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The concept of God having a wife:
Devers writes with a sense that revealing that God had a wife is an enormous blow to traditional Christianity (and perhaps accurately so if that means the definition of God set forth by the Creeds).  Of course the proposition that God has a wife is not at all threatening to a Mormon.  If you told a Mormon about this “new finding” the response would be something akin to “oh yeah–I already knew that.”

This understanding comes from statements made by the Prophet Joseph Smith to Eliza R. Snow who later penned the lines to the LDS hymn “O My Father” which includes the line “In heav’n are parents single? No, the thoughts makes reason stare!  Truth is reason; truth eternal Tells me I’ve a Mother there.”  (Side comment:  I recall a lecture of Truman Madsen in which he stated that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir received more requests for the lyrics of that particular song than for any other type of inquiry.)  Scripturally the Mormons point to the accounts of the Garden story in which they “the gods” or Elohim (plural in Hebrew) counseled and created the earth and phrases like “calling their name Adam, male and female” illustrating that just as the name “Adam” in that usage encompassed both Adam and Eve that the fullest understanding of the name “God” would parrellel that pattern of reference.  It is also an extrapolation from the Mormon understanding of exaltation being as couples, husbands and wives sealed eternally as one.

The Mormon reading has been considered absolute heresy to the traditional monotheistic religions from the very beginning when Joseph Smith first started talking about it.  Perhaps traditional Christianity will have to modify their official doctrines in light of the research of Dever and others.

Archeological Prevalence and Truth
In the same breath as the paragraph above in which Mormons would not be surprised by the findings of Dever, I think a typical Mormon would view all the archaeological remains highlighted by Dever as evidence of a true doctrine becoming corrupted and mis-incorporated into worship.  The sheer presence of figurines, even widespread prevalence of such female figurines, does not indicate that this is evidence of the “true” and “pure” form of worship of Elohim and Jehovah.   All of the sacred writings of the Mormons:  Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, Book of Moses, Book of Enoch, and Book of Abraham, tell a similar tale of tragedy–a rejection of the prophets, wickedness, false worship, and sadly on a population wide scale.  So the widespread archeological evidence of worship of a female diety is not evidence to a Mormon that such worship was endorsed by God.  A Mormon sees a true doctrine (the reality of a Heavenly Mother alongside a Father in Heaven) but with misguided worship (Mormons view the doctrine as sacred territory and usually do not speak about it following the pattern of Christ and the prophets and apostles)

Women in LDS temples
This unique understanding also comes from interpretation of LDS temple ceremonies in which the woman is the great heroine of the Garden story and the women participants engage equally in all the ordinances of the Priesthood.  When outside observers cry foul at the Mormons for not being “progressive” in having female pastors or official offices in the Priesthood, I think Mormons struggle to respond because their doctrine and history has such an absolutely exalted view of women, they don’t even know where to begin, because the accusations are so far from the reality of how women are viewed within our community.

The also hesitate to respond because a lot of this understanding comes from the teachings in the temple and Mormons are quite unsure about what is appropriate or how to talk about the temple to those who have no reference point.  More often then not attempts to explain are twisted and thrown back at them in hostility so that the Mormons tend to view talking about things in the temple as “not casting their pearls before swine” so to say.

Summary:

I think Mormons out there would be interested in reading the book to see all the findings and parallels but would take it primarily as, ‘looks like Joseph Smith was right again.’  Time vindicates the prophets.

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The quick summary: Dever tries to paint the picture of how religion was practiced in Ancient Israel based on the archeological remains of typical communities. In many instances this picture is quite different (or provides a more complete picture) than the traditional interpretation or picture painted by Christianity or Judiasm based on their reading of the Old Testament. His primary focus throughout is the evidence of a female counterpart to El (or Elohim) and Yahweh (the Hebrew words most often translated as God or Lord in the King James Bible) named Asherah.

Some general impressions:

First, the strongest message I got from reading this book is how much of the “expert” knowledge of archeologists is pure speculation, educated guesses at best. This is not to say the discipline is without merit or the evidence should all be dismissed. I think it suggests to us, as the consumers of information presented by the scholars, that we should be cautious, hear various interpretations, and that- taken as a whole- truth may be better approximated or deciphered. Dever’s text is full of “I will argue”, “I suggest this means” etc, which I actually appreciated as I think it shows his honesty, but it does puts a question mark behind any of assertions. One quote regarding the speculative nature of interpreting artifacts from Dever himself, in comparing the objectivity of the archeologist and the doctors of the text, he writes:

“There is no “objective,” real world out there to be known, no Truth, so we have only our perceptions, always flawed. We can never know “how it really was in the past,” as former generations of scholars are said to have assumed (some actually did so).” 82

Second general impression: “Cultic” practices were extremely common. As I’ve stated previously this word “cult” has been totally tainted by media sensationalism so that in common conversations it has a strongly negative connotation, but here we are using the word according to its first and proper definition referring to religious ceremonies and rites. The archeological remains in the temples of Ancient Israel indicate many rites and ceremonies not described in the Hebrew Bible. This first brings up the point that the archeology indicates that the Temple at Jerusalem was not the only temple for worshippers of El and Yahweh (92). Some of the artifacts: temple complexes with gradient rooms of “holiness”, “standing stones” representing deities, altars, references and artifacts speaking of this Asherah often represented by a tree or pole, special clothing including leapord skins and headware, as well as various figurines. I think the take home message being that there were many cultic practices that were common and practiced by the masses the meaning and details of which is speculation.

The third general take home message I came away with is that from those ancient times to the present day there has been a suppression of the idea of God having a wife or a female counterpart or element in the definition of God. This female counterpart was commonly venerated and part of religious ceremonies in Ancient Israel but does not have a representative presence in the Biblical text.

So that’s my summary. I will make one other observation: I was surprised that the author never tied or speculated as to the relationship of all these female figures with the character of Eve, seeing how prominent she is in the founding story of the Bible and especially considering all the references to trees in the artifacts. Some of those connections seemed fairly obvious to me as a lay reader. Overall, a fascinating read, I appreciate the large picture the author tries to paint, I do not think one has to agree with all of his interpretations but I hope his work will inspire further research and open dialogue about these artifacts.

I plan on writing a second post on this book: Some interesting tidbits from an LDS perspective

Some more reviews:

Review of Biblical Literature 

Bloggernacle

Medusa Coils

FARMS Review

FARMS Review-Peterson

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“Certain information was also given at Eleusis by word of mouth, including the ‘password to the Paradise of Demeter’ to be used after death.  … So the Lesser Mysteries give the initiates theoretical knowledge which chnages their whole view of man and the cosmos, and stands them in better stead when they have to leave this world for the unknown.  The Greater Mysteries, or higher grades of initiation, were conducted individually rather than collectively… But the primary object of these initiations was to take the candidate through the gates of death.”

 ”For the Maenads of Dionysus one of the tasks of Christ was to open this path of direct intimacy with God to every person without distinction”

“In the Mysteries all five senses might be elevated through wine, music, lights, incense and sexuality, to say nothing of drugs, in order to create an unforgettable experience enad encourage hope of heavenly bliss.” (the emphasis on enlivening the senses)

 ”Some scholars imagine the Mysteries of Eleusis and other institutions to have been merely a sacred drama played by actors to fill an impressionable audience with holy…the great hall at eleusis the Telesterion was filled with pillars.”

“Mystery texts describe the soul at first going to Hades, but this underworld is clearly no longer a dark place beneath the earth’s surface as it was in traditional religion. “  He describes this Hades as the “underworld over which Serapis rules is the lowest of the heavens, ie the phere beneath the moon.  At the Gates of Hades, the soul is said to meet its earthly master; alternatively, it may meet a celestial psychopomp such as Hermes, Jesus, Mithras or Anubis, who acts as its guide and guardian.  Some form of judgmet follows, after which , in abbreviated accounts, the soul proceeds to its appointed place:  good souls to blissful union with the gods.”

“Above Hades lie the seven planetary spheres, which must eventually be crossed.  These are expereinced as obstacles or gates, and the Mystery relgions offered special knowledge to assist the soul in passing each one: passwords, formulae, seals.”

“One garment, the ‘phrygian’ cap, became a universal symbol of the Oriental cults, being worn by Mithras, Attis, the Kabeiroi, the Dioscuri, and their servitors.  Later it became the headgear of medival Masons, the sansculottes, and La Liberte herself.  Its symbolism is one of supreme spiritual attainment, represented also in Osiris’ white crown, Buddha’s topknot, Shou-hsing’s swollen creanium, and the tiaras of shiva and the Pope. “

“Early Christian art, shunning altogether the subject of the Crucifixion, often shows Jesus as the teacher of his disciplines, passing on the Word of God, reminding us of the Gnostic tradition that there was a secret dimension to his teachings which was reserved for the closer disiplines.”

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Some issues discussed by Godwin:

What were the Mystery Religions all about?
“If one had to single out one paramount feature that distinguished all the Mystery cults from other religions of their period, it would be that they sought a personal relationship with their gods….the motive of much primitive religions seems to be to get rid of the gods, to prevent them from troubling mankind. For the Mystery religions the motive is quite the contrary; it is to get closer to them.”

“The Mystery Religions were largely concerned with what happens afterwards. They sought to give foreknowledge of the posthumous state, in order to save souls from the confusion they would otherwise face on entering the immaterial world. Like the Egyptian and Oriental ‘Books of the Dead’, they gave instructions for the journey. Our ideas of this journey are of necessity complied from a large number of fragmentary accounts, some of them seemingly contradictory. This is because the subjective experience of the journey will be different for every person, just as life on earth is differently experienced by everyone.”

Why the mystery and secrecy?
“The experiences and concerns of mystery initiates are not the lot of all people, and are often inaccessible even in imagination to those who do not share them. The more intense they are, the more private they tend to be: if aired in public they only run the risk of being misunderstood. This is why there are ‘mystery’ religions. Mysteries are things which are kept silent, in order to avoid useless arguments and misapprehensions and , at certain time and places, simple to keep one’s head. People in the mass are xenophobic and hate that which they do not understand. If you have found a pearl, you do not throw it to the pigs, ‘lest they turn and rend you’”

(Side Comment: This was written in regards to the ancients but this exact paragraph can answer the questions of those who question the restrictive entrance and common “no comment” response by Mormons on things that take place in the temple.)

Why do never hear about them or know so little about them?
“Silence was maintained with such admirable strictness in antiquity that the inquisitive researcher can discover very little of what went on in the rituals of these religions. The only things that were committed to writing were those which might be generally published; of the rest, memory was the best vault and silence the best guardian. but the most eloquent language of the Mysteries is not verbal but symbolic.”

So what’s my point?
I think it is common in our “modern world” to think that we have surpassed all the knowledge and understanding of past societies. While that may be true in technology and science (although we are still scratching our heads about the construction of the Pyramids, the engineering at Machu Pichu, and the astronomy of the Maya) I am not quite so sure that applies in issues that might be termed cosmic, mystical, or religious. My main feeling after reading this book was that (1) I think it is safe to say that there is more we do not know and do not understand about the ancient mystery religions than what we do and (2) that there was something extremely meaningful and information rich surrounding these mysteries for practitioners.

This talk of mysteries reminds me of things I read in Lost Scriptures that had documents from the Nag Hammadi Library and the Dead Sea Scrolls that have only been discovered in the last 50 years that often have references to “secret teachings” by Christ in his 40-day ministry or other “hidden knowledge”. I am not inferring that all of the information in these documents can be attributed directly to Christ but I do think these documents and books such as Godwin’s, show that there was more going on than what we have in the present canonical Bible. I find it extremely difficult with our present understanding to maintain that the Bible is “complete” or contains all the writings and knowledge that was deemed by the early Christians as being authoritative.

Overall, this book can be a good introduction.  It is particularly valuable for the photos and sketches of ancient artifacts associated with the mystery cults.

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 The word ‘cult’ has been utterly hijacked from its original meanings through media sensationalism.  The way it is most often used in reference to Mormonism is by a bigoted minority and carries connotations of weirdness, manipulation, exploit, or even mind control.   Of course those labels are completely ridiculous and laughable to practicing Mormons and at the same time saddening that we are so misunderstood.  In these upcoming posts I will use the word as it is used by scholars of the ancient world including the author of the present book, Joscepyn Godwin, who is not a Mormon to my knowledge (most likely an Anglican based on his schooling history).  

The definition used by scholars (which is appropriately the first definition listed in dictionaries) is “a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies.” (Random House).  Such a definition is the definition by which the term could be appropriately applied to the Mormons as we do have a particular system of worship involving rites and ceremonies in our temples.  Notice the definition has no connotation of weirdness or manipulation (although there are such cases out there) nor does it mean that only ‘weirdos’ or ‘pagans’ have religious rites, as this book illustrates that they were common across the ancient world with initiates including Plato as well as the early Christians.  

Now on to the review of the book–

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Three Cups of Tea  by Greg Mortenson

How to Change the World by David Bornstein

Four Essays on Love by Truman Madsen

The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis

Working toward Zion by Lucas and Woodworth

Approaching Zion by Nibley

Way to Be   by Gordon B. Hinckley

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First, there were many, many letters circulating at the time throughout the Christian world that we had no idea existed until a short while ago. It is really quite remarkable that these documents have survived, deliberately buried underground to preserve them. I’m thinking specifically of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library. But it is impossible to say that the gospels and letters in the New Testament that most Christians read today are the only books that were viewed as inspired or authoritative by the early Christians.

Second, very early there were mixings of Christ’s teaching with other philosophies. The two main influences being a Jewish worldview or a Gnostic worldview. The documents swing in those extremes. There clearly was a wide range of commentary and interpretation going on at the time and the debate was quite spirited as these extremes go to great lengths to defend their views. It seems as though from the very beginning the larger body of Christians were arguing about doctrine, sayings of Jesus, and the true order of the Church.

Third, the New Testament as it eventually was canonized shows a remarkable consistency in voice and spirit when considering the wide range of beliefs circulating at the time. Obviously they were selected because of this consistency but it shows how remarkably good the committee members who determined the canon of the New Testament were in recognizing extremes and philosophies of men.

Have any of you read this book? What were your general feelings? What are the implications in your mind for the Christian world?

Some other reviews:
CatholicBooksReview

About.com Agnostic/Atheist

InternetMonk

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