James Carroll, a PhD student at BYU, has done a lot of wonderful work on the temple and ancient scripture. He has a blog called Amateur Scriptorians that I recommend taking a look at. Most recently, he has done a couple of great posts on “The Language of Symbolism” (here and continued here).  James explains that the meaning of a symbol can change from one period to another, from one group of people to another, from one religion to another, etc.  For example, he cites the common complaint that Mormons employ “pagan” or even “satanic” symbols on their temples (esp. Salt Lake Temple).  When some see an upside-down star (pentagram) depicted on the temple, they automatically see it as an evil symbol, and conclude that we must secretly be devil worshippers, despite our protests to the contrary — and if we are not intentionally worshiping Satan, then we are “accidentally” worshiping him because of the true occult nature of the symbol, despite what benevolent significance we may attach to it. James points out that although in modern times the pentagram may have become linked to evil imagery, it wasn’t necessarily so in the past — the pentagram was used in mainstream religion and was even as a symbol for Christ.

Icon of the Transfiguration by Andrei Rublev (1405), now located in the Moscow Annunciation Cathedral

Does the above image portray a secret belief in the occult? Of course not.  James’ point is that “symbolism is flexible” and only means to those using the symbol the meanings they attach to it.  You can’t be “accidentally” worshiping the devil by using a symbol that some link to him if that is not your intention. In the continuation of this first post, Br. Carroll goes on to cite many further examples of God’s people apparently utilizing pagan symbols.  Many of the religious objects and symbols we see may see as uniquely Israelite from our reading of the Bible (the Ark of the Covenant, Solomon’s Temple, etc.) have very close parallels in the “pagan” nations that surrounded them. Does this diminish the authenticity or sacred nature of these symbols when it appears that the Israelites “copied” them from unbelievers? James does a great job of answering such questions in his post.  I recommend taking a look at it.

The other matter I wanted to call your attention to is a short series of posts by James R. Davila, Head of the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews, on his blog at www.paleojudaica.blogspot.com.  Starting on June 12, 2009 and ending June 20, Davila made several posts covering his trip to Naples, Italy to participate in the Enoch Seminar. The biennial conference was put together this year by (chairman) Gabriele Boccaccini of the University of Michigan and my former advisor at Marquette University, Andrei Orlov.  The Enoch Seminar is a prestigious, by-invitation-only, academic conference which convenes to discuss topics relevant to the study of Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins — Enoch is a recurring figure in the literature of this period, hence the name given the seminar. This year’s meeting focused on the current state of research on the book of 2 Enoch. Both Dr. Orlov and Dr. Grant Macaskill (University of St Andrews) are experts on 2 Enoch, of which there are very few in the world. One of the most exciting pieces of news to come out of the conference was a report on the discovery of  some new Coptic (Egyptian Christian) fragments of 2 Enoch, which has previously been known only from Slavonic manuscripts (which only a handful of scholars are experts in). Also, new fragments of the Aramaic 1 Enoch have been found on the antiques market and are now in the hands of scholars.  To read more on the proceedings of the Enoch Seminar, take a look at Professor Davila’s site (you will have to scroll down a bit to see the June 20th post and go down from there).

Having said that, I cannot promise that my notes will be a good representation of what the speakers actually said. Anyone comparing what I have written and what the persons actually said will be able to see how “creative” I was with my note taking. Nevertheless, and notwithstanding the level of my note-taking skills, I hope to present you with some of the great insights I was able to take from these great presentations.

James Carroll — An Expanded View of the Israelite Scapegoat

The Israelite Day of Atonement ritual involved two goats. Each had a seal on its forehead. One said “l’YHWH” (=to Yahweh) and the other was marked “to Azazel.”

It is the goat that is to/for Yahweh that is killed. It’s blood is carried by the high priest into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled before the throne of God.

The Azazel goat is left alive. After the high priest returns from the Holy of Holies, he places his hands on this goat’s head and sends it out into the wilderness. This goat is known as the scapegoat.

The questions is: who does the scapegoat (the one for Azazel) represent? Justin Martyr and Barnabas say that the scapegoat represents Christ. Clement and Irenaeus say that it represents Azazel/Satan.

It would be easy to compare the two goats to the two pre-existent figures involved in the plan of salvation–Jehovah/Jesus and Lucifer. The story of these two could be the tradition behind the Day of Atonement ritual.

We should also consider the story of Adam and the two penalties for his sin–Death and Expulsion from the Garden.

Other stories which display this same dualistic imagery include:

• Cain and Abel–one dies, the other is expelled 
• Isaac and Ishmael–Isaac’s (near) sacrifice, Ishmael driven into the wilderness
• Joseph–goat killed in his place, he is exiled
• Christ and Barabbas–Christ slain and Barabbas freed

Another example would be the Levites–they represent the firstborns of all families of all tribes in their service to the Lord.

We should consider the fact that the scapegoat was banished for the people’s sins, and not for its own.

Substitution is what is being taught. 

The goats should likely be seen as representing the penalties of sin: death and banishment. The two goats represent Death and Sin–they have things in common with both Christ and Satan.

The Atonement reverses these effects, which come from the Fall.

Dr. David Seely — The Temple as Cosmos in Josephus’ Antiquities

Josephus’ work, Jewish Antiquities, represents the Israelite Tabernacle as a model of the whole cosmos. He both adds many things and fails to include details from the biblical account.  Why does he include this idea that the tabernacle/temple is a model of the cosmos and where did he get it from?

–Important note: the tabernacle is nothing more nor less than a portable temple. Temple = model of the cosmos. Temple worship = cosmic worship.

In Josephus’ descriptions of the tabernacle, there are many astronomical images. For example, the stones on the high priest’s breastplate are supposed to represent the zodiac. The pomegranates and bells that hang from the bottom of his robe are supposed to represent thunder and lightning.

There are a number of sources that Josephus could have used to obtain this cosmic imagery.

• Ancient Near Eastern history and culture
• Hebrew Bible itself
• Hellenistic culture
• Philo
• Common Jewish culture

Josephus doesn’t refer to ancient Near Eastern traditions in his work. He also doesn’t refer to biblical tradition on this matter. 

The Stoics, a philosophical school of Hellenistic culture, believed that the cosmos is a temple.

Philo has two works dedicated to this topic, but Josephus does not follow Philo’s style.

Midrash Tadshe preserves Jewish temple tradition and although it is not a mainstream source, it is perhaps behind the thinking of both Philo and Josephus.

Josephus probably includes this material in order to defend the antiquity of Jewish ideas. The Jewish religion is the oldest religion. The Law of Moses is the superior constitution for mankind.

The “temple as cosmos” theme was likely popular for his hellenistic audience–it appeals to a Stoic-Cynic point of view.

In 1935, an ancient synagogue was uncovered which contained depictions of the temple. There was depicted Aaron’s temple and another temple. On the other temple, there was a mural that depicted the Zodiac. This was the Temple of the Cosmos. Many, as Goodenough did, thought that this was due to Hellenistic influence. However, this appears to be the ancient perspective of the purpose of the temple.

A depiction of the Zodiac in a 6th-century Jewish synagogue at Beit Alpha, Israel.

The finding of this synagogue presents possible evidence that there was a priestly/temple Judaism that existed alongside Rabbinic Judaism for a long time.