"The greatest commandment given us, and made obligatory, is the temple work in our own behalf and in behalf of our dead." (LDS President and Prophet, Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Volume 2, page 149)

The LDS church has temples all over the world, but they are not what one would expect them to be. They are not used for worship services, prayer and sin offerings, as they were in the Bible, but for work for the dead and for ceremonies pertaining to life in the hereafter. Entry into LDS temples is restricted to Mormons of good standing, whose tithing payments are up to date (see the article on temple recommends, entitled Mormonism and "Being Worthy," a link for which is provided at the end of this page).

The practice of having to prove one's personal worthiness to no less than two Mormon authorities, before being permitted to attend the LDS temple, shows us how vast the difference is between LDS temples and those of the people of God during biblical times. The biblical temple was the place where folk went to confess their sins and to ask God's forgiveness, whereas the LDS temples are edifices where only members of their church who have been pronounced by their leadership as being "worthy" go, to make covenants with God, perform ceremonies for the dead, and so on.

If a Mormon confessed that he was guilty of sin, he would not be given a temple recommend, whereas in the Bible, the temple of the people of God was used by those who were seeking forgiveness for their sins (see Luke 18:10-14). Even unbelievers (gentiles) were permitted to attend the temple for prayer and worship. The place where Jesus drove the money changers out of the temple was where the gentiles gathered to pray:

Jesus revealed His zeal for God first of all by cleansing the temple (John 2:13-17). The priests had established a lucrative business of exchanging foreign money for Jewish currency, and also selling the animals needed for the sacrifices. No doubt, this "religious market" began as a convenience for the Jews who came long distances to worship in the temple; but in due time the "convenience" became a business, not a ministry. The tragedy is that this business was carried on in the court of the Gentiles in the temple, the place where the Jews should have been meeting the Gentiles and telling them about the one true God. Any Gentile searching for truth would not likely find it among the religious merchants in the temple. (The Bible Exposition Commentary. Copyright © 1989 by Chariot Victor Publishing, and imprint of Cook Communication Ministries. All rights reserved. Used by permission.) (Emphasis by editor.)

Those who go through the LDS temple are sworn to secrecy about what goes on inside, and are not permitted to discuss these things even with their nearest and dearest. (Originally included in the LDS temple ceremonies were many of the Freemasonry rites, accompanied by some rather gory oaths about what would happen to the participants if they ever broke their vow of secrecy.)

There has never ever been any secrecy practiced by the people of God, either under the Old Covenant or under the New. The biblical God is a deity of light, in whom there is no darkness, and it follows that nothing that emanates from Him needs to be done in secret. Truth doesn't need to be concealed, only deception, or practices that are wrong or inappropriate.

Furthermore, there is no record of the primitive church ever building temples or practicing any of the rites that the LDS insists are vital to our salvation, because the temple and all that went with it, belonged to the Old Covenant. Under the New Covenant believers themselves are the temple of God (2 Corinthians 6:16).

And when it comes to temple marriages, which the LDS insists are necessary in order to attain eternal life (see Doctrine and Covenants 131:1-5), the only marriage attended by Christ that is recorded by the gospels, was at Cana, where there was no temple (John 2). Under the Old Covenant, the only temple belonging to the people of God was in Jerusalem. And nobody was ever married there. That's not what its purpose was.

Then too, the LDS temples have a molten, or brazen sea, that is used for baptism by proxy of the dead, designed after the pattern of the sea on the backs of the twelve oxen of Solomon's temple. However, in Solomon's days the brazen sea was never ever used for baptism, but for the priests to wash in (2 Chronicles 4:1-6).

Since the advent of the Internet, the LDS church has come under a lot of open ridicule and criticism. Ex-Mormons have made public some of the ridiculous LDS temple ceremonies (which had included secret handshakes that they needed to learn so that they could identify themselves to God). Because of the overwhelmingly adverse response, the LDS church decided to modify their ceremonies. Some have been done away with altogether. But the oath of secrecy still applies, although they have done away with the signs indicating disembowelment, slit throats and so on, that would be the lot of the participants in the event of these ceremonies being disclosed to others.

It needs to be remembered that their original temple ceremonies were claimed to have been given to the LDS by God Himself. But it appears as though many of them came straight out of Freemasonry, since they are either identical or very similar. (The early LDS leadership were Freemasons.)

After Mormons have been through their temple ceremonies they are expected to wear special underwear for the rest of their lives, which they are told will protect them. This was never a practice under either the Old or the New Covenants. And one can't help wondering why people who claim that they are Christians should be required to wear undergarments that are decorated with embossing representing Freemason symbols, for protection. Mormons needs to ask themselves what the spiritual powers behind these pagan symbols are supposed to be protecting them from, bearing in mind that pagan spiritual powers are opposed to the purposes of God.

In order for Mormons to fully understand just why their temples don't fit in with either the New or the Old Covenants, we need to go right back to when God commanded His chosen people to build the first tabernacle, which was really just a portable temple.



THE OLD COVENANT TEMPLE

The temple, the Aaronic/Levitical priesthood and the sacrificial system were all part and parcel of the Old Covenant set up, and have no place in the New Covenant.

In the book of Exodus, God instructed Moses to lead the Hebrews out of bondage in Egypt, into a land of their own. He promised that He would be with them and instructed Moses to have a portable tabernacle built that would represent His presence in their midst as they journeyed. The pagans believed that Gods were strictly territorial, and that each area or region had its own specific God. But the God of Israel was teaching His people that He wasn't confined to one area alone, and that His presence would be with them no matter where they went.

When they eventually settled in the promised land of Israel, they did away with the portable tabernacle and erected a permanent temple in the city of Jerusalem.

We need to be clear that the sole reason for the existence, firstly of the portable tabernacle and then later on of the permanent temple, was so that the people could be assured that God's presence was with them. The people went to the temple to pray to, and to worship God. They also brought their sin offerings and their sacrificial animals to the temple, because that's where His presence was. However, they worshipped, prayed and sacrificed directly outside the temple, in the courtyards, because the temple wasn't for them. It was exclusively for the presence of God. Even the king had to worship in the courts outside the actual temple.

My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. (Psalm 84:2, KJV)

For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10, KJV)

Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.(Psalm 96:8, KJV)

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise ..... (Psalm 100:4, KJV)

Inside the temple were two main compartments. The first was called the holy place, and the other the holy of holies.

Only the Old Covenant priests (who were all blood descendants of Levi, — see the link to the article on the priesthood, provided at the end of this page) were allowed to enter the Holy place. That was where they performed routine duties such as tending to the golden lampstand, the table of showbread and the golden altar of incense. Although these had symbolic value, the essential function of the lampstand was the illumination of the sanctuary. And the priests burned incense as part of their duties. The showbread was replaced with fresh loaves weekly, and the priests were permitted to eat the old bread. (c/f International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised Edition.)

The second compartment of the temple was the Holy of Holies, and entrance was restricted to once a year, only by the High Priest, in order to offer sacrificial blood for the atonement of the nation. It was never ever used for any other purpose:

The generally accepted view is that the most holy place in the tabernacle was a room of ten cubits (approximately 41/2 m., 15 ft.) on a side. This supposition is strengthened by the cubic form of the inner sanctuaries in both Solomon's and Ezekiel's temples. The only furniture in the most holy place was the ark of the covenant, which held the two tablets of the law (Ex 25:10-16). The mercy seat, a slab of pure gold surmounted by two golden cherubim, rested on top of the ark (vv. 17-22). Dividing the most holy place from the holy place (the outer chamber) was a curtain ornamented with figures of cherubim (26:31-33). Access to the inner shrine, whether in tabernacle or temple, was forbidden to all but the high priest who, on the annual Day of Atonement, was allowed to enter bearing sacrificial blood (Lev 16; Heb 9:7). (from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, revised edition, Copyright 1979 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. All rights reserved.)

Because the temple represented the presence of a holy God and the question of sin had not yet been dealt with, ordinary folk weren't allowed into either of the two compartments. So it was never ever used either by the people or by the leadership for any purpose whatsoever, and they had no access to it. No ceremonies of any kind were performed in the temple. Other than to carry out the duties mentioned above, the priests never entered the actual temple either. It was there solely for the presence of God.

Secret temple ceremonies and temple work for the dead are exclusively Mormon ideas and would have resulted in instantaneous death for those concerned, if they had attempted such practices in biblical times.

However, the temples of idolaters, of which there were many, were used for all sorts of purposes by their religious devotees.

Because the Israelites were surrounded by idolaters who worshipped many different Gods, each God having his own temple, they were instructed never to build more than one temple for themselves. Otherwise there would be a very real danger that they could fall into the trap of believing that there was more than one God. That's why the Jews had to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem from all over the world to their one and only temple at times like the Passover. (The LDS has many temples, and is in the process of building even more. But building temples wherever they felt they were necessary for their purposes was a practice of pagan believers, never ever of the people of God. They were permitted to have only one temple at a time.)

History reveals that the only time the people of God had more than one temple was for a period after Solomon's death, when the kingdom had split into two. And that signalled the beginning of their idolatry. Their defeat by their enemies, captivity and dispersion followed.

Regarding LDS claims that their specifically Mormon temple practices are missing from the Bible because they were removed by evil people, one shouldn't forget that the Jewish nation didn't only practice their religion straight out of the then recorded scriptures. They also did so from memory. They explained it all to their children orally, over and over again. So every Jew, old and young alike, knew these things off by heart. Someone, somewhere, would have objected if such important practices had been removed from the scriptures. It would have caused an almighty uproar with repercussions that would still have been heard today. So Mormons may rest assured that nothing was ever taken from the original temple practices. That was a story invented to cover up the fact that Mormonism is an unbiblical religion.

There has never ever been any evidence discovered anywhere, in any form, of any religion remotely resembling Mormonism in their teachings or their temple practices prior to the time when Joseph Smith founded the Mormon church.



THE RATIFICATION OF THE NEW COVENANT

Christ's shed blood ratified the New Covenant and thereby rendered the Old Covenant with its temple, priesthood and sacrificial system, obsolete.

In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:13, KJV).

No longer would God's presence dwell in a temple made with human hands as believers themselves would become the temple of God:

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, KJV)

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (2 Corinthians 6:16, KJV)

At the moment of Christ's death the New Covenant was ushered in, and the curtain that had partitioned the Holy of Holies off from the rest of the temple ripped into two. This was a miraculous, Divine indication that Christ's vicarious death had provided direct access for man into the presence of a holy God. (The historian Josephus records that this curtain was so strong that not even horses tied to each side could tear it apart. And as it was renewed every year, it was always in perfect condition.)

And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. (Mark.15:37-38, KJV)

Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest [Christ] over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:18-22, KJV).

Under the New Covenant the believer himself becomes the temple of God, through the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19, Ephesians 2:19-22). So it's no longer necessary to have temples or tabernacles made with hands. There is no record of the early church ever building a temple, because they themselves were the temple of God:

In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22, KJV)

Apart from the one and only Jewish Old Covenant temple in Jerusalem, the only other temples mentioned in the New Testament were those belonging to idolaters.

In the very early days the Christian believers (who were Jews) did sometimes worship in the courtyard of the Jewish temple, but only because that was where all the Jews gathered, and it gave them an opportunity to preach to their unsaved brethren about Jesus being their long awaited Messiah. Don't forget that the Jews worship on a Saturday, whereas the New Covenant day of worship is Sunday, the day the Lord rose from the dead. Jews were permitted to preach in the temple courtyard; and the apostles, being Jews, took advantage of this. Their mission was firstly to preach Christ to the Jewish nation, and then to the gentiles. The Jews were still under their Old Covenant of Law, as in the main they hadn't accepted Jesus as the Messiah, and that is why they worshipped at the temple. The temple was a part of the Old Covenant set up, not the New.

As a Christian, when I attend a church service I don't go there to meet with God. He comes with me, because His presence dwells within me. I am His temple. He's with me all the time, wherever I go, and has promised that He'll never leave me or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5).

Concerning the mention of the temple in heaven, in the book of Revelation, Mormons need to remember firstly that this is a highly symbolic book, and secondly, throughout the Bible the place where the presence of God dwells, even within believers, is always called the temple of God. John was having a vision of heaven, where God's presence dwelt, so in biblical parlance, heaven was the temple of God. This is clarified in the following verse concerning the heavenly Jerusalem. (Jerusalem was always the place where the temple was situated):

And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. (Revelation 21:22-23, KJV)

This fits in with the fact that the temple was intended solely to represent the presence of God. The Bible is the most amazing book. Although it has been recorded by a great many different writers over a very long time period, everything fits together so perfectly, that it just has to have been supernaturally inspired.



HISTORICAL EVIDENCE THAT LDS TEMPLES ARE UNBIBLICAL

Alfred Edersheim was a historian of note. Amongst his highly respected works were History of the Jewish Nation; The Temple and Its Ministry and Services at the Time of Jesus Christ; Bible History (comprising seven volumes), Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the Days of Christ; and The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. In his book on the temple, in chapter 16, Edersheim tells us that once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest (who represented the people) would go into the temple, and pray as follows:

Ah, JEHOVAH! I have committed iniquity; I have transgressed; I have sinned — and my house. Oh, then, JEHOVAH, I entreat Thee, cover over [atone for, let there be atonement for] the iniquities, the transgressions, and the sins which I have committed, transgressed, and sinned before Thee, — I and my house as it is written in the law of Moses, Thy servant: "For, on that day will He cover over (atone) for you to make you clean; from all your transgressions before JEHOVAH ye shall be cleansed."

This was a prayer of a man who was humbled by his sin, not of someone who was considered either by himself or by others, to be worthy. He knew very well that both he, and those whom he represented, were absolutely unworthy. That's why he went to the temple — to ask for forgiveness for their sins. On the other hand, Mormons have to be declared worthy before they are permitted to go to their temple.

Mormon beliefs and practices do not fit in either with what the Bible teaches or with the beliefs and practices of the primitive church.



SYMBOLISM USED IN MORMON TEMPLES

It is a well recorded fact that Joseph Smith came from an occultic background. He freely admitted that he had received his revelations from God through an occultic stone, and it is common knowledge that he had "translated" the Book of Mormon without even looking at the engravings on the supposed gold plates. Instead they were hidden away out of sight, whilst he dictated the words that he said he saw coming out of his occultic stone. (See The Book of Mormon Witnesses Who Never Saw the Gold Plates .)

Joseph was a Freemason, as were others in the early LDS leadership, and they brought many of the Masonic secret ceremonies and symbols with them into the Mormon temple setup.

Freemasonry is a brotherhood embracing all religions. Their symbol of a compass and square along with any book of 'scripture' such as the Koran, the Vedas, the Bible, or whatever, form the Three Great Lights of Masonry that represent pagan solar gods. And in spite of their pagan connotations, the LDS temples are decorated with Masonic symbols. To complete the picture of pagan solar worship, the external masonry is emblazoned with stars, planets and the like. Their actual placement and the direction they face has a great deal of significance. It reveals that they weren't just randomly included as decoration, but that they have a special meaning.

Masons worship a god whom they call "the Great Architect of the Universe," symbolized by the same all seeing eye that the ancient Egyptians used to represent their pagan god, Osiris. This all seeing eye is also regarded by Satanists as the symbol of Lucifer. Notwithstanding this, it is featured on the external masonry of the LDS temple. And the inverted pentagram used in Satan worship is also displayed on the external facade. But the Christian symbol of the cross has been banned from all their premises, including their temple premises.

(The information concerning the external facade of the LDS temple was gleaned from the book, "Whited Sepulchers, the Hidden Language of the Mormon Temple," by William J. Schnoebelen and James R. Spencer.)

Mormons are taught to abhor the symbol of the cross, and their women do not wear a crucifix. The LDS's outright rejection of the symbol of the cross and their unease when it is displayed was brought home to me after the death of my oldest Mormon brother. A memorial service was held in the [Christian] chapel of the retirement home where he had died. As the Mormon bishop began the service he pointed to the cross embossed on the front of the pulpit and remarked that this would never have been allowed in a Mormon chapel. But in saying that, he shot himself in the foot, so to speak. There were many non-Mormon folk in the congregation who had been under the impression that Mormonism was an "acceptable variation of Christianity." That very day they were convinced otherwise by that one telling remark made by the LDS bishop. Mormonism is not Christianity.

A Christian church would never, ever ban the symbol of a cross on their premises.

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18, KJV)

Although it is understood that members of the LDS church are unaware of how deeply their religion has been affected by pagan, occultic and satanic influences, they need to come to the realization that Mormonism was formulated by an early leadership who did know.

LDS doctrines and teachings have been designed in such a way that their followers will never find God's way of salvation for mankind. To top it all, Mormons have been taught that the Bible, the very weapon that God gave us to protect ourselves from spiritual deception, is unreliable and full of errors and omissions. So they have no standard of truth against which to judge the correctness or otherwise of LDS doctrine. (They are taught to gauge the accuracy of the Bible by comparing it with their own scriptures.) Joseph Smith even wrote his own version of sections that he disagreed with in the Bible, and the LDS church has taken the liberty of including many of his amendments as footnotes in their printing of the King James Version. (See the article Joseph Smith's Inspired Translation of the Bible .)

The author is not denigrating Mormons or the Mormon way of life. Many of the people I love best in the world are Mormons. And they are gentle, sincere and lovely people. But that hasn't prevented them from being spiritually deceived.

Apart from their stance on morality, Mormonism bears no resemblance to biblical Christianity. If it had, the LDS leadership would have ensured that their buildings displayed some sort of Christian symbolism. There are a great many other Christian symbols that they could have used in place of the cross, seeing that offends them so much. There is the alpha and the omega sign, the lamb symbolizing Christ, the dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit, the burning bush, the seven branched candlestick, the fish, and oh, the list goes on and on. But instead the LDS leadership deliberately chose symbols from paganism, astrology and Satanism. And they banned the cross.

My heart and my prayers are with you as you read this article. Should you desire to contact me, you are welcome to do so at response@bibtruth.com

The first link given below will take you to an article that discusses the LDS's abhorrence of the symbol of the cross, and the second to an article about the Mormon worthiness test that has to be passed in order to be able to enter their temple, and the third is on the priesthood:

Mormon Opposition to the Cross

Mormonism and "Being Worthy"

The LDS Priesthood is Unbiblical

To access a comprehensive index of articles comparing various aspects of Mormonism with what the Bible teaches, click on the "home" button at the bottom of this page.

Copyright 2007 by Mormonism and Biblical Truth. All rights reserved.