“The Reassuring Doctrine of the Resurrection”

My wife’s remarkable father turned ninety-eight at the end of December.  Up to just a few months ago, he had been living on his own, in the house that he had shared with my mother-in-law until her death in 2013.  He died at 9:30 this morning.  He was ready, in fact he was eager, to go.  But we will miss him very, very much.

Posted just today, a new article in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:  ““Our Hands Have Handled”: Ensuring the Reassuring Doctrine of the Resurrection in the Lucan and Johannine Writings,” written by Matthew L. Bowen

Abstract: The Lucan and Johannine writings emphasize the literalness and physicality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This emphasis does not represent an emerging Christology from an earlier, inchoate conception of Jesus and the meaning of his life. Rather, it reflects an effort to defend the doctrine of the resurrection—of Christ and humanity—against the increasing cultural and intellectual pressures of middle Platonism. Nephi’s vision of the tree of life, which included seeing a “great and abominable church” and its formation among “the nations of the Gentiles” (1 Nephi 13:4–9) matches well with late first- and second-century apostate movements that “made war” with the saints and “overcame” many of them (Revelation 13:7). A conspicuous feature of some movements at that time is the denial of the literal, physically resurrected Jesus Christ and the resurrection of all humanity from the dead. The widespread distortion of Christ’s resurrection and opposition to the concept of bodily resurrection continues to the present.

Also posted on Interpreter’s website today:  “Interpreting Interpreter: Handled by Hands,” written by Kyler Rasmussen

Also on the Interpreter Foundation’s website, a chapter reprint went up yesterday (Thursday).  It is The Temple: Past, Present and Future: “From Temple to Church: Defining Sacred Space in the Near East,” and it was written by David Calabro:

Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in The Temple: Past, Present and Future, edited by Stephen D. Ricks and Jeffrey M. Bradshaw. For more information, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/the-temple-past-present-and-future/. For video and audio recording of this conference talk, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/conferences/2020-temple-on-mount-zion-conference/videos/calabro/.

“In this paper, I propose to revisit the question posed by Hugh Nibley, “What Is a Temple?” in Mormonism and Early Christianity (Salt Lake City and Provo, 1987), 355-90, and by John Lundquist, “What Is a Temple? A Preliminary Typology,” in Temples of the Ancient World, ed. Donald Parry (Salt Lake City and Provo, 1994), 83-117. This study has two parts: (1) to address the general issue of typology in light of ancient temples that challenge the points made by Nibley and Lundquist; and (2) to apply this refined understanding of temples to the issue with which Nibley’s essay began, namely the Early Christian transition from temple-based Judaism to the Constantinian basilica of the fourth century. I will argue that some Christians of the second and early third centuries did have places of worship that, while not monumental in scale, qualify typologically as temples and were understood as such. In support of this thesis, I will take as case studies the Christian places of worship at ancient Edessa and Dura Europos, based on a combination of textual sources and archaeological remains.”

As we enter into a Come, Follow Me curriculum year focused on the Doctrine and Covenants and Church history, one of the earliest topics — set for February — will be the translation of the Book of Mormon and the witnesses to the Book of Mormon.  The Interpreter Foundation has prepared materials that are ideal as supplements to the suggested readings, for both students and teachers.  Here is one small item from our long list:  Episode 4: Joseph Smith: Man, Prophet—or Both?