Building the Nauvoo Temple

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Building the Nauvoo Temple

• A PowerPoint Presentation
• for CS 100

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Why Temples?

• To members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
  Latter-day Saints, temples are literally the
  "house of the Lord." Temples are sacred buildings
  in which Latter-day Saints receive instruction
  about the purpose of life and their relationship
  to God. There they take part in religious
  ceremonies that reach beyond mortality, both for
  themselves and in behalf of deceased ancestors.
  They also make covenants to serve God and their
  fellowman. Sacred ordinances such as eternal
  marriage and vicarious baptisms for the dead are
  done only in temples. These ordinances make it
  possible for individuals to return to the
  presence of God and for families to be united
  eternally

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More on Temples

• Many people are under the impression that the
  interior of a Latter-day Saint temple is like a
  great hall or cathedral. Actually, temples are
  made up of a number of rooms designed to
  accommodate certain functions such as marriages,
  baptisms, and religious instructional sessions.
  Inside the temple, Church members change into
  simple, modest, white clothing before taking part
  in temple ceremonies. The white temple clothing
  symbolizes purity and reverence

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The Original Nauvoo Temple

• After its completion, the Nauvoo Temple was
  dedicated in a private service on 30 April 1846
  and also in a public ceremony the following day.
  Although the Nauvoo Temple was the Church's
  second modern-day temple, it was the first in
  which baptisms, marriages and other ceremonies
  for deceased individuals were performed by
  proxy.
• Shortly after the Latter-day Saints were driven
  from Nauvoo, the temple was desecrated by mobs
  and by October 1848 was almost completely
  destroyed. In May 1850 a tornado struck, toppling
  the remaining temple walls and weakening the
  rest.

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Rebuilding

• Plans to rebuild the Nauvoo Illinois Temple were
  announced on 4 April 1999 by Church President
  Gordon B. Hinckley.
• Ground was broken on the original temple block on
  24 October 1999. On 5 November 2000, Church
  leaders conducted a service to set in place
  cornerstones and commemorate the cornerstone
  ceremony of the original temple.

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Temple Design

• The exterior is a reconstruction of the original
  temple. Drawings from the 1846 temple allowed
  contractors to closely replicate the exterior as
  drawn in the original plans. While careful
  attention has been given to period details inside
  the temple, the interior is designed to function
  as a modern, operating temple. Murals like those
  in the early Utah temples were added to the
  Nauvoo Temple.
• This is the Churchs 113th temple worldwide and
  53rd in the continental United States. It will
  serve more than 13,000 Latter-day Saints living
  in western Illinois, northeastern Missouri and
  eastern Iowa.

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Exterior

• The limestone exterior is a near duplicate of the
  original temple exterior. Quarried in Alabama, it
  is indistinguishable from the limestone used on
  the original temple.The perimeter of the
  54,000-square-foot temple measures 90 feet by 130
  feet. The interior consists of five levels and a
  basement.

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Stones and Windows

• The sun, moon and star stones on the exterior of
  the temple were replicated by craftsmen in
  Canada, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Idaho and Utah.
  Doors and window frames replicating the originals
  were hand-crafted in Nauvoo.
• The window glass, made in France and Germany, is
  the same type of glass made in the late 1700s and
  early 1800s. Like the original windows, each
  circular window on the fourth floor contains a
  large star made of red, white and blue colored
  glass.

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The Font

• The baptismal font is a close replica of the
  original. The 12 oxen upon which the font rests
  are carved from limestone, as were the original
  oxen.
• Many contractors and local workmen have helped
  with construction. Approximate construction
  period two and a half years.

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The End