Dissertation Introduction, Part 4: Plato and the Apostasy

Just as Allen had condemned Kabbalah as Platonic, Mosheim and the encyclopedias also condemned Ammonius and Origen.  These sources went so far as to claim that these thinkers had corrupted Christianity.  Mosheim began the passage by declaring, ?A new sect of philosophers arose of a sudden, spread with amazing rapidity throughout the greatest part of the Roman empire ? and was extremely detrimental to the cause of Christianity.?  Mosheim then asserted, ?This new species of philosophy imprudently adopted by Origen and many other Christians, was extremely prejudicial to the cause of the gospel, and to the beautiful simplicity of its celestial doctrines.?  Ultimately, said Mosheim, this philosophy led to ?an unseemly mixture of platonism and Christianity.?[1]  Those who reprinted this passage reprinted these denunciations and Alexander Campbell in his introduction to Mosheim?s passage declared, ?Mosheim ? satisfactorily shows, that the first ?Theological Seminary? established at Alexandria in Egypt, in the second century, was the grave of primitive Christianity.?  Such, said Campbell, ?was the fountain, the streams whereof polluted the great mass of Christian professors, and completed the establishment of a paganized Christianity, in the room of the religion of the New Testament.?[2]  Mosheim and Campbell were repeating the popular notion that Platonism had corrupted primitive Christianity, a notion that Protestants had developed to attack both Catholics and Christian Platonists in their day (Chapters One and Three).[3]

Continue Reading

Dissertation Introduction, Part 3: The Alexandrians

The above quotes from Mosheim were descriptions of the same movement: Alexandrian philosophy of the first centuries C.E.  In addition to attempting to pull together all truth and entering the presence of God (similar to Smith?s goals), Mosheim said that Ammonius Saccas taught that Jesus?s ?sole view, in descending upon earth, was ? to remove the errors that had crept into the religions of all nations but not to abolish the ancient theology from whence they were derived.?  Mosheim went on to say that Jesus?s ?only intention was to purify the ancient religion, and that his followers had manifestly corrupted the doctrine of their divine master.? Mosheim suggested that Ammonius believed that Jesus?s followers had corrupted Christianity by removing truths that aligned with the ?ancient theology.?  Just like the Book of Mormon said, according to Mosheim, Ammonius believed that truth had been removed, and as Mosheim said that Ammonius believed that the ancient theology was Platonic, the truth removed by Jesus?s followers would align with the Platonic ideas found in the Book of Mormon and Allen?s Modern Judaism.  Thus, just like Ammonius, Smith sought to restore this lost truth: Mosheim called Ammonius?s followers the ?latter platonics? similar to Smith?s Latter-day Saints.[1]

Continue Reading

Dissertation Introduction, Part 2: Kabbalah

Christian Platonism is simply the thought and practices of Christians who drew on Plato either deliberately or who drew upon the long tradition of those who had done so.  Christian Platonists believed in philosophia perennis, the perennial philosophy of God?s wisdom that was found in many sources including Plato, that often manifested itself as prisca theologia or ancient truth that originated with the patriarchs and had spread through many civilizations.  They viewed Jesus as the ultimate locus of Wisdom but believed that Christ?s truth had many precursors and that Jesus had manifested himself many generations prior to his coming.  Plato and others could be a reservoir of the Word in the same way the Old Testament was.[1]  Christian Platonism had a number of tenets including pre-existence of the soul, deification, utopianism, marriage in heaven, universal or near-universal salvation, post-mortal progression, and marital experimentation.  Christian Platonists tended to believe in an animated universe with powers of an unseen world and in the superiority of that unseen world which was usually immaterial.  There were many varieties of Christian Platonism, and, as there was no Christian-Platonist church, the varieties differed from person to person.  Christian Platonists could embrace some of these tenets while seeing others as heretical or impractical.  Early Mormonism embraced all of these tenets except for the notion of spirit over matter, but even the importance of matter gained ascendency in a number of Platonic traditions including Kabbalah.

Continue Reading

Dissertation Introduction, Part 1

Now that I have my dissertation filed, I thought I’d post some parts of the introduction.  Here’s the beginning.

Introduction

?Mormonism is truth, the First Fundamental principal of our holy religion is, that we believe that we have a right to embrace all, and every item of truth, without limitation or without being circumscribed or prohibited by the creeds or superstitious notions of men.? Joseph Smith, letter to Isaac Galland, March 22, 1839. 

?Those real sages ? who were sick of those arrogant and contentious sects,[1] which required an invariable attachment to their particular systems. And, indeed, nothing could have a more engaging aspect than a set of men, who, abandoning all cavil and all prejudices in favour of any party, professed searching after the truth alone, were ready to adopt, from all the different systems and sects such tenets as they thought agreeable to it.? Johann Lorenz von Mosheim, discussing Alexandrian Platonism in the first centuries C.E. and its influence on Alexandrian Christianity, Ecclesiastical History, 1:138.

?[If the] Presbyterians [have] any truth, embrace that. Baptist. Methodist &c. get all the good in the world, [and] come out a pure Mormon.? Joseph Smith, sermon, July 23, 1843.

?These sages were of opinion that true philosophy, the greatest and most salutary gift of God to mortals was scattered in various portions through all the different sects; and it was, consequently, the duty of every wise man, and more especially of every Christian doctor to gather it from the several corners where it lay dispersed.? Mosheim discussing early Alexandrian Christians including Clement of Alexandria, Ecclesiastical History, 1:139.

?I cannot believe in any of the creeds of the different denominations, because they all have some things in them I cannot subscribe to though all of them have some thruth [sic]. but I want to come up into the presence of God & learn all things but the creeds set up stakes, & say hitherto shalt thou come, & no further.?which I cannot subscribe to.? Joseph Smith, sermon, October 15, 1843.

?They were to raise above all terrestrial things, by the towering efforts of holy contemplation, those souls whose origin was celestial and divine ? that thus, in this life, they might enjoy communion with the Supreme Being, and ascend after death, active and unencumbered, to the universal Parent, to live in his presence for ever.? Mosheim, discussing Alexandrian Christian Platonist Ammonius Saccus and his Neoplatonic followers, Ecclesiastical History, 1:142.

Comparing statements from Joseph Smith to the views of early Christian Platonists in Alexandria, particularly one named Ammonius Saccas (c. 175-250), as discussed in Mosheim?s Ecclesiastical History, a popular book that Smith likely owned, highlights important themes in this dissertation.[2] Smith, like the early Christian Platonists described by Mosheim, said that he sought the truth from eclectic sources and also stated his motivation for such a quest: to come into the presence of God.

Continue Reading

The Secret Tradition, Part 10: Joseph Smith

In 1843, Joseph Smith taught, ?If a man gets the fulness of God, he has to get [it] in the same way that Jesus Christ obtain[ed] it & that was by keeping all the ordinances of the house of the Lord.?[1]  Here Smith suggested that Jesus had undergone the same rites that would be performed in the Nauvoo Temple.  Again, Morton Smith and others have argued that Jesus did perform some kind of higher rite and that such continued to be performed, particularly in late second-century Alexandria.  Such a rite likely had elements in common with rites described in Judeo-Christian apocalypses, mysteries (particularly Eleusis), and Platonism, and pieces of the rite may have had echoes in parts of the Catholic liturgy (particularly baptism) and theurgy.  So if Joseph Smith attempted to piece together this lost rite based on all these elements (apocalypses, mysteries, Plato, Catholic rites, and theurgy),[2] he would have been on the right track.

[1] June 11, 1843, Words of Joseph Smith, 212.

[2] A forthcoming dissertation claims that the endowment had these elements.

The Secret Tradition, Part 9: Theurgy

Here I continue this series that discusses the possibility of a higher rite of initiation in early Christianity that may have had similarities to the apocalypses, the mysteries, and perhaps some Plato.  Clement of Alexandria gave a number of hints in these directions.  Alexandria also gave rise to Neoplatonism and Christian Platonists and Neoplatonists were often in the same circles.  For instance, Plotinus, considered the founder of Neoplatonism, had the same tutor as Origen, a man named Ammonius Saccas.  Furthermore, the Neoplatonists would begin to practice their own secret deifying rite: theurgy.  Dominic O?Meara defines theurgy as ?a process for making man god.?[1]

Continue Reading

What Did You Read on Your Mission?

Ben S.’s post at Times and Seasons about expanding the missionary library and the subsequent discussion made me wonder what other missions were like in terms of what kinds of texts were available.  I ask because there wasn’t a whole lot available in my mission beyond the mission library.  The Work and the Glory  was somewhat popular but even that was eventually discouraged by the mission president.  I heard about Nibley but I wasn’t aware of any missionaries reading him.  Some Skousen made the rounds (tapes and books).  Extra reading material seemed to consist of Mormon Doctrine and Lectures on Faith and a few pamphlets.  Those who wanted to do extra study would study that stuff.  To make it through Talmage was considered a bit of a feat.  Truman Madsen’s Joseph Smith lectures didn’t even circulate on my mission.

I did like to study but focussed on the scripture and Talmage.  I wasn’t too impressed with the Skousen that I got ahold of and I developed the opinion that a lot of the “extra” stuff was problematic (I viewed McConkie in the same light).  My favorite area in terms of reading was my last.  The missionaries had converted a Jehovah’s Witness and he gave them his library of stuff, about 10 books.  I really liked learning about other religions, so that was fun.  Also in that area, we tracked into a Muslim who gave us a book explaining Islam.  I really liked that.  Other than some books my folks sent me for refuting anti-Mormon augments, not much else.

So what did you read on your mission and what was the culture like for passing around texts?  What kinds of texts circulated?  If you read a lot of extra stuff, how did you get a hold of it?

Depression and Missionary Work: Confessions of a Suicidal Would Be Missionary

My apologies to my blogger mates for a post that has nothing to do with Mormon history, but all the talk about missionaries coming home for psychological stuff and mission stories sort of made me want to share this.

My depression problem kicked in at the beginning of my junior year of high school.  I first started noticing it at church (though I didn’t think of it as depression at the time).  I would get very sad and I didn’t know why.  So as I would walk home from church I would try to figure out why I was sad and examine my life to see what was wrong with it.  Doing so I figured that various trivial things were really very important which made me more and more sad.  Over the months I went into a downward spiral.  After school every day I would hide in the bathroom and cry for about an hour (I tried my best to keep all this hidden, boys crying? shameful!).  It got worse and worse and I became more and more fixated on suicide.

Continue Reading

The Secret Tradition, Part 8: The Loss of the Tradition and the Disciplina Arcani

The secret ritual that Jesus used to initiate his followers, argues Morton Smith, may have been ?limited to a few, shut away from the rest by special requirements, and at last quietly forgotten.?[1]  Both Morton Smith and Scott Brown argue that Clement of Alexandria may have taken Secret Mark with him when he fled Alexandria during the Severus persecution of 200 CE.[2]  Origen who was a teenager at the time of the persecution and who may have been Clement?s pupil, says nothing of Secret Mark and had a very different notion of the secret tradition than did Clement.  For Origen, the secret teachings were found hidden in the scriptures?one just had to know how to find them?rather then being a secret initiation.[3]  Since Origen was a teenager when Clement left, he likely would have been too young to be initiated before Clement left, and if Clement took the letter with him, perhaps the higher initiation was no longer performed in Alexandria after Clement left.[4]

Continue Reading

Job Opening: BYU’s Department of Church History and Doctrine

Our friends at BYU’s Department of Church History and Doctrine are looking for another recruit. Full information and application here. Relevant details can be found below.

Position Title: Faculty Church History & Doctrine

Beginning Date: Fall 2015

Qualifications: PhD or equivalent degree completed prior to application from an accredited institution of higher learning, preferably in history, religious studies, or other related field; Special emphasis on ability to teach and research mid-to-late nineteenth and twentieth century Church history; show evidence of training and skill in research and scholarly writing, preferably with a record of peer-reviewed publications in high quality academic venues; show evidence of ability to teach Doctrine and Covenants and Latter-day Saint history (CES courses); previous university-level teaching experience; be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and observe standards of conduct consistent with qualifying for temple privileges.

Duties/Responsibilities: Teach assigned classes in Church History & Doctrine, especially the Doctrine and Covenants (8-10 credit hours per semester, 4 credit hours per spring or summer term). Classroom instructions must be both intellectually rigorous and spiritually strengthening and consistent with acceptable academic standards. Mentor students; serve on university, college, and/or department committees or other assignments in professional or academic associations. Be a contributing and collegial team player. Continually engage in scholarly research and writing, as evidenced by regular publishing in high quality top-tier venues.

Deadline: August 31, 2014