Gospel Doctrine Lesson 22: “The Lord Looketh on the Heart.”
by admin on Jun.13, 2010, under LDS Gospel Doctrine 2010
Gospel Doctrine Lesson 22 presents students with an invitation to see others in the way God sees them, by looking carefully at the human soul rather than a person’s physical appearance. The lesson title derives from the story of the anointing of David as king over Israel, when the Lord declared unto the prophet Samuel,
“Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7).
This Old Testament passage addresses the fundamental difference between the defective judgment of man versus the perfect ruling of God. In choosing a future leader for Israel, the Lord encouraged Samuel not to look at a candidate’s physical appearance or stature. Indeed, these were the exact qualities identified with Saul who proved deficient as king (see 1 Sam. 9:2; 10:23).
In the original Hebrew, the King James expression “outward appearance” represents the word ‘eynayim that literally means the “eyes.” Man is able to look upon the eyes of a person, but God, in his infinite wisdom, possesses the ability to look within. Throughout the Old Testament, the heart denotes the human soul or personality. As the seat of feeling and emotion, the heart refers to “one’s inner self.”1 The term, however, can appear in biblical thought as a synonymous expression with the eyes, as witnessed, for example, in the declaration of the Psalmist:
“The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
“the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes”
(Psalm 19:8)
This passage suggests that obeying the commandments of God perfects the whole person. In the Book of Mormon, the same concept provides the conceptual background to Alma’s questions regarding spiritual rebirth:
“Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?” (Alma 5:14)
Within the Old Testament, the importance of an Israelite king maintaining a pure heart provides the focus of several scriptural texts. For example, the term “heart” functions as a leitwort or theme word, repeated throughout the description of king Solomon’s fall from grace.
“But king Solomon loved many strange women… of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love… and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father… And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice “(1 Kings 11:1-9)
This poetic use of “heart” in the description of king Solomon’s loss of divine favor draws upon the Deuteronomic law of the king, which includes the Lord’s warning directed to the Israelite monarchy:
“Neither shall [the king] multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold” (Deut. 17:17)
These standards set forth in Old Testament scripture regarding king David and his heirs had a direct impact upon the Nephite’s view of proper kingship. Jacob, for example, drew upon this imagery from David’s initial anointing and the fall of Solomon in his great temple sermon. The account of Jacob’s sermon begins:
“But I, Jacob… shall call Nephites or the people of Nephi, according to the reigns of the kings. And now it came to pass that the people of Nephi, under the reign of the second king…”
Jacob then transitions by stating that his people had violated the Deuteornomic expectations of kingship:
“… began to grow hard in their hearts, and indulge themselves somewhat in wicked practices, such as like unto David of old desiring many wives and concubines and also Solomon, his son. Yea, and they also began to search much gold and silver, and began to be lifted up somewhat in pride” (Jacob 1: 14-16)
Significantly, after this introduction drawing upon the Deuteronomic law of the king, Jacob drew upon the leitwort ‘heart” all throughout this sermon that addresses his people’s sins after the manner of king David and Solomon:
“I must testify unto you concerning the wickedness of your hearts” (Jacob 2:7)
“In the presence of the pure in heart, and the broken heart” (Jacob 2:10)
“Ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts” (Jacob 2:13)
“Let not this pride of your hearts destroy your souls!” (v. 16)
“Ye were proud in your hearts” (v. 20)
“My heart would rejoice exceedingly because of you” (v. 22)
“Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives.. and the sobbings of their heartsascend up to God against you… many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds” (v. 35)
“But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart” (3:1)
“O all ye that are pure in heart” (3:2)
“But, wo, wo, unto you that are not pure in heart” (3:3)
“How that ye have grieved their hearts” (3:10)
In his early years, David found favor in the sight of God who was able to look upon David’s inner most being and see a righteous soul. This Gospel Doctrine lesson not only invites Latter-day Saints to avoid judging others based upon external impressions, the material also encourages students to judge their own hearts in accordance with the expectations God has provided.
1. Koehler, Ludwig, Walter Baumgartner, and M. E. J. Richardon, eds. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Accordance electronic edition, version 2.5. Leiden: Brill, 2000.
Mormonism and the Economic Kingdom of God
by admin on May.30, 2010, under Uncategorized
LDS Church history and modern revelation has much to say regarding the economic Kingdom of God. The first modern revelation given by the Lord addressing the need for religious and economic equality among the Saints occurred in January of 1831:
“And again I say unto you, let every man esteem his brother as himself. For what man among you having twelve sons, and is no respecter of them, and they serve him obediently, and he saith unto the one: Be thou clothed in robes and sit thou here; and to the other: Be thou clothed in rags and sit thou there—and looketh upon his sons and saith I am just? Behold, this I have given unto you as a parable, and it is even as I am. I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine” (D&C 38:25-27)
The Lord’s language on the subject of economic equality could not be any clearer. If financial equality does not exist amongst the Saints, then they are not his people. Any system, therefore, that does not allow for this to occur is not of God, including capitalism.
Beginning with D&C 38, the Lord’s word concerning the importance of economic equality appears throughout modern revelation as a central theme, including the declaration that “it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin” (D&C 49:20).
Hence, according to the Prophet Joseph Smith’s vision, any economic system that does not foster financial equality constitutes a “sinful” order. In a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith in March of 1832, the Lord made apparent the absolute spiritual necessity for the Saints to live in total economic harmony:
“For verily I say unto you, the time has come, and is now at hand; and behold, and lo, it must needs be that there be an organization of my people, in regulating and establishing the affairs of the storehouse for the poor of my people, both in this place and in the land of Zion— For a permanent and everlasting establishment and order unto my church, to advance the cause, which ye have espoused, to the salvation of man, and to the glory of your Father who is in heaven; That you may be equal in the bonds of heavenly things, yea, and earthly things also, for the obtaining of heavenly things. For if ye are not equal in earthly things ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things” (D&C 78:3-6).
There is nothing at all allegorical about the fact that if the Saints of God are not equal in financial blessings, they will not be made equal in obtaining heavenly rewards. Therefore, in order to assist the Church in receiving these spiritual blessings, the Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph that through a redistribution of wealth and the abandonment of private ownership, the Church should become “equal in all things”:
“Behold, it is their duty to stand in the office of their Bishopric and to fill the judgment seat which I have appointed unto them—to administer the benefits of the Church or the overplusses of all who are in their stewardships, according to the commandments as they are severally appointed… For it is the will of the Lord that the Church should be made equal in all things.” Joseph Smith, “Revelation on the Duty of Bishops,” March 1832, Newel K. Whitney Collection, Manuscript Division, Brigham Young University Library.
In terms of clarification, according to Joseph Smith’s vision, the loss of “private ownership” did not entail “communal” ownership. The Saints were still to function as personal stewards over the property God had given. Yet, the objective and doctrine behind these early LDS practices were clear. Through Joseph Smith, the Lord declared:
“If thou lovest me thou shalt serve me & keep all my commandments and behold thou shalt consecrate all thy property that which thou hath unto me with a covenant & a deed which cannot be broken and they shall be laid before the Bishop of my Church” (in Book of Commandments; D&C 42 as cited in The Joseph Smith Revelations Texts & Commentary, pg. 108)
Under the first economic order put in place by the Prophet Joseph, despite the fact that every man was to be an individual steward over his personal “inheritance,” all property belonged to the Lord. If the steward was responsible with the Lord’s gift, revelation dictates that the man would receive an “inheritance and be made equal with [Christ]” (D&C 88:107). Note the emphasis upon equality.
At the moment of consecration, a prospective steward (not property owner) would legally transfer title of all their possessions to the bishop. There was no private ownership. Everything belonged to the Lord. The process is described in D&C 42:32:
“And it shall come to pass, that after they are laid before the bishop of my church, and after that he has received these testimonies concerning the consecration of the properties of my church, that they cannot be taken from the church, agreeable to my commandments, every man shall be made accountable unto me, a steward over his own property, or that which he has received by consecration, as much as is sufficient for himself and family.”
Under this system, the man is a “steward,” not an “owner.” The revelation mandates that the man is made a “steward” over his own property in order to care sufficiently for himself and his family.
Seidel on Scriptural Language
by admin on Apr.21, 2010, under Book of Mormon Studies, Hebrew Bible
Recently, while teaching the attestation of creation imagery in the Book of Mormon (one of my personal favorite topics), I shared with a couple of classes what in my estimation represents a wonderful insight concerning “scriptural language” from Israeli scholar Moshe Seidel. As a result of some interest in the quote, I’m providing an English translation of Seidel’s comments. Enjoy!
“The words a person reads and hears and repeats become his own, enter his verbal storehouse. When needed they become, even if he does not know it, the clothing for the thoughts to which he gives birth. Sacred literature, the inheritance of earlier generations, is incised on the heart of the prophets and sacred poets; it is their fount and the object of their musing, something they have contemplated many a day. Therefore the idea which appeared to them through the holy spirit finds expression in the same linguistic forms and phrases that were impressed in their hearts, became habitual on their lips and were made a part of the prophets themselves.”[1]
[1] Moshe Seidel, “Parallels Between the Book of Isaiah and the Book of Psalms,” Sinai 38 [1955-56], 149 [Hebrew].
Patheos Entry 2: Lesson 14: “YE SHALL BE A PECULIAR TREASURE UNTO ME.”
by admin on Apr.06, 2010, under LDS Gospel Doctrine 2010
So here’s a copy of my most recent contribution to the Patheos LDS Blog, “One Eternal Round.” It covers lesson 14 from this week’s Sunday School lesson. I wanted to share some ideas not typically explored:
Food serves as one of the most profound symbols in the standard works. Without food, both human beings and animals cannot survive. Life upon this planet literally depends upon an ability to consume physical nourishment. Hence, providing food for an individual demonstrates that the giver holds the life of the recipient to be of considerable value.
Important episodes appear throughout the Old Testament, which demonstrate God’s love for his children by means of food. In the opening chapter of Genesis, God provided the first couple with “every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed,” while telling his creations “to you it shall be for meat [food]” (Gen. 1:29). Old Testament passages such as Psalm 104 express profound gratitude for God who,
“Causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart” (vv. 14-15).
The Psalm praises God’s goodness for the fact that the Lord demonstrates his love for all earthly creatures by providing them with food (vv. 27-28). Continuing this theme, Old Testament accounts, such as the story of Elijah when God himself miraculously provided his prophet with food reveal how important an individual’s existence was to God (1 Kings 17).
Given the symbolic value of food throughout the scriptures, Jesus’ implementation of a sacred meal by means of the sacrament illustrates the Savior’s deep concern for his followers’ lives. In part, the food provided by Jesus in the sacramental meal represents the love, which led Jesus to give his body and blood in order that his disciples should live.
Though Latter-day Saints experience little challenge in capturing the biblical notion of God providing food to his children as a representation of his love, one of the Old Testament themes connected with this imagery seldom explored by students includes the reversal of the relationship, whereby human beings present God with a sacred meal offering as a reflection of their love and devotion.
In terms of ritual performances presented to God, biblical scholars have observed a universal distinction in the Bible between the general category of offering and the more specific category of sacrifice. While the act of sacrifice places emphasis upon on the ritual slaying and/or death of the victim, offerings in the general sense focus primarily upon the presentative aspect of ritual gift giving. The Old Testament features evidence suggesting that the concept of symbolically offering food as a gift to God existed in ancient Israel. Some passages in the Old Testament specifically refer to offerings as “food” for God (see Lev 3:11; 21:6,17,21,22; Num. 28:2). As such, items that provided the staples of the human diet namely meats, breads (with oil), wine, and even salt appear as an integral part of altar offerings. In this context, the designation “table” for the Lord’s open-air altar secures the overall conceptual continuity of the perception of human beings demonstrating their love for God by means of a gift of food (see Ezek. 44:16; Mal. 1:7,12).
Lesson 14 in the Old Testament Sunday School manual provides LDS students with an opportunity to reflect upon these concepts. The importance of food, both as a scriptural symbol, and as a literal need upon which life is dependent appears as a subtle theme in chapters 15-20 and 32-34 of the book of Exodus.
Clearly, the central event featured in this week’s reading includes Israel’s sacred temple encounter at Mount Sinai and the provision of the Mosaic Law. With such a momentous religious occurrence, it would be easy, therefore, for students to simply overlook the profound spiritual lesson presented in these chapters by means of food.
In light of its importance, however throughout the scriptures, students and teachers may wish to reflect for a few moments on the lessons taught to Israel through a series of crises prior to the Sinai experience, one of which directly involves the issue of food. These dangerous predicaments include: (1) a lack of drinking water (15:22-27), (2) food shortage (16:1-36), (3) an additional lack of water (17:1-7), and (4) military aggression by a foreign desert tribe (17:8-16).
Exodus 16 recounts events that occurred a month following the Exodus, after the Israelies had left the oasis of Elim and began to run low on food. Through this trial, God demonstrated his love and concern for his chosen people by providing them with a miraculous meal sent from heaven (v. 4).
The Hebrew name for this substance “manna” represents a play upon the Israelites’ question, “what (Heb ‘man’) is it” (v. 15), presenting the name as a declaration, “it is ‘man.” “In essence, then, the term means ‘whatchamacallit’ and expresses the manna’s unprecedented character in Israelite experience.” Jeffrey H. Tigay as cited in The Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation, pg. 141.
In the New Testament, this dramatic experience appears as a symbolic allusion to Jesus Christ, identified scripturally as the true “manna” sent from heaven (John 6:35; 48-51).
As “food,” Jesus therefore, quite literally provides the greatest manifestation of God’s desire to provide his children with life. Identifying these themes may present LDS students with several important principles as points of reflection.
Biblical Creation Imagery in the Book of Mormon
by admin on Apr.03, 2010, under Book of Mormon Studies
Many of the sermons in the Book of Mormon draw upon creation imagery from the Hebrew Bible. The following two-part presentation features a live recording of this literary technique in Mosaiah 2:21:
Patheos, One Eternal Round, and Gospel Doctrine 2010
by admin on Mar.25, 2010, under LDS Gospel Doctrine 2010
For those unfamiliar with the website Patheos, the organization was founded in 2008, and attempts to provide an online destination to engage in a global dialogue concerning religion and spirituality. The site provides users with an opportunity to explore and experience the world’s beliefs via credible and balanced information about religion. It’s a lofty goal!
Patheos features a portal devoted to the topic of Mormonism which includes a new blog entitled “One Eternal Round.” For those interested, I will be contributing regularly to this blog by offering a few brief comments connected with LDS Gospel Doctrine lessons.
This year (2010), LDS adults have the opportunity to turn their scriptural focus to the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. For those unfamiliar with the practice, these lessons provide students with an opportunity to meet together for approximately 40 to 45 minutes to use a scriptural text as a guide in promoting principles of application. It is not an academic exchange or historical interpretation of the Bible.
My comments in this forum connected with these weekly Sunday school lessons reflect my own views and should not be interpreted as authoritative in anyway. Moreover, due to the specific objective of these lessons, these comments will not represent a scholarly approach to the Hebrew Bible reflective of my professional training and interests. I hope to simply offer a few ideas promoting ways in which LDS students and teachers can make use of these lessons to explore principles of application and interpret LDS doctrine.
Click here for the Patheos website.
Click here for the Mormon Blog One Eternal Round
Here is a copy of my first post:
Lesson 13: Bondage, Passover, and Exodus
With lesson 13, Sunday school students in LDS Gospel Doctrine classes move beyond the inspiring book of Genesis and begin exploration of Exodus, the second book in the Bible.
Known in Hebrew as Shemot, an abbreviation from the book’s opening words ve’elleh shemot, “now these are the names,” Exodus continues the story of Genesis by recounting the narrative of Israel in Egypt, together with the family’s dramatic escape from the bonds of Egyptian slavery. Another ancient Hebrew name for this, the second book in the Bible was sefer yetsi’at mitsyayim, “The Book of Departure from Egypt,” a title that reflects the work’s central theme. Jews in Alexandria, Egypt living before the time of Christ rendered this traditional Hebrew name in Greek into Exodus Aigyptou, which was later shortened into the form Exodus that appears in the Septuagint, the early Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures.Eventually, this title was adopted for use in the Old Latin version of the Bible from the pre-fourth century AD, and as such, passed into the Vulgate and from there, into various European languages, including English. The name Exodus itself means “Departure.”
The basic plot to this departure appears in the previous book of Genesis by means of an important typolology or prefiguration, where Sarai, as matriarch, serves as a religious/literary symbol foreshadowing God’s chosen people:
“The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
“And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.
“And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.
“And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
“Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
“And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had” (Gen. 12: 15-20).
In light of the Old Testament’s general trend connecting Israel with the patriarchal fathers, this prefiguration of the exodus story, which presents Sarai as Israel, is well worth noting. The account provides an important literary and religious tie between the opening books of the Bible.
Symbolizing Israel as a whole, Sarai, the matriarch, was taken as a slave to Pharaoh, yet released when God afflicted Pharaoh and his house with “plagues.” Like the Israelite nation, Sarai was eventually sent forth from Pharaoh’s house with the parting gifts of Egyptian wealth, including flocks and herds (compare Ex. 12:32). Significantly, all of these events occur as a result of the fact that like Israel and his sons, Abraham and Sarai were forced to leave the Promised Land due to a severe famine.
The story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt serves as one of the unifying images throughout the standard works. The account certainly functions as the single richest source of allusion throughout the Old Testament (see for example Isaiah 40:3-4; Psalm 144, etc.). In both the New Testament and the Book of Mormon, the story of Israelite redemption appears spiritually fulfilled in the atonement of Jesus Christ (see Hebrews 2:1-4; etc.). This typology works especially well with a Latter-day Saint view of the Plan of Salvation, including the doctrine of a pre-mortal human existence with the Father, where Israel begins her journey in the Promised Land, goes down to Egypt (a symbol of the world), is delivered by a prophet, experiencing both a type of baptism by means of the Red Sea crossing, and a sacred temple encounter at Sinai, only to be led back by Joshua (the Old Testament version of the name Jesus) to where Israel initially began her journey, i.e. the Land of Promise.
According to the prophet Joseph Smith’s revision of Genesis, Israel’s bondage and departure from Egypt as recounted in Exodus was made known to Joseph and his brothers through prophecy (see JST Gen. 50:24). The JST declares that God revealed to Joseph of Egypt that the Lord would raise up a seer named Moses to deliver his people from Egyptian bondage:
“For a seer will I raise up to deliver my people out of the land of Egypt; and he shall be called Moses. And by this name he shall know that he is of thy house; for he shall be nursed by the king’s daughter, and shall be called her son” (JST Genesis 50:29).
Notwithstanding the connection made in Exodus 2:10 between the name “Moses” and the Hebrew root m-sh-h meaning “to draw,” scholars believe that Moses derives from an Egyptian root. As biblical scholar Nahum Sarna explains:
“The Hebrew name [Moses] is of Egyptian origin. Its basic verbal stem msy means ‘to be born,’ and the noun ms means ‘a child, son.’ It is a frequent element in Egyptian personal names, usually but not always with the addition of a divine element, as illustrated by Ahmose, Ptahmose, Ramose, and Thotmose.” Nahum Sarna, The JPS Torah Commentary: Exodus (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 1991): 10.
However, unlike these examples, Moses’s name stands apart in lacking the theophoric or divine reference to an Egyptian god such as Ptah, Ra, Thut, etc. “It is from the old perfective of the verb ms that the name, according to the accepted theory, is derived, the form being found first of all in theophorous names like Ptah-mose, ‘Ptah is born’; such names refer to the birthdays of the gods mentioned.” A J.C. Griffiths, “The Egyptian Derivation of the Name Moses,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 12 (1953): 225.
According to this understanding, the name “Moses” means “[x] is born.” Moses therefore, as Joseph of Egypt declared in the JST, quite literally came to know though his name that he was born of the House of Israel, which worshipped a God separate from Egyptian tradition.
As one scholar explains: “Moses’s name, thus transliterated from Egyptian, may very well be, perhaps the most important and best-preserved memory of the Egyptian backdrop of the oppression” John I. Durham, Exodus: Word Biblical Commentary (Waco: Word Books, 1987): 17.
As is the case with so many other books of the Old Testament, proper names like Moses serve an important religious and literary role throughout the book of Exodus. Notably, the name of the Pharaoh, however, the mighty ruler over Egypt who oppressed Israel, is lost historically, due in part to an omission in the Exodus account. In direct contrast to the absence of Pharaoh’s name, Exodus does not miss an opportunity to include the names of the lowly midwives Shiphrah and Puah, two women who demonstrate their fidelity to God by risking their lives, forsaking the Egyptian king’s mandate to destroy all the male offspring born to Israelite women (Ex. 1:15-16). In light of the significance of names throughout Exodus, this literary contrast in the opening chapter of the book provides meaningful insights worth exploring.
Certainly, however, the most significant name given in Exodus is the great “I Am” in 3:14. When Moses received his prophetic commission to go forth and serve as Israel’s deliverer, Moses presented God with the question,
“When I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?” (3:13).
In response to Moses’s inquiry, God informed his newly commissioned prophet that his name is “I am that I am” (v. 14). This response presents a play upon the divine name/title Jehovah that appears translated as “Lord” in all capital letters throughout the King James version of the Bible. The name Jehovah is a finite verb form reflecting the 3rd person, masculine singular inflected form of “to be.” Hence, “He is” in English, or perhaps more appropriately, “He [causes] to be,” a reflection of the a/e vocalization pattern in the name Jehovah/Yahweh which in Hebrew denotes the Hiphil or causative verbal structure.
In the New Testament, Jesus makes an important connection between himself and this sacred Old Testament title via the Greek expression ego emi, literally, “I/I am.” As explained in the LDS edition of the King James Bible, when Jesus responded to his opponents in John 8:58 with the words, “Before Abraham was, I am,” from a grammatical perspective, the term “I Am” in Greek (ego emi) directly reflects “the Septuagint usage in Exodus 3:14, which identifies Jehovah” (footnote 58b, pg. 1342).
No doubt, Latter-day Saint students can glean considerable insights from this week’s study of the opening chapters of Exodus. As witnessed in the missing name of Pharaoh, the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah, Moses himself, and even God, names provide an important focus throughout the book of Exodus. This observation is significant for a work that specifically begins with the opening phrase, “now these are the names of the children of Israel,” and which has been known for centuries by its Hebrew title, Shemot, or “names.” Indeed, the story of redemption in Exodus that as a motif appears throughout each of the standard works, can provide a spiritual type for God’s Plan of Salvation, wherein “there is no other name given whereby salvation cometh” other than Christ, the true deliverer of Israel (Mosiah 5:8).
Temple Imagery in the Book of Mormon
by admin on Mar.15, 2010, under Book of Mormon Studies
Many of the literary sermons featured in the Book of Mormon draw heavily upon themes and imagery directly linked with ancient temple worship. The following two part series includes a live audio recording explaining some of the slides I’ve put together for teaching Jacob’s temple discourse presented in the initial chapters of his contribution to the Small Plates of Nephi.
Holiness in the Bible and the Book of Mormon
by admin on Mar.11, 2010, under Book of Mormon Studies, Hebrew Bible
For the serious student of the Bible, the book of Leviticus holds countless treasures. Far from merely a boring compilation of Priestly legislation and purification ritual, the book of Leviticus reveals important theological issues connected with temple worship, holiness, and the biblical mandate for humanity to become like God. The Biblical call to holiness relies upon an extremely subtle view connecting life with deity and death with the unclean/profane. Interestingly, via the Priestly author Jacob, the Book of Mormon reflects this extremely subtle Old Testament perspective.
It’s my hope that the following four part series exploring the relationship between the Bible and the Book of Mormon in terms of the doctrine of holiness will prove well worth the time taken by listeners to understand this extraordinary theological/literary link between modern revelation and the ancient world.
Here are the links to this series:
Whom Shall I Send?: Nephi as Editor to Isaiah 2-14 part 2:1
by admin on Mar.09, 2010, under Book of Mormon Studies
Keynote presentation concerning Nephi’s use of “sending” as a literary motif in his superscription. Nephi’s introduction to the Isaiah chapters creates a fascinating link with Isaiah’s story of prophetic commission.
Whom Shall I Send?: Nephi as Editor to Isaiah 2-14
Nephi as Editor to Isaiah 2-14 part 1:2
by admin on Mar.08, 2010, under Book of Mormon Studies
Continuation of the original presentation:
