The Resurrection and The Temple

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On this bright Easter morning I thought we might reflect on the glorious resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and particularly how this miraculous gift and triumph over death by the Savior has a very central theme and part of our temple. I don’t think we recognize just how inseparably tied are the realities of the resurrection and the temple. We don’t often mention the two in the same sentence, yet this might be excusable given that they represent very much one and the same eternal ideals and principles.

More often than not our thoughts are drawn to and focus on the Lord’s atonement, without spending much time on the other. This is also understandable—the resurrection is an unconditional gift to all who have received bodies in mortality, whereas there are certain laws and ordinances which we must abide by in order to receive a fullness of what the atonement has to offer us. But the atonement and the resurrection are connected principles, both enabling us to return to the presence of God, for no untransfigured or unquickened mortal flesh can withstand God’s presence and live (D&C 67:11, D&C 84:19-22, D&C 76:118, Moses 1:5).
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Specifics of Ordinances Foreknown in Premortality

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Cover of Temple Worship by Dr. SkinnerThis last week I finally swung by Seagull Book and picked up Dr. Andrew Skinner’s new book Temple Worship. I had heard about it before from ads, and from an excellent interview that Carol Mikita had with Dr. Skinner.

I’ve been impressed with the depth that Dr. Skinner approaches the temple subject, and the new insights he gives. It’s been very enlightening.

In the beginning he writes about the Savior’s atonement, and how in the temple we are taught that this sacrifice was established “from the foundation of the world” (Moses 7:47, Rev. 13:8, Moses 6:53-54), meaning it was central part of the plan of salvation that was established long before the earth ever existed. We knew that a Savior would be provided for us when we came to this earth, and that his name would be Jesus Christ, the same being who was the great Jehovah we knew then. We were all very aware of the suffering and sacrifice that he would make for us. We knew in detail how the atonement would work, and we were exuberantly confident in the way by which we could be rescued from the fall of Adam and Eve and our own individuals sins so that we could return to live with God. Dr. Skinner provides this sublime insight:

One ramification of this profound doctrine is that the ordinances of exaltation, including their general symbolism and specific tokens centering on the bodily sacrifice of Christ were in place and likely foreknown by us in our premortal existence. ((Temple Worship, p. 50))

Early Christian Textile Markings from Fayum Egypt

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Garment with woven rosettes and hemmed cut.

For the last few decades Brigham Young University has been involved in the excavation and study of ancient ruins and tombs in the Fayum region of Egypt, particularly in the Fag El Gamous cemetery. Some of the remains there have been noted as early Christian. One of the reports of these findings was given in the 1993 issue of BYU Studies under the exhaustive title “Evidences of a Christian Population in the Egyptian Fayum and Genetic and Textile Studies of the Akhmim Noble Mummies.” The study was also written about in the 1991 January Ensign under the titles “More Valuable Than Gold” and “Secrets Woven in the Past.”

The BYU Studies report mentions the unusual construction of the textiles that some of these mummies were dressed with in their burial:

Ten of the robes on this burial are plain linen garments but the many strands of linen ribbon wrapped around the upper half of the body are gathered together into a complex knot. This knot is found on the left shoulder on two of the robes and on the right shoulder of the remaining eight robes. The symbol of the sacred knot or bow is common in Egypt and elsewhere and may indicate sacerdotal or priestly authority.

The piece of clothing closest to the body is not usually well preserved due to the destructive influence of fluids and chemicals remaining in the body. In this burial, as well as a few others, however, the woolen garment next to the skin is sufficiently well preserved for us to observe that small rosettes have been woven into the material in particular locations. There is one rosette over each breast and one on the right leg near the knee, but there is no corresponding rosette on the left leg. Across the lower abdomen, the material also has a hemmed slit about six inches long.

Considered all together, the various items of clothing all previously unused and many containing symbols and designs, argue strongly for belief not only in an afterlife, but also for appropriate attire, most likely accompanied by or representative of a multifaceted and complex ritual process which would assure safe and successful passage into the realm of the divine. ((Link to BYU Studies article))

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.

Temple the Source of All Civilization

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Hugh Nibley in 2000Professor Hugh Nibley often taught that the temple was the source of many of the institutions, forms, and trappings of our modern-day society. He once remarked:

There is no part of our civilization which doesn’t have its rise in the temple. ((Hugh Nibley, Don E. Norton, Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present, 25.))

Nibley also made the comments:

So poetry, music, and dance go out to the world from the temple-called by the Greeks the Mouseion, the shrine of the Muses. ((ibid., 23.))

And:

All the arts and sciences began at the temple. Dance, music, architecture, sculpture, drama, and so forth-they all go back to the temple. ((Nibley, Hugh, and Gary P. Gillum. Of all Things!: Classic Quotations from Hugh Nibley. 2nd, rev. and expand ed. Salt Lake City, Utah; Provo, Utah: Deseret Book Co.; Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1993, 45.))

The more I study the temple the more I am convinced of these statements. I have found evidence for the temple in language, literature, poetry, dance, music, theater, drama, education, custom, astronomy, architecture, art, science, politics, and of course in the many religions of the world. Even our daily personal patterns of awakening, opening our eyes, arising, washing ourselves, getting dressed, eating breakfast, working out our salvation while the day of probation lasts, then going to sleep and awaiting to arise the next morning clearly has connections with the temple.

In what patterns of our civilization do you see the temple?