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Educating the Media (and Others) about the LDS Temple

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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…]

Virtual Open House for Curitiba Brazil Temple

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The Curitiba Brazil Temple public open house began a couple days ago, on May 10th, and will run through May 24th. Can’t attend? Mike Batie has put together another well-done video of official photographs of the outside and inside of this new temple. It does the good service of feeling like you are there. Wouldn’t it be great if the Church put together virtual tours online of the new temples for the many members, and members of other faiths, of the world who are too far away to attend the open house? In the meantime, this does a pretty good job.

The temple in Curitiba Brazil was announced in August 2002, and groundbreaking was in March 2005. The dedication of the temple will take place on June 1st, following a cultural celebration that is expected to be attended by 25,000 people.

The excellent music in this video is by Lex de Azevedo, “If you Could Hie to Kolob,” on the album Variations on a Sacred Theme: Vol. 2, available at Deseret Book, or Amazon.com.

Newport Beach California Temple Interiors Video

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Here is yet another excellent temple video, this time of the interior of the Newport Beach California Temple. It was compiled by a member of the church, mikebatie on YouTube, from official photos published by the Church, taken probably during the time of the open house of the temple before the dedication. The temple in Newport Beach was announced on April 21, 2001. The groundbreaking was on August 15, 2003. After a several week open house to the public, President Hinckley dedicated the temple on August 28, 2005. See the Google Maps Street View of this temple.

An interesting anecdote of the placement of the angel Moroni during construction comes from LDSChurchTemples.com:

On January 13, 2005, a statue of the angel Moroni crowned the temple. During placement, a remarkable solar halo was visible, which surrounded the sun. Once Moroni was in place, the phenomenon dissipated. ((http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/newportbeach/, “Topping the Temple,” Los Angeles Times 14 Jan. 2005: B3.))

The excellent music is entitled “The Power of Heaven,” with words and music by Steven Kapp Perry, arranged by Greg Hansen, and from the 1999 album “As Temples Fill the Earth.” The vocalist is Tammy Simister Robinson. You can buy the album at the BYU Bookstore or at Deseret Book.

To see the other videos I’ve posted on Temple Study, see the video tag.

“Between Heaven and Earth” Videoclips

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DVD Cover

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: