This is another excellent video which is a compilation of several videos/photos that have been published of the interior of various temples. These appear to be official Church clips/photos that have been compiled by a member of the Church.
The temple is truly the most beautiful place on earth.
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 Jews anxiously await the day that they will be able to rebuild the Jerusalem temple, often referred to as the third temple, as a holy house of worship of God. There has been a Jewish institute established, The Temple Institute, in Jerusalem for the very purpose of researching the history of the temple and its eventual reestablishment on the temple mount, and making steps toward that end goal. The Jews plan to reinstitute or “restore” daily temple prayer and sacrifice, as was prophesied in the Bible, and they speak with fervor about the “restoration” of the divine service of worshiping Almighty God in His holy house. It is interesting that in ancient Israel the building of the temple was always directed very carefully by abundant revelation of God to His prophet on the earth. In a different sense, The Temple Institute today seeks understanding in ancient prophesy and tradition as found in the Torah to restore the architecture, vessels, ordinances, worship, and other characteristics that will accompany the temple of God. ((See a video of the restoration of the menorah, and the restoration of the crown of the high priest.))
The Latter-day Saints also see the reconstruction of a temple in Jerusalem as one of the signs of the times of the Second Coming of the Savior. Whether it will be built by the Church or the Jews or the Jews under the direction of the Church or will later come under the direction of the Church after the Jews are converted to Christ is unclear (Do you know of any studies clarifying this?). What is clear is that the saving ordinances of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ will be performed therein at some point, under the authority of the priesthood of God, as they are performed currently in 125 temples around the world.
Joseph Smith once taught: [Read more…]
Bishop N.T. Wright is the Bishop of Durham in the Church of England. He is considered one of the world’s foremost theologians. Last night he was interviewed by Martin Bashir on ABC’s Nightline program about his new book “Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church,” in which he gave his perspective on death and what heaven is like. Borrowing a Niblyism, Latter-day Saints will “hear the ringing of familiar bells” in what Bishop Wright has to say. [Read more…]
A short video produced by the LDS Church explains the difference between a temple and a meetinghouse and how each is used by the members of the Church.