church

Possible Site of Early Christian Ritual Worship Discovered

1 Comment

An entrance to the cave underneath St. George\'s Church in Rihab, JordanAn ancient cave discovered under one of the world’s oldest churches in Rihab, Jordan, may be a site of the earliest Christian worship to ever be found.  Archaeologists have dated the cave to between 33 A.D. and 70 A.D.

The Associated Press reports that the Rihab Center for Archaeological Studies says that this cave “shows evidence of early Christian rituals.”  They also reportedly described part of the site as:

a circular worship area with stone seats separated from a living area that had a long tunnel leading to a source of water. He said the early Christians hid there from persecution.

An interesting mosaic in the church of St. George above the cave reads “the 70 beloved by God and the divine,” believing that “cave was used as a church by 70 disciples of Jesus in the first century after Christ’s death, which would make it the oldest Christian site of worship in the world.”

It seems as though there is quite a bit of skepticism about the find among other archaeologists, so it will be interesting to see what the consensus is after further study.

You can read the article at the Associated Press.

The 1978 Temple Revelation of the Extension of Priesthood

2 Comments

Video created by the LDS Church to commemorate and celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ action in June 1978 to extend its lay priesthood to men of all races – entitled “He Inviteth Us All.”  The revelation from God came quite clear from heaven to prophets and apostles of God, gathered in the upper rooms of the Salt Lake Temple.  I imagine the revelatory experience was somewhat like Peter’s when he was commanded by God to take the gospel to the Gentiles, previous to which it had been taken only to the Jews (Acts 10:9-48).  Surely the Lord God has His own timetable (Isa. 55:8).

God Dwelleth Not in Temples Made with Hands? – Part 2

2 Comments

The high priest in Israel sprinkling blood of the sin offering upon the mercy seat on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:14-15)

(Continued from Part 1)

To continue our discussion on whether God may dwell in temples on earth, and whether there exists a need for further temples after Christ, we might look again to the Bible to see if God dwelled in those sacred edifices which He commanded to be built in ancient times.

The first example that we might look at is Paul’s own theophany, which he experienced in the temple of Jerusalem shortly after his conversion: [Read more…]

Educating the Media (and Others) about the LDS Temple

13 Comments

The television station KREX Channel 5 from Grand Junction, Colorado, aired a news piece yesterday about the “Sacred Secrets of the LDS Church.”

I think that the news anchors, save being as objective and unaffected as anchors could possibly be, did a decent job of trying to understand what the LDS temple is all about. The members interviewed, on the other hand, I think missed a tremendous opportunity to share more and clarify our beliefs and practices of the temple. Stake President Richard Landes did a substantially better job than Elder Smith in explaining some of the reasons for the temple, but it still left the anchors with misconceptions.

At one point the anchor asks Elder Smith, “What goes on in the temple?”

Our missionary unfortunately replied, “I don’t know how to explain that. . . . I’m going to pass on that one.” [Read more…]