While other church organizations within the greater Restoration Movement have temples, The Church of Jesus Christ (headquartered Monongahela, Pennsylvania) does not. Historically, temples prior to Jesus Christ were for the purpose of making sacrifices for sin offerings in order to cover the sins of the people. In a modern context, we believe that temples are no longer necessary as we believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
Today, is there a need to offer a sacrifice? Scripture gives us at least two examples. Hebrews 13:15 says, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” We can do this through our prayers or by singing hymns of praise either privately or together in the congregational gatherings of The Church of Jesus Christ. Secondly, Jesus Christ, Himself, says in 3 Nephi 9:19-20, “And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings. And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit…” As we can see, temples for the performing of sacrifices are not needed for today.
Some restoration churches have dedicated temples as places to perform private or “sacred” ordinances. Such ordinances may include baptisms for the dead, the endowment ceremony, washings and anointings, among others. The Church of Jesus Christ does not recognize these practices as being scriptural as they are not taught by the Bible nor the Book of Mormon.
Paul makes a passing reference to being “baptized for the dead” in 1 Corinthians 15:29 but does not elaborate upon what it means. Some have, upon seeing this vague reference, mistakenly stated that baptisms for the dead were taught by Paul in the New Testament. This is not the case. Paul does not give enough information to develop a doctrine from his statement nor do we find any other scriptural references in the Bible or Book of Mormon to this. It’s also worth noting that he says “they” as opposed to “we” which indicates that he didn’t include himself as participating in this act. “They” seems to refer to some practice of a group outside of the church.
The endowment ceremony, while we are choosing not to address any specifics, is where members of those church organizations receive hidden knowledge including an unscriptural creation story as well as signs and tokens (hand gestures and hand shakes with their accompanying passwords and passphrases). We should instead heed the admonition of Paul in 2 Timothy 4:2-5, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things…”
The Church of Jesus Christ patterns its organizational structure directly out of the New Testament. There is no mention, new construction or use of the temple in the entire New Testament aside from preaching the gospel nearby to attempt to convert locals. In reality, the church was persecuted and often met in the homes of the saints. The same is true in the Book of Mormon. Jesus descends at the Temple at Bountiful, but no mention or use of the temple takes place according to the scriptures. No mention of the temple and worship overlap after the ascension of Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon.
As we can see in scripture, temples are not needed today. Other church organizations have chosen to practice temple ordinances which have no basis in scripture nor history. The Church of Jesus Christ follows the example in scripture of offering a sacrifice of praise by our congregational worship gatherings as well as by offering to God the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Brokenness over our sin is what God desires from us. Salvation is available to all who would come unto Christ, repent of their sins, be baptized in open water for the remission of sins, receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and endure faithfully to the end.
“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved.” (2 Nephi 10:24)
