Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
“The Handclasp, the Temple, and the King”

“The Handclasp, the Temple, and the King”

Last updated on: February 15, 2021 at 1:38 pm by Dan Peterson

“The Handclasp, the Temple, and the King” 2021-02-15T13:38:29-07:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Oakland California Temple (LDS Media Library)

I read just this morning that Latter-day Saint apologetics is literally soaked in hate. Now, obviously, that’s true of me. My perpetual rage and my life-long consuming hatred of all who differ from me — and most especially of religious faiths other than my own (another observation that has recently been made) — are abundantly documented and are manifest in everything I write and say. But I’m not sure that the same case can be made for Latter-day Saint apologetics more generally. I encourage you to take the links that I provide here below as a representative specimen and to judge for yourself.

First off, this article has just now gone up online as the latest installment in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:

Matthew B. Brown, “The Handclasp, the Temple, and the King”

Abstract: In this article Matthew Brown examines the possible meaning behind the imagery of the handclasp between God in heaven and the earthly king. He focuses on this imagery as it is articulated in Psalms 27, 41, 63, 73, and 89. He argues that Psalms 41 and 73 feasibly indicate that when the king of Israel was initiated within the precincts of the temple into the office of kingship he passed through the veil of the Holy of Holies (see Exodus 26:33) and symbolically entered into God’s presence.

[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.

See Matthew B. Brown, “The Handclasp, the Temple, and the King,” in Temple Insights: Proceedings of the Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference, “The Temple on Mount Zion,” 22 September 2012, ed. William J. Hamblin and David Rolph Seely (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 5–10. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/temple-insights/.]

And this brief piecewent up on the Interpreter Foundation’s website on Saturday:

Book of Moses Essays #42: Moses 1 in Its Ancient Context: “The Words of God” (Moses 1:1–7, 35, 40–42)

I think, too, that I failed to call attention to this item, which was posted on the Interpreter website a few days back:

Interpreter Radio Show — January 31, 2021

The 31 January 2021 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show has now been stripped of interruptions, archived, and posted for your convenience. In this episode, Martin Tanner and Daniel Peterson. discuss the informal witnesses of the Book of Mormon plates as well as the upcoming Witnesses motion picture. The second portion of the show was devoted to a roundtable discussion of the upcoming Come Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants lesson #11 (D&C 23-26). (You’ll need, of course, to filter Peterson’s seething anger and unsleeping malice out. But please do listen to Martin Tanner, and make your own judgment about whether his comments are literally soaked in hate. The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

And here, once again, are some links to past articles published in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:

Andrew C. Smith, “Hagar in LDS Scripture and Thought”

Abstract*: LDS discourse vis-à-vis Hagar has changed through the years since the foundation of the Church. Her story has been considered and utilized in a number of ways, the most prominent being as a defense of plural marriage. This paper traces the LDS usages of Hagar’s story as well as proposing a new allegorical interpretation of her place within the Abrahamic drama through literary connections in the Hebrew Bible combined with Restoration scripture.*

Stephen O. Smoot, “Help for the Troubled “Young Mormon””

Review of Adam S. Miller, Letters to a Young Mormon*. Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2014. 78 pp. $9.95.*

Neal Rappleye, ““Until the Heart Betrays”: Life, Letters, and the Stories We Tell”

Review of Adam S. Miller. Letters to a Young Mormon*. Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2014. 78 pp. $9.95.*

Neal Rappleye and Stephen O. Smoot, “Book of Mormon Minimalists and the NHM Inscriptions: A Response to Dan Vogel”

Abstract: Biblical “minimalists” have sought to undermine or de-emphasize the significance of the Tel Dan inscription attesting to the existence of the “house of David.” Similarly, those who might be called Book of Mormon “minimalists” such as Dan Vogel have marshaled evidence to try to make the nhm inscriptions from south Arabia, corresponding to the Book of Mormon Nahom, seem as irrelevant as possible. We show why the nhm inscriptions still stand as impressive evidence for the historicity of the Book of Mormon.

Julie M. Smith, “A Note on Chiasmus in Abraham 3:22-23”

Stephen D. Ricks, “A Nickname and a Slam Dunk: Notes on the Book of Mormon Names Zeezrom and Jershon“

Robert F. Smith, ““If There Be Faults, They Be Faults of a Man””

Review of John S. Dinger, ed., Significant Textual Changes in the Book of Mormon: The First Printed Edition Compared to the Manuscripts and to the Subsequent Major LDS English Printed Editions (Salt Lake City: Smith-Pettit Foundation/Signature Books, 2013); with foreword by Stan Larson; 418pp+ xxxvi; hardbound edition limited to 501 copies; ISBN 978-1-56085-233-9

A. Keith Thompson, “Fashion or Proof? A Challenge for Pacific Anthropology”

Abstract: This article is a call to Pacific anthropologists to write the story of the origin of mankind in the Pacific a bit larger and perhaps to look scientifically for additional explanations. Is it possible that the early diffusionists may have gotten some things right, albeit for the wrong reasons?

Royal Skousen, “A Brief History of Critical Text Work on the Book of Mormon”

***

Here I share with you some items that are quite unrelated to anything above:

First, a piece in Meridian Magazine by my economist-friend Mark Skousen that some of you might find of interest:

“Know the Signs of the Financial Times”

Some might find this Financial Times article interesting, too, since it expressly mentions Senator Romney’s membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For the record, I have some major disagreements with it:

“Mitt Romney is the model for a new Republican party”

Two very contrasting views of the pre-1978 priesthood restriction:

“Whether the temple and priesthood restriction was mistaken”

“Apostles, Prophets, and God’s Former Priesthood Restriction”

Sigh. I wish this weren’t necessary. But it is:

“Jonathan Neville sows doubt, blames others”

“Another round of Jonathan Neville vs. Royal Skousen”

“The desolate Heartland theory”

“Oversimplification again”

***

And, finally, here are two even more unrelated items, regarding vaccinations and the novel coronavirus:

“Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine sharply reduces symptomatic Covid-19 in the real world, Israeli researchers say”

“Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy is splitting dangerously along partisan lines”

“Whatever the cause of the partisan differences, vaccine hesitancy among Republicans could be quite dangerous.”

Please. Get your vaccination against the pandemic as soon as you are allowed to do so.

Uncategorized

Brown

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Interpreter Journal Latter-day Saint Faith Scholarship

Previous Post

February 14, 2021

Addendum 1: A First Pass at Some Notes on Pre-Islamic Persia

Next Post

February 16, 2021 Love in a Time of Tribalism

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "apostle" literally mean in Greek?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Sent one Friend Leader Writer