Temple Visitor's Center in Jerusalem : Seriously!

The Jewish organization called the Temple Institute has built a visitors' center in anticipation of the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem.  You can see a 7 minute video tour of the visitors' center here.

This is my favorite image from the tour: notice the building just behind the left side of the rebuilt temple: BYU Jerusalem Center!

Margaret Barker and "The Mother of the Lord" in Logan

If you missed the last conference in Logan with Margaret Barker, here is your chance to go and hear her and meet her in person!  And what a cool topic!  I would LOVE to go (or better yet, to speak!). 

The Academy for Temple Studies and the Utah State University Religious Studies program announce a conference we believe may be of interest to you, to be held on October 23, 2013, on the campus of Utah State University.  We invite you to save the date.

THE LADY OF THE TEMPLE:  EXAMINING THE DIVINE FEMININE IN THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION

This conference will approach this topic from a temple perspective with biblical, archeological, liturgical and LDS components.

The speakers will include:

•Margaret Barker, well-known for her numerous books and articles on temple theology whose book called The Mother of the Lord:  The Lady in the Temple was published last year.

•Laurence Hemming, a Catholic philosopher and theologian who lives in London; an expert in early Catholic liturgy and author of numerous books and articles, including Worship as a Revelation: The Past, Present, and Future of Catholic Liturgy.

•William Dever, distinguished professor of Near Eastern Studies; has written 26 books and 350+ articles on Near Eastern archeology, and author of the book, Did God Have a Wife?

•Alyson Von Feldt, who has explored temple theology as reconstructed by Barker from an LDS perspective in her review of Dever's Did God Have a Wife? and an analysis of the Book of Mormon, "His Secret is with the Righteous: Instructional Wisdom in the Book of Mormon."  These can be found at:  http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/

• Valerie Hudson, Professor and George H. W. Bush Chair of international affairs at Texas A&M University, who is co-author of Women in Eternity, Women of Zion, a comprehensive examination of LDS doctrine concerning women.  In 2009 she was named by Foreign Policy to be one of the top 100 Most Influential Global Thinkers.

Registration for the day-long conference will be $50.00. Students with a valid student ID

will be admitted for $10.00.

Seating will be limited. You can register on-line at this link. https://secureinstantpayments.com/sip/cart/event.php?EID=1003

More detailed information on the conference will soon be made available.

Great Research Databases at "Academy For Temple Studies"

The website "Academy For Temple Studies" has some excellent resources for students interested in the temple (that's all of us, right?). 

It has reviews of books, articles and dissertations.  There is a lot you can learn from just these reviews. For example, here is part of a paragraph reviewing the chapter entitled . “The Temple: Place of Yahweh’s Presence and Sphere of Life” in  Othmar Keel's book, Symbolism of the Biblical World: Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Book of Psalms, [translated by Timothy J. Hallett, 111-76.  Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1997].

  “ One important example is Keel’s suggestion that the idea of the “house” of God, grows out of the standard residential buildings in the Near East.  They were rectangular structures with a central courtyard which contained an oven and a cistern.  Keel argues that ancient temples followed this pattern for God’s house, an inner courtyard with a sacrificial altar analogous to the oven and some form of water catchment such as a cistern, pool, or even a lake.”

Wow.  So simple, and yet I had never thought of the temple that way: a depiction of God’s house in the everyday sense.

Amazing what you can learn.  Hurry right over to the “Academy for Temple Studies” which also is compiling a monstrous huge database of EVERYTHING related to temples (ours, Biblical, pagan: all temples) ever published.  So many books.  So little time!

New Hebrew Class starting in Sandy in September.

Want to learn to read Hebrew?  

My good friend, Diana, is starting a brand new beginning Hebrew class in September.  The class will start on September 5th.

This will be the third group of students - many from my classes - to take advantage of the generosity of this great teacher.

The class will be held at Diana's home in Sandy (1630 Siesta Drive, 84093) on Thursdays at 2 pm. 

Mysteries of Solomon's Temple

There is an interesting new post on   Mormon Scripture Explorations

Mysteries of Solomon’s Temple by William Hamblin "This is a recording of a presentation I [William Hamblin] gave recently concerning Solomon's temple.  I first examine the problem of the limited nature of biblical accounts of the temple, and the question of esoteric teachings and mysteries.  I then analysze of five of the esoteric teachings or mysteries associated with Solomon's Temple.  1- celestial temple and throne; 2- Before the Beginning; 3- Council of God in the celestial temple; 4- Human participation in Council of God; 5- Entering the Holy of Holies." You can watch the presentation HERE Here is a great pdf handout of the Keynote slides

The Maxwell Institute Summer Seminar Symposium (July 11, 2013)

The Maxwell Institute Summer Seminar, co-sponsored by the Mormon Scholars Foundation and the Jack and Mary Lois Wheatley Institution, will be holding a public symposium on Thursday July 11th, 2013 at Brigham Young University, for all interested parties.

This years seminar has continued the series of seminars on Mormon culture begun in the summer of 1997. The seminar was conducted by Terryl Givens, Professor of Literature and Religion and James A. Bostwick Chair of English at the University of Richmond.

This particular seminar has continued a series begun three years ago on the history of Mormon thought. A principal evidence appealed to by early Mormon writers and missionaries, on which they based their claim to authoritative restoration, was the abundance of spiritual gifts manifest among believers in the church founded by Joseph Smith. Closely allied to these gifts was the Latter-day Saint claim to genuine priesthood authority. The participants of the seminar have studied how early Saints understood the workings of the spirit and spiritual gifts, and how those perceptions and manifestations have changed through Latter-day Saint history. They have also investigate the theology behind early Mormon exercise of the priesthood, their understanding of the role of ordinances in salvation, and how such understanding was shaped by and responded to Protestant notions of the sacraments.

The topic for this years seminar is, “Workings of the Spirit and Works of the Priesthood: Gifts and Ordinances in LDS Thought and Practice.” Therefore, presentations for this years symposium will largely revolve around this broad topic.

Presenters will include (listed in alphabetical order):

Helena Bushman, University of Cambridge

Kirk Caudle, The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Alan Clark, Claremont Graduate University

Carl Cranney, Catholic University of America

Ryan Davis, Harvard University

James Egan, Brigham Young University

Mie Inouye, University of Toronto

Jeremy Leatham, Baylor University

Kaitlyn Pieper, British Institute at Ankara

Alexander Struk, London School of Economics

Jeremy Talmage, Yale University

Matt Whitlock, University of California Berkeley

Final program, including presentation titles and times, will be announced at a later date. 

The symposium will be held at Brigham Young University in room B-092 in the JFSB  from 9am-4pm. All are invited to attend and the event is free. 

This announcement was posted by kirkcaudle on June 18, 2013  HERE

Art and the Temple : J Kirk Richards Essay

HOPE by J Kirk Richards

 J Kirk Richards has written a great essay about art and temples.  I LOVE looking at the murals in temples during the service.  I find I concentrate better and my mind wanders less (am I the only one with that tendency?).  I love the art used in the film as well.  You can read his essay here.

One of the things he discusses is the use of darkness and light, especially in depicting Christ, like in this Rembrandt:

Now take a look at this Supper at Emmaus by Rembrandt, not to mention this popular painting of Christ walking on the water. Perhaps the former example might come off a bit spooky in the estimation of some, but the device itself is strikingly gorgeous.

Another topic is the use of symbolism and abstraction in art, which apparently is discouraged by the temple art guidelines.  Interesting, given the use of symbolism and abstraction in the REST of the temple experience!

Mother and Child by J Kirk Richards