How does the temple help with our perspective on the Plan of Salvation?
Quick Thought: (<5 min):
Picture the temple as that vanishing point where all the world’s apparently parallel lines converge. In the temple whole worlds of people living and dead cross paths.
Adam S. Miller, “Letters to a Young Mormon”, 2nd edition
The Lord always has commanded His people to build temples, holy places in which worthy Saints perform sacred gospel ceremonies and ordinances for themselves and for the dead. Temples are the most holy of all places of worship. A temple literally is the house of the Lord, a sacred space specifically set apart for worshipping God and for receiving and remembering His great and precious promises…
Elder Bednar, “Exceeding Great and Precious Promises“, October 2017 General Conference
…A principal purpose of the temple is to elevate our vision from the things of the world to the blessings of eternity. Removed for a short time from the worldly settings with which we are familiar, we can ‘look to God and live’ by receiving and remembering the great and precious promises whereby we become partakers of the divine nature.
Coloring Pages (click to download)
Take a Moment (5-15 min):
Quotes
The work we do in the temple is different from the kind of pragmatic work we do at church on Sundays. Where our churches are simple and spare our temples are layered with murals, carvings, and symbols. Where our churches are down-to-earth and plainspoken, our temples are filled with allusions, allegories, and sacred gestures. Growing up in the shallow pools of our Sunday services may do little to prepare you for the temple’s deep and bracing waters. Compared to the worn predictability of our Sunday School lessons, many members first find the temple strange. I suppose this is as it should be. The temple is strange. It does not belong to this world. The temple is a door and, if you pass through it, you will arrive someplace you’ve never been. The aim of the temple is to initiate you into the mysteries of the kingdom, and before you can solve these mysteries you must encounter them as just that: unsolved mysteries.
Adam S. Miller, “Letters to a Young Mormon”, 2nd edition
God, in His infinite capacity, seals and heals individuals and families despite tragedy, loss, and hardship. We sometimes compare the feelings we experience in temples as having caught a glimpse of heaven. That day in the Provo Utah Temple, this statement by C. S. Lewis resonated with me: “[Mortals] say of some temporal suffering, ‘No future bliss can make up for it,’ not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory. … The Blessed will say, ‘We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven.’”
Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Family History and Temple Work: Sealing and Healing“, April 2018 General Conference
Read a Testimony from Steven Watson, Woodland Park Ward
I don’t claim to be an expert on temples nor the most devout or committed temple-going member. I’m sure there are many others in our stake with a deeper, more profound understanding of the temple. My own temple worship is still a work-in-progress. That said, I have a great appreciation for the temple as mechanism for us to orient ourselves toward God, evaluate our covenants, gain spiritual insight and glimpse a broader context of our relationship both to Heavenly Parents and the whole human family.
I have one other temple-related experience to share with you. It is actually my father’s experience. I grew up in the Boston area. When I was growing up, the closest temple was in Washington D.C. My father (whose name is Malcolm, but people call him Mick) had completed an endowment session and was sitting in the celestial room. He was pondering about the idiosyncrasies and occasional mistakes of church leaders and the complications that this seemed to sometimes introduce into the workings of the Church. He then began looking around the room and noting how beautiful it was. The Washington D.C. celestial room has an oval shape with oval motifs echoed through the pillars and other architectural features. He thought to himself how well-designed the room was—how “perfect” it was. He then looked up at the beautiful chandelier and noticed a crack in the plaster where it attached to the ceiling. He sighed, “even here in this ‘ideal’ room things are not perfect.” And just then, he heard (or felt) a quiet but distinct voice outside of himself say, “Mick, of course there are imperfections. All I have to work with are imperfect people, but I do the best that I can with what I’ve got. Be comforted.” Very shortly thereafter my father was called as the bishop of our ward.
In April 2013 conference, Elder Holland echoed a very similar sentiment: “Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but he deals with it. So should we.”
Deep Dive (45+ min):
Check out The Gate of Heaven—Insights on Doctrines and Symbols of the Temple, by Matthew B. Brown.
“And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not . . . this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
Genesis 28:16-17
From the premortal world, where the plan of salvation was laid out and the need for temples was established, to the Restoration, in which the fullness of the gospel was reintroduced to the world in the temple ceremony, author Matthew B. Brown explores the rich heritage of symbolism that has characterized temple worship through the ages, reverently examining the sacred doctrines associated with temples.
I read this book as a resource for a class on temples that I was called to teach. I found the book helped me deepen my understanding of temple symbolism and the historicity of temple worship in general. For example, it compares the early Israelite tabernacle, Solomon’s temple, Herod’s temple. The author draws upon myriad references including modern biblical scholarship, the apocrypha, pseudepigrapha, Josephus’s writings, early Christian writers, the Kabbala and many Jewish traditions to arrive at its conclusions. highly recommend this book to church members who want to know more about the temple, and in particular how modern temples relate to early temples, the tabernacle, and the garden of Eden.
(Book review by Steven Watson, Woodland Park Ward)
Additional Reading Suggestions
Adam S. Miller, Letters to a Young Mormon, 2nd edition
Recommended by several members of our stake who wrote in, this is a quick read—please note that it is only the *2nd Edition* that contains a section on the temple.
One by One 