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Salt Lake Temple Symbols

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Symbols on the Salt Lake Temple

Symbols on the Salt Lake Temple

There is an article this morning in the Mormon Times about the symbolism in the architecture of the Salt Lake Temple.  It is written by Lynn Arave who used as a reference Dean R. Zimmerman’s article in the New Era entitled “The Salt Lake Temple” from June 1978.

The article cites a brief description and explanation of several of the symbols found on the temple, and includes some interesting details that I did not know before, including this:

Not all the symbolism originally planned for the Salt Lake Temple became a reality, either. For example, an early sketch of the temple by Angell found hanging today in Brigham Young’s guest room at Cove Fort shows that two Angel Moroni statues, one each on the east and west ends, were initially envisioned. Only an eastern statue was ever used for reasons unclear….

For perhaps its first few decades, the Salt Lake Temple used to have statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, one each in niches at the top of the two eastern stairways. These bronze statues were later removed and placed elsewhere on the temple block, according to Elder Talmage in “The House of the Lord.” The empty spaces for these two statues remain and are popular photography spots for wedding parties today. ((Lynn Arave, “Symbolism can be seen in architecture of S.L. Temple,” Mormon Times, November 27, 2008.))

For a more extensive treatment of the symbols of the Salt Lake Temple see Matthew Brown and Paul Smith’s excellent book Symbols in Stone.

The First and Oldest Temple in the World? – Göbekli Tepe

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One of the excavated enclosures at Göbekli Tepe, Turkey, with massive T-shaped megaliths forming ancient stone circles thought to be up to 12,000 years old. (Click for a larger view)

One of the excavated enclosures at Göbekli Tepe, Turkey, with massive T-shaped megaliths forming ancient stone circles thought to be up to 12,000 years old. (Click for a larger view)

Grandpa Enoch over at Pronaos wrote a few days ago that Archaeology Magazine‘s latest issue has a cover article by Sandra Scham entitled “The World’s First Temple” ((Archaeology Magazine, Volume 61 Number 6, November/December 2008, abstract)).  The magazine Science also did an article on the same subject back in January 2008 ((Science, Vol. 319. no. 5861, p. 280, abstract)).  There are many articles that are being published, all focused on one archeological dig in southeast Turkey (see this map) which has come to be known as Göbekli Tepe, a Turkish name meaning “navel hill/mountain” or “hill with a belly” ((Wikipedia – Göbekli Tepe.)).

What makes this excavation so unique?  Why all the hype?  Because evidence is showing that this may be the world’s first man-made monumental structure ever built, even before agriculture developed.  Archeologists didn’t believe that Neolithic hunter-gatherers were capable of building such an enormous complex at such an early date, but this site is starting to redefine our understanding of the beginnings of mankind.  What else is interesting is that this appears to have been some sort of ritual center or ceremonial complex – a temple.  [Read more…]

The Seal of Melchizedek – Part 2

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Detail from a mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.

Detail from a 6th century mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.

(Continued from Part 1)

As you might have imagined, the first thing I did when my parents told me the story of the “seal of Melchizedek” on the San Diego temple, and of the connection with Hugh Nibley, I immediately did some searches to see if I could find if it was referenced in LDS literature.  The only reference I found was an image caption in the article “Sacred Vestments” in the book Temple and Cosmos:

Another Ravenna mosaic, c. A.D. 520, shows the priest-king Melchizedek in a purple cloak, offering bread and wine at the altar (Genesis 14:18-20).  The white altar cloth is decorated with two sets of gammadia, as well as the so-called “seal of Melchizedek,” two interlocked squares in gold.  Abel offers his lamb as Abraham gently pushes Isaac forward.  The hand of God reaches down to this sacred meeting through the red veils adorned with golden gammadia on either side.  The theme is the great sacrifice of Christ, which brings together the righteous prophets from the past as well as the four corners of the present world, thereby uniting all time and space. (Nibley, “Sacred Vestments,” Temple and Cosmos, 109.)

The drawing of the mosaic by Michael Lyon shown in Temple and Cosmos is from a basilica in Ravenna, Italy, called Sant’Apollinare in Classe.  This is the best color photograph of this mosaic I could find:  [Read more…]

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)

[Read more…]

The Joseph Smith Papers Volume 1 Available for Pre-Order!

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Book cover

“The Joseph Smith Papers, Journals, Vol. 1: 1832-1839” is available for pre-ordering at Deseret Book.  The description reads:

“The Joseph Smith Papers project is the single most significant historical project of our generation.”  —Elder Marlin K. Jensen, LDS Church Historian

Joseph Smith is known to history as the founder and first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The publication of his papers, 200 years after his birth, will open a window on a life filled with what he called “marvelous experience.”

For one who had little schooling, Joseph Smith left an extensive legacy of letters and other written records. Now, the full collection of that documentary heritage is being made widely available.

The Joseph Smith Papers is not a “documentary history” project composed only of important documents relating to Joseph Smith. Instead, it is a comprehensive “papers” project that will publish, according to accepted scholarly and documentary editing standards, all documents created by Joseph Smith and by those whose work he directed.

The Joseph Smith Papers Project will eventually constitute approximately 30 volumes, organized into six series. This first volume is a part of the Journals Series.

Volume by volume, you can build and enhance your personal library with these crucial studies of the life, leadership, and legacy of Joseph Smith.

In the works for several decades, The Joseph Smith Papers will be the largest, most authoritative collection of original Smith documents in the world, replacing and transcending many earlier published works.

With access to texts not previously available, and certainly never in one collection, the Papers project provides new information and insights about Joseph Smith, early Mormonism, and nineteenth-century American religion.

Documents include correspondence, journal entries, revelations, translations, discourses, official histories, court cases, and business dealings—qualitatively researched and carefully annotated.

Although vast in scope, the aim of the Project is relatively simple: to make available to general readers and scholars the sources essential to the study of Joseph Smith—the religious leader, the city builder, the pioneer, the husband and father—a truly visionary man.

The ambitious Joseph Smith Papers is the inaugural publishing project of The Church Historian’s Press and sets new standards for the organization and editorial presentation of historical documents by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In recognition of the high scholarly standards being employed in all phases of this project, The Joseph Smith Papers Project has earned an endorsement by the National Archives’ National Historical Publication and Records Commission (NHPRC).

For more information on The Joseph Smith Papers Project, visit JosephSmithPapers.org.