I'm busy now in deep reading of Margaret Barker's many publications, conferences and in time I will plod through her authored books. Amazing!
Cannot begin to capsulize what she herself writes/states in the manner in which she is able to cram so much information within two or three sentences. Her books have been described as dense. I read a review that recommended reading one of her earlier books as a means of working up to reading her more recent books, otherwise it may feel like a fire hose pouring forth information. I agree with that review.
In the truest sense of the words, I can now without hedging or doing so in a workaround manner, I can say that indeed, Joseph Smith was a prophet in line with definitions of O.T. prophets. I can say indeed, the Book of Mormon is another testament as are many of the texts on which I believe Joseph Smith based his Book of Mormon, texts not published in what became the canonical bible. I believe indeed that the LDS reference to the one true church may well be enlightened by Margaret Barker's amassed work on Temple study and will enlighten the listener to appreciate the earlier Temple as believed to be the true testament. I can appreciate the idea of a restoration, of church, of Priesthood. And I believe powerfully that Mother in Heaven exists with her hosts, and is hidden still -- and for a reason.
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| print of painting by Judy Law, 1991. |
As I observe the Liturgy and Eucharist with newly imbued meanings in one Church, I also offer my testimony in another Church not as a mimic of testimonies I've heard to date, more with a hope that the testimonies I have heard to date convey within their oft repeated refrains the depth conveyed by Margaret Barker in pulling back the veil to reveal to all who will have eyes to see and ears to hear ....
I'm not an easy sell, and if it takes multiple sources for me to get to a place, it is God most High marking out an individual path for me to get to the fullness of the Divine. Those many dangling concepts hinted at and not fully revealed in the canonical books of the bible, both O.T. and N.T that have puzzled me for years seem to reveal themselves in the sense of a brilliant light coming on, rapidly, maybe too suddenly, un-nerving in blindness, and I've had only a few days to be with myself to take in these many revelations.
Even so, it feels like a truth, a hidden truth making itself known, not in the suddenness sense of a conversion, more in line with years and years of personal preparation. That said, the immediacy of the Saul to Paul conversion takes on new light for me.
I've heard it preached in one Church that we are all standing in a historical time, and we can't yet know the the directions religion may take, but he was certain the direction would point to Jesus. What he said and what I heard might be two different things, but his sermon that day gave me hope, a real sense of hope. While it may not manifest itself in my lifetime, it is a hopeful thing for me that as the historical cycling of religion takes on another radical turn, the Divine will emerge yet again in different form, perhaps, and Jesus will still be the core of the spiritual divinity.
In her own words and her many works - Margaret Barker.com
(a significant endorsement of her work: In July 2008 Marrgaret Barker was awarded a DD by the Archbishop of Canterbury 'in recognition of her work on the Jerusalem Temple and the origins of Christian Liturgy, which has made a significantly new contribution to our understanding of the New Testament and has opened up important fields for research'
