Almost nine months ago I had the great opportunity of interviewing author Jeffrey M. Bradshaw about his outstanding (and very large) book, In God’s Image and Likeness (you can read that multi-post interview starting here). It is now my great pleasure to present to you my brief interview with Dr. (Bishop) Bradshaw regarding a new book of his that has just been released, entitled Temple Themes in the Book of Moses. I have had the privilege of having a look at this new book and I can tell you that it is exciting, inspiring, and contains many new and fresh insights that will greatly enhance your understanding of the temple and its purpose, as well as give you a richer appreciation for how much the Book of Moses really has to offer us.
What motivated you to write “Temple Themes in the Book of Moses”?
Jeff Bradshaw: My hope in writing this new book was that readers would gain a greater appreciation for the depth and sophistication of temple teachings—and the implications of those teachings for our daily lives. We are naturally drawn to the temple because it is a place apart where we can feel the peace and joy of God’s presence as we participate in sacred ordinances for ourselves and others. We take our problems to the temple and pray for help and guidance, and we also engage in group prayer for others with particular needs. These things alone are great blessings.
Often less appreciated, however, is the fact that the temple is intended to be a place of profound and very personal learning, not only with respect to the answers we seek to prayers about our immediate concerns, but also about our place in the overall economy of our divine Father’s Creation. Noting the magnitude of our opportunities in this respect, Elder Neal A. Maxwell once remarked: “God is giving away the spiritual secrets of the universe,” and then asked: “but are we listening?”[i]
To help prepare our minds and hearts to receive this divine instruction, we have been counseled to study the scriptures and the words of latter-day prophets. Allusions to temple themes can be found throughout these writings, but it is not always easy to recognize them. Efforts have been made to bridge this gap through books that explain the meaning of specific symbols used in scripture and temple worship. However, most of us not only struggle with the meaning of individual concepts and symbols, but also—and perhaps more crucially—in understanding how these concepts and symbols fit together as a whole system. The symbols and concepts of the temple are best understood, not in isolation, but within the full context of temple teachings to which they belong.
Chesterton has compared our position to that of a “sailor who awakens from a deep sleep and discovers treasure strewn about, relics from a civilization he can barely remember. One by one he picks up the relics—gold coins, a compass, fine clothing—and tries to discern their meaning.”[ii] The point is that the essential meaning is to be found not so much in the individual relics as in a true grasps of the milieu that produced them.
As Latter-day Saints, we have access to more knowledge about the temple than has been available generally in any other dispensation. As a result, we are in a privileged position to have “the scriptures laid open to our understandings, and the true meaning and intention of their more mysterious passages revealed unto us.”[iii]
Because its stories form such an important part of the LDS temple endowment, the book of Moses is an ideal starting point for a scripture-based study of temple themes. It is well known, for example, that the endowment, like the book of Moses, includes “a recital of the most prominent events of the creative period, the condition of our first parents in the Garden of Eden, their disobedience and consequent expulsion from that blissful abode, their condition in the lone and dreary world when doomed to live by labor and sweat, the plan of redemption by which the great transgression may be atoned.”[iv] What is more rarely appreciated, however, is that the relationship between scripture and temple teachings goes two ways. Not only have many of the stories of the book of Moses been included in the endowment, but also, in striking abundance, themes echoing temple architecture, furnishings, ordinances, and covenants have been deeply woven into the text of the book of Moses itself.
In short, this book, though neither authoritative nor definitive, attempts to highlight a few of the temple themes that once seem to have been part of a widely-shared background of understanding for scriptural interpretation and to apply these themes as latent interpretive possibilities for the book of Moses. Though many of the arguments made will, no doubt, someday prove to have been ill-founded, my hope is that bringing such perspectives into discussion will, at the very least, help in some small way to spur deeper study and appreciation of the book of Moses and the temple.
*Can you tell me how your Temple Themes book differs from the material in the “In God’s Image” book? If someone has one of the books, would it still be helpful to get the other?
Bradshaw: Originally, “Temple Themes in the Book of Moses” was intended to be a slim and simply-worded synopsis of some of the temple-related material in the commentary that someone like my mother could pick up and enjoy reading. In the end, it turned out to be nothing like that. Perhaps the sole bit of progress I’ve made toward my goal is that at least this book is short enough that my mother can lift it—in contrast to the nine-pound hardback commentary that many found difficult to heft and read comfortably. Despite my failure on this book, I am still hoping to get a slim and simple summary volume together in the coming months.
In writing “Temple Themes,” I was freed from the obligatory chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse organizational scheme of the commentary, and was able to bring together related material on a given theme that was often inconveniently scattered throughout the text, endnotes, and excursus sections of the book. Moreover, I was able both to update some of the previous topics with illuminating new findings and also to branch out into subjects that had not been previously discussed.
An appendix covers frequent questions on the relationships among Genesis, the book of Moses, and the Joseph Smith Translation, as well as issues relating to authorship and translation.
Of course, the process adding in over a hundred full color images and photographs, many published here for the first time, was also a delight. The great majority of these were not included in the previously-published book of Moses commentary.
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What are some examples of new and updated material found in this volume?
Bradshaw: As an example of updating previously-treated topics, I’ve added significant new material on the concept of the Tree of Knowledge as the veil of the sanctuary. Allusions to this idea, which I first found in rabbinic commentary and in the writings of Ephrem the Syrian, and the related association of the Tree of Knowledge with themes of death and resurrection, has proven to be much more widespread in the ancient literature than I could have ever imagined, not only appearing in the biblical stories of Noah, Babel, King Uzziah, and Esther, but also showing up in Islamic, Egyptian, Mesoamerican, and pseudepigraphal variations.
Once having understood the relevance of these sources, it is hard to imagine that the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge could have ever been construed as anything other than—obviously—knowledge! Whether speaking of the heavenly temple or of its earthly models, the theme of access to hidden knowledge is inseparably connected with the passage through the veil. For example, Jewish and Christian accounts speak of a “blueprint” of eternity that is worked out in advance and shown on the inside of the veil to prophetic figures as part of their heavenly ascent. In his final book, One Eternal Round (and, previously, in Abraham in Egypt), Nibley gave the “great round” of the hypocephalus as an example of an attempt to capture the essence of such pictures of eternity among the Egyptians, and showed how similar concepts pervade the literature of other ancient cultures.
Another subject that has been treated in much more depth is the vision of Moses (Moses 1). As you know (as a co-author of that chapter), the discussion in the new book goes far beyond what was included in the book of Moses commentary to include a thorough discussion of striking parallels in the Apocalypse of Abraham, as well as the first known publication in more than a hundred years of the full set of illustrations from the Sylvester Codex, a fourteenth-century Slavonic manuscript of that work.
In my opinion, one of the most significant new topics treated in the book is the question of how much Eve understood when she took of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. In light of the LDS understanding that the Fall was a necessary prerequisite for mankind’s further progression and our rejection of the generally negative portrayals of Eve in historical Christianity, Mormon authors typically emphasize her perceptiveness and interpret her role as ultimately constructive. A few have, however, taken this view to what I take to be an untenable extreme, not only rightfully exonerating her from full accountability for her transgression and honoring her lifelong faithfulness, but in addition arguing that, for various reasons, she was not actually “beguiled” by Satan in her decision to take of the forbidden fruit. One of the chapters in the new book is dedicated to correcting what I take to be as some misconceptions relating to this important topic that bears on some of our foundational doctrines.
Another favorite new chapter has to do with the surprisingly ubiquitous ancient theme of “standing in holy places.” Though this idea is explicitly found only once in the New Testament[v]—and that in a context that seems a difficult fit to current LDS construal of the phrase—it turns up frequently in modern scripture. In surprising echoes of modern revelation, the theme of one’s fitness to stand in holy places can be shown to be of paramount importance in the Old and New Testament—not to mention its particular relevance for our own time. Indeed, Avivah Zornberg has argued that to “hold [one’s] ground” in sacred circumstances is the meaning of being itself—“kiyyum: to rise up (la-koom), to be tall (koma zokufa) in the presence of God.”[vi]
In another chapter, drawing on the arguments of Sarah Ruden and LDS scholar Lynne H. Wilson, I counter George Berrnard Shaw’s conclusion that the apostle Paul was “the eternal enemy of Woman.”[vii] For example, in Paul’s description of the veiling of women during prayer, there seems to be no question of the woman being presented as a second-class participant in the ordinances or, for that matter, in eternal life, as some have erroneously concluded. Rather, by way of analogy to the divine radiance of Moses in Exodus 34:33–34, the veil might be understood not only as a woman’s sign of authority, necessary for her own exaltation, but also as a witness of womanhood’s glory, a glory that must eventually be shared with man if he is to attain completeness in God’s sight.
There is also new material relating to what I call Adam and Eve’s “temple work.” In contrast to frequent attempts to draw parallels between modern “secular employments” and the work required of the first couple in Paradise, I believe that the very point of the scriptural injunction in Moses 4:15 is to inform Adam and Eve that no labor of the ordinary kind was required in Eden so long as they qualified to remain in that place. In this view, any conception that they were to focus their energies on digging and pruning the trees of Eden is surely mistaken, since the account makes clear that “man’s food was ever ready at hand.”[viii] Instead, I argue that a different, and even more strenuous and demanding kind of work was required of Adam and Eve while they lived in the Garden of Eden. Moreover, I attempt to show that the divine injunctions given there to the first couple have not changed in their priority since mankind fell from Paradise.
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What is the relationship between this book and the weekly columns you wrote for Meridian Magazine during the first half of 2010?
Bradshaw: Some of the challenging questions raised in the “Temple Themes” book were first addressed in Meridian Magazine. Though some links and articles have been lost due to problems with a recent Web site update at Meridian, we’ve updated the links to this series on http://www.imageandlikeness.net so they can still be freely accessed. The new book has allowed me to correct, expand, and more fully illustrate the subjects treated in these articles.
Regretfully, I had to give up the weekly column in May 2010, due to a recall to service as a bishop, and the consequent reprogramming of my early-morning reading and writing time to nearly-full-time shepherding matters. My first day as a bishop, I received 79 email messages! Happily, my scripture study is still just as intense as it was when I was writing for Meridian—but my time and attention are now spread among many more topics!
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Where can the new book be found? What about “In God’s Image and Likeness,” now that the hardbound edition is sold out?
Bradshaw: “Temple Themes in the Book of Moses” is published by Eborn Publishing. It’s available at any of the Eborn bookstores and at Amazon.com. It’s in stock and available for purchase in both inexpensive black and white ( $19.95) and full-color two-volume ($59.95) editions at the FAIR Online Bookstore and the BYU Bookstore. Full-color PDF versions ($19.95) of both “In God’s Image and Likeness” and “Temple Themes in the Book of Moses” for laptops, the iPad, Kindle, and virtually any other reading device are also available at BYU and FAIR, as well as at www.imageandlikeness.net.
A four-part softcover version, of “In God’s Image and Likeness” is also available for $19.95/volume or $59.95 for the four volume set. It incorporates corrections of many typographical errors and minor mistakes of other sorts, and adds several new and updated sources.
The key thing in all these new publications was to keep them as inexpensive as possible. Unlike the now-sold-out hardcover edition of the commentary, we did not have benefactors to subsidize the cost of publication—thus some compromises in print quality had to be made. Though the softcover volumes do not fully match the beauty and servicability of the single-volume hardcover edition, I am happy to have both the book of Moses commentary and the “Temple Themes” book in print in editions that are as affordable as we could possibly make them.
At the other end of the spectrum, a handful of copies of the limited leather edition of “In God’s Image and Likeness” are still available for $5000 each—certainly out of my own price range! Twenty-five pounds in the clamshell box, with beautifully-tooled gold decorations adorning the fine English leather–certainly not something you’d want to read in bed, but it is reputed by Eborn Publishing to be the most beautiful LDS book ever printed.
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What are your personal feelings about the book of Moses?
Bradshaw: It is my firm witness that the book of Moses is a priceless prophetic reworking of the book of Genesis, made with painstaking effort under divine direction. While neither “complete” nor “inerrant,” it is a text of inestimable value that should be a centerpiece of our gospel study. With respect to yet unrevealed portions of the book of Abraham, a companion to the book of Moses, Hugh Nibley reminds us:[ix]
Important parts of the Pearl of Great Price which are still being held back include “writings that cannot be revealed unto the world; but is [sic] to be had in the holy Temple of God,”[x] “ought not to be revealed at the present time.”[xi] Years ago, when we cited some passages from what we called an Egyptian endowment,[xii] without elaborating, many Latter-day Saints quietly recognized their own temple endowment. Important things are still expressly withheld which “ought not to be revealed at the present time”; these include Facsimile 2, figures 12-21. For some of the secrets there is a standing invitation: “If the world can find out these numbers, so let it be. Amen.”[xiii] That was over a century and a half ago, and the invitation to search is still open.
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References
Chesterton, Gilbert Keith. 1908. Orthodoxy. New York City, NY: Image Books / Doubleday, 2001.
Maxwell, Neal A. “Our Creator’s Cosmos.” Presented at the Church Educational System Conference on the Doctrine and Covenants and Church History, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, August 13, 2002, 2002, 1-8.
Nibley, Hugh W., and Michael D. Rhodes. One Eternal Round. The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 19. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2010.
Nibley, Hugh W. 1975. The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment. 2nd ed. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2005.
Ruden, Sarah. Paul Among the People: The Apostle Reinterpreted and Reimagined in His Own Time. New York City, NY: Pantheon Books, 2010.
Sarna, Nahum M., ed. Genesis. The JPS Torah Commentary, ed. Nahum M. Sarna. Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society, 1989.
Talmage, James E. 1912. The House of the Lord. Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 1998.
Wyatt, Nicolas. “When Adam delved: The meaning of Genesis 3:23.” In ‘There’s Such Divnity Doth Hedge a King’: Selected Essays of Nicolas Wyatt on Royal Ideology in Ugaritic and Old Testament Literature, edited by Nicolas Wyatt. Society for Old Testament Study Monographs, ed. Margaret Barker, 55-59. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2005.
Zornberg, Avivah Gottlieb. Genesis: The Beginning of Desire. Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 1995.
Endnotes
[i] N. A. Maxwell, Cosmos, p. 2.
[ii] P. Yancey, introduction to G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, p. xiii.
[iii] Joseph Smith—History 1:74.
[iv] J. E. Talmage, House of the Lord, 4, p. 54.
[v] Compare Matthew 24:15.
[vi] A. G. Zornberg, Genesis, p. 21.
[vii] See S. Ruden, Paul, p. 73.
[viii] N. M. Sarna, Genesis, p. 18. But see the interesting discussion in N. Wyatt, When Adam.
[ix] H. W. Nibley et al., One Eternal Round, pp. 18-19.
[x] Abraham, Facsimile 2, figure 8.
[xi] Abraham, Facsimile 2, figure 9.
[xii] H. W. Nibley, Message 2005.
[xiii] Abraham, Facsimile 2, figure 11.
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