The Temple in Time and Eternity

by Donald W. Parry (Editor)

The Temple in Time and Eternity, edited by Donald W. Parry and Stephen D. Ricks, is the second volume in the series Temples Through The Ages. The importance of the temple to a religious community of the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean world can scarcely be exaggerated. The eleven articles in this volume are divided topically into three Temple in Ritual, Temples in the Israelite Tradition, and Temples in the Non-Israelite Tradition.

The Temple in Ritual section features Hugh Nibley's discussion on Abraham's Temple Drama, which identifies elements of the creation drama that appear in the book of Abraham and elsewhere in the ancient world. An article by Ricks discusses oaths and oath taking in the Old Testament. John A. Tvedtnes shows that baptizing for the dead was known in various parts of the Mediterranean world and in Egypt. In a second article, Tvedtnes enlightens our understanding of the form and purposes of the temple prayer in ancient times.

Richard R. Cowan, in the section Temples in the Israelite Tradition, traces the development of temples to modern times. Richard D. Draper and Parry make intriguing comparisons of temple symbolism between Genesis 2-3 and Revelation 2-3, focusing particularly on promises and blessings. Alan K. Parrish shares with us insights into modern temple worship throughout the eyes of John A. Widtsoe, and Thomas R. Valletta examines priesthood and temple issues by contrasting the holy order of the Son of God and its spurious counterpart, the order of Nehor.
The concluding chapters of the book, grouped into the section Temples in the Non-Israelite Tradition, include John Gee's discussion of getting past the gatekeeper (gleaned from various Egyptian literary corpuses), a fascinating study by Gaye Strathearn and Brian M. Hauglid of the Great Mosque and its Ka ba in light of John Lundquist's typology of ancient Near Eastern temples, and E. Jan Wilson's enlightening treatment of the features of a Sumerian temple.

Genres: Religion, Lds

370 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1999

About the author

Donald W. Parry, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls at Brigham Young University, is married to Camille Mills, from Las Vegas, Nevada; they have six children. He has served as a member of the International Team of Translators of the Dead Sea Scrolls since 1994. He has authored or edited thirty-three books, ten of which pertain to the scrolls and five deal with the writings of Isaiah. Parry has also published articles in journals, festschrifts, conference proceedings, and encyclopedias. He is also a member of several other professional organizations, including the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament, Groningen, The Netherlands, Society for Biblical Literature, Atlanta, Georgia, and the National Association of Professors of Hebrew, Madison, Wisconsin. Parry presently serves as a member of the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation Board of Trustees.

Reviews

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

some very interesting essays

[Sirpa Grierson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few really excellent chapters on temples throughout history. Interesting to read about the similarities between cultures and how temples sprang up in areas as diverse and geographically distanced as Egypt, Israel, Assyria, India, Cambodia, and China. Temples are set apart and often centered on a "primal hillock" as sacred spaces and introduce the sacred or holy into institutionalized relationships. James Livingston's book, "Anatomy of the Sacred: An Introduction to Religion" is an excellent study of why we as humans desire ritual in our lives for its social and psychological functions; even "rituals" as simple as celebrating holidays with friends and family, or at bare minimum, how we nestle down to read the morning paper or check our email :)

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second (and currently last) volume in the Temples Through the Ages series, following Temples of the Ancient World . I enjoyed this book more than the first, for a couple of reasons. First, there was no repetition in this book. The previous volume contained multiple essays by the same author(s), and the introductions would rehash the same foundational ideas in detail. Second, this book is less than half the length of the first volume. It was easier to feel I was making progress with this book.

I enjoyed all the essays in this book to varying degrees. My favorite was "Seven Promises to Those Who Overcome: Aspects of Genesis 2-3 in the Seven Letters" by Richard D. Draper and Donald W. Parry. This essay explored parallels between the seven promises in Revelation and the account of the Garden of Eden found in Genesis. It was fascinating to see the parallels between these two sections of scripture.

Other essays treated subjects such as oaths and oathtaking, baptism for the dead, John A. Widstoe's relationship to temple work, and the Great Mosque in Mecca, among others.

I was very interested to read an essay that compared the Order of Nehor with the Melchizedek Priesthood, centered on Alma and Amulek's mission to Ammonihah, but it didn't touch as heavily on Alma 13 as I hoped. I did find a reference in the footnotes to an article by Robert L. Millet that I would like to read.

The essay did call out something that I had never noticed before -- the names of both Zeezrom and Antionah, lawyers who questioned Alma and Amulek, have a metonymic affinity with units of Nephite money, namely the ezrom (Alma 11:12) and the antion (Alma 11:19).

Overall, a very satisfying read. I think I'll come back to some of these essays again some day.

[Joe Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few very good articles.

[Will]

Got this as a gift. Looks very good.

[Rebecca]

Lovely stuff