We Believe: Doctrines of Mormonism: Temples

List of Doctrines on "Temples"

807. The Lord commands the building of temples.

808. Temples are holy sanctuaries for sacred rites and ceremonies pertaining to the living and the dead.

809. Certain ordinances are to be administered only in a holy temple (including baptisms for the dead; washings and annointings; and endowments and sealings for the living and for the dead).

810. The temple endowment comprises the receiving of certain sacred ordinances necessary to enable us to gain salvation (in the celestial kingdom).

811. A temple is built that the Lord might have a place to manifest Himself to His people.

812. Church members must be clean and faithful to receive and benefit from the blessings of the temple.

807. The Lord commands the building of temples.

Bruce R. McConkie
President Spencer W. Kimball
Nathan
Joseph Smith
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith

Bruce R. McConkie

[W]henever the Lord has had a people on earth, from the days of Adam to the present moment, he has always commanded them to build temples so that they could be taught how to gain eternal life, and so that all of the ordinances of salvation and exaltation could be performed for and on their behalf. (The Mortal Messiah, 1:100) TLDP:675-76

President Spencer W. Kimball

We indicate that these revealed truths should come to the people in a house built to his name. The Lord said that all the anointings, baptisms for the dead, solemn assemblies, and memorials and oracles, and the revelations pertaining to the foundation of Zion should be done in these holy places, the temples. All such sacred matters should be attended to inside such a building as he commanded to be built. ACR(Auckland)1979:4

Nathan,
receiving the Word of the Lord

Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?
6. Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. . . .
12. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee. . . .
13. He shall build an house for my name. . . . (David offers to build a house for the Lord, and the prophet Nathan responds) 2 Samuel 7:5-6,12-13

Joseph Smith,
receiving the Word of the Lord

And again, verily I say unto you, how shall your washings be acceptable unto me, except ye perform them in a house which you have built to my name? 38. For, for this cause I commanded Moses that he should build a tabernacle, that they should bear it with them in the wilderness, and to build a house in the land of promise, that those ordinances might be revealed which had been hid from before the world was. (Revelation received Jan. 19, 1841, Nauvoo, Ill.) D&C 124:37-38

Elder Joseph Fielding Smith

[T]he work of baptism and other saving ordinances for the dead; the endowments, and all the ordinances that have been revealed to be performed in the sacred edifices called temples, which we are under commandment from God always to build unto His holy name,—(D&C 124:39) these things have been revealed to us in this dispensation in greater fulness and in greater plainness than ever before in the history of the world so far as we know. CR1913Oct:9-10

808. Temples are holy sanctuaries for sacred rites and ceremonies pertaining to the living and the dead.

Elder Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, Lyman Wight, Elder John Taylor, Elder Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Willard Richards
Joseph Smith
President George Albert Smith
James E. Faust
Related Witnesses
Joseph Smith

Elder Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, Lyman Wight, Elder John Taylor, Elder Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Willard Richards

The time has come when the great Jehovah would have a resting place on earth, a habitation for his chosen, where his law shall be revealed, and his servants be endowed from on high, to bring together the honest in heart from the four winds; where the saints may enter the Baptismal font for their dead relations, so that they may be judged according to men in the flesh, and live according to God in the spirit, and come forth in the celestial kingdom; . . . a place where all the ordinances shall be made manifest and the saints shall unite in the songs of Zion, even praise, thanksgiving and hallelujahs to God and the Lamb, that he has wrought out their deliverance, and bound Satan fast in chains. (Epistle of the Twelve to the brethren scattered abroad on the continent of America) (Times and Seasons, Oct. 15, 1841, p. 569) TLDP:674

Joseph Smith,
receiving the Word of the Lord

For, for this cause I commanded Moses that he should build a tabernacle, that they should bear it with them in the wilderness, and to build a house in the land of promise, that those ordinances might be revealed which had been hid from before the world was.
39. Therefore, verily I say unto you, that your anointings, and your washings, and your baptisms for the dead, and your solemn assemblies, and your memorials for your sacrifices by the sons of Levi, and for your oracles in your most holy places wherein you receive conversations, and your statutes and judgments, for the beginning of the revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory, honor, and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house, which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name.
40. And verily I say unto you, let this house be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people;
41. For I deign to reveal unto my church things which have been kept hid from before the foundation of the world, things that pertain to the dispensation of the fulness of times. (Revelation received Jan. 19, 1841; the Saints are commanded to build a temple) D&C 124:38-41

President George Albert Smith

Each of them [the temples] has been built to one great eternal purpose: to serve as a House of the Lord, to provide a place sacred and suitable for the performing of holy ordinances that bind on earth as in heaven—ordinances for the dead and for the living that assure those who receive them and who are faithful to their covenants, the possession and association of their families, worlds without end, and exaltation with them in the celestial kingdom of our Father. ("The Tenth Temple," IE1945Oct:561) TLDP:675

James E. Faust

President Hinckley has announced the building of more temples than there ever have been at any time in history. The need for temples all over the world is great. This is because they are spiritual sanctuaries. Those who attend the temples can find protection against Satan and his desire to destroy them and their families. (CR 1998Oct; Opening the Windows of Heaven, Ensign, November 1998, p.54)

Related Witnesses:

Joseph Smith,
receiving the Word of the Lord

Let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with their might, built this house to my name.
7. For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.
8. Yea, I will appear unto my servants, and speak unto them with mine own voice, if my people will keep my commandments, and do not pollute this holy house.
9. Yea the hearts of thousands and tens of thousands shall greatly rejoice in consequence of the blessings which shall be poured out, and the endowment with which my servants have been endowed in this house.
10. And the fame of this house shall spread to foreign lands; and this is the beginning of the blessing which shall be poured out upon the heads of my people. Even so. Amen. (Vision manifested to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple, April 3, 1836) D&C 110:6-10

809. Certain ordinances are to be administered only in a holy temple (including baptisms for the dead; washings and annointings; and endowments and sealings for the living and for the dead).

Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith
President Spencer W. Kimball
Bruce R. McConkie
President Brigham Young
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith
Related Witnesses
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith
Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith,
quoted by Elder Joseph Fielding Smith

Joseph Smith

What was the object of gathering the Jews, or the people of God in any age of the world? . . .
The main object was to build unto the Lord a house whereby He could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His house and the glories of His kingdom, and teach the people the way of salvation; for there are certain ordinances and principles that, when they are taught and practiced, must be done in a place or house built for that purpose.
It was the design of the councils of heaven before the world was, that the principles and laws of the priesthood should be predicated upon the gathering of the people in every age of the world. Jesus did everything to gather the people, and they would not be gathered, and He therefore poured out curses upon them. [See Matthew 23:37-39.] Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation of the world, in the priesthood, for the salvation of men, are not to be altered or changed. All must be saved on the same principles.
It is for the same purpose that God gathers together His people in the last days, to build unto the Lord a house to prepare them for the ordinances and endowments, washings and anointings, etc. One of the ordinances of the house of the Lord is baptism for the dead. . . .
If a man gets a fullness of the priesthood of God, he has to get it in the same way that Jesus Christ obtained it, and that was by keeping all the commandments and obeying all the ordinances of the house of the Lord. (At the Stand in Nauvoo, Ill., June 11, 1843) HC5:423-24

President Spencer W. Kimball

The Lord said, "I deign to reveal unto my church things which have been kept hid from before the foundation of the world, things that pertain to the dispensation of the fulness of times." (D&C 124:41) There are many people who say, "Well, all a church has to do is to go into a meeting and decide things." That of course, is not true, for the Lord is at the head of the church, and he guides his leaders aright.
We indicate that these revealed truths should come to the people in a house built to his name. The Lord said that all the anointings, baptisms for the dead, solemn assemblies, and memorials and oracles, and the revelations pertaining to the foundation of Zion should be done in these holy places, the temples. All such sacred matters should be attended to inside such a building as he commanded to be built. ACR(Auckland)1979:4

Bruce R. McConkie

Why have temples? They are built by the tithing and sacrifice of the Lord's people; they are dedicated and given to him; they become his earthly houses; in them the mysteries of the kingdom are revealed; in them the pure in heart see God; in them men are sealed up unto eternal life—all to the end that man may become as his Maker, and live and reign forever in the heavenly Jerusalem, as part of the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn, where God and Christ are the judge of all. Of temples the Lord says: "Therein are the keys of the holy priesthood ordained, that you may receive honor and glory." In them, he says, his saints shall receive washing, anointing, baptisms, revelation, oracles, conversations, statutes, judgment, endowments, and sealings. In them are held solemn assemblies. In them the fulness of the priesthood is received and the patriarchal order conferred upon men. In them the family unit is made eternal. Because of them life eternal is available. With temples men can be exalted; without them there is no exaltation (D&C 124:28-40; 131:1-4; 132:1-33. (The Mortal Messiah, 1:99) TLDP:675-76

President Brigham Young

This Priesthood has been restored again, and by its authority we shall be connected with our fathers, by the ordinance of sealing. . . . This ordinance will not be performed anywhere but in a Temple; neither will children be sealed to their living parents in any other place than a Temple. . . . Children born unto parents before the latter enter into the fullness of the covenants, have to be sealed to them in a Temple to become legal heirs of the Priesthood. (At Franklin, Utah, Sept. 4, 1873, JD16:186) TLDP:676

Joseph Smith,
quoted by Elder Joseph Fielding Smith

One of the ordinances of the house of the Lord is baptism for the dead. God decreed before the foundation of the world that the ordinances should be administered in a font prepared for the purpose in the house of the Lord. (Sermon at the Stand, Nauvoo, Ill., June 11, 1843) TPJS:308

Joseph Smith,
quoted by Elder Joseph Fielding Smith

In regard to the law of the Priesthood, there should be a place where all nations shall come up from time to time to receive their endowments; and the Lord has said this shall be the place for the baptisms for the dead. (From an address at the Stand, Nauvoo, Ill., May 12, 1844) TPJS:367

Joseph Smith,
receiving the Word of the Lord

For verily I say unto you, that after you have had sufficient time to build a house to me, wherein the ordinance of baptizing for the dead belongeth, and for which the same was instituted from before the foundation of the world, your baptisms for your dead cannot be acceptable unto me;
34. For therein are the keys of the holy priesthood ordained, that you may receive honor and glory. . . .
38. For, for this cause I commanded Moses that he should build a tabernacle, that they should bear it with them in the wilderness, and to build a house in the land of promise, that those ordinances might be revealed which had been hid from before the world was.
39. Therefore, verily I say unto you, that your anointings, and your washings, and your baptisms for the dead, and your solemn assemblies, and your memorials for your sacrifices by the sons of Levi, and for your oracles in your most holy places wherein you receive conversations, and your statutes and judgments, for the beginning of the revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory, honor, and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house, which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name.
40. And verily I say unto you, let this house be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people;
41. For I deign to reveal unto my church things which have been kept hid from before the foundation of the world, things that pertain to the dispensation of the fulness of times. (Revelation received Jan. 19, 1841; the Saints are commanded to build a temple) D&C 124:33-34,38-41

Related Witnesses:

Elder Joseph Fielding Smith

What is bound or sealed in the temples of the Lord, is also sealed in heaven. This is the great authority which Elijah restored. It also covers ordinances performed for the living as well as for the dead. The Prophet said that all of the ordinances for the living are required in behalf of all the dead who are entitled to the fulness of the exaltation. CHMR2:329

Joseph Smith

Yea the hearts of thousands and tens of thousands shall greatly rejoice in consequence of the blessings which shall be poured out, and the endowment with which my servants have been endowed in this house. (Vision manifested to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple, April 3, 1836) D&C 110:9

Author's Note: There have been times when temple ordinances have been administered in places other than in temples. Before the Nauvoo Temple was built, baptisms for the dead were performed in the Mississippi River for a limited time. The Lord then told Joseph "after you have had sufficient time to build a house to me, wherein the ordinance of baptizing for the dead belongeth, and for which the same was instituted from before the foundation of the world, your baptisms for your dead cannot be acceptable unto me. . . ." (See D&C 124.) The temple endowment has also been administered outside the temple both in Nauvoo and in Great Salt Lake City while a temple was waiting to be built. (See HC6:319.) But since temples have been available, these ordinances are now performed only in temples.

810. The temple endowment comprises the receiving of certain sacred ordinances necessary to enable us to gain salvation (in the celestial kingdom).

President Brigham Young
Joseph Smith
Related Witnesses
Joseph Smith
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith
Joseph Smith
John A. Widtsoe
James E. Talmage

President Brigham Young,
quoted by John A. Widtsoe

Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the holy Priesthood, and gain eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell. (Oration delivered on laying the South-East Cornerstone of the Salt Lake Temple, April 1853, JD2:31) DBY:416; MPSG1988:157

Joseph Smith,
quoted by Elder Joseph Fielding Smith

The declaration this morning is, that as soon as the Temple and baptismal font are prepared, we calculate to give the Elders of Israel their washings and anointings, and attend to those last and more impressive ordinances, without which we cannot obtain celestial thrones. But there must be a holy place prepared for that purpose. There was a proclamation made during the time that the foundation of the Temple was laid to that effect, and there are provisions made until the work is completed, so that men may receive their endowments and be made kings and priests unto the Most High God, having nothing to do with temporal things, but their whole time will be taken up with things pertaining to the house of God. There must, however, be a place built expressly for that purpose, and for men to be baptized for their dead. It must be built in this the central place; for every man who wishes to save his father, mother, brothers, sisters and friends, must go through all the ordinances for each one of them separately, the same as for himself, from baptism to ordination, washings and anointings, and receive all the keys and powers of the Priesthood, the same as for himself. . . .
The Lord has an established law in relation to the matter: there must be a particular spot for the salvation of our dead. I verily believe there will be a place, and hence men who want to save their dead can come and bring their families, do their work by being baptized and attending to the other ordinances for their dead, and then may go back again to live and wait till they go to receive their reward. (General conference of Church, April 8, 1844) HC6:319; TPJS:362-63

Related Witnesses:

Joseph Smith

You need an endowment, brethren, in order that you may be prepared and able to overcome all things; and those that reject your testimony will be damned. (Remarks made in meeting with the Council of the Twelve, Nov. 12, 1835) HC2:309

Elder Joseph Fielding Smith

Temples, according to the revelations of the Lord, are sanctuaries specially dedicated for sacred rites and ceremonies pertaining to exaltation in the celestial kingdom of God. . . . Temples are sanctified for the purpose of performing rites for and making covenants with the pure in heart, who have proved themselves by faithful service worthy of the blessings of exaltation. (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:231) MPSG1988:156

Joseph Smith

John A. Widtsoe

We live in a world of symbols. No man or woman can come out of the temple endowed as he should be, unless he has seen, beyond the symbol, the mighty realities for which the symbols stand.
To the man or woman who goes through the temple, with open eyes, heeding the symbols and the covenants, and making a steady, continuous effort to understand the full meaning, God speaks his word, and revelations come. The endowment is so richly symbolic that only a fool would attempt to describe it; it is so packed full of revelations to those who exercise their strength to seek and see, that no human words can explain or make clear the possibilities that reside in the temple service. The endowment which was given by revelation can best be understood by revelation; and to those who seek most vigorously, with pure hearts, will the revelation be greatest. ("Temple Worship," Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, April 1921, pp. 62-63) MPSG1988:157-58

James E. Talmage

The Temple Endowment, as administered in modern temples, comprises instruction relating to the significance and sequence of past dispensations, and the importance of the present as the greatest and grandest era in human history. This course of instruction includes a recital of the most prominent events of the creative period, the condition of our first parents in the Garden of Eden, their disobedience and consequent expulsion from that blissful abode, their condition in the lone and dreary world when doomed to live by labor and sweat, the plan of redemption by which the great transgression may be atoned, the period of the great apostasy, the restoration of the Gospel with all its ancient powers and privileges, the absolute and indispensable condition of personal purity and devotion to the right in present life, and a strict compliance with Gospel requirements. HL:99-100

811. A temple is built that the Lord might have a place to manifest Himself to His people.

Bruce R. McConkie
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith
Related Witnesses
President Spencer W. Kimball

Bruce R. McConkie

What is a temple? It is a house of the Lord; a house of Deity that is built on earth; a house prepared by the saints as a dwelling place for the Most High, in the most literal sense of the word; a house where a personal God personally comes. It is a holy sanctuary, set apart from the world, wherein the saints of God prepare to meet their Lord; where the pure in heart shall see God, according to the promises. . . .
When the Lord comes from heaven to the earth, as he does more frequently than is supposed, where does he make his visitations? Those whom he visits know the answer; he comes to one of his houses. Whenever the Great Jehovah visits his people, he comes, suddenly as it were, to his temple. If he has occasion to come when he has no house on earth, his visit is made on a mountain, in a grove, in a wilderness area, or at some location apart from the tumults and contentions of carnal men; and in that event the place of his appearance becomes a temporary temple, a site used by him in place of the house his people would normally have prepared. (The Mortal Messiah, 1:98-99) TLDP:675-76

Joseph Smith

For thou knowest that we have done this work through great tribulation; and out of our poverty we have given of our substance to build a house to thy name, that the Son of Man might have a place to manifest himself to his people.
6. And as thou hast said in a revelation, given to us, calling us thy friends, saying—Call your solemn assembly, as I have commanded you;
7. And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith;
8. Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;
9. That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord, that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord, that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands unto the Most High—
10. And now, Holy Father, we ask thee to assist us, thy people, with thy grace, in calling our solemn assembly, that it may be done to thine honor and to thy divine acceptance;
11. And in a manner that we may be found worthy, in thy sight, to secure a fulfilment of the promises which thou hast made unto us, thy people, in the revelations given unto us;
12. That thy glory may rest down upon thy people, and upon this thy house, which we now dedicate to thee, that it may be sanctified and consecrated to be holy, and that thy holy presence may be continually in this house;
13. And that all people who shall enter upon the threshold of the Lord's house may feel thy power, and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it, and that it is thy house, a place of thy holiness. (Prayer revealed to Joseph Smith, offered at dedication of Kirtland Temple on March 27, 1836) D&C 109:5-13

Joseph Smith,
receiving the Word of the Lord

Related Witnesses:

President Spencer W. Kimball

The house of the Lord is functional. Every element in the design, decoration, atmosphere, and program of the temple contributes to its function, which is to teach. The temple teaches of Christ. It teaches of his ordinances. It is filled with his Spirit. There is an aura of deity. (Dedication of remodeled Arizona Temple, April 15, 1975) (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, pp. 534-35) TLDP:675

812. Church members must be clean and faithful to receive and benefit from the blessings of the temple.

Joseph Smith
Stephen L. Richards
Elder Spencer W. Kimball
President Spencer W. Kimball
Marion G. Romney
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith
President David O. McKay
Related Witnesses
Ezekiel
Ezekiel
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith
Recorded in Leviticus

Joseph Smith

And that no unclean thing shall be permitted to come into thy house to pollute it;
21. And when thy people transgress, any of them, they may speedily repent and return unto thee, and find favor in thy sight, and be restored to the blessings which thou hast ordained to be poured out upon those who shall reverence thee in thy house. (Prayer revealed to Joseph Smith, offered at dedication of Kirtland Temple on March 27, 1836) D&C 109:20-21

Stephen L. Richards

[I]t will never profit you anything by deception to win your way into the temple. It is true that we may deceive our bishops, our presidents of stakes. Some may get recommends without revealing what they ought to reveal. It is useless. All the blessings of the temples are predicated upon faithfulness, upon obedience to the commandments. No blessing is effective unless it is based upon the good life of him who receives it. It is a mistake for anyone to think that by concealing or suppressing something that ought to be known he can secure a recommend to go to the temple. That is futile, and even worse than futile, because the suppressing of the fact is itself an additional offense. CR1959Apr:47

Elder Spencer W. Kimball

But all these ordinances are futile unless with them there is a great righteousness. . . . Sometimes people feel if they have complied with the more mechanical things that they are in line. And yet perhaps their hearts are not always pure. . . . With hearts that are absolutely purged and cleaned, and living the more mechanical things, we are prepared to come into the holy temple. (Dedication of the Swiss Temple, Sept. 15, 1955) (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, pp. 536-37) TLDP:679

President Spencer W. Kimball

This is the work of the Lord, and he has given it to us. It is our responsibility, our pleasure, and our privilege to carry this work forward. We should so organize ourselves and the work that it will go forward in leaps and bounds. In the book of Revelation, John saw that sometime in the future (and it is still in the future to us), those who were faithful and have cleansed their lives will work night and day in the holy temples. Evidently there will be then a constant succession of groups going through the temple somewhat like it was in the days of the Nauvoo Temple [just before the Saints crossed the plains]. ("The Things of Eternity—Stand We in Jeopardy?" EN1977Jan:7) TLDP:678

Marion G. Romney

God grant that we may be worthy to stand in his presence when we come here. To come unworthily into this temple and receive our endowments will not prove to be a blessing to us. Every soul when he comes here should be at peace in his own heart; his feelings should be at peace toward every other person in the world; he should have no hard feelings toward anyone. There should be no feelings of competition, no feelings of jealousy, nothing but the Spirit of the Living God and love toward our fellow men and toward each other, for here in his house we literally stand in the presence of the Lord. God grant that we may do so worthily. ("The House of the Lord," IE1965Feb:120) MPSG1988:161

Elder Joseph Fielding Smith

President David O. McKay

Therefore, may all who seek this holy temple come with clean hands and pure hearts that thy holy spirit may ever be present to comfort, to inspire, and to bless. (Dedicatory prayer for the Los Angeles Temple; IE1956Apr:227) MPSG1988:158

Related Witnesses:

Ezekiel

Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.
39. For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house. (Ezekiel declares the abominations of Samaria and Jerusalem) Ezekiel 23:38-39

Ezekiel

And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. (The Lord instructs Ezekiel to reverence the house of the Lord) Ezekiel 44:23

Joseph Smith,
receiving the Word of the Lord

Yea, I will appear unto my servants, and speak unto them with mine own voice, if my people will keep my commandments, and do not pollute this holy house. (Vision manifested to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple, April 3, 1836) D&C 110:8

Joseph Smith

And go ye out from among the wicked. Save yourselves. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. Even so. Amen. (Revelation of commandments to Saints in conference, Jan. 2, 1831) D&C 38:42

Recorded in Leviticus

Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them. (Revelation to Moses for the children of Israel) Leviticus 21:23

We Believe: Doctrines and Principles

Monday, December 2, 2013

Temples

807. The Lord commands the building of temples.

808. Temples are holy sanctuaries for sacred rites and ceremonies pertaining to the living and the dead.

Related Witnesses:

809. Certain ordinances are to be administered only in a holy temple (including baptisms for the dead; washings and annointings; and endowments and sealings for the living and for the dead).

Related Witnesses:

810. The temple endowment comprises the receiving of certain sacred ordinances necessary to enable us to gain salvation (in the celestial kingdom).

Related Witnesses:

811. A temple is built that the Lord might have a place to manifest Himself to His people.

Related Witnesses:

812. Church members must be clean and faithful to receive and benefit from the blessings of the temple.

Related Witnesses: