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I, an office-chair scholar (kind of like an armchair quarterback), read “Mother of the Lord: Volume 1 The Lady in the Temple” and I was hooked. I struggled to understand the significance of every statement and it took me a while to get through it, but it was well-worth the struggle and changed my life. A byproduct of this is that I also haven’t been able to hear the name Josiah without getting physically sick to my stomach (over the extrication of Heavenly Mother and other plain and precious truths from the scriptures by Josiah and the Deuteronomists). I just recently watched a you tube video of her explaining about the Jordan Lead Plates and was thoroughly fascinated and amazed. She is a gem and gift. Thanks so much for the awesome summary of her Temple and Heavenly Mother contributions to LDS thought. Love it.
You are welcome. And thank you.
Thanks for the comments. It’s been a grand adventure to part of this intersection between Barker’s work and the Restoration and wonderful to see do many impressive scholars joining in, and opening our eyes to more and more significance.
What a wonderful recap/roundup of Barker’s work and various contributions. This should be part of a festschrift for Dr. Barker. Well done, Kevin. You have reminded me of the breadth and depth of this amazing and fearless scholar. She is definitely a gift to us all. Thank you.
Reading Kevin Christensen is always an adventure. I was regaled by this one.
I really hope that Mrs. Barker has received an invitation to the upcoming Salt Lake City Temple Open House. Surely in someone’s budget, somewhere, they could find the funds to bring her over.
Wonderful summary. It’s hard to overstate what an impact your original “Paradigms Regained” paper had on me 21 years ago; it led directly to my buying and reading several of Barker’s books over the years that followed. The hypothesized ancient/reform split around 600 BC has colored my interpretation both of the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon ever since. Frankly, it’s probably time for me to go back and re-read some of those, as well as pick up some of her newer works. Thanks.