Mormonism and Early Christianity- Hugh Nibley, The Early Christian Prayer Circle
Posted: March 29th, 2019, 8:42 pm
I will let this stand without any comment. The Early Christian Prayer Circle
...Conventional Christianity, following Augustine, has always denied that there was any significant teaching of Christ not included in the New Testament, for to admit such would be to admit serious gaps in their own knowledge. Yet Augustine labors to show line by line that the hymn is not heretical (as the Bishops of Nicaea found it 350 years later) but that each statement can be duplicated somewhere in the scriptures.4 The further back we go the more prominent becomes the rite in the church.
The actual performance of such a rite is described in a very old text, attributed to Clement of Rome and preserved in a seventh-century Syriac translation entitled “The Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ as delivered orally by him to us the Apostles after his Resurrection following his death.”5 In celebrating the sacrificial death of the Lord (Pulver calls his study “The Round Dance and the Crucifixion”), the bishop would
...make the sacrifice, the veil of the gate being drawn aside as a sign of the straying of the former people; he would make the offering within the veil along with priests, deacons, authorized widows, subdeacons, deaconesses, readers and such as were endowed with spiritual gifts. As leader the Bishop stands in the middle . . . [the men and women are assigned their places, north, south, east and west, around him]. Then all give each other the sign of peace. Next, when absolute silence is established, the deacon says: “Let your hearts be to heaven. If anyone has any ill feeling towards his neighbor, let him be reconciled. If anyone has any hesitation or mental reservations [doubts] let him make it known; if anyone finds any of the teachings incongenial, let him withdraw [etc.]. For the Father of Lights is our witness with the Son and visiting angels. Take care lest you have aught against your neighbor . . . .
A sort of antiphonal follows with the people in the ring responding to the words of the bishop. Then the bishop begins the prayer proper, the people repeating these same things, praying. He thanks God for the Plan of Salvation, by which “thou hast fulfilled thy purposes by preparing a holy people, hast stretched forth thy hands in suffering, that they who have faith in thee might be freed from such suffering and from the corruption of death.” 7
The identical idea is expressed in the prayer circle so fully described by Bishop Cyril of Jerusalem (ca. A.D. 350) which we have discussed elsewhere.
The Syriac prayer ends: “Grant, therefore, O God, that all those be united with thee who participate in these sacred ordinances” And the people say amen. Bishop: “Give us unity of mind in the Holy Ghost, and heal our spirits . . . that we may live in thee throughout all eternity!” Then certain ordinances are explained to those in the circle: “It is he who gave Adam . . . a garment and the promise that after death he might live again and return to heaven.” It is explained how Christ by the crucifixion reversed the blows of death, “according to the Plan of the Eternal Father laid down before the foundations of the earth.”10
Still older are some documents designated as the Gospel of Bartholomew, belonging to that growing corpus of very early writings believed to contain instructions and teachings given to the Apostles in secret by the Lord after his resurrection.
The prayer spoken in the circle differs every time; it is not strictly prescribed. The one leading the prayer expresses himself as the Spirit moves him, and the others either repeat each line after him (which would not be necessary if they all knew it by heart)
In the Pistis Sophia also, the Lord, having formed the apostles and their wives in a circle around him and “taking the place of Adam at the altar, called upon the Father three times in an unknown tongue.”4
...Then Abraham, according to an old and highly respected source, “rebuilt the altar of Adam in order to bring a sacrifice to the Eternal One,” as he had been instructed by an angel, he raised his voice in prayer, saying: “El, El, El! El Jaoel! [the last meaning Jehovah] . . . receive the words of my prayer! Receive the sacrifice which I have made at thy command! Have mercy, show me, teach me, give to thy servant the light and knowledge thou hast promised to send him!” 45
Abraham was following the example of Adam, who prayed to God for three days, repeating three times the prayer: “May the words of my mouth be heard! God, do not withdraw thyself from my supplication! .
What H. Leclercq calls “that magnificent gesture” of raising both hands high above the head with which those in the prayer circle began their prayer was, as he notes, a natural gesture both of supplication and submission. 50
The prayer asks for light and knowledge as well as other aid, and the answer is a teaching situation. Thus the angels who came down in answer to Adam’s three-fold appeal, “May the words of my mouth be heard!” etc., came with a book, and comforted Adam and taught him.62 Or, in another version, when Adam and Eve prayed at their altar three messengers were sent down to instruct them.63
Indeed, in various accounts Satan tries to get in on the act. We have seen how he smote Adam, interrupting his lessons at the altar. And when Abraham prayed at his altar, “Have mercy, show me, teach me, give to thy servant light and knowledge thou hast promised to send him!” Satan promptly appears on the scene with an insolent “Here I am!” And as he began to teach Abraham, a true messenger from God arrived and cast Satan out and proceeded with the proper instructions.96
As to the teacher, sometimes it is Jaoel or Jehovah as “the heavenly choirmaster,” and sometimes it is Michael or Gabriel. As often as not it is three Sent Ones.100 But of course all the knowledge is sent down from God.
It is Joseph Smith’s prayer circle that puts it all together. Not only did he produce an awesome mass of purportedly ancient writings of perfect inner consistency, but at every point where his contribution is tested—and since he affects to give us concrete historical material as well as theology and cosmology it can be tested at countless points—it is found to agree with other ancient records, most of which are now coming to light for the first time. The prayer circle is one example of that; we may not discuss his version too freely, but we have seen enough of the early Christian prayer circle to justify some important conclusions:
1. It always appears as a solemn ordinance, a guarded secret and a “mystery” for initiates only. This does not express a desire to mystify but the complete concentration and unity of the participants that requires the shutting out of the trivial and distractions of the external world.
2. It always takes place in a special setting—the temple. Even in Christian churches of later time there is a conscious attempt to reproduce as nearly as possible the original temple situation.
3. The words and gestures do not always make sense to outsiders—only “he who has ears to hear” may hear, and only “he who joins in the circle knows what is going on.” This because the prayer circles are integral parts of a longer series of ordinances that proceed and follow them; taken out of that context they necessarily seem puzzling.
4. Though private prayer circles would seem to be out of the question (quackery, magic, and witchcraft made use of them), the members of the circle are never those of a special social rank, family, guild, or profession—they are ordinary men and women of the church, with a high priest presiding.
https://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscr ... 04&index=4
...Conventional Christianity, following Augustine, has always denied that there was any significant teaching of Christ not included in the New Testament, for to admit such would be to admit serious gaps in their own knowledge. Yet Augustine labors to show line by line that the hymn is not heretical (as the Bishops of Nicaea found it 350 years later) but that each statement can be duplicated somewhere in the scriptures.4 The further back we go the more prominent becomes the rite in the church.
The actual performance of such a rite is described in a very old text, attributed to Clement of Rome and preserved in a seventh-century Syriac translation entitled “The Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ as delivered orally by him to us the Apostles after his Resurrection following his death.”5 In celebrating the sacrificial death of the Lord (Pulver calls his study “The Round Dance and the Crucifixion”), the bishop would
...make the sacrifice, the veil of the gate being drawn aside as a sign of the straying of the former people; he would make the offering within the veil along with priests, deacons, authorized widows, subdeacons, deaconesses, readers and such as were endowed with spiritual gifts. As leader the Bishop stands in the middle . . . [the men and women are assigned their places, north, south, east and west, around him]. Then all give each other the sign of peace. Next, when absolute silence is established, the deacon says: “Let your hearts be to heaven. If anyone has any ill feeling towards his neighbor, let him be reconciled. If anyone has any hesitation or mental reservations [doubts] let him make it known; if anyone finds any of the teachings incongenial, let him withdraw [etc.]. For the Father of Lights is our witness with the Son and visiting angels. Take care lest you have aught against your neighbor . . . .
A sort of antiphonal follows with the people in the ring responding to the words of the bishop. Then the bishop begins the prayer proper, the people repeating these same things, praying. He thanks God for the Plan of Salvation, by which “thou hast fulfilled thy purposes by preparing a holy people, hast stretched forth thy hands in suffering, that they who have faith in thee might be freed from such suffering and from the corruption of death.” 7
The identical idea is expressed in the prayer circle so fully described by Bishop Cyril of Jerusalem (ca. A.D. 350) which we have discussed elsewhere.
The Syriac prayer ends: “Grant, therefore, O God, that all those be united with thee who participate in these sacred ordinances” And the people say amen. Bishop: “Give us unity of mind in the Holy Ghost, and heal our spirits . . . that we may live in thee throughout all eternity!” Then certain ordinances are explained to those in the circle: “It is he who gave Adam . . . a garment and the promise that after death he might live again and return to heaven.” It is explained how Christ by the crucifixion reversed the blows of death, “according to the Plan of the Eternal Father laid down before the foundations of the earth.”10
Still older are some documents designated as the Gospel of Bartholomew, belonging to that growing corpus of very early writings believed to contain instructions and teachings given to the Apostles in secret by the Lord after his resurrection.
The prayer spoken in the circle differs every time; it is not strictly prescribed. The one leading the prayer expresses himself as the Spirit moves him, and the others either repeat each line after him (which would not be necessary if they all knew it by heart)
In the Pistis Sophia also, the Lord, having formed the apostles and their wives in a circle around him and “taking the place of Adam at the altar, called upon the Father three times in an unknown tongue.”4
...Then Abraham, according to an old and highly respected source, “rebuilt the altar of Adam in order to bring a sacrifice to the Eternal One,” as he had been instructed by an angel, he raised his voice in prayer, saying: “El, El, El! El Jaoel! [the last meaning Jehovah] . . . receive the words of my prayer! Receive the sacrifice which I have made at thy command! Have mercy, show me, teach me, give to thy servant the light and knowledge thou hast promised to send him!” 45
Abraham was following the example of Adam, who prayed to God for three days, repeating three times the prayer: “May the words of my mouth be heard! God, do not withdraw thyself from my supplication! .
What H. Leclercq calls “that magnificent gesture” of raising both hands high above the head with which those in the prayer circle began their prayer was, as he notes, a natural gesture both of supplication and submission. 50
The prayer asks for light and knowledge as well as other aid, and the answer is a teaching situation. Thus the angels who came down in answer to Adam’s three-fold appeal, “May the words of my mouth be heard!” etc., came with a book, and comforted Adam and taught him.62 Or, in another version, when Adam and Eve prayed at their altar three messengers were sent down to instruct them.63
Indeed, in various accounts Satan tries to get in on the act. We have seen how he smote Adam, interrupting his lessons at the altar. And when Abraham prayed at his altar, “Have mercy, show me, teach me, give to thy servant light and knowledge thou hast promised to send him!” Satan promptly appears on the scene with an insolent “Here I am!” And as he began to teach Abraham, a true messenger from God arrived and cast Satan out and proceeded with the proper instructions.96
As to the teacher, sometimes it is Jaoel or Jehovah as “the heavenly choirmaster,” and sometimes it is Michael or Gabriel. As often as not it is three Sent Ones.100 But of course all the knowledge is sent down from God.
It is Joseph Smith’s prayer circle that puts it all together. Not only did he produce an awesome mass of purportedly ancient writings of perfect inner consistency, but at every point where his contribution is tested—and since he affects to give us concrete historical material as well as theology and cosmology it can be tested at countless points—it is found to agree with other ancient records, most of which are now coming to light for the first time. The prayer circle is one example of that; we may not discuss his version too freely, but we have seen enough of the early Christian prayer circle to justify some important conclusions:
1. It always appears as a solemn ordinance, a guarded secret and a “mystery” for initiates only. This does not express a desire to mystify but the complete concentration and unity of the participants that requires the shutting out of the trivial and distractions of the external world.
2. It always takes place in a special setting—the temple. Even in Christian churches of later time there is a conscious attempt to reproduce as nearly as possible the original temple situation.
3. The words and gestures do not always make sense to outsiders—only “he who has ears to hear” may hear, and only “he who joins in the circle knows what is going on.” This because the prayer circles are integral parts of a longer series of ordinances that proceed and follow them; taken out of that context they necessarily seem puzzling.
4. Though private prayer circles would seem to be out of the question (quackery, magic, and witchcraft made use of them), the members of the circle are never those of a special social rank, family, guild, or profession—they are ordinary men and women of the church, with a high priest presiding.
https://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscr ... 04&index=4