I found the following a while back and just recently looked at it again and thought it would be great to post here. British scholar Crispin Fletcher-Louis, in his book All the Glory of Adam, had the following to say about the early Jewish belief that all of humanity was meant to, and and eventually could, be divine:

Studies driven by New Testament concerns have tended to focus attention on the singular angelomorphic hero of old or the future messiah whose identity prefigures early Christian beliefs about Jesus. However, the fact that so often the angelomorphic identity is grounded in that of Adam before his exit from Eden, the existence of a continuity of angelomorphic identity through the generations of God’s elect and the focus on Israel as an angelomorphic people of God speaks for a theological perspective which should not be missed: there seems to be a claim which is usually implicit, but, as we shall see, is at other times explicit, that true humanity, as it is restored among the elect, is both angelomorphic and divine. In the rush to explain the origins of early Christian beliefs about Jesus sight can be lost of the fact that the peculiarly divine, angelic or exalted status of a particular righteous individual is fundamentally an expression of a universal theological anthropology. (Crisping Fletcher-Louis, All the Glory of Adam, 12)

(Note: angelomorphic = being or appearing in the form of an angel/divine being)

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Steve:

I’m new to your Heavenly Ascents blog – it looks fascinating and well researched.

I have two questions, if you would be kind enough to consider them: I was introduced to the ascent motif via the work of the late Morton Smith, who postulated that a mystical method of heavenly ascent was extant in Jesus’ time and that Jesus and his disciples may have had some personal experience with this practice. I realize that some of Smith’s statements were likely issued with a twinkle in his eye (did he forge Secret Mark, etc.), but he does seem to make a serious case for ascent in Jewish culture even before Jesus’ time, e.g., he points out that at least one other person “ascended” – one member of the DSS community, as reported in 4Q 491, who claimed to have ascended into the angelic assembly and to have gained divine wisdom thereby.

First question: But there are claims that most Jewish ascent literature came after Jesus’ time, too late to influence and/or be expressive of primitive Christian beliefs. I am unclear on this timeline. Some say, for example, that some of this literature was too late to have been strongly influential in nascent “Jewish Christianity”, with Enoch maybe dating from that time but maybe from a later time. So would you be able to firm up for me the time frame of ascent literature as it might bear on the religion of Jesus, his disciples, and their Jewish successors, say, until after the Second Revolt in CE 135? I.e., can we date extra-biblical ascent literature from Jesus’ own lifetime up until just after the final Jewish War?

The second question concerns what, from my admittedly meager reading, poses a mystery vis a vis the Jewish nature of ascent literature. I understand that with the rise of rabbinical Judaism post-Jamnia, orthodoxy was stressed, e.g., per Alan Segal, the rabbis came down on anything smacking of a “Two Powers in Heaven” belief, beliefs concerning a Chief Assisting Angel, and beliefs about God’s human form or “Kavod”. What puzzles me is that post-70 ascent literature – IF Jewish – seems to be replete with just those kinds of beliefs that were being more and more strongly condemned by the rabbis. Do we conclude from this (if my assumption is correct) that ascent authors and communities were not Jewish; or if they were Jewish, they were by definition heretical? And if they were heretical, by what means were these ideas promulgated and texts preserved?

Thanks for your consideration.

Regards,

Steve Bastasch¹

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Me:

Dear Mr Bastasch,

Thank you for your excellent and very relevant questions. Before I give my response, just as a forewarning, although my website is called Heavenly Ascents, I cannot claim to be an expert (yet!) on the topic, so bear that in mind as I give you my best answers to your questions.

I will begin by saying (and this may shape your opinion of my overall answer!) that in my estimation, the ascent to heaven motif is of great antiquity, much older even than the mentions attested to in the Qumran texts. It may not have been conceived of in exactly the same ways that it is later expressed in the Christian era, but I think that later texts build on these earlier attestations of the motif.

When I say much older, I believe that a form of heavenly ascent was practiced as a ritual in the pre-exilic times, the First Temple period. I base this conclusion partially on what I see as evidence for the idea in the liturgical setting of some of the Psalms. I believe that psalms such as 24, 47, 68, 118, and 132 (and others, cf. 139:8) describe a procession(s) that involved ascending the temple mount in order to reach the throne of God in the Temple. The Hebrew word for ascent (ʽālâ), is often used in this context. The expressed purpose of the ascent, according to Psalm 24:6, was to “seek the face of the God of Jacob” (see RSV or similar translation). The features of this ritualized ascent share many of the same features as the later ascent narratives, including passing through gates with guardians (Pss. 15, 24, 118 imply that there is a question-and-answer dialogue between those desiring to be found worthy of entry and the gatekeepers), seeing the Lord on his throne (Ps. 24:6; cf. Isa. 6, etc.), exaltation and enthronement of the individual (Pss. 2, 110, 89, etc.), and other similar features. While I can’t give a full description here, I believe that all this describes a practice of a primitive heavenly ascent ritual. The holy mountain with the temple at its pinnacle, while obviously located physically on earth, represented the mountain of God that reached into the heavens upon which God’s throne was located.

Whether one accepts these ideas and others in the Hebrew Bible as authentic precursors to the later ascent literature or not, I think there is still very good evidence that the belief in and practice of heavenly ascent was common in Jewish circles well before the Christian era. You mention the works of Morton Smith — he did some good research on this topic. However, you should take a look at the more recent work of James Davila in his article on heavenly ascents in the Dead Sea Scrolls in The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment (vol. 2; Brill, 1999), edited by Peter Flint and James VanderKam. Besides the one example of the anonymous figure ascending that you mention (4Q 491), Davila cites five other examples of ascent found at Qumran, including narratives of the heavenly ascent of Enoch, Melchizedek, Levi, Methuselah, and perhaps also Noah (4Q534) and Moses (4Q374, although this text is very unclear). Besides these, there are phrases from some of the sectarian literature that perhaps assume a belief in heavenly ascent. For example, in the Hodayot there are lines such as “You have exalted his [man's] glory beyond flesh” (7:21) and “[s]ons of God to be united with the sons of heaven” (frg. 2 10) and 11:19-23 where the speaker claims to have been “raised eternally to an exalted realm in communion of praise with the angels” (quoting Davila’s summary). Although the nature of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice is much debated, and Davila expresses doubts in this article, elsewhere he and also other scholars such as Crispin Fletcher-Louis, have described this text as possibly narrating a heavenly ascent ritual performed at Qumran. In the Davila article above, he emphasizes the fact that there seems to be a “ritual context” and “experiential component” behind these ascent texts. For me, this is all pretty clear evidence for the practice of a heavenly ascent ritual before the time of Jesus Christ. If you look at some of the works of Old Testament scholar Margaret Barker, this is the assumption that she is working with as well.

As far as the age of the Enochic literature, I follow the general opinion that the oldest sections of 1 Enoch were likely written around 300 BC and the latest sections around the first century BC. Martha Himmelfarb, in her classic Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses considers 1 Enoch’s “Book of the Watchers” (ca. 3rd Century BC) to be the earliest “ascent apocalypse”. 2 Enoch, which has a much clearer account of the ascent to heaven, is a much later text, probably from the first century AD. It is debatable whether this is originally a Jewish or Christian text. Coming up with a timeline for specific texts is very tricky and scholars have widely diverging opinions on when some of these texts were originally penned and by what group — Jewish or Christian. There certainly seems to be a blooming of this type of literature in the first few centuries of the Christian era, and these texts are preserved more often by the hands of Christians than Jews — this fact, however, does not mean that they were not originally written by Jews, and it is possible that some of these texts are considerably older than the attested examples. It is very difficult to tell. I’m sorry that I don’t have more specific details for you, but in my opinion, we can be quite certain, based on the examples I mentioned above and others, that the ascent idea was quite prevalent in at least some Jewish circles well before the time of Christ, and may have even been a main feature of the pre-exilic Israelite religion. Although Martha Himmelfarb is one that would perhaps deny this, I also believe that beyond, and perhaps in some cases accompanying, the ancient narratives regarding ascent, there was also an ascent praxis.

For a great treatment of the idea of the “mysteries” in connection with human access to the divine council at Qumran, see Samuel I. Thomas’s very recent book, The “Mysteries” of Qumran: Mystery, Secrecy, and Esotericism in the Dead Sea Scrolls. It doesn’t go into the “heavenly ascent” idea in much detail, but I think connections with ascent literature are not hard to make.

Why do we get so much talk of chief angels and the anthropomorphic Kavod in the ascent literature? My opinion is that these ideas are perpetuations of very old motifs that for some reason are well-preserved in this type of literature. If you look at the studies of scholars like Gabriele Boccaccini and others, you get the idea that there was a much larger degree of pluralism in early Judaism than most imagine. There seem to have been several different Jewish sects (even beyond the Pharisee, Sadducee, Essene, etc. divisions that we usually hear about). Some scholars claim that some of these Jewish sects preserved the older Israelite religion better than others. In the Second Temple period, some of the mainstream groups seemed to be very interested in reforming and reshaping the Jewish religion — censoring older ideas that they now found heretical. Theoretically, many of these ideas that they wanted to discard involved the possibility of heavenly ascent, of seeing God on his throne, of any “Two Powers” notions, etc. It seems that these issues were hotly debated well before the rise of Christianity. According to some, this may have been why the “sectarians” went to Qumran. The religious tenets that they held to had become unacceptable by the mainstream. Rabbinical Judaism would develop out of this mainstream of “Zadokite” Judaism and would continue to try to purge Jewish culture of these beliefs that they found heretical. It appears that the early Christians had beliefs that were in line with, or similar to, some of these “other” Jewish groups that were unacceptable to the Rabbis.

I don’t believe that all of the post-70 ascent literature was Christian. I think that a lot of it was originally Jewish, but that it came from Jewish groups that were outside of the Rabbinic mainstream. I think a lot of the literature was eventually preserved only by Christians because they had very similar beliefs and because the Jewish groups that would have possibly written the texts and could have preserved them eventually waned under Rabbinic suppression. However, we do see that there were Jewish circles that did preserve many of these more “mystical” ideas into medieval times and beyond (e.g. merkavah mysticism, hekhalot texts, Kabbalah, Sefer Yetzirah, Zohar, etc.). It seems that some of the groups that preserved these traditions were more ascetical and priestly and were generally opposed by the Rabbis. If you look at E.R. Goodenough’s work on the Dura Europos synagogue, which is full of mystical and ascent motifs, you can get an idea for how and by whom some of these ideas were perpetuated in Jewish circles. I believe that both Christians and these “sidelined” Jewish groups preserved this material because they believed that it was part of a more authentic ancient Israelite belief system that had roots in the First Temple period and that had not been so altered by reformers.

For more on this line of thinking, see Margaret Barker’s The Older Testament, The Great Angel: A Study of Israel’s Second God, Temple Themes in Christian Worship, or pretty much any other book of hers.

I’m sorry if my thoughts here are more general than specific, but feel free to ask me any further questions. I would enjoy further discussing these ideas.

Cheers,

David

1. Author’s name reproduced with permission

Joseph  is the beloved son of his father and (although not born first) is essentially made the firstborn.  Jewish tradition held that Joseph was the son that most looked like his father and whose life most resembled Jacob’s. Jacob taught Joseph the mysteries and the learning that he had obtained in the school of Shem and Eber. His (priesthood) garment was dipped in blood. Joseph was sent to be a slave/servant in Egypt (which is associated with Babylon, or the World). He was made second-in-command (vice-regent) in Potiphar’s house, and resisted all temptation. He was put into prison for crimes he did not commit. While in prison, he helped (in a way) liberate the good (butler/cup-bearer) and condemn the wicked (baker). He was raised up out of the prison to become vice-regent of Pharaoh. He is responsible for providing fertility/prosperity to Egypt (the World) during a time of draught, and brings salvation to his brethren. I’m sure there are many other parallels that can be noted.

After we are told of the death of Joseph, the book of Genesis ends and Exodus begins. The Israelites have multiplied and, because the Egyptians (who possibly overthrew the dynasty that favored Joseph and his Semitic family) feel threatened by their numbers, they are made slaves. We are told that they were in this condition of slavery for over 400 years. They looked forward to a new savior who would free them and return them to their promised land.  They desired, in effect, for the Lord to give them a new beginning.

That is exactly how the psalms represent the Exodus events — as a new Creation.  The psalms speak extensively about the Creation of the world, which they describe as Yahweh’s victory over the Chaos Waters — often including great sea monsters (Rahab, Leviathan, etc.). Gen. 1 picks up on this idea when it describes God as “dividing” the waters in the early stages of creation. The psalms are much more graphic and likely represent older versions of the story.  A good example is Psalm 74:12–17:

Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy might; thou didst break the heads of the dragons on the waters.

14 Thou didst crush the heads of Leviathan, thou didst give him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

15 Thou didst cleave open springs and brooks; thou didst dry up ever-flowing streams.

16 Thine is the day, thine also the night; thou hast established the luminaries and the sun.

17 Thou hast fixed all the bounds of the earth; thou hast made summer and winter.

Psalm 89 expresses a very similar image of Yahweh’s conflict at the Creation:

9 Thou dost rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, thou stillest them.

10 Thou didst crush Rahab like a carcass, thou didst scatter thy enemies with thy mighty arm.

11 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine; the world and all that is in it, thou hast founded them.

12 The north and the south, thou hast created them; Tabor and Hermon joyously praise thy name.

Compare also Psalms104:5-9; 93:1-4. Yahweh’s victory over the Chaos waters and its forces of darkness merits his being enthroned as king over the world. Sigmund Mowinckel believed that this was the basis of the so-called enthronement (and other related) psalms we have in our Bible. He commented:

Even the special hymns of enthronement bring out very clearly that the fundamental myth of the festival is the myth of creation … Yahweh has become king of the world, because he has created it. And as we have seen, these psalms do not refer to any abstract notion of creation, but to the same mythical and poetical idea which may be glimpsed behind the account of the creation in Gen. 1, but which is much more prominent in other passages of the Old Testament, namely the idea of creation as the victorious struggle of Yahweh against the dragon of the primeval ocean, or against the primeval ocean itself (tehom).¹

Mowinckel then points out that in the Psalms (and elsewhere) the rise, or “election”, of Israel in the Exodus story is equated with the Creation. Egypt becomes the chaotic monster Rahab and the Red Sea becomes the primeval ocean, Tehom (Isa. 30:7; Ex. 15:48). Just as Yahweh divided the primeval waters, he also divides the Red Sea for his people. Through this historical act of “creation”, Yahweh becomes king over Israel (Deut. 33:2, 4f.; 114:1f.; cf. Deut. 32:8 LXX). Yahweh then builds his temple on his holy mountain (Ex. 15:17f.). Yahweh establishes his covenant with his people, which is then renewed at the annual festival (when all these psalms about Creation, the Exodus, and Yahweh’s enthronement in his temple are sung).²

Psalm 77 presents the dividing of the waters at the Exodus in the same type of “conflict” language as the Creation.

13 Thy way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? 14 Thou art the God who workest wonders, who hast manifested thy might among the peoples. 15 Thou didst with thy arm redeem thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah 16 When the waters saw thee, O God, when the waters saw thee, they were afraid, yea, the deep trembled. 17 The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; thy arrows flashed on every side. 18 The crash of thy thunder was in the whirlwind; thy lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. 19 Thy way was through the sea, thy path through the great waters; yet thy footprints were unseen. 20 Thou didst lead thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

(Note the cool reference to God’s footprints in v. 19)

Psalm 114 contains very similar language, informing us that “When Israel went forth from Egypt…the sea looked and fled…at the presence of the Lord.”

One of the clearest passages that relates the primeval battle at Creation to the Exodus is Isa. 51:9–10:

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the dragon? 10 Was it not thou that didst dry up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that didst make the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?

As Mowinckel noted, in the various manifestations of this motif, Pharaoh/Egypt seems to be cast as Rahab, the Dragon, the agent of Chaos in opposing Yahweh’s salvific works (liberating Israel). We also note that the plagues sent against Egypt line up quite well with the days of Creation — i.e., there are the plagues that have to do with water, with land, with the air, with darkness,  and with destruction of life (instead of creation). In the end, the waters are parted so that dry land appears, but then close down again to crush the Egyptians (Rahab). The Israelites (Adam and Eve) are placed in the Promised Land (eventually).

Last, but certainly not least, we should mention the role of Moses as Yahweh, dividing the waters. Exodus 7:1 alludes to this when God declares to Moses: “See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.” Moses was placed in the position of Yahweh in this story. Philo, at the turn of the era, understood this very literally and wrote that Moses “was named God and king of the entire nation.”³ At Qumran, 4Q374 2 ii relates Exo. 7:1 to the story of Moses’ transfiguration after seeing God on Sinai. It seems to be suggesting that Moses’ resultant shining face was evidence of his deification. Crispin Fletcher-Louis suggests that Moses, with his shining face, is fulfilling the priestly blessing of Aaron expressed in Num. 6:25 — “The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee.” Moses’ face, Fletcher-Louis argues, is to the Israelites as if it were the Lord’s face shining upon them.⁴  In the Exodus story, Moses speaks to Pharaoh through Aaron (his prophet). Moses performs great wonders, including the parting of the Red Sea, just as Yahweh parted the great waters at Creation.

This Creation story is fundamental to the oldest sections of the Hebrew Bible and can be seen repeated over and over — in the Flood story, the Exodus, the Psalms, Isaiah, Job, many of the minor prophets, and elsewhere. Keep that in mind and you will find many fun and insightful parallels that will help you understand your reading better. God’s work of Creation is the first work of Salvation and that theme is repeated over and over again in the history of Israel.

1. Mowinckel, The Psalms in Israel’s Worship, Vol. 1, 143
2. See Ibid., 154ff.
3. Philo, Life of Moses 1:158
4. Crispin Fletcher-Louis, “Some Reflections on Angelomorphic Humanity Texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls,” in Dead Sea Discoveries, vol. 7, no. 3 (2000), 298

What I do want to share with you is from something I’ve been reading (not necessarily Christmas-related, but not far off). Then I’d like to share some links to some good articles that are more Christmas-themed.

As part of my research for my dissertation, I’ve been looking at a book by British scholar Crispin Fletcher-Louis entitled All the Glory of Adam: Liturgical Anthropology in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Fletcher-Louis, who seems to have some connections to Margaret Barker, has done some great research here, and although his ideas are not accepted by all, he presents a lot of exciting and insightful material.

I just wanted to share a couple of excerpts from my “Christmas” reading. All the Glory of Adam attempts to make sense of the Qumran community’s concept of “divine humanity.” There is much language in the Dead Sea Scrolls that indicates that the community who produced (or at least used) those texts believed that humans could become either angelic or divine (I don’t believe there was much of a difference between angelic or divine, but there is language of humans both becoming angels and becoming gods).

Fletcher-Louis notes that in these texts:

…there seems to be a claim which is usually implicit, but…at other times explicit, that true humanity, as it is restored among the elect, is both angelomorphic and divine (All the Glory of Adam, p. 12, emphasis in original).

The author discusses at length the Qumran and other Second Temple literature that describe what he terms “angelomorphic humanity.” It is quite well established that in this period, at least some Jews (who felt that their belief was orthodox), believed that humans, especially kings, prophets, and priests, were considered to have an angelic status, at least in ritual/cultic settings. He notes, however, that humans are also often described as “gods.” He says:

More startling [than the angelomorphic language] are those statements to the effect that the transformed humanity are “gods”. This is a more persistent and widespread feature of the texts than would permit us to conclude such language is merely an accommodation to Hellenism in which some Jews on the periphery of “orthodoxy” indulged. Already in the biblical texts Moses is “as God [elohim, theos] to Pharaoh” (Exo. 7:1) and the king is hailed as (a) god in Psalm 45:6 (cf. Zech 12:8). Exodus is probably behind Sirach’s ascription of the [elohim] status to Moses in Sirach 45:2. In Jubilees Joseph is acclaimed “god, god, mighty one of God” and in Joseph and Aseneth Jacob is “a god [theos]” to Aseneth.

The existence of god language for humanity within Jewish texts is more remarkable than angel language because of the way in which in the Second Temple period angelology replaced the polytheism of the pre-exilic period. However, just as many biblical and post biblical texts continued to speak of many “gods” (elim, elohim, theoi) with the understanding that these were “angelic” beings on a distinctly lower level of reality than God himself, so it seems there remained the freedom to speak of human as “divine” in similar terms and in certain circumstances. In texts such as those gathered around Moses and Exodus 7:1 there is stressed the fact that Moses’ “divinity” is no independent of that of God himself but is strictly bestowed by the creator of all. This may offend traditional Jewish and Christian views of divinity as a strictly independent, uncreated reality, but it should be remembered that in the ancient world the begetting and creating of gods (theogony) was a much more acceptable notion then than it is now.

The presence of “god” language for humanity in texts as far apart as Sirach, Jubilees, Philo and the rabbis testifies to the degree to which such language was widely spread and accepted in late Second Temple Judaism. (pp. 85-86)

While all of these are very interesting and important statements, I was even more pleased to find that Fletcher-Louis locates the root of all these beliefs in the correct life setting: the Temple and its rituals. He states:

...the principal socio-religious life setting for a Jewish divine anthropology, particularly in its earlier formative stages of development, was the Jewish Temple, its sacred space and priesthood…(p. 5, emphasis in original).

In other words, the proper setting for and origin of this language of humans becoming angels and/or gods, is in the rituals and liturgy of the Temple of Jerusalem.  Very interesting…

So I guess that’s the message I wanted to leave you with this Christmas. As St. Athanasius once wrote (and as is written in the Catechism of the Catholic Church): “For the Son of God became man so that man could become God.” Just as there are many who believe that God came down to earth and became man, so there have also been many that believed that the true destiny and potential of mankind is to become like God.  That is why Christ came down to us — to provide a way for us to, following his example, become like his Father.

As I promised, some great Christmas themed reads:

Jeffrey M. Bradshaw has a great series of articles at Meridian Magazine:

Adam and Christ, Eve and Mary at Christmas Time

Temple Themes in Luke’s Account of the Angels and the Shepherds

Also, check out a similar post at www.templestudy.com, by Bryce Haymond:

Who Were the Shepherds in the Christmas Story?

I’m sure there are lots of others, and if you know of any good ones, please let me know! Above all, I wish you a Merry Christmas from bonnie (and currently snow-covered) Scotland!  May this New Year be full of abundant blessings and new wisdom from God!

Warmest wishes,

David Larsen

Dr Margaret Barker at the podium in the Temple Church. Photo taken from www.templestudiesgroup.com.

The following are the notes I took at the recent Temple Studies Group symposium held at the Temple Church in London, England on Saturday, May 30, 2009. The Temple Studies Group was formed in the UK by Margaret Barker, along with Revd Robin Griffith-Jones (Master of the Temple, Temple Church), Laurence Hemming, Susan Parsons, and Geoffrey Rowell.

I tried to take as thorough notes as possible, although I was often so enthralled in what was being said that I failed to remember to write it down. Nevertheless, hopefully these brief notes will be helpful to give you a good idea of the content of what was being said. I will occasionally supplement my original notes with my own comments, links, and other embellishments. 

The content of the conference was incredible, the setting (Temple Church) was wonderfully appropriate, and it was great to see and converse with so many individuals who appreciate Margaret Barker’s work and are striving to provide the world with a greater understanding of the importance of the Temple. I express my sincere thanks for all who have supported me and who helped make this trip to the UK a possibility and a wonderful experience. I hope to share here a bit of the wealth with which I have been so generously blessed.

Revd Robin Griffith-Jones at the podium -- I am the guy with the striped vest, you can see the back of my head in the middle of the photo -- photo from http://www.templestudiesgroup.com/images/Symposium3.jpg

Revd Robin Griffith-Jones, Master of the Temple Church

Introductory Comments

The Temple Church was built by the Knights Templar in the 12th Century, although the current building was moved from its original location. It was meant to imitate the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The round chapel was built to represent Jerusalem — when you were standing in the round chapel (where the effigies of the buried knights are) you were standing in Jerusalem–the holiest place on earth. This is a very suitable setting for a discussion of the temple. 

The Temple Church, London

Dr Margaret Barker

An Overview of Temple Music

Although it turned out rather blurry, I am very grateful to Revd Angela Oakey-Jones for taking this photo of Margaret Barker and me after the symposium.

Temple music is important but controversial. Connections between temple music and Christian music. It was not created by, but passed into the Church.  Its roots are ancient.

Accounts of temple that we have in OT were written by Deuteronomists (Kings, etc.) and Priests (Chronicles). There is mention of processions in Deuteronomists, but no names of performers. Priestly record  gives names of temple musicians. Priestly account gives much more info that older account does not have. Purpose of music is to invoke the divine presence. Chronicler always includes importance of music.

Trumpets and singers heard as one –with one voice—they called the glory of Lord to the Temple. “God to shine forth.” Shining forth was central to Temple worship (see Psalm 80:1 — Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth). The blessing of the high priest (Num. 6:24–26) was for people to see the Lord’s shining presence and feel grace and peace. Halelujah –comes at the end of many psalms and is a command to make the Lord’s presence shine with music (not just praise Lord, but “shine”) – “Make him shine, make him glorious” –St Germain said that Halelujah means “God appears, give him glory.” Perhaps the purpose of the temple music was to make God appear – to hear the music was to see God’s appearance. Isaiah heard angels singing. Song is response to vision.

Philo says music is the harmony of the Creation – unity of Creation is expressed in music (Creation was a product of angelic music OR creation produced harmonic music)

Christians worshipped in same way as Temple levites — with music. Paul begins his letters with “Grace and Peace” which is the high priestly blessing. Christians were worshipping according to temple tradition, not according to the Deuteronomist account. Deut. doesn’t mention temple veil, angels, Lord of Hosts, ability to see God, whereas Priestly account doesn’t deny these things.

Neither biblical account of creation mentions angels or music at foundation of the world.  Job contains a creation story where the morning stars shouted for joy—angels singing at creation. Angel music was part of the process of creation. Wisdom was beside Creator and held all things in harmony—held Creation in good order, renewing all things.

“New Song” mentioned in OT (Ps. 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Isa. 42:10) should be interpreted as a “Renewing Song”  (verb comes from “make new” or “restore”)

Psalm 33:3 – “sing unto Him a renewing song” – The “renewing song” was sung and then a description of creation was given—Psalm 144

Revelation—renewing song sung as Christ renews earth (Rev. 5:9 and 14:3) (see also D&C 84:98)

Qumran also had this idea of a new/renewing song.

Hekhalot Rabbati says that angels respond to Israel’s songs.

Enoch saw the angels who sustain creation with song. (I would mention that this is a recurring theme in the pseudepigrapha, e.g. in Apocalypse of Abraham, Abraham is taught the song that keeps the cherubim under the Throne from warring [chaos]). 

Isa. 44:23 – heavens sing and earth sings

Day of Atonement is part of New Year Festival – new life from Lord, renewal – (Numbers 8 ) Music of levites renewed and also made atonement. According to Origen – Christian music, which is the renewing song of the Levites, brings new life. When humans sing with angels, we are praising the Creator and helping to sustain Creation.

Philo—angels are a choir serving their leader – humans can only praise God through hymns from a pure mind – “blessed are pure in heart for they shall see God”

Therapeutes (considered by Eusebius to be Christian)  sang and danced –evidence for circle dances in Early Christianity

Evil angels cannot sing – Enoch saw that there was no liturgy in 5^th heaven among fallen angels (no singing)

Because of Christ, Christians could once again join the heavenly choirs, singing with angels.

What is more blessed than singing on earth, imitating the angels?

Isaiah must have been a high priest – he entered the Holy of Holies—he sees angels echoing what he is seeing in song – Lord coming to recreate the Earth – song of “Sanctus” is part of the Atonement. “Sanctus” incorporated into Eucharistic service. 

Dr Crispin Fletcher-Louis

Principal of the Westminster Theological Centre

Temple Trumpets and the Angelic Shout

Angels often depicted playing trumpets—Rev. 8-11. Humans also blew trumpets – specifically an imitation of angels. (He gave a handout of references — Lev. 23:4–8, 15–21, 23–25, 26–32, 33–36; Job 38; Ezra 3:10–11; Psalm 89)

From Philo, Biblical Antiquities 13:6 – Festival of trumpets (Lev. 23) involved in renewal of the earth. “Festival of trumpets to be an offering for your watchers” (Lev. 23:23–25) – various interpretations have been offered – Watchers from Enoch tradition and Dan 4 –there were good watchers (i.e., angels) who did not fall – this is an offering of them, not to them – the context is Creation – a memorial of Creation.

The worship somehow re-activates God’s creative actions – he reviews and renews Creation. Festival is somehow supposed to be the offering. Memorial commemorated with trumpet blasts – it is a call to remember something else – God remembering people or people remembering God? It says it is a memorial of a shout/trumpet blast (Lev. 23:24 KJV). Are we to remember some shout?

Job 38:4–7 – When the morning stars/sons of God sang/shouted…reference to Sons of God who were in attendance at Creation and shouted for joy – a victory celebration of conquering of chaos.

When the Morning Stars Sang Together by William Blake

Cosmos is macro-temple, so temple is micro-cosmos –- we can connect Job to Leviticus 23, so that singing and trumpet playing of Levites is equivalent to Sons of God singing and shouting for joy at creation of world.

Ezra 3:10–11 – building of new temple involved singing, and people shouted a great shout at laying of foundation of new temple—an echo of the morning stars celebration at founding of Creation. Also looks forward to founding of harmonious society on Earth in future. Praise of a people living in harmony with cosmos. 

Psalm 89 – puts King in cosmic position as representative of God. 

v. 25—given cosmic authority over sea and rivers =power over chaos. 

v. 15 – bleassed are people that know the shout, who walk in light of God’s face – they have a cosmic position – they are like Sons of God in beginning – trumpet shout w/ horn — in imitation of angels.

v. 19 – You spoke in a vision to your godly one = granting of position to David is a primordial act

At festival, God reviews creation – (Lev. 23:23–25) Rosh HaShanah

Temple music = Creation praising its Creator

Jill Purce

Jill Purce is the pioneer of the sound healing movement (www.healingvoice.com).  She is trained in the ancient art of chant and utilizes ancient vocal techniques and the power of group chant. This presentation was conducted in the Round Chapel of the Temple Church and involved a wonderful demonstration of chant and participation by the audience.

Harmonics, Vowels, God, and the Angels

Jill Purces' presentation in the Round Chapel -- from http://www.templestudiesgroup.com/images/Symposium2.jpg

King Arthur gathered his knights at the round table much as we are gathered here in the round chapel. 

Chant is a spiritual practice — it involves understanding/participating with the cries of all creatures — this is what happened at Pentecost when all could understand in their own language.

We are now “disenchanted” as a society — we have lost the unity produced by the chant.

How does “form” come into being? Sound creates form. Sound is a bridge between spirit and material form. The coming into being and the duration of being was anciently seen as a soniferous process. Every created form has its own sound.  If you sing the song of the wine glass, you break it. The sound of a thing has the power to take it back to its spiritual state. Sound comes down from God through the heavens to the Earth. 

In Indian tradition, Sheva creates the world through dance and the sound of the alphabet. Voice is a mediator between spirit and body. Sound is the key to creation and dissolution. Song is a longing to go home to God and become one with him. This is related to the idea of Atonement or Mystical Union. Song/voice helps overcome disunity. Song/chants change human physiology, leading to feelings of bliss.  Voice is a spiritual medium.

(She demonstrates for us a chant on one note, pronouncing all seven vowel sounds — her chant produces a rather amazing flute-like sound, which she refers to as “harmonics” — she mentions that harmonics are present because they are part of a natural tone, just as light is composed of various colors — modern notes, such as those of the piano, are flat, out of tune).

Domes, such as that of Temple Church, are usually used in holiest place because they are the place where sound resonates. Sound is brought back to the center — unity. Vowels are pure harmonics–consonants are disruptive and noisy. In ancient languages, vowels were not notated because they were considered sacred. Vowels cannot be unlimited, while consonants cannot be sustained. Singing involves extension of vowel sounds and is seen as inducing order and coherence. Speaking is full of disruptive consonants –noise, not music.

The vowels in the divine name–Yahweh–are important. This is emphasized in Gnostic texts (with their baffling long strings of vowels) –these vowels were to be chanted and have to do with the name Yahweh–they use all seven vowels. This is a chant.

“Amen” was also to be chanted using all seven vowels–an indication of unity/harmony: the restitution of all things. After chant there is to be a moment of silence, likely to give God the opportunity to respond.

Scriptures were meant to be sung –they were annotated with musical instructions. Archaic languages were structured in this way.  (Personal experience: I once had to do an oral exam for a Hebrew class, in which our pronunciation and rythm while reading a biblical Hebrew test was being judged. I chose a passage from Ruth which ends in a genealogy that is almost always sung/chanted. My instructor said that the part that I sang was the most correctly pronounced of the whole passage. I support the idea that the Scriptures were meant to be sung.)

Song = recreation. There are legends that there is a siren on each planet that sings in harmony with the others. Angels come in choirs, not flocks or packs. Egyptian priests sang a harmony of seven bars, invoking the seven principal deities. 

Instrumental music is a mediation between heaven and earth. 

Remember the destruction of Jericho by song.

God’s presence fills the Temple at the sound of unified music. Halelujah is a vowel chant calling on God to shine forth. “Shine, Halelujah!”

The Revd Canon Lucy Winkett

Precentor at St Paul’s Cathedral

The “Rest is Silence”: The Song of the Angels in Contemporary Worship

Cathedral worship/music is based on the Psalms and the Eucharist — this is the worship of the angels, which we join in. Praising the Lord is a high art. 

–Gregorian chant is performed in the Cathedral. Reconstructive performances of the psalms (by Suzanne Haik-Vantoura) are also used. Musical notations are embedded in the Hebrew text –scripture is meant to be sung, and thus brought to life. We shouldn’t see Scriptures as a written, bound volume but as the living Word of God. The Reformers removed the tradition of chanting of the Scripture readings.

Satan is the silencer–he doesn’t/can’t sing.  Satan seeks to destroy the heavenly song.  It is not possible to hear the song of the angels after the Fall.  Temple choirs sang vicariously on behalf of all congregation, Israel, and all humanity.

Babies scream and cry without losing their voice –our vocal apparatus increases in tension as we grow up.

Harmony = good; dissonance = evil. 

There is a strong sense of harmony and resolution in Cathedral liturgical music. Harmony is at the center of Creation. Music embodies and invokes joy, trust and love.  Silence after music allows God to speak–chosen silence, not silenced silence (of devil). Music communicates love — God says “I love you” through the music.

John H Wheeler

A student of Suzanne Haik-Vantoura and the reconstruction of the Psalms. Her American representative as the Director of King David’s Harp Inc.  Check out his intruiging website at http://rakkav.com/biblemusic/.

How the Hebrew Masoretic Text Preserves the Vocal Music of the Second Temple

The notations found in the Hebrew text of Bible are melodic, not syntactic. The music to the psalms, other scriptures was thought to have been lost.  Suzanne Haik-Vantoura spent her life reconstructing the music to the psalms and other scriptural passages. 

Sublinear accents are actually the parts of a musical scale. Superlinear accents are systems of hand gestures (I apologize if I’ve gotten these mixed up–I believe this is what he said).  All scripture was meant to be sung. 

He had us listen to Psalm 148 and other passages with their proposed melody and musical accompaniment, as extracted from the annotations in the Hebrew text.

www.rakkov.com/biblemusic — The Music of the Bible Revealed. 

Example of Prosodia -- Hebrew accents compared to musical notes, from http://www.rakkav.com/biblemusic/pages/thekey.htm

Accents/annotations help understand and remember scripture. Psalmodia and Prosodia. The accents are meant to represent hand gestures that are used to indicate tonal changes (you really have to see him demonstrate this to fully understand).  Biblical books from Genesis to Chronicles are all annotated with musical notations.

Scriptures are very harmonic, however dissonance is used to express severity. In Genesis account, the music is very “severe” when God is blaming Satan for Adam’s fall. 

He sang a number of scriptural passages, using appropriate hand gestures that accompany or signal tonal changes. This demonstration was very intriguing. He ended with the beautiful high priestly blessing (Num. 6), at the request of Margaret Barker.

Rick Huchel

From left to right: Me, Sister Huchel, Richard Wellington, Rick Huchel, Revd Robin Griffith-Jones

Rick Huchel is LDS and a long-time student of  the Temple. He is an independent research historian and resides in North Logan, Utah. Was employed as a specialist in temple matters for the LDS Church translation department. It was great to have Bro. Huchel as a fine representative of the LDS Church at this conference. His presentation was one of the highlights of the program. This presentation is a much abbreviated version of a 100 page paper written on the topic. I also recommend looking at Bryce Haymond’s related post at www.templestudy.com.)

The Cosmic Ring Dance of the Angels: An Early Christian Rite of the Temple

The Sacred Choral Ring Dance (or  prayer circle) has been lost. There is much evidence for the performance of such a ritual anciently in many ancient cultures, religions –including early Christianity. This was a temple ritual.

The purpose of the Circle Dance was to open up a conduit from the Holy of Holies up through the several spheres to finally behold a vision of God on his throne.

–To be master of time, we must first be master of space

Evidence of the ritual in OT, Babylonia, and Egypt – evidence scattered about. Writings of anti-Deuteronomist prophet Nephi attest to it. Matt. 11:16–17  – orcheseste –dance in ring or circle. Acts of John – Jesus says, “Let us sing an hymn,” then bade us make a circle and he himself stood in the middle (paraphrasing). “Hymn of the Dance” – Jesus prayed in hymn and those around repeated, saying Amen. 

Hugh Nibley cites performance of such a hymn according to Clement of Rome. Cyril of Jerusalem – Mary spread out hands to heaven and prayed in an unknown language—resulted in Jesus appearing in their midst. Clement of Alexandria – constantly repeated choral dancing, surrounded by angels. 

Induction into Christian mysteries involved participation in ring dance around altar with the angels.

Where did angels dance? In heaven – a cosmic dance that reflects motions of planets around the Sun. Ring dance of angels circles Christ. 

The Ring Dance or Prayer Circle has the effect of raising the initiate to Heaven – “There is no stirring above unless there is a stirring below”

The Dance is mimetic – 9th Century “Poem of Creation” from Babylonia ensures renewal of cosmic order –renewal of bonds of cosmic covenant –altar represents sun, priests make signs of zodiac with hands and imitate planets in circular motion.

The Egyptians believed this ritual was done to achieve everlasting stability and keep Chaos at bay (my note: this is the purpose for the song Abraham is taught in Apocalypse of Abraham). 

The ritual is a mirror of the original dance at Creation

The clasping of hands = union of elements; Gestures of hands = movement of cosmos

At the crossing of the Red Sea, Moses led men in song, while Miriam led women in song. Job tells daughters and sons to make circle around him and that he would teach them in that setting.

–Dance symbolizes ritual combat

Byzantine choros – was/is a great chandelier that is whirled at Easter at Mt. Athos. This is done to represent the movements of the cosmic spheres — chandeliers decorated with depictions of cherubim, planets, etc.  (for a modern depiction of this tradition, see these videos: Swinging Chandelier at Pascha and Paschal Matins at Mt. Athos ).

Although Sun is center of Solar System, the Prophets experienced ascension in geocentric terms – a geocentric cosmos based on the viewer’s perspective. Earth is at center of cosmic sphere (earth composed of land, water, air, and fire) – earth is at center of several concentric crystal spheres – the ancient seven heavens. Each sphere represents rotation of planet. 8th sphere is dome of stars (firmament) – 9th heaven is above firmament – 10th heaven is highest, fiery heaven where God dwells.

Musical scales –do (domingo), re, mi, fa, so (each stands for something specific relating to heavens) – these are the sounds/vibrations of the various spheres.  Music of creation/of the heavens was audible but its sound was dulled by sin/the Fall. This music accompanied the creation hymn – the “new song” is a  song of renewing the cosmic covenant. This song is a chant – the shout or song of sons of God at Creation. This music accompanies the circle dance. (I got the idea that the song, or chant, could be simply the repetition of words in unity). 

The Hopi circle dance is meant to open up a conduit to the heavens – specifically, the hand gestures open up the heavens.

But how can we imagine the rotation of the heavenly crystal spheres as making music? Ben Franklin made a glass harmonica (armonica or hydrocrystalophone), based on earlier “seraphim” crystalline circle instrument. It was a series of glass circles that played music.  (Huchel describes this as comparable to music of heavenly spheres)

Ben Franklin's Glass Armonica

Anti-Deuteronomist prophet Lehi  saw heavens open to see God on Throne – a conduit opening up from earth to heaven.

Circle dance as performed by Hopis involves a solemn chant—slow, rhythmic, solemn movements.

Psalm 150

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, no less, commented on the nature of Christian liturgical hymns — it is always a cosmic liturgy – human music must be in harmony with the heavens, the universe.

Prayer circle is meant to open a conduit through space and time – to move back to the first day of creation in front of throne of God – to participate with Morning Stars (Job 38).

Joseph Smith, in response to his prayer,  saw a “pillar of light” (or fire, according to another account) descend until it rested upon him.

Joseph called to realize a Restoration of Jesus Christ’s Church (renewal of all things)

            –He set up temple of God

 –at Kirtland Temple some saw a conduit of fire extending from temple up to Heaven.

          –Heavens opened, angels appeared, speaking in tongues

–Angels walked on top of temple –-reminds us of Jacob’s ladder

–A modern Pentecost at Kirtland Temple

–sound of rushing mighty wind, visions, angels, tongues, temple appeared to be on fire, pillar of light noticed by outsiders

–tongues of fire on each person

–One man claimed that he could not see the floor nor the ceiling of the temple, but all was opened and connected by this conduit. – axis mundi (it seems that he had a slightly different rendering of this term) = a spiral conduit to the throne of God from Holy of Holies

–many heard heavenly music

The ancient prayer circle was restored in Kirtland and Nauvoo among the LDS people. The ritual involves sacred clothing, ritual gestures, key words– signs and tokens of priesthood (Note: Huchel is citing published LDS sources here and did not include any sensitive material or details of sacred ceremonies in his description).

Theophany is the object of the ring dance — to open a conduit to see God on His throne and participate with angels in praise of God.

Dancing had its origin in the ancient temple. It involved an imitation of the angels in their circles (Ezekiel’s “wheels within wheels”). 

Professor at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music and Fellow at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He is a leading expert on liturgical music. Unfortunately, I had some difficulty understanding his presentation.

The Origin of Christian Chant

There exists a sacred bridge which connects Jewish and Christian religious music. Their chants are of ancient origin. A small set of melodies is common to both religions.

            –both use OT texts

            –Gregorian chants have a remarkable preference for OT

In Catholic tradition, psalms are sung during Mass, Epiphany, vigils, etc.

Hallelujah chant added as invocation at end of psalms.

Some hymns came from extra-biblical sources.

There are many parallels between Christian and Jewish chants–some Christian chants are so similar that it seemed that one directly copied the other. Their chants have extremely similar structure (which he proceeded to demonstrate with a handout and with audio that show similarity of Jewish and Christian–especially Gregorian–chants). 

Things to Look Forward To

The next Temple Studies Group symposium will be held on Saturday, 7 November 2009 at the Temple Church in London. The topic for this conference will be “The Holy Anointing Oil.” If all goes as planned, I should be attended this conference, and will again share my notes. To read more about it, visit http://www.templestudiesgroup.com/Symposia.htm#III

Margaret Barker has a new book set to be published by T&T Clark in November 2009. The title will be “Creation: The Biblical View for the Environment,” and will express Margaret’s views on creation theology and how early Christians would have seen their role in taking care of the world. Read more about it here: http://www.margaretbarker.com/Publications/Creation.htm