Margaret Barker (born 1944) is a British

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

preacher and biblical scholar. She studied theology at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

, after which she has devoted her life to research in

ancient Christianity The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christian countries, and the Christians with their various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish teach ...

. She has developed an approach to biblical studies known as Temple Theology. She was president of the ''Society for Old Testament Study'' in 1998, and in July 2008 she was awarded the

Lambeth degree A Lambeth degree is an academic degree conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 (25 Hen VIII c 21) (Eng) as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most commonl ...

of Doctor of Divinity by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Temple Theology

Temple Theology is an approach to biblical studies developed by Margaret Barker in her books starting from ''The Great High Priest'' (2003) and ''Temple Theology'' (2004). This approach identifies some elements of the theology and worship of

Solomon's Temple Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the Temple in Jerusalem between the 10th century BC and . According to the Hebrew Bible, it was commissioned by Solomon in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited by th ...

that endured beyond Josiah's reform and survived in both early Christian theology and liturgy and in

gnosticism Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

. According to this view Temple Theology has been influential in moulding the roots of Christianity as well as, or even more than,

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

or synagogue culture. According to Barker, the main ideas of Temple Theology are the following: *understanding the First Temple as the figure of the whole universe: the inner court (''the sea'') to be the figure of the pagans, the

Holy Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

(''the earth'') to be the figure of the

Jewish people Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

and the Holy of Holies (''the heaven'') to be the figure of the Garden of Eden; * entering the Holy of the Holies is a

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

experience that transforms man into an

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

( theosis), thus entering the Garden of Eden and giving knowledge to understand creation. This idea is related to the

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...

; * the main aim of the liturgy, and in particular of the

Day of Atonement Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's o ...

, was to maintain the

Creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

. * The Lord (''

Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he poss ...

''), the God of Israel, was the Son of God Most High. Jesus, from the very beginning, was recognised as the Lord in this sense. * The early Christian liturgy incorporated many elements of the First Temple Liturgy: the liturgy of the bread of the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

traces its roots in the Saturday offering of the bread ( Leviticus 24:5–9) and the liturgy of the wine in the Day of Atonement. Margaret Barker works from all the available sources (the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

, the

Dead Sea scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

, the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

, the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and Christian

Apocrypha Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...

and

Pseudepigrapha Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pse ...

Gnostic texts Gnosticism used a number of religious texts that are preserved, in part or whole, in ancient manuscripts, or lost but mentioned critically in Patristic writings. Gnostic texts Gnostic texts preserved before 1945 Prior to the discovery at Nag H ...

, and other early writings and artwork). According to her, ''

Sola Scriptura , meaning by scripture alone, is a Christian theological doctrine held by most Protestant Christian denominations, in particular the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism, that posits the Bible as the sole infallible source of aut ...

'' – the doctrine that the Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of doctrine and practice – has hindered rather than helped the understanding of Christianity.

Reception

Margaret Barker's work has been received positively within the

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...

tradition. However, it has been regarded as fanciful and unpersuasive to some New Testament scholars. Specifically, some scholars believe Barker engages in

parallelomania In historical analysis, biblical criticism and comparative mythology/religion, parallelomania has been used to refer to a phenomenon ( mania) where authors perceive apparent similarities and construct parallels and analogies without historical ...

. Barker's later work has been critiqued for primarily citing her own work, and failing to substantially engage with the broader scholarly literature covering the topics on which she writes. However the same critic also points to original elements of her work which deserve further study and appreciation. Writes Peter Schäfer of Princeton: "For a Judaism scholar chäferfocused on religious history, arker'sbooks are particularly hard to digest. They contain numerous surprising as well as brilliant insights, but all in all create a new syncretistic religion that avoids any and all chronological, geographic, and literary differentiations." Notable supporters of Barker's work include

Robert M. Price Robert McNair Price (born July 7, 1954) is an American New Testament scholar. His most notable stance is arguing in favor of the Christ myth theorythe claim that a historical Jesus did not exist. Price is the author of a number of books on bi ...

Publications

*''The Older Testament: The Survival of Themes from the Ancient Royal Cult in Sectarian Judaism and Early Christianity''. London: SPCK, 1987. New edition

Sheffield Phoenix Press Sheffield Phoenix Press Ltd. (SPP) is an independent academic publisher specializing in biblical studies. It was launched in January 2004, continuing the traditions of the former Sheffield Academic Press. SPP's main series of titles are Hebrew B ...

, 2005 () *''The Lost Prophet: The Book of Enoch and Its Influence on Christianity''. London: SPCK, 1988. New edition

, 2005 () *''The Gate of Heaven: The History and Symbolism of the Temple in Jerusalem''. London: SPCK, 1991. New edition

, 2008 () *''The Great Angel: A Study of Israel's Second God''. London: SPCK; Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992 () *''On Earth as It Is in Heaven: Temple Symbolism in the New Testament''. London:

T&T Clark T&T Clark is a British publishing firm which was founded in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1821 and which now exists as an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. History The firm was founded in 1821 by Thomas Clark, then aged 22 and who had a Free Church ...

, 1995. New edition Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2009 () *''The Risen Lord: The Jesus of History as the Christ of Faith''. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1996 () *''The Revelation of Jesus Christ''. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2000 () *''The Great High Priest: The Temple Roots of Christian Liturgy''. London & New York: T&T Clark/ Continuum, 2003 () *''Temple Theology: An Introduction''. London: SPCK, 2004 () *''An Extraordinary Gathering of Angels''. London: M Q Publications Ltd, 2004 () *''The Hidden Tradition of the Kingdom of God''. London: SPCK, 2007 () *''Temple Themes in Christian Worship''. London: T&T Clark, 2007 () *''Christmas: The Original Story''. London: SPCK, 2008 () *''Creation: a Biblical Vision for the Environment''. London: T&T Clark, 2010 () *''Temple Mysticism: An Introduction''. London: SPCK, 2011 () *''The Mother of the Lord: The Lady in the Temple'' (Volume 1). London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2012 () *''King of the Jews: Temple Theology in John's Gospel''. London: SPCK, 2014 ()

References

External links

* * Christensen, Kevin & William J. Hamblin, eds. (2001)
'Paradigms Regained': A Survey of Margaret Barker's Scholarship and its Significance for Mormon Studies
Provo, UT:

Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) was an informal collaboration of academics devoted to Latter-day Saint historical scholarship. ThFoundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS)was established in 1979 as a ...

(FARMS) &

Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, or Maxwell Institute, is a research institute at Brigham Young University (BYU). Made up of faculty and visiting scholars who study religion (primarily the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Margaret 1944 births Alumni of the University of Cambridge Old Testament scholars British biblical scholars Methodist theologians British Methodists Holders of a Lambeth degree Living people 20th-century Methodists Female biblical scholars Presidents of the Society for Old Testament Study