Comments on: Freedom’s Gate: U.S. Capitol as a Temple

By: David Sudweeks

David Sudweeks — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:27:12 +0000

I think of the U.S. Capitol as a temple, yes built up unto God, but perhaps more practically to the law; (since we’re a republic). It sits on a hill. It’s the focal point of the city plan. The capitol dome inverts itself to its below beholder, making a convex all-seeing eye that asks the question ‘What have you done to my law?’ Its two wings (house and senate) draw the mind to the idea of the reconciliation of otherwise irreconcilable things, such as light and darkness; mercy and justice.
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Figure 1
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The point in between, represented by the circle (the point of the dome), suggests an inverse relationship. (The more a senator you are, the less a house representative; or the more merciful you are, the less just.) Only within this infinitely small point in between can you be 100% both.

By: Mormon Impressions of Dan Brown’s ‘The Lost Symbol’ » Temple Study – LDS Temples, Mormon Temples, Study Blog

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:15:07 +0000

[...] even more interesting is that I mentioned the painting again just two weeks ago, on September 3. A friend had told me about an ebook that had been written [...]

By: Mark Gray

Mark Gray — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:48:45 +0000

Mormons believe in Theosis or the idea that man can become a God. I believe this also. George Washington has become a God in the US Capitol, maybe he was a Mormon America is a psychological and physical space where man can become a God. Here we can achieve the Great Perfection, Apotheosis.

By: Mark Gray

Mark Gray — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:49:19 +0000

Hi,
My name is Mark Gray one of the authors of Freedom’s Gate. Thank you for your interest in the book. It is true about St. Paul’s, but we were going to the source or inspiration of “dome” building and that would have to be the Vatican, and ultimately the Pantheon. An artist from the Vatican Constintino Brumidi did the art work at the US Capitol and the Blue Prints for the US Capitol are found in the Sistine Chapel, at the Vatican. There are more connections in the book.

By: Travis

Travis — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:10:41 +0000

One more comment: The idea that the Founding Fathers left us a “bell to ring” in times of distress in the form of the capitol dome (by altering its energy field or something of that nature) doesn’t hold up, if for no other reason, because the Founding Fathers had nothing to do with the design of the dome. The first approved designs for the Capitol called for a Pantheon-like, hemispherical dome. The current dome is the work, as I mentioned, of Thomas U. Walter, and was completed in 1866–far too late to be the work of the Founding Fathers.

By: Travis

Travis — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 23:59:09 +0000

This is an interesting topic to me, as I served as a Capitol tour guide while interning with the Senate. From the synopsis, I can see that he makes some interesting points, but if the synopsis is a fair representation of what the book says, then it also makes some major errors. The U.S. Capitol dome is not a copy of St. Peter’s at the Vatican; it is a copy of St. Paul’s in London. Capitol architect Thomas Walter admired Wren’s dome but despised the rest of St. Paul’s. Also, I think that a more accurate interpretation of the religious symbolism in the Capitol is that it represents the secular nature of our government–we have a Capitol whose architecture is Roman with a Protestant cathedral dome, but we have gone through and removed the religious imagery. Apostles are replaced by statesmen; the patron saint has been replaced by Washington; whereas the cross is the ubiquitous symbol in a cathedral, the fasces is the dominant motif of the Capitol.
And as for the stuff about positive energy and so forth–well, that speaks for itself.

By: Brian Duffin

Brian Duffin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:40:31 +0000

Very interesting subject and a book I would love to read. I’ll have to check my local library.