Church History Matters

The martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith was among the most tragic and defining moments in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and it continues to reverberate deeply in the hearts and minds of Latter-day Saints around the world. Hyrum was 44 years old and Joseph was 38 and a half when they were murdered in cold-blood in Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844. Man

What do we know about the purposes and function of the Holy of Holies? And do all temples have one? The word “seal” or “sealing” seems to have multiple meanings. What are those meanings? Also, has the Church’s teachings on wearing garments changed over time? And is there anything doctrinal about the length of garments? Since the garment length has changed in the past to a

1904 marked the beginning of what would become a grueling 4-year-long senate hearing of US sentator and apostle Reed Smoot. It is intriguing—and important—to learn how this crucible of intensive government examination into every aspect of the Church led to a posture of much greater openness about the temple to outsiders. In fact those hearings, followed by a backfired blackmail

Beginning in 1846, thousands of Latter-day Saints left Nauvoo, Illinois and trekked over one thousand miles west to the Salt Lake Valley. Having, of necessity, abandoned the Nauvoo Temple for which they had worked so hard and sacrificed so much, they were now a temple-centered people without a temple. Now they certainly would go on to build more temples—the first of which was the

During the last years of his life, the prophet Joseph Smith gave multiple public sermons dealing with 2 Peter 1, wherein the apostle Peter encourages his readers to “give diligence to make your calling and election sure” (vs. 10). Commenting on this phrase the prophet explained that to have one’s “calling and election” made sure meant to “obtain a promise from God for y

The prophet Joseph Smith’s final years in Nauvoo, IL constituted a season of rich theological and ritual convergence. It was a time when various threads of biblical and revealed theology gave birth to the Latter-day temple rituals that would enable us to enact that very theology. It was in Nauvoo that the picture became clear. Every revealed ordinance builds with deep meaning to

Welcome to our special bonus episode where Casey and I interview a friend of our show Lon Tibbitts. In our previous episode we discussed at length the relationship between masonry and the development of the temple endowment in Nauvoo—a topic a lot of people have questions about. So we thought you might enjoy hearing from Lon Tibbitts who has served both as an LDS ward bishop and

What Latter-day Saints today call the Temple Endowment was first given by the prophet Joseph Smith in 1842, two years prior to his death, to a small group of nine of his trusted associates in Nauvoo, Illinois. It was a key piece of the larger vibrant temple liturgy then developing in Nauvoo. But where did this temple endowment come from? What was its relationship to the prophet’s

As the climax of the Kirtland endowment on April 3, 1836, Joseph Smith received sacred keys in rapid succession from Moses, Elias, and Elijah. This was the primary purpose for which the Kirtland Temple was built! Joseph had now received all that was necessary for the next phase of temple building which he hoped would take place in Northern Missouri at the settlements of Far West an

In 1831 the Lord promised the New York saints that if they would gather together with Church members in Ohio they would there “be endowed with power from on high.” Trusting this promise most of them moved to Ohio in expectation of receiving this endowment, or gift, of power from on high. But what exactly was this endowment? What “power” was given from on high? Was it one th