1. A much more extensive version of this review appears in Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 6, no. 2 (1994): 3–58.

2. Hermeticism is an esoteric and eclectic blend of ancient Egyptian ideas with Neoplatonic and Neopythagorean philosophy. It focuses on the myth of the fall and return of the soul through the seven planetary spheres of the celestial realm. This return and deification is facilitated by obtaining an inner gnosis (knowledge) of God through study of esoteric texts (the Corpus Hermeticum), instruction by an initiated master, the contemplation of cosmology, and theurgical ritual. For a basic introduction to the Corpus Hermeticum, see Brian P. Copenhaver, Hermetica (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992). For an introduction to the Egyptian background of the Hermetica, see Garth Fowden, The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986). The traditional Renaissance corpus has been expanded by new texts which have been classified by modern scholars as Hermetic; see Fowden, Egyptian Hermes, 3–11. On Hermeticism in the Renaissance, the classical study is Frances Amelia Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979). See also Elizabeth Ann Ambrose, The Hermetica: An Annotated Bibliography, Sixteenth Century Bibliography 30 (St. Louis: Center for Reformation Research, 1992).

3. We used Folio Infobase, LDS Collector’s Edition, 1993.

4. Times and Seasons 5 (May 1, 1844): 526.

5. Brigham Young and others, Journal of Discourses, vol. 3 (Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–86), 168, 295 (1856); (hereafter cited as Journal of Discourses).

6. Times and Seasons 3 (November 15, 1841): 780; the Sohar/Zohar is also mentioned in Times and Seasons 4 (June 1, 1843): 222, by Alexander Neibaur. Zohar is found seven times, always in reference to a proper name in the Old Testament.

7. Journal of Discourses 5 (September 20, 1857): 260.

8. Joseph Smith Jr., History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 2d ed., rev., vol. 4 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1971), 381 (hereafter cited as History of the Church); Messenger and Advocate (June 1837): 520; (September 1837): 570; Times and Seasons 2 (August 2, 1841): 498; (September 15, 1841): 545; 4 (September 1, 1843): 309; 5 (December 1, 1844): 734; Journal of Discourses 1:48, 145; 7:223; 10:28; 12:25; 13:332; 14:218; 17:155.

9. History of the Church 5:384; Times and Seasons 4 (May 15, 1843): 203.

10. Times and Seasons 2 (June 1, 1841): 434; 5 (February 1, 1844): 427; 6 (June 1, 1845): 916; Journal of Discourses 2:46; 13:135.

11. History of the Church 4:571; Times and Seasons 3 (April 1, 1842): 743; 3 (May 16, 1842): 794; Journal of Discourses 1:275; 2:15; 3:158; 9:2; 10:193; 14:203.

12. Messenger and Advocate 3 (October 1836): 388–90; Times and Seasons 3 (November 15, 1841): 600; Journal of Discourses 6 (July 24, 1859): 360–61; 14:203.

13. Times and Seasons 3 (May 16, 1842): 794.

14. Jan Shipps and John W. Welch, eds., The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836 (Provo: BYU Studies, 1994), 3.

15. Courtney J. Lassetter, “Dispensations of the Gospel,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow, vol. 1 (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 389.

16. Thomas Smith Webb, The Freemason’s Monitor; or Illustrations of Masonry, 2d ed. (New York: Southwick and Crooker, 1802), 246–47, 254–55.

17. See also Truman G. Madsen, ed., The Temple in Antiquity: Ancient Records and Modern Perspectives (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1984); Hugh Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1975); Nibley, Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and F.A.R.M.S., 1992); Donald W. Parry, ed., Temples of the Ancient World: Ritual and Symbolism (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and F.A.R.M.S., 1994). Compare such items (chosen from among many) as Todd M. Compton, “The Hand-clasp and Embrace as Tokens of Recognition,” in By Study and Also by Faith: Essays in Honor of Hugh Nibley on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 27 March 1990, ed. John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks, 2 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and F.A.R.M.S., 1990), 1:611–42; Todd M. Compton, “The Whole Token: Mystery Symbolism in Classical Recognition Drama,” Epoché 13 (1985): 1–81; William J. Hamblin, “Aspects of an Early Christian Initiation Ritual,” in By Study and Also by Faith 1:202–21. Interesting references to ancient ritual hand gestures can be found in Edward F. Campbell Jr., Ruth, Anchor Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1965), 74; Gordon Paul Hugenberger, Marriage as a Covenant: A Study of Biblical Law and Ethics Governing Marriage, Developed from the Perspective of Malachi (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1994), 211–13, 266. For a brief, wonderfully illustrated overview of the subject, see John M. Lundquist, The Temple: Meeting Place of Heaven and Earth (London: Thames and Hudson, 1993).

William J. Hamblin

BYU Studies Publications