Teaching As The
Savior Taught: A Less-Obvious Pattern
In Hugh Nibley’s work, ‘Temple And Cosmos”, he refers to
what he considers a relatively modern technique of historical analysis called
“patternism.”1 The idea is
that anciently-accepted practices, particularly in this instance practices
connected with the uses of temples, are found to be repeated in patterns
throughout history. The ancient
teachings are seen to be the basis for modern thought and practice.
There are many interesting non-temple examples of
this. Consider the case of Gideon’s army
of 300 men facing the 10,000 (+) of the Midianites. 2 This is
repeated in the account of the 300 Spartan warriors facing the 10,000 (+) Persians
at the battle of Thermopylae,3
and in Tolkein’s hopeless setting of the battle of Helm’s Deep where
Rohan’s 300 farmers and farriers take on the 10,000(+) host of Isengard.4
The case of parallel occurrences that has recently struck
me as an example of patternism starts with the ministry of the Savior to his
apostles in Palestine following his resurrection. In Acts we read that Jesus “shewed himself
alive (to his apostles) after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen
of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of
God:”5 This brief reference
to Jesus’ spending forty days with the apostles in undisclosed instruction
“pertaining to the kingdom of God” has baffled Bible scholars for
centuries. What could have been the
topics of instruction? Does this verse refer
to a literal period of time or is to be understood only metaphorically? Surely it is not possible that some actual
teachings were imparted that have since been lost to the church.
Quoting from Hugh Nibley again, this time from his work
entitled, “Evangeliium quadraginta dierum: The Forty-Day Mission of Christ”; “The theme of the forty days has always been a
disturbing one. For many scholars the
possibility of such an event as that indicated in Acts 1:3 is not even to be
discussed, for others such things are tolerable only as myths, while some are
frank enough to admit that they simply don’t like the story.”6
While in today’s accepted cannon there is no reference to
the topics of the forty-day teachings, there are certain apocryphal sources discovered
largely in the last 150 years that make reference to this new-testament
event. Nibley explains that the
apocryphal texts start by answering the most likely questions asked by the
apostle’s to the resurrected Lord: “Where did you go and what did you see?”7 The records describe Christ’s visit to the
spirits of the dead,8 his preaching to them,9 their
receiving of the ordinance of baptism,10 and subsequent progression
upwards to realms of glory, eventually returning to the eternal home where they
had existed before coming to earth.11
This process is described as part of a plan laid down at the
creation of the world.12 The
plan includes a series of rites and ordinances including baptism,13
washing and anointing,14 receiving a sacred garment,15 a
sacral meal,16 and in the cases of some couples, a marriage
ceremony.17 In the records
referred to all of these forty-day rites are related to the temple.18
The exact number of forty days may refer to a less-fixed
period of time. The number ‘forty’ is
frequently met with in sacred history as, for example, Elijah fasting for forty
days (1 Kings 19:8) the Israelites wandering for 40 years (Exodus 16:35,
Numbers 14:33), Moses’ fasting on Mt. Sinai for 40 days (Deut. 9:9), and
Christ’s forty-day fast following his baptism (Matt. 4:2), among others. If these durations were not all exactly forty
units in length they probably refer to periods of approximately that number.
This brings us to the parallel events that took place
during the final few weeks or months of Joseph Smith’s mortal life. As Jesus spent the final weeks of his close
association with his selected apostles before ascending to perhaps other
assignments and duties, teaching them the things of the kingdom of God,
specifically the details of the Plan of Salvation for the living and the dead,
centered around the ordinances of the temple, just so, Joseph spent the final
months before his martyrdom in close association with his selected apostles
teaching them these same doctrines, rites, and ordinances related to the plan
of salvation and the temple.
In an article by Ronald K. Esplin published in 198119
professor Esplin explains that at the death of Joseph Smith a critical factor
in the outcome of the succession in the leadership of the church was the
instruction and keys given to the apostles, at least to nine of them, by Joseph
Smith, authorizing them to administer the sacred ordinances of the soon-to-be-completed
Nauvoo Temple. None of the contenders
for the leadership of the church who opposed Brigham Young and the Quorum of
the Twelve had received this sacred instruction or these advanced priesthood
keys, specifically the keys to administer the sealing power.
Prof. Esplin wrote; “During his final months Joseph Smith
completed the introduction of all temple ordinances, the implementation of new
institutional patterns, and the preparation of the Twelve to administer these
things in his absence.”20 Sometime during the last week of March, 1844,
Joseph met with the Twelve to transfer the leadership of the church to
them. “I roll the burthen and
responsibility of leading this church off from my shoulders on to yours. Now, round up your shoulders and stand under
it like men; for the Lord is going to let me rest a while.”21 At
that same meeting of March 1844, just three months before the martyrdom, Joseph
conferred “the keys of the sealing power” on Brigham Young, who was president
of the Quorum of the Twelve. The prophet taught them that this was the “last
key”, the “most sacred of all,” and that it pertained “exclusively to the first
presidency.”22
So here is a pattern.
In completing his introduction of the Dispensation of the Meridian of
Time the Savior, in his instruction to his apostles during his final weeks with
them, gave them the higher keys and ordinances of salvation for both the living
and the dead. Likewise, in completing
the introduction of the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times, Joseph Smith,
during his final weeks with them, gave his apostles those same keys and
ordinances. This pattern may have been
repeated in previous dispensations, but because the teachings are sacred and
not made known to the general public, they are not included in commonly-accepted
surviving records.
We may not see this pattern repeated again as the
dispensation launched by Joseph Smith is destined to be the final dispensation,
from which there will be no total apostasy and no loss of sacred things. These teachings should not only survive but
perhaps be added to in the future as all things are gathered together in
anticipation of the Savior’s return.
References:
1.
Nibley, Hugh. Temple and Cosmos, Ed. by Don E. Norton, Deseret Book, 1992, p 25.
2.
Judges 7:7
The number 10,000 is not expressly mentioned but is elsewhere used to
represent any number beyond count, as expressed in verse 12. The great war at Cumorah is an example of the
use of the number 10,000 to represent a very large army but not necessarily an
exact count.
3.
Herodotus. There were actually perhaps 700 men arrayed on the side of Greece, but the 300 Spartans receive the most notoriety.
4.
Tolkein, J.R.R., Lord of The Rings, The Two
Towers. Ballantine Books, 1954. p 172. In his book Tolkein allows 1000 men of Rohan
arrayed against tens of thousands of Isengard.
In the movie version (New Line Cinema, 2004) Legolas offers an actual
count: 300 against 10,000, apparently in
deference to the pattern mentioned.
5.
Acts 1:3
6.
Nibley, Hugh.
Evangeliium quadraginta dierum:
The Forty-Day Mission of Christ.
First published in Vigiliae
christianae 20, 1966. Most recently
published in When The Lights Went Out,
FARMS, 2001, p 49-50. See internal refs.
1, 2, &3.
7.
Ibid. p 55.
8.
Ibid. p 55 see internal ref. 63.
9.
Ibid. p 55 see internal ref. 64.
10. Ibid.
p 55 see internal ref. 65.
11. Ibid.
p 55 see internal ref. 67.
12. Ibid.
p 56 see internal ref. 71.
13. Ibid.
p 56 see internal ref. 76.
14. Ibid.
p 56 see internal ref. 77.
15. Ibid.
p 56 see internal ref. 78.
16. Ibid.
p 57 see internal ref. 79.
17. Ibid.
p 57 see internal ref. 80.
18. Ibid.
p 57 see internal ref. 82.
19. Esplin,
Ronald K. Joseph, Brigham and the Twelve:
A succession of Continuity. BYU
Studies 21. No. 3 (1981).
20. Ibid.
p 10.
21. Ibid.
p 14-15 see internal ref. 66.
22. Ibid.
p 15 see internal ref. 68.
