Misplaced Pages

#692307

96-541: The Latter Day Saint movement was conceived as a restoration of practices believed to have been lost in a Great Apostasy from the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Temple worship played a prominent role in the Bible's Old Testament , and in the Book of Mormon . On December 27, 1832, two years after the organization of the Church of Christ , the church's founder, Joseph Smith, reported receiving

192-597: A U.S. state . Nevertheless, even after the Manifesto, the church quietly continued to perform a small number of plural marriages in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, thus necessitating a Second Manifesto during U.S. congressional hearings in 1904. Though neither Manifesto dissolved existing plural marriages, plural marriage in the LDS Church gradually died by attrition during the early-to-mid 20th century. The Manifesto

288-551: A chronic lack of funding and the expulsion of Fetting and his followers (about one-third of the Temple Lot organization at the time) from the Temple Lot church. In 1946, the City of Independence had the hole filled in, and the lot today is mostly covered with grass, with the Church of Christ's meetinghouse and a few trees at the northeast corner. Today, the Temple Lot church has no plans to build

384-425: A conversation with Woodruff, Logan Temple president Marriner W. Merrill stated that the contemplated public announcement prohibiting additional polygamist unions was "the only way to retain the possession of our temples and continue the ordinance work for the living and dead which was considered of more importance than continuing the practice of plural marriage for the present." Temples have held numerous purposes in

480-569: A corruption from the early church and questioned the Catholic Church's ability to define Christian practice. The defenses of the right belief and worship of the church resided in the bishops , and Protestants theorize that the process of unifying the doctrine of the church also concentrated power into their own hands (see also Ignatius of Antioch , who advocated a powerful bishop), and made their office an instrument of power coveted by ambitious men. They charge that, through ambition and jealousy,

576-529: A daily prayer for peace. During its 1994 World Conference, Community of Christ dedicated the Independence Temple located in Independence, Missouri . The Community of Christ describes this temple as a house of worship and education "dedicated to the pursuit of peace". The church holds a Daily Prayer for Peace at 1:00 p.m. Central Time in the temple's 1,600 seat sanctuary. From around 1901 to 2024,

672-420: A divine revelation. Approximately one year after he declared the Manifesto, Woodruff began to claim that he had received instructions from Jesus Christ that formed the basis of what he wrote in the text of the Manifesto. These instructions were reportedly accompanied by a vision of what would occur if the Manifesto were not issued. Following Woodruff's death in 1898, other church leaders began to teach that

768-552: A holy priesthood . Although Lutherans and Calvinists hold that the Ecumenical Councils of the early and medieval church are true expressions of the Christian faith, many assert the councils are at times inconsistent with one another, and err on particular points. The true church, they argue, will be mixed with alien influences and false beliefs, which is necessary in order for these impurities ultimately to be overcome and

864-564: A majority abstained." Some members, including apostle Moses Thatcher , only reluctantly supported the Manifesto and interpreted it as a sign that the Second Coming of Jesus was imminent, after which plural marriage would be reinstated. The Manifesto was the end of official church authorization for the creation of new plural marriages that violated local laws. It had no effect on the status of already existing plural marriages, and plural marriages continued to be performed in locations where it

960-641: A part of some branches of mainstream Christianity (for example, some Catholic theologians thought that the doctrine of transubstantiation was a part of this). Important esoteric influences on the church were the Christian theologians Clement of Alexandria and Origen , the main figures of the Catechetical School of Alexandria . Restorationists teach that the Papacy slowly became corrupted as it strove to attain great dominion and authority, both civil and ecclesiastical. For example, they say, it reinstated

1056-503: A prophet. Later Peter, James, and John, three of Christ's apostles in the New Testament, appeared from heaven to Smith and ordained him an apostle. Through Christ's priesthood authority and divine direction, church members believe that Smith was called and ordained to re-establish Christ's church. Hence, members of the faith refer to their church as "The Church of Jesus Christ," a name which they believe to have been revealed to Smith after

SECTION 10

#1732851425693

1152-513: A result, the first temples in South America ( Brazil –1978); Asia ( Japan –1980); and Latin America ( Mexico City –1983) were built and the number of temples doubled from 15 to 36. Church president Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) also accelerated the construction of temples through the use of an even smaller standardized base design and set a goal to have 100 operating temples before 2001. Between

1248-562: A revelation that called upon church members to restore the practice of temple worship. The Latter Day Saints in Kirtland, Ohio , were commanded to: Latter Day Saints see temples as the fulfillment of a prophecy found in Malachi ;3:1 (KJV): "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of

1344-455: A temple but sees itself as the steward of the lot until the various Latter Day Saint factions unite around the time of Jesus Christ's Second Coming . The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) endeavored to construct a temple in the mid-1840s in Voree, Wisconsin , according to a rather elaborate plan devised by their prophet James J. Strang . Poverty and factional infighting among

1440-629: Is a belief that what survived was a portion of the light and truth that Jesus had established: the Church of Jesus Christ, as established by him, was no longer to be found on the earth. Survivors of the persecutions were overly-influenced by various pagan philosophies either because they were not well indoctrinated in Jesus' teachings or they corrupted their Christian beliefs (willingly, by compulsion, or with good intentions but without direct revelation from God to help them interpret said beliefs) by accepting non-Christian doctrines into their faith. LDS Church doctrine

1536-561: Is accessed through a trap door beneath the floor of the main-floor chapel, which is used for baptisms of both the living and the dead. Eternal marriages are not performed by the Cutlerites, as they have always rejected that particular doctrine. Community of Christ (formerly the RLDS Church) currently maintains one temple. Unlike those of the LDS Church, the temple is open to the public. Many religious functions take place including communion and

1632-525: Is binding on all Christians, concluded with the death of the last Apostle. As a result, LDS Church members refer to the "restitution of all things" mentioned in Acts 3:20–21 and believe that a restoration of all the original and primary doctrines and rites of Christianity was necessary. Church members believe that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Smith, then a 14-year-old boy, and called him to be

1728-401: Is no food from which Catholics must abstain at all times. ... So who is Paul condemning regarding abstinence? He is referring to Gnostics and their spiritual descendants. In ascetic Gnosticism, we find both practices Paul condemned in his First Letter to Timothy. Ascetic Gnostics categorically forbade marriage (which libertine Gnostics also did) and abstained from sexual intercourse and meat all

1824-556: Is nothing new, but the true catholic faith, and that their churches represent the true catholic or universal church". When the Lutherans presented the Augsburg Confession to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , they explained "that each article of faith and practice was true first of all to Holy Scripture, and then also to the teaching of the church fathers and the councils". 1890 Manifesto The 1890 Manifesto (also known as

1920-509: Is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage ground, and this is already being given her. We shall soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe and obey the word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution. Seventh-day Adventists believe that the mark of the Beast refers to

2016-544: Is that many plain and simple truths of the gospel of Christ were, therefore, lost. The LDS Church and its members understand various writings in the New Testament to be an indication that even soon after the ascension of Jesus the Apostles struggled to keep early Christians from distorting the teachings of Jesus and to prevent the followers from dividing into different ideological groups. The doctrine highlights statements from

SECTION 20

#1732851425693

2112-559: The Apostle Paul informs the Christians of Thessalonica that a great apostasy must occur before the return of Christ , when "the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction" ( chapter 2:1–12 ). The Catholic Church , Lutheran Church , Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches have interpreted this chapter as referring to a future falling-away, during the reign of the Antichrist at

2208-638: The Catholic Church as the fallen church of biblical prophecy. Martin Luther believed and taught that the church had strayed and fallen away from the true teachings of the scripture. He challenged the authority of the pope of the Roman Catholic Church by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge, and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be

2304-437: The Catholic Church , sometimes claiming that it changed the doctrines of the early church and allowed traditional Greco-Roman culture (i.e., Greco-Roman mysteries , deities of solar monism such as Mithras and Sol Invictus , pagan festivals and Mithraic sun worship and idol worship ) into the Church on its own perception of authority. Because it made these changes using claims of tradition and not from scripture ,

2400-508: The Kirtland Temple in early 1836. On March 27, they held a lengthy dedication ceremony and numerous spiritual experiences and visitations were reported. Conflict relating to the failure of the church's Kirtland Safety Society bank, caused the church presidency to leave Kirtland and move the church's headquarters to the Mormon settlement of Far West, Missouri . Far West was also platted along

2496-633: The Preterist and Futurist schools, and both theologies quickly gained traction throughout Catholic Europe. Gradually, Preterism and Futurism gained currency even in Protestant thought. Few mainstream Protestant leaders today still employ the vocabulary of "apostasy" and "anti-Christ" when discussing the papacy, although some conservative Evangelical and fundamentalist churches still accept these teachings to varying degrees. The spread of dispensationalist doctrine has led many conservative Protestants to drop

2592-605: The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church) began to construct the Independence Temple , which was dedicated in 1994. The RLDS Church—now called the Community of Christ—owned the Kirtland Temple from 1901 to 2024, which it used for worship services and special events but also open to visitors, including various Latter Day Saint denominations interested in the building's historical significance. In

2688-577: The Second Great Awakening , such as the Christadelphians , Swedenborgians , Latter Day Saints , Jehovah's Witnesses , and Iglesia ni Cristo . These Restorationist groups hold that traditional Christianity, represented by Catholicism , Protestantism and Orthodoxy , has fallen into error and thus, the true faith needs to be restored. The term has been used to describe the perceived fallen state of traditional Christianity , especially

2784-631: The Trinity adopted at the Council of Nicaea is an example shown of how pagan philosophy corrupted the teachings of Jesus. The LDS Church believes that Joseph Smith's visions and revelations taught an important and sacrosanct doctrine that God, the Eternal Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are not one substance , but three separate and distinct beings forming one Godhead . Latter-day Saints reject

2880-670: The Woodruff Manifesto , the Anti-polygamy Manifesto , or simply " the Manifesto ") is a statement which officially advised against any future plural marriage in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Issued by Church President Wilford Woodruff in September 1890, the Manifesto was a response to mounting anti-polygamy pressure from the United States Congress , which by 1890 had disincorporated

2976-458: The end of time . Some modern scholars believe that the Christian Church in the early stages picked up pagan oral teachings from Jewish and Hellenistic sources, which formed the basis of a secret oral tradition , which in the 4th century came to be called the disciplina arcani . Mainstream theologians believe it contained liturgical details and certain other pagan traditions which remain

Temple (Latter Day Saints) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3072-452: The lot for this temple is owned and maintained by the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) . The Temple Lot church endeavored to construct a temple beginning in 1929, as a result of a revelation that apostle Otto Fetting was said to have received from John the Baptist . A hole for the proposed temple basement was excavated, and architects' drawings were done, but no further work was completed due to

3168-425: The "commanding to abstain from meats" in 1 Timothy 4 (Paul might have spoken in general in regard to any new sects or doctrines which could arise), the Catholic Church responds: Regarding the Church's discipline of celibacy, men and women freely abstain from the high and holy good of marriage so that they can more fully give themselves to God and His work. Marriage is not "forbidden". Neither is it considered evil. See

3264-520: The 1980s, church president Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) directed the church to build smaller temples with similar designs. Before this time, all but the Swiss Temple were at least 45,000 square feet (4,200 m), and the average size of the first 20 temples was 103,000 square feet (9,570 m). The new temples varied in size but were generally less than 25,000 square feet (2,300 m) allowing temples to be built where there were fewer members. As

3360-459: The 1st century and continuing up to the 4th century AD, some emperors of the Roman Empire carried out violent persecutions against early Christians. The LDS Church believes that all priesthood leaders with authority to conduct and perpetuate church affairs were either martyred, taken from the earth, or began to teach impure doctrines, causing a break in the necessary apostolic succession . It

3456-588: The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Catechism), numbers 1618–20, especially the quote from St. John Chrysostom. 1 Timothy 4:1–5 needs to be read in context. There were those in Paul's time that forbade marriage on heretical presuppositions that marriage was intrinsically evil, a teaching based in turn on the false belief that the body or all matter was evil, and only the Spirit was good. This Gnostic heresy became prevalent again in

3552-586: The Church – in the opinion of those adhering to this concept – has fallen into apostasy . A major thread of this perception is the suggestion that, to attract and convert people to Christianity, the Church in Rome incorporated pagan beliefs and practices within the Christian religion, mostly Graeco-Roman rituals, mysteries, and festivals . The term is derived from the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians , in which

3648-640: The Kirtland Temple in 1836. Differing from other churches in the Latter Day Saint tradition, members feel that the first endowment ceremonies were performed in Kirtland, Ohio, although the endowment performed in Kirtland differed significantly from the endowment performed by Smith in Nauvoo. The construction of the Nauvoo Temple and the teaching of the full endowment by Smith are seen as the final steps in restoring

3744-469: The LDS Church officially acknowledges that although the Manifesto "officially ceased" the practice of plural marriage in the church, "the ending of the practice after the Manifesto was ... gradual." Rumors of post-Manifesto marriages surfaced and began to be examined by Congress in the Reed Smoot hearings . In response, church president Joseph F. Smith issued a " Second Manifesto " in 1904 which reaffirmed

3840-464: The LDS Church, temples are not only a House of the Lord, but are also where members of the church make covenants and perform sacred ordinances , such as baptism for the dead , washing and anointing (or "initiatory" ordinances), the endowment , and eternal marriage sealings . Ordinances are a vital part of the theology of the church, which teaches that they were practiced by God's covenant people in all dispensations . Additionally, members consider

3936-509: The LDS Church. The cessation of plural marriage within LDS Church gave rise to the Mormon fundamentalist movement. The Manifesto has been canonized by the LDS Church, and its text appears in the Doctrine and Covenants , one of the church's books of scripture . However, when the Manifesto was issued, it was not apparent that Woodruff or the other leaders of the LDS Church viewed it as the result of

Temple (Latter Day Saints) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4032-520: The Latter Day Saint movement, both historically and their differing expressions today. These purposes include: The LDS Church has been the most prolific builder of temples in the Latter Day Saint movement. The LDS Church has 367 temples in various phases, which includes 201 dedicated temples (192 operating and 9 previously-dedicated, but closed for renovation ), 3 scheduled for dedication , 48 under construction , 1 scheduled for groundbreaking , and 114 others announced (not yet under construction). In

4128-533: The Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land. Wilford Woodruff [signed] President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Less than a month after the Manifesto was issued, the LDS Church used the procedure of common consent to make it binding upon church members. At a general conference of the church in Salt Lake City on October 6, 1890,

4224-568: The Manifesto was read, after which Lorenzo Snow , the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles , made the following motion: I move that, recognizing Wilford Woodruff as the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the only man on the earth at the present time who holds the keys of the sealing ordinances, we consider him fully authorized by virtue of his position to issue

4320-508: The Manifesto was the result of a revelation of God. Since that time, church leaders have consistently taught that the Manifesto was inspired of God. In 1908, the Manifesto was printed in the LDS Church's Doctrine and Covenants for the first time, and it has been included in every edition since. A non-Mormon observer of the church has stated that "[t]here is no question that, from a doctrinal standpoint, President Woodruff's Manifesto now has comparable status with [Joseph Smith's] revelations in

4416-478: The Manifesto which has been read in our hearing, and which is dated September 1890, and that as a Church in General Conference assembled, we accept his declaration concerning plural marriages as authoritative and binding. The conference proceedings recorded that "the vote to sustain the foregoing motion was unanimous." However, a modern author reports that "at least some voted against the Manifesto and perhaps

4512-525: The Manifesto. This practice was especially prevalent in Mexico and Canada because of an erroneous belief that such marriages were legal in those jurisdictions. However, a significant minority were performed in Utah and other western American states and territories. The estimates of the number of post-Manifesto plural marriages performed range from scores to thousands, with the actual figure probably close to 250. Today,

4608-629: The Mormons regrouped at a new headquarters in Nauvoo, Illinois . They were again commanded to build a "House of the Lord"—this one even larger and greater than those that went before. Plans for the temple in Nauvoo followed the earlier models in Kirtland and Independence with lower and upper courts, but the scale was much increased. New conflicts arose that led to Smith being killed , along with his brother Hyrum , at Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844. The Nauvoo Temple stood only half finished. Eventually, this temple

4704-535: The Scriptures that various Old Testament and New Testament scriptures, like 2 Thessalonians 2:3, that Jesus Christ prophesied this "falling away" or "apostasy." The Christian believers who survived the persecutions took it upon themselves to speak for God, interpret, amend or add to his doctrines and ordinances, and carry out his work without proper authority and divine direction from God. During this time, important doctrines and rites were lost or corrupted. The doctrine of

4800-701: The Strangites prevented the temple from progressing beyond the planning stage. The church has made no attempt to build temples since Strang's death. From 1855 to 1889, the LDS Church performed ordinances in the Endowment House to allow members to receive the endowment during construction of temples in Utah. Before the Endowment House was built, the Council House was similarly used, between 1850 and 1855. Historically, there were other locations where ordinances for

4896-635: The Territory. One case has been reported, in which the parties allege that the marriage was performed in the Endowment House , in Salt Lake City, in the Spring of 1889, but I have not been able to learn who performed the ceremony; whatever was done in this matter was without my knowledge. In consequence of this alleged occurrence the Endowment House was, by my instructions, taken down without delay. Inasmuch as laws have been enacted by Congress forbidding plural marriages, which laws have been pronounced constitutional by

SECTION 50

#1732851425693

4992-675: The anti-polygamy policies of the federal government of the United States , and most especially the Edmunds–Tucker Act of 1887. This law disincorporated the LDS Church and authorized the federal government to seize all of the church's assets. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the provisions of the Edmunds–Tucker Act in Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. United States in May 1890. In April 1889, Woodruff,

5088-606: The apostate church which in the end times will legally enforce Sunday-worship. "Those who reject God's memorial of creatorship – the Bible Sabbath – choosing to worship and honor Sunday in the full knowledge that it is not God's appointed day of worship, will receive the 'mark of the beast. ' " "Sunday Sabbath is purely a child of the Papacy. It is the mark of the beast." They see an apostate church that changed God's law, preferred pagan traditions, allowed pagan beliefs and ceremonies into

5184-618: The authorization of the First Presidency . Great Apostasy The Great Apostasy is a concept within Christianity to describe a perception that mainstream Christian Churches have fallen away from the original faith founded by Jesus and promulgated through his Twelve Apostles . A belief in a Great Apostasy has been characteristic of the Restorationist tradition of Christianity, which includes unrelated groups emerging after

5280-418: The brief building period from 1998 to 2001, 38 of these standardized temples were constructed and dedicated, meeting Hinckley's goal and, during his service as president, the number of temples more than doubled from 47 to 124. The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) performs temple ordinances in its Independence, Missouri, meetinghouse, their only building still in active use, though the church also believes in

5376-478: The church founded by Jesus Christ following the Great Apostasy . Because it is an integral part of their worship, Mormon pioneers , upon arriving in the Salt Lake Valley , began plans to build temples there, and built the Endowment House to allow members to receive the endowment until the temples were completed. Initially, the church constructed temples in areas where there were large concentrations of members: Utah , Idaho , Arizona , Hawaii , and Alberta . In

5472-399: The church has been at times, and not very subtly, subverted from carrying out its sacred aim. For the Reformers, the culmination of this gradual corruption was typified, in a concentrated way, in the office of the pope who took on ancient titles such as Pontifex Maximus and supreme power in the church. Calvin, Luther, and many later churches and preachers have held that Scripture points out

5568-428: The church's founding on 6 April 1830, originally called the Church of Christ . Latter-day Saints is a term members believe refers to members of Christ's church who were originally called "saints" and that the LDS Church is Christ's restored church in these days, believed by many Christian denominations to be the last days prior to the prophesied second coming of Jesus. Ellen White wrote His word has given warning of

5664-448: The church's opposition to the creation of new plural marriages and threatened excommunication for Latter-day Saints who continued to enter into or solemnize new plural marriages. Apostles John W. Taylor and Matthias F. Cowley both resigned from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles due to disagreement with the church's position on plural marriage. Plural marriage in violation of local law continues to be grounds for excommunication from

5760-448: The church, escheated its assets to the U.S. federal government , and imprisoned many prominent polygamist Mormons. Upon its issuance, the LDS Church in conference accepted Woodruff's Manifesto as "authoritative and binding." The Manifesto was a dramatic turning point in the history of the LDS Church . It advised church members against entering into any marriage prohibited by the law of the land, and made it easier for Utah to become

5856-437: The church, and brought oppression against and persecuted the true believers throughout the Dark Ages for 1260 years as prophesied in Revelation 12:6, 14–16. Hyperdispensationalism is a niche view in Protestantism which views Pauline Christianity or the beliefs and doctrines espoused by the apostle Paul through his writings as the purest form of Christian faith and worship from which the church fell away. E. W. Bullinger framed

SECTION 60

#1732851425693

5952-457: The conditions for granting Utah statehood was that a ban on polygamy be written into its state constitution. The Manifesto states: To Whom It May Concern: Press dispatches having been sent for political purposes, from Salt Lake City, which have been widely published, to the effect that the Utah Commission, in their recent report to the Secretary of the Interior, allege that plural marriages have been contracted in Utah since last June or during

6048-521: The court of last resort, I hearby declare my intention to submit to those laws, to use my influence with the members of the Church over which I preside to have them do likewise. There is nothing in my teachings to the Church or in those of my associates, during the time specified, which can be reasonably construed to inculcate or encourage polygamy; and when any Elder of the Church has used language which appeared to convey such teaching, he has been promptly reproved. And I now publicly declare that my advice to

6144-416: The covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." It is believed to emphasize that when the Jesus comes again , he will come "to his temple." As plans were drawn up to construct a temple in Kirtland, the decision was made to simultaneously begin work on a second temple at the church's colony in Jackson County, Missouri . Surviving plans indicate that both temples would have

6240-432: The early ecumenical councils for what they see as misguided human attempts without divine assistance to decide matters of doctrine, substituting debate or politics for divine revelation . The LDS Church teaches that the often heated proceedings of such councils were evidence that the church was no longer led by revelation and divine authority. Indeed, the normative Christian view is that public revelation, or revelation that

6336-423: The early Protestants. Two particularly noteworthy theories were proposed during the Counter-Reformation to address the historicist claim that the Antichrist was actually the Roman Catholic church. Francisco Ribera and Luis de Alcazar , both 16th-century Spanish Jesuits , rose to meet the challenge by introducing counter-interpretations of the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation. Their approaches became known as

6432-438: The fallen state of the church as they considered the conduct of those in power had grown so spiritually or morally corrupt that it was called the Antichrist power by those within as well as outside of the church. Reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin and others disagreed with the papacy's claim of temporal power over all secular governments and the autocratic character of the papal office, and challenged papal authority as

6528-429: The general authorities and presented to the church as a whole. Woodruff announced the Manifesto on September 25 by publishing it in the church-owned Deseret Weekly in Salt Lake City . On October 6, 1890, it was formally accepted by the church membership, though many held reservations or abstained from voting. Utah ratified its constitution in November 1895 and was granted statehood on January 4, 1896. One of

6624-464: The impending danger; let this be unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive structures in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she

6720-487: The late 1880s and in 1890, a desire to continue the ordinance work in temples was a significant consideration preceding Wilford Woodruff's decision (announced in his Manifesto of September 1890 ) that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would discontinue its practice of polygamy . In 1887 the US Congress passed the Edmunds–Tucker Act , which disincorporated the church and directed federal officials to begin seizing its assets, potentially including its temples. After

6816-423: The life of Joseph Smith, a few years before the Kirtland temple was built, Smith dedicated a location in Independence, Missouri, for the building of a special temple, which was to be the center of a New Jerusalem . However, hostile action by non-Mormon citizens resulted in the expulsion of all Latter Day Saints from the area in 1833, and the planned temple did not proceed beyond the laying of cornerstones. As of 2011,

6912-464: The lines of the City of Zion plan and in 1838 the church began construction of a new, larger temple in the center of the town. They may also have dedicated a temple site in the neighboring Mormon settlement of Adam-ondi-Ahman . The events of the 1838 Mormon War and the expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri left these attempts at temple-building no further progressed than excavating foundations. In 1839,

7008-455: The living were performed, both indoors and out, as recorded in pioneer journals. One of these is a building known as the Endowment House in Spring City, Utah , built by Orson Hyde . The building is still standing at 85 West 300 South. The Endowment House in Salt Lake City was razed in 1889 after church president Wilford Woodruff learned that plural marriages were being performed there without

7104-555: The majority of Mormon polygamists continued to cohabit with their plural wives in violation of the Edmunds Act . Within six years of the announcement of the Manifesto, Utah had become a state and federal prosecution of Mormon polygamists subsided. However, Congress still refused to seat representatives-elect who were polygamists, including B. H. Roberts . D. Michael Quinn and other Mormon historians have documented that some church apostles covertly sanctioned plural marriages after

7200-538: The mid-20th century, because of the importance of temples in the theology, the church tried to balance density with the travel requirements that attending the temple imposed upon members. Thus, temples were built in Europe ( Switzerland –1955 and England –1958); the Pacific Islands ( New Zealand –1958); and Washington, D.C.  (1974) when membership alone might not have justified the effort. Temple growth continued in

7296-419: The night of September 23, 1890, he received a revelation from Jesus Christ that the church should cease the practice of plural marriage. The following morning, he reported this to some of the general authorities and placed the hand-written draft on a table. George Reynolds would later recount that he, Charles W. Penrose , and John R. Winder modified Woodruff's draft into the current language accepted by

7392-577: The pagan ceremonies and obligations of the Collegium Pontificum and the position of Pontifex Maximus and created Christian religious orders to replace the ancient Roman ones such as the Vestal Virgins and the flamines . It brought into the church the ancient pagan festivals and made them 'Holy Days'. Catholics as well as the Reformers pointed to the office of the Papacy as responsible for

7488-524: The papacy, most have dropped the harsher Reformation view and no longer identify the pope as the Antichrist. According to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the Great Apostasy started not long after the ascension of Jesus and continued until Joseph Smith 's First Vision in 1820. To LDS Church members, or Latter-day Saints , the Great Apostasy is marked by: Beginning in

7584-559: The past year, also that in public discourses the leaders of the Church have taught, encouraged and urged the continuance of the practice of polygamy— I, therefore, as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, do hereby, in the most solemn manner, declare that these charges are false. We are not teaching polygamy or plural marriage, nor permitting any person to enter into its practice, and I deny that either forty or any other number of plural marriages have during that period been solemnized in our Temples or in any other place in

7680-431: The position for early apostasy thus: We are told, on every hand, today, that we must go back to the first three centuries to find the purity of faith and worship of the primitive church! But it is clear from this comparison of Acts xix.10 and 2 Tim.i.15, that we cannot go back ... even to the apostle's own life-time! ... It was Pauline truth and teaching from which all had "turned away". Regarding "forbidding to marry" and

7776-543: The president of the church, began privately refusing the permission that was required to contract new plural marriages. In October 1889, Woodruff publicly admitted that he was no longer approving new polygamous marriages, and in answer to a reporter's question of what the LDS Church's attitude was toward the law against polygamy, Woodruff stated, "We mean to obey it. We have no thought of evading it or ignoring it." Because it had been Mormon practice for over 25 years to either evade or ignore anti-polygamy laws, Woodruff's statement

7872-435: The principle of constructing special temples such as the ones in Kirtland and Nauvoo. Cutlerites do not designate their meetinghouse as a temple per se , but they believe that it serves precisely the same purpose and that the ordinances performed there are equally as valid as ones done in any pre-1844 temple. These sacred services of the Cutlerites are not open to the public, and participants are forbidden to discuss them outside

7968-469: The room in which they are performed. Cutlerite meetinghouses are constructed with a main-floor chapel that is always open to the public unless baptisms for the dead are being performed; a second-floor room, which is closed to the public at all times, is reserved for the ordinances of the endowment. Cutlerites do not use the term "endowment" to refer to these rituals; they generally refer to them as "the priesthood ordinances". A rectangular-shaped baptismal font

8064-566: The same dimensions and approximately the same appearance and both were to be at the "centerplaces" of cities designed according to Smith's plan for the City of Zion . Conflict in Missouri led to the expulsion of the Mormons from Jackson County, preventing any possibility of building a temple there, but work on the temple in Kirtland continued. At great cost and sacrifice, the Latter Day Saints finished

8160-644: The second century. The heresy became manifest in later centuries as well, with groups like the Albigensians, who also fell away from the Catholic Faith. ... With regard to foods, none are forbidden to Catholics. Unlike vegetarians, we may eat meat; unlike Jews and Muslims, we may eat pork, shellfish, and other non-kosher foods. Fasting – a practice actively promoted in Scripture – and abstinence from certain foods at particular times are good spiritual disciplines, but there

8256-419: The temple a place to commune with God , seek God's aid, understand the will of God, and receive personal revelation . Upon completion (or after the completion of significant renovations), temples are open to the public for a period of time (an "open house"). During the open house, the church conducts tours of the temple with missionaries and members from the local area serving as tour guides, and all rooms of

8352-413: The temple are open to the public. The temple is then dedicated as a "House of the Lord", after which only members in good standing are permitted entrance. Thus, in the LDS Church, temples are not churches or meetinghouses but rather places of more consecrated worship. In 1832, shortly after the formation of the church, Smith said that the Lord desired the Latter Day Saints build a temple; and they completed

8448-486: The temple built in Kirtland, Ohio, was owned and maintained by Community of Christ. This was the first temple built by the Latter Day Saint movement and the only temple completed in the lifetime of Joseph Smith. The LDS Church and Community of Christ announced on March 5, 2024 that ownership of the site had transferred to the former as part of a $ 192.5 million acquisition of historic sites and objects. Four additional Latter Day Saint denominations have built temples: During

8544-696: The time. Martin Luther , who spearheaded the Reformation , sought to reform the Catholic Church, as opposed to restoring it. The Lutheran Church traditionally sees itself as the "main trunk of the historical Christian Tree" founded by Christ and the Apostles, holding that during the Reformation, the Church of Rome fell away. As such, the Augsburg Confession , the Lutheran confession of faith, teaches that "the faith as confessed by Luther and his followers

8640-449: The traditional interpretation of the Book of Revelation as prediction of events that have taken place throughout history (historicism) and shifted it to future events (futurism), eliminating any relation between the prophecies and the Catholic Church. This has resulted in a re-interpretation of the end times . Although Protestant fundamentalists still largely object to Catholic doctrine concerning

8736-399: The truth to be vindicated. The Westminster Confession of Faith (Calvinist), states: The purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error; and some have so degenerated as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan . Nevertheless, there shall be always a church on earth, to worship God according to his will. The Historicist biblical interpretation was

8832-477: The viewpoint of most major Protestant Reformers, beginning with the accusations of Martin Luther. Refuting these claims was accordingly a major objective of the Counter-Reformation , both in the Catholic Church's initial response to Luther and especially in the aftermath of the Council of Trent . This required a renewed effort to interpret the relevant scriptural passages in light of the arguments put forth by

8928-630: Was a signal that a change in church policy was developing. In February 1890, the Supreme Court ruled in Davis v. Beason that a law in Idaho Territory which disenfranchised individuals who practiced or believed in plural marriage was constitutional. That decision left the Mormons no further legal recourse to their current marriage practices and made it unlikely that without change Utah Territory would be granted statehood. Woodruff later said that on

9024-465: Was believed to be legal. As Woodruff explained at the general conference where the Manifesto was accepted by the church, "[t]his Manifesto only refers to future marriages, and does not affect past conditions. I did not, I could not, and would not promise that you would desert your wives and children. This you cannot do in honor." Despite Woodruff's explanation, some church leaders and members who were polygamous did begin to live with only one wife. However,

9120-402: Was canonized in the LDS Church standard works as Official Declaration 1 and is considered by mainstream Mormons to have been prompted by divine revelation (although not a revelation itself), in which Woodruff was shown that the church would be thrown into turmoil if they did not comply with it. Some Mormon fundamentalists rejected the manifesto. The Manifesto was issued in response to

9216-519: Was finished and dedicated. Some temple ordinances were performed before most of the Latter Day Saints followed Brigham Young west across the Mississippi River. Smith's death resulted in a succession crisis which divided the movement into different sects. The concept of temple worship evolved separately in many of these sects and until the 1990s only the sects claiming a succession through Brigham Young continued to build new temples. In April 1990,

#692307