Christian Larsen - The Ancient Order of Things: Essays on the Mormon Temple

The

Ancient Order

of Things

edited by

Christian Larsen

Signature Books | 2019 | Salt Lake City

For Jacob

2019 Signature Books Publishing LLC. Signature Books is a registered trademark. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. www.signaturebooks.com

The opinions expressed in this book are not necessarily those of the publisher.

Design by Jason Francis.

First edition | 2019

library of congress cataloging-in-publication data

Names:Larsen, Christian, 1988 editor.

Title:The ancient order of things : essays on the Mormon temple / edited by Christian Larsen.

Description: First edition. | Salt Lake City : Signature Books, 2019. | Summary: From the first meetings of the Anointed Quorum in Nauvoo, Illinois, to the dedication of the LDS Salt Lake temple, to modern-day Kirtland, Ohio, The Ancient Order of Things: Essays on Mormon Temples explores the historical, cultural, and sacred significance of the latter-day templeProvided by publisher.

Identifiers:LCCN 2019037242 (print) | LCCN 2019037243 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781560852797 (paperback) | ISBN 9781560853732 (ebook)

Subjects:LCSH: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsDoctrines. | Mormon temples. | Mormon ChurchDoctrines.

Classification:LCC BX8643.T4 A53 2019 (print) | LCC BX8643.T4
(ebook) | DDC 246/.95893dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019037242

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019037243

Editor s Introduction

Beginning shortly after the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830, the temple has been central to both the longed-for and lived experience of believers. Indeed, church founder Joseph Smith emphasized the centrality of the temple to his followers when he taught that the main object [of gathering together the people of God in any age] was to build unto the Lord [a] house whereby he could reveal unto his people the ordinances of his house and glories of his kingdom and teach the [people] the ways of salvation.

The enormous theological and cultural weight placed on the temple has made it a symbol of faith and a locus of power in Mormonism. A frequently cited biblical passage speaks of a temple in exactly these terms and has been interpreted by many Latter-day Saints to refer to a temple of their own:

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isa. 2:23.)

The temple as a locus of power has had implications not only for church leadership, but for the rank-and-file member as well. While it has acted as a rigorous sieve, regulating orthodoxy according to the pronouncements of church leadership, the temple has also served as one of the most dynamic sites of personal agency for the individual believer.

For example, in the temple Latter-day Saints who are separated from beloved family by great chasms of time and space are able to reconnect in ways that, for them, are real and meaningful. A few Latter-day Saints of African descent (as Tonya Reiter discusses in this volume) found in the temple a way to participate in priesthood ordinances by being baptized (though not baptizing ) for the dead before women and men of African heritage were admitted to the priesthood and to the temple ceremonies. Women (who are still not ordained to the LDS priesthood) may officiate in the temple in some priesthood ordinances for other women, actions that in all other contexts are reserved only for men. These are examples of how individual members leverage the power of the temple to exercise their own agency in ways they would not otherwise be able to do outside of the temple.

When Joseph Smith spoke by revelation, presaging a yet-to-be-constructed temple, he promised an endowment of power from on high (LDS D&C 38:32). When viewed through this lens, Smiths prophesy is fulfilled in a very real way (though perhaps not in the way Smith intended) in the lives and faith of Latter-day Saints worldwide.

However, in Mormonism the temple has never been about the individual believer only. While sacred rites are carried out in LDS temples by, for, and in behalf of individuals, and the temple is uniquely empowering for individual believers, it is foundationally about much more than that. Indeed, the temple is the culmination of Smiths project to restore the most ancient order of things.

It was another American restorationist, Alexander Campbell, who called for a restoration of the ancient order of things in a series of articles published in the Christian Baptist .

This grand and encompassing vision of temple work persists to this day. In the words of one modern-day LDS scholar:

[The temple] signifies the eternal human saga by which men and women progressively constitute fuller and richer relationships to divine parents, in the pilgrimage from incarnate spirits, through adoption into Christs family, assuming greater levels of commitment and higher standards of holiness, entering into binding covenants that reify and extend human and divine connectedness, until cleansed and sanctified by the sacrificial offering of Christs own flesh, they enter into the divine presence, part of an eternal sociality with those they love.

Unfortunately, the temple has also sometimes fallen short of this vision and has alienated and disempowered faithful believers. Elements such as ritual nudity (which John-Charles Duffy addresses in this volume), certain ritualistic gestures, the exclusion of Latter-day Saints of African descent from receiving the endowment and sealing ceremonies, and the barring of LGBTQ members from full participation have taken their toll on more than a few of the faithful.

This reality has necessitated adjustments to both the temple ceremonies and the temple itself over the years. In fact, in early 2019 significant adjustments were made to the language of several LDS temple rites to improve gender equity. These include realigning the focus of a womans covenant on God rather than on her husband, expanding the role and dialogue of Eve in the Creation drama, and equalizing the language and promises a bride and groom make to each other during the temple sealing ceremony. These changes have been met with an enthusiasm that underscores the significance the temple holds in the lives of Latter-day Saints, and this enthusiasm suggests that the power of the temple is not waning. If past remains prologue, believers can certainly expect future changes that will preserve the significance and power of the temple in their lives just as these most recent adjustments have done.

This volume seeks to capture the power of the Mormon temple from a historical perspective, both in the context of its time and in the lives of those who worshipped there. The authors explore aspects of the temple and its history that span time and tradition. While this volume makes no attempt to be all-inclusive, it does seek to gather together unique facets of temple scholarship in one place. This volume also makes no pretension to cover comprehensively some topics that deserve more extensive exploration, including the role of women and the inclusion of LGBTQ Saints in temple rites. Because dialogue on these and other issues is ongoing, it will be left to future scholars to give them the attention that they deserve.