FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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Question: Would Israelites not have constructed a temple outside of Jerusalem?: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 19:27, 27 March 2010
This article is a draft. FairMormon editors are currently editing it. We welcome your suggestions on improving the content.
Criticism
- Critics claim that Israelites would not have constructed a temple outside of Jerusalem, since this was forbidden by Jewish law and practice.
- A related claim insists that Lehi and his family, being Israelites, would not have offered sacrifices "according to the Law of Moses" because only Levites were authorized to perform sacrificial rites in Israel.
Source(s) of the criticism
To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, [[../CriticalSources|click here]]
Response
Contrary to the critics' claims, ancient Jews did not avoid creating other centers of sacrifice and worship when far from Jerusalem.
For example, Jews outside of the land of Israel created temples at Elephantine in Egypt (it was destroyed in 410 B.C.) and Leontopolis (sacrifice ceased in A.D. 73).[1]
Conclusion
Ancient practice did not avoid the construction of alternate sacrificial temples for Jews who were much closer to Jerusalem than the New World Nephites. The Book of Mormon's report is consistent with ancient practice.
Endnotes
- [note] Menachem Haran, Temples and Temple Service in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon, 1978), 46—47.