What's the purpose of the LDS temple besides being a monument to their "greatness"?

I'm in.....literally.

I read this off of one of those links:

Ordinances for the Deceased

In addition to receiving these ordinances for ourselves, we can receive them for our deceased ancestors. In this way, people who died without receiving essential ordinances such as baptism and confirmation, the endowment, and sealing have the opportunity to accept these ordinances.

I never knew that about LDS.

Go see it.  Unless you become Mormon and obtain a temple recommend, you will not have another chance.





Mormons do build beautiful temples.  They ARE well worth seeing.

The mormon bashers will never let truth stand in their way.  They'll continue to bash.



 

I missed several temple dedications in the past because I was a lazy selfish teenager.  The next time there's one within driving distance of me I will definitely go.

Soooo...did you check into the links provided as answers?

I went to the LDS temple open house in Gilbert AZ back a few months ago.  From a guy who has spent his life in building - the design and construction was as good as I've ever seen.  Excited to go tour the new Phoenix temple when it's done.  

No matter your religious persuasion, you have to respect and admire a building like that.

Normally I don't even respond to these type of posts.  But as Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we do not look at Temples as symbols of our greatness.  What is a Temple?  It is the House of God.  What should the House of God be like? The absolute best that we mortal beings can produce.  That is why our Temples are so magnificent.  They are a testament to our belief in and reverence to God and his Son Jesus Christ.

I think sacred would be a better word then "secret."  Just as in the temples mentioned in the bible,  not everyone is allowed to freely walk in and participate in the ordinances.  Even those that could go in went through preparatory acts.  

Mormons believe the temple is a place where one can make sacred covenants with God and in return obtain blessings if you live up to those covenants.  You could say its a continuation of the covenants one may make at baptism.   When one is baptized,  they should prepare themselves to live a Christlike life.  Baptism is an outward ordinance showing an inner promise to follow the savior.

In the temple, one has the opportunity to make even deeper promises to God that you will live your life the best you can.  If one is not prepared spiritually and living the first commandments they made at baptism,  it does them no good to go to the temple, in fact, it would be spiritually worse for them if they make those covenants and are not ready to keep them.

The temple is open to all,  no one on this earth would be excluded if they take the necessary steps. If one is willing to live up to the standards required by the Lord,  they may enter his house.

So it sounds like from your understanding, it must not be much of a secret.  To be honest,  there are enough detractors out there, that post stuff online, that  there probably isn't any real "secrets" about what goes on in the temple.  They essentially are trying to destroy the sacredness of it too.  

I guess unless you have gone to the temple with the correct spirit and attitude, it may seem odd or foreign.  To those that have gone with the right attitude though,  nothing compares to the spirit one feels, and the blessings that open up to you.  

I recently had the opportunity to go to a temple session with a woman who was baptized just over a year ago.  She had church hopped all her life,  never satisfied with what she found.  She is a very in depth studier of the Bible, and always felt there were something missing in each church she attended.  She had almost given up on religion until she was introduced to the LDS church by some co-workers.  As she was taught the gospel, she saw piece by piece what she felt she was missing her whole life.  After coming out of the temple,  she couldn't stop crying tears of joy for hours.  She said she knew then for sure, she had found what she had been missing.  She still openly weeps tears of joy, every time she thinks about or mentions the temple.

If you know much about the Mormon Church,  you should know that the last thing they care about doing is striving to conform to "mainstream Christianity".
It seems lately, much of mainstream Christianity is being caught up and swept downstream by the patterns and wishes of the world.  Churches are constantly changing their doctrines or practices to become more popular or accepting of the worldly fads and sins.

When Christ came to the earth,  his teachings were way outside the "mainstream" gospel teachings of the day.  

Back to the thread though,  if you have a chance to go through an open house, I strongly encourage you to do so.  Go with an open mind and if you do,  you will be able to feel the spirit that found in the house of the Lord.

There is something profoundly awesome about experiencing the three-fold mission of the gospel of Jesus Christ in an arfcom thread.

LDS temples are open to all, but just as God will allow no unclean thing to dwell with him,  he has set standards of how one must be living to enter his house.  

Anyone in the world could go to the temple if they prepare themselves and take the necessary steps.  

If a person really wants to go to an LDS temple,  I can tell/show you how to do it and the steps you must take.  

If you do those steps,  you or anyone else will be allowed in the temple.  Everyone has their agency not to take those steps if they choose, but if that is your choice, no one can really complain when they won't let you in the temple.  Your own choices excluded you.  The Lord wants everyone to come to his house.

Isaiah 28 states:
9Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

10For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:


Most of LDS church teachings occur in regular Sunday meeting houses.  Anyone is welcome there no matter what standard they are living.  The purpose of the church is to teach people.  to help them learn line upon line, precept upon precept.   Learning the gospel really is a progression. The temple is just another progression in those teachings.   Once one has learned the basic principles and has shown they are willing to abide by them,  the Lord will invite them to his house to learn a little more.

not sure where in New York you are but Looks like a temple in Philadelphia may be completed in a year or so. May be worth the trip.
edit oh i see you are up state.. no i haven't been to the pageant but would like to some time. i had some friends in collage who went to be performers in the pageant one summer... years ago.
Have you been? did you enjoy it?

My BIL is LDS and lives near Ogden.  The church members in the area donated a few days to sprucing up the houses in the neighborhood of the temple to improve the overall atmosphere.
They completely re-landscaped, painted, and otherwise fixed up hundreds of houses in the area at no cost to the owners.

The church is doing a lot through investment and service to revitalize Ogden the way they did Salt Lake City (though probably not on the same scale).

In the next year or two, there will also be temples completed and open houses in:

Fort Collins Colorado
Hartford Connecticut
Indianapolis Indiana
Payson Utah
Philadelphia Pennsylvania
Phoenix Arizona
Tijuana Mexico

plus several other around the world in places like Rome and Japan.


http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/construction/

Regarding the comments about "secrets"...if the LDS temples were about secrets, the LDS wouldn't be inviting everyone to come inside and have a look before the dedications.  The fact that the LDS Church has public open houses is contrary to the notion of secrecy.

Regarding what is taught in the temple, you can learn the vast majority of it just by reading the Bible along with LDS-specific scripture (Doctrine and Covenants, Peal of Great Price, BofM, etc.)  Beyond that much of temple attendance is about making covenants to live by God's laws and spiritually sealing families together for eternity.