Item Detail
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32651
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1
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2
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English
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Lehi's Vision of the Tree of Life: An Anagogic Interpretation
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Provo, UT
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Brigham Young University
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MA
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"The significance of Lehi's life tree is that it gives life. Lehi's tree expresses the nonverbal, renews Lehi, effectually creates a culture, and keys the structure of a literary, viable, and contemporary scripture. My thesis chapters grow out of my reading of myth, tree mythology, and Lehi's dream. I see Lehi 1) traveling a polemic course toward the tree, 2) confronting the tree's death, and 3) by suffering, opening the symbol to his inner vision. Lehi's first dream images, a dark and dreary wilderness vs. a man in white, suggest the birth of mythic creation. By traveling through and reconciling opposites, Lehi eventually achieves mythic fulfillment and eats the fruit of immortal joy. Lehi's tree represents a highly visible life meaning yet conceals its death meaning. Only after Lehi overcomes a mythical death can he understand and gain the tree's life power. Lehi's death confrontation suggests that he, in isolation, suffers a limitless sphere. The requisite suffering eventually yields a complex desire that is not only fulfilled, but also increases." [Author]
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https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5893&context=etd