Tag: Symbolism
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“Blindness of mind” and “rending the veil of unbelief”
The ideas I’ll cover in this post have been simmering in my head for quite some time. I occasionally have thoughts while studying the scriptures that I instantly recognize as significant, but which take weeks or months to develop into ideas I can actually write down. This is an example of that. “Blindness of Mind” This curious…
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The Garden and the Seed
This post explores the symbolism of the seed and the garden, relating the Tabernacle to the seed and exploring themes of new beginning and the conveyance of divine potential. It draws parallels from scriptural narratives and reflects on the profound covenant promise embodied in the symbol of the seed.
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Jubilees and the curse of Cain
This is a short post continuing my study of Jubilees. See here and here for background. Jubilees contains only a short reference to the murder of Abel: 1 In the third week in the second jubilee, she gave birth to Cain; in the fourth she gave birth to Abel; and in the fifth she gave…
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The Cosmic Mountain, part 5 (conclusion)
This post concludes the “Cosmic Mountain” series. The fundamental elements of the Genesis account of Adam and Eve are compared to key elements of major ancient world religions.
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The Cosmic Mountain, Part 2
Part 1 of this series is found here. At the end of the last post, I promised to connect more scripture stories to the cosmic mountain. Below, I’ll lay out key quotes from each of these important passages, and invite you to read the full passage on your own time and ponder the common elements.…
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The Cosmic Mountain, Part 1
Buckle up. This series of posts is going to tie together ideas from many different places. When considered together, I can honestly say this set of ideas is by far the most important thing I’ve gained from several years of intense study of the Book of Mormon. To understand the significance of the cosmic mountain,…
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The lilies of the temple, a follow-up post
What can the symbolism of the Star of David teach us about Jesus’ admonition to “consider the lilies of the field”?
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Wings of healing and protection — Part 2
This is simply a continuation from where I left off in part 1. It is just too much to cover in one post. So it’s better to read part 1 if you have not done so but I will still give a very brief recap: The Hebrew word, kanaph, is translated into words as diverse…
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Paneh (פָנִים): face
The Hebrew word for face would seem a quite trivial thing to make a blog post about, but I find it interesting for several reasons. Just like other body parts, face can be taken literally but also carry deeper symbolic meaning. For an ancient Jew, the face was also synonymous with “presence”. This is sometimes…
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Adam and adamah — Part 4
Here are the links to Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 I didn’t think I would make a part 4, but I keep coming back to these three levels of the state of adamah (Hebrew for ground/earth) Garden of Eden. No cultivation needed because the ground brings forth “every tree” (Genesis 2:9) Cursed ground outside…