BYU – Page 2 – Temple Study

TempleStudy.com Fireside Discussion – Introduction

August 5, 2012 by Bryce Haymond 18 Comments

Welcome to our first fireside discussion at TempleStudy.com! This discussion is taking place with a new innovative tool from Google called Hangouts, and specifically Hangouts on Air. This allows up to ten panelists to take part in a discussion with full video/audio of each participant. The “on air” portion means that it is streamed live to the world, and will be recorded also for later for viewing. It will be streamed live on TempleStudy.com, and wherever else it is embedded. See the original post about the idea.

The text we will be using as a springboard for our discussion in these firesides is Temple Worship: 20 Truths That Will Bless Your Life, by Andrew C. Skinner. Deseret Book and BYU Religious Education note Dr. Skinner’s background:

Andrew C. Skinner is a professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, was dean of Religious Education and the first executive director of BYU’s Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. He holds master’s degrees in Biblical Hebrew and Jewish Studies and a Ph.D. in Near Eastern and European History, specializing in Judaism. He is the author or co-author of over 100 publications.

We will have several great panelists participating in our discussion tonight, including myself, Frederick M. Huchel, Gary N. Anderson, Steve Reed, and Tevya Washburn. I thank them sincerely for participating in tonight’s discussion. Thank you for coming!

The New FARMS – Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture

August 3, 2012 by Bryce Haymond 47 Comments

Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture. (Click on graphic to go to MormonInterpreter.com)

I have been through quite a range of emotions the last few weeks. I’ve felt utter despair, grief, and sorrow, as well as bitterness, confusion, and great disappointment. Through it all I’ve been blessed with comfort from our Heavenly Father beyond measure, and by experiences too sacred to share. It’s been a roller coaster of a time with everything that has happened at the Maxwell Institute. I make no bones about it—FARMS had an immense impact on my life, most particularly as it relates to my testimony and faith in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Recently one of our dear readers asked me what so inspired me about Hugh Nibley, what so captivated me emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually about his scholarship and writings? Here was my response:

[Read more…]

The Greek Folk Dances: A Reprise

July 17, 2012 by Bryce Haymond 1 Comment

A Greek folk-dance group performs the horo in front of the Olympic Velodrome at the Olympic Complex in Athens during the Games of 2005. (Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images)

A Greek folk-dance group performs the horo in front of the Olympic Velodrome at the Olympic Complex in Athens, Greece, during the Games of 2005. (Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images)

Hugh Nibley once made this audacious claim: “All the arts and sciences began at the temple. Dance, music, architecture, sculpture, drama, and so forth – they all go back to the temple” ((Nibley, Hugh, and Gary P. Gillum. Of all Things!: Classic Quotations from Hugh Nibley. 2nd, rev. and expand ed. Salt Lake City, Utah; Provo, Utah: Deseret Book Co.; FARMS, 1993, 45)). The more I learn, the more I am convinced of that statement.

My mind returns again to posts I’ve written in the past about subjects that do not cease to fascinate me. Today I was reminded of a post in 2009, The Traditional Greek Folk Dances and their Ancient Roots. The Greek dances are some of the most ancient dances in the world, and have been passed down by tradition to the present day where they maintain many of their archaic forms. [Read more…]

The Seal of Melchizedek – Part 5

July 14, 2012 by Bryce Haymond 16 Comments

The seal of Melchizedek as seen on the entrance doors of the Salt Lake Temple. (Click for larger view)

(Continued from Part 4)

It’s been a long time coming, since September 2008 to be exact, and I’d like to finally complete this series of posts on the seal of Melchizedek. It is probably one of the most trafficked series of posts on this website. It’s drawn a lot of attention, and may have even been part of what compelled a BYU scholar, Alonzo L. Gaskill, to publish an article about it in The Religious Educator at BYU in 2010, which article I’d like to talk about.

But first, there are a few other artifacts related to the symbol that I’d like to share. As I pointed out in Part 2, this seal is most prominently found as displayed in the mosaics and iconography in the basilicas of Ravenna, Italy. Indeed, this is very likely where Hugh Nibley saw this symbol originally, as perhaps did Michael Lyon, and where he may have coined the name the “seal of Melchizedek.” The symbol is shown on the altar cloths in these mosaics, shown next to Melchizedek, Abel, and Abraham, in making sacrificial offerings to God. The altar cloth also shows gammadia in the corners, right-angle marks like the Greek letter gamma, which is also very interesting, and worthy of a study in and of itself.

To begin, I want to note again that to date I have not found any evidence for this symbol being called the “seal of Melchizedek” by any other scholar, historian, or historical figure in recorded history before Hugh Nibley and Michael Lyon. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, but it is likely a conception that began with the Latter-day Saints, making a logical connection between the symbol and the Biblical figure found adjacent to it in the mosaics. [Read more…]

“Restore FARMS” Support Organization

June 29, 2012 by Bryce Haymond 5 Comments

If you liked reading the original FARMS, join our new support organization, Restore FARMS, to help see it restored to its original mission. You can also like our Facebook Page to stay updated.

There are many people who are disappointed with the events of the past week at the Maxwell Institute at BYU. Indeed, it appears as if the original mission and purpose of the FARMS organization has now been completely lost, with the dismissal of Daniel C. Peterson as Editor of the Mormon Studies Review (formerly the FARMS Review), and his team of associate editors. In a comment today on David Bohn’s blog post at Times & Seasons, Dr. Peterson noted:

I have solid and direct reason to believe that the new direction being charted by the Institute omits anything that most Latter-day Saints would recognize as apologetics… And, at a very minimum, there is the incontrovertible fact that the Review, which has long represented the Institute’s apologetic aspect at its most explicit, has been put on indefinite hiatus. Given that the Institute’s publication of books has dwindled to virtually nothing, it’s difficult to see exactly where the “new course’s” apologetics efforts are going to appear, now that the Review is gone.

This concerns us deeply. FARMS has represented a highly respected and influential group of scholars whose ultimate goal was the defense of the Church from its critics, and sustaining the faith of Church members through education. The fact that this now appears to be “gone” swings the door wide open to an onslaught of unanswered criticism of the Church, and members with little recourse. The organization Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR), and Scholarly & Historical Information Exchange for Latter-day Saints (SHIELDS), are still excellent resources (indeed, they are the only ones left), but the loss of FARMS will leave a gaping hole in our efforts to defend the Church’s doctrines, history, and scriptures through a scholarly approach to research and publications.

A quote often associated with Edmund Burke says, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” This mirrors a revelation given by the Lord through Joseph Smith the Prophet, now found in Doctrine and Covenants 58:27, which states, “Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.” Instead of sit around and do nothing, some of us have decided to do something, to engage ourselves of our own free will, and do what we can do, now, to gather the supporters of FARMS under the same roof, and establish a cause, to help support the future of this great organization.

Tevya Washburn, founder of MormonLifeHacker.com, and I have decided to join together to organize Restore FARMS, a support organization with the goal of restoring FARMS to its original mission and purpose. We don’t know exactly what that means for FARMS and its scholars. Will it once again regroup as an independent organization? Will it be given its own place again at BYU, with a board of directors consisting of FARMS scholars who share in its vision? Will it join with FAIR in a joint apologetics mission? We don’t know. What we do know is that we do not want to see FARMS just disappear. And we want your input! The Church needs, as it always has, defenders who are willing to address the many criticisms leveled at it by its detractors, and to help members who are struggling in their faith because of such material.

We have organized a website at RestoreFARMS.com, as well as a Facebook Page. If you want to join with us in rallying supporters for traditional FARMS, please visit Restore FARMS, and also click the “like” button below for our Facebook Page. You can also click “Send” to send this message to your friends, family, or groups on Facebook or by email address:

Note: This is a grassroots effort, without any direct affiliation with BYU, the Maxwell Institute, FARMS, FARMS scholars, or the Church. We, the readers, supporters, and donors of FARMS want to organize together, and help continue what was started 33 years ago. There is strength in numbers. Help us restore FARMS to its former stature as a scholarly apologetics organization which sustains and defends The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through ongoing informative publications.