Mormon Dilemma 624

Temple Worship

Ensign, “The Symbol of Our Membership”, October 1994; “Let us be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people. Let us hasten to the temple as frequently as time and means and personal circumstances allow. Let us go not only for our kindred dead, but let us also go for the personal blessing of temple worship, for the sanctity and safety which is provided within those hallowed and consecrated walls. The temple is a place of beauty, it is a place of revelation, it is a place of peace. It is the house of the Lord. It is holy unto the Lord. It should be holy unto us…But to have the temple indeed be a symbol unto us, we must desire it to be so. We must live worthy to enter the temple. We must keep the commandments of our Lord.” – Howard Hunter

Acts 7:24-25; “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.”

The vocabulary employed by Mr. Hunter is blasphemous beyond description and there are so many points on which he’s misinterpreted the word of God it’s important we not overlook what he said. 

1. A temple loving people denotes the adoration for a man-made thing which in the eyes of God is idolatry. This is no different than what the Israelites were doing with their fake idol gods.

2. God is the God of the living not the dead so why are they rushing to the temple to do works for the dead? The time for the deceased to do anything for themselves has come and gone.

3. The temple of God is you. If you believe in God’s Son who He sent to save you the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside of you – literally!

4. We are only found worthy and righteous in God’s eyes when we accept His Son as being the Only Perfect Sacrifice for our sins. Ephesians 2:8-9 says it is by grace we are saved and not works!