Expanding the Vision

Part Two of the Temple Video is still in the works – it’s just coming together a bit more slowly due to additional responsibilities and other such Events of Life.

While the posts up to this point have had a specific focus with Old Testament and other ancient symbolism, I'm going to be expanding the range of posts on this site to include thoughts on the Scriptures and Doctrines of the Restoration.

I've been a self-study student of Church History since the beginning of my relationship with the Church, but recently I've had greater means and resources to study. In addition to my studies of Ancient History and Ancient Scripture, I've been complimenting it with a study of the Beginnings of the Restoration, right now with a focus on the Kirtland Era of the Church. There were some fascinating doctrinal developments, as well as some background information which I think is just as important to gaining the full impact of the scriptures as any of the Old Testament-related symbolism I've been writing about.

I’ve been wanting to explore some of my thoughts and discoveries, and had wondered the best way to do so. I had considered beginnning a separate Restoration-themed blog, but in the end decided to keep it consolidated here.

So from now on, you never know what you're going to find here. At one moment I may be writing about Kingship Rites in Ancient Israel, and the next be discussing the First Vision of Joseph Smith. I've found that there are times when the study of the Ancient and Modern together shed fascinating light on each other. Not only can the Ancient help us understand the Modern, but at times, the plethora of details we have of the Modern can help in filling in the no longer extant details of the Ancient.

I plan to have posts at times (such as this one explaining how understanding how the Pseudepigraphical Book of 1 Enoch was produced helps us understand the nature and purpose of the Joseph Smith Translation ) that connect those dots. Hopefully everything I present will be edifying, and add to one’s love and understanding of the scriptures, and assist in seeing the scriptures point more clearly towards the Savior of the World.