Source: Margaret Barker, Temple Mysticism: An Introduction (London: SPCK, 2011), ix–39.
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This podcast, an introduction to Margaret Barker's Temple Mysticism, proposes that ancient temple mysticism, though largely unacknowledged, underlies much of the Bible and was central to early Christianity. Barker argues that this mystical system, focused on the Jerusalem Temple and its high priesthood, involved secret teachings, visions of divine glory, and a unique understanding of creation and the divine-human relationship. The book aims to recover this lost system by examining biblical texts, non-canonical works like 1 Enoch, and early Christian writings, suggesting that many familiar passages gain new meaning when read through the lens of temple mysticism and that its suppression has led to a distorted understanding of Christian origins. Ultimately, Barker seeks to demonstrate that Christianity originated not as a radical departure from Judaism but as a continuation and transformation of its ancient temple-based mystical traditions.
1. Temple Mysticism: Temple mysticism is presented as a fundamental, yet largely unacknowledged, system of belief and practice that underlies much of the Bible . The author posits that it is the key to understanding Christian origins. However, there is no single biblical text that explicitly defines temple mysticism, requiring its reconstruction from scattered fragments, echoes, and underlying assumptions within familiar texts. This reconstruction is likened to working out the missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle without the picture on the box.
The source indicates that temple mysticism was likely implicit and also existed as oral tradition, with some teachings kept secret. It involved a unique understanding of the temple, particularly the holy of holies, and the role of the high priest as having exclusive access to its meaning. The three elements of ancient mystery religions—the things shown (deiknumena), the things done (drōmena), and the things spoken (legomena)—are suggested as being analogous to aspects of the ancient temple. The destruction of the first temple led to the scattering of the priesthood and the spread of their teachings, which may have survived in systems labeled ‘gnostic’ and ‘non-canonical’ texts. The author argues that dismissing these as separate influences, such as Greek philosophy on early Christianity, is a distortion and that temple mysticism provides a more accurate context.
Central to temple mysticism is the concept of seeing the Lord in glory, exemplified by Isaiah’s vision of the Lord enthroned in the temple. This vision, dated to the eighth century BCE, includes details that align with later understandings of temple mysticism. John's Gospel identifying the enthroned figure as Jesus demonstrates that Jesus' closest disciples understood him within this context. The holy of holies, also called the debir, was the place where the Lord appeared and spoke. The mercy seat with the cherubim in the desert tabernacle, analogous to the throne Isaiah saw, served as the Lord’s speaking place.
The experience of the temple mystic, such as Isaiah, involved a call to be a messenger from heaven to earth, indicating that their visions were not merely personal but a revelation to be shared. The high priests were seen as ‘angels on earth’, messengers of the Lord. The source suggests that even the worship of Jesus by some could be understood if they recognized him as an angel on earth.
2. Christian Origins: The source strongly argues that temple mysticism is fundamental to understanding how Christianity began. The early Christians, according to the author, saw their faith as a recovery of the old faith rooted in temple mysticism rather than something entirely new influenced primarily by Greek philosophy. The linking of Isaiah’s call vision and the Song of the Suffering Servant to Jesus by John and Jesus himself demonstrates the early Christian interpretation of Jesus within the framework of temple mysticism1. The early Christians identified the Servant in Isaiah’s poem with the one enthroned in Isaiah’s vision.
The exaltation of Jesus, described in Philippians as emptying himself and being exalted with the name above every name (Yahweh), is linked to the pattern of the Servant Song and the transformation inherent in temple mysticism—a human being raised up and becoming divine. John’s description of Jesus’ prayer at the last supper portrays Jesus as a high priest in the tradition of temple mystics, aware of his pre-existence in glory (the state represented by the holy of holies) and his return to that state. The emphasis on unity in Jesus’ prayer is also tied to the temple teaching that the holy of holies represented the unity from which all creation originated.
John’s vision of the new Jerusalem as a huge holy of holies with the throne of God-and-the-Lamb, the river of life, and the tree of life restored, is presented as the earliest ‘picture’ of Christian worship, rooted in temple mysticism. The description of the servants as a new collective high priesthood who stand before the throne in the pre-created light further reinforces this connection. The letters to the seven churches in Revelation utilize imagery drawn from temple mysticism, such as the tree of life, hidden manna, and heavenly throne, indicating its prevalence in early Christian discourse.
3. Hidden and Altered Scriptures: The source emphasizes that the recovery of temple mysticism is difficult due to the suppression and alteration of ancient source material. The Deuteronomists, for example, contradicted earlier traditions of seeing the Lord, indicating a controversy and suppression of temple mysticism within the Hebrew scriptures. The story of Ezra in 2 Esdras suggests that many inspired texts, containing the ‘spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the river of knowledge’, were kept secret and only for the wise, implying that the public Hebrew scriptures were incomplete.
The Mishnah’s list of canonical scripture passages forbidden for public reading or explanation included temple texts about the holy of holies, such as Ezekiel’s chariot throne vision and the creation account in Genesis, further illustrating the concealment of these mystical traditions. Interestingly, the source notes that the early Christians clearly knew and used these forbidden temple passages. The stabilization of the Hebrew text around 100 CE is presented not as a natural process but as an intentional act, with evidence suggesting that some older readings were removed or changed in response to the claims of Christianity.
The condemnation of the Septuagint (Lxx) and the creation of new Greek translations, along with the avoidance of ‘Christian’ terms like ‘christos’, indicate a deliberate effort to diverge from the scriptures used by the early Christians. The ruling that scrolls used by Christians (minim) should be destroyed also points to an active suppression of Christian interpretations and source material. The practice of ‘rewritten scripture’ and the authorized ‘restorations of the scribes’ (tiqqune sopherim) further demonstrate the alteration of texts, sometimes for theological reasons. The source suggests that the post-Christian Hebrew text, which became the basis for later translations like Jerome’s Latin Vulgate and Reformation-era Bibles, is not the Old Testament as Jesus and the first Christians knew it, leading to the loss of temple mysticism in these later traditions. The Letter of Barnabas quoting ‘scripture’ not found in the current Old Testament highlights the existence of other early Christian source material that has not survived.