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Home |  | Temples | | Purpose of Temples | | History of Temples |
A History of Temples By Elder James E. Talmage (1862–1933)
The Latin Templum was
the equivalent of the Hebrew Beth Elohim, and signified the abode of Deity;
hence, as associated with divine worship, it meant literally the House
of the Lord. Structures regarded in
their entirety as sanctuaries, or enclosing apartments so designated,
have been raised in many different ages, both by worshipers of idols and
by the followers of the true and living God. Heathen temples of antiquity
were regarded as abiding places of the mythical gods and goddesses whose
names they bore, and to whose service the structures were dedicated. 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. As evidence of the exclusiveness of
ancient temples, even those of heathen origin, we find that the altar
of pagan worship stood not within the temple proper, but in front of the
entrance. 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, idolatrous or divine, of which the
temple stood as a visible symbol and a material type. In olden times, the people
of Israel were distinguished among nations as the builders of sanctuaries
to the name of the living God. This service was specifically required
of them by Jehovah, whom they professed to serve. The history of Israel
as a nation dates from the Exodus. During the two centuries of their enslavement
in Egypt, the children of Jacob had grown to be a numerous and powerful
people: nevertheless, they were in bondage. In due time, however, their
sorrows and supplications came up before the Lord, and He led them forth
by the outstretched arm of power. 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. The tabernacle, which,
from the time of its construction in the wilderness and thence onward
throughout the period of wandering and for centuries thereafter, was sacred
to Israel as the sanctuary of Jehovah; it had been built according to
revealed plan and specifications. It was a compact and portable structure,
as the exigencies of migration required. Though the tabernacle was but
a tent, it was made of the best, the most prized, and the costliest materials
the people possessed. This condition of excellence was a nation's offering
unto the Lord. Its construction was prescribed in minutest detail, both
as to design and material; it was in every respect the best the people
could give, and Jehovah sanctified the proffered gift by His divine acceptance.
In passing, let us be mindful of the fact that whether it be the gift
of a man or a nation, the best, if offered willingly and with pure intent,
is always excellent in the sight of God, however poor by other comparison
that best may be. To the call for material
wherewith to build the tabernacle, there was such willing and liberal
response that the need was more than met: "For the stuff they had
was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much" (Exodus
36:7). Proclamation was made accordingly, and the people were restrained
from bringing more. The artificers and workmen engaged in the making of
the tabernacle were designated by direct revelation, or chosen by divinely
appointed authority with special reference to their skill and devotion.
The completed tabernacle, viewed in relation to its surroundings and considered
in connection with the circumstances of its creation, was an imposing
structure. Its frames were of rare wood, its inner hangings of fine linen
and elaborate embroideries with prescribed designs in blue, purple, and
scarlet; its middle and outer curtains of choice skins; its metal parts
of brass, silver, and gold. Outside the tabernacle,
but within its enclosing court, stood the altar of sacrifice and the laver
or font. The first apartment of the tabernacle proper was an outer room,
or Holy Place; and beyond this, screened from observation by the second
veil, was the inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place, specifically known
as the Holy of Holies. In the appointed order, only the priests were permitted
to enter the outer apartment; while to the inner place, the "holiest
of all," none but the high priest might be admitted, and he but once
a year, and then only after a long course of purification and sanctification
(see Hebrews
9:1–7; Leviticus
16). Among the most sacred
appurtenances of the tabernacle was the ark of the covenant. This was
a casket or chest made of the best wood obtainable, lined and overlaid
with pure gold, and provided with four rings of gold to receive the rods
or poles used to carry the ark during travel. The ark contained certain
objects of sacred import, such as the golden pot of manna, preserved as
a remembrance; to this were afterward added Aaron's rod that had budded
and the tablets of stone inscribed by the hand of God. When the tabernacle
was set up in the camp of Israel, the ark was placed within the inner
veil, in the Holy of Holies. Resting upon the ark was the mercy seat,
surmounted by a pair of cherubim made of beaten gold. From this seat did
the Lord manifest His presence, even as promised before either ark or
tabernacle had been made: "And there I will meet with thee, and I
will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two
cherubums which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which
I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel" (Exodus
25:22). No detailed description
of the tabernacle, its appurtenances, or its furniture will be attempted
at this place; it is sufficient for our present purpose to know that the
camp of Israel had such a sanctuary; that it was constructed according
to revealed plan; that it was the embodiment of the best the people could
give both as to material and workmanship; that it was the offering of
the people to their God and was duly accepted by Him (see Exodus
40:3–38). As shall yet be shown, the tabernacle was a prototype
of the more stable and magnificent temple by which in course of time it
was superseded. After Israel had become
established in the land of promise, when, after four decades of wandering
in the wilderness, the covenant people possessed at last a Canaan of their
own, the tabernacle with its sacred contents was given a resting place
in Shiloh; and thither came the tribes to learn the will and word of God
(see Joshua
18:1; 19:51;
21:2;
Judges
18:31; 1
Samuel 1:3, 24; 4:3–4).
Afterward it was removed to Gibeon (see 1
Chronicles 21:29; 2
Chronicles 1:3) and yet later to the City of David, or Zion (see 2
Samuel 6:12; 2
Chronicles 5:2). 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, and making plain the fact that to be
acceptable unto Him it was not enough that the gift be appropriate, but
that the giver must also be worthy. David, king of Israel, though in many
respects a man after God's own heart, had sinned; and his sin had not
been forgiven. Thus spake the king: "I had in mine heart to build
an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the
footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building: But God said
unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast
been a man of war, and hast shed blood" (1
Chronicles 28:2–3; see also 2
Samuel 7:1–13). Nevertheless, David was permitted to gather material
for the house of the Lord, which edifice not he, but Solomon, his son,
should build. Soon after Solomon's accession
to the throne he set about the labor, which, as heritage and honor, had
come to him with his crown. He laid the foundation in the fourth year
of his reign, and the building was completed within seven years and a
half. With the great wealth accumulated by his kingly father and specifically
reserved for the building of the temple, Solomon was able to put the known
world under tribute and to enlist the cooperation of nations in his great
undertaking. The temple workmen numbered scores of thousands, and every
department was in charge of master craftsmen. To serve on the great structure
in any capacity was an honor; and labor acquired a dignity never before
recognized. Masonry became a profession, and the graded orders therein
established have endured until this day. 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 commonly
accepted chronology, the temple was finished about 1005 B.C. In architecture
and construction, in design and costliness, it is known as one of the
most remarkable buildings in history. The dedicatory services lasted seven
days—a week of holy rejoicing in Israel. With fitting ceremony, the
tabernacle of the congregation and the sacred ark of the covenant were
brought into the temple; and the ark was deposited in the inner sanctuary,
the Most Holy Place. The Lord's gracious acceptance was manifest in the
cloud that filled the sacred chambers as the priests withdrew, "so
that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for
the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God" (2
Chronicles 5:14; see also 2
Chronicles 7:1–2; Exodus
40:35). Thus did the temple supersede and include the tabernacle,
of which, indeed, it was the gorgeous successor. A comparison of the plan
of Solomon's Temple with that of the earlier tabernacle shows that in
all essentials of arrangement and proportion the two were so nearly alike
as to be practically identical. True, the tabernacle had but one enclosure,
while the temple was surrounded by courts, but the inner structure itself,
the temple proper, closely followed the earlier design. The dimensions
of the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place, and the porch, were in the temple
exactly double those of the corresponding parts in the tabernacle.
The Egyptians, from whose
bondage the people had been delivered, were again permitted to oppress
Israel. Shishak, king of Egypt, captured Jerusalem—the city of David
and the site of the temple—"and he took away the treasures of
the house of the Lord" (1
Kings 14:25–26). Part of the aforetime sacred furniture left
by the Egyptians was taken by others and bestowed upon idols (see 2
Chronicles 24:7). The work of desecration continued through centuries.
Two hundred and sixteen years after the Egyptian spoliation, Ahaz, king of Judah,
robbed the temple of some remaining treasures and sent part of its remnant of gold and silver as a present to a pagan
king whose favor he sought to gain. Furthermore, he removed the altar
and the font and left but a house where once had stood a temple (see 2
Kings 16:7–9, 17–18; see also 2
Chronicles 28:24–25). Later, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
completed the despoiling of the temple and carried away its few remaining
treasures. He then destroyed the building by fire (see 2
Chronicles 36:18–19; see also 2
Kings 24:13; 25:9). Thus, about 600 years
before the earthly advent of our Lord, Israel was left without a temple.
The people had divided; there were two kingdoms—Israel and Judah—each
at enmity with the other. The people had become idolatrous and altogether
wicked, and the Lord had rejected them and their sanctuary. The kingdom
of Israel, comprising approximately 10 of the 12 tribes, had been made
subject to Assyria about 721 B.C., and a century later the kingdom of
Judah was subdued by the Babylonians. For 70 years the people of Judah—thereafter
known as Jews—remained in captivity, even as had been predicted (see
Jeremiah
25:11–12; 29:10). Then, under the friendly
rule of Cyrus (see Ezra
1, 2)
and Darius (see Ezra
6) they were permitted to return to Jerusalem and once more to raise
a temple in accordance with their faith. In remembrance of the director
of the work, the restored temple is known in history as the Temple of
Zerubbabel. The foundations were laid with solemn ceremony, and on that
occasion living veterans who remembered the earlier temple wept with joy
(see Ezra
3:12–13). In spite of legal technicalities (see Ezra
4:4–24) and other obstructions, the work continued, and within
20 years after their return from captivity the Jews had a temple ready
for dedication. The Temple of Zerubbabel was finished in 515 B.C., specifically
on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign
of Darius the king. The dedicatory services followed immediately (see
Ezra
6:15–22). While this temple was greatly inferior in richness
of finish and furniture as compared with the splendid Temple of Solomon,
it was nevertheless the best the people could build, and the Lord accepted
it as an offering typifying the love and devotion of His covenant children.
In proof of this divine acceptance, witness the ministrations of such
prophets as Zechariah, Haggai, and Malachi within its walls. About 16 years before
the birth of Christ, Herod I, king of Judea, commenced the reconstruction
of the then decayed and generally ruinous Temple of Zerubbabel. For five
centuries that structure had stood, and doubtless it had become largely
a wreck of time. 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. The Temple of Herod was a sacred
structure; by whatsoever name it might have been known, it was to Him
the house of the Lord. And then, when the sable curtain descended upon
the great tragedy of Calvary, when at last the agonizing cry, "It
is finished," ascended from the cross, the veil of the temple was
rent, and the one-time Holy of Holies was bared. The absolute destruction
of the Temple had been foretold by our Lord, while He yet lived in the
flesh (see Matthew
24:1–2; Mark
13:1–2; Luke
21:6). In the year A.D. 70, the temple was utterly destroyed by fire
in connection with the capture of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus. The Temple of Herod was
the last temple reared in the Eastern Hemisphere in ancient times. From
the destruction of that great edifice onward to the time of the reestablishment
of the Church of Jesus Christ in the 19th century, our only record of
temple building is such mention as is found in Nephite chronicles. Book
of Mormon scriptures affirm that temples were erected by the Nephite colonists
on what is now known as the American continent, but we have few details
of construction and fewer facts as to administrative ordinances pertaining
to these western temples. The people constructed a temple about 570 B.C.,
and this we learn was patterned after the Temple of Solomon, though it
was greatly inferior to that gorgeous structure in grandeur and costliness
(see 2
Nephi 5:16). It is of interest to read that when the resurrected Lord
manifested Himself to the Nephites on the western continent, He found
them assembled about the temple (see 3
Nephi 11:1–10). The Book of Mormon, however, makes no mention
of temples even as late as the time of the destruction of the temple at
Jerusalem; and, moreover, the Nephite nation came to an end within about
four centuries after Christ. It is evident, therefore, that on both hemispheres
temples ceased to exist in the early period of the Apostasy and the very
conception of a temple in the distinctive sense perished among mankind. For many centuries no
offer of a sanctuary was made unto the Lord; indeed, it appears that no
need of such was recognized. The apostate church declared that direct
communication from God had ceased, and in place of divine administration
a self-constituted government claimed supreme power. It is evident that,
as far as the church was concerned, the voice of the Lord had been silenced,
that the people were no longer willing to listen to the word of revelation,
and that the government of the church had been abrogated by human agencies
(see James E. Talmage, The Great Apostasy [1953], chapter 9).
When, in the reign of Constantine, a perverted Christianity had become
the religion of the state, the need of a place wherein God would reveal
Himself was still utterly unseen or ignored. True, many edifices, most
of them costly and grand, were erected. Of these some were dedicated to
Peter and Paul, to James and John; others to the Magdalene and the Virgin;
but not one was raised by authority and name to the honor of Jesus, the
Christ. Among the multitude of chapels and shrines, of churches and cathedrals,
the Son of Man had not a place to call His own. It was declared that the
pope, sitting in Rome, was the vice-regent of Christ, and that without
revelation he was empowered to declare the will of God (see The Great
Apostasy, chapter 10). Not until the gospel was
restored in the 19th century, with its ancient powers and privileges,
was the holy priesthood manifest again among men. And be it remembered
that the authority to speak and act in the name of God is essential to
a temple, and a temple is void without the sacred authority of the holy
priesthood. In the year of our Lord 1820, Joseph Smith, the prophet of
the latest dispensation, then a lad in his 15th year, received a divine
manifestation in which both the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ,
appeared and instructed the youthful suppliant (see James E. Talmage,
The Articles of Faith, 12th edition [1924], chapter 1). 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. It is a significant fact
that this church, true to the distinction it affirms—that of being
the Church of the living God as its name proclaims—began in the very
early days of its history to provide for the erection of a temple (see
D&C
36:8; 42:36;
133:2).
The Church was organized as an earthy body-corporate on the sixth of April,
A.D. 1830; and, in July of the year following, a revelation was received
designating the site of a future temple near Independence, Missouri. On the first day of June
1833, in a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord directed the
immediate building of a holy house in which He promised to endow His chosen
servants with power and authority (see D&C
95). 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 (see D&C
109). 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 (see D&C
110:1–10). 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 because of persecution, and with their departure the sacred
temple became an ordinary house, disowned by the Lord to whose name it
had been reared. The building still stands. The migration of the Latter-day
Saints was to the west; they established themselves first in Missouri,
and later in Illinois with Nauvoo as the central seat of the Church. Scarcely
had they become settled in their new abode when the voice of revelation
was heard calling upon the people to again build a house sacred to the
name of God. The cornerstones of the
Nauvoo Temple were laid 6 April 1841, and the capstone was placed in position
24 May 1845; each event was celebrated by a solemn assembly and sacred
service. Though it was evident that the people would be forced to flee
again, and though they knew that the temple would have to be abandoned
soon after completion, they labored with might and diligence to finish
and properly furnish the structure. It was dedicated 30 April 1846, though
certain portions, such as the baptistry, had been previously dedicated
and used in ordinance work. Many of the Saints received their blessings
and holy endowments in the Nauvoo Temple, though, even before the completion
of the building, the exodus of the people had begun. The 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. On 24 July 1847 the Mormon
pioneers entered the valleys of Utah, while the region was yet Mexican
territory, and established a settlement where now stands 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 Block, around which the city has grown. In February 1853 the area
was dedicated with a sacred service, and on the sixth of April following,
the cornerstones of the building were laid to the accompaniment of solemn
and imposing ceremony. The Salt Lake Temple was 40 years in building;
the capstone was laid on 6 April 1892, and the completed temple was dedicated
one year later.
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. |
Both by derivation and
common usage the term temple, in its literal application, is of restricted
and specific meaning. The essential idea of a temple is and ever has been
that of a place specially set apart for service regarded as sacred, and
of real or assumed sanctity; in a more restricted sense, a temple is a
building constructed for and exclusively devoted to sacred rites and ceremonies.
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 the king, the man of wisdom, the master-builder, had been led
astray by the wiles of idolatrous women, and his wayward ways had fostered
iniquity in Israel. The nation was no longer a unit; there were factions
and sects, parties and creeds, some worshiping on the hilltops, others
under green trees, each party claiming excellence for its own particular
shrine. The temple soon lost its sanctity. The gift became depreciated
by the perfidy of the giver, and Jehovah withdrew His protecting presence
from the place no longer holy.
It
is not the purpose of the present material to consider in detail any particular
temple, either ancient or modern, but rather to show the essential and
distinguishing features of temples, and to make plain the fact that in
both ancient and modern times the covenant people have regarded the building
of temples as a labor specifically required at their hands. From what
has been said, 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
characteristic of the age or dispensation to which the particular temple
belongs. 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.