From http://www.templestudiesgroup.com/Symposia.htm:

Symposium V will be held on Saturday 2 July 2011, 10am-4pm. Since 2011 is the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, the subject will be The Temple Hidden in the Bible.

• Dr Paul Joyce [Oxford] Images of the first Temple hidden in Ezekiel.

• Dr David Sheppard [Chester] The Temple hidden in the Isaiah Targum.

• Dr Scott Mandelbrote [Cambridge] Temple images in early printed Bibles.

• Dr Margaret Barker The Temple in Kings and Chronicles.

The Targums reveal to us what Jews thought, how they interpreted the Scriptures. The Aramaic Targumim emphasize that Adam was created from temple material   –   created from dust from the temple and the four winds.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 2:7: And the Lord God created Adam with two inclinations (y’tzarim); and He took dust from the place of the House of the Sanctuary, and from the four winds of the world, and [made a] moulding from all the waters of the world. And He created him red, black, and white, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And the breath became in the body of Adam a speaking spirit for enlightenment of eyes and attentiveness of ears.

The Temple is a place of reconciliation with the Almighty. Adam was created as a “speaking being”

–“Dust of the ground” – what does this mean? The defined noun “the ground” may be significant –

–Altar of earth (ha-adamah)  should be made – Adam created from the same soil as the altar, the place of atonement (Jerusalem Talmud)

–Part of Adam’s constitution was taken from the Holy of Holies (inferred by Targum)

–from Holy Place and also from all corners of earth –particular and universal – he is a sort of representative of all mankind

–Targums have a very positive outlook on Adam

–God “fashioned” Adam in Gen. – but Aramaic translator insists that he was created –emphasizing that God was not a second-rate creator – (cf. the Gnostic view) — He was the Most High

–Gen.  2:8 – Eden was created  before the world – miqqedem = ‘from of old’

–Temple is also created before the world (along with Torah and  Name of Messiah)

–Adam’s placement in Garden was pre-planned

T Ps-J, Gen. 2:8: Now there had been planted by the Word (Memra’) of the Lord God a garden from Eden for the just, before the creation of the world; and He made to dwell there Adam, when He had created him.

Adam was created on the Temple Mount –created to do temple service (labor)

–Adam created to keep the Torah/commandments

–he can act properly in the holy place because he is partially constituted by dust from that holy place

–No mention made of Adam’s fall at this point

–He is meant to keep Torah, but it is also the reason he is rejected, but it is by keeping Torah that he may return

–Targum interpreter knows of different versions of Creation story

–Noah offered sacrifice on Adam’s altar –  Abraham also

T Ps-J, Gen. 8:20: So Noah rebuilt the altar before the Lord. It was the altar which Adam had built in Eden at the time when he was cast out from the Garden of Eden; and on it he had offered up a sacrifice, and on it he had offered up a sacrifice; and on it Cain and Abel had offered up their sacrifice. And when the waters of the flood came down, it had been destroyed. Noah rebuilt it…

–These are details that are not in the original Hebrew – Eden continues to be important –service of temple takes people back to Eden (text

–Adam led into the Garden of Eden by Lord

–Sacrifices are made in Eden – we must go back to Eden to make atonement

Psalm 69 – rabbis claim it was uttered by Adam

–When the Targum was written down, the temple was in ruins(see text 7) – things to be restored in the world to come – restoration of Eden

T Ps-J, Gen. 2:15: And the Lord God took Adam from the mountain of the Service (pwlchn’), the place from where he had been created, and made him dwell in the Garden of Eden, so as to be serving (plch) in the Torah and observing its commandments.

–Gen. 3:18–19 – Adam cursed by God for disobedence – thorns and thistles, eat herb, sweat of face will eat bread – this is the food given to animals (herbs of the field) – King Nebuchadnezzar turned to animal – but by honest labor, Adam would eat bread –distinguished civilized from uncivilized. Adam is to eat food after the manner of the animals – because your face trembled, you shall eat bread – fear that he should be as the animals  — in Targum there is a prayer that he would be able to stand upright and labor – you stand in the temple, you stand before the Lord, you pray standing up – you can’t approach God on all fours like an animal – if you can stand, you can serve God in His Temple

–Adam is rescued from a physical fall, in which he was condemned to eat like animals – redeemed to be able to stand in temple

(Margaret Barker, in response to my question, says that the Book of Daniel motif of falling to ground and then being stood upright by angel follows this same motif)

–you shall stand up from the dust and then return to dust and then rise again to give judgement in the last day (return to the temple) Targum to Gen 3:18–19

–Israel in Egypt is as Adam was after his fall – their backs are bent down (like animals) and they are slaves to a foreign king – they are drawn out (of Egypt and from the waters of the Red Sea) and enter the avodah of the temple

When you don’t have access to the temple, you are in darkness.

So far, only two papers have been posted, but more are forthcoming.  The great news is that the full text of Dr. Margaret Barker’s presentation is posted (for my own humble summary of her words, see here). Also, Dr. Sebastian Brock’s wonderful paper on “The Holy Oil in the Syriac Tradition” is there as well (unfortunately, I have not yet been able to post my notes from his paper, so please check out the link).

I know that a summary of Dr. Laurence Hemming’s paper will soon appear as well on the Temple Studies Group site.  More should be available soon, so please keep checking the site for updates.  These papers represent some of the most excellent research available on this topic, and are highly valuable for anyone interested in temple studies and related themes.

The Consecration of the Holy Oils in the Roman Tradition

presented by Laurence P. Hemming

In the Roman Catholic tradition anointing is very important — there are several sacraments that are accompanied by anointing.

Also, there is not one, but three different types of anointing oil:

• The Oil of Catechumens
• The Oil of the Sick
• The Oil of Chrism

There is very little written on the origin of the anointing oil in the liturgy and even less on the theology.  There are a couple of themes that are predominant.

1. That the oil is associated with the olive branch that is brought to Noah after the flood waters have withdrawn.  The commentators claim that the olive branch is “in the likeness of a gift to come.” The language of anointing is a mystery — the point of anointing is to connect us to “futurity” or eternity.  The bird bringing an olive branch is not a symbol of some particular gift that would come in the future, but the promise of eternity — of eternal life, or “godlikeness” itself.  The branch that the bird brings to Noah is, symbolically, a branch of the Tree of Life.
2. The second theme regarding the origin of the oils is the tradition of making the oils themselves.  According to ancient tradition, the oils, especially the oil of Chrism, were made in the Cathedral, by the bishop, on Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter, commemorating the Last Supper), in the Mass that celebrates the institution of the Mass, the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.  Some say that this tradition came about in order to have oil prepared for the baptisms that would occur on Easter, but this is not likely the only reason.

The history of the three oils is quite complex.  First, the oil used for the sick could, in the primitive Church, be blessed not only by priests, but also by laymen. It could be blessed at a lay person’s home and kept on hand.  Only later on was the blessing of the oil more fully reserved for priests and later only bishops.  The oil was used not only for physical ailments, but more specifically for spiritual ills and its use was often accompanied by exorcism.

The oil of catechumens was also related to exorcism and was used repeatedly on adults preparing for baptism and at least once for infants.  Its history is much different than that of the oil for the sick, and traditionally prepared on Maundy Thursday in Rome by the Pope, and then elsewhere by bishops.  Since 1970, its use is not necessary, but is still usually used for exorcism before baptism.  This rite involves anointing the back and breast, but not the hands or face.

The oil of Chrism is different from the other two oils, both in make and use.  Its preparation involves a solemn consecration, while the other two are only blessed.  The Chrism is composed of olive oil mixed with myrrh (balsam), which mixture represents the two natures of Christ.  The Chrism is used in a number of different places and sacraments of the Church.

• Newly baptized are anointed on the crown of the head
• At confirmation, on the forehead
• Priests are anointed on hands
• Bishops on head and hands
• Altars, church walls, bells, sacred vessels are also consecrated with Chrism

In further use, the waters used in the baptismal font, after being divided and part separated for use as “holy water,” the rest of the water is further blessed by adding the oil of Catechumens (called in this rite, the “oil of salvation”) and then adding the Chrism.  The two oils together in the water are the mixture “of the Chrism of sanctification and the oil of unction or baptism.”

There is very little commentary on the meaning and preservation of these traditions.  It is difficult to trace their history.  Some of the oldest commentators seem to be using liturgical texts as their source.  We should take seriously the tradition declared by Pope Fabian that the preparation of the Holy Chrism and the unction was originally taught personally by Christ to the Apostles.  Those who are interested in Temple traditions will not find this hard to accept.

The earliest text regarding the making of the oils is the Gelasian Sacramentary, which is the same as the Roman texts that were in use until the 20th century, when new instructions were adopted and changes made that, unfortunately, have obscured its meaning.

According to the ancient tradition, the oils were made on Maundy Thursday, the same day that the Church celebrates the institution of the Eucharist.  This connection is not accidental, nor merely functional.  There are further connections between the making of the oils and the Holy Eucharist.

The rite of the preparation of the oils is notably different than a normal Mass.

• The bishop is accompanied to the altar by many more ministers than usual — seven deacons and seven subdeacons, and twelve priests — all in Mass vestments
• For the only time in all of the liturgical cycle, the prayer of consecration of the Mass is interrupted, near the end, before the final doxology (praise)
• The blessing and consecration of the oils is inserted at the most sacred point of the Mass, when the bread and wine are consecrated to become the body and blood of Christ.
• Before completing the prayer of consecration, the bishop removes himself to the side of the altar, washes his hands (they have touched the host), and then goes to make the oil of the sick
• He then returns to the Mass and continues to the point where he gives himself the Holy Communion

It is important that the oil for the healing of the sick is made before the completion of the Mass. This is a reduplication of the events of Maundy Thursday itself.  The healing of the sick is done before the events of Good Friday.  While the two other oils are blessed, the Chrism is made by confectio, confection, a term only used otherwise for the Holy Eucharist itself.  So, after the bishop gives himself the Holy Communion:

• The deacons, subdeacons, and priests are given communion, and then all leave to go to the sacristy (the vestry, a small room near the altar), carrying the oils that are to be made into the oil of Catechumens and the Chrism
• A hymn is sung and they there gather around the bishop

The symbolism here is that the bishop represents Christ, surrounded by the priests as the twelve apostles.  The deacons and subdeacons represent the seraphim attending the throne.  This represents, then, the idea that the Chrism is being made by Christ in heaven.

The Chrism is made by mixing balsam with oil.  The prayer for the blessing of the balsam refers to it as “a sweat flowing down from a felicitous branch, serving for priestly anointing.” In a second prayer, it is to be “a perpetual anointing for the sake of priesthood.” Some of the balsam and oil are then mixed and the third prayer then declares that this mixture represents the idea that man be “perennially returned to the double nature that he holds in singular material,” an explicit reference to the restoration of man to his original state and his deification.

The bishop then breathes three times upon the oil and the priests each do likewise.  At this point the rite has reference to Christ as the High Priest and the passing on of his priesthood to the Apostles.  The Chrism, above all else, symbolizes the action of the priesthood.  The effect of the oil is to bestow upon the anointed not just something perpetual, but perpetuity itself: the promise of the tree of life.  The word “joyful” is mentioned more than once in the accompanying prayers.

The Greek root of the Latin used here, hilarus, has the basic meaning of “to lighten or refresh.” When this word occurs in the Bible, it usually has reference to the face (Prov. 16:15).  The face is refreshed and lightened.  The prayer uttered at this point makes reference to David, who predicted the sacraments by singing that our faces were to be made glad, such that with the unction of this oil, our faces are made joyful and serene.

Why should oil on our face make us glad? This refers to the idea that face is made to shine when in the presence of God.  For example:

• The face of Moses shone when he descended from Mt Sinai after being with the Lord
• The Lord’s face shone when he was transfigured on the mount
• Those who go up to the Temple have the glory of the Lord reflected in their faces

The purpose of the oil is to make one fit for being in the presence of the Lord.  Those persons and things which are anointed contain within themselves a measure of the divine presence.  The priesthood is passed on through anointing.  The priesthood has the power to confer the power of holiness. The oil is the agent used to confer holiness.

The Western Catholic tradition is that the priesthood was inaugurated, in this new dispensation, on Maundy Thursday.  From this day forward the levites are not those born into the levitical succession, but ordained into it, from out of whom priests are chosen and anointed.  This, according to Catholic understanding, is not the same as the origin of the priesthood of Christ.  Christ was a levite by birth through his mother Mary, whose cousin Elizabeth was mother of the levite John the Baptist, but Christ was also Melchizedek, whose priesthood is eternal.

The prayer of the consecration of the Chrism is of great significance.  It begins with reference to the tree of life, how when the earth was created, it was commanded to bring forth fruitful trees — the olive tree to provide the oil for the making of the Chrism.  It then makes reference to David, who declares the use of the oil on the face, then Noah and the symbolism of the olive branch.  Like in the flood, our sins are washed away at baptism and then we are anointed with the oil that makes our faces joyful and serene.  The prayer then refers to Moses and his consecration of a priest by unction, after washing with water.  This prepared the way, according to the prayer, for the great honor when Christ was baptized with water in Jordan and then the Holy Spirit fell upon him, fulfilling the words of the prophet David that Christ would be anointed with the oil of joy, in advance of his fellows (Ps. 45:7).

So on Maundy Thursday,  which celebrates the events leading up to the death and resurrection of Christ, with the mixing of the holy oils, we are called to remember also his baptism.  The baptism is normally celebrated on Epiphany, January 6th.  However, as Margaret Barker has helped us understand, the baptism is where the Father informs the Son of his heavenly birth and standing as Melchizedek, the eternal high priest.  It is made clear that the inception of the priesthood stems from the event of the baptism of the Lord — the great honor that explains the meaning of the Holy Chrism itself.   Thus, Origen had objected to the celebration of the Nativity — Christ’s earthly birth, and favored the celebration of Epiphany, the heavenly birth and outpouring of the Spirit.  The opening of the heavens to Jesus at his baptism indicate his taking possession of the heavenly city. At that point, he took possession of what was rightly his.  According to M. Barker, the open heavens, the waters, and the vision of the throne of God are all elements of becoming a priest.

The significance of the Holy Oils, then, is that through the anointing and the action of the priesthood, we become part of the heavenly birth of Christ and the New Jerusalem.

After the completion of singing the prayer of consecration, the bishop bows his head and sings three times, “ave sanctum chrisma,” and then kisses the ampule containing the holy oil.  The priests sing the same once, genuflecting before the ampule.

There is much yet to be understood concerning the theology of the holy oils in the Roman Tradition, but I hope that I have demonstrated how it can only be understood in the context of a Temple theology, a theology of the priesthood that takes us back to Adam in Eden, ritually signified by the Temple in Jerusalem.

Speaking of coming from the U.S., I was so happy to meet so many fine people who did come from “across the pond” to be there.  I had the great pleasure of meeting Gary Anderson, Steve Nielsen, and Professor John Hall of BYU there.  It was also wonderful to finally meet Laurence Hemming and Susan Parsons, who, together with Margaret Barker and others, helped to organize the Temple Studies Group.  It was also great to see Dr. Richard Wellington again, whom I met at the last meeting here.  Richard is the co-author of the wonderfully documented Lehi in the Wilderness with George Potter.

The symposium was, as my title indicates, greatly enlightening.  The theme, as I have mentioned previously, was “The Holy Anointing Oil” and the presenters covered that topic wonderfully, detailing traditions of anointing from the rituals of ancient Egypt and the ancient Near East, Solomon’s temple and succeeding Jewish traditions, early Christianity, and modern Christian liturgy.

Margaret Barker’s presentation was first, which seems to be the standard procedure for these meetings — and rightly so as she gave a most interesting and amazing description of the nature and use of the holy anointing oil in the Temple of Jerusalem.  The oil was kept in a flask in the Holy of Holies and was used to anoint priests and kings — it was one of the secrets of the High Priesthood. It was meant to represent that heavenly oil that flows from the Tree of Life which is instrumental in the rebirth into eternal life (resurrection) and deification. Although the holy oil was hidden away in the time of King Josiah, it was restored in Christianity.  It is where the word Messiah, or Christ, comes from (some traditions still call it chrism), and so is what gives Christians their name (they are “anointed ones”).  Dr. Barker’s speech served as a powerful outline and background that gave us the “big picture” essential for our understanding of the following presentations.

The next paper was given by Dr. John F. Hall, Eliza R. Snow Distinguished Professor of Classical Languages and Ancient History at Brigham Young University.  It’s hard to describe how good Dr. Hall’s presentation was, and how much it helped answer a great number of questions I’ve had on my mind recently.  It really reinforced a lot of what I’ve been studying in my own research recently — but from a different and illuminating perspective.  Dr. Hall talked about Egyptian temple rites and the role of anointing in them and how these traditions may have influenced Israelite practices.  He gave a very detailed description of some of the different enthronement and temple rituals that we know about from ancient Egyptian inscriptions.  The anointing oil, put simply, gave the king or initiate the authority and ability to make the ascent to heaven where he/she would overcome death, following the example of the god Osiris, and be crowned and enthroned on the god’s throne for all eternity.  There was so much good material in this presentation and I will be sharing my notes from it (and also Margaret’s and the others’) very soon.

I meant to give only a brief overview of what went on at the conference, but I am still so excited about it that I am having a hard time keeping my descriptions brief.  However, since I will be subsequently sharing the notes I took here, I will restrain myself for now.  After Drs. Barker and Hall, we heard from:

• Archimandrite Ephrem — on the Holy Oil in the Orthodox Church
• The Rev. Dr Richard Price — on its use in Early Christianity
• Dr Sebastian Brock — on the Syriac tradition

And last but certainly not least was the Rev. Dr Laurence Hemming on the anointing with oil in the Roman Catholic Tradition.  I make more especial mention of Dr Hemming as he is one of the co-founders of the Temple Study Group, and excellent scholar, and friend of Frederick Huchel (whom I have mentioned a number of times on this blog).  It is interesting to note that Dr Hemming told me of his fondness for Utah — he has a good number of friends there and has spent much time there as well.  Dr Hemming gave a very interesting paper on how the anointing oil is used in the Catholic liturgy, which preserves much of the ancient temple tradition. I will, of course, be sharing my notes from his presentation, as well as the others mentioned.

I am grateful that I had the opportunity to attend the Temple Studies Symposium once again and am already looking forward to the next one.  Unfortunately, there will not be one this coming may, as there was last May, so the next meeting will be in November 2010 and will cover another very important topic: “Vestments: the Garments of Glory.”