Contributors to the book include Donald W. Parry, Margaret Barker, Welch, Charles Swift and Allen J. Christenson.
"THE TREE OF LIFE: From Eden to Eternity," edited by John W. Welch and Donald W. Parry, Deseret Book, $23.99, 264 pages (nf)
The tree of life is a vivid and deeply spiritual symbol to not only to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but to many other faiths and cultures. Its historic and symbolic roots are examined in one of Deseret Book’s and the Neal A. Maxwell Institute For Religious Scholarship’s latest book releases, “The Tree of Life: From Eden to Eternity.”
Edited by John W. Welch and Donald W. Parry, both Brigham Young University professors, the book focuses on the tree of life in a collection of original essays and research from top Latter-day Saint and other religious scholars.
Contributors to the book include Parry, Margaret Barker, Welch, Charles Swift and Allen J. Christenson. The contributors invite readers to understand the ancient and cultural significance of the tree of life as a religious symbol in world religions and cultures beyond personal world views.
Welch and Parry write in the book’s introduction, “The tree of life is a richly evocative symbol seen in sacred art, architecture, houses of worship, and literature through the ages and around the world.” They continue by supposing, “perhaps no other religious motif is so rich in allegorical potential or so accommodating of spiritual meanings for so many religious traditions.”
As with the symbolic tree of life, this collection of essays is complex, deep, spiritual, educational and inspiring. “The Tree of Life: From Eden to Eternity” is more than a staid, heady academic journal. Each essay brings a new dimension and a richer understanding of the multiple layers of how ancient and still relevant the symbol of a tree of life is — not only to Mormons, but also to the world’s faithful.
This collection of academic yet largely accessible writings showcases the contextual meaning of the tree of life in world religious thought from Catholic tradition to Mayan artistic expression. With photographs and illustrations, the book helps the reader understand spiritual and historical nuances of the tree of life beyond a Sunday School answer response. The book is a great collection to read as a companion to the standard works for a more robust and enlightening study of religious symbolism and its meaning for each of us.