Upon first viewing the DVD, I was quite impressed and definitely learned things about the Book of Abraham and the process of its coming to light that I didn’t previously know.  I cannot claim to be any kind of expert on the Book of Abraham, and especially not on the material evidence or Egyptological issues, nor am I any kind of film critic, but I wanted to share my humble opinions on what I, as an interested LDS viewer, was able to get out of the DVD.  Although there were some issues with the production that I thought could have been done slightly better, my general feeling, ultimately, was that this is a valuable video — a great tool for educating both LDS and non-LDS regarding the state of the latest theories supporting the LDS belief in the Book of Abraham as divinely-inspired scripture.

Livingston, et al., were successful in bringing together those individuals that you would hope to see on such a project –most everyone who knows much about Egyptology in the Church, as well as experts on other fields that relate to the topics discussed.  The contributors include Michael Rhodes (Egyptology), John Gee (Egyptology), Michael Ash (LDS Scholar), Kerry Muhlstein (Egyptology), Kevin Barney (LDS Scholar), Jared Ludlow (Near Eastern Studies), David Bokovoy (Near Eastern Studies).  These individuals are all very good at what they do and were well-prepared to provide the latest information on these topics.  If there were anyone else I could see on there, it would have been nice to have, maybe, Brian Hauglid, Kerry Shirts, or John Tvedtnes — but the line-up they have is pretty complete.

I’ll take you through a summary of the content of the production, with highlights of some of the more interesting information.  The film basically follows a set of questions posed near the beginning.  These include:

On the topic of being watchable — the DVD runs smoothly and does a pretty good job of keeping your attention, but it is a lot of information to take in. I didn’t ever find it unbearable or even unpleasant, but I think there could have been more done to jazz it up / mix it up a bit. Maybe this isn’t being fair (and as I said, I’m no film critic), but in my opinion, the choice of music served to slow things down, and there were other factors that detracted from the excellent content a bit.  At times, video snippets of one scholar largely repeated what others had previously said — but I suppose that that type of thing is hard to avoid when you are cutting and merging segments of various conversations that are treating the same topic.  There was a time or two when a scholar seems to have misspoken and this was not caught by the editors, but nothing very noticeable or significant.

My notes, unfortunately, are not complete. I missed Margaret Barker’s presentation as Jeffrey Bradshaw and I battled the London Underground system and lost.  I also missed Dr. David Sheppard’s presentation on “Temple and Messiah in the Targum of Isaiah,” which I’m sure was wonderful and hope that he posts it online.  Any of the talks that are posted should appear at this site: http://www.templestudiesgroup.com/Symposia.htm.
The Notes:

Margaret Barker — “The Temple in Kings and Chronicles”

The full text of her speech is already posted online at the above link. I highly recommend taking a look at it!

Paul Joyce, Oxford — “The Hidden Temple in Ezekiel”

–Ezek 1 — Word of the Lord came to “priest” Ezekiel. “Word of the Lord came to” is a prophetic declaration, but it comes to a priest – Ezekiel was an exiled priest who was called to prophecy in Babylonia – a priest who becomes a prophet. The content of the book is both prophetic and priestly –  it confounds the notion that these are worlds apart. There are prejudices in academia against the priestly element and against the Book of Ezekiel itself.

The book is full of temple themes – it is shaped by the temple. It was written by a boy who grew up in the Jerusalem temple – its imagery fills what he says – explicit and implicit in things it can tell us about the temple.

Ezek 28 – v 11 ff. –rebuke of prince of Tyre – he is a figure that was once in Eden that fell from grace – description of the Eden setting – uses very mythological language – primal human being in Eden with precious stones – straight out of descriptions of the high priest – indirect priestly imagery – things of temple are connected to Eden and Creation

–Ezekiel is, above all, a visionary – “I saw visions of God”

Chapter 1 – dramatic picture with living creatures – dome over their heads – description of living creatures – throne above the dome – something that seemed like a human form – splendor like a rainbow – one of the boldest visions in Bible despite the round-about way of speaking – ultimately it is the Lord – he is not where he should be (in Jerusalem) but in Babylonia visiting Ezekiel – God is with his people in the Exile – this is giving us a sense of looking into the Holy of Holies – this is a visionary entry into the Holy of Holies and glimpse of the Deity.

–30^th year – crucial year in the induction of a priest – maybe he was taken from Jerusalem before age of 30 – maybe he is having his prophetic/priesthood induction at age 30 in Babylon (the Throne Theophany may be a part of his priesthood initiation)

–this vision led Judaism to speculate about the Chariot – throne of God with wheels – provide mobility – merkavah (root of merkavah mysticism) – contemplations of “hashmal” – this led people to want to experience this type of vision – Rabbis warned against this type of speculation – put limitations on reading Ezekiel 1 (need to by 30 years old) – warned that one could be burned by fire for seeking this vision

–Christopher Rowland in Open Heaven – apocalyptic literature is not so much about eschatalogical chronology but about the vision of heaven

Chs. 8-11 – back in the temple and its precincts – vision of the fiery being again – carried him by his hair to Jerusalem – this is before the temple was actually destroyed – this is a visionary experience – he knew the temple setting like the back of his hand – sees grounds for the departure of Kavod (Glory of God) from the temple – very bleak scene of what’s going on at temple is depicted – this is what causes departure

–Shown seat of the image of Jealousy – what is this image? The language evokes the image of a creator – a deity creation figure? Statue of alien deities?  — these are painted as negative, but may have been legitimate earlier

–Ezek 11:16 – I have been a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries where they are – a “small sanctuary” – the God of Israel himself has become a temple (mikdash me’at) – this is an interesting idea centuries before Christ – temple is wherever you are – its not about a particular place in Jerusalem – it can be wherever you are in the world

–but the rest of the book backs off from this idea – third vision

Chapters 40-48 – a vision of a restored temple

–set on a very high mountain – a structure of a city was there – angelic guide

–commonly thought to be a vision of the restoration of the temple

–God returns to his temple in Glory – returns from the East – goes through east gate – glory of the Lord filled temple

–what happened to 2^nd vision? The particular place of the temple is never left behind, but people can have temple “in small measure” wherever they’re at

–in our days, we see return of Jews to that particular place, but many still live internationally

–are these chapters a blueprint for the restored temple? – are they modelled on temple that Ezekiel knew? Doesn’t match other biblical descriptions, but most likely related to First Temple – very precise dimensions given – visionary combined with the pedantically particular – there is some ambiguity – kind of a flat plan, no vertical measurements – Second Temple doesn’t match this description – is it to be a fture eschatalogical temple? Theological imagination and aspiration (details don’t matter?) Tuell argues that this should be seen in line with chapter 1, that this is the heavenly temple – 25^th: he is seeing God’s temple in heaven

–ch. 41:17ff. – in the nave there was a pattern of cherub—palm tree–-cherub carved on the door

ch. 47 water flowing from below south threshold of the temple – flows east through desert and then purifies dead sea – river of life from Eden – draws from a deep well of creation thinking – these themes are based on heavenly reality

–Q&A – Stephen Tuell and Silviu Bunta – research on ascent to heaven in Ezekiel

William Hamblin — “The Hidden Temple in John 17″

–Centrality of temple imagery in Gospel of John

John 17 should be contextualized within larger Passover narrative

–washing of feet was a temple ritual (John 13) – couldn’t ascend temple mount with dirty feet

–John 17 is transition point between mortal ministry and ascension to heaven

1. My Father’s house – in Father’s kingdom are many mansions – when he says “Father’s house” he is speaking of the temple – John 14:2 – there are many rooms in the temple and he will prepare one for them – he is not talking about the physical temple – If I go prepare a place for you, I will come and take you so that where I am you can be also

Where are you going and what is the way there? Thomas asking – the way is the Christian way – this is the original term for Christianity (“The Way”) – Heb 10: the new and everlasting way (way to the temple, through veil) – “Where I am” is with the Father

“Where I am” statements may be related to “I am” statements

–referring to heaven; heavenly temple

–Christians have largely lost mythos of heavenly temple

–Psalm 11:4

–Heb. 8-10, Revelation

2. Revelation of Name of the Father

–Christ was given Name of the Father and revealed it to disciples

–Exod 3:14 – revelation of name YHWH

–restriction on prnouncing name during Second Temple period – so we get Adonai/Kyrios in Second Temple times – then ha-Shem

–not supposed to “take the name of God in vain” – initially you couldn’t “blaspheme” the name, but later you couldn’t pronounce the name at all

–only high priest could pronounce it on the Day of Atonement – they whispered or mumbled it so that others could not hear – it could only be said in secret in the temple

–we should understand that Jesus was sharing the name in this context – like Moses, God revealed the name to Jesus – to reveal the name to others, he needed to be claiming to act with priestly authority, and he does – the text doesn’t tell us what the name was – was Father the name that was revealed?

3. Christ as manifestation of God’s glory

John 17:1 – glorify the Son – glory = brightness, splendor – LXX uses doxa to translate kavod – Kavod YHWH is the visible manifestation of God in the temple/tabernacle – blazing fire/light enshrowded in cloud – Kavod was so glorious that it caused Moses’ face to glow – Christ is the Kavod

Christ had glory before the world was; Father gives glory to son, who gives it to disciples; many mentions of glory/glorification in John 17; mutual glorification of Father, Son and disciples; mutual oneness; disciples will be with Jesus in heaven where they will see his full glory – theophany in celestial temple

4. Expulsion of the evil one

Azazel – scapegoat – expelled from community of Israel – atonement

17:15 – protect disciples from the evil one – ho poneros – asks that the ruler of this world be cast out – this is related to the scapegoat ritual

5. Sanctification of Christ and Disciples

–anything associated with temple must be holy – washing and donning clean garments – everything involved in rituals needs to be consecrated – qadesh = to make holy –

John 17:17–19 – sanctify the disciples – Christ sanctifies himself first – this is what the high priest does on the Day of Atonement – first offering is to sanctify the priest himself – then he can sanctify the community – this language would have invoked

6. Celestial ascent and unification

v. 20 – that they may be one just as you are in me and I in you – the glory you have given me, I have given to them – that we may be one

–tht they may be with me where I am that they may see my glory

–17:22 – that they may be one even as we are one – necessary prerequisite for unification

–Christ is not fully glorified unitl after ascent – the temple is the place where the glory is seen – in celestial temple – tradition of heavenly ascent – John has vision of heavenly temple, as does Paul –

vv. 21-22 – unification – Early Christians believed that this had to do with theosis/deification – Rev. 3:21 sit down on throne with God – idea of “synthronos” comes up frequently and is an allusion to deification – seeing the glory of the Lord transforms us into that glorious image

1 John – when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we will see him as he is

2Pet 1:4 – partakers of the divine nature

–ultimate goal of Christian theosis –

disciples to go to celestial temple to see Christ’s glory

Temple mythos is foundational to John 17 – Lord’s high priestly prayer – it is hidden to us because we have lost Temple mythos

—-

M. Barker comments:

Prov. 29:18 – where there is no vision, the people unravel

Book of Revelation is the happy fulfillment to the high priestly prayer (of John 17) — and people still say they were written by different authors!

.

Matthew B. Brown

“Cube, Gate and Measuring Tools: A Biblical Pattern”

There is a close relationship between the ancient Israelite temple and the book of the Apocalypse in the New Testament.

The holy of holies of the temple was based on a divine pattern that was revealed to Moses. What we know of the holy of holies can be compared to what we are told about the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation in Rev. 21. The New Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven is described as a gold cube, just as is the holy of holies of the temple.

The entrance to the New Jerusalem consisted of three gates on each side, each gate guarded by an angel. This reminds us of the veil of the temple, which was decorated with embroidered cherubim who guarded the way to the holy of holies.

The Ark of the Covenant that sat in the holy of holies represented God’s throne and was supposed to have been placed over the “foundation stone” (the “navel of creation”), which, in turn, sat over the “abyss” (the primeval chaos or flood).

This “throne” of God was associated with the divine attributes of righteousness, truth, and uprightness. These three attributes can be seen as requirements for entrance to the temple, as we see in Ps. 15:2 — compare this to Rev. 21 (my notes here don’t contain the details, but perhaps we are to compare all of Ps. 15 with Rev. 21:7–8, and that both should be considered to be requirements for entry into the respective holy place).

Psalm 24 also represents an entrance liturgy that discusses entry requirements for the temple. According to rabbinic traditions (I have no specific reference), the psalm is said to be associated with the king gaining access to the holy of holies of the temple. The psalm speaks of passing through the gates to ascend to the temple.

We are told in Luke 13:22–30 that the gate for entrance into salvation is “strait” or narrow. There is also talk of “striving” (struggling, contending) to enter through the door, and also of knocking at the door (here M. Brown gives an explanation of a Catholic “entrance liturgy” that involves knocking on a door with a mallet).

Note that Psalm 118:19 makes reference to a temple gate known as the Gate of Righteousness.  “Righteousness”, anciently, was symbolized by the plumb line (Isa. 28:17; a measuring tool) and leveling instruments.  The targum to Psalm 89:8 indicates that faithfulness/truth surrounds God like a circle or compass. Also, the Hebrew verb yashar (I don’t have any references he used, but see, e.g., Ps. 5:8) means: to make straight, right, or level. It involves creating a straight line, not deviating to the right or left. (There is much more to this discussion that is missing from my notes — generally, the attributes or requirements for entering the temple, including righteousness, uprightness, etc., are often symbolized by measuring tools, such as those used by God to create the world, or those used to build the temple.)

In Ezekiel 40:3, when Ezekiel is shown in vision the future/ideal temple, he sees an angel “with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.” We see here again the relationship between the temple gates and the measuring tools — the line/rope and rod are tools used for building the temple. We see this same theme in Rev. 11:1 and Rev. 21:15, where a rod is used to measure the sacred precincts.

Ezekiel 46:1–2 — we get a description of the king kneeling before the temple gate. He had to “measure up” to be worthy to worship at the temple (from this point on I think I became so enthralled in the presentation that I forgot to take detailed notes, basically only taking down relevant scriptural passages — I will attempt to reconstruct what I can based on this paucity of real notes).

Going back to our temple entrance liturgy in Psalm 24, verses 1-2 make reference to God’s actions at the Creation and the conquering of Chaos. God builds the earth upon the conquered Sea. Other scriptural passages describe God as a master builder using builders’ tools.  Proverbs 8:27, 29 tells about how God set his compass upon the chaos waters and ascribed limitations that they could not pass.  Job 38:5 talks of God laying the foundations of the earth, measuring and “stretching out the line” upon it — God used builders’ tools.

In Psalm 89, verse 9 describes God’s power over the chaos waters, how He rules over the raging of the sea. This is an important symbol of God’s power.  In Ps. 89:25, we can understand that God has delegated this divine power to the Israelite king, who shall likewise rule over the sea.

Psalms 2, 110 — God anoints king, sets him on his holy hill and gives him power over his enemies.

1 Kings 5:17 (see also Ezra 6:3) — King lays the foundation stones for the temple, following similar pattern to God in Creation

Psalm 72:1–2 — This psalm is declared, in the superscription, to be “A Song for Solomon”, and attributes to him the powers and duties of God. “Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.  He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.” The succeeding verses continue to demonstrate just how much divine power God has delegated to the king:

Psalm 72:4–11  4 He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.  5 They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.  6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.  7 In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.  8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.  9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.  10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.  11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.

The righteousness expected of the king in order to be worthy of this trust is described in Pss. 19:13; 89:24; 101.

In 1 Kings 3:6, we are told that King David possessed the three divine throne attributes (mentioned above): truth, righteousness, and uprightness. The fact that the Davidic king was seen to sit on the very throne of Jehovah (1 Chron. 29:23) emphasizes the need for the king to possess these essential qualities.

The stories in Scripture related to the Creation, the Temple, and the End Times (Eschaton) contain a pattern of similar images and symbols.  We see the cube, the sets of three gates (veil), the cherubim (angels), the Ark of the Covenant (throne of God), the entrance requirements, and the measuring tools — these very significant symbols can be seen in biblical passages regarding the Creation, the Temple, and the New Jerusalem of the End Times.  There are significant parallels between what happens in Heaven and what happens on Earth, and God can be seen to delegate his divine power to mankind.

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For more on similar temple-related themes, please see the following papers, also presented at the Expound Symposium (the overlapping of themes was not planned):

Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, “Standing in the Holy Place: Ancient and Modern Reverberations of an Enigmatic New Testament Prophecy”

David J. Larsen, “Ascending into the Hill of the Lord: The Psalms as a Key to Understanding the Rituals of the First Temple”

My apologies to Matthew Brown for anything in my notes that may not fully or properly represent the wording or intentions of his presentation.

First, here is the abstract:

The Psalms contain many allusions and also direct references to the temple and temple ritual and are one of the few windows we have into the religious experience of the First Temple in Jerusalem. This paper will attempt to shed some light on ritual practices alluded to in the Psalms that I will argue were central to the ritual system of that Temple. Dr. Silviu Bunta, in a recent publication, argues that 1 Enoch 14 should not, as is commonly argued, be understood as the earliest example of the ascent to heaven motif in Jewish literature, but that Ezekiel’s vision in Ezekiel 1 should be seen as a temple vision and, thus, as an earlier, biblical account of an ascent to heaven.  Moving a step beyond Bunta’s conclusions, I argue that the heavenly ascent motif can be traced even further back, into the pre-exilic traditions of Solomon’s Temple, as illustrated by a number of pre-exilic Psalms and other biblical traditions, and that a ritualized ascent into heaven to see the face of God was one of the central features of the temple cult.  Descriptions of temple pilgrimages, festal processions, passage through temple gates, divine theophanies, and other religious experiences involving the temple can be seen to parallel key elements of the later heavenly ascent literature.

Ascending Into the Hill of the Lord: The Psalms as a Key to Understanding the Rituals of the First Temple

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The following new reviews have been added to the Review of Biblical Literature and listed on the RBL blog (http://rblnewsletter.blogspot.com/):

John J. Collins
Beyond the Qumran Community: The Sectarian Movement of the Dead Sea Scrolls
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7404
Reviewed by Philip R. Davies

David Lyle Jeffrey and C. Stephen Evans, eds.
The Bible and the University
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6773
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow

Timothy Jay Johnson (this is his Marquette dissertation)
Now My Eye Sees You: Unveiling an Apocalyptic Job
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7514
Reviewed by Scott C. Jones

Jason Kalman and Jaqueline S. du Toit
Canada’s Big Biblical Bargain: How McGill University Bought the Dead Sea Scrolls
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7649
Reviewed by Matthew A. Collins

Edward W. Klink III
The Audience of the Gospels: The Origin and Function of the Gospels in Early Christianity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7491
Reviewed by Theodore J. Weeden Sr.

Daniel A. Machiela
The Dead Sea Genesis Apocryphon: A New Text and Translation with Introduction and Special Treatment of Columns 13-17
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7425
Reviewed by Benjamin Ziemer

Laura Salah Nasrallah
Christian Responses to Roman Art and Architecture: The Second-Century Church amid the Spaces of Empire
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7452
Reviewed by Rosemary Canavan
Reviewed by Lee M. Jefferson

Lawrence H. Schiffman
Qumran and Jerusalem: Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the History of Judaism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7591
Reviewed by Sidnie White Crawford

Michael E. Stone, Aryeh Amihay, and Vered Hillel, eds.
Noah and His Book(s)
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7661
Reviewed by Emma England
Reviewed by Anthony Swindell