William J. Hamblin | The Interpreter Foundation: Recent Episodes
William J. Hamblin | The Interpreter Foundation
[Page 39]Abstract: Most scholars agree that sôd, when used in relationship to God, refers to the heavenly council, which humans may sometimes visit to learn divine mysteries or obtain a prophetic message to deliver to humankind. Biblical texts on this subject can be compared to passages in Latter-day Saint scripture (e.g., 1 Nephi 1:8-18; Abraham […]
The post The Sôd of Yhwh and the Endowment first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
Margaret Barker has written a number of fascinating books on ancient Israelite and Christian temple theology. One of her main arguments is that the temple reforms of Josiah corrupted the pristine original Israelite temple theology. Josiah’s reforms were therefore, in some sense, an apostasy. According to Barker, early Christianity is based on the pristine, original pre-Josiah form of temple theology. This paper argues that Josiah’s reforms were a necessary correction to contemporary corruption of the Israelite temple rituals and theologies, and that the type of temple apostasy Barker describes is more likely associated with the Hasmoneans.
The post Vindicating Josiah first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
In the Hebrew Bible, the Sôd of God was a council of celestial beings who consulted with God, learned His sôd/secret plan, and then fulfilled that plan. This paper argues that the LDS endowment is, in part, a ritual reenactment of the sôd, where the participants observe the sôd/council of God, learn the sôd/secret plan of God, and covenant to fulfill that plan.
The post The Sôd of YHWH and the Endowment first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
This blog post was originally posted here. Iconotropy is an English neologism from Greek, meaning literally “image turning.” It is defined as “the accidental or deliberate misinterpretation by one culture of the images or myths of another one, especially so as to bring them into accord with those of the first culture.” Iconotropy is, in […]
The post Iconotropy and the JS Abraham Facsimiles first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
[Reposted] In a recent blog comment Ben Park describes “a different approach to apologetics,” apparently favored by some young scholars. He describes it by quoting Richard Bushman: These younger scholars have a new attitude toward Mormon apologetics. They are no longer so interested in defending the faith in the old sense. In the time of Nibley, the […]
The post The Apologetics of Richness? first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
Note: this blog post first appeared at this link. Joseph Spencer gave two interesting papers at the Mysticism conference of the Mormon Scholars in the Humanities meeting last week. In them he proposed (if I understood him correctly) that there is a “way forward” in studying the Book of Mormon that can transcend or bypass the ongoing debate […]
The post The Problem of Decontextualization first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
It is a common anti-Mormon assertion that Joseph Smith invented stories about the restoration of the priesthood in 1834, falsely claiming that the angelic John the Baptist, and later Peter, James and John, restored the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods. (See, for example, G. Palmer, An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins, (Signature, 2002), 215-234.) There are, […]
The post Restoration of the Priesthood first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
Class lecture on Solomon’s Temple Part 1 Part 2
The post Solomon’s Temple first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
Class lecture on Middle Bronze Age Jerusalem (2000-1600 BC), and Melchizedek. Canaanite Jerusalem Melchizedek
The post Canaanite Jerusalem and Melchizedek first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
A discussion of the earliest archaeological evidence for religious belief and practice from Neolithic times, and their relationship to biblical symbols. Part 1 Part 2
The post Class Video: Neolithic Sacred Symbols first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
New Hamblin-Peterson column in Deseret News “Sacred stone: one of the most enduring metaphors of the holy.”
The post "Sacred Stones" first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
Two new books of interest have just been published by Eisenbrauns. 1. Anne Porter and Glenn M. Schwartz, Sacred Killing: The Archaeology of Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East. Eisenbrauns, 2012. $59.50. ISBN: 9781575062365 https://www.eisenbrauns.org/books/titles/978-1-57506-246-4.html This book examines the archaeology and anthropology of ancient Near Eastern sacrifice, helping us understand the nature of ancient sacrifice […]
The post New Book Notice first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
The three volumes of the “Revelations and Translations” series of thePapers of Joseph Smith are now on sale at Deseret Book. The Facsimile Edition is regularly $99.95, on sale for $39.98 (60% off). Revelations and Translations, vol. 1: Manuscript Revelation Books is regularly $79.95, on sale for $49.95 (37% off). Revelations and Translations, vol. 2: Published Revelations is regularly $69.95, on sale […]
The post Papers of Joseph Smith, "Revelations" on Sale first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765605862/Hamblin-and-Peterson-Does-papyrus-prove-Jesus-was-married.html
The post Hamblin-Peterson Column evaluating the Jesus' Wife papyrus first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
If I were in charge (which I’m not–which is probably a good thing), I would try to initiate the following long-term, multi-participant studies on LDS scripture. 1- An online “hyper”-scripture in which the full text of LDS scripture is linked in numerous, color-coded ways to other passages, articles, book sections, geographical items, philology, etc. etc. […]
The post Desideratum for the Study of Mormon Scripture first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
On the “Real Clear Religion” web page. See the article “A New Mormon Journal” in the left sidebar, in the category “Faculty Lounge.”
The post Interpreter Receives National Notice first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
The post Creation Myths and Ancient Temples first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
The fourth presentation at BYU’s Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies conference on 31 August 2012 was on “Writing in 7th Century BC Levant,” by Stefan Wimmer of the University of Munich. It was entitled “Palestinian Hieratic.” He examined an interesting phenomena in Hebrew inscriptions, the use of Egyptian hieratic (cursive hieroglyphic) signs. Basically […]
The post Palestinian Hieratic first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
The simple biblical definition of what is a Christian can be found in Matthew 16:15-17 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-jonah! For flesh and […]
The post The biblical definition of Christian first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
Ben Witherington recently posted the following essay on Patheos: “Why Mormonism is not Christianity– the Issue of Christology.” I’ll examine each of his six claims.
The post Are Mormons Christians? Witherington says no. first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
John 17 contains a richly symbolic Last Discourse by Jesus, in which the disciples are assured a place in the Father’s celestial house or temple. To fulfill this promise Christ reveals both the Father’s name and his glory to his disciples. Jesus’s discourse concludes with the promise of sanctification of the disciples, and their unification—or deification—with Christ and the Father. This paper explores how each of these ideas reflects the temple theology of the Bible and contemporary first-century Judaism.
The post “I Have Revealed Your Name”: The Hidden Temple in John 17 first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.