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<\/a>Two new articles went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation. \u00a0The first of these was \u201c\u201cUpon Thy Belly Shalt Thou Go\u201d: The Garden of Eden Serpent Symbology Based on the Concept of Seraphim<\/em>,\u201d<\/a> written by Noel Hudson<\/a>:<\/p>\n Abstract: <\/strong>The concept of the serpentine seraphim from biblical iconography is discussed in the context of biblical serpent symbology. The association of the seraphim with Ancient Near Eastern kings, deities, and temples is noted. The concept of the seraphim as members of the Council of God is explored, and the possibility of the seraph as a symbol of Christ is discussed. These concepts are applied to the story of the snake in the Garden of Eden, and the additional explanatory power of the seraph symbol in connection with the snake is explored. Specific serpentine attributes are discussed in the context of the seed motif. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the application of this topic to the modern reader.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The second of them was\u00a0\u201cInterpreting Interpreter<\/em>: Serpentine Seraphs,\u201d<\/a> written by Kyler Rasmussen<\/a>:<\/p>\n This post is a summary of the article \u201c\u2018Upon Thy Belly Shalt Thou Go\u2019: The Garden of Eden Serpent Symbology Based on the Concept of Seraphim<\/a>\u201d by Noel Hudson in Volume 63 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>. All of the Interpreting Interpreter<\/em> articles may be seen at https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/category\/summaries\/<\/a>. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter<\/em> series is available at https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n A video introduction to this Interpreter article is now available on all of our social media channels, including on YouTube at https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/Qw21qqtJo1E<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Takeaway:<\/strong>\u00a0 Hudson works to unify the potentially conflicting religious symbolism of the serpent, which has been applied to both Lucifer and Christ. He proposes that the symbol, used in biblical contexts to describe angels, identifies them both as seraphic members of the divine council, with Lucifer as a fallen seraph and Christ as their divine head.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n This article from a previously-published Interpreter Foundation volume went up online yesterday, while I was busy elsewhere: \u00a0The Temple: Past, Present and Future<\/em>: \u00a0\u201cRuth: An Allegorical Reading,\u201d<\/a> written by Mack Stirling<\/a>. \u00a0We hope that you\u2019ll enjoy it:<\/p>\n Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in The Temple: Past, Present and Future<\/em>, edited by Stephen D. Ricks and Jeffrey M. Bradshaw. For more information, go to https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/books\/the-temple-past-present-and-future\/<\/a>. For video and audio recording of this conference talk, go to https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/conferences\/2020-temple-on-mount-zion-conference\/videos\/stirling\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe book of Ruth easily lends itself to an allegorical interpretation, which corresponds in many ways to the endowment. Ruth, typifying any individual or Israel as a whole, undertakes and completes a journey to the Lord, typified by Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer. Ruth goes from emptiness\/famine and the bitterness of family death to fulness and renewed family. As Ruth demonstrates obedience, initiative, and creativity, her ever strengthening relationship with Boaz (kinsman-redeemer) is betokened by intermittent gifts of food\/grain (word of God, spiritual nourishment) from Boaz, which go beyond the requirements of the law. Finally, after washing, anointing, and putting on special clothing and under the cover of a night-veil Ruth achieves union with Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer. Afterwards, Boaz makes sure there is no legal claim to prevent his marriage to Ruth, Ruth brings forth a son, and she is acclaimed a mother in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n In time for this year\u2019s Come, Follow Me<\/em> discussions, we at the Interpreter Foundation are calling attention to the series of short video features that we created in connection with the overall Witnesses film project. \u00a0Here are two of them:<\/p>\n Who Were the Danites?<\/a><\/p>\n Witnesses of the Book of Mormon\u2014Insights Episode 12: In 1838, in reaction to persecution, some members of the Church formed a vigilante group known as the Danites. Much has been made of this group in folklore and anti-LDS propaganda. What do we actually know about this group? This is Episode 12 of a series compiled from the many interviews conducted during the course of the Witnesses film project.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Episode 13: Plural Marriage \u2013 Part 1<\/a><\/p>\n Witnesses of the Book of Mormon\u2014Insights Episode 13: What do we know about the practice of plural marriage in the early Church? Who was Fanny Alger? This is Episode 13 of a series compiled from the many interviews conducted during the course of the Witnesses film project. <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n These additional resources are hosted by Camrey Bagley Fox, who played Emma Smith in Witnesses<\/em>, as she introduces and visits with a variety of experts. These individuals answer questions or address accusations against the witnesses, also helping viewers understand the context of the times in which the witnesses lived. For these two episodes, we feature Gerrit Dirkmaat, Associate Professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University. For more information, go to <\/span>https:\/\/witnessesofthebookofmormon.org\/<\/a><\/span>. Learn about the documentary movie Undaunted\u2014Witnesses of the Book of Mormon<\/em> at <\/span>https:\/\/witnessesundaunted.com\/<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n And, incidentally, Undaunted<\/em> is now available for free streaming at The Witnesses Initiative<\/a>. \u00a0We hope that you\u2019ll enjoy it and benefit from it and that, if you do, you\u2019ll call it to the attention of others.<\/p>\n Some of my habitual critics have mocked my expressions of concern about the current hit Netflix miniseries American Primeval<\/em>. \u00a0They\u2019ve lampooned me (in a revealingly rather sexist image) as a pearl-clutching hysteric, reminded me that it\u2019s \u201conly fiction,\u201d and sometimes written as if I\u2019m the only one who sees anything problematic and even potentially dangerous in the image of Latter-day Saints that it\u2019s fostering around the globe. \u00a0I\u2019ve provided a large number of links that demonstrate the contrary, of course, but here\u2019s another, from Barbara Jones Brown, who speaks with some authority on the subject. \u00a0The Oxford University Press book that she and Rick Turley recently co-wrote \u2014 Vengeance is Mine: The Mountain Meadows Massacre and Its Aftermath \u2014 <\/em>has just received its fourth award, the Westerners International Best Book in Western American History. \u00a0Here are some of her thoughts on the Netflix miniseries: \u00a0\u201c\u2018American Primeval\u2019 left this historian confused and frustrated. Here\u2019s why. The depiction of the Shoshone, Paiute, Ute, Latter-day Saint settlers, Arkansas emigrants and U.S. Army soldiers were far from reality in the Netflix miniseries, she writes\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n And here, just published, is an official statement from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> that, without explicitly identifying the miniseries, comments upon American Primeval<\/em>: \u00a0\u201cDepictions that Deceive: When Historical Fiction Does Harm\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n We attended a session yesterday afternoon in the Provo City Center Temple<\/a> with our longtime friends Stephen<\/a> and Shirley Ricks<\/a>. \u00a0Shirley currently serves as a member of the board of the Interpreter Foundation. \u00a0Stephen was one of my companions in the Switzerland Z\u00fcrich Mission and, for many years, a colleague of mine in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at Brigham Young University. \u00a0After our session, we met up with our longtime friends Ed and Eileen Snow for dinner at Los Hermanos<\/a>, which is located very near to the temple. \u00a0Ed was also a missionary in Switzerland; for a time, he and I overlapped in the Bern missionary district. \u00a0At the present time, having retired from LDS Philanthropies, he serves as the principal fundraiser for the Interpreter Foundation.<\/p>\n<\/a>
Wikimedia Commons public domain image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/a>
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/a>