Book of Mormon anachronisms/Temple in New World

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==

Questions

== Critics attack the presence of an Israelite temple built by the Nephites. They do so on one or more of the following grounds:

• they claim that Israelites considered the Jerusalem temple the sole legitimate site of worship, and so would not have reproduced it.
• they claim that the Nephite population would have been too small to match the work required to built a temple "like unto Solomon's temple" (2 Nephi 5꞉16).
• they claim that the temple built was "similar in splendor" to Solomon's temple.
• they claim that the sacrifices and rituals as presented are not consistent with Jewish ritual

To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, click here

==

Answer

==

1. There is ample evidence that Old World Jews built other temple sites at which to worship besides Jerusalem. Even if they had not, it would seem strange for God to forbid a temple (vital as it was to Jewish religious practice) to people separated by an ocean and thousands of miles.
2. Population issues pose no difficulty—critics restrict the number of available workers, and exaggerate the probable size and "splendor" of the building itself.

Only one temple?

Recent Biblical scholarship has increasingly demonstrated that the portrayal of the Jerusalem temple as the sole legitmate site of worship was a late change made for political and polemical reasons. One non-LDS archaelogist's work is discussed:

The most obvious example [of a Jewish temple] is Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, which Dever [the archaelogist]...question[s] whether it was really the center of national religious life. He points out how difficult the requirements for temple worship would have been for the average Israelite. Few people journeyed to Jerusalem even once in their whole lives, let alone three times a year as prescribed in the Old Testament. He points out that "even if they did get there, they would not have been admitted to the Temple, . . . largely a royal chapel. . . . The activities [there] were conducted by and for a small priestly class, not even the majority of the small population resident in Jerusalem" (p. 98).

But to say that the Jerusalem temple may not actually have been the center of Israelite religion is not to preclude temple worship at other places. Evidence already discussed suggests that open-air sanctuaries and gate shrines may have been the sites of practices associated with the presence of the deity. There are two examples of monumental temples besides Solomon's. One such temple is at Shechem in Samaria and is known as the Field V Migdal temple...Its walls were as much as fifteen feet thick, and it stood two or three stories high. This site was associated by the 1960s excavators with specific passages in the Old Testament. Dever supports those connections, comfortable that this place could well have been the site where Joshua gathered the people after the conquest of Canaan (Joshua 24:) and where Abimelech rallied support when he aspired to the throne (Judges 9). But this temple predates Israel's monarchy. It was destroyed in the twelfth century BC, well before the Solomonic temple was built.

The only other Israelite temple [in Palestine] identified to date is from the eighth century BC, at Arad, east of Beersheba. Many readers will be surprised to know that any examples of ancient Israelite temples other than Solomon's exist at all from this time period because the Old Testament implies that ritual worship was by then centralized in Jerusalem. Dever argues that the temple at Arad was a large part of a Judean royal fortress and emphasizes how similar in plan it is to the Jerusalem temple. It was compatible with the official religion, at least in most respects. Evidence suggests that some of the paraphernalia found here—specifically three large standing stones and two altars—was deliberately buried under the floor as part of Hezekiah's reform.8 Dever notes that two of the standing stones (māṣṣēbôt) that were later concealed—one larger than the other—were originally placed on the back wall of the inner sanctum, the holy of holies. For him, this is evidence that at least two deities were worshipped here. The temple itself, Dever believes, is no isolated case of rogue temple-building. His sense is that local temples were common...^[1]

Known Jewish temples include:^[2]

Site	Approximate time (centuries before Christ)
Mosaic Tabernacle	13
Gilgal	13
Ebal	13
Shechem	12
Shiloh	12-11
Kirjath-jearim	11
Gibeon	10-11
Megiddo	10
Arad	10 (to 1st century A.D.)
Lachish	10-7
Dan	10-8
Bethel	9
Beer-Sheba	8-7
Elephantine/Aswan	6-4
Shechem/Mt. Gerizim (Samaritan)	-
Leontopolis/Tel Yehudia by Onias (near Heliopolis) which replaced/united several other Jewish temples in Egypt	160 B.C. to A.D. 73

Not enough people?

This criticism presumes that the Lehite immigrants are the only work-force available, but this is almost certainly not true. (See: Book of Mormon demographics.)

Evem of one presumes that the Lehite colony and the Nephite break-off are the only workforce—a dubious assumption—this only means that the temple would have been smaller—this seems likely in any case, since Nephi only says he built it "after the manner" of Solomon's temple, but not in so grand a style because of local restrictions. Consider Nephi's description:

And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon’s temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine. (2 Nephi 5꞉16). (emphasis added)

One critic, who used to be a member of the Church, actually demonstrates his ignorance of the Book of Mormon by stating that the temple that was built was said to be "similar in splendor" to Solomon's Temple, directly contradicting Nephi's description. This is a good example of the critics reading the text in the most naive, most absurd way possible. One should also consider that smaller population would not have needed a massive complex like the temple at Jerusalem anyway.

How could Lehi, a non-Levite, perform sacrifices?

In the Bible there are instances where men from non-Levite lineage offered sacrifices. One example that comes to mind is that of Gideon, a judge of Israel, who, like Lehi, was from the Josephite tribe of Manasseh. Commanded of God to build an altar, Gideon made an acceptable burnt offering to the Lord, and was in no way condemned for his action (See Judges 6:24-26). The prophet Samuel was from the Josephite tribe of Ephraim, yet he too offered sacrifices (1 Samuel 1:1; 1 Samuel 7:9-10; 1 Samuel 10:8; 1 Samuel 13꞉15). The general consensus among Bible scholars is that the idea that only descendants of Aaron could offer sacrifices was a late (post-exilic) concept in ancient Israel. It led to such anomalies as the later chroniclers assigning Samuel to the tribe of Levi in 1 Chronicles 6:33-38 to justify his having offered sacrifices. It is interesting that the first sacrifice offered for the Israelites after they left Egypt was performed not by a Levite, but by Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, a non-Israelite (Exodus 18:12).^[3]

Video

Part(s) of this issue are addressed in a FairMormon video segment. Click here to see video clips on other topics.

== Notes ==

1. [note]  Alyson Skabelund Von Feldt, "Does God Have a Wife? Review of Did God Have a Wife? Archaeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israel," FARMS Review 19/1 (2007): 81–118. off-site wiki
2. [note]  Dr. William Hamblin, "Tract Made Without Evidence". Hamblin respond's to James White's (of Alpha & Omega Ministry) e-tract, "Temples Made Without Hands" (22 September 1999). off-site
3. [note]  This answer is based on a FAQ from the FARMS/Maxwell Institute website (accessed 19 December 2007); it may have been altered by FAIR wiki editors. off-site