test – Temple Study

Earliest Reference to Nauvoo-Era Temple Endowment?

September 1, 2012 by Bryce Haymond 4 Comments

The Urim & Thummim or Interpreters, as described by Joseph Smith and others. (Steve Reed, OneClimbs.com)

One of the most interesting presentations, at least to me, at this year’s 2012 FAIR Conference in Sandy, UT, was Don Bradley’s “Piercing the Veil: Temple Worship in the Lost 116 Pages,” for obvious reasons; it dealt with the temple. I have not been acquainted with Don Bradley’s work before, so this was an excellent introduction.

Bradley is working on a Master’s thesis at Utah State University, and the focus of his study is the lost 116 pages of the Book of Mormon, and he is also planning to publish in a book on the subject, which is sure to be a fascinating read. I have since learned a bit more about Don Bradley, who has a unique history in and out of the Church. The Salt Lake Tribune published an article yesterday interviewing Bradley, and his experience with the Church. Of his unique gifts Don’s mentor at Utah State, Philip Barlow, said, “Intellectually, Don is uncommonly brilliant… In a roomful of Ph.D.s, he’d be among the smartest and most well-read. His writing and the thinking behind it are superlative.”

Bradley’s presentation at FAIR focused on what we might learn about the temple, and temple worship, among the Nephites, particularly from those insights gleaned from details uncovered in the lost 116 pages. Great stuff, which we’ll summarize a bit here. [Read more…]

Temple imagery in “Gabriel’s Revelation” Discovery

July 17, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 11 Comments

Gabriel's Revelation or "Dead Sea Scroll in Stone"

The scholarly world is aflutter over the latest discovery of a 3-foot tall tablet being called “Gabriel’s Revelation,” “Hazon Gabriel,” or the “Vision of Gabriel.” It contains 87 lines of Hebrew text written in ink on stone, and has been dated to the first century BCE. The tablet was found near the Dead Sea in Jordan around 2000, and has been associated with the Qumran community who produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. For this reason, it has been called a “Dead Sea scroll in stone.” An exciting discovery, indeed.

The discussion has been primarily about a certain line of the text which tells of a messiah dying and resurrecting in three days (line 80). Many scholars are pointing to this as evidence of a resurrection theology in existence in Judaism before the coming of Jesus Christ, therefore raising questions of the conception among some that a messianic 3-day resurrection was a uniquely novel Christian principle. This is not news to Latter-day Saints, who already firmly believe that Christianity has been known and practiced since Adam (see Moses 5:6-8).

But I want to look at this text from a different angle than that which is making the headlines. Since this text has been categorized as an apocalyptic text, the Greek apokálypsis meaning “lifting of the veil” or end of days, delivered from the angel Gabriel, it is likely that we should find temple imagery here too. And we are not left wanting. [Read more…]

The Degree Ceremonies of Oxford University – Part 2

June 29, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 10 Comments

Exterior, Sheldonian Theatre at Oxford University where most degree ceremonies take place - built 1664-1668

(Continued from Part 1)

Dr. Hugh Nibley’s opening remarks in his earthshaking address, “Leaders to Managers: The Fatal Shift,” given at the BYU commencement ceremony on August 19, 1983, would have fit even more perfectly in an Oxford setting. In refering to his statement in a commencement prayer he gave in 1960 in which he said, “We have met here today clothed in the black robes of a false priesthood,” he took this opportunity to explain:

Why a priesthood? Because these robes originally denoted those who had taken clerical orders; and a college was a “mystery,” with all the rites, secrets, oaths, degrees, tests, feasts, and solemnities that go with initiation into higher knowledge.

But why false? Because it is borrowed finery, coming down to us through a long line of unauthorized imitators. It was not until 1893 that “an intercollegiate commission was formed . . . to draft a uniform code for caps, gowns, and hoods” in the United States. Before that there were no rules. You could design your own; and that liberty goes as far back as these fixings can be traced. The late Roman emperors, as we learn from the infallible DuCange, marked each step in the decline of their power and glory by the addition of some new ornament to the resplendent vestments that proclaimed their sacred office and dominion. . . . [Read more…]

Temple Imagery in the Parables of Matthew 25 – Part 2

March 7, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 3 Comments

The parable of the talents as depicted in a 1712 woodcut from Historiae celebriores Veteris Testamenti Iconibus representatae. (Continued from Part 1)

Justin, a reader of Temple Study, brought to my attention that there may be more temple imagery in Matthew 25 than just the parable of the ten virgins. Indeed, the parable of the talents has some striking shadows and allusions to the temple too. In the same spirit Elder Robbins likened the parable of the ten virgins to our modern temple, let’s take a look at the parable of the talents “with the temple in mind” ((Lynn G. Robbins, “Oil in Our Lamps,” Ensign, Jun 2007, 44-48)). There may be many interpretations of these parables. The parable of the talents has often been attributed to how we use the talents, skills and blessings we’ve been given of God on the earth. But when we think specifically of the temple, these are some of the things that come to my mind: [Read more…]