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It is my understanding that for along time, pictures of the interior of the temples were not seen by the members or the general public. Then someone took some pictures & then offered to return them to the church for a ransom. As the story goes, the church decided to
make pictures of temple interior public. Has anyone else heard that story? Or, can you refer me to a source?
Secrets whether they are sacred or not are dangerous, IMO. Imaginations can run wild.
Minyan Man, I’ve never heard that story before, but I know that when Boyd K. Packer was alive he wrote a pamphlet about the temple that showed various temple interiors and what the various rooms were used for. I have also never heard that story MM. I was baptized in 1981 and went to the temple the first time in 1983. There were pictures of the interior of the temples available at that time. I agree that keeping secrets allows people to imagine whatever they want. I do remember hearing stories like virgin sacrifice and others about sexual abuse taking place int he temple (which I thought were ridiculous).
That’s probably in reference to Gilbert Bossard’s photos of the SLC temple interior in the year 1911. https://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/faith/ci_11942830 https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V29N03_9.pdf Minyan Man wrote:
It is my understanding that for along time, pictures of the interior of the temples were not seen by the members or the general public.Then someone took some pictures & then offered to return them to the church for a ransom. As the story goes, the church decided to
make pictures of temple interior public. Has anyone else heard that story? Or, can you refer me to a source?
Secrets whether they are sacred or not are dangerous, IMO. Imaginations can run wild.
I think the church basically pre-empted them and published some pictures before the blackmailer could do anything. Which I think was the best way to get rid of them.
When much of England was occupied by the Vikings over a thousand years ago, they used to pay them money called “Danegeld” to stop them attacking them. But as the poet Rudyard Kipling once wrote, “Once you start paying the Danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane.” If the church had paid the money, it would never stop and the amount would probably keep going up.
The church did fall for this later and it ended up with the Hoffman trouble.
By the way, as someone says above, the secrecy is part of the problem. I know temple ceremonies have changed, within my time and before it, but there have been a lot of inaccurate things said about it. However, there is evidence that the FLDS temples have been used in other ways – authorities found beds in the upper level. Something tells me those were not for tired temple workers.
I too am pleased that the church is being more open about this. I went over the TR questions with my children before they had youth interviews and I would like to do likewise for the endowment and other temple ceremonies prior to my children experiencing them. I think that the church is in a hard spot with talking about exactly what everything symbolizes. I believe talking about symbols goes hand in hand with talking about history and I think that it would be difficult to talk about temple symbols and history without talking about masonry.
I had an institute instructor that said that everything represented JC in one way or another. I remember looking for JC everywhere. If something was white = JC, If something was green = life = JC, If something was purple = royalty = JC, If something was a light source = JC, If something had water = JC. You get the picture. I somewhat dislike when we have a set list for symbolism as we do for Lehi’s dream because I feel that it squelches creativity. Symbolism is not the same as a coded message that you then decode with a “key”. I can see symbolism where symbolism was not intended by the author/builder and that symbolism is valid nonetheless.
In the age of google & YouTube, the church is forced to be open about the Endowment. The alternative is false information & anti propaganda.
Personally, I like the temple ordinances. It is something my wife & I can experience together. It is a place
that is peaceful & quiet. There are no televisions on. No political discussions. And hopefully no virus to
be worried about. It is interesting to talk with the temple workers too. Most seem to be happy & eager
to talk about their calling or the history of the temple we’re in. I would like to learn more about the
Endowment & other temple ordinances. The problem is we don’t have a temple in our state.
The closest one is an hour & a half away. (Three hours round trip.)
Minyan Man wrote:
In the age of google & YouTube, the church is forced to be open about the Endowment. The alternative isfalse information & anti propaganda.
That still goes on. Remember there are rumors about what happens in “open” spaces in other churches. There are stories of black masses in cathedrals and occult ceremonies. Then there are all those anti-Semitic stories which caused trouble from the Middle Ages to today – blood libel etc. Sometimes they are true, like the Catholic priest who was caught with two prostitutes on an altar recently.
It’s hard to prove a negative. Sometimes the distortions are funny. I like the story of someone who complained cattle would be kept in the temple – obviously they had seen pictures of the font with oxen underneath it. (Which I often point out to new visitors is described in the Bible and not a purely LDS invention)
Quote:Personally, I like the temple ordinances. It is something my wife & I can experience together. It is a place
that is peaceful & quiet. There are no televisions on. No political discussions.
I did have to tell off some people when I was in the celestial room once. They talked about how bad the traffic was for twenty minutes. I was in there pondering life’s questions, and it just wasn’t appropriate. Our temple is usually quiet during the week, and after the last session you can often get some time in there.
But the first time I went in the temple for baptisms, I felt peace for the entire duration. I had been undergoing a lot of stress and worry, and that fell away when I went in the door.
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