THE BOOK OF MORMON CHAPTER 8 --
"Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing... O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God?
Friday, May 1, 2015
Babylonian 8 pointed Star of Ishtar is all over the LDS Payson Temple
TheBabylonian 8 pointed Star of Ishtar is all over the LDS Payson Temple
Dr. Nibley never wrote the phrase
“seal of Melchizedek” in any of his books
or articles, including Temple and Cosmos. And we know that Michael Lyon was the
source for the now-in-vogue phrase, though he personally doubts its legitimacy.
With that said, if we set aside the caption to figure 25 in Nibley’s book and
the accompanying stories that have become so popular, what, if anything, can we
establish about the actual meaning of the symbol from historical and scholarly
sources?
(NO) Association with
Melchizedek
There is Nothing in the mural that connects the symbol with the man Melchizedek.
So how has this symbol made
such inroads among Latter-day Saints? The story is a rather interesting one
filled with both fact and fiction. The initial introduction of the seal of
Melchizedek into LDS symbology came in 1992 with the release of Hugh Nibley’s
book Temple and Cosmos. In the chapter entitled “Sacred Vestments”[6] the following
picture and caption (written by illustrator Michael Lyon) appear:
The Seal of Melchizedek and the Design of
the San Diego Temple
This 8-point star, perhaps best known as the Seal of
Melchizedek, is a symbol of Christ. President Gordon B. Hinckley was
sufficiently impressed with the symbol that he asked it be added to the Salt
Lake City Temple.
One can also find 8-point star variations all throughout the new
Conference Center, the construction of which Hinckley also presided over, and
the stars can be found around temple square on lamps and posts as well. (Note - REMEMBER THE 8 POINTED STAR: NO Association with Melchizedek )