The Salt Lake Temple, operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the best-known Mormon temple. Located in Salt Lake City, Utah, it is the centerpiece of the 10 acre (40,000 mē) Temple Square.

History

The Latter Day Saint movement was conceived as a restoration of practices believed to have been lost in a Great Apostasy from the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Temple worship played a prominent role in the Bible's Old Testament, and in the Book of Mormon.

On December 27, 1832 ? two years after the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ ? the movement's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., reported receiving a revelation that called upon church members to restore the practice of temple worship. The Latter Day Saints in Kirtland, Ohio were commanded to:

"Establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God." (Doctrine and Covenants 1835 VII:36, LDS 88:119, RLDS 85:36b)

More importantly, Latter Day Saints see temples as the fulfillment of a prophecy found in (KJV):

"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts."

This is believed to emphasize that when the Lord comes again, he will come "to his temple".

The Kirtland Temple, owned and maintained by the Community of Christ, was the first temple of the Latter Day Saint movement and the only temple completed in the lifetime of Joseph Smith, Jr.

As plans were drawn up to construct a temple in Kirtland, the decision was made to simultaneously begin work on a second temple at the church's colony in Jackson County Missouri. Surviving plans indicate that both temples would have the same dimensions and approximately the same appearance and both were to be at the "centerplaces" of cities designed according to Smith's plan for the City of Zion.

Conflict in Missouri led to the expulsion of the Mormons from Jackson County, obviating any possibility of building a temple there, but work on the temple in Kirtland continued. At great cost and after great sacrifice, the Latter Day Saints finished the Kirtland Temple in early 1836. On March 17, they held a lengthy dedication ceremony and numerous spiritual experiences and visitations were reported.

Conflict relating to the failure of the church's Kirtland Safety Society bank, caused the church presidency to leave Kirtland and move the church's headquarters to the Mormon settlement of Far West, Missouri. Far West was also platted along the lines of the City of Zion plan and in 1838 the church began construction of a new, larger temple in the center of the town. They may also have dedicated a temple site in the neighboring Mormon settlement of Adam-ondi-Ahman. The events of the 1838 Mormon War and the expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri left these attempts at temple-building no further progressed than excavating foundations.

In 1839, the Mormons regrouped at a new headquarters in Nauvoo, Illinois. They were again commanded to build a "House of the Lord" ? this one even larger and greater than those that went before. Plans for the temple in Nauvoo followed the earlier models in Kirtland and Independence with lower and upper courts, but the scale was much increased.

New conflicts arose that caused Joseph Smith, the Prophet and President of the Church, to be murdered, along with his brother Hyrum the Patriarch, at Carthage Jail on June 27,1844. The Nauvoo Temple stood only half finished. Eventually, this temple was finished and dedicated. Some temple ordinances were performed before most of the saints followed Brigham Young west across the Mississippi River.

Joseph Smith's martyrdom resulted in a succession crisis which divided the movement into different sects. The concept of temple worship evolved separately in many of these sects and only the LDS church continued to build temples until April 1990 when the Community of Christ, then known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), began to construct their first temple, which was officially dedicated in 1994. The Community of Christ still owns the Kirtland Temple, which is open to visitors and is used for worship services or special events by various Latter Day Saint denominations.

Purposes

Temples have held numerous purposes in the Latter Day Saint movement, both historically and their differing expressions today. These purposes include:

• A House of the Lord ? Joseph Smith, Jr. reported a revelation in 1836 explaining that the recently-dedicated Kirtland Temple was built "that the Son of Man might have a place to manifest himself to his people." (Doctrine and Covenants LDS 109:5). All Latter Day Saint denominations with temples still consider temples to be special houses of the Lord.
• A House of Learning ? The Kirtland Temple housed the "School of the Prophets."
• Center of the City of Zion ? Latter Day Saints often view temples as central to the establishment of Zionic communities. Examples include: the Kirtland Temple, the original (unfinished) Independence Temple, the (unfinished) Far West Temple, the (unfinished) Adam-ondi-Ahman Temple, the original Nauvoo Temple, the Salt Lake Temple, the St. George Utah Temple, the Mesa Arizona Temple, the L??ie Hawai?i Temple, and others.
• Headquarters of the church ? the Kirtland Temple served as the headquarters of the early church from its completion in 1836 through the end of 1837.
• Sacred spaces for special ordinances ? Beginning in Nauvoo, temples were spaces in which to perform special ordinances such as the endowment and baptism for the dead ? see Ordinance (Mormonism).

Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

LDS Temple construction reached an all-time high in the year 2000. There are now over 120 operating temples.

Map of the world showing the geographic location of each LDS temple.

History

The first Latter-day Saint temple ceremonies were performed in Kirtland, Ohio, but differed significantly from the endowment performed on the second floor of Joseph Smith?s Red Brick Store in Nauvoo, Illinois and the Nauvoo Temple. Kirtland ordinances included washings and anointings (differing in many ways from the modern portion) and the washing of the feet ordinance. For nearly four years beginning in 1842, the prophet?s modest mercantile functioned as a de facto temple?the site of the first washings, anointings, endowments, and sealings. In contrast, the grand edifice known as the Nauvoo Temple was in operation for only two months before the Saints left Illinois for the West.

Preparations to initiate the first members of Joseph Smith?s Quorum of the Anointed,^[1] or Holy Order, as it was also known, were made on May 3, 1842. The walls of the second level of the Red Brick Store were painted with garden-themed murals, the rooms fitted with carpets, potted plants, and a veil hung from the ceiling. All the while, the ground level continued to operate as Joseph Smith?s general mercantile.

After the early events of the succession crisis, Brigham Young assumed control of the church's headquarters at Nauvoo, Illinois. While he and the rest of the Quorum of the Twelve made contingency plans for abandoning the city, he may have hoped that it would not prove necessary. For example, in early 1845 he held a conference at the Norwegian colony at Norway, Illinois and announced a plan to build a Latter-day Saint town there with a temple for the use of the Norwegian Saints.

Meanwhile Young urged the Latter-day Saints in Nauvoo to redouble their efforts to finish the temple. By the end of 1845, the building was sufficiently finished to allow temple ordinances to be performed. Ordinances continued to be performed in early 1846 as the Mormons were forced to abandon the city. A small crew remained in the city and continued to work on the temple until April 30, 1846, when it was finally abandoned.

The Frankfurt Germany Temple

Latter-day Saint temple building halted until the presidency of Joseph F. Smith who announced two additional temples: Cardston, Alberta (1913) and L??ie, Hawai?i (1915). Cardston became the first Latter-day Saint temple dedicated outside of the United States. Smith broke with the previous tradition (established since Kirtland) of building temples with upper and lower courts. Temples previously had been ever larger, but the Laie, Hawaii temple was smaller than the Nauvoo Temple had been.

Both Cardston and Laie were dedicated under church president Heber J. Grant as was a temple in Mesa, Arizona. George Albert Smith dedicated the next temple in Idaho Falls, Idaho. David O. McKay dedicated five additional temples including one in Bern, Switzerland ? which was the first temple dedicated in Europe and the first temple to use film recording of the endowment rather than live actors. Joseph Fielding Smith dedicated a temple in Ogden, Utah and Harold B. Lee dedicated its twin in Provo, Utah.

The Logan Utah Temple

Spencer W. Kimball began a plan to build many more smaller temples according to standardized plans. Twenty-one temples were dedicated during his presidency, including the tiny Papeete Tahiti Temple ? which was less than 10,000 square feet (900 mē). This trend has continued. Nine additional temples were dedicated in the presidency of Ezra Taft Benson and two in the brief presidency of Howard W. Hunter.

Under church president Gordon B. Hinckley, the church dedicated seventy-seven temples. In 1997, Hinckley introduced a standardized, smaller temple plan designed to bring temple services to smaller or remote congregations at a reduced cost. The first of this new generation of temples was completed in 1998 with the Monticello Utah Temple. The original plan called for , later increased to . Subsequent revisions to the standard design further increased the size and complexity of the temples. The majority of the temples dedicated under Hinkley's tenure were of the smaller design, but one particularly noteworthy achievement was the rebuilding of a temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, known as the Nauvoo Illinois Temple.

Since the completion of the Helsinki Finland Temple, no further temples have been constructed based on the smaller design, with a return to a more classical design and larger size. The church has not indicated if the program of rapid temple construction using the smaller design has terminated or if it will continue to be used for future temples.

Two temples have been dedicated under current church president Thomas S. Monson.

Purposes

Temples have a different purpose from LDS meetinghouses. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today, temples serve two main purposes: (1) Temples are locations in which worthy Latter-day Saints can perform sacred ordinances on behalf of themselves, their deceased ancestors, or unrelated deceased persons whose names are compiled from historical records through the church's Family Record Extraction Program. (2) Temples are considered to be a Houses of Holiness where members can go to commune with God.

Ezra Taft Benson, a former president of the Church, taught:

"When I have been weighed down by a problem or a difficulty, I have gone to the House of the Lord with a prayer in my heart for answers. These answers have come in clear and unmistakable ways." (Ensign, August 1985, page 8).

Such personal revelation can be received as needed, but many feel that it is easier to receive such revelation when one is in a place as peaceful and apart from the world as temples are.

Nearly everything in the temple is symbolic, from the clothing worn (those who attend the temple dress in white, a symbol of purity), to the building and rooms, to the ceremonies themselves.

Symbolism in temple architecture

Latter-day Saint temples are constructed with several symbolic elements meant to represent their religious theology. Each temple has the words "Holiness to the Lord" inscribed on it, representing the same inscription on the Old Testament Temple of Solomon. Most temples are built facing East, pointing the direction from which Jesus Christ is prophesied to return. The spires and towers on the East side of the temple are elevated higher than spires and towers on the West side for this same reason, and to represent the Melchizedek, or Higher Priesthood. Some temples, like Salt Lake, Chicago, and Washington D.C. have triple spires on each side of the temple representing the three different offices in the both the Melchizedek Priesthood and the Aaronic Priesthood. Stones carved with sun, moon, and earth or star designs are placed in ascending order around the temple facade to represent the Latter-day Saint belief in a Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial Kingdom, or Three Degrees of Glory in the afterlife. The statue of the Angel Moroni, placed on most temples built after the Salt Lake Temple, was designed in 1891 by Cyrus Dallin. The statue design represents the Latter-day Saint belief that Moroni was the angel spoken of in Revelations 14.^[2]

Temple ordinances

Laie Hawaii Temple is the fifth oldest Latter-day Saint temple, and the first built outside the North American continent. It is also one of only three temples designed to look like Solomon's Temple in scripture and one of the few temples without spires.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints make covenants and perform special rituals and ordinances within temples. Some of these include:

• Baptism and Confirmation on behalf of the dead
• Priesthood Ordination on behalf of the dead
• Washing and anointing (or "Initiatory" ordinances)
• The Endowment
• Eternal marriage or Sealing, as well as marriages for this life only^[3]

These ordinances may be performed either on behalf of the participant or by "proxy" on behalf of the dead. Some of these ordinances are normally performed outside of temples for the living, but when performed on behalf of the dead they are performed exclusively in temples. This includes baptism, confirmation, and ordination to the priesthood. The ordinances of Washing and anointing, the Endowment and the ceremony of Eternal marriage are performed only within a temple.

Latter-day Saints perform these proxy ordinances because they believe a vast number of deceased souls are in a condition commonly referred to as Spirit Prison. They believe that Christ ministered to the righteous spirits in Paradise and organized a great missionary force among them to teach the gospel to the dead in Spirit Prison who, in turn, may be baptized by proxy in a temple. It is believed that the dead may accept or reject the baptism and other ordinances done by proxy on their behalf prior to the Final judgment.

Requirements for entering LDS Church temples

An LDS Church manual called Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple explains that Latter-day Saints "do not discuss the temple ordinances outside the temples." Further, the manual states:

"It was never intended that knowledge of these temple ceremonies would be limited to a select few who would be obliged to ensure that others never learn of them. It is quite the opposite, in fact. With great effort the church urges every soul to qualify and prepare for the temple experience."

However, to experience the temple firsthand, one needs to convert to the faith, and then (after a year's membership) obtain a temple recommend to enter. The recommend is obtained from and signed by the member's bishop after passing a one-on-one worthiness interview, in which one's commitment to the gospel is reviewed. The recommend is also signed by the member's stake president after a second one-on-one worthiness interview, and finally by the member themselves. By signing his or her own recommend, the member acknowledges their responsibility to ensure that they remain worthy to hold the recommend. Once issued a recommend remains valid for a period of two years.

A limited-use recommend can be obtained by those who just want to act as proxy in temple baptism and confirmation ceremonies. A member of the church must be twelve years of age (and hold the priesthood if male) and pass a worthiness interview with the member's bishop. Unlike the temple recommend, a limited-use recommend does not require a year's membership nor an interview with a stake president. A limited-use recommend is also not valid for participation in temple ceremonies beyond proxy baptism and confirmation.

To qualify for a temple recommend, one must faithfully affirm a series of questions examining what the church believes are the most important factors indicating one's spiritual worthiness. These questions seek to ensure that the interviewee has a basic belief in key church doctrines, and obeys the most significant church rules, such as the following:

The Washington D.C. Temple is the 16th Latter-day Saint temple

The Preston England Temple, located outside Chorley, Lancashire, England.

• a belief in God the Father, Jesus as the Savior and redeemer of mankind, and the Holy Spirit;
• belief in the role of Jesus as the Savior;
• belief in the Restoration;
• support for the President of the Church and other general authorities and local church leaders;
• obedience to the "Law of Chastity" (strict celibacy outside of a marriage that is legally recognized by the local government, and that is both monogamous and heterosexual);
• refraining from the abuse of family members;
• no affiliation or agreement with polygamists or other people whom the church considers apostates;
• making a good faith effort to attend church meetings and obey other church rules;
• honesty in dealings with others;
• payment of tithing;
• following the church's interpretation of the Word of Wisdom;
• payment of child support (if applicable);
• keeping the solemn oaths one has previously made in the temple;
• wearing the temple garment "night and day"; and
• confession of all serious sins to Church leaders.

Controversy

Temple weddings

For Mormons, temple weddings are sacred. Only members who hold a current temple recommend are allowed to enter the temple after it has been dedicated. When a new temple is built, or when an existing temple has undergone extensive renovations the temple will be open to the public during an open house period prior to the temple's dedication (or rededication). During this period the temple is open to anyone wanting to attend the open house. There is usually a four to five week period that the public is allowed to go through and see the temple prior to its dedication. The church's website typically lists a schedule for temple open houses on their website http://lds.org

Once a temple is dedicated no individual is allowed into an operating LDS temple without a temple recommend regardless of their church membership or desires for entering. The only exception to this rule is for children under the age of 8 who can only enter the temple to be sealed to their parents. These children are represented with the recommend of their parents.^[4] Children over the age of 8 have their own recommends but still can only attend a temple marriage if they are being sealed to their parents at that time.^[5]

These restrictions can cause some difficulties when a couple choose to marry in the temple. Parents, family, or friends of the couple who do not possess a temple recommend may feel resentment since they will not be able to witness the marriage ceremony. Additionally, the practice of holding a ceremony outside of the temple afterwards for the benefit of the non-LDS friends and family is contrary to established Church policy, where the temple marriage should always be the final ceremony. ^[6] Receptions after the temple ceremony, or engagement parties before the temple marriage can always be attended by all, since they are held at local LDS chapels, other churches or other public venues. Receptions can commonly be quite elaborate.

For those couples who have a civil non-temple marriage ceremony first, the couple is required to wait at least one year before they can be sealed or temple married.^[7].^[8] This rules out the idea of having a civil ceremony for non-LDS friends and family before the temple marriage or sealing. The church specifies that the sacred nature of the temple ceremony and a desire not to promote any confusion between it and a non-temple marriage^[9] as reasoning for this policy. Critics claim that this church policy exists as an intrusive and divisive way to put pressure on the non-LDS to convert.^[10]

The requirement to wait one year after a civil marriage before allowing a temple marriage is not imposed upon LDS saints in certain European countries where the law requires a civil ceremony in a designated public place outside the temple for a marriage to be legally valid; or in the case where a home country does not recognize a marriage performed within a temple located in another country.^[11] (Note, however, that in such countries, a temple sealing must closely follow the civil ceremony, within the space of a few days at most, otherwise the one-year wait is again necessary.) When a marriage ceremony outside of the temple is required by local law, the church once again instructs that this ceremony is to be performed before the temple ceremony, to reinforce the idea of the temple marriage being the "final" ceremony, not a preamble to the one required by secular law.

Other groups with temples

Independence Temple of the Community of Christ in Independence, Missouri, USA. Dedicated 1994

The Community of Christ (formerly The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) maintains two temples. Unlike those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, however, these temples are open to the public, and do not involve sacred ordinances, except at certain times for Communion and a daily prayer for peace. The oldest temple maintained by the church is in Kirtland, Ohio. This temple was the first temple built by Latter Day Saints. In its 1994 World Conference, the Community of Christ dedicated a temple in Independence, Missouri.

This reference chart shows the relative sizes of various temples in the Latter Day Saint movement. (Note that the LDS church has many more temples than are shown and a comparison of those Temples is found on the List of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints page.)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) began to construct a temple at their headquarters in Voree, Wisconsin in the mid-1840s. Another temple may have been planned for Beaver Island in Lake Michigan, prior to their expulsion. The church has made no attempt to build temples since the death of their prophet, James J. Strang.

The Apostolic United Brethren has had a temple in Ozumba, Mexico at least by the 1990s, as well as an Endowment house in Utah since sometime in the 1980s.

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) made news in 2004 by embarking on the construction of a temple at their new settlement near Eldorado, Texas. The foundation of the FLDS temple roughly matches that of the original Nauvoo Temple. This is the second time any of the polygamous Mormon fundamentalists sects have attempted to build a temple of their own.

The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days reportedly believe that when the end time arrives, they will enter the Manti Utah Temple (owned by the LDS church) and assume control of it. At that time all of the wicked outside of the temple will be destroyed and only the righteous, inside the temple will survive.

See also

• Endowment House
• Holy of Holies (Latter Day Saints)
• List of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Oath of vengeance
• Ordinance room

Notes

References

External links

• Official LDS Church site on Temples
• LDSChurchTemples.com
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Visitors site
• Topical bibliography + LDS Temple Preparation FAQ
• Inside a Mormon Temple - Rexburg Idaho (YouTube)
• AllAboutMormons.com
• Temple Geography Links
• History of Mormon Temples
• Mormon Temples
• Mormon Temples and Secrecy
• Many Temple photos and prints
• Joseph Smith, Jr. - The Kirtland Temple (YouTube)
• Latter-Day Fortresses: The spooky charisma of Mormon temples - article at Slate online

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