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Revelations to Build Temples

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Building the Kirtland Temple. Walter Rane, 2003.

Building the Kirtland Temple. Walter Rane, 2003.

Professor Daniel C. Peterson wrote a column in the Deseret News today about temples.  In particular, he focuses on how temples have anciently been revealed through prophets of God, and how that pattern continues in these latter days.  Examples include:

  • Kirtland Temple as was revealed to Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams
  • Salt Lake Temple was revealed to Brigham Young
  • Smaller temples design was revealed to Gordon B. Hinckley

Peterson concludes, “Temples are a central element in the restoration of all things, and, often even in the details of their origins, they represent powerful evidence for the divine calling of Joseph Smith and his successors.”

Read the article at the Deseret News.

Was Baptism for the Dead Practiced Deep Inside the Walls of St. Paul’s Basilica?

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There is an email being forwarded around that claims that there is a baptismal font deep inside the Basilica of St. Paul that was used for the purposes of baptism for the dead. Here is the text of the original email:

Photos from the email

Photos from the forwarded email. (Click to enlarge)

This photo was taken by Kevin Barton, grandson of Keith Barton, a Stake Patriarch, when Kevin was on his mission to Italy in 2001.  These pictures were taken in Rome at St. Paul’s Cathedral which is centuries old.  Kevin found a chained off area of the Cathedral, which he shouldn’t have entered but did, and discovered this old unused, I’m sure for hundreds of years, baptismal font with a mosaic inscription above it indicating it was used for  baptisms for the dead..  There are probably more old Cathedrals in Italy (If they haven’t been remodeled) that still have these closed off fonts that were used centuries ago..  I wonder why they stopped ?  This is truly profound and  amazing.. ((Email in my possession.))

Included in the email are a couple very blurry/grainy photos showing the wall inscription and the nearby baptismal font, with labels overlaid showing the purported translation and correlation.  These photos are shown here on the right (click to enlarge).

On the surface this sounds really exciting for LDS temple studies! Here we might have ancient evidence for baptism for the dead, mysteriously hidden from public view. But not so fast. Let’s do the requisite research. [Read more…]

President Monson Emphasizes Temple Work in Rare Online Message

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President Thomas S. Monson

President Thomas S. Monson (photo by Brian Tibbets)

A few days ago, on February 1, 2013, the Church News published a rare new online message from President Thomas S. Monson, marking the fifth anniversary of his calling as prophet and President of the Church, and his reflection back on fifty years of service since his calling to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. This type of message from the prophet is a rare occurrence, perhaps unprecedented, and we should take special note.

In the message he reemphasizes the importance of temple work:

Our temple-building efforts continue unabated. During the past five years, 31 new temples have been announced. During this same period, 16 temples have been dedicated, with five others having been rededicated after extensive renovations. When the Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple is dedicated in March of this year, we will have 141 temples in operation throughout the world. These numbers will continue to increase as we move forward in making temples accessible to all of our members, wherever they may live.

We continue to emphasize the need for our members to move forward in the work for our deceased family members. Our mandate is to seek out our dead and to provide them with the opportunity to accept the ordinances and blessings of the gospel. We accomplish this by making certain the ordinances are performed for them. President Joseph F. Smith, speaking of work for the dead, declared, “Through our efforts in their behalf their chains of bondage will fall from them, and the darkness surrounding them will clear away, that light may shine upon them and they shall hear in the spirit world of the work that has been done for them by their children here, and will rejoice with you in your performance of these duties” (Conference Report, October 1916, p. 6).

Concluding his message President Monson notes his declining health, but ensures us that the Church is in good hands.

Read the full message at the Church News website.

Praying Couple Curtain from 5th-6th Century Christianity

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The following is a photo of a linen and wool screen curtain (velum) that comes from a monastery at Antinoë (Antinopolis), Egypt, and dates from the 5th-6th century.  It is likely an artifact of the early Coptic Christians.  It depicts a praying couple beneath an apse in a church or temple, with a Coptic inscription written in Greek script underneath.  The apse of a church building is near the east end, where the altar is located.  There are columns on the left and right, perhaps symbolizing Boaz and Jachin, pillars that flanked the entrance in the porch of Solomon’s Temple, and have come to symbolize the temple ever since.  The figures are dressed in liturgical clothing, including what appears to be a mitre, a veil, and robes, and in the traditional early Christian attitude of prayer with uplifted hands.  Size: 1.05 x 0.86 m.  It is located at the Benaki Museum, Athens. (Thanks Chad!)

Praying Couple Curtain, 5th-6th century Antinoë, Egypt

Praying Couple Curtain, 5th-6th century Antinoë, Egypt

Scale Model Exhibit of the Salt Lake Temple Opened on Temple Square

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Video of the Scale Model of the Salt Lake Temple

Video of the Scale Model of the Salt Lake Temple. (Press play to view)

Today, the Church unveiled an 88-inch scale model of the Salt Lake Temple in the South Visitors’ Center on Temple Square in Salt Lake.  You can see an introduction of the model in the video clip above.  It is a 1:32 scale replica of the temple, with the walls cut away so visitors can see the rooms inside.  Sixteen model makers constructed the model over five months, and went to great lengths to construct the model, using thousands of photographs to make sure every intricate detail was accurate, from the murals, to the wall paintings, chairs, lighting fixtures, etc.  You can look into nearly every room.

The community regularly gets to tour new temples in a public open house before they are dedicated, but since it’s been so long since the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple, they hope this model will allow visitors to get the same experience of this temple:

“This replica will show the millions of visitors who come to Temple Square the beauty and majesty of this sacred and historic building,” said Elder Richard G. Hinckley, executive director of the Missionary Department. “Like all temples, once the building is dedicated it is used for sacred Church purposes and not open to the general public, but this exhibit will provide the public with a glimpse of the interior and a feeling of the Spirit that is present there.”

You can read more details, and see a few photos, about the model in the Church’s news release.  They also have more details about the project, photos, audio clips, and a fact sheet at this link about the creation process.

I’m going to have to go up to Temple Square to see this fantastic new model.