Last month I presented at the 2014 Temple on Mount Zion symposium on the Book of the Dead as a temple text. The video of my presentation is now online. My understanding is that the proceedings of the conference (including my paper) will be published sometime next year. As I re-watch my presentation, I realize … Read more
El sueño de Jacob by José de Ribera (1638). Genesis 28 narrates Jacob’s dream at Bethel, wherein he saw Yahweh standing at the top of a stairway leading into heaven. The answer, according to the Hebrew Bible, is pretty clear. (All translations from the Hebrew are my own.) וַֽיִּשְׁמְע֞וּ אֶת־קֹ֨ול יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהִ֛ים מִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ בַּגָּ֖ן לְר֣וּחַ הַיֹּ֑ום וַיִּתְחַבֵּ֨א הָֽאָדָ֜ם וְאִשְׁתֹּ֗ו מִפְּנֵי֙ יְהוָ֣האֱלֹהִ֔ים בְּתֹ֖וךְ עֵ֥ץ הַגָּֽן׃ And they heard the voice of … Read more
Alexander Louis Leloir, Jacob Wrestling With the Angel (1865). This evening I (finally) finished reading Terryl Givens’ excellent Wrestling the Angel: The Foundations of Mormon Thought: Cosmos, God, Humanity. (Before I say anything else, may I express my delight in Givens using a story from the Hebrew Bible to symbolize his treatise on Mormon theology?) … Read more