Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

During his administration, President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has put an extra emphasis for members of the church to be worthy to enter the temple.

The church teaches that throughout history, the Lord has commanded His people to build temples. As seen with Nelson’s administration, it is working to build temples all over the world — to make temple blessings more available for a greater number of Heavenly Father’s children.

Temples are different than a regular meeting house that church members attend for Sunday meetings, and where they hold activities throughout the week. A temple is considered “The House of the Lord,” and members believe they are sacred places of revelation, learning and making covenants with the Lord.

Church historian Elder James E. Talmage, now deceased but once a member the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, wrote on the subject of temples. In his writings, particularly in his book, “The House of the Lord: A Study of Holy Sanctuaries, Ancient and Modern,” he explains the purpose of such buildings.

“In both ancient and modern times the covenant people have regarded the building of temples as a labor specifically required at their hands. It is plain that a temple is more than chapel or church, more than synagogue or cathedral; it is a structure erected as the house of the Lord, sacred to the closest communion between the Lord and the holy priesthood, and devoted to the highest and most sacred ordinances,” Talmage wrote. “Moreover, to be indeed a holy temple — accepted of God and by Him acknowledged as His house — the offering must have been called for, and both gift and giver must be worthy.”

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“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims that it is the possessor of the holy priesthood again restored to earth and that it is invested with divine commission to erect and maintain temples dedicated to the name and service of the true and living God, and to administer within those sacred structures the ordinances of the priesthood, the effect of which shall be binding both on earth and beyond the grave,” Talmage added.

The church teaches the significance of what one learns in a temple, that temples are places of learning.

“Their principal purpose is to provide ordinances necessary for the children of God to enable them to return to dwell with Him. Temple ordinances lead to the greatest blessings available through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Everything in the Church — the meetings and activities, the missionary efforts, the lessons taught and the hymns — all lead to the work done in holy temples,” the church lessons teach.

What happens there

“One ordinance received in the temple is called the endowment. The word endowment means ‘gift,’ and the temple endowment truly is a gift from God. The ordinance consists of a series of instructions and includes covenants to live righteously and follow the requirements of the gospel. The endowment focuses on the Savior, His role in Heavenly Father’s plan, and the personal commitment of each member to follow Him,” the church states.

The church teaches that, “Another temple ordinance is celestial marriage. In this ordinance husband and wife are sealed to one another for eternity. A sealing performed in the temple continues forever if the husband and wife are faithful to the covenants they make.”

Courtesy John Scott and Intellectual Reserve

Children born to parents who have been sealed in the temple are born in the covenant. These children automatically become part of an eternal family. Children who are not born in the covenant can also become part of an eternal family once their biological or adoptive parents have been sealed to one another. The ordinance of sealing children to parents is performed in the temple.

In the temple, members have the opportunity to stand in as proxy for ancestors who have passed on — those who did not have a chance to know about the church and its teachings.

Proxy baptisms and endowments are performed, as well as sealings for couples who have died. These are both done only in the temple.

In the temple, there are special rooms and symbols that play an integral part in the making of covenants. Couples are sealed — or married — for time and all eternity in the sealing rooms. Like the endowment room where instruction is given, the two rooms have an altar. In the sealing room, couples will kneel across from each other and hold hands across the altar during the ceremony.

In the endowment room a man and a woman are called to represent Adam and Eve at the altar. They are given instruction as those in the room listen and learn the instruction. They are joined by those so inclined, at a certain point in the ceremony, to circle the altar and offer a prayer.

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When you hear someone ask to be added to the temple prayer roll, it is that prayer around the altar to which the names are placed, according to church teachings.

But these things are not new. They have been sacred since the beginning of biblical times.

Temple History

Talmage writes that, “The essential idea of a temple is and ever has been that of a place specially set apart for service regarded as sacred; in a more restricted sense, a temple is a building constructed for and exclusively devoted to sacred rites and ceremonies.”

The Latin “templum” was the equivalent of the Hebrew “beth Elohim” and signified the abode of Deity. It meant literally the house of the Lord.

“Such structures have been raised in many different ages, both by worshippers of idols and by followers of God. While the outer courts of such temples were used as places of general assembly and public ceremony, there were always inner precincts into which only the consecrated priests might enter and wherein, it was claimed, the presence of the deity was manifest. Temples have never been regarded as places of ordinary public assembly but as sacred enclosures consecrated to the most solemn ceremonials of that particular system of worship.”

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The practice of worshipping at an altar and praising God started with Adam and Eve, when they were lead out of the Garden of Eden and the presence of God.

It was then, and following the murder of Abel at the hands of his brother Cain, that members of the church believe the blood sacrifices offered at altars by the ancients and Israelites was a symbol of the sacrifice and atonement of Jesus Christ, considered the Savior of the world.

Blood sacrifices were stopped after the crucifixion of Christ and are not a part of modern temple worship.

The LDS Bible Dictionary says the altar was “Used for sacrifices and offerings and for sacred ordinances of the gospel. Altars are first mentioned in Gen. 8:20; animal sacrifice was offered on altars (Gen. 12:7-8; 13:4, 18; 22:9; 26:25; 33:20; 35:7; Num. 23:1, 29; 1 Sam. 14:35; 1 Kgs. 18:30-32).”

From Adam to Noah, and through the ages, temples and altars have been built as one of the highest and holiest places of worship.

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“The history of Israel as a nation dates from the Exodus. No sooner had they escaped from the environment of Egyptian idolatry than they were required to prepare a sanctuary, wherein Jehovah would manifest His presence and make known His will as their accepted Lord and King,” Talmage added.

Solomon’s Temple

Perhaps the best known temple in Old Testament’s times was Solomon’s Temple, it has been an edifice held in high esteem in its creation, décor and dedication to God from the time of Solomon to today.

“David, the second king of Israel, desired and planned to build a house unto the Lord, declaring that it was unfit that he, the king, should dwell in a palace of cedar, while the sanctuary of God was but a tent (see 2 Samuel 7:2). But the Lord spake by the mouth of Nathan the prophet, declining the proposed offering, because David, king of Israel, though in many respects a man after God’s own heart, had sinned; and his sin had not been forgiven (see 2 Samuel 7:1-13; 1 Chronicles 28:2-3). Nevertheless, David was permitted to gather material for the house of the Lord, which edifice not he but Solomon, his son, should build,” Talmage wrote.

“Soon after Solomon’s accession to the throne he set about the labor. He laid the foundation in the fourth year of his reign, and the building was completed within seven years and a half. The erection of the Temple of Solomon was an epoch-making event, not alone in the history of Israel but in that of the world,” according to Talmage.

Historian Flavius Josephus is among the most colorful figures regarding the history of the Jewish people. He is best known for his writings on the history of the Jewish people.

In Josephus’ writings, “The Antiquities of the Jews,” which was translated by William Whiston, Josephus gives a lengthy description of Solomon’s Temple and the elements used in building it.

Referring to Solomon, Josephus writes, “And as he enclosed the walls with boards of cedar, so he fixed on them plates of gold, which had sculptures upon them; so that the whole temple was made with great skill of polished stones, and those laid together so very harmoniously and smoothly, that there appeared to the spectators no sign of any hammer, or other instrument of architecture; but as if without any use of them, the entire materials had naturally united themselves together.”

According to commonly accepted chronology, the temple was finished in, approximately, 1005 B.C. In architecture and construction, in design and costliness, it is known as one of the most remarkable buildings in history, Talmadge notes.

The dedicatory services lasted seven days — a week of holy rejoicing in Israel. The Lord’s gracious acceptance was manifest in the cloud that filled the sacred chambers as the priests withdrew, “for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God”

Today, the site of Solomon’s Temple on Mount Moriah is considered one of the holiest places in the world and is significant to Jews, Muslims and Christians across the globe.

Even with all the celebration, Solomon’s Temple would be short lived.

“The glorious preeminence of this splendid structure was of brief duration. Thirty-four years after its dedication, and but five years subsequent to the death of Solomon, its decline began; and this decline was soon to develop into general spoliation and finally to become an actual desecration. Solomon had been led astray by the wiles of idolatrous women, and his wayward ways had fostered iniquity in Israel. The temple soon lost its sanctity, and Jehovah withdrew His protecting presence from the place no longer holy,” Talmage wrote.

There were other temples following Solomon’s, but they were mostly inferior, including the Temple of Zerubbabel and the Temple of Herod built 16 years before the birth of Christ.

“Many incidents in the earthly life of the Savior are associated with the Temple of Herod. It is evident from scripture that while opposed to the degraded and commercial uses to which the temple had been betrayed, Christ recognized and acknowledged the sanctity of the temple precincts. By whatsoever name it might have been known, it was to Him the house of the Lord,” Talmage said.

The Temple of Herrod was completely destroyed by fire under the hands of the Romans circa 70 A.D.

The Book of Mormon, a book of scripture from the new world accepted by members of the church as a second testament to the life of Christ, speaks little of temples. However, when Christ appeared to those living in the Americas, he appeared at the temple where they had gathered — evidence that temples were not uncommon to the people.

“It is evident, therefore, that on both hemispheres temples ceased to exist in the early period of the Apostasy (the ushering in of the Dark Ages) and the very conception of a temple in the distinctive sense perished among mankind,” Talmage said.

Modern times

It was not until the establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830 that temples were part of the worship process. Members of the church believe that proper worship be held in temples once the Priesthood was restored to Earth.

“Through Joseph Smith, the gospel of old was restored to earth, and the ancient law was reestablished. In course of time, through the ministry of the Prophet, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized and established by manifestations of divine power,” Talmage adds.

Within three years after the establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a revelations was given to Joseph Smith concerning the building of a temple.

“The Lord directed the immediate building of a holy house in which He promised to endow His chosen servants with power and authority. The people responded to the call with willingness and devotion. In spite of dire poverty and in the face of unrelenting persecution, the work was carried to completion, and in March 1836 the first temple of modern times was dedicated at Kirtland, Ohio,” according to Talmage and church history.

Within two years from the time of its dedication, the Kirtland Temple was abandoned by the people who built it; they were forced to flee due to persecution. With their departure, the sacred temple became an ordinary house.

“The dedicatory services were marked by divine manifestations comparable to those attending the offering of the first temple of olden times, and on later occasions heavenly beings appeared within the sacred precincts with revelations of the divine will to man. In that place the Lord Jesus was again seen and heard,” Talmage wrote.

The saints were driven to Missouri for a time, and later to Nauvoo, Illinois, where they almost immediately began building a temple. It has been said that women would break their fine china and mix it with the mortar so the temple would glisten, according to church history.

Though it was evident that the people would be forced to flee again — and knowing that the temple would have to be abandoned soon after completion — they labored with might and diligence to finish and furnish the structure. It was dedicated on April 30, 1846, but the exodus of the people had begun even before the completion of the building.

The Nauvoo temple was abandoned by those who, in poverty and by sacrifice, had reared it. In November 1848 it became a prey to incendiary flames, and in May 1850 a tornado demolished what remained of the blackened walls, Talmage noted.

On July 24, 1847, the Mormon pioneers established a settlement on the ground that is now Salt Lake City. A few days later, Brigham Young, prophet and leader, indicated a site in the sagebrush wastes and, striking the arid ground with his staff, proclaimed, “Here will be the temple of our God.”

That site is now the beautiful Temple Square, around which the city has grown. The Salt Lake Temple was 40 years in building and the capstone was laid on April 6, 1892. The completed temple was dedicated one year later.

The church teaches that, “The Lord blesses those who attend to the sacred ordinance work in the temple. And the blessings He gives will not be limited to the time spent in the temple. Those who do temple work will be blessed in all aspects of their lives. Their labors in the temple will strengthen them and refine them spiritually.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims that it is the possessor of the holy priesthood and that it is invested with divine commission to erect and maintain temples dedicated to the name and service of the true and living God — and to administer within those sacred structures the ordinances of the priesthood, the effect of which shall be binding both on earth and beyond the grave.

It is no wonder that modern prophets, such as President Nelson and others, have made the work of building temples preeminent during their administrations. Every six months, during the annual and semi-annual General Conference of the Church, members wait to hear if, and where, new temples will be built.

As a worldwide church, those locations are many. It is the hope of church leaders that one day temples will dot the earth and that members will be no more than two hours drive from a holy home to enjoy blessings and the covenants found within.

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