Cyril of Jerusalem (on the mysteries)

My personal journey into what I have called Mormon Mysticism I suspect began at my conversion. But there was an acceleration at the reading of Hugh Nibley’s books including The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment, and Temple and Cosmos. And clearly these books along with many others gave me a base to understand the things I would later learn.

I remember a most profound stepping-up of my understanding when I read a document by a fourth century Bishop named “Cyril of Jerusalem.” Some may argue that he was alive during the falling away, or what Mormons call the “apostasy.” It is beyond the scope of what I am writing now to determine when what stages of the apostasy were happening; I leave that to the reader to decide. But what I will suggest is that Bishop Cyril was close enough in time to the original church to possess very insightful views of higher ordinances.

Even if Cyril is wrong on everything else, taking what he said in these lectures by themselves, they will start you thinking in fantastic ways!

He tells us what we will learn from these lectures:

“… in the succeeding lectures on the Mysteries we have entered into the Holy of Holies, we shall there know the symbolic meaning of the things which are there performed. Now to God the Father, with the Son and the Holy Ghost, be glory, and power, and majesty, forever and ever. Amen.”

He tells us what it means to be anointed:

“Having therefore become partakers of Christ, you are properly called Christs, and of you God said, Touch not My Christs, or anointed.”

No study of mysticism is complete without a study of these lectures.

Here are links to an html on-line version: [First Lecture on the Mysteries] [On the Mysteries. II] [On the Mysteries. III] [On the Mysteries. IV] [On the Mysteries. V]