, and found some more interesting things related to this. [Read more…]
To continue our discussion on whether God may dwell in temples on earth, and whether there exists a need for further temples after Christ, we might look again to the Bible to see if God dwelled in those sacred edifices which He commanded to be built in ancient times.
The first example that we might look at is Paul’s own theophany, which he experienced in the temple of Jerusalem shortly after his conversion: [Read more…]
A respectful evangelical protestant reader of TempleStudy.com has asked this question:
Paul tells us in the sermon at Mars Hill that the Lord does not “dwell in houses built by hands” (Acts 17:24-25, Stephen echoes this in ch 7 of the same book) but rather that the Holy Spirit of God dwells in us; that is, that WE are His temples (1 Cor. 3:16-17). Interestingly, not only is this a contradiction to D&C teachings regarding the temple (see D&C 97), but it also appears to be a strong witness to the Trinity, at least in part (demonstrating an equivalency between the Father and the Spirit – “you are a temple of God […] the Spirit of God dwells in you”). I am curious how you interpret these scriptures.
I think this gets to the heart of the doctrinal argument over the necessity/validity of the temple in the post-Messianic age. I know where I stand, but I welcome your counterpoint!
This is an honest question; unfortunately the scriptures in question to support the claim are misunderstood. [Read more…]