THE HOUSE OF THE LORD
A STUDY OF HOLY SANCTUARIES ANCIENT AND MODERN
INCLUDING FORTY-SIX PLATES ILLUSTRATIVE OF MODERN TEMPLES
By
JAMES E. TALMAGE
One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints
Published by the Church
Salt Lake City, Utah
1912
PREFACE
{iii} Among the numerous sects and churches of the present day, the
Latter-day Saints are distinguished as builders of Temples. In this
respect they resemble Israel of olden time. It is not surprising that
great and widespread interest is manifest respecting this peculiarity
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, nor that questions
are continually arising as to the purpose and motive behind this great
labor, and the nature of the ordinances administered in these modern
Houses of the Lord. To answer some of these questions, and to place
within the reach of earnest inquirers authentic information concerning
the doctrine and practise of Temple ministration, this book has been
written.
By way of affording means of easy comparison between the
Temple-building achievements of past and those of current time, a
brief treatment of the sanctuaries of earlier dispensations has been
included. While detailed information pertaining to ancient Temples and
related sanctuaries is accessible to all, through cyclopedias, Bible
dictionaries and works of more special scope, but little concerning
the Temples of today and the sacred service therein rendered has
been published in separate form. The official "History of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" contains abundant data on the
subject; but the information is distributed through many tomes, and is
of access to comparatively few.
Among the special publications in this field, most of which are
primarily devoted to the history and description of the Temple at Salt
Lake City, are the following:
{iv} "Temples: Descriptive and historical sketches of ancient and
modern sacred edifices," a pamphlet of 28 pages, by J. M. Sjodahl, Salt
Lake City, 1892. This covers the history of the Salt Lake City Temple
to the time of the laying of the capstone, April, 1892. The pamphlet
contains outline drawings.
"The Salt Lake Temple," an article by James H. Anderson, published in
"The Contributor," Vol. XIV, No. 6, April, 1893, 60 pages with numerous
illustrations of the Temple at different stages, together with details
of construction, and portraits of Church officials and others connected
with the erection of the great structure.
"Historical and descriptive sketch of the Salt Lake Temple," an
illustrated pamphlet of 36 pages published by the Deseret News, Salt
Lake City, April, 1893.
"A Description of the Great Temple, Salt Lake City, and a statement
concerning the purposes for which it has been built," a pamphlet of
40 pages, by D. M. McAllister, Salt Lake City, 1912. This contains
half-tone engravings of both exterior and interior views.
In the present undertaking the author has been the recipient of many
courtesies and much assistance from the officials of the several
Temples, the Church Historian and his assistants, the general
authorities of the Church, and many others. To all who have assisted in
the pleasing labor his obligations are respectfully acknowledged.
The photographs showing interior views of the Salt Lake City Temple are
the work of the C. R. Savage Company, to whom thanks are tendered for
liberal, courteous, and efficient service.
James E. Talmage
Salt Lake City, Utah, September 21, 1912.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
A PRE-VIEW OF THE SUBJECT.
A general view of sanctuaries of ancient and modern times.
CHAPTER II.
SANCTUARIES IN EARLIER DISPENSATIONS.
The "Testimony."--Provisional Tabernacle.--Third Tabernacle.--Temple
of Solomon.--Temple of Ezekiel's vision.--Temple of
Zerubbabel.--Temple of Herod.
CHAPTER III.
NEED OF TEMPLES IN THE PRESENT DISPENSATION.
Necessity of obedience to the laws and ordinances of the
Gospel.--Authority to labor in behalf of the dead.--Temples
required for vicarious service.
CHAPTER IV.
MODERN TEMPLE ORDINANCES.
Baptism for the dead.--Ordination and endowment.--Salvation and
exaltation.--Degrees of glory.--Sealing in marriage.--Other
sealing ordinances.
CHAPTER V.
MODERN DAY TEMPLES.
Temple-site at Independence, Missouri.--Kirtland Temple.--Temple-site
at Far West, Missouri.--Nauvoo Temple.
CHAPTER VI.
THE GREAT TEMPLE AT SALT LAKE CITY--HISTORICAL.
Beginning of the work.--Early description.--Laying of
the capstone.--Completion of the building and its
dedication.--Dedicatory Prayer.
{vi}
CHAPTER VII.
THE GREAT TEMPLE AT SALT LAKE CITY--EXTERIOR.
Architectural style.--General description.--Emblematical stones.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE GREAT TEMPLE AT SALT LAKE CITY--INTERIOR.
The Annex.--Corridors and rooms of the Temple.
CHAPTER IX.
TEMPLE BLOCK.
The Old Tabernacle.--The Tabernacle.--General Service Plant
CHAPTER X.
OTHER UTAH TEMPLES.
St. George Temple.--Logan Temple.--Manti Temple.
CHAPTER XI.
CONCLUSION.
The Lesser or Aaronic Priesthood operative in ancient Temples.--The
Higher or Melchisedek Priesthood operative in Temples of today.
PLATES.
Illustrations of Modern Temples.
CHAPTER I
A PRE-VIEW OF THE SUBJECT
{1} 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 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.[1]
Structures regarded in their entirety as sanctuaries, {2} or enclosing
apartments so designated, have been reared in many different ages, both
by worshippers 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 purlieus 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 visible symbol and 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 {3} 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,
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 appropriate and fitting, for the finished
structure 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."[2] 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 {4} 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.[3]
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 in carrying the Ark
during travel. The Ark contained certain objects of sacred import, such
as the golden pot of manna, preserved as a remembrance; and 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 {5} 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 cherubims
which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will
give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."[4]
No detailed description of the Tabernacle, its appurtenances or
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.[5] 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.[6] Afterward it was removed
to Gibeon[7] and yet later to the City of David, or Zion.[8]
{6} 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.[9] 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 yet found atonement. 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."[10] 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 co-operation 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 {7} 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."[11] 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, {8} and the Porch, were in the Temple exactly double those
of the corresponding parts in the Tabernacle.
The glorious pre-eminence 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 worshipping on the hill-tops, 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.
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."[12] Part of the
aforetime sacred furniture left by the Egyptians was taken by others,
and bestowed upon idols.[13] 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 {9} gain. Furthermore, he removed
the altar and the font, and left but a house where once had stood a
Temple.[14] Later, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, completed the
despoiling of the Temple, and carried away its few remaining treasures.
He then destroyed the building itself by fire.[15]
Thus, about six hundred 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; they had
become idolatrous and altogether wicked; the Lord had rejected them
and their sanctuary. The Kingdom of Israel, comprising approximately
ten of the twelve 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 seventy years the people of Judah--thereafter known
as Jews--remained in captivity, even as had been predicted.[16] Then,
under the friendly rule of Cyrus[17] and Darius[18] they were permitted
to return to Jerusalem, and once more to rear 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.[19]
In spite of legal technicalities[20] and other obstructions, the
work {10} continued, and within twenty years after their return from
captivity the Jews had a Temple ready for dedication. The Temple of
Zerubbabel was finished 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.[21] 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 sixteen 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 {11} destruction of the Temple had been foretold by
our Lord, while yet He lived in the flesh.[22] In the year 70 A.D. 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 on the eastern
hemisphere. From the destruction of that great edifice onward to the
time of the re-establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ in the
nineteenth 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 greatly
inferior to that gorgeous structure in grandeur and costliness.[23]
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.[24] 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 amongst mankind.
{12} 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.[25]
When, in the reign of Constantine, a perverted Christianity had become
the religion of 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 vicegerent
of Christ, and that without revelation he was empowered to declare the
will of God.[26]
Not until the Gospel was restored in the nineteenth 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 {13} of the latest dispensation, then
a lad in his fifteenth year, received a Divine manifestation,[27] in
which both the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared and
instructed the youthful suppliant. Through Joseph Smith, the Gospel
of old was restored to earth, and the ancient law was re-established.
In course of time, through the ministry of the prophet, The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, and its establishment
was marked by manifestations of Divine power.[28]
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.[29] The Church was organized as an earthly
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. The construction of a temple
on this chosen spot is yet delayed, as is also the case with another
temple-site in Far West Missouri,[30] on which the corner-stones were
laid in 1838. The Church holds as a sacred trust the commission to
build the temples so located, but as yet the way has not been opened
for the consummation of the plan. In the meantime temples in other
places have been reared, and already the modern dispensation is marked
by the erection of six such sacred edifices.
On the first day of June, 1833, in a revelation to the {14} 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.[31] 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.[32]
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.[33] 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 of
the Lord to whose name it had been reared. The building still stands
and is used as a meeting-house by a small and comparatively unknown
sect.
The migration of the Latter-day Saints was to the west; and 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 corner-stones of the Nauvoo Temple were laid April 6, 1841, and
the capstone was placed in position {15} May 24, 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 April 30, 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 the 24th of July, 1847, the "Mormon" pioneers entered the valleys
of Utah, while yet the region was Mexican territory, and established
a settlement where now stands Salt Lake City. Four days later Brigham
Young, prophet and leader, indicated a site in the sage-brush 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 sacred service, and on the 6th of April following,
the corner stones of the building were laid to the accompaniment of
solemn and imposing ceremony. The Salt Lake City Temple was forty years
in building; the capstone was laid on the 6th of April, 1892, and the
completed Temple was dedicated one year later.
Of the four Temples already erected in Utah, the one {16} in Salt Lake
City was the first begun and the last finished. During its course
of construction three other Temples were built by the Latter-day
Saints, one at St. George, one at Logan, and one at Manti, Utah. Add
to these the two earlier Temples--at Kirtland, Ohio, and at Nauvoo,
Illinois--and we have six of these sacred structures already erected in
the present and last dispensation of the Priesthood--the dispensation
of the fulness of times.
It is not the purpose of the present chapter 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 Himself 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.
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.
FOOTNOTES
1. In this connection it is interesting and instructive to consider
the significance of the name _Bethel_, a contraction of _Beth Elohim_,
as applied by Jacob to the place where the presence of the Lord was
manifest unto him. Said he, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I
knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place!
this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of
heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that
he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil
upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Beth-el."
(Genesis 28:16-19; read verses 10-22.)
2. Exodus 36:7.
3. Hebrews 9:1-7; Leviticus chap. 16.
4. Exodus 25:22.
5. Exodus 40:34-38.
6. Joshua 18:1; see also 19:51; 21:2; Judges 18:31; I Samuel 1:3, 24;
4:3, 4.
7. I Chron. 21:29; II Chron. 1:3.
8. II Samuel 6:12; II Chron. 5:2.
9. II Samuel 7:2.
10. I Chron. 28:2, 3; compare II Samuel 7:1-13.
11. II Chron. 5:14; see also 7:1, 2, and compare Exodus 40:35.
12. I Kings 14:25, 26.
13. II Chron. 24:7.
14. II Kings 16:7-9, 17 and 18; see also II Chron. 28:24, 25.
15. II Chron. 36:18, 19; see also II Kings 24:13; 25:9.
16. Jeremiah 25:11, 12; 29:10.
17. Ezra, chaps. 1 and 2.
18. Ezra, chap. 6.
19. Ezra 3:12, 13.
20. Ezra 4:4-24.
21. Ezra 6:15-22.
22. Matt. 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:6.
23. See Book of Mormon, II Nephi 5:16.
24. See Book of Mormon, III Nephi 11:1.
25. See the author's "The Great Apostasy," chap. IX.
26. See the author's "The Great Apostasy," chap. X.
27. See the author's "The Articles of Faith," Lecture I, and references
thereto.
28. See the author's "The Articles of Faith," specifically Lecture I,
and notes thereon.
29. See Doctrine and Covenants 36:8; 42:36; 133:2.
30. See Doctrine and Covenants 115:7-16.
31. See Doctrine and Covenants, Section 95.
32. See Doctrine and Covenants, Section 109.
33. See Doctrine and Covenants, 110:1-10.