In the Language of Adam: Reading Scripture Like The Book of Mormon's Visionary Men

by D. John Butler

Nephi puts us on notice in his very first sentence that The Book of Mormon was written by temple worshippers and for temple worshippers. He and the other prophets of The Book of Mormon, who called themselves the visionary men and the peaceable followers of Christ, knew and practiced a mystery, an ordinance by which they ascended through the temple and entered into the presence of God. This ordinance was embodied in a dramatic representation of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden and their return to it, in which initiates played the roles of Adam and Eve or their descendants.

The drama expressed the great doctrines of the visionary men about the purpose of life, the fall and redemption, Adam and Eve’s choice, and Christ’s triumph. It contained the moral commitments of the visionary men, and it taught them spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, washing, and anointing. It brought them to share a feast with the Lord and then to petition at the veil of the holy of holies to be admitted as one of the children of God.

The Nephite prophets used the sights, experiences, furniture, architecture, sounds, and even tastes of their temple experience to inform their writing. In the Language of Adam explores that complex constellation of information as a language--as a symbolic vocabulary for communicating and perceiving important truths. The more we understand about the temple practices of the visionary men, the better we can read The Book of Mormon, as well as the writings of visionary men in the Bible and elsewhere. Knowing the mystery-language of Adam will allow us to see more clearly the precious spiritual gems that Lehi and his party f

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Lds

413 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 17, 2024

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book out there on the Book of Mormon right now. It’s flat out awesome. There is so much going on here, my review would be maxed out for space. Get it, read it, and I promise the BOM will always read differently and you’ll see things you missed before that you never thought were there.

[Reese · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Margaret Barker's The Older Testament and Temple Theology, I believed that an ancient Israelite temple ceremony had been lost and began looking for clues in Latter-day scripture for what may have been included in that ceremony. I found some of it. This book connects many of the dots that I don't have the expertise to discover on my own. I appreciate much of the reconstruction found in this book. I struggle with some of the Asherah reconstruction, but feel that is because of my own fears surrounding abuse of the Divine Feminine, especially as we already seem some in the Church turning away from Heavenly Father toward an unrevealed Heavenly Mother.

[Jack Clark · Rating 1 out of 5]

“In the language of Adam” suffers from many things. The biggest in my personal opinion is the avoidance of the evidence during the prophet Joseph Smiths time that the Temple Endowment is not a historical thing. While there may be things that are ancient in it. I would call it bad scholarship to contend that an almost copy paste ordinance happened in ancient Israel, without contemporary sources (lack alone any sources). While some do contend that Solomon’s temple had a conventional progression that appears to be the same as modern day Latter-Day Saint temples. That scholarships is not widely accepted. The over reliance on Margret Barker’s work on temple theology is also an issue of concern. The fundamental lack of acknowledgement of other possibility that happened in the temple is concerning as well. There was also not a proper bibliography in the back of the book as well, which was a disappointment to me. The wording in several passage in my personal opinion sounds like a 5th grader wrote it as well. The dramatic paragraph splits that make no sense grammatically is also an interesting addition as well. This book flat out ignores the context in which the Endowment was given as well. The scriptural quotations were lost on me as well. Basically drive by quoting, and taking more passages out of context and supposing there is some hidden meaning in quotes that don’t make sense in the context of the text thereof. If the author that wrote this desired to make a scholarly work, they failed. It reads like a novel and rambles for some time to get word count up. In all this book while good in intentions misses the mark substantially. It creates a narrative that ignores the 19th century context in which the restoration appeared.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very consumable and great insights! I don't think I'll ever read scripture the same way again even if I don't agree with every point.

[Jeff Borders · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a such a great supplement to my study of the Book of Mormon and the bible, and helped me add another layer of depth to a scripture that I love so much. There is so much to unpack that I’ll probably have to read it again, but it is well worth the 2nd and even 3rd time. Dave Butler does a wonderful job unveiling the temple symbolism contained in the Book of Mormon. A must have for any serious student of the scriptures!

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another read for a book contest I'm judging for, this has to be one of my favorites and one of the most unique. The premise of the book is that the entire book of Mormon has an esoteric second layer reading that revolves around ancient temple practices the author refers to as "The Course of the Lord." Essentially, the Book of Mormon is a temple document containing the equivalent of the ancient Israelite endowment ceremony. The first four chapters outline the broad strokes of this ceremony, which is entirely contained in the Sermon on the Mount. From there, he shows how passages from the Book of Mormon align with this interpretation.

I can consume stuff like this like candy, it was just a thrill. But then again, I went down the Denver Snuffer rabbit hole too when I read his "The Second Comforter: Conversing with the Lord Through the Veil," whose premise was that the book of Nephi and the temple endowment contained the instructions to receive a literal personal visitation from the Lord. That was one of my main concerns with the book-- while it is "deep" and brings in new layers of meaning, there is always a hint that this could imply Church leadership is led astray. It reminded me of the FAIR talk on what it labelled Mormon Gnosticism:

"Gnostics try to get at a supposed hidden, deeper truth that most members don’t find due to supposed faithlessness or lack of passion for spiritual things. Gnostics seek for what the scriptures “really” mean, or what prophets are “really” saying, or for teachings that were known a long time ago but aren’t part of modern mainstream belief, perhaps because they were unofficial and hence abandoned, or prophets revealed better understanding."

The idea of a secret hidden meaning that isn't obvious to everyone does kind of undermine Nephi's whole point that he glories in plainness, an argument that Michael Austin makes in another book I finished on the same trip, "The Testimony of Two Nations."

Butler makes clear that his conclusions are all speculative. While he does draw on a variety of scholarly sources, he is very well read, and knows several ancient languages, it all feels like the crazy daisy chaining scriptures together I did on my mission, or a "deep doctrine" conversation that might happen in high priests group back in the day. Like, some of the content may make members feel uncomfortable-- worshipping Asherah in the temple, taking the scripture "turn the other cheek" to mean temple initiates are beaten ritualistically, taking Lamoni's fainting to be a planned ritual element (take drugs, reduce your oxygen level, beat you until you are unconscious?)-- it's a lot. But then again, it does also feel authentic in that I could see Joseph Smith really doing this too.

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much of the material in the book is an extension of Margaret Baker's work. Butler just tries to extend this to the Book of Mormon as well. While there were some occasional moments of interest in the book, I found myself falling back on the same thought. Even if any of this is true, what does it matter? It doesn't make any difference in the way we see the gospel, or in the way we live our lives. What use is this information? It's rather like an alternate reading, rather than a truly insightful one. It adds nothing to our knowledge of how to approach God.

The temple ceremony itself is all metaphor, just as these scriptures are. Butler's reading of the scriptures doesn't illuminate the meaning of the metaphors, it just says that these metaphors in the scripture seem to be related to the metaphors of the temple ceremonies. And any metaphors that are marginally related must also be about the temple ceremonies. The fact that a metaphor of a path, of a tree, of whatever is being used in the temple ceremonies, and in this scripture, does not help us understand what the metaphor means.

In addition, so much of this alternate reading seemed to be forced. Does Butler really believe, for example, that there was ever a temple ceremony in which people had their face slapped? Or, in which people were run around the room to the point of feinting? Because that is what he is suggesting here. It seems ludicrous to me.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

What started out as a cool concept, that we should study the scriptures with a focus on their relationship to the symbols and meaning found in the temple, devolved into extrapolation and speculation bordering on absurdity, ending up with the author trying to reconstruct ancient temple ordinances and ceremonies based off of passages found in the sermon on the mount and the Book of Mormon. There were a lot of cool connections made in this book and a lot of interesting topics explored, but it was done so in a way that felt like a conspiracy theory. Anything that had the slightest relation to the author's theory was proof that his theory was correct, and anything that may have cast doubt on or disproved the theory was ignored or passed over.

There was little to no exploration of any modern revelation related to this topic, it was all very focused on the author's personal interpretation of biblical and Book of Mormon passages, and I did not find his interpretation or arguments very convincing.

That being said, I appreciate the effort he put into this book, and I hope that we both will be able to continue our search for truth faithfully.

[Kole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this book but struggled to get through it.

Have you ever known a lot about a subject, thought you were explaining it well to others, and then have them give you a look of confusion? That is how I felt with this book. The author definitely has researched the material and sees patterns and themes in the scriptures that most don't pick out. The problem for me was that it seemed he had a hard time explaining it in the book. It felt lile he knew what he was talking about and expected the reader to understand it at the same level or time. Or that concepts weren't explained as well or clear as they he thought they were.

Many times he would bring up concepts only to tell us that he would talk about them in another chapter, but expected the reader to understand it in that chapter.

Overall, the book was ok for me.

[Anna Shiverdecker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely interesting insights and things to think about. It really opened my eyes to how I should think of scripture and read them. I don't know that I agree with everything, but I think there is something to a lot of it. It is definitely some deep doctrine and would not recommend to the casual reader. I will definitely be thinking of several of the ideas for some time and developing my own theories.
I didn't give it five stars mainly due to the lax writing style that would just really throw me when included. It's fine, but I think it would have been better if written more academically just to be taken more seriously.
Overall, I'll definitely be referencing this book often in the future for my scripture studies.

[Colette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has given me much to think about. I will probably never understand certain words, phrases, and patterns in scripture in the same way. I guess that’s the point, though, isn’t it? I have begun to recognize the “language of Adam.” I will certainly be pondering for a long time the ideas Butler presented, and probably seeking out his other books on the subject, too.

And since I love history and Eliza R. Snow and Orson Pratt, I guess I better read some of his fiction, too!

[kruse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deep doctrines to the wazoo! Everything ranging from temple rituals being done in ancient Israel, Book of Mormon times, and Christ’s time on earth. Heavenly Mother Easter eggs in the BoM and Bible. It’s a great read that’s organized well. The book will blow your mind multiple times.

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

Several interesting paradigms and concepts introduced that can greatly change your perspective in the church and life.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous!! My scriptures are all marked up and I need to read it again! Further light and knowledge indeed! I also need to learn Hebrew!

[Ryan Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating way to approach the scriptures through the lens of the temple and temple worship.