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)
One of our readers, Kent White, has built a new website at MormonConferences.org which gives announcements of upcoming conferences and papers which have to do with the Church and Mormonism. As Kent describes it:
This site’s purpose is to provide those who have an interest in Mormon Studies the ability to easily find all of the conferences where presentations are made on Mormonism’s theology, history, culture, and people. I have particularly tried to make this a resource for scholars of Mormonism and those who enjoy academics, including the most comprehensive list of Calls for Papers on Mormon Studies (even if the papers aren’t presented at a conference).
I haven’t been too involved in the various conferences in the past, but I plan to change all of that. These conferences/symposiums are an excellent way to stay current on all the latest scholarship in the Church, and to learn a great deal. I appreciate the work that Kent has done on this website, and I have subscribed to his feeds. Kent gave me the opportunity to design his site’s logo too, so that was fun.
The Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies at BYU has announced that they are sponsoring a conference next month devoted to Third Nephi. The conference is entitled “Third Nephi: New Perspectives on an Incomparable Scripture.” It will be held in the Wilkinson Center at BYU on September 26th and 27th, and will be open to the public. There will be presentations on the following topics:
New Insights Into the Temple Setting of the Sermon on the Mount in Reference to the Sermon at the Temple – John Welch
Preparing the Way of the Lord’s Coming
Experiencing the Lord
The Lord’s Prayers
The Lord’s Prophecies
Theological Implications
The Written Record
What we have learned about Third Nephi and the Savior’s post-resurrection ministry in the new world – Panel Discussion
Some of the scholars that will be participating are John Welch, S. Kent Brown, Grant Hardy, Robert L. Millet, Richard Dilworth Rust, Daniel Belnap, Dana Pike, Kristine Fredrickson, Patrick R. Steffen, Daniel McKinlay, and Jane Allis-Pike. This looks like it will be really good. I’m planning on going on Friday, September 26th, and I’ll see if I can liveblog it here, like I did for the FAIR Conference. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend on Saturday.
David Larsen posted a great notice over at Heavenly Ascents of the upcoming “Temples and Ritual in Antiquity” Symposium that will be held at BYU on November 7th, 2008. It is being presented by the Students of the Ancient Near East (SANE), and will have both students and top scholars presenting papers on the temple in antiquity. In fact, David will be presenting there too, as well as Andrew Miller. I will certainly be going to this symposium! It will be like Christmas morning, a smorgasbord of insight in temple studies.
I will see if I can liveblog the event here on TempleStudy.com. The FAIR Conference liveblog (Day 1 & Day 2) seemed to work out well and was beneficial to many people. Unfortunately, they have three speakers going at once, so we’ll only be able to attend 1/3 of all the exceptional presentations that will be presented. It’s a shame they had to consolidate since all of the presentations are no doubt going to be excellent. It appears that a selection will be “printed in a publication from the Religious Studies Center, and several others will be printed in Studia Antiqua” (link). (I’m still trying to find a way to go to Margaret Barker’s Temple Study Symposium in Oxford the next day, November 8th, and Bill Hamblin’s Temple Study SBL group in Boston a couple weeks later).
[Update 8/19/08: Dan McClellan has posted a nice schedule of the presentations, as well as short bios of the presenters, on his blog here.]
See the poll below (viewable only from the website):
Which presentations interest you most? (Pick one from each time slot, 8 total)
9:00-9:30 - Andrew Miller–â€The Mysteries in Pauline Christianity†(11%, 25 Votes)
10:30-11:00 - Dr. John Gee–â€Rituals of the Egyptian Temple: An Orientation†(10%, 23 Votes)
10:00-10:30 - David Larsen–â€Two High Priesthoods? Evidence for Changes in the Priesthood from First to Second Temple Judaism†(10%, 23 Votes)
12:45-1:15 - Matthew Brown–â€Kingship Initiation Motifs in Ancient Israel†(7%, 17 Votes)
11:15-11:45 - James Carroll–â€An Expanded View of the Israelite Scapegoat†(6%, 15 Votes)
12:15-12:45 - Scott Preston Sukhan Nibley–â€Ancient Southeast Asian Temples†(6%, 14 Votes)
11:45-12:15 - Dr. David Seely–â€Josephus and the Temple†(6%, 14 Votes)
11:45-12:15 - Mark Wright–â€The Cultural Context of Nephite Apostasy†(5%, 12 Votes)
12:45-1:15 - Joseph Petramalo–â€The Samaritan Temple and Priesthood†(5%, 11 Votes)
12:15-12:45 - Justin Robinson–â€Covenants and Simile Curses†(4%, 10 Votes)
9:30-10:00 - Dr. Dan Belnap–â€The Role of Scent in the Rituals of Ancient Israel†(3%, 8 Votes)
10:00-10:30 - Daniel Becerra–â€The Chrism in Early Christianity†(3%, 8 Votes)
10:30-11:00 - Dr. Bill Hamblin–TBA (3%, 8 Votes)
10:30-11:00 - Rachel A. Grover–â€The Paradise Garden and Messianic Age Imagery in the 5th to 7th Century Church Floor Mosaics of Jordan†(3%, 7 Votes)
11:15-11:45 - Chris Dawe–â€The Deification of Romulus†(3%, 6 Votes)
11:45-12:15 - Dr. Bryan Benson–â€The Treatment of Temples in Plato’s Republic and Laws“ (2%, 5 Votes)
12:15-12:45 - Dustin Simmons–â€Emperor as God: Roman Imperial Cult Worship & Implications for Early Christians†(2%, 5 Votes)
11:15-11:45 - Jacob Moody–â€Philistine Ritual Artifacts†(2%, 4 Votes)
10:00-10:30 - Elliott Wise–â€An Odor of Sanctity: The Iconography, Magic, and Liturgy of Egyptian Incense†(2%, 4 Votes)
12:45-1:15 - Keith Fairbank–â€The Eleusinian Mysteries: Greatest Conquest of Demetrios Poliorketes†(1%, 3 Votes)
9:30-10:00 - Aaron Snyder–â€The Prayer Circle in Early Christianity†(0%, 1 Votes)
9:00-9:30 - Donald Parry–â€Eve, Eden, and the Temple†(0%, 1 Votes)
9:00-9:30 - Kerry Muhlestein with Alyssa Lewis–â€The Role of Violent Rituals in the Egyptian Temple†(0%, 0 Votes)
One of our readers, Kent White, has built a new website at 
David Larsen posted a great notice over at 
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