Hymns of Paradise

Just for fun, I've been reading some of the poetry of St. Ephram of Syriac. It is a fun field trip into the philosophical history of the world that had despised Christ. Ephram was a theologian and Poet, famous for defending Nicene orthodoxy. Although his prolific poetry is valuable historical evidence of the evolution of "Original Sin," Some of his Eden prose is very pretty.

The assembly of saints

bears resemblance to Paradise:

in each day is plucked

the fruit of Him who gives life to all (VI.8);

and

Among the saints none is naked,

for they have put on glory;

nor is any clad in those leaves

or standing in shame,

for they have found, through our Lord,

the robe that belongs to Adams and Eve (VI.9)

Here are a few more verses:

With the blade of the sword of the cherub

was the path to the Tree of Life shut off,

but to the Peoples has the Lord of that Tree

given Himself as food.

Whereas Eden's other trees were provided

for that former Adams to eat,

for us the very Planter of the Garden

has become the food for our souls.

Here is a link to Sebastian Brock's book on St. Ephram "Hymns on Paradise"

What Is the Fruit which Adam and Eve Partook of in Eden?

What is the Fruit which Adam and Eve Partook of in Eden?

There were two focal point trees in the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The trees are figures, the tree of life referring to the Lord and his atonement, and the tree of knowledge to mortality and all that pertains to it.* To eat of the fruit of the tree of life simply means that those who partake are receiving the blessings of the atonement. To partake of the mortality tree means that one has chosen to enter mortality and participate in the probationary experience. This is not a fruit such as an apple, pomegranate, fig, pear or other vegetation. The fruit is the reward that flows from the choice made. It was significant enough to cause death to come upon all life, including plants and animal. It also caused the earth to fall from its orbit about Kolob to its orbit around the sun. Eating an apple cannot cause this to happen. The idea that Adam and Eve ate some fruit that changed their chemistry and that they then had to go about the garden giving portions of it to every animal and insect so they would fall too is not true. *(See A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p.86)

Vivian

What Is the Endowment?

What Is the Endowment?

If we were to give a succinct definition of the endowment we might say that it is: The announcement of the plan of exaltation, the illustration of the plan in our first parents, and the ordinances which secure the blessings of the plan to the obedient.

Vivian

Who Was the Angel at Gethsemane?

Who Was the Angel at Gethsemane?

In his last conference talk my father (most beloved) spoke on the Lord’s sacrifice for us, and said of his suffering in Gethsemane: We know that an angel came from the courts of glory to strengthen him in his ordeal, and we suppose it was mighty Michael who foremost fell that mortal man might be. (Bruce R. McConkie, April Conference, 1985; see also Mortal Messiah 4: 124)

Commenting on this, Robert J. Matthews remarked, “If this angel was Adam (and there seems to be no reason to doubt it), here was the Messiah in the Garden of Gethsemane in his greatest of all trials, shedding his blood to redeem mankind from the effects of Adam's transgression in the Garden of Eden and also from the results of each person's own sins. There appeared from heaven to strengthen him the very person of Adam himself-he who brought mortality and blood and death and sin into the world. The parallel issue is unmistakable! …. Each had fulfilled his foreordained part, and now the two principals were together as Jesus triumphed over sin and mortality.

This seems so apparent to me that it could hardly do else than strike us with the truth of father’s statement. The Prophet Joseph taught us that “Christ is the great High Priest; Adam next.” The Lord and Adam are partners in the work of salvation. Christ’s mission was predicated on Adam’s. Their paths cross at every vital juncture: in the war in heaven, in creation, in Eden, in Gethsemane, in the spirit world, at Adam ondi Ahman, in the great battles at the end of the world. The thing that electrifies us in understanding what occurred in the garden is the knowledge we gain from Joseph F. Smith’s Vision of the Redemption of the Dead. Adam or Michael is presiding over the spirits of the dead that are waiting the Lord’s entry into the spirit world upon his crucifixion. They are obviously aware of the humiliation of the trials, the payment in Gethsemane where the Lord was strengthened by Adam, and the recurrence of that suffering at Calvary, and his eminent appearance among them.

Vivian

The Eden Rib Metaphor

The Genesis rib metaphor is designed to give us some poetic insight into the marriage performed in Eden. “It was not good,” God declared, “that man should be alone,” or as the Hebrew suggests, “separate, divided, or desolate.” “I will make an help meet for him,” not one word but two, meaning the Lord would bring Adam a “helper, aid, or partner,” who would be “suited to, worthy of, or correspond” to him. The story tells us that God caused a “deep sleep” to fall upon Adam, a phrase which in the Hebrew suggests that he became lifeless and despondent. While Adam languished, God took from him his rib, literally his “side,” and made Eve. Eve is the rib the poetry tells us, in other words, she is the side, support, or stay to Adam, his intimate and inseparable companion. She was to be called woman, meaning wife of man, because she was “taken out of man,” or out of his longing and brought to his side.
To this point the Hebrew text has referred to the man using the word “adam,’ meaning “man” or “mankind.” In the rib account he is referred to as “Ish,” meaning “husband,” or according to the Zohar, “a wise man.” The woman is referred to as “Ishah” which points to their interdependence and equal status. The Legends of the Jews tell us that when this name change occurred these partners took upon them the name of Jehovah as part of their marriage covenant. Adam, therefore, received a name change during a ceremony or ordinance in the garden - temple performed by the Father which is of interest as we recognize that Priesthood ordinances are accompanied by covenantal names.
Adam responded to this gift of God saying, "this is bone of my bones" meaning not that she was taken out of bone, but that she is of the same order, genesis, or family as he was. When he adds she is "flesh of my flesh" his expressions convey a proper physical union, they are to be as one. Adam then draws the moral from this idiom, "therefore, shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh." Adam then announces that he and his companion are to leave their own Father and Mother in the pattern that mankind should ever after follow. In this union, the man gave the woman being; in return she gave purpose and being to him. There was now reason to survive, love, labor, and in due time children would bless their marriage, the most precious gift, each to each.
The legends of the Jews tell us that the marriage of the first man and woman was received in heaven with such joy that the angels came down to celebrate it. They were dressed in robes of splendor and magnificence as were the bride and groom. The Hebrew text also suggests that we cannot be privy to all that happened there, perhaps because the ordinance was sacred and not to open view, and then again, as with every love story the sweetest moments are for sweethearts alone.

Vivian

Equity between Men and Women in Ancient Israel

Q: Many people assert that there has never been a time or culture where women have had equality. Could you share your thoughts on that assertion, especially as it exists in the context of religion?

A: It is the creation story that defines roles or dictates what men and women should do and be. Obviously, in the world there are many interpretations of that story. We should at least understand, both LDS and non-LDS, that when we want to observe what is likely the most accurate representation of that or any paradigm we look back to the time at which it was instituted. Voila! What do we find? The men and women of early Israel had parity, a functioning equivalence. In spite of the fact that they lived in a patriarchal society, or perhaps because they lived in revealed patriarchal society, men and women were on an equal footing. Their labors fell into the three areas needed for the absolute survival of any people, 1. procreation, 2., subsistance, and 3. defense. Nature required that woman be in charge of procreation, nature provided that the man who was bigger and stronger be in charge of defense. But both had to be intimately involved in subsistence. By example we might observe that God commanded Adam to protect and provide, that he delegated a chief nurturing role to Eve, and that Eve labored with Adam in the feild. These three areas required absolute cooperation between husband and wife, both were dependent upon the other and the child was dependent upon each of them. In these nacent times, the woman was in charge of the manufacture of clothing, carding, spining, weaving, design, comfort, and whatever was necessary. She was also in charge of preservation, preparation and distribution of food. EVERYBODY was dependant on her and what she did with these stores. So she had authority over these absolute areas of survival. Everybody knew this and her position was honored. At an early point she carried keys which meant that she controlled the rooms and stores in the areas where production occurred. And nobody messed with that. Her husband did what was necessary to provid and protect, and together they had a perfect balance. This system placed the child in the lap of security. It is perhaps on this account that children, when rising in the morning, would greet their parents with the words, "My father, my teacher, my mother my teacher." The gospel, in every dispensation, begins with emphasis on the creation paradigm, roles and individual and family stability. From time to time in the history of this earth, we might suppose that gospel cultures got it together.

Vivian