critics

God Dwelleth Not in Temples Made with Hands? – Part 1

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Cartoon for St. Paul Preaching in Athens - Raphael. c1513-1514. Mixed media on paper, mounted on canvas. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK.

A respectful evangelical protestant reader of TempleStudy.com has asked this question:

Paul tells us in the sermon at Mars Hill that the Lord does not “dwell in houses built by hands” (Acts 17:24-25, Stephen echoes this in ch 7 of the same book) but rather that the Holy Spirit of God dwells in us; that is, that WE are His temples (1 Cor. 3:16-17). Interestingly, not only is this a contradiction to D&C teachings regarding the temple (see D&C 97), but it also appears to be a strong witness to the Trinity, at least in part (demonstrating an equivalency between the Father and the Spirit – “you are a temple of God […] the Spirit of God dwells in you”). I am curious how you interpret these scriptures.

I think this gets to the heart of the doctrinal argument over the necessity/validity of the temple in the post-Messianic age. I know where I stand, but I welcome your counterpoint!

This is an honest question; unfortunately the scriptures in question to support the claim are misunderstood. [Read more…]

Temple Worship among Post-Exile Jews

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Excavation of Jewish settlement on Elephantine Island, Egypt

First of all I’d like to thank all those who have participated in the TempleStudy feedback that was posted yesterday. I have received a good number of responses, and most were very positive. Some even compared my methodology, albeit detrimentally, as similar to Hugh Nibley’s, for which I could not be more flattered. If I am able, in the least measure, to be compared to Dr. Nibley, I am very grateful. I also received many ideas for topics and directions which will help to continue charting the course here. I’m glad to see that there is so much support for this site, however inadequate my research or conclusions may be. Mostly we are trying to sit at the feet of some of the greatest LDS scholars here, and learn as we go along. And just to quell some uncertainties, I have not entertained any thoughts of quiting TempleStudy anytime soon. We’ve just begun!

I’d like to draw some attention to the great research on the temple that was presented in the latest Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 16/2 (2007). Two articles in particular in this issue have the temple as a major theme, namely, “A Tale of Three Communities: Jerusalem, Elephantine, and Lehi-Nephi” by Jared W. Ludlow, and “Service and Temple in King Benjamin’s Speech” by Donald W. Parry. We’ll review Ludlow’s study today. [Read more…]

Baptism for the Dead: An Erroneous Practice? – Part 3

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Marcion of Sinope(Continued from Part 2)

Another early Christian evidence for the practice of baptism for the dead is from texts that reference the practice among a group known as the Marcionites. This group was a separate Christian body from the Church of Rome, who followed the teachings of Marcion (ca. 110-160) as their spiritual leader (sometimes referenced as Marcion of Sinope). The writings of Marcion are lost, so the information we have about him and his followers comes largely from the writings of others. Marcion was a Christian theologian, a ship owner, may have been the son of the bishop in Sinope, and was consecrated a bishop himself. He gathered a large following but was excommunicated from the Church of Rome in 144 as a heretic, apparently because his beliefs about the gospel clashed with the bishops of Rome. His following was strong, however, and continued to expand even after Marcion’s death for quite some time. Marcionism was a major rival to the Catholic Church.

So why do we use an example of a practice among a “heretical” group of Christians? Dr. John A. Tvedtnes has taught, [Read more…]

Baptism for the Dead: An Erroneous Practice? – Part 1

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Salt Lake Temple Baptistery

In a letter dated April 5th, and reported by the Catholic News Service on May 2nd, the Vatican issued an order to all Catholic dioceses throughout the world to not give genealogical information in parish registers to Latter-day Saints in an effort to “block posthumous rebaptisms” of LDS ancestors. The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had “grave reservations” about this LDS practice (no pun intended I’m sure), and labelled it “detrimental” and “erroneous.” Father James Massa, executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, added that it was “unacceptable”:

As Catholics, we have to make very clear to them their practice of so-called rebaptism is unacceptable from the standpoint of Catholic truth.

Catholic World News reports that the Catholic church objects to this practice, again termed “rebaptism,” for two reasons: [Read more…]

Why Don’t we Find Our Modern Temple in the Old Testament?

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The Tabernacle and the Temple - 1900 atlas from London (click for a larger view)I used to ask myself that question, and I believe that many others probably still do. We believe that our current temple ordinances as revealed by the prophet Joseph Smith are as old as the human race, and were first revealed to Adam, the Ancient of Days ((TPJS, 237)). So why don’t we read more about temple practices similar to our own today in the Old Testament? It can get very confusing trying to compare our modern-day temple ordinances to those of Moses in the Tabernacle, or Solomon’s temple, or even Herod’s temple at the time of Christ. And our critics also love to point out the dissimilarity.

The ordinances just aren’t the same. We might initially think that it is because of the sacredness of the temple that it was kept from being written about much by the ancient patriarchs. But this is not the case. Many details are given about the Tabernacle of Moses in the first books of the Bible. While there are still some similitudes in the structure of the temples, the priestly clothing, and even in the rites, if the ordinances were the same or very similar as we have them today we would find many more allusions to them. But they just aren’t there.

So where are they? [Read more…]