Nauvoo and Salt Lake Temples 3
When I think back to the time of being a Mormon the main theme that comes to mind is loneliness. Walking the grounds of the Salt Lake and Ogden Temples as a young person brought an overwhelming sense of dark loneliness.
I recall my teachers and classmates referring to this as reverence and try as I might, I couldn’t reconcile their analysis with my personal experience of reverencing God while reading His word.
Going back to the temples as an adult painted an all too clear picture of what I was experiencing as a child growing up in Utah.
Evil.
The demonic influence that emanates from the thick walls of the Salt Lake Temple are no different than what the Moabite kings were doing to their children when they placed them upon the walls to sacrifice them to their gods.
I can’t for the life of me figure out why they believe these stone carvings are holy. And why they’d degrade their sons and daughters by lying to them about their true meanings is something I certainly don’t comprehend. When I was raising my daughters I shielded them from scary things in life. Movies, pictures, books and music all have powerful influences upon young impressionable minds. Why would you lead your children to believe these things should be equated with the presence of God?
My heart is sickened every time I think of what they’re doing to the children. I’m sad the adults have bought into the lies, but the children are the real victims in this story.
Pray for them, please, pray for them.
Sun stones
Figures 8, 9, and 10 respectively – sunstone and inverted stained glass pentagrams on Nauvoo temple.
Figure 11 – Sunstone on Salt Lake Temple
Mormon Church:
Nauvoo Temple, pg. 87; “At the base of each pilaster was a crescent moon carved in a giant stone, while fifty feet above it a stone of equal size crowned the pilaster. This was the sun stone, with its human face carved in the large stone, with rays of light extending from the full face to the edge of the stone. This was surmounted by two hands holding two trumpets. These sun and moon stones were typical of the different degrees of glory that await the human family after the resurrection.” – E. Cecil McGavin
“Sunstones. Located directly about the moonstones, the sunstones depict the sun—a symbol of the glory of the celestial kingdom.” http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/saltlake
Church News, “Original sunstones part of America’s religious history”, May 4, 2002, “President Gordon B. Hinckley, then a counselor in the First Presidency…said they “were undoubtedly inspired by Paul’s writing in 1 Corinthians 15:40-42 “which compared the glory of the heavenly kingdoms to that of the sun, the moon and the stars.” – Greg Hill
Truth:
Just looking at the face of this sunstone character is bothersome. Solar deities can be found in many cultures throughout history and can be male or female. In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo was a god of light and sun. Ra of Heliopolis (Horus or Anu-Re to the Egyptians) is another example and considered to be the creator of everything. These symbols are nothing more than a form of Ba’al worship.
Ba’al worship is the adoration or worship of things in nature created by God. The worshipping of creation typically revolved around the cycle of crops or raising livestock or it could include the worship of water. It also included the worshipping of stars, the moon, planets and sun. The Israelites are thought to have adopted Ba’al worship through the Canaanites.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=2&letter=B
Neo-paganism (modern form of witchcraft) is replete with the use of sun and/or moon gods with faces. It has so infiltrated our society and culture today that we can see these sun faces everywhere in home and yard décor. Many people are oblivious to the spiritual implications of having these idols in their homes.
I keep saying one of the best bible studies that opened my eyes to the historical aspects of the Old Testament was the book of Jeremiah (See Jer. 42:15-16). It also cleared the fog of confusion for me that I kept having with the Book of Mormon. Just about everything God commanded the Israelites not to do is found as righteous behavior in the Book of Mormon. LDS temples aren’t coy about whom the attendees are worshipping. God destroyed most of the Israelites for worshipping the same things depicted on these temples.
In addition to all that, there is the sun god Re whom the Egyptians worship. The Egyptians believed Re, also known as Horus-Re, died and was resurrected or reborn each and every day. Egyptians personified this sun god through drawings of him sitting on a boat sailing through the sky.
In the 1913 publication of Spalding’s booklet, “Joseph Smith, Jr., as a Translator”, we find Egyptologist Dr. Samuel Mercer’s findings. According to Dr. Mercer along with ten other Egyptologists, the drawing in Facsimile 2, Figure 3 in the Book of Abraham is the Egyptian sun god Horus.
Yet, Joseph Smith was adamant this pictorial is “God sitting upon his throne”. We can only be left to conclude the god of Mormonism is Horus, not the God of the Bible.
Above drawing is from the Book of Abraham
Facsimile 2, Figure 3
2 Kings 17:16; “And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.”
Beehive
Figures 12 & 13 – Top Row: Notice beehive in center of Salt Lake Temple door handle.
2nd row: Beehive House in Salt Lake City, also known as home of Brigham Young
Figure 14 & 15 – Top Row: doors to Salt Lake Temple. Second Row: Close up of beehive in center of doors to Salt Lake Temple
Mormon Church:
Utah’s nickname is the Beehive State and their flag proudly bears the symbol of the beehive as well. It’s difficult to determine where the state ends and religion begins, while another example of this can be found in the state motto which is “Industry”.
http://www.50states.com/nickname.htm
http://www.50states.com/flag/utflag.htm
http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Utah/Motto_Utah.html
The LDS Young Woman’s group (12-13 y/o) is named the “Beehives”, so this theme permeates everything around the Mormon people.
“A number of leaders compared the honey bee with Church workers. In October 1898 general conference, President Joseph F. Smith said, “This country, in the beginning, was called Deseret — the honey bee — signifying industry; Utah, in the early days, was likened to the hive of bees… Everyone should be increasing, improving, and advancing in some way, and accomplishing something for his or her good and for the good of the whole.”
http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/38289/The-beehive-image.html
Mormon author E. Cecil McGavin writes; “Masons who visit the Temple Block in Salt Lake City are impressed by what they call the Masonic emblems displayed on the outside of the Mormon Temple. “Yes, the ‘Masonic emblems’ are displayed on the walls of the Temple—the sun, moon and stars, ‘Holiness to the Lord,’ the two right hands clasped in fellowship, the All-seeing eye, Alpha and Omega, and the beehive. Masonic writers tell us that the Mormon Temple ritual and their own are slightly similar in some respects.”
Let’s be honest, they’re more than slightly similar…the sad thing is that the Church refuses to apologize…
“Without any apologies we frankly admit that there may be some truth in these statements.” (Mormonism and Masonry, Introduction, by E. Cecil McGavin, Bookcraft, 1956)
He further went on to say:
“…the lessons Masons should draw from the beehive is that the grand arch of the heavens, reaching from horizon (the form of which resembles the old fashioned straw hive) has a spiritual queen, the spirit of the universe; and that periodically a new principle is born as the beehive ripens and brings to maturity a new queen bee with her retinue of attendants.” (Page 62)
Truth:
The last example above sounds a lot like the teaching of eternal progression. New lessons from their god are occasionally introduced as man progresses along in life. This concept allows the Mormon god to change church doctrines with whatever is politically correct in society at the time, i.e. the race issue, polygamy, temple ordinances, et al.
I’d love to take a survey to find out how many members of the Church know the spiritual significance of the symbols plastered on their temples. Experience has taught me very few of them do. I can assure you my mother knows nothing of the queen bee on the temple being a symbol for the spirit of the universe.
According to the book “The Craft and its Symbols” by Allen E. Roberts, the beehive is a Masonic emblem of Industry with generative powers.
For the Egyptians, bees were the tears of the sun god Ra. Honey was a symbol of resurrection and protection against evil spirits.
In Greek mythology the sun god Apollo reigned alongside his priestess wife Pythia who was called the Delphic Bee.
Greece also believed the bee was a priestly creature. The names of Eleusis and Ephesus were called Melissae or “bees” which is a reference to the virginity of worker bees. These served at the Greek festivals in honor of Demeter, the Queen Bee. It’s also considered a symbol of the soul which is influenced by the sun and immortality.
The truth is that the bee and beehive has been a symbol of idol worship and sex in many cultures throughout history. We’ve only listed a few examples, but you can find it’s prevalent within the Hindu, African and Mediterranean cultures as well. The idolization of this symbol is full of sexual overtones.
The Lord has been very explicit about His dislike for worshipping creatures and calling them God. The beehive in the center of the door handle on the Salt Lake Temple is another example of how Mormonism has deep ties in Masonry.
The irony couldn’t be richer with this one. The Book of Mormon tells its readers not to participate with anything that has secret combinations, yet their temples have been built with the imagery of Masonic symbols. The very first thing you must touch on the temple is a Masonic symbol that literally opens the door to the occult.
Psalm 19:9-10; “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”
1 Corinthians 10:20-21; “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. 21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.”
Horus, the All-Seeing Eye
Figure 16 – Horus – The All Seeing Eye on Salt Lake Temple
Mormon Church:
“Apparently the Nauvoo Temple was to include the depiction of the all-seeing eye in the center of the top portion of the large rounded windows. Whether this was done or not cannot be determined from photographic evidence. Brigham Young called this symbol “the all-searching eye of the Great Jehovah” (J.D. 2:32).”
http://users.marshall.edu/~brown/nauvoo/nt-parent.html
“Located atop each of the center towers of the temple is the all-seeing eye of God, which represents God’s ability to see all things.” http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/saltlake
Exterior Symbolism of the Salt Lake Temple: Reflecting the Faith that Called the Place into Being
BYU Studies, Richard G. Oman, Art and Architecture, Temple, Journal 36:4;
“Spiritual Bearings. The temple is the “meeting point of the three cosmic regions”: heaven, earth, and the abode of the dead.” Page 27
Pg. 48-50 “This symbol reminded the Saints that the eye of the Lord was upon them and that all that they did should be in accordance with the will of the Lord. John Taylor noted it “penetrates and enabled to weigh the actions and motives of the children of men.”
Mr. Oman goes on to say;
Page 51 – “…the all-seeing eyes on the temple differ from all the rest…those on the Salt Lake Temple are depicted looking out from beneath a pleated veil. Veils are used to separate the sacred from the profane, the spiritual from the carnal, truth from confusion, the Lord from mankind. The veil separating man and the Lord is removed only on rare occasions of great faith and obedience…” [emphasis mine]
http://byustudies.byu.edu/showTitle.aspx?title=6435
Truth:
The LDS Church’s obsession with Egyptian gods is obvious to all by now. The All Seeing Eye is from the false god Horus. It is supposedly the left eye of the “moon” or “sound eye” of Horus, who is the son of Isis (mother goddess of nature and magic) and Osiris (god of the underworld). The full story of how their son Horus came into being is too sexually graphic for this website, but you can find the info anywhere on the net. The point to this entry should be obvious.
Why does the Mormon temple have this symbol on their “sacred” place of worship?
The Mormons aren’t the only ones that utilize the All-Seeing Eye of Horus on their temples. The Masonic Lodge believes it is the watchful providence of God. As you can see from the example below, they’re no closer to the truth than the Mormons are. The best place to get references and information on the Masonic Lodge is from Ed Decker at Saints Alive.
The Encyclopedia of Freemasonry says this about the All-Seeing Eye; “…the Egyptians represented Osiris, their chief deity, by the symbol of an open aye, and placed this hieroglyphic of him in all their Temples…The All-Seeing Eye may then be considered as a symbol of God manifested in his omnipresence—…”The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding (or, as in the Revised Version, keeping watch upon) the evil and the good.” It is a symbol of the Omnipresent Deity.”
Here is what the One True God of the Bible has to say about these false gods –
Psalm 135:15-18; “The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. 16 They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; 17 They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. 18 They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.”
Symbols in and of themselves are not good or evil, they make up an alphabet in which they can be used to communicate ideas based on the intent of the creator. All symbols are expressions of things that exist. Everything that exists was created by God, Satan is not a creator and therefore cannot claim ownership of symbols.
People who choose to worship Satan or degraded ideas have only true symbols to use to express their ideas. A scapegoat was used in Hebrew temple practices and the pentagram was the seal of Jerusalem at one point. At the time of the construction of the Nauvoo temple, the pentagram was widely considered to be a good symbol and it was only in 1844 that an apostate Catholic deacon used it in his books about the occult.
The pentagram has represented the planet Venus for thousands of years and even in the Bible, Peter and John make reference to Christ being the “day star” or the “morning star” (not to be confused with Lucifer being a “son of the morning”) It’s really quite fascinating to study symbolism. Just because the letter “S” is in the name “Satan” we don’t condemn the name “Jesus” because there are TWO “Ss” in his name. Likewise, it is important to understand the message being communicated by one who uses a symbol.
Satan hijacked the symbol of the serpent to beguile Eve but Moses used the Symbol of the serpent to represent the healing power of Christ. Was Moses using a Satanic symbol or was Lucifer seeking to camouflage his true identity by hiding within something pure? I personally see the temple as a place where these archetypal elements fit together in their true form.
Were the Masons or the Egyptians the originators of these symbols or did they, in fact, borrow them from a much more ancient source? The fact that many of these symbols are so widely used and have much of the same meanings across all cultures to me is evidence that everyone has a little piece of the puzzle. I’m no more afraid of a symbol than I am of the letters of the alphabet. Wherever you find a symbol you will find something true that it is based on, conversely, you will also find the same symbols used to convey corrupt ideas. Symbols, like the alphabet can convey any meaning, it just depends on the context.
I am a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I live in New Zealand. I find your view very narrow sorry and a complete load of rubbish. I love my children dearly and certainly only want the very very best for them in like. In my experience I have found when people openly criticize the Saviour Jesus Christ they is normally hiding something, so my advise is to repent of whatever you have done wrong, and get back to church because you know it;s true, but you are not right yourself with the LORD. One of our beliefs is to give all men the priviledge of worshipping whatever or whoever they choose. But we never criticize other religions. At the end of your sojourne here on earth you just might get the fright of your life, and wish you have been more obedient to the Saviour and his Church.
William Waters
The only thing that this website does is point out the clear differences between Mormonism and Biblical Christianity, bring to light the false teachings of the LDS church, and let ALL people know that there is salvation and freedom in no other Name than Jesus. (Jesus of the Bible) The operators and volunteer commenters on this blog were in the LDS church for decades and have extensive knowledge of the “behind the scenes” doctrines that the general public doesn’t know about. This blog is also a forum where we can defend against the claim by Joseph Smith that all “supposed” Christian churches are apostate. When the LDS church claims that “both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the whore of Babylon”, we can’t sit by and not defend our Faith. We have great love for the Mormon people and want the whole world to know that;
“Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow”