Do temples always face east

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This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.

Contents

Question

Do LDS temples always face east?

Response

The front of the temple is the elevation where the phrase "House of the Lord" is found. So, for example, the "front" of the Provo temple is on the east-northeast elevation as the temple itself is 20 degrees off of a true east/west axis. The front of the Oakland Temple is the north elevation, and the front of the Los Angeles Temple is the southeast elevation. The Stockholm Temple faces due south, which, at such a northern latitude, would be the direction of the most light; its front is, therefore, the south elevation.

Nauvoo is an interesting case as it has the phrase on both the east and west elevations of the building. We know that the original Nauvoo temple had the phrase on the west elevation but no photographic record or architectural drawings exist of the east elevation, so the design of the east elevation of the modern Nauvoo Temple is guesswork. Thus, in the case of Nauvoo, you can take your pick on the west or the east elevation as the "front". Most people, however, would say that the west elevation is the front of the building as there are no doors on the east elevation.

In summary, to find the "front" of an LDS temple you find the phrase "House of the Lord" on the building itself, not on a sign. The elevation that the phrase is on is the front of the building. It is not always the east elevation. The angel Moroni statue has nothing to do with what is the front of the building. Temples are placed on the site in the manner that is most practical and artistically pleasing for that particular site. They can face in any direction.

Conclusion

Temples face whatever direction is most practical and artistically pleasing for the site they are on.

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

Wiki temple articles

FAIR web site

FAIR temple articles
  • FAIR Topical Guide: Changes in temple ceremony FAIR link
  • FAIR Topical Guide: Temples and temple work FAIR link

External links

On-line temple materials
  • Donald Q. Cannon, Larry E. Dahl, and John W. Welch, "The Restoration of Major Doctrines through Joseph Smith: Priesthood, the Word of God, and the Temple," Ensign (February 1989): 7. off-site
  • Robert L. Millet, "Was baptism for the dead a non-Christian practice in New Testament times (see 1 Cor. 15:29), or was it a practice of the Church of Jesus Christ, as it is today?," Ensign (August 1987): 19. off-site
  • Mormon Monastery, "Historical Changes Relating to Temples," off-site
  • David L. Paulsen and Cory G. Walker, "Work, Worship, and Grace: Review of The Mormon Culture of Salvation: Force, Grace and Glory by Douglas J. Davies," FARMS Review 18/2 (2006): 83–177. off-site PDF link wiki
  • Stephen D. Ricks, "Dexiosis and Dextrarum Iunctio: The Sacred Handclasp in the Classical and Early Christian World," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 431–436. off-site PDF link wiki

Printed material

Temple printed materials
  • Matthew B. Brown, The Gate of Heaven: Insight on the Doctrines and Symbols of the Temple (American Fork, UT: Covenant, 1999). ISBN 1577345118. ISBN 978-1577345114.
  • Matthew B. Brown, Symbols in Stone: Symbolism on the Early Temples of the Restoration, 2d ed., (American Fork, UT: Covenant, 1997).
  • William J. Hamblin and David Seely, Solomon's Temple: Myth and History (London: Thames and Hudson, 2007), Chapter 3. ISBN 0500251339.
  • Hugh W. Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment, 2nd edition, (Vol. 16 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by John Gee and Michael D. Rhodes, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Company ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2005), 1. ISBN 159038539X. 1st edition GospeLink
  • Hugh W. Nibley, Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present (Vol. 12 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by Don E. Norton, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Company ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1992), 1. ISBN 0875795234. GospeLink
  • Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1980), 1. ISBN 0884944115.
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