Mormon Temples - The Christian Temple
Into this community and culture Christ was born. As mentioned previously, he spent time there teaching, reading the law and cleansing the temple. After his death, and the death of the apostles, many of the truths that he taught were either changed or lost. The years following are known in the history books as the Dark Ages.
The Christian sects of today are at variance as far as authority goes, or whether it (or a lot of Christian doctrine) is even necessary. However, if a Christian believes the Bible to be the word of God as spoken through the mouths of his prophets, things become a little less vague.
In the New Testament, Christ restored and taught the gospel. He called apostles and gave them priesthood authority to preach the gospel and, most importantly for our discussion here, perform saving ordinances like baptism. However, as we know Christ was crucified. His apostles were rejected and killed, and without revelation through a prophet, the doctrine of Christ, and the ordinances he taught, were changed. This falling away, or apostasy from the original gospel Christ taught was prophesied by the very apostles he chose. In 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-3 it states:
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
- That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand,
- Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come [the second coming of Christ] except there be a falling away first…
As the history books reveal, there was a period of religious reformation in the 1600-1700’s, followed in the United States by a time known as the Great Awakening. It was during this time that a young boy named Joseph Smith was searching for Christ’s church. There was so much confusion between the different churches regarding the doctrine that Joseph, like many of us, was unsure if the truth was even discoverable. However, he prayed in faith to know what to do, and in answer he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He was called to be a prophet, and it is through revelation, and a restoration of the gospel again through one having authority that we have temples on the earth today.
In canvassing the topic of the Tabernacle, I mentioned it would be beneficial to a discussion on modern temples. As a Mormon missionary I sometimes heard the question , “Hey, why is your building so fancy? Aren’t there still starving children who need the money more?” There are, and if the reader only knew how much the church does for them. It goes right back to the Tabernacle and the showbread. As Laurence H. Schiffman mentioned, we all know God doesn’t have to eat “people food”. Therefore, we give the best that we can in building his house. There is still a sense of modesty and economy even in the Mormon temples-they are not done without regard for resource. Still, how the temples look is a reflection of how those who worship inside them feel about its importance. In addition to the showbread, we can also refer back to the menorah when discussing the decorations and designs of the inside of the temples. The temples are brimming with light. As you will see in the images following, light plays a distinctive role in the temples, again acting as a symbol of deity and of the divine.
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