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Joseph,
Joseph, Joseph
The
Temple Has Returned to Nauvoo
by
Scot Facer Proctor
Photo Essay
Two: Interior Views of the Nauvoo Temple from the Official Collections
of The Church
Used
by Permission of Intellectual Reserve
All
Photographs Copyright 2002 Intellectual Reserve
How
shall I describe the feeling of walking into the Nauvoo Temple for
the first time? What would it have been like to be there with my
ancestors in the days of Nauvoo's early times? I suspect it would
have been just about like what Maurine and I experienced this past
week.
Walking through
the door of this edifice was like brushing past the rough veils
of mortality and feeling the sweetness of a heavenly breeze—one
that was so familiar and so endearing, a breeze that brought with
it the memories of celestial scenes and eternal yearnings. There
are those moments in our lives that 'surpasseth all understanding,'
that carry us beyond this sojourn of strivings and lift us, in the
blink of an eye, to a place we not only long to be but feel most
at home. Crossing the threshold into this
temple was that way.
With the permission
of the Church we here publish in 'walking sequence' a series of
breathtaking views of the interior of the newly finished Nauvoo
Temple. Come with us as we walk through the temple. I shall add
some thoughts and some of the sayings of the Prophet Joseph as you
have your walk through this Temple he so desired to complete. The
text and commentary below was originally published in our book Witness
of the Light, A Photographic Journey in the Footsteps of the American
Prophet Joseph Smith. Additional
selections at the end come from Teachings of the Prophet
Joseph Smith.
Entry, Halls
and Some Details
Entrance
and Foyer (Click to enlarge.)
Joseph said,
"If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not
comprehend themselves." With his visions and heavenly instruction,
he came before an unbelieving world with boundless riches in his
hands, new vistas of comprehension.
Temple
Hallway (Click to enlarge.)
Joseph once
said, with a bit of irony, that if he were a false teacher, he could
"be hailed as a friend, and no man would seek my life."
He had instead the burden of being a prophet, teaching in a simple,
straightforward, noble manner that left no room for contention.
Detail
of Interior Sunstone (Click to enlarge.)
To the Saints
he asked, "What is the object of our coming into existence,
then dying and falling away, to be here no more? It is but reasonable
to suppose that God would reveal something in reference to the matter.
. . . Reading the experience of others, or the revelation given
to them, can never give
us a comprehensive view of our
condition and true relation to God. . . . Could you gaze into heaven
five minutes, you would know more than you would by reading all
that ever was written on the subject."
Detail
of Workmanship of Windows (Click to enlarge.)
When asked what
was unique about Mormonism, he replied that it is the "pure
doctrine of Jesus Christ; of which I myself am not ashamed."
When Martin Van Buren, then president of the United States, asked
how this gospel differed from other religions of the day, Joseph
said: "We differed in mode of baptism, and the gift of the
Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. We considered that all other
considerations were contained in the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Click
here to continue your tour through the interior of the Nauvoo Temple.
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© 2002 Meridian
Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
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