Click to see the flyer with schedule

The 42nd Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium this year will be focused on the topic of the temple, specifically “Ascending the Mountain of the Lord: Temple, Praise, and Worship in the Old Testament.”  It will be held on Saturday, October 26, 2013, in the Joseph Smith Building (JSB) auditorium and adjacent buildings at BYU in Provo, Utah.  Admission is free, and no registration required.  It is open to the general public.

Below is a comprehensive list of all the scholars presenting and their topics.  It is a smorgasbord of fantastic scholarship that will be presented on the temple.  There will be seven concurrent sessions going on, so you’ll need to pick and choose very carefully which presentations to attend.  Fortunately, many of the papers will be published.

• Andrew C. Skinner – Seeing God in His Temple: A Significant Theme in Israel’s Psalms
• Amy B. Hardison – Theophany on Sinai
• David Calabro – Gestures of Praise: Lifting and Spreading the Hands in Biblical Prayer
• David J. Larsen – Angels Among Us: The Use of Old Testament Passages as Inspiration for Temple Themes in the Dead Sea Scrolls
• John Hilton III – Old Testament Psalms in the Book of Mormon
• Kerry Muhlestein – Darkness, Light, and the Lord: Elements of Israelite Theophanies
• Matthew Porter Wilcox – Worship Through Sacrifice in Leviticus 1-7: Animals, the Atonement, and Us
• Dana M. Pike – “I Will Bless the lord at All Times”: Blessing God in the Old Testament
• Jeffrey M. Bradshaw – The Tree of Knowledge as the Veil of the Sanctuary
• Matthew Bowen – “In the Mount of the Lord It Shall be Seen” and “Provided”: Theophany and Sacrifice as the Etiological Foundation of the Temple in Israelite and Latter-day Saint Tradition
• Jared M. Halverson – Rejection and Rehabilitation of Worship in the Old Testament
• Kenneth L. Alford, D. Bryce Baker – Parallels between Psalms 25-31 and the Psalm of Nephi
• Jeffrey R. Chadwick – The Great Jerusalem Temple Prophecy–Latter-day Context and Likening Unto Us
• Lynne Hilton Wilson – Holy of Holies: Entering into the Presence of the Lord
• Kent P. Jackson – The Old Testament and Easter
• Ann Madsen – Solomon’s Temple: A Virtual View and Assessment of Its Physical Appearance and Purpose
• Alonzo L. Gaskill – Clothed in Holy Garments: Apparel of the Temple Officiants of Ancient Israel
• Jennifer C. Lane – Worship: Bowing Down and Serving the Lord
• Todd A. Knowles – Standing in Holy Places
• David A. LeFevre – “Give Me Right Word, O Lord:” The JST Changes in the Psalms
• Jacob Rennaker – Up, Up, and Away!: Understanding Sacred Space in Ezekiel’s Temple Vision
• Avram R. Shannon – “Come Near Unto Me”: Guarded Space and its Mediators in the Jerusalem Temple
• Richard O. Cowan – What Old Testament Temples can Teach Us About Our Own Temple Activity
• Alex Douglas – The Garden of Eden, the Ancient Temple, and Receiving a New Name
• Julie M. Smith – “The Lord . . . Bringeth Low, and Lifteth Up”: Hannah, Eli, and the Temple
• Shon D. Hopkin, Arden Hopkin – The Psalms Sung: The Power of Music in Sacred Worship
• John S. Thompson – The Context of Temple Worship: Early Ancient Egyptian Rites
• Taylor Halverson – Isaiah 56, Abraham, and the Stranger

More information can be found at the BYU Religious Education website, and the Religious Studies Center.

Upcoming Sperry Symposium Focuses on the Temple