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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
Baptistry,
Staircases and Priesthood Assembly Room
Stained
Glass of Jesus and John the Baptist (Click to enlarge)
Certainly one
of those considerations was the question of authority. As the Lord
had said, "Many there be who are under this condemnation, who
use the name of the Lord, and use it in vain, having not authority."
(D&C 63:62)
Bapistry Sits Upon the Backs
of Twelve Oxen
(Click to enlarge)
Who can act
for the Lord without his permission? Who can baptize? Only those
who have been specifically granted that power of authority. To Joseph
the Lord had said, "Whatsoever you seal on earth shall be sealed
in heaven; and whatsoever you bind on earth, in my name and by my
word, saith the Lord, it shall be eternally bound in the heavens."
(D&C 132:46)
Priesthood
Assembly Room (Click to enlarge)
Now brethren,"
Joseph had promised, "I obligate myself to build as great a
temple as ever Solomon did if the church will back me up. Moreover
it shall not impoverish any man but enrich thousands." Clearly,
Joseph was speaking in eternal terms, for the temple would cost
a great fortune for that day—over a million dollars with the
faithful giving a tithe (one-tenth) of their time and their income
or even much larger consecrations to the temple building.
Tiered
Pulpits in Priesthood Assembly Room (Click to enlarge)
Nauvoo's newspaper
The Times and Seasons said
that not even the widow in many instances could be prevented, "out
of her scanty pittance from throwing in her two mites." fn But the gifts
the Lord had for them in return were priceless. Wherever the Saints
had been, they left behind the hope of building a temple where they
could receive the crowning jewel of the restored gospel of Jesus
Christ—the ordinances available only in this holy house.
Magnificent
Spiral Staircase—Note Circular Window (Click to enlarge)
Joseph saw in
vision what the Nauvoo Temple should look like, and when architect
William Weeks brought him the plans, Joseph asked where the round
windows were that should be between the first and second floors
to let light stream into the temple. Weeks protested that structurally
he thought it impossible to put round windows in that place, for
they could not bear the weight of the building above them. To this
Joseph answered that he had seen the round windows in the vision,
and that that was the way the Lord wanted it to be. They had to
find a way to do it.
Details
of Staircase (Click to enlarge)
The cornerstones
were laid in a particular order, beginning with the southeast cornerstone
as a symbol of the order of the kingdom. With the eyes of a seer,
Joseph assured the Saints "that the ancient Prophets beheld
and rejoiced at this scene, and are near to witness the fulfillment
of their predictions."
"The building
up of Zion is a cause that has interested the people of God at every
age," reported The Times and Seasons. "They
have looked with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live."
Looking
Up Spiral Staircase (Click to enlarge)
Stretching his
hand toward the uncompleted temple, Joseph said, "If it should
be the will of God that I might live to behold that temple completed
and finished from the foundation to the top stone, I will say, 'Oh
Lord, it is enough. Lord let thy servant depart in peace.'"
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© 2002 Meridian
Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
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