symposium

Sanctuary Vesture: A Brief Overview and Comparison

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Ancient Israelite temple ceremonial clothing

Ancient Israelite temple ceremonial clothing worn in the Mosaic Tabernacle, and succeeding Israelite temples of Solomon, Herod, et al.

I’m very pleased to welcome another guest post by Matthew B. Brown.  Some of his writings, particularly his book The Gate of Heaven, are what inspired me to study the temple more in depth.  He offers a wealth of insight and learning for the Latter-day Saints. ~Bryce

Matthew B. Brown holds a degree in history from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He is the author of ten books and has published articles with the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at BYU (aka FARMS). Matthew has served as a volunteer researcher, editor, and respondent for The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR) and has spoken at several of their annual conferences. He is one of the directors of the upcoming EXPOUND symposium on May 14, 2011, and will also be a presenter (expoundlds.com).

~~

It is publicly acknowledged that Latter-day Saints who participate in the central temple rites of their faith dress in several layers of ceremonial clothing, consisting of a “white undergarment” (which is worn as part of everyday life) and “other priestly robes” (which are only worn during times of temple service).1 [Read more…]

Anointing Rite in the Orthodox Church

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The Anointing of David

The Anointing of David

David Larsen at Heavenly Ascents continues to provide excellent notes from his attendance at the Temple Studies Group Symposium in London last weekend.  Recently he posted his notes on Archimandrite Ephrem‘s presentation about the Holy Oil in the Orthodox Church.  Father Ephrem gave out a handout which included detailed notes on the anointing rite in the Orthodox Church, which includes this portion:

The one to be baptized is brought forward. The Priest takes some of the oil and makes the sign of the Cross on the forehead, breast and back of the candidate, saying: The servant of God, N., is anointed with the oil of gladness, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As he signs their breast and back he says: For healing of soul and body. On the ears: For the hearing of faith. On the feet: For your feet to walk. On the hands: Your hands made me and fashioned me. And when the whole body has been anointed the Priest baptizes the person, holding them upright and facing East, as he says: The servant of God N. is baptized, in the name of the Father. Amen. And of the Son. Amen. And of the Holy Spirit. Amen. At each invocation the Priest immerses them and raises them again [three-fold immersion]. ((Handout from Archimandrite Ephrem in notes on Heavenly Ascents blog.  Notes in brackets are mine.))

Check out David Larsen’s Heavenly Ascents blog for more details from Father Ephrem’s presentation.

Margaret Barker on The Holy Anointing Oil

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Samuel anointing David. Stained glass.

Samuel anointing David. Stained glass.

My friend David Larsen has some great notes at Heavenly Ascents on the presentation given by Dr. Margaret Barker at the Temple Studies Symposium III in London this past weekend.  Her words were an introduction to the symposium which focused on the topic of “The Holy Anointing Oil”:

Anointing with myrrh oil was the most holy mystery of the Jerusalem temple. It passed into Christianity and gave the faith its name. This symposium will explore the temple rite and its meaning, and then look at some of the ways in which Christians preserved the ancient tradition. ((TempleStudiesGroup.com))

David’s notes on Barker’s presentation include some interesting facets of anointing:

  • The Messiah, the Christ, was the Anointed One, and so the holy anointing oil is central to Christian identity. It gives the Christians their name.
  • Christian teaching concerning anointing is a conscious continuation of the ancient temple teaching.
  • The oil was understood to impart holiness… It was part of the secret teaching of the high priesthood.
  • The anointing with oil was a part of the “secret teaching” passed on to Christianity from Christ through the apostles.
  • The high priests were “christs” — they represented Yahweh by being anointed and wearing name “YHWH” on forehead.

See the Heavenly Ascents blog for David’s full notes on Barker’s presentation.  Hopefully her presentation will also become available on TempleStudiesGroup.com.  Other speakers included Dr. John F. Hall (Professor from BYU), Archimandrite Ephrem, The Rev. Dr Richard Price, Dr Sebastian Brock, and Rev. Dr Laurence Hemming.  David has some notes on their presentations here, and will post more notes about their presentations soon.

“The Cosmic Ring-Dance of the Angels” by Frederick M. Huchel

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Detail from "The Last Judgment" by Fra Angelico - "The Dance of the Angels"

Detail from "The Last Judgment," c1425, by Fra Angelico - "The Dance of the Angels"

Some of you may remember my paper The Genesis of the Round Dance that I posted early in the life of TempleStudy.com.  It was a paper I wrote for a BYU Dance Department Symposium a few years ago that addressed the ancient ubiquitous practice of ring dancing, particularly as connected with religious worship and prayer.  It was a subject that really intrigued me, and is probably one of the most researched topics I’ve ever written about, as well as one of the first, taking some precious leads from Hugh Nibley and running.

Br. Frederick M. Huchel, an independent historian and scholar of the temple from Logan, Utah,  a week and a half ago spoke on the same subject at Margaret Barker’s Temple Studies Group symposium in London, England.  His presentation was entitled “The Cosmic Ring-Dance of the Angels: An Early Christian Rite of the Temple.”  The paper has now been published on David Larsen’s Heavenly Ascents blog.

I have not yet had the chance to read the paper, but I am confident that it will go far and above the detail of my paper, lending valuable insights particularly in the area of the ancient Israelite and early Christian elements.  Br. Huchel’s original work on the subject spans over 100 pages that he plans to publish at some point, of which this paper is a portion.

I’m really looking forward to learning more about this subject from Br. Huchel!  You can find the paper at the links below:

Introduction by Br. Huchel at Heavenly Ascents
PDF of “The Cosmic Ring-Dance of the Angels: An Early Christian Rite of the Temple”

Update: Frederick M. Huchel has now published a book on this subject.  You can buy it here: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/the-cosmic-ring-dance-of-the-angels—softbound/7409216?fNo=Cancel

Notes on Sacred Space Symposium at Juvenile Instructor

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I’ve been taking notes this morning at the Sacred Space symposium at BYU, and was thinking of posting my scribbles.  But instead of reinventing the wheel, you might want to check out the great notes at the Juvenile Instructor blog.  Jared and Ben are doing a fantastic job over there of summarizing the presentations.  I don’t think I could do any better.

I will still probably post about my experience at the symposium, but it will be my own take and thoughts on what was presented.

Juvenile Instructor