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With a weekend looming before you, are you afraid that it\u2019s going to be another interminable wasteland of playing Solitaire<\/em> and binge-watching re-runs of I Love Lucy<\/em>? \u00a0Take heart. \u00a0Bid adieu to ennui<\/em> and despair. \u00a0The Interpreter Foundation has your back. \u00a0Here are two articles that have appeared just today \u2014 perfect for the weekend! \u2014 on the Foundation\u2019s website:<\/p>\n \u201cWithstanding Satan\u2019s Siege through Christ\u2019s Iron Rod: The Vision of the Tree of Life in Context of Ancient Siege Warfare,\u201d<\/a> written by Jared T. Marcum<\/a><\/p>\n Abstract: <\/strong>Nothing was more terrifying in the ancient world than a\u00a0siege. Besiegers disregarded normal conventions of war and either utterly slaughtered or enslaved a city\u2019s residents. Nephi used siege warfare imagery \u2014 including fire arrows, blinding, and being led away into captivity \u2014 to teach his brothers the importance of holding fast to Christ\u2019s iron rod (see 1 Nephi 15:24). By analyzing this scripture and the vision of the Tree of Life in context of ancient siege warfare, we learn how Satan besieges God\u2019s people, cuts off their access to the Tree of Life, draws them away through scorn, blinds them, and yokes them with a yoke of iron. Christ, in contrast, extends his iron rod through Satan\u2019s siege, inviting us to hold fast to his word, accept him as our covenant family head, and join him in his work by speaking his word. Those who act on Christ\u2019s invitation will find safety and joy in Christ\u2019s kingdom.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cInterpreting Interpreter<\/em>: Besieged by Satan,\u201d<\/a> written by Kyler Rasmussen<\/a><\/p>\n This post is a summary of the article \u201cWithstanding Satan\u2019s Siege through Christ\u2019s Iron Rod: The Vision of the Tree of Life in Context of Ancient Siege Warfare<\/a>\u201d by Jared T. Marcum in Volume 58 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter<\/em> series is available at https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Takeaway:<\/strong> \u00a0Marcum argues that the vision of the tree of life employs the imagery of siege warfare, with Satan besieging the people of God with fiery darts of scorn and carrying away blinded captives with an iron yoke. Christ, in contrast, extends an iron rod to help us hold on to his word, allowing us to find safety in the kingdom of God.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The notion of the \u201cTree of Life\u201d has interested me for a very, very long time. \u00a0Back in 2011, for example, in what turned out to be the last days of the classic Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, which became the pre-2012-transformation Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, we published a book entitled The Tree of Life: From Eden to Eternity <\/i>(edited by John W. Welch and Donald W. Parry [Provo: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship and Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011]<\/a>. \u00a0(For a short summary review, see here<\/a>.). Here\u2019s a pr\u00e9cis<\/em> from Amazon.com:<\/p>\n No image of eternal life is more powerful or persistent than the tree of life. From the paradisiacal Garden of Eden to the apocalyptic New Jerusalem, the tree of life dominates the landscape, being mentioned explicitly thirty times in the scriptures and alluded to on many other occasions. From the temple to the cross, the tree of life invites all to come unto Christ, to become planted by rivers of living water, to bring forth and enjoy the fruits of God s love that are sweet above all else. This uplifting and beautifully-illustrated book contains original essays by leading LDS and other scholars including Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, Andrew C. Skinner, John W. Welch, and Margaret Barker that focus on the symbol of the tree of life in the Bible, early Christianity, and the Book of Mormon, as well as in Southeast Asian, Islamic, and Mayan temples, cultures, and art.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n For that volume, I did a piece on the Tree of Life as it appears in the Qur\u2019an. \u00a0It may be online somewhere, but my cursory search for it has not found it. \u00a0Perhaps, in the chaos and dysfunction that occurred in 2012 at the demise of the ancien r\u00e9gime<\/em> at the Maxwell Institute, it was never posted. \u00a0The old books were not valued \u2014 as a matter of fact, they were pulped \u2014 by the new administration.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s something that I wrote for the Deseret News<\/em> back in 2010: \u00a0\u201cHow Nephi understood the Tree of Life (and why the Book of Mormon is an ancient record)\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Prior to that, I had written \u201cNephi and His Asherah,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0for the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies<\/em> 9\/2 (2000), which was pretty much a condensed form of \u201cNephi and His Asherah: A Note on 1 Nephi 11:8-23,\u201d<\/a> in Davis Bitton, ed., Mormons, Scripture, and the Ancient World: Studies in Honor of John L. Sorenson<\/em> (Provo: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1998).<\/p>\n I regard the presence of this image in the Book of Mormon, in the particular form that it takes, as evidence of an ancient Near Eastern background for the book that Joseph Smith was unlikely to have dreamed up on his own.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Finally, as part of my continuing charitable effort to fuel the righteous indignation of critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> and of religious faith more generally, I offer here a sextet of appalling horrors that have been drawn from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u2122:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Church of Jesus Christ Is Helping Alleviate Global Malnutrition: The Church\u2019s ongoing efforts include a combined US$44 million to help mothers and children in 30 countries\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cLatter-day Saint Humanitarian Efforts Highlighted at Jordan Women\u2019s Conference:\u00a0Church\u2019s Director of Humanitarian Services Encourages Civility in Working Together\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cMassive, Deadly Hawaii Fires Affect Latter-day Saints and Their Neighbors: Church meetinghouses on Maui being used as evacuation centers; Latter-day Saints begin planning how to marshal aid resources\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIf You Like America, Thank Christianity\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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