The Holy Temple
By Boyd K. Packer
Synopsis: This book is a presentation of the doctrine, importance, and sacredness of the temple and our temple worship, by Elder Boyd K. Packer, who had been an apostle for 10 years at the time of its printing in 1980.
Strong Points: This book is a remarkable work. Boyd K. Packer, of course, was an excellent teacher, and his skills of teaching, presentation, and engaging the reader really shine in this work. It is a very satisfying experience to read this book, and it accomplishes its aim very well, to build a greater appreciation for the temple in the heart of the reader. It provides interesting insight and commentary about modern temple practice, and somewhat about how it evolved, discussing the early Church history practice of individuals sealing themselves to prophets as adopted children, and how and why it changed (p. 191-206). There are brilliant doctrinal connections, such as the gathering of Zion being done specifically so that temples can be built and used (p. 227), and that the turning of the hearts to the fathers, while also is literal to our recent ancestors, is also about turning to the covenant of the fathers (i.e. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) (p. 217-218). This books lays a great foundation for temple worship, and is enriching to those seeking to better appreciate the temple experience. Each chapter opens with a beautiful black and white water painted vignette. When reading this book, one cannot help but compare it to Elder James E. Talmage's classic work The House of the Lord. With all due honor to Elder Talmage, whose intellect is perhaps unsurpassed among the apostles, I found this book to be superior in my mind to Elder Talmage's work, both because it was more engaging and because it was more apt at establishing the relevance of temple worship in the lives of the readers in a way that strikes deeply into the heart. It is truly a masterpiece among the written works of the apostles.
Weak Points: Having been written in 1980, the book is not up to date on the modern methods of genealogy. However, it suffers very little from this handicap, because its principles which it discusses are everlasting and always basically applicable. Some of the discussions about genealogy seemed a little less interesting than the discussions about the temple ritual and doctrine itself , but this is probably just a reflection of my own interests and preferences. Even the genealogy chapters were well done and sufficiently engaging. A wonderful read.
Interesting: 4.8/5
Must Read: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
Selected Quote: "It is my hope to enlarge your understanding as to why the temples are built and as to why the ordinances and ceremonies are performed there; as to why we do some of the things we do with reference to the holy temples and why we do not do some other things concerning them. As I say in the introduction, I will not discuss the sacred ordinances and ceremonies further than has previously been published about them by the Church. But the things that are included in this book will, I hope, deepen your reverence for and appreciation of the holy temple." (p. 7-8).
"Those who joined the unholy power to prevent temple work seemed to win. Time after time they had their way. They ended up, for a time at least, with the [temple] sites - leaving the persecuted Saints nothing. Nothing? No! We have the keys, the ordinances. We have everything. They have nothing. They cannot baptize nor ordain. They cannot wash nor anoint nor endow nor seal. We came away with everything, and they have nothing. Our forebears were compelled, because of those deprivations in the early years, to focus on the thing that mattered most. ...
"Those who look back on Church history sometimes grind their teeth at the injustice of the persecutions or weep over the loss of the temples. They were taken away from us. But those who took the temples and defiled them have nothing, comparatively, and we have everything. They have a building and a site or two; we have the keys, we have the ordinances, we have the authority." (p. 175, 176).