Back in June I posted the text of Frederick M. Huchel’s powerful presentation at the 2nd UK Temple Studies Group Symposium, entitled “The Cosmic Ring-Dance of the Angels: An Early Christian Rite of the Temple.” (If you missed that, click here. It’s an enlightening read!) I have now received word that Frithurex Press has just published the “long version” of this presentation as a book.  I highly recommend taking a look at it! Huchel has done some incredible research here, tracing the roots of this temple ritual from ancient times to the modern day. He presents much evidence that suggests that the early Christians performed and perpetuated ancient temple rituals that were meant to connect worshippers on earth with the throne of God and angelic hosts in heaven.  I quote here from the press release I received by email:

The Frithurex Press is pleased to announce the release of the book for which you (may) have been anxiously waiting.

The Cosmic Ring Dance of the Angels: An Early Christian Rite of the Temple, by Frederick M. Huchel

This book contains the text of the “long version” of a paper delivered at Symposium II of the Temple Studies Group in London, at historic Temple Church, in May of this year.

This book contains the full text of the presentation, which had to be drastically abbreviated for delivery in London,due to the time constraints of the symposium.

You may have read the abbreviated version on David J. Larsen’t site, www.heavenlyascents.com. Now, the full text is available. If you read and learned from Hugh Nibley’s article “The Early Christian Prayer Circle,” this volume will be a “must” for your library.

The book is available at

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/the-cosmic-ring-dance-of-the-angels—softbound/7409216

Thank you for your interest. An abstract of the book follows:

Abstract

In examining what can be reconstructed of the liturgy of the First Temple, and its apparent restoration in early Christianity, no loss can be more significant – or more poignant – than the loss of the sacred choral ring dance of prayer, which was seen to mirror the cosmic circle dance of the concourses of angels, in their concentric heavenly spheres – a dance which had the effect of opening up a conduit, from the Holy of Holies, up through the planetary spheres, to unfold a view of God Most High upon his celestial throne, in the highest Heaven, as chronicled in the experiences of such ancient prophets as Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the apostle John on Patmos.

The experiences of Joseph Smith, from his initial theophany to his translation of the experiences of Lehi and the Lord Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon, to the Pentecostal experiences surrounding the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in 1836, combine with his restoration of the ancient circle of prayer to bolster our understanding of the Biblical record, and provide a greater understanding of this ancient rite of the Temple.