{"id":44493,"date":"2017-10-06T11:04:05","date_gmt":"2017-10-06T17:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=44493"},"modified":"2017-10-06T11:04:05","modified_gmt":"2017-10-06T17:04:05","slug":"halo-brightness-indescribable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/halo-brightness-indescribable.html","title":{"rendered":"\u201cA Halo of Brightness Indescribable.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Palmyra New York Temple (LDS.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A recurrent motif in accounts of near-death experiences is the peculiar light that many people have encountered in them, which they often describe as exceptionally bright, as intense but not harsh, and as somehow suffused with love and with an indescribable warmth. \u00a0With such accounts in mind, I\u2019m struck by analogous references from the early days of the Restoration. \u00a0Two examples will suffice:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw,\u201d says Joseph Smith in describing his First Vision, \u201ca pillar of\u00a0light\u00a0exactly over my head, above the brightness of the\u00a0sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.\u201d \u00a0(Joseph Smith-History 1:16)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

David Whitmer said that the experience of the Three Witnesses occurred in broad daylight, at about eleven in the morning.[1]<\/a> \u201cWe were overshadowed by a light,\u201d he told Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith in 1878. \u201cIt was not like the light of the sun, nor like that of a fire, but more glorious and beautiful.\u201d[2]<\/a> James H. Moyle later recalled an 1885 interview in which Whitmer \u201cindicated that there was something of a haze or peculiarity about the atmosphere that surrounded them but nothing that would prevent his having a clear vision and knowledge of all that took place.\u201d[3]<\/a> To Nathan Tanner Jr., in 1886, Whitmer spoke of \u201ca halo of brightness indescribable.\u201d[4]<\/a> \u201cAll of a sudden,\u201d summarized the Omaha Herald<\/em> that same year,<\/p>\n

he beheld a dazzlingly brilliant light that surpassed in brightness even the sun at noonday and which seemed to envelope the woods for a considerable distance around. Simultaneous with the light came a strange entrancing influence which permeated him so powerfully that he felt chained to the spot, while he also experienced a sensation of joy absolutely indescribable.<\/span>[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> See, for example, Cook, David Whitmer Interviews<\/em>, 10, 11, 15, 19; compare the account given by James H. Moyle at page 166 and the Chicago Tribune\u2019s<\/em> account given on page 175.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Cook, David Whitmer Interviews<\/em>, 25-26; compare page 40.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Cook, David Whitmer Interviews<\/em>, 163; compare pages 166-167.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Cook, David Whitmer Interviews<\/em>, 188.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Cook, David Whitmer Interviews<\/em>, 197-98.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It being Friday, Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture<\/em> has published a new article:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018How long can rolling waters remain impure?\u2019: Literary Aspects of the Doctrine and Covenants\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today is the fortieth Friday of 2017, and today\u2019s article represents the fortieth consecutive Friday this year on which Interpreter<\/em> has published at least one article. \u00a0It\u2019s the 272nd consecutive week, out of the 273.5 weeks of its existence, in which the Interpreter Foundation has published one or more articles.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

We offer these articles to you at absolutely no cost, but producing<\/em> them is not<\/em> without cost. \u00a0Although neither the Foundation\u2019s officers nor its authors are compensated, there are unavoidable expenses involved with maintaining platforms online, typesetting, page layout, and so forth. \u00a0So, if you would like to help \u2014 and we do need help \u2014 please consider doing so.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

You can learn here<\/a> how to donate to the Interpreter Foundation. \u00a0And please don\u2019t forget about Amazon.smile, by means of which you can have Amazon<\/em> contribute to the Interpreter Foundation at absolutely no cost to yourself<\/em><\/span>. \u00a0You can learn how to do that at the link that I\u2019ve just provided.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 A recurrent motif in accounts of near-death experiences is the peculiar light that many people have encountered in them, which they often describe as exceptionally bright, as intense but not harsh, and as somehow suffused with love and with an indescribable warmth. \u00a0With such accounts in mind, I\u2019m struck by analogous references from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cA Halo of Brightness Indescribable.\u201d<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    A recurrent motif in accounts of near-death experiences is the peculiar light that many people have encountered in them, which they often\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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