The Mormon Temple Part 10

101 for teams is a valuable resource for anyone wanting a simplified view of the Mormon religion from a Christian perspective woman is 101 for teens is available at the Utah lighthouse bookstore in Salt Lake City or MRM.org .1 examines the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from a biblical perspective viewpoint on Mormonism sponsored by Mormonism research ministry since 1979 Mormonism research ministry has been dedicated to equipping the body of Christ with answers regarding the Christian faith in a manner that expresses gentleness and respect. And now, your host for today's viewpoint on Mormonism welcome of this additional viewpoint on Mormonism.

I'm your host, Bill McKeever, founder and director Mormonism research ministry with me today is Eric Johnson I Coley get MRM today we wrap up our two-week series looking at the Mormon Temple and its ceremony. As we mentioned, there are number of temple ordinances that are very important to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

We talked about the initiatory rights washings and annoying teens. The endowment ceremony very quickly were going to cover the subject of marriages and ceilings of families for time and eternity.

This is what Joseph Fielding Smith the 10th president of the LDS church said in his book, doctrine of salvation volume 2, pages 43 to 44. Another thing that we must not forget in this great plan of redemption and exultation, is that a man must have a wife and a woman, a husband to receive the fullness of exultation. They must be sealed for time and for all eternity in a temple, then their union will last forever, and they cannot be separated because God has joined them together as he taught the Pharisees, the less I sound redundant, this whole series I've been trying to bring out the fact that even though LDS leaders have insisted that what they do in their temple is patterned after biblical days, you will not find any evidence to support these claims. Here is another one that cannot be verified from history or even the New Testament, and that is this notion that a husband and wife can be sealed for time and eternity in a temple marriage is in the temple was unheard of in the temple in Jerusalem never was any such ordinance performed in that building, but the most common ordinance performed in temple ceremonies has to do with baptism for the dead. In fact, listen to this statement that Joseph Smith made in doctrine and covenants section 128 verse 17 this most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel. Namely, the baptism for the dead. It's the most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel. Yet we see nothing about this topic in the book of Mormon. So if I as I said before neophytes really existed in the book of Mormon gives us an idea of what they believed in practice, there is no mention of baptisms for the dead. In the book of Mormon and really the best first at Latter Day Saints have in the Bible is first Corinthians 1529. We talked about that verse many times it certainly has been taken out of context to be able to support the idea of the importance of baptism for the dead for early Christians, and Joseph Smith also went on to say that those saints who neglected speaking of baptism for the dead on behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own salvation was that look like Eric and the sale. Latter Day Saints just doesn't want to go and be baptized on behalf of their ancestors. Do they end up in the terrestrial kingdom and I just mentioned. First Corinthians 1529.

If this was that important to the early Christians.

Why wasn't there more of an emphasis by Peter and Paul and others to go get baptized on behalf of their dead relatives of Gordon B. Hinckley the 16th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints wrote this in the book eval. An example we find this on page 131 through living proxies who stand in behalf of the dead the same ordinances are available to those who have passed from mortality in the spirit world. They are then free to accept or reject those earthly ordinances performed for them including baptism, marriage, and the ceiling of family relationships. There must be no compulsion in the work of the Lord, but there must be opportunity. So what Gordon B. Hinckley is telling us is even though a faithful latter-day St. goes to a temple in his baptized on behalf of the deceased loved one. They have no guarantee at all that that deceased loved one are going to embrace the work that is been done on their behalf. So there is no assurance for the latter-day St. knowing that their families are going to be together for eternity. They do not have such an assurance, how many Latter Day Saints though who do this work think that there relatives are not going to receive that II think they all would say that. And yet there is agency even in the next life will only bring this subject up, this is Joseph Fielding Smith the 10th president of the church in his book, doctrines of salvation, volume 2, page 183 and I think what Smith says here is probably going to rock the boat of many Latter Day Saints who had a false idea of what baptism for the dead is all about and what I mean by that is, many Latter Day Saints are led to believe that they can go will be baptized on behalf of any deceased loved ones when they embrace it in the spirit world that they're going to automatically be with them in the celestial kingdom will listen to what Joseph Fielding Smith the 10th president has to say about this.

He says second chance leads to terrestrial kingdom. He was on.

Moreover, we learned that those who rejected the gospel when it was offered them. In ancient times, but afterwards accepted the testimony of Jesus in the spirit world. When it was declared to them and who were honorable men of the earth are assigned to the terrestrial glory, not the celestial glory.

If you're latter-day Satan you're talking to your spouse and their rejecting that message and they do not want to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They refuse it during their mortality than just as it was in ancient times.

As Joseph Fielding Smith is saying here they would not have the opportunity to go to the celestial kingdom.

Yes they could embrace the vicarious baptism done on there be enough.

But as far as their eternal destiny is concerned it will be no higher than the terrestrial kingdom.

If you end up in the terrestrial kingdom. The second level you're not with your family forever. So you see a lot of Latter Day Saints have a huge misunderstanding regarding the efficacy of baptism for the dead. What are Latter Day Saints baptized in when they are baptized for the dead know this is important because there is a special font made just for baptisms for the dead. But Joseph Fielding Smith again had something to say about this in his book answers to gospel questions. Volume 5, pages 12 to 13 when the temple of Solomon was belt we read of a molten C 10 cubic's and that actually should be 10 qubits from one brand to the other. It stood on the back of 12 carved oxen. This font or brazen C was not used for baptisms for the dead, for there were no baptisms for the dead, until the resurrection of the Lord. If that's the case why use it if everything they're doing in the temple is patterned after biblical times. Why do they baptize for their dead in a font that looks very similar to the brazen C of the brazen C was quite large and it had the 12 oxen underneath the way it was designed in the Old Testament was three of the oxen were facing North 3 E. 3 S. and three W. even in that pattern. That's where in an LDS temple most of the time when you look at the brazen C as it is designed in the temples. They show them in a circular pattern rather than three going in each direction.

I'm not saying that's the way it is in all of them but in most of them I think we pointed out earlier this week. Now that the early Christians did not make it a regular part of their worship to go to the temple and do these ordinances, including baptism for the dead. According to Joseph Fielding Smith. There was no baptisms for the dead, until the resurrection of the Lord. Well, that's 30 or 33 A.D. and the temple was destroyed in 70 others less than that of for decades to be able to do this no indication that the Jews were accepting Christians to come on in and participate in our brazen CI want to make a very firm statement here. I think Joseph Fielding Smith is really grasping at straws and taken a huge leap of faith to think for a minute that this brazen C was ever use it all for any type of baptisms because that's just not true. Second Chronicles for foreign six tells us specifically with the bronze sea was actually used for verse four, the sea stood on 12 balls three facing North three facing west three facing south, and three facing east. This he rested on top of them and their hindquarters were toward the center.

Verse six. He then made 10 bases for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north in them the things to be used for the burnt offerings were rinsed, but the sea was to be used by the priest for washing.

The sea was to be used for priest for washing seat was used only by those who ministered in the temple, the priest, it wasn't a baptismal font that just about anybody could go and be baptized on behalf of their dead.

Furthermore, if Joseph Fielding Smith wants to insist that there were no baptisms for the dead until after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They most certainly could not have baptized on behalf of any of their dead in a font similar to the brazen C.

The Bible tells us in second Kings 25 seven that Neb is very down the captain of the guard carried away captive the rest of the people who remained in the city. This would be Jerusalem and it goes on in verse 13, to say the bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord and the carts and the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord.

The Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried their bronze to Babylon.

There was no such font in the temple during the first century, but I'm not going to take away from what they believe they they do feel that these temples are very sacred edifices, but it's not biblical. It's just not biblical. And because it's not biblical. It cannot possibly be a restoration yet that's the word that is often used when Mormons try to explain what they believe and what they practice. Remember, they believe that their church is a restoration of how things were done anciently by the first century church only because of this complete apostasy did those practices and beliefs cease to exist, making it necessary for God to restore the gospel and to restore the church as they believe it was originally history does not bear that out.

The vicarious baptisms that have been performed in more than temples have included a lot of celebrities a lot of famous people we have. For instance, Christopher Columbus has been baptized by proxy.

You have the Methodist preacher John Wesley, William Shakespeare, every deceased United States president has been baptize vicariously. Scientists such as Albert Einstein, the number of Holocaust victims, including Anne Frank. I mean I'm sure they're doing this out of the goodness of their hearts are not trying to take away from the Latter Day Saints desire to want to do something they think is a benefit for others.

The point is this just not biblical. Though I think if there's anything we've learned and you just got done talking about this.

The Bible doesn't teach the things that happen in the LDS temple.

So if a latter-day St. wonders why we as Christians don't consider the things that they do as being very important to do for salvation. It's because we don't have any evidence that this ever took place in the temple in Jerusalem. Thank you for listening you would like more information regarding his research ministry. We encourage you to visit our website at www.mrm.org you can request a free newsletter research. We hope you join us again as we look at another viewpoint is