The Yoke of Christ: Possible Connections to the Temple
by Jeff Lindsay
"Come unto Me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in
heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." — Matthew
11: 28-29
Last
week in my
first post on the yoke of Christ,
we discussed Christ's reference to His yoke in Matthew 11 and
mentioned how that concept could be a useful tool in clarifying the
relationship between grace and works. The yoke is a symbol of a
commitment, a relationship, even a covenant to follow and serve.
Christians
of any denomination should recognize that Christ's commands to come
unto Him and take His yoke upon us involves accepting and following
His teachings. For us, that includes all that He has taught and given
us.
Also
for us, that also includes the teachings of the temple. Before I
explain why, I'd like to share an interesting excerpt from an early
Christian document that I alluded to in my previous post.
Speaking
to those caught up in pagan Greek mysteries, Clement
of Alexandria (c. 150-c. 215 AD) in his Exhortations to the Heathen (a.k.a. Protrepticus,
a document believed to have been written around 195 AD), speaks of
true mysteries that should replace heathen rites.
He
refers to the sacred rites, "expounding them after [the]
fashion" of the Greeks, describing the Christian mysteries as
"dramas of the truth" with a sober choral dance. (I should
point out that Hugh Nibley in "The
Early Christian Prayer Circle"
has noted the parallel between the Greek chorus/choral dance and the
early Christian prayer circle.)
Come,
O madman, not leaning on the thyrsus, not crowned with ivy; throw
away the mitre, throw away the fawn-skin; come to thy senses. I will
show thee the Word, and the mysteries of the Word, expounding them
after thine own fashion.
This
is the mountain beloved of God, not the subject of tragedies like
Cithæron, but consecrated to dramas of the truth, —
a mount of sobriety, shaded with forests of purity; and there revel
on it not the Mænades, the sisters of Semele, who was struck by
the thunderbolt, practising in their initiatory rites unholy division
of flesh, but the daughters of God, the fair lambs, who celebrate the
holy rites of the Word, raising a sober choral dance.
The
righteous are the chorus; the music is a hymn of the King of the
universe. The maidens strike the lyre, the angels praise, the
prophets speak; the sound of music issues forth, they run and pursue
the jubilant band; those that are called make haste, eagerly desiring
to receive the Father.
Come
thou also, O aged man, leaving Thebes, and casting away from thee
both divination and Bacchic frenzy, allow thyself to be led to the
truth. I give thee the staff [of the cross] on which to lean. Haste,
Tiresias; believe, and thou wilt see.
Christ,
by whom the eyes of the blind recover sight, will shed on thee a
light brighter than the sun; night will flee from thee, fire will
fear, death will be gone; thou, old man, who saw not Thebes, shalt
see the heavens.
O
truly sacred mysteries! O stainless light! My way is lighted with
torches, and I survey the heavens and God; I become holy whilst I am
initiated. The Lord is the hierophant [that which brings someone into
the presence of the holy, like the keeper of the gate in 2 Nephi 9],
and seals while illuminating him who is initiated, and presents to
the Father him who believes, to be kept safe for ever. Such are the
reveries of my mysteries.
If
it is thy wish, be thou also initiated; and thou shall join the choir
along with angels around the unbegotten and indestructible and the
only true God, the Word of God, raising the hymn with us. This Jesus,
who is eternal, the one great High Priest of the one God, and of His
Father, prays for and exhorts men.
“Hear,
ye myriad tribes, rather whoever among men are endowed with reason,
both barbarians and Greeks. I call on the whole race of men, whose
Creator I am, by the will of the Father.
“Come
to Me, that you may be put in your due rank under the one God and the
one Word of God; and do not only have the advantage of the irrational
creatures in the possession of reason; for to you of all mortals I
grant the enjoyment of immortality.
“For
I want, I want to impart to you this grace, bestowing on you the
perfect boon of immortality; and I confer on you both the Word and
the knowledge of God, My complete self.
“This
am I, this God wills, this is symphony, this the harmony of the
Father, this is the Son, this is Christ, this the Word of God, the
arm of the Lord, the power of the universe, the will of the Father;
of which things there were images of old, but not all adequate.
“I
desire to restore you according to the original model, that ye may
become also like Me. I anoint you with the ungent of faith, by which
you throw off corruption, and show you the naked form of
righteousness by which you ascend to God.
“Come
to Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly
in heart: and ye shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke is easy,
and My burden light.”
Let
us haste, let us run, my fellow-men — us, who are God-loving
and God-like images of the Word. Let us haste, let us run, let us
take His yoke, let us receive, to conduct us to immortality, the good
charioteer of men. Let us love Christ.
He
led the colt with its parent; and having yoked the team of humanity
to God, directs His chariot to immortality, hastening clearly to
fulfil, by driving now into heaven, what He shadowed forth before by
riding into Jerusalem. A spectacle most beautiful to the Father is
the eternal Son crowned with victory.
Let
us aspire, then, after what is good; let us become God-loving men,
and obtain the greatest of all things which are incapable of being
harmed — God and life. Our helper is the Word; let us put
confidence in Him; …
There
is therefore no room to doubt, the Word will say, whether it is
better to be sane or insane; but holding on to truth with our teeth,
we must with all our might follow God, and in the exercise of wisdom
regard all things to be, as they are, His; and besides, having
learned that we are the most excellent of His possessions, let us
commit ourselves to God, loving the Lord God, and regarding this as
our business all our life long.
And
if what belongs to friends be reckoned common property, and man be
the friend of God — for through the mediation of the Word has
he been made the friend of God — then accordingly all things
become man’s, because all things are God’s, and the
common property of both the friends, God and man.
It
is time, then, for us to say that the pious Christian alone is rich
and wise, and of noble birth, and thus call and believe him to be
God’s image, and also His likeness, having become righteous and
holy and wise by Jesus Christ, and so far already like God.
Accordingly
this grace is indicated by the prophet, when he says, “I said
that ye are gods, and all sons of the Highest.” For us, yea us,
He has adopted, and wishes to be called the Father of us alone, not
of the unbelieving. Such is then our position who are the attendants
of Christ.
Here
are some surprising connections between the yoke imagery of Matthew
11:28-30 and rites of initiation, including a reference to anointing,
part of the mysteries aimed at bringing us into the presence of God
and becoming more like him.
There
are many temple themes there connected to the concept of the yoke,
though there, instead of a heavy yoke for slowly plodding oxen, it is
the yoke of a charioteer wishing to bring us swiftly home, into the
presence of God, where it is our destiny to become more like Him.
Fast or slow, though, it remains a yoke, and its purpose is to bring
us home — as we pull our burden for the Lord.
What
of these mysteries and rites mentioned by Clement of Alexandria?
The
LDS faith and significant portions of early Christianity share an
important element that divides us from much of modern Christianity,
namely, the belief that there are sacred teachings and ceremonies
that are not directly found in canonical writings and were simply not
meant to be published at all.
Such
teachings and practices are found in the LDS temple, where we make
sacred covenants and obtain sacred insights that we do not discuss in
detail outside the temple. Those covenants to us are part of taking
on the yoke of Christ.
In
other words, the teachings of Christ that we take upon us are both
the public and the private teachings; those given to the world in
open sermons, and those given in further revelations to His apostles
and prophets, including the sacred concepts of the restored temple.
That
Christ taught many things beyond what is recorded in the New
Testament should be obvious. It is also explicitly taught in the New
Testament.
Not
long before His death, the Savior told his disciples, "I have
yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now"
(John 16:12).
After
the Resurrection, Acts 1:1-3 indicates that to the Apostles he showed
himself and spoke "of the things pertaining to the kingdom of
God" during a period of forty days. Not a word of what he taught
during those 40 days is recorded in the canon we now have.
Was
this all fluff of no importance to Christians, or was it more
advanced and sacred material for followers better prepared to
understand and bear them? A great deal of early Christian tradition
points to the latter.
Lest
you think that Clement of Alexandria is just speaking figuratively
about the public canon of scripture, elsewhere he explicitly refers
to unwritten material from the apostles. For example, in Stromata, Book 6,
at the end of chapters 7 and 8, we find some interesting material as
he discusses this higher knowledge, or gnosis.
E.g.,
"And the gnosis itself is that which has descended by
transmission to a few, having been imparted unwritten by the
apostles." Chapter 15 also affirms that there was unwritten
knowledge given by Christ to the apostles.
The
concept of secret doctrines and mysteries taught by Christ to his
apostles is attested in several other early Christian documents, as
Barry Bickmore has documented in Restoring the Ancient Church
(Redding, CA: FAIRMormon, 1999) and on a related website.
For example, in the fourth century, Basil of Caesarea
(c. 330 to 379) in De Spirito Sancto
spoke of doctrines "received from the unwritten tradition of the
Fathers" (Chapter 9, verse 22) and said much more in Chapter 27:
66.
Of the beliefs and practices whether generally accepted or publicly
enjoined which are preserved in the Church some we possess derived
from written teaching; others we have received delivered to us in
a mystery by the tradition of the apostles; and both of these in
relation to true religion have the same force.
And
these no one will gainsay — no one, at all events, who is even
moderately versed in the institutions of the Church.
For
were we to attempt to reject such customs as have no written
authority, on the ground that the importance they possess is small,
we should unintentionally injure the Gospel in its very vitals; ….
Moreover we bless the water of baptism and the oil of the chrism, and
besides this the catechumen who is being baptized.
On
what written authority do we do this? Is not our authority silent and
mystical tradition? Nay, by what written word is the anointing of oil
itself taught? And whence comes the custom of baptizing thrice?
And
as to the other customs of baptism from what Scripture do we derive
the renunciation of Satan and his angels? Does not this come from
that unpublished and secret teaching which our fathers guarded in a
silence out of the reach of curious meddling and inquisitive
investigation?
Well
had they learned the lesson that the awful dignity of the mysteries
is best preserved by silence. What the uninitiated are not even
allowed to look at was hardly likely to be publicly paraded about in
written documents. ….
In
the same manner [this comes after mentioning Moses and his shielding
of the Holy of Holies] the Apostles and Fathers who laid down laws
for the Church from the beginning thus guarded the awful dignity of
the mysteries in secrecy and silence, for what is bruited abroad
random among the common folk is no mystery at all.
This
is the reason for our tradition of unwritten precepts and practices,
that the knowledge of our dogmas may not become neglected and
contemned by the multitude through familiarity….
67.
Time will fail me if I attempt to recount the unwritten mysteries of
the Church…. While the unwritten traditions are so many, and
their bearing on the mystery of godliness [1 Timothy 3:16] is so
important, can they refuse to allow us a single word which has come
down to us from the Fathers; — which we found, derived from
untutored custom, abiding in unperverted churches; — a word for
which the arguments are strong, and which contributes in no small
degree to the completeness of the force of the mystery?
Lactantius (c. 250 – c. 325) in The Divine Institutes,
Book 7, Chapter 26, spoke of a hidden mystery kept from the world:
…God
orders us in quietness and silence to hide His secret, and to keep it
within our own conscience; and not to strive with obstinate
contention against those who are ignorant of the truth, and who
rigorously assail God and His religion not for the sake of learning,
but of censuring and jeering.
For
a mystery ought to be most faithfully concealed and covered,
especially by us, who bear the name of faith. But they accuse this
silence of ours, as though it were the result of an evil conscience;
whence also they invent some detestable things respecting those who
are holy and blameless, and willingly believe their own inventions.
If
there were more advanced concepts that Christ wanted to teach, but
which his disciples were not yet ready to "bear them now"
as he said in John 16:12, could it be that at a later time, such as
during His 40-day ministry, that they would receive them and be ready
to "bear them"? Could those teachings are part of the full
yoke of Christ that we are to bear?
One
of the earliest Christian documents after the New Testament, the
Didache,
uses this term, the "full yoke" of the Lord and links it to
the goal of perfection: "If you can bear the Lord's full yoke, you will be perfect. But if you
cannot, then do what you can."
Latter-day
Saints would concur that taking up the full yoke of Christ is part of
the quest to ultimately be perfected, through the grace of Christ —
though it involves faithfully bearing the Lord's yoke.
The
extensive literature related to the 40-day ministry of Christ is
touched upon in Hugh Nibley's scholarly treatise, "Evangelium
Quadraginta Dierum: The Forty-day Mission of Christ-The Forgotten
Heritage" (Vigiliae Christianae
20:1 (1966): 1-24; reprinted
by the Maxwell Institute).
That
literature is part of a great deal of recent evidence pointing to
very ancient roots for the modern LDS temple, roots that cannot be
explained by the several elements that appear to have been borrowed
from modern Masonry or from other modern sources Joseph may have had
access to.
For
one of the most definitive works on the relationship between the
temple and Freemasonry, with exposition regarding its more ancient
roots, see the recent work of Jeffrey Bradshaw, "Freemasonry
and the Origins of Modern Temple Ordinances," Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture,
15 (2015): 159-237. Some related information is also available on my
LDSFAQ page on the LDS Temple and Freemasonry.
An
excellent LDS source for understanding the extensive ancient roots of
the LDS temple is Matthew R. Brown's large volume, The Gate of
Heaven: Insights on the Doctrines and Symbols of the Temple
(American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, 1999).
Regarding
the 40-day literature, Nibley in "Evangelium Quadraginta Dierum"
writes:
The
apocryphal teachings of the 40 days taken together comprise an
imposing doctrinal edifice, totally unlike the patchwork systems of
the Gnostics. It begins with the most natural question to ask anyone
returning to earth after being away: Where did you go and what did
you see?
The
Lord's discourse in reply recalls the journeys to worlds above and
below recounted by the prophets and patriarchs of the old Jewish
apocrypha.63
And yet the picture is quite different: They go as observers and
report what they have seen, while he goes as a missionary and reports
what he has done.
The
central theme is the Descensus, a mission to the spirits below
closely resembling the Lord's earthly calling.64
He brings the kerygma [the proclamation of the Gospel] to all,
and those who accept it follow him out of the depths into the light,65
receive baptism,66
and hence mount up by degrees to realms of glory, for as in the
Jewish apocrypha the picture of other worlds is not a simple one.67
This
mounting up is depicted as the return of the spirit to its heavenly
home, where it existed in glory before coming to earth.68
This is not the Gnostic idea of preexistence, however, for the soul
is not sent down as punishment nor imprisoned in the flesh, nor does
it fly directly to God after its release from physical confinement;69
rather it is sent to be tried and tested in "the blessed vessel"
of the flesh whose immortality is guaranteed by the resurrection.70
There
is a strong emphasis in early Christian literature on the doctrine of
the Two Ways, depicting life as a time of probation, a constant
confrontation with good and evil and the obligation to choose between
them.71
This
is conceived as part of a plan laid down "in the presence of the
first angels" at the creation of the world,72
according to which through Adam's fall the human race would be placed
in the position, envied by the angels, of being perfectly free to
choose good or evil and thereby fully merit whatever rewards would
follow.73
Satan
rebelled against the plan, refused obeisance to Adam, and was cast
down upon the earth with his cohorts, to fulfill divine purpose by
providing, as "the serpent," the temptation necessary for
an effectual testing of human beings.74
Through
inspired prophets men from time to time are taught the rules of the
game, but are prone to cheat, fall away into darkness, and require
painful correction before return to divine favor and a new
dispensation of heavenly gifts and covenants.75
The
historical picture is a complicated one, culminating in the final
return of the Lord, but not before he has made other appearances,
notably to a few "righteous and pure souls and faithful,"
preparatory to the ultimate and glorious parousia.76
What
gives substance to this peculiar doctrinal structure is the imposing
body of rites and ordinances that goes with it.77
Ritual and doctrinal elements are inextricably interwoven in a
complex in which everything is oddly literal and all fit solidly
together: The kerygma, whether above or below, is
real and must have a "seal," which is baptism, though the
word is also used to designate rites of washing and anointing that go
with it;78
after such rites the initiate receives a symbolic but real and
tangible garment,79
and then sits down to a sacral meal, a real repast celebrating the
perfect unity of the participants with each other and with the Lord,
who is present in spirit.
"Recent
findings indicate unusual emphasis placed on a perfect unity of the
sexes in marriage ordinances which were real enough and secret enough
to excite the scandalized speculations of outsiders80
and the fantastic imitation of the Gnostics.81
After
all allowances have been made, there remains a definite residue of
early Christian ritual that goes far beyond anything known to later
Christianity, which admittedly got its liturgy from the synagogue and
the Hellenistic world, while the rites just mentioned all look to the
temple and belong to the instructions of the 40 days.82
The
teachings swirling around the mysteries of the 40-day ministry appear
linked to the temple and to sacred covenants and rites. This is
consistent with the LDS view that there is more the Lord has revealed
for us than we have in public writings.
Sabbath Connections
As
Elder Dallin H. Oaks has eloquently pointed out in his April 1985
General Conference sermon, "Taking
Upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ,"
the sacrament prayer's statement about being willing
to take the name of Christ implies that it is not fully taken upon us
by baptism alone. That prayer points us to the place where we more
fully taken the name of Christ upon us and more fully take up His
yoke.
It
is in the temple where we take upon us the authority/name of Jesus
Christ. I would likewise suggest that temple teachings and covenants
more fully bind us to the Lord as the yoke joins the ox to its
master.
Appropriately,
the Kirtland Temple had sacrament
tables in the shape of a yoke for oxen.
The yoke of oxen perhaps should be one of the concepts we think about
as we approach the baptismal font in the Temple, which in early
temples at least was born on the backs of oxen.
Baptismal
covenants, renewed weekly at the sacrament table, are covenants to
take the name of Christ upon us, which is more than just
acknowledging His name. It is committing ourselves to follow Him.
Taking His name upon us is taking His yoke upon us.
We
may also wish to ponder the symbol of the yoke and the duty to carry
a burden for the Lord as we look at the baptismal font in typical LDS
temples, resting squarely on the backs of oxen. Baptism, the
sacrament, burdens on the backs of oxen, and sacred temple covenants
all may be connected.
The
Sabbath, of course, is the day of rest. In Matthew 11, when Christ
implores us to come unto Him and take up His yoke, He offers a
specific blessing: rest. This might seem like an odd promise
to link with a symbol of labor and servitude.
What
is the rest that Christ promises? Doctrine and Covenants 84:24
explains that the Lord's rest is the "fullness of his glory"
and is associated with coming into the presence of God. Entry into
the presence of God is ultimately the very thing the temple is
designed to help provide for man.
The
temple is a house of to prepare us to enter into God's presence and
enjoy His fullness. It is a house of rest, of the rest that God
provides for His sons and daughters who come unto Him.
The
temple as sacred space is a place of rest linked to the day of rest.
It is to space as the Sabbath is to time. As Rabbi Abraham Heschel
put it, "The seventh day is like a palace in time with a kingdom
for all" (The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man,
(New York: Farrar, Straus, and Young, 1951), p. 21, as cited by Levenson, Sinai and Zion, 1985).
See also Heschel's article, "Shabbat as a Sanctuary in Time."
As
Elder Oaks explained, the covenants renewed at the sacrament table on
the day of rest are most fully made in the temple, where we take the
name of Christ upon us most fully and prepare to enter into His rest.
Should
not His yoke must fully be understood to include temple covenants? Is
that not how we take His name most fully upon us, and prepare to
enter into that rest?
Anointing
Among
the concepts mentioned by Nibley above is anointing. To me, this
ancient rite, originally used in Old Testament times as a symbol of
giving authority to priests and kings, has parallels to taking on the
yoke of Christ. It is also linked to the temple.
In
the Gate of Heaven, Matthew Brown writes
Around
350 A.D., Cyril of Jerusalem equated the anointing ceremony that was
administered under his direction (of the forehead, ears, nose, and
chest) with the “unction” or “anointing” that
is spoken of in 1 John 2:20, 27.69 Basil the Great referred to the
early Christian anointing ritual as one of the secret teachings
“delivered to us ‘in a mystery’ by the traditions
of the apostles.”
What
did this anointing ceremony consist of? Several historical sources
say that the early Saints were anointed on the forehead, ears, nose,
eyes, mouth, and chest, and a formula of words was pronounced as the
body parts were anointed. Most sources, however, simply say that the
Christian’s entire body was anointed with holy oil.
Some
ritual texts indicate that the anointing oil was applied to the
initiate’s head as a type of “seal,” and then the
seal was confirmed upon the initiate in the name of the three members
of the Godhead. Around 200 A.D. Tertullian wrote that the anointing
ritual was administered to Christ’s disciples so that they
themselves could become “christs,” or anointed ones, like
their Master. [footnotes omitted]
In
one of the footnotes for that passage, Brown also notes that Cyril of
Jerusalem said that through this anointing, all Christians “were
made Christs.”
Is
taking on the gifts and responsibilities of the anointing part of
fully taking on the yoke of Christ, part of the path in truly coming
unto Him? Surely it is a symbol of taking on us the name of Christ
and His authority, as well as his teachings. It is a symbol not
wholly unrelated to the yoke, recognizing, for example, that the role
of the anointed priest or king is ultimately to be a servant and to
carry a burden for the Lord.
Now
that we have mentioned the links between the yoke, the temple, and
anointing, Latter-day Saints might get excited to see Isaiah 10:27,
which speaks of the yoke of captivity being "destroyed
because of the anointing," but this may be a translation problem
in the KJV.
The
Hebrew word translated as anointing actually refers to fatness, and
it is generally understood now to suggest the image of the fat,
healthy neck of the ox swelling to break the yoke.
The
connection from fat or oil to anointing is not an impossible leap,
but modern translations like the New English Bible
do not use "anointing" and see it as unjustified here. Nevertheless,
the connection between anointing and temple themes in Exhortations to the Heathen
by Clement of Alexandria
is worth re-reading:
Come
to Me…. For I want, I want to impart to you this grace,
bestowing on you the perfect boon of immortality; and I confer on you
both the Word and the knowledge of God, My complete self. This am I,
this God wills, …. I desire to restore you according to the
original model, that ye may become also like Me.
I
anoint you with the ungent of faith, by which you throw off
corruption, and show you the naked form of righteousness by which you
ascend to God. Come to Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for
I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest to your souls.
For My yoke is easy, and My burden light.”
Let
us haste, let us run, my fellow-men — us, who are God-loving
and God-like images of the Word. Let us haste, let us run, let us
take His yoke, let us receive, to conduct us to immortality, the good
charioteer of men. Let us love Christ. He led the colt with its
parent; and having yoked the team of humanity to God, directs His
chariot to immortality, …
It
is time, then, for us to say that the pious Christian alone is rich
and wise, and of noble birth, and thus call and believe him to be
God’s image, and also His likeness, having become righteous and
holy and wise by Jesus Christ, and so far already like God.
Accordingly
this grace is indicated by the prophet, when he says, “I said
that ye are gods, and all sons of the Highest.” For us, yea us,
He has adopted, and wishes to be called the Father of us alone, not
of the unbelieving. Such is then our position who are the attendants
of Christ.
Summary
Covenants
binding man and God are a vital part of our ancient religious roots
and a critical part of the Restoration and the modern LDS temple.
Making and renewing covenants can involve many symbolic objects such
as the phylacteries worn by ancient Jews, or priestly robes and many
other elements of clothing used in priestly roles, coronation
ceremonies, or other rites.
It
can also involve actions with physical materials such as washing with
water and anointing with oil, as found in the Old Testament and in
some other ancient traditions.
The
donning of sacred clothing can be considered a symbol of taking the
yoke of covenants upon us. Indeed, the pallium, a piece of woolen
cloth worn about the neck of a pope, can be viewed as a symbol of
bearing the yoke of Christ.
The
robes and the garment of the LDS temple can also be linked
symbolically to the yoke of Christ. To Saints making covenants to
come unto Christ, that too can be part of His yoke, or a symbol
thereof.
The
covenants we make to follow Christ and take His name upon us and
accept His teachings, including baptism and the covenants and
teachings of the temple, can be considered as part of Christ's yoke.
The burden we take up is light, and though it is a burden and does
demand commitment and endurance from us, that work of course is
incapable of saving us.
It
cannot resurrect us. It cannot wash away our sins. It cannot bring us
into the presence of the Father. All this comes through His grace.
Thus, it is a yoke of grace. Indeed, the "yoke of His grace"
is the term used in another of the earliest of Christian document,
First Clement,
written by Clement of Rome.
A
yoke that involves obedience and service, but brings us to receive
the full riches of His grace, and that includes realizing our divine
potential in a sacred covenant relationship with God, as the later
early Christian, Clement of Alexandria, taught, and as many other
early Christians understood.
The
LDS temple truly is a place of grace rooted in great antiquity, a
place where we can more fully come unto Christ and take His full yoke
upon us.
Jeff Lindsay has been defending the Church on the Internet since 1994, when he launched his
LDSFAQ website under JeffLindsay.com. He has also long been blogging about LDS matters on
the blog Mormanity (mormanity.blogspot.com). Jeff is a longtime resident of Appleton,
Wisconsin, who recently moved to Shanghai, China, with his wife, Kendra.
He works for an Asian corporation as head of intellectual property. Jeff and Kendra are the parents of 4 boys, 3 married and the the youngest on a mission.
He is a former innovation and IP consultant, a former professor, and former Corporate Patent
Strategist and Senior Research Fellow for a multinational corporation.
Jeff Lindsay, Cheryl Perkins and Mukund Karanjikar are authors of the book Conquering
Innovation Fatigue (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).
Jeff has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University and is a registered US
patent agent. He has more than 100 granted US patents and is author of numerous publications.
Jeff's hobbies include photography, amateur magic, writing, and Mandarin Chinese.
