Event: 2014 Temple on Mount Zion Conference

via MormonInterpreter.com

2014 Temple on Mount Zion Conference

Saturday, 25 October, 2014, full day,
251 TNRB (N. Eldon Tanner Building),
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

The Interpreter Foundation would like to announce a forthcoming conference, the 2014 Temple on Mount Zion Conference to be held in 251 TNRB (N. Eldon Tanner Building) on the campus of Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah, on 25 October, 2014.

The conference focuses on LDS conceptions of ancient and modern Temple theology as reflected in the Bible and LDS scripture. There will be thirteen presenters:

• Carli Anderson: “Enthroning the Daughter of Zion: The Coronation Motif of Isaiah 60-62”
• Dan Belnap: TBD
• Matt Bowen: “‘I Have Done according to my Will’: Reading Jacob 5 as a Temple Text”
• Jeffrey M. Bradshaw: “What Did Joseph Smith Know about the LDS Temple Ordinances by 1836?”
• David Calabro: “Joseph Smith and the Architecture of Genesis”
• Shon Hopkin: “The Day of Atonement, the Mosaic Temple, and the Christian Sacrament of Communion: Links and Symbols”
• David Larsen: “Psalm 24 and the Two Yahwehs at the Gate of the Temple”
• Ann Madsen: “Temples in the Margins: The Temple in Isaiah”
• Donald Parry: “The Number ‘Seven’ in Israelite Temple Worship”
• Daniel Peterson: “Reflections on the Temple on Mount Zion”
• Stephen Ricks: “Prayer with Uplifted Hands”
• Stephen Smoot: “The Book of the Dead as a Temple Text and its Implications for the Book of Abraham”
• John Thompson: “The Temple in the Gospel of John”

The conference is free and open to the public, with no RSVP or entrance fee.

Report from the 1st Annual Expound Symposium

On Saturday the 14th of May I had the opportunity to attend and participate in the 1st Annual Expound Symposium, which was held in Provo at the Brigham Young Academy building.  For anyone who was there, I hope I had a chance to talk to you — I met so many bright and interesting people there. If you didn’t attend, I’m sorry you missed out on a great event!  But no worries, they are already planning next year’s symposium, which, according to current plans, will focus on the topic of temples.

The symposium was very well put together and everyone, both the speakers and attendees, were very well taken care of (we’re talking lots of free food, free drawings for awesome publications, no entrance fee — it doesn’t get much better than this as far as these types of conferences go)!  LDS author Matthew Brown was largely responsible for putting the event together and he did an incredible job of making it a very enlightening and worthwhile experience for everyone involved.  A big thanks to him, his wife, and also to Jeffrey Bradshaw for making this event more than worth it for me to go from Scotland to Provo to be a part of it.  I also want to thank my wife and kids for letting me go and my parents virtually killing the fatted calf for their prodigal son’s return (albeit knowing it would be very short-lived).

First Annual Expound Symposium in Provo, May 14th!!!!

I just wanted to alert you, especially those who live or will be in Utah next month, to the imminent advent of the First Annual Expound Symposium, to be held Saturday, May 14th, at the Brigham Young Academy in Provo, Utah.  I will be coming all the way from Scotland to speak at this event — and if that’s not enough to get you to come out, there will be several other (likely more interesting) speakers there as well. You won’t want to miss this one!!! There is no entrance or registration fee. Check out the following from the symposium’s website, http://expoundlds.com:

Mark your calendar!

The  first  annual  EXPOUND symposium will be held on Saturday, 14 May 2011 at the historic Brigham Young Academy building in Provo, Utah (only three blocks from the south edge of Brigham Young University). Come join us for engaging and insightful presentations related to the rich heritage of LDS history, scripture and belief. Drawings will be held for publications from some of the speakers.

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Presenters and Presentations

Kurt Graham
The Future of the Church History Museum

Ugo A. Perego
Is Decrypting the Genetic Legacy of America’s Indigenous Populations Key to the Historicity of the Book of Mormon?

David J. Larsen
The Psalms as a Key to Understanding the Rituals of the First Temple

Jeffrey M. Bradshaw
“Standing in the Holy Place”: Ancient and Modern Reverberations of an Enigmatic New Testament Prophecy

Mark Alan Wright
Nephite Daykeepers: Ritual Specialists in the Book of Mormon

David M. Calabro
Body Symbolism in Latter-day Saint Scripture

Larry E. Morris
“Such a Godless Place Would be Difficult to Imagine”: The Historical Setting for the Arrival of the First Mormon Missionaries in Missouri

Matthew B. Brown
Cube, Gate and Measuring Tools: A Biblical Pattern

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I really need to update my paper title and abstract, as my presentation will more nuanced than what the information on the site indicates.  That title and abstract was given months ago before I actually wrote the paper — but that’s my fault for not sending them an update.  I’ll try to do that soon.

I am really excited about this conference.  The organizers are great guys and I am very interested in hearing all the other presentations, which cover quite a wide variety of topics!

The symposium goes from 9am to 5:30pm. That may sound like a long day, but I encourage you to stay for the whole thing (especially because I’m not speaking until 3pm)! Seriously, I don’t think you’ll want to miss any of these speakers. If you can make it, I look forward to seeing you there!!

Heavenly Ascents News

Just wanted to give you a brief update of some things I’ve been doing lately.

I posted (a couple of weeks back now) some material over at The Millennial Star about the reforms of King Josiah and the Deuteronomists and how these reforms may have affected the theological themes found in the Old Testament we read today.  This post is based on material I posted here on Heavenly Ascents a couple of years ago, but I think it’s still worth sharing. You can see it here: http://www.millennialstar.org/the-deuteronomists-and-the-suppression-of-ancient-truths/

I was recently invited to be a contributor at Reviews of Biblical and Early Christian Studies (rbecs.wordpress.com). This website is run by Dan Batovici, PhD student here at the University of St Andrews, and a few other postgrad students at Cambridge and Durham universities. The main purpose of the site is to provide reviews of the latest publications in the fields of Biblical Studies and Early Christian Studies and also to give reports on important seminar presentations given at the respective universities.  I am honored to be able to contribute to this very helpful site.  You can see my first post here. I give a report of Dr Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer’s seminar paper on “The Geographical and Theological Location of Isaiah 40-55”.

Dan and I, along with Beth Tracy and other colleagues here at the University of St Andrews, are organizing a graduate conference that will be taking place in June, entitled “The 1st St Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies: Authoritative Texts and Reception History.” I will be presenting a paper on the early Christian interpretation of older Melchizedek traditions. You can read more about the conference here.