endowment

John Tvedtnes on The Sacred in the Temple

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John A. Tvedtnes

John A. Tvedtnes

John A. Tvedtnes, senior resident scholar with the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University, recently authored an article for Meridian Magazine entitled, “Secretive Mormonism.” He had some great comments about the esoteric versus exoteric nature of the LDS temple practices (emphasis is my own):

Commentators frequently refer to Mormon temple rites as the heart of secret goings-on. It is true that some elements of the temple are so sacred that we do not discuss them publicly, but most of what goes on in the temples is well-known.

One need not look far to learn that the most important such rite is the solemnization of marriage for time and all eternity and that vicarious ordinances (sacraments in Roman Catholic parlance) are performed for deceased ancestors, beginning with proxy baptism.

Even the endowment ceremony, the one most commonly held in Latter-day Saint temples, is mostly public knowledge. Most of the teachings presented during that time derive from the Book of Moses, published in the Pearl of Great Price. During an endowment session, we are reminded of our responsibility to obey the basic laws given mankind by God, such as the law of chastity (including fidelity after marriage), the law of obedience to God’s commandments, the law of sacrifice (which culminated in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross), the law of the gospel (salvation through Christ), and the law of consecration of one’s time, talents, and other divine blessings, to building up the Lord’s work on the earth.

Elements that are not discussed openly include ritual elements of temple prayer and the actual endowment or giving of signs, names, and tokens designed to enable one to pass the angels and ultimately to enter the presence of God. These may seem strange to most modern Christians, but they were common in early Christianity, as I have discussed in some of my published articles on ancient temple rites. ((See especially “Temple Prayer in Ancient Times,” in Donald W. Parry and Stephen D. Ricks, The Temple in Time and Eternity (Provo: FARMS, 1999). Also posted on the Maxwell Institute web site at http://farms.byu.edu/publications/bookschapter.php?chapid=105; “Early Christian and Jewish Rituals Related to Temple Practices,” in First Annual Mormon Apologetics Symposium: Proceedings (Ben Lomond, CA: Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research, 1999), also posted on the FAIR web site at http://www.fairlds.org/FAIR_Conferences/1999_Early_Christian_and_Jewish_Rituals_Related_to_Temple_Practices.html; “Priestly Clothing in Bible Times,” in Donald Parry (ed.), Temples of the Ancient World (Salt Lake City: Deseret and FARMS, 1994).))

Read the rest of this excellent article at Meridian Magazine.

[via A Soft Answer]

The Genesis of the Round Dance

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Dance of the Muses

Dance of the Muses

Round dances, through all ages of time and all locations of the world, display striking similarities in structure and theme. This is strong evidence that they share a common origin. These dances are usually quite religious in nature and I propose that round dances, like other widespread yet similar ritual motifs found scattered across the world, had their beginnings in one of the first sacred rites of this world given to and practiced by our first parents, namely the ancient prayer circle.

The paper on this subject has been split up into the following parts:

Part 1 – Introduction

Part 2 – Round dances from the Neolithic time period, Native American, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian cultures.

Part 3 – Round dances from the Greek, Hebrew, and Christian cultures.

Part 4 – Round dances from the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and present-day traditions. Common pattern throughout all practices.

Part 5 – Round dances show connections with religions, and with ritual creation dramas throughout history, including the early Christian prayer circle.

Part 6 – Round dances show connections with worship since the beginning of time, indicating a common source. These practices are familiar to the Latter-day Saints. Conclusion.

The Origin of the Common Handshake

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The Creation of Adam (detail) - Sistine Chapel

The Creation of Adam (detail) - Sistine Chapel

The handshake has become a common form of communication all around the world. It is used to say “hello”, “goodbye”, “we agree”, as a greeting upon first acquaintance, and as a mutual sign of goodwill and peace. A handshake can establish a first impression with someone, whether it be good and firm, or limp and clammy. It has made its way to the highest levels of government and society where agreements between nations are sealed. This ritual has “become perhaps our most important non-verbal communicative contrivance” ((http://assyriatimes.com/engine/modules/news/article.php?storyid=63)).

But where did it come from? [Read more…]

The Hopi Nakwách – The Symbol of Brotherhood

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Nakwach symbol

Nakwach symbol

Hugh Nibley had a fascination with the Hopi Indian tribes of northeastern Arizona. He believed that the Hopi captured something about life that the rest of the world had missed. Their culture, traditions, and ceremonies were stable and permanent. They did not look to the conveniences of the day, and yet had still survived unhampered for thousands of years. Their rituals were particularly of interest to Dr. Nibley, as he saw in them something very familiar in parallels to ancient patterns throughout the world:

By the latest count, the Hopi are the only people in the world who still preserve a full annual cycle of full-dress protological, eschatological and cosmological ceremonies. ((Boyd Jay Petersen. Hugh Nibley: A Consecrated Life. 280))

What most impressed Nibley were the similarities between the Hopi rituals and those of the Church. Nibley’s son-in-law, Boyd Petersen, recounts: [Read more…]

The Genesis of the Round Dance – Part 6

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Byzantine Dance

Byzantine Dance

(Continued from Part 5)

Dancing in Worship

If this round dancing in the prayer circle seems peculiar, recall Lehi’s vision at the beginning of The Book of Mormon, where he sees God on his throne “surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God” ((The Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 1:8)). Nibley comments:

Surrounding concourses are concentric circles, and the singing and praising are never static: it is a dynamic picture with everything in motion, as Lehi sees it, and as the cosmic pattern of the thing requires. The prayer circle is often called the chorus of the apostles, and it is the meaning of chorus which can be a choir, but is originally a ring dance. ((Nibley, Hugh, et al. Mormonism and Early Christianity. Vol. 4. Salt Lake City, Utah; Provo, Utah: Deseret Book Co.; Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1987, 53-54)) [Read more…]