General Authorities

Binding the Human Family Together

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Joseph SmithThe Prophet Joseph gave a sermon just a few months before his martyrdom in which he said:

The Bible says, “I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

Now, the word turn here should be translated bind, or seal. But what is the object of this important mission? or how is it to be fulfilled? The keys are to be delivered, the spirit of Elijah is to come, the Gospel to be established, the Saints of God gathered, Zion built up, and the Saints to come up as saviors on Mount Zion.

But how are they to become saviors on Mount Zion? By building their temples, erecting their baptismal fonts, and going forth and receiving all the ordinances, baptisms, confirmations, washings, anointings, ordinations and sealing powers upon their heads, in behalf of all their progenitors who are dead, and redeem them that they may come forth in the first resurrection and be exalted to thrones of glory with them; and herein is the chain that binds the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, which fulfills the mission of Elijah. And I would to God that this temple was now done, that we might go into it, and go to work and improve our time, and make use of the seals while they are on earth. ((History of the Church 6:184))

D&C 2:3 puts a different twist on why this work must be done, “If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.”

One of the great tasks of the kingdom of God on the earth is to perform the sealing and saving ordinances of the gospel for the entire human family.  The sealing of the priesthood must become as one unbroken chain from Adam and Eve to the latest generation, and as such will bind the entire human family together.  This can only occur in temples of the Lord, which have been dedicated and consecrated for that divine purpose.

“You Don’t Speak About the Temple” Says Bushman

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Dr. Richard BushmanI have just recently begun reading Dr. Richard Bushman’s prominent Rough Stone Rolling biography of the prophet Joseph Smith. I have found it very insightful and excellent, and I’m sure I will share things here that relate to the temple as I come upon them in the book.

This morning, I read a Deseret News article this morning which reported on a talk that Dr. Bushman gave at Weber State University on March 5th. One of the main subjects that Bushman spoke about is Mormonism’s acceptance in America, and the troubles which surround that acceptance. One of those troubles stems from the LDS practice of keeping the temple secret. The report states:

“It is true that we are in a sense secret,” Bushman said. “It will be difficult to remove the suspicions when there is a certain fact to it.”

Bushman said he doesn’t like when Mormons say the temple is not secret, that it is sacred.

“It is secret,” he said. But he appreciates how excellent Mormons are at creating sacred spaces.

“Those temple spaces are just different from the rest of the world,” Bushman said after watching people walk silently with arms folded through the Manhattan Temple before it was dedicated. The process to be able to go into a Mormon temple evolves around keeping it sacred and at the same time, secret.

“Important as anything,” Bushman said, “is you don’t speak about the temple, even to those who go to the temple.”

[Read more…]

“Between Heaven and Earth” Videoclips

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DVD Cover

DVD Cover

In 2002 the Church released a documentary on LDS temples that was originally broadcast between sessions of General Conference. It is entitled “Between Heaven and Earth” and is available on VHS or DVD at Deseret Book, Church Distribution, or the BYU Bookstore. It is being shown at temple open houses and in temple preparation classes throughout the Church. The Millennial Star published a post on it back in 2005, with great excerpts. As the Millennial Star points out, it is very possible that Truman Madsen personally made requests of some of the non-LDS scholars to appear and speak on the subject of temples in antiquity and the Mormon practice today. Many of their comments are very insightful to the Latter-day Saints. The scholars/authorities that appear in this film include: Frank Moore Cross (Harvard), Krister Stendahl (Harvard), Lawrence Schiffman (NYU), John Lundquist, Truman Madsen, Elder Boyd K. Packer, and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, among others.

I think it is an excellent study from many angles, inside the Church and out, of the LDS practice of building and worshiping God in temples. You may see the 44-minute film below:

The Temple is About Families

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Elder Richard H. WinkelI received this LDS Gem today in my inbox:

When you come to the temple you will love your family with a deeper love than you have ever felt before. The temple is about families. . . . It extends to parents, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, forebears, and especially our grandchildren! This is the Spirit of Elijah, which is the spirit of family history work; and when inspired by the Holy Ghost, it prompts the turning of the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. Because of the priesthood, husbands and wives are sealed together, children are sealed to their parents for eternity so the family is eternal and will not be separated at death. ((Richard H. Winkel, “The Temple Is about Families,” Ensign, Nov. 2006, 9))

Other parts of Elder Winkel’s talk are equally good:

Like you, I don’t want to lose any of my children. I want to be together forever with all of my family. The temple gives all of us extra hope of continuing and improving these relationships, even after this life. Sealings bestowed in the temple promise additional blessings.

“The Prophet Joseph Smith declared-and he never taught more comforting doctrine-that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain.” . . .

President Hinckley has told us that “just as our Redeemer gave His life as a vicarious sacrifice for all men, and in so doing became our Savior, even so we, in a small measure, when we engage in proxy work in the temple, become as saviors to those on the other side who have no means of advancing unless something is done in their behalf by those on earth.” . . .

The temple is a place to know the Father and the Son. It is a place where we experience the divine presence. The Prophet Joseph Smith made this plea: “I advise all to … search deeper and deeper into the mysteries of Godliness.”  And where shall we search? In the house of God. ((ibid.))

Temple Imagery in the Parables of Matthew 25 – Part 1

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The Wise and Foolish Virgins - Peter von Cornelius, (German, practiced mainly in Rome, 1783-1867)

In a recent June 2007 Ensign article entitled “Oil in Our Lamps” Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the Seventy wrote an excellent commentary on the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 and its connection with our latter-day temple worship and worthiness. As Elder Robbins notes, one way to “liken [these parables] unto us” is to “study them with the temple in mind.” In the parable of the ten virgins Elder Robbins compared the following to the LDS temple: [Read more…]