Christian Beliefs

[JoshuaFKon]

Hello, :)

As I christian, I would be happy to answer any questions you have about christian beliefs.

Josh B)

[Dr T]

Hi Josh,

Question #1:

"What is the circumference of Venus?"

Thank you,

Dr. T

[Dr T]

Sorry Josh,

Couldn't resist. I am interested in what members have about Christian stuff. This should be fun to read.

Thanks,

Dr. T

[JoshuaFKon]

No need to apologize Dr. T....it probably will be fun to read...

Josh

But as a Christian....I don't believe Venus exists........lies...all lies....

[Dr T]

First they get rid of Pluto, now Venus? WHat is happening to our universe?

Oh, the Greek Venus...OK.

Toungue in cheek,

Dr. T

[prisonchaplain]

Hello, :)

As I christian, I would be happy to answer any questions you have about christian beliefs.

Josh B)

You know someone is going to come back with: But we LDS already have Christian beliefs, so what questions would we need to ask?

I will take a crack at this, though. Previously, the question, what must one do to be saved was asked.

Perhaps a different and more fruitful question would be: What are the core beliefs of true Christianity? Later we might ask how close we have to be to get into the kingdom.

[JoshuaFKon]

Well, prisonchaplain

You could probably answer these questions better then me...but ok...I'll give it a shot.

You know someone is going to come back with: But we LDS already have Christian beliefs, so what questions would we need to ask?

I didn't make this fourm....Someone else started a Christian beliefs board...I just hate to see an empty board.... :)

Perhaps a different and more fruitful question would be: What are the core beliefs of true Christianity?

I would say off the top of my head, that the "core beliefs" of true Christianity would be.

love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and Love you neighbor as yourself. I would also say that accepting the Free Gift of Salvation is a core belief.

Josh B)

[Princess3dward]

Hmm.. what do I not know about christians?

umm.....

hmm.....

Why......

......would a fellow christian think anyone on this site would have a question about christian beliefs?!?!?!?!

I CERTAINLY don't know the answer to that!

Good luck on your thread!

[Brother Dorsey]

Hello, :)

As I christian, I would be happy to answer any questions you have about christian beliefs.

Josh B)

Hello JoshuaK, Yes I have a question..actually 6 of them....

1) How come Christians don't have any Temples? Christ worshipped in a Temple, He went there to teach often and he even refers to the Temple as a house of God....And you can read about Temples all through the Bible....so, why don't Christians have Temples?

2) If Christians believe the Bible to be the word of God, literally...then where are your Prophets...God always had prophets to lead and guide his people....why don't Christians have a Prophet?

3) Which one of the Christian churches should I go to to learn about Christ and His Gospel...there are so many? I have looked into some and they all teach something that I think is right but then they all have alot of differences...which one is the right Christian church...the one Jesus himself set up?

4) What's the difference between a Christian and a Baptist? Or a Lutheran? Or Pentacostal? Presbyterian? Methodist? Calvinist? Evangelical?

5) If a person never hears the word of God...(I'm taking those who have been sheltered away from the Bible or denied the Bible such as in China), or never knows of or is taught of Christ....what happens to that person when he dies? Does he go to hell? Don't the Christian believe you have to be Baptised or you go to hell?

6) And finally...what does "Saved" mean? I hear Christians say that all the time...even mass murderers on death row...does that me their sins are forgiven and they get to go to heaven with say an honest hardworking man who gave all he could to his fellow man?...do they reap the same reword?....cause if that's the case then I will go out and sin as much as I can (cause less face it, it's fun) and near the end of my life somewhere I'll get "Saved"!

Please answer these questions to the best of your ability....I will be waiting for your reply....oh and please don't answer any of these questions with a question...your direct Christian answer will suffice...thanks!

[JoshuaFKon]

hello :)

I hope I can answer all your questions....

Hello JoshuaK, Yes I have a question..actually 6 of them....

Poetic Justice?....lol :)

1) How come Christians don't have any Temples? Christ worshipped in a Temple, He went there to teach often and he even refers to the Temple as a house of God....And you can read about Temples all through the Bible....so, why don't Christians have Temples?

Good Question, the Jews actually only had one “Temple” This was where the “presence” of God dwelt. When Jesus was crucified the curtain of the temple was ripped in two because God no longer dwelt in the temple. Also, Early Christians worshiped in houses.

Consider also what Paul said: “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man,”

2) If Christians believe the Bible to be the word of God, literally...then where are your Prophets...God always had prophets to lead and guide his people....why don't Christians have a Prophet?

Well two points to that,

Some Christian denominations Do have prophets. And while most do not have “official” prophets, we do believe in the Gift of Prophecy. We just don’t make it “official”

3) Which one of the Christian churches should I go to to learn about Christ and His Gospel...there are so many? I have looked into some and they all teach something that I think is right but then they all have alot of differences...which one is the right Christian church...the one Jesus himself set up?

I would say there is no “right” Church, I believe Mormons are Christians, and most other denominations are as well…all these Christians make-up “The Body of Christ” I base my faith on the Bible, not on a certain denomination, I’m sure they all have some areas where they are wrong.

If you want to learn about Christ and His Gospel…depend on the Bible.

4) What's the difference between a Christian and a Baptist? Or a Lutheran? Or Pentacostal? Presbyterian? Methodist? Calvinist? Evangelical?

Well…not being all of these things I can’t really say, but I’ll tell you want I think.

First of all, all these denominations are “Christian” I don’t agree with everything they say, but they’re all Christians.

Baptists don’t believe in speaking in tongues or dancing. Lutherans….I don’t know. Pentecostals believe in speaking in speaking in tongues, healing, etc…Calvinist have some strange beliefs about salvation…I really can’t speak for them.

5) If a person never hears the word of God...(I'm taking those who have been sheltered away from the Bible or denied the Bible such as in China), or never knows of or is taught of Christ....what happens to that person when he dies? Does he go to hell? Don't the Christian believe you have to be Baptised or you go to hell?

For your first question, I don’t know. I will try and research it for you. As for your second question, Most Christian denominations do not believe you need to be baptized to be saved.

6) And finally...what does "Saved" mean? I hear Christians say that all the time...even mass murderers on death row...does that me their sins are forgiven and they get to go to heaven with say an honest hardworking man who gave all he could to his fellow man?...do they reap the same reword?....cause if that's the case then I will go out and sin as much as I can (cause less face it, it's fun) and near the end of my life somewhere I'll get "Saved"!

I would say “saved” means your sins are forgiven.

As for whether a mass murderer would go to the same heaven, I remind you of Jesus’ parable about the people who agree go out into a field and work for a certain amount of money, and all throughout the day other people come and start to work with them…and at the end of the Day Jesus gives them all the same amount of money.

Now I’m not saying you aren’t rewarded for your good works…remember Jesus speaks of “saving up treasures in heaven” I would say they would all go to heaven, but some will more “treasure” in heaven.

Thanks,

Josh B)

[Nicole]

Temple Work Has Existed Since Ancient Times

the Lord has always commanded His people to build temples. He has revealed the work to be done in temples.

Invite class members to review scripture indexes to find references dealing with temples and tabernacles. You may want to list the class members’ answers on the chalkboard. You may also want to have class members review the following scriptures:

Moses’ tabernacle: Exodus 40:1–2, Exodus 40:34–38

Solomon’s temple: 2 Chronicles 3:1–2; 2 Chronicles 5:1

Herod’s temple: Matthew 21:12–15

Nephite temples: 2 Nephi 5:16; Mosiah 1:18; 3 Nephi 11:1

Explain that because of apostasy, all of these temples eventually lost their true purposes and were destroyed. Temple work in its fulness has been restored in our day through the Prophet Joseph Smith, bringing great blessings into our lives.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie said: “The inspired erection and proper use of temples is one of the great evidences of the divinity of the Lord’s work. … Where there are temples, with the spirit of revelation resting upon those who administer therein, there the Lord’s people will be found; where these are not, the Church and kingdom and the truth of heaven are not” (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 781).

BIBLE DICTIONARY

Temple

A temple is literally a house of the Lord, a holy sanctuary in which sacred ceremonies and ordinances of the gospel are performed by and for the living and also in behalf of the dead. A place where the Lord may come, it is the most holy of any place of worship on the earth. Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.

Whenever the Lord has had a people on the earth who will obey his word, they have been commanded to build temples in which the ordinances of the gospel and other spiritual manifestations that pertain to exaltation and eternal life may be administered. In cases of extreme poverty or emergency, these ordinances may sometimes be done on a mountaintop (see D&C 124: 37-55). This may be the case with Mount Sinai and the Mount of Transfiguration. The tabernacle erected by Moses was a type of portable temple, since the Israelites were traveling in the wilderness.

From Adam to the time of Jesus, ordinances were performed in temples for the living only. After Jesus opened the way for the gospel to be preached in the world of spirits, ceremonial work for the dead, as well as for the living, has been done in temples on the earth by faithful members of the Church. Building and properly using a temple is one of the marks of the true Church in any dispensation, and is especially so in the present day.

The best known temple mentioned in the Bible is that which was built in Jerusalem in the days of Solomon. This was later partially destroyed in 600 B.C., and restored by Zerubbabel almost a hundred years later. This structure was partially burned in 37 B.C., and was subsequently partially rebuilt by Herod the Great, although the rebuilding continued until A.D. 64. It was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70.

BIBLE DICTIONARY

Temple of Herod

To win popularity with the Jews Herod in the 18th year (17 B.C.) of his reign proposed to rebuild the temple of Zerubbabel. The Jews feared lest, having pulled down, he should be unable to rebuild, and to reassure them, Herod promised to gather materials before he began the work. The area of the temple site was inadequate for his design, and to enlarge it he built up a wall from the bottom of the valley, binding rocks together with lead and iron, and filling up the hollows. By this means he obtained a site nearly square, each side being 600 feet. The temple proper was built by the priests themselves in a year and six months. The cloisters (the specialty of Herod’s temple) and outer enclosures were built in eight years. Other buildings were added from time to time. The work was proceeding all through our Lord’s earthly life, and the design was not complete till the year A.D. 64, only six years before the temple’s final destruction.

The temple area was divided into courts, and the outer courts stood on the lowest ground. Ascents were made by steps successively from the court of the gentiles to the court of the women, the courts of the men of Israel and of the priests, and the temple itself. In the midst, not in the center of the site (but somewhat to the north and west of it), on the exact site of the temple of Solomon, with its porch facing the east and its Holy of Holies to the west, was placed the temple itself. It was thus visible from every part of the city. The temple area was surrounded on all sides by a high wall. Cloisters ran all around the wall. Those on the eastern side were called Solomon’s Porch and were rebuilt by Herod. The cloisters, with the open space, about 30 cubits wide, adjoining them on the inside, formed the court of the gentiles.

The Court of the Women comprised the easternmost portion of the inner temple. It was entered on the east by Nicanor’s Gate, a gate of Corinthian brass, reckoned to be the principal gate. This is without doubt the gate “called Beautiful” of Acts 3: 2. A wall separated the more sacred portions of the temple toward the west from the court of the women. From the latter the Court of the Men of Israel was reached by an ascent of 15 steps. A partition 1 cubit high compassed the holy house and altar, and kept the people from the priests. The eastern part of this enclosure was called the Court of the Priests, and in it stood the huge altar of burnt offering and the laver for the priestly purifications. Twelve steps led from the court of the priests to the temple itself. The temple was 100 cubits long, 100 or 120 cubits high, the center being higher than the wings; 100 cubits broad at the porch, 60 cubits behind. The Holy Place and Holy of Holies were the same size as in Solomon’s or Zerubbabel’s temple. In front of the temple was a remarkable gateway without doors, with lintels above, adorned with colored and embroidered curtains. It was covered with gold, and a golden vine was spread upon it. Thirty-eight little chambers in three stories surrounded the temple, 15 on the north, 15 on the south, and 8 on the west.

The temple, like that of Zerubbabel, had no ark. A stone was set in its place, on which the high priest placed the censer on the Day of Atonement. It followed the tabernacle (not Solomon’s temple) in having only one candlestick and one table of shewbread.

Along the walls of the inner temple were placed chambers for various purposes connected with the temple services. At the north end of the court of the women stood the treasury; at its south end the Gazith, or chamber of hewn stone, in which the Sanhedrin sat. At the northwest corner of the temple Herod erected the fortress of Antonia. from its southeast tower, 70 cubits high, the whole temple could be viewed. A Roman legion formed its garrison. Subterranean passages connected it with the temple cloisters, and through these the Roman soldiers poured down to repress the constantly occurring disturbances in the temple courts.

Of the places above mentioned, the Court of the Women was the scene of the Lord’s temple teachings. In the Treasury, at its northern end, he taught (John 8: 20); over against the Treasury, he sat and watched the people casting in their alms (Mark 12: 41). It was the Court of the Gentiles that he purified from the moneychangers; and in Solomon’s Porch, at its east end, he walked in the winter (John 10: 22). To the same porch gathered all the people greatly wondering (Acts 3: 11), after Peter and John had healed the lame beggar who sat at the Beautiful Gate (the gate between the courts of the gentiles and the women). Inside the Chel, and in the Court of the Women, the Jews from Asia laid hands on Paul. They dragged him down the 14 steps into the Court of the Gentiles (the temple gates being shut behind), and then from the Tower of Antonia through the cloisters the chief captain of the band ran down to rescue him (Acts 21). In the Court of the Men of Israel at the Feast of Tabernacles the Lord watched the priest bring the water from the Pool of Siloam through the water gate and pour it upon the altar of burnt offering (John 7). The veil that was rent at Christ’s crucifixion hung between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. The pinnacle that was the scene of one of his temptations was perhaps the roof of one of the porches.

In A.D. 70, on the evening of the anniversary of the destruction of the first temple, Herod’s temple was taken and destroyed by the army of Titus. A temple to Jupiter Capitolinus was erected on the site by Hadrian.

References

Mark 12: 41

41 ¶ And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

John 8: 20

20 These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.

John 10: 22

22 ¶ And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.

Acts 3: 2, 11

2 And a certain man alame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

• • •

11 And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the aporch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.

BIBLE DICTIONARY

Temple of Solomon

The Hebrew word for temple is nearly equivalent to the English palace, and is used of the palaces of Ahab and the king of Babylon (1 Kgs. 21: 1; 2 Kgs. 20: 18, etc.), and also occasionally of the Mosaic tabernacle (1 Sam. 1: 9; 1 Sam. 3: 3).

The Hill of Zion seems to have been chosen by God as his dwelling-place early in David’s reign (2 Sam. 6: 17). The exact position of the temple, the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, was indicated by the Divine presence during the plague and the command received through the prophet Gad to build an altar there (1 Chr. 21: 15, 18, 28). This threshing floor is placed on Mount Moriah in 2 Chr. 3: 1.

The temple was built after the model of the tabernacle, the dimensions of each part being exactly double. The temple proper, or interior, was 60 cubits long, 20 cubits broad, 30 cubits high (15 cubits was the tabernacle’s height if its roof was right-angled). It had in addition a porch 10 cubits deep in front. The materials of the temple - gold, silver, iron, copper, timber, and stone - had been collected by David (1 Chr. 22: 14). He had also planned the house and its furniture to its details (1 Chr. 28: 11-20), had collected a number of skilled workmen capable of executing the work (1 Chr. 22: 15), and had bound over the princess and people of Israel to zealous co-operation and costly gifts. Still, to Solomon belongs the credit of the actual accomplishment of the work.

The temple walls were composed of hewn stone made ready at the quarry. The roof was of cedar and the walls were paneled with it. The cedar was carved with figures (cherubim, palm trees, and flowers), and was overlaid with gold fitted to the carving. The floors were of fir or cypress wood, overlaid with gold. The communication between he Holy Place and Holy of Holies was by a doorway with two doors of olivewood carved like the walls and overlaid with gold. From 2 Chr. 3: 14 we learn that a veil hung in front of the door. The door of the temple was of cypress on posts of olivewood, carved and overlaid as elsewhere. It folded back in two pieces on each side. In front of the porch stood two great pillars of hollow brass, called Jachin and Boaz. These with their capitals were 23 cubits high. The small size of the temple proper in comparison with modern churches is to be noticed. It is sufficiently accounted for by the fact that the worshippers remained outside; only the priests went within.

All the materials for the house were prepared before they were brought to the site. The building was completed in seven years. There were two temple courts. The inner court was surrounded by a wall consisting of three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams (1 Kgs. 6: 36). This was called the court of the priests, or, from its elevation, the upper court (2 Chr. 4: 9; Jer. 36: 10). The outer or great court was for the use of the people. Nothing is said about its walls, but it was entered by doors of brass.

The furniture of the temple was similar to but not identical with that of the tabernacle. In the Holy of Holies stood the old Mosaic ark with the mercy seat; but the cherubim overshadowing the mercy seat were new. They were larger in size; their wings touched in the middle and reached each wall of the Holy of Holies. They were also different in posture. In the Holy Place all was new. The altar of incense was made of cedarwood overlaid with gold. Instead of one golden candlestick and one table of shewbread there were ten, five on each side. In the outer court stood the brazen altar of the same pattern as that of the tabernacle, but enormously larger (2 Chr. 4: 1). Ahaz superseded it with an altar of Damascus pattern (2 Kgs. 16: 11-16). Between the altar and the porch was the brazen sea for the washing of the priests. It had a brim like the flower of a lily, and it stood upon 12 oxen, three looking north, south, east, and west. These were given to Tiglath-pileser by Ahaz (2 Kgs. 16: 17). On each side of the altar were five figured brazen stands for five brazen lavers for washing the sacrifices (1 Kgs. 7: 38-39).

The house was consecrated at the feast of the seventh month, i.e., the Feast of Tabernacles (1 Kgs. 8: 2; 2 Chr. 5: 3). When the priests came out from setting the ark in the Holy of Holies, the house was filled with a cloud, “so that the priests could not stand to minister” (2 Chr. 5: 13-14). After Solomon had prayed, the fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifices (2 Chr. 7: 1). The feast of dedication lasted 14 days (1 Kgs. 8: 64-65). In this ceremonial Solomon appears to be the principal personage, even as Moses (not Aaron) was at the dedication of the tabernacle.

The wealth gathered by David and lavished by Solomon on the temple was enormous. The skill necessary for the elaborate work in gold and brass was supplied from Tyre. Hiram, on his mother’s side of the tribe of Naphtali, was fetched by Solomon for the purpose (1 Kgs. 7: 14).

The temple was shorn of some of its magnificence by Shishak of Egypt in the reign of Solomon’ son (1 Kgs. 14: 26). It was often spoiled of its treasures, whether by foreign enemies (Shishak, Jehoash of Israel, Nebuchadnezzar), or by kings of Judah (Asa, Joash, Ahaz, Hezekiah) to buy off the attack or purchase the alliance of foreign powers. It was restored by Joash and by Josiah. Some works in connection with it were taken in hand by Jehosphaphat (2 Chr. 20: 5), Jotham (2 Kgs. 15: 35), and Hezekiah (2 Kgs. 18: 16). It was polluted by Athaliah (2 Chr. 24: 7), Ahaz (2 Chr. 29: 5, 16), and above all, Manasseh (2 Kgs. 21: 4-5, 7). It was cleansed by Hezekiah (2 Chr. 29: 16), and Josiah (2 Kgs. 23: 4, 6, 12). Finally it was burned to the ground and utterly destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kgs. 25: 9), all that was valuable in it being carried to Babylon (2 Kgs. 25: 13, etc.). The vessels of silver and gold were afterwards restored by Cyrus and Darius (Ezra 1: 7-11; Ezra 6: 5).

References

1 Sam. 1: 9

9 ¶ So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a aseat by a post of the temple of the LORD.

1 Sam. 3: 3

3 And ere the alamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;

2 Sam. 6: 17

17 ¶ And they brought in the aark of the LORD, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

1 Kgs. 6: 36

36 ¶ And he built the inner acourt with three rows of bhewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.

1 Kgs. 7: 14, 38-39

14 He was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with awisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and bwrought all his work.

• • •

38 ¶ Then made he ten alavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver.

39 And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the asea on the right side of the house eastward over against the south.

1 Kgs. 8: 2, 64-65

2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the afeast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

• • •

64 The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the abrasen altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

65 And at that time Solomon held a afeast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the bentering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.

1 Kgs. 14: 26

26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

1 Kgs. 21: 1

1 And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

2 Kgs. 15: 35

35 ¶ Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher agate of the house of the LORD.

2 Kgs. 16: 11-17

11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.

12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.

13 And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.

14 And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar.

15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.

16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.

17 ¶ And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the asea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.

2 Kgs. 18: 16

16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

2 Kgs. 20: 18

18 And of thy asons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be beunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

2 Kgs. 21: 4-5, 7

4 And he built aaltars in the bhouse of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my cname.

5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two acourts of the house of the LORD.

• • •

7 And he set a graven aimage of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

2 Kgs. 23: 4, 6, 12

4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the apriests of the second order, and the bkeepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el.

• • •

6 And he brought out the agrove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.

• • •

12 And the altars that were on the top of the aupper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.

2 Kgs. 25: 9, 13

9 And he aburnt the bhouse of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house cburnt he with fire.

• • •

13 And the apillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bbases, and the brasen csea that was in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to dBabylon.

1 Chr. 21: 15, 18, 28

15 aAnd God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

• • •

18 ¶ Then the aangel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the bthreshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

• • •

28 ¶ At that time when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.

1 Chr. 22: 14-15

14 Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD an hundred thousand atalents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto.

15 Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work.

1 Chr. 28: 11-20

11 ¶ Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat,

12 And the pattern of all that he had by the aspirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things:

13 Also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and for all the vessels of service in the house of the LORD.

14 He gave of gold by weight for things of gold, for all instruments of all manner of service; silver also for all instruments of silver by weight, for all instruments of every kind of service:

15 Even the weight for the candlesticks of gold, and for their alamps of gold, by weight for every candlestick, and for the lamps thereof: and for the candlesticks of silver by weight, both for the candlestick, and also for the lamps thereof, according to the use of every candlestick.

16 And by weight he gave gold for the tables of shewbread, for every table; and likewise silver for the tables of silver:

17 Also pure gold for the fleshhooks, and the bowls, and the cups: and for the golden basons he gave gold by weight for every bason; and likewise silver by weight for every bason of silver:

18 And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.

19 All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this apattern.

20 And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good acourage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.

2 Chr. 3: 1, 14

1 Then Solomon began to abuild the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount bMoriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the cthreshingfloor of dOrnan the Jebusite.

• • •

14 ¶ And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.

2 Chr. 4: 1, 9

1 Moreover he made an altar of abrass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof.

• • •

9 ¶ Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass.

2 Chr. 5: 3, 13-14

3 Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month.

• • •

13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and athanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD;

14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the acloud: for the bglory of the LORD had filled the house of God.

2 Chr. 7: 1

1 Now when Solomon had made an end of apraying, the bfire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.

2 Chr. 20: 5

5 ¶ And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,

2 Chr. 24: 7

7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they bestow upon Baalim.

2 Chr. 29: 5, 16

5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, asanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the bfilthiness out of the holy place.

• • •

16 And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.

Ezra 1: 7-11

7 ¶ Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had abrought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods;

8 Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.

9 And this is the number of them: thirty achargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine and twenty knives,

10 Thirty basons of gold, silver basons of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels a thousand.

11 All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the acaptivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem.

Ezra 6: 5

5 And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and place them in the house of God.

Jer. 36: 10

10 Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of aShaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the LORD’s house, in the ears of all the people.

BIBLE DICTIONARY

Temple of Zerubbabel

There are few definite statements concerning the dimensions and arrangements of the temple of Zerubbabel. But we may reasonably infer that it was, so far as circumstances permitted, in its principal parts a reproduction of Solomon’s temple, and on the ancient site (Ezra 3: 3). The dimensions and principles of construction were prescribed in decrees of the Persian kings (Ezra 6: 3-4). They also provided the materials, which came from Sidon (Ezra 3: 7; Ezra 6: 4, 8). The Jews reckoned the temple of Zerubbabel to be in five points inferior to the temple of Solomon: in the absence of (1) the Ark of the Covenant (lost or burned at the destruction of Jerusalem and never renewed); (2) the Shechinah or manifestation of the glory of the Lord; (3) the Urim and Thummim (Ezra 2: 63); (4) the holy fire upon the altar; (5) the spirit of prophecy.

The building of Zerubabbel’s temple was impeded by the active opposition and by the intrigues of the Samaritans (Ezra 4: 4-5, 23-24). In the second year of Darius Hystaspes (520 B.C.) the people, exhorted by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, resumed their task, and in the sixth year of Darius (526 B.C.) the feast of the dedication was kept (Ezra 6: 15-16).

This temple was the scene of the murder of Jesus the son of Judas by his brother Johanan, the high priest. In consequence it was profanely entered by Bagoses, the Persian governor of Syria (about 366 B.C.). Alexander the Great (332 B.C.) is said by Josephus to have offered sacrifices here. Simon the Just (about 300 B.C.), the high priest, “repaired the house again” and “fortified the temple” (Ecclus. 50: 1).

Ptolemy Philopator (217 B.C.) insisted upon entering the Holy of Holies, but was smitten so that he was carried out half-dead from the temple courts. Antiochus the Great (200 B.C.), in return for help given him by the Jews against the Egyptians, provided materials for building the cloisters and other parts of the temple, made a grant to provide sacrifices, and decreed that no stranger should enter within the temple enclosure. Antiochus Epiphanes (168 B.C.) entered the temple “proudly,” stripped it of its golden altar, candlesticks, table of shewbread, etc., polluted it by setting up the abomination of desolation and offering swine upon the altar, burned its gates, and pulled down the priests’ chambers. It was left desolate for three years, so that “shrubs grew in its courts as in a forest or on one of the mountains” (1 Macc. 1: 21, 39, 46, 54; 4: 38). Judas Maccabaeus (165 B.C.) cleansed it and restored it to use (4: 43-57). He and his brothers, Jonathan and Simon, fortified the sanctuary with high walls and towers (4: 60; 10: 11; 13: 52). Alexander Jannaeus (95 B.C.) built a partition wall of wood around the altar and the temple, so as to separate the court of the priests from that of the people. Pompey, when he took Jerusalem (63 B.C.), slew the priests at the altar, entered the Holy of Holies, but left the rich temple treasures intact, and commanded it to be cleansed the next day (Josephus, Ant. XIV. iv. 4). When Herod took the city (37 B.C.) some of the temple cloisters were burned, but he used entreaties, threatenings, and even force, to restrain his foreign soldiery from entering the Sanctuary (Josephus, Antiquities, XIV, xvi. 3).

References

Ezra 2: 63

63 And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most aholy things, till there stood up a priest with bUrim and with Thummim.

Ezra 3: 3, 7

3 And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.

• • •

7 They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring acedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of bCyrus king of Persia.

Ezra 4: 4-5, 23-24

4 Then the people of the land aweakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,

5 And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of aDarius king of Persia.

• • •

23 ¶ Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.

24 Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Ezra 6: 3-4, 8, 15-16

3 In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the ahouse be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits;

4 With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king’s house:

• • •

8 Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered.

• • •

15 And this house was finished on the third day of the month aAdar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

16 ¶ And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the adedication of this house of God with joy,

BIBLE DICTIONARY

Temple on Mount Gerizim

Josephus gives the following account of the erection of this temple: Manasseh, brother of Jaddua the high priest, was threatened by the Jews with deprivation of his sacerdotal dignity because of a marriage he had contracted with a foreign woman. His father-in-law, San-ballat, obtained permission from Alexander the Great, then besieging Tyre, to build a temple on Mount Gerizim. Manasseh was its first high priest. It became the refuge of all Jews who had violated the precepts of the Mosaic law. With this account must be compared Neh. 13: 28, which from the names and circumstances probably relates to the same event. Josephus places the event 90 years later than the Bible. The establishment of the counterfeit worship on Gerizim embittered and perpetuated the schism between the Jews and the Samaritans. The Samaritans altered their copies of the Pentateuch by substituting Gerizim for Ebal in Deut. 27: 4, and by making an interpolation in Ex. 20, and so claimed divine authority for the site of their temple. Antiochus Epiphanes, at the request of the Samaritans, consecrated it to Jupiter, the defender of strangers (2 Macc. 6: 2). John Hyrcanus destroyed it (109 B.C.). Though the Emperor Zeno (A.D. 474-491) ejected the Samaritans from Gerizim, it has continued to be the chief sacred place of the Samaritan community. There the Paschal Lamb has been almost continuously offered by them up to the present day.

References

Deut. 27: 4

4 Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaister them with plaister.

Neh. 13: 28

28 And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me.

The Official Scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

BIBLE DICTIONARY

Tabernacle

The center place of Israel’s worship activities during the wanderings and until the building of the temple in Solomon’s day. The tabernacle was in fact a portable temple. It was an inner tent, the area available for sacred purposes (Ex. 26: 7; Ex. 36: 14). It was oblong, 30 cubits in length and 10 in breadth and height. Its north, west, and south sides were made of 46 boards (10 cubits by 1 1/2) and 2 narrower corner ones of acacia wood (Ex. 26: 15), overlaid with gold (26: 29). These boards were fitted with golden rings, through which were passed bars of acacia wood overlaid with gold to fasten all firmly together. Suspended over them, and serving as an inner lining to the tent covering, was the rich covering - 10 curtains (each 28 cubits by 4) made of fine twined linen, and blue and purple and scarlet, embroidered with figures of cherubim (Ex. 26: 1).

Over the tabernacle the tent was spread. Its length was 40 cubits, or 10 cubits longer than the tabernacle. The entrance toward the east was closed by a screen of blue, purple, and scarlet and fine twined linen. Over the tent came the covering of the tent, which consisted of two parts: (1) an inner covering of ramskins dyed red; (2) a covering of badger skins over all (Ex. 26: 14).

The tent stood in a court 100 cubits by 50, surrounded by a fence (Ex. 27: 18) five cubits high, composed of pillars and hangings of fine white linen. The entrance toward the east was 20 cubits wide (Ex. 27: 16), and was closed by a screen of linen of four different colors on four pillars.

In the court outside the tent and in front of its door stood the altar of burnt offering, a square of five cubits, three cubits high. Its outer frame was acacia wood overlaid with brass (Ex. 27: 1-2,8), whence its name (Ex. 39: 39). The hollow was probably filled with earth or unhewn stones (Ex. 20: 24-25). Around and halfway up the altar was a ledge (Ex. 27: 5), supported by a grating of network of brass. Besides various brazen utensils for use in the sacrifices, it had rings and staves by means of which it was carried.

Between the altar of burnt offering and the door of the tent stood a laver of brass on a base of brass (Ex. 30: 18). In it the priests washed their hands and feet when they went into the tent for any priestly purpose (Ex. 30: 19-21).

The tabernacle was divided into two parts by a veil of the same materials as the screen of the court, the inner roof covering of the tabernacle, and the screen of the tent (Ex. 36: 35,37). In the outer compartment (20 cubits by 10), called the Holy Place, were three things: (1) In the middle, before the veil and before the mercy seat (Ex. 30: 6), stood the altar of incense, similar in construction to the altar of burnt offering but smaller and overlaid with gold. On it incense was burned morning and evening (no animal sacrifices); and on its horns was put once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the blood of the sin offering (Ex. 30: 10). (2) On the south side of the altar of incense stood the candlestick (Ex. 26: 35), of pure gold of beaten work, with six branches and seven lamps. Pure olive oil beaten was burned in the lamps (Lev. 24: 2; Ex. 27: 20-21). Aaron lit the lamps at evening and dressed them in the morning (Ex. 30: 8; Lev. 24: 3). (3) On the north side of the altar stood the table of shewbread (Ex. 25: 23-30) made of acacia wood. On it was placed the shewbread, consisting of 12 unleavened cakes made of fine flour. They were placed in two rows (or piles), and frankincense was put on each row (Lev. 24: 7). The shewbread was changed every Sabbath day, and the old loaves were eaten by the priests in a holy place (Lev. 24: 9).

The Holy of Holies contained only one piece of furniture: the Ark of the Covenant, or the Ark of the Testimony (Ex. 25: 22). It was an oblong box of acacia wood, 2 1/2 cubits long and 1 1/2 cubits wide and high, overlaid within and without with gold, and with a rim or edging of gold round its top. It had rings and staves by which to carry it, and the staves were never to be removed from the rings (Ex. 25: 15). The ark had within it “The Testimony,” i.e., the two tables of stone (Ex. 25: 21; Ex. 31: 18). From these the ark got both its names. According to Heb. 9: 4 the ark also contained a pot of manna and Aaron’s rod that budded. In the O.T. it is said of these that they were put or laid up “before the testimony” (Ex. 16: 34; Num. 17: 10). They were not in the ark in the time of Solomon (1 Kgs. 8: 9). The book of the law was placed “by the side of the ark of the Covenant,” but not inside it (Deut. 31: 26). Upon the ark and forming the lid was the mercy seat. It served, with the ark beneath, as an altar on which the highest atonement known to the Jewish law was effected. On it was sprinkled the blood of the sin offering of the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16: 14-15). The mercy seat was the place of manifestation of God’s glory (Ex. 25: 22). It was God’s throne in Israel. Cf. the phrase “The Lord God of Israel, which sitteth upon (or dwelleth between) the cherubim” (1 Sam. 4: 4). At the ends were placed two cherubim of gold of beaten work, spreading out their wings so as to cover the mercy seat and looking toward it.

The pattern of the tabernacle was delivered by God to Moses. Bezaleel and Aholiab were the chief constructors (Ex. 31: 3-6). The people so freely offered for the service of the work that they had to be restrained from bringing. There was more than sufficient for all the work to make it (Ex. 36: 6-7). The tabernacle with all its furniture was brought to Moses when complete, and on the first day of the first month of the second year (i.e., one year less 14 days from exodus) he reared it up and finished the work. When the whole building was set in order, the cloud covered the tent and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Ex. 40: 34). The cloud, the token of the Divine Presence, had the appearance of a fire by night, and by its rising from or abiding on the tent, determined the journeyings and encampments of the children of Israel (Num. 9: 17-18). The tabernacle accompanied the children of Israel during their wanderings in the desert and in the different stages of the conquest of the land of Canaan. The conquest complete, it was fixed in Shiloh as the place that the Lord had chosen (Josh. 18: 1). Here we find it in the earliest (Judg. 18: 31) and latest days of the Judges (1 Sam. 1: 3). At the time of the capture of the ark God forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh (Ps. 78: 60). The ark never returned to the tabernacle. It was removed from Shiloh; we find it some years later with its priests and its table of shewbread at Nob (1 Sam. 21: 1), and in Solomon’s reign with its altar of burnt offering and ministered at by Zadok the high priest at Gibeon (1 Chr. 16: 39-40). After the building of the temple it entirely disappears from the history.

Isaiah uses the figure of the tabernacle as a foreshadowing of Zion and the holy city of Jerusalem when it is built up at the Lord’s second coming (Isa. 33: 20).

References

Ex. 16: 34

34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the aTestimony, to be kept.

Ex. 20: 24-25

24 ¶ An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt asacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.

25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn astone: for if thou lift up thy btool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

Ex. 25: 15, 21-30

15 The astaves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.

• • •

21 And thou shalt put the amercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the btestimony that I shall give thee.

22 And there I will ameet with thee, and I will bcommune with thee from above the cmercy seat, from between the two dcherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

23 ¶ Thou shalt also make a atable of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

24 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about.

25 And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about.

26 And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof.

27 Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table.

28 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.

29 And thou shalt make the adishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and bcovers thereof, and bowls thereof, cto cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them.

30 And thou shalt set upon the table ashewbread before me alway.

Ex. 26: 1, 7, 14-15, 35

1 Moreover thou shalt make the atabernacle with ten bcurtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with ccherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

• • •

7 ¶ And thou shalt make curtains of goats’ hair ato be a covering upon the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make.

• • •

14 And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of arams’ skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers’ skins.

15 ¶ And thou shalt make aboards for the tabernacle of shittim bwood standing up.

• • •

35 And thou shalt aset the table without the vail, and the bcandlestick cover against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side.

Ex. 27: 1-2, 5, 8, 16, 18, 20-21

1 And thou shalt make an aaltar of bshittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits.

2 And thou shalt make the ahorns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be bof the same: and thou shalt overlay it with cbrass.

• • •

5 And thou shalt put it under the acompass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.

• • •

8 Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was ashewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.

• • •

16 ¶ And for the gate of the court shall be an ahanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.

• • •

18 ¶ The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.

• • •

20 ¶ And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure aoil bolive beaten for the light, to cause the clamp to burn always.

21 In the atabernacle of the bcongregation cwithout the dvail, which is before the testimony, eAaron and his sons shall forder it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a gstatute for ever unto their hgenerations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

Ex. 30: 6, 8, 10, 18-21

6 And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the aark of the testimony, before the bmercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.

• • •

8 And when aAaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.

• • •

10 And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it aonce in a year with the bblood of the sin offering of catonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.

• • •

18 Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, ato wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein.

19 For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:

20 When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD:

21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.

Ex. 31: 3-6, 18

3 And I have filled him with the aspirit of God, in bwisdom, and in understanding, and in cknowledge, and in all manner of dworkmanship,

4 To devise acunning works, to work in bgold, and in silver, and in brass,

5 And in acutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.

6 And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are awise hearted I have put bwisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;

• • •

18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two atables of btestimony, tables of stone, cwritten with the finger of God.

Ex. 36: 6-7, 14, 35, 37

6 And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.

7 For the astuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.

• • •

14 ¶ And he made curtains of goats’ hair for the tent over the tabernacle: eleven curtains he made them.

• • •

35 ¶ And he made a avail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.

• • •

37 ¶ And he made aan hanging for the tabernacle door of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, of needlework;

Ex. 39: 39

39 The brasen altar, and his grate of brass, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and ahis foot,

Ex. 40: 34

34 ¶ Then a acloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the bglory of the LORD cfilled the dtabernacle.

Lev. 16: 14-15

14 And he shall take of the ablood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.

15 ¶ Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:

Lev. 24: 2-3, 7, 9

2 Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the alamps to burn continually.

3 Without the vail of the testimony, ain the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron border it from the evening unto the morning before the LORD continually: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations.

• • •

7 And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

• • •

9 And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’; and they shall aeat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute.

Num. 9: 17-18

17 And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.

18 At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.

Num. 17: 10

10 ¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring aAaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.

Deut. 31: 26

26 Take this abook of the blaw, and put it in the side of the cark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a dwitness against thee.

Josh. 18: 1

1 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at aShiloh, and set up the btabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them.

Judg. 18: 31

31 And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the ahouse of God was in bShiloh.

1 Sam. 1: 3

3 And this man went up out of his city ayearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in bShiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there.

1 Sam. 4: 4

4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the acherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

1 Sam. 21: 1

1 Then came David to aNob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

1 Kgs. 8: 9

9 There was nothing in the aark save the two btables of stone, which Moses put there at cHoreb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

1 Chr. 16: 39-40

39 And Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of the LORD in the ahigh place that was at bGibeon,

40 To aoffer burnt offerings unto the LORD upon the altar of the burnt offering continually morning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the law of the LORD, which he commanded Israel;

Ps. 78: 60

60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of aShiloh, the tent which he placed among men;

Isa. 33: 20

20 Look upon aZion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the bstakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

Heb. 9: 4

4 Which had the golden censer, and the aark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden bpot that had manna, and cAaron’s rod that budded, and the dtables of the covenant;

The Official Scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

© 2006 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

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[reyjamiei]

As for whether a mass murderer would go to the same heaven, I remind you of Jesus’ parable about the people who agree go out into a field and work for a certain amount of money, and all throughout the day other people come and start to work with them…and at the end of the Day Jesus gives them all the same amount of money.

Now I’m not saying you aren’t rewarded for your good works…remember Jesus speaks of “saving up treasures in heaven” I would say they would all go to heaven, but some will more “treasure” in heaven.

Thanks,

Josh B)

That's a perfect example of LDS teaching on heaven.

some will have more “treasure” in heaven.

[CaptainTux]

Dr T

If I am safe in assuming you mean the equatorial circumference, than the answer to your query is about 23,627 miles.

[Dr T]

Thanks Tux

[blazius]

Hello, :)

As I christian, I would be happy to answer any questions you have about christian beliefs.

Josh B)

Yes, I have a question: Please tell me what makes you a Christian.

thanks,

blazius

[Guest Monica]

Mormons are christians.

[Dr T]

Where was the question for your answer Monica?

[blazius]

Mormons are christians.

Yes, I have heard this a million times, but my question is, what makes you Christian?

You apparently know about the fact that Christians do not consider Mormons as Christian. But I would like to know what makes the Mormon Christian in the LDS Church’s opinion.

Thank you,

blazius

[Outshined]

You apparently know about the fact that Christians do not consider Mormons as Christian. But I would like to know what makes the Mormon Christian in the LDS Church’s opinion.

I would correct that to some Christians attempt to exclude others; it is certainly not a characteristic of all who purport to follow Christ's teachings. I like to think that most are not that small-minded...

What makes Latter-day Saints Christians? That fact that we follow Christ, and claim Him as the head of our Church.

[Guest MrsS]

The Christian Coalition has stated (declared) that the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are indeed Christians. Thus so is the Church a Christian church.

Blazius - could you please state how you are a christian, what attributes you have that make you a christian?

Thank you.

[blazius]

What makes Latter-day Saints Christians? That fact that we follow Christ, and claim Him as the head of our Church.

Thank you for your answer. In response I'd like to say that I've heard this answer before. The fact of the matter is that the Mormon Church follows a different Christ, I mean, isn't that why every religion is different, because they all follow a different method of salvation?

For example, you cannot say you follow the same Christ as Christian science, yet they would make the same claim as the Mormon Church, that Christ is also the head of their church, but they have an entirely different method of salvation.

So, what I'm driving toward is that just because you follow your own Christ does not make you Christian....does this make sense?

Can anyone please tell me what makes the Mormon Church Christian?

thank you,

blazius

[Outshined]

Sorry, because you have a different interpretation of Christ than another church does does not make that one less Christian than your own. The whole "other Christ" argument is pure fallacy. You speak in quantitative terms when the differences are qualitative. We don't follow a "different Christ", we just view His characteristics differently than some churches do.

What makes Latter-day Saints Christians? That fact that we follow Christ, and claim Him as the head of our Church. Period.

Some reading:

http://www.mormon.org/learn/0,8672,802-1,00.html

http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_Christian.shtml

http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai052.html

http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/respons...eral/christians

http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/basic/christ/index.htm

http://www.lightplanet.com/response/answers/anotherjesus.htm

http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai035.html

Blazius - could you please state how you are a christian, what attributes you have that make you a christian?

Thank you.

Good point.

[Maureen]

<div class='quotemain'>

Hello, :)

As I christian, I would be happy to answer any questions you have about christian beliefs.

Josh B)

Yes, I have a question: Please tell me what makes you a Christian.

thanks,

blazius

JoshuaK hasn't been posting in awhile so it's difficult to say when he'll reply, just so you know blazius. By the way I see that you've state Religion as "seeking". Even though you're seeking for a religion, do you consider yourself a Christian blazius?

M.

[blazius]

JoshuaK hasn't been posting in awhile so it's difficult to say when he'll reply, just so you know blazius. By the way I see that you've state Religion as "seeking". Even though you're seeking for a religion, do you consider yourself a Christian blazius?

M.

Maureen, before I answer your question, please answer mine: Why are you, a Lutheran, participating on a Mormon forum?

[Maureen]

<div class='quotemain'>

JoshuaK hasn't been posting in awhile so it's difficult to say when he'll reply, just so you know blazius. By the way I see that you've state Religion as "seeking". Even though you're seeking for a religion, do you consider yourself a Christian blazius?

Maureen, before I answer your question, please answer mine: Why are you, a Lutheran, participating on a Mormon forum?

Even though I "asked you first", I will be considerate enough to answer. I've been posting at LDStalk for many years now. Initially, my motives were of a "I am right" and "you are wrong" philosophy. But due to the reading of many posters' thoughts here and at other forums, I've come to the conclusion that the "ability to decide for yourself" is more important than a debate between my interpretation of right and someone elses.

Also, I have a interest in Mormon history and my husband's family is Mormon, so I'm familiar with Mormon culture and community. I also enjoy the LDStalk community, there is a diverse goup of posters here, I enjoy the friendliness of the light-hearted threads and some of the more intense threads are quite intriguing.

M.