FAIR - User contributions [en]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-15T23:27:22Z

MatthewBrown: added links

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here] [http://www.lds.org/images/Magazines/Ensign/Archive/ensignlp.nfo:o:322e.jpg here] [http://users.marshall.edu/~brown/nauvoo/FriezeDetail.html here] [http://users.marshall.edu/~brown/nauvoo/nt-star.html here])

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of Sts. Peter and Paul - 1261 AD {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Paul's cathedral, Melbourne, Australia {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/d-l-j-h/386347105/in/photostream/}}
* Orthodox Church, Olyphant, Pennsylvania - 2009 AD {{link|url=http://www.allsaintsolyphant.org/images/Iconography%20Feb%202009/IMG_1859.JPG}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}
* Christmas Creche {{link|url=http://www.tawayama.com/creche09/crechewithupsidedownstar.jpg}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark-mitre) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}
* Example #4 {{link|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy34a.jpg}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* Micronesia flag {{link|url=http://www.internationaleducationmedia.com/Micronesia/micronesia_flag.jpg}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Late 19th to early 20th century American flag with all stars inverted. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=298&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-15T22:43:29Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here] [http://www.lds.org/images/Magazines/Ensign/Archive/ensignlp.nfo:o:322e.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of Sts. Peter and Paul - 1261 AD {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Paul's cathedral, Melbourne, Australia {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/d-l-j-h/386347105/in/photostream/}}
* Orthodox Church, Olyphant, Pennsylvania - 2009 AD {{link|url=http://www.allsaintsolyphant.org/images/Iconography%20Feb%202009/IMG_1859.JPG}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}
* Christmas Creche {{link|url=http://www.tawayama.com/creche09/crechewithupsidedownstar.jpg}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark-mitre) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}
* Example #4 {{link|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy34a.jpg}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* Micronesia flag {{link|url=http://www.internationaleducationmedia.com/Micronesia/micronesia_flag.jpg}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Late 19th to early 20th century American flag with all stars inverted. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=298&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-15T22:42:49Z

MatthewBrown: added link

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here] [http://www.lds.org/images/Magazines/Ensign/Archive/ensignlp.nfo:o:322e.jpg].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of Sts. Peter and Paul - 1261 AD {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Paul's cathedral, Melbourne, Australia {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/d-l-j-h/386347105/in/photostream/}}
* Orthodox Church, Olyphant, Pennsylvania - 2009 AD {{link|url=http://www.allsaintsolyphant.org/images/Iconography%20Feb%202009/IMG_1859.JPG}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}
* Christmas Creche {{link|url=http://www.tawayama.com/creche09/crechewithupsidedownstar.jpg}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark-mitre) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}
* Example #4 {{link|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy34a.jpg}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* Micronesia flag {{link|url=http://www.internationaleducationmedia.com/Micronesia/micronesia_flag.jpg}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Late 19th to early 20th century American flag with all stars inverted. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=298&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-15T21:24:17Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of Sts. Peter and Paul - 1261 AD {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Paul's cathedral, Melbourne, Australia {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/d-l-j-h/386347105/in/photostream/}}
* Orthodox Church, Olyphant, Pennsylvania - 2009 AD {{link|url=http://www.allsaintsolyphant.org/images/Iconography%20Feb%202009/IMG_1859.JPG}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}
* Christmas Creche {{link|url=http://www.tawayama.com/creche09/crechewithupsidedownstar.jpg}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark-mitre) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}
* Example #4 {{link|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy34a.jpg}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* Micronesia flag {{link|url=http://www.internationaleducationmedia.com/Micronesia/micronesia_flag.jpg}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Late 19th to early 20th century American flag with all stars inverted. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=298&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-15T21:22:41Z

MatthewBrown: moved references

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of Sts. Peter and Paul - 1261 AD {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Paul's cathedral, Melbourne, Australia {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/d-l-j-h/386347105/in/photostream/}}
* Orthodox Church, Olyphant, Pennsylvania - 2009 AD {{link|url=http://www.allsaintsolyphant.org/images/Iconography%20Feb%202009/IMG_1859.JPG}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}
* Christmas Creche {{link|url=http://www.tawayama.com/creche09/crechewithupsidedownstar.jpg}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark - mitre) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}
* Example #4 {{link|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy34a.jpg}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* Micronesia flag {{link|url=http://www.internationaleducationmedia.com/Micronesia/micronesia_flag.jpg}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Late 19th to early 20th century American flag with all stars inverted. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=298&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-15T21:18:03Z

MatthewBrown: moved reference

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of Sts. Peter and Paul - 1261 AD {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Paul's cathedral, Melbourne, Australia {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/d-l-j-h/386347105/in/photostream/}}
* Orthodox Church, Olyphant, Pennsylvania - 2009 AD {{link|url=http://www.allsaintsolyphant.org/images/Iconography%20Feb%202009/IMG_1859.JPG}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}
* Christmas Creche {{link|url=http://www.tawayama.com/creche09/crechewithupsidedownstar.jpg}}
* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}
* Example #4 {{link|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy34a.jpg}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* Micronesia flag {{link|url=http://www.internationaleducationmedia.com/Micronesia/micronesia_flag.jpg}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Late 19th to early 20th century American flag with all stars inverted. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=298&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-15T21:09:41Z

MatthewBrown: added date

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of Sts. Peter and Paul - 1261 AD {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Paul's cathedral, Melbourne, Australia {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/d-l-j-h/386347105/in/photostream/}}
* Orthodox Church, Olyphant, Pennsylvania - 2009 AD {{link|url=http://www.allsaintsolyphant.org/images/Iconography%20Feb%202009/IMG_1859.JPG}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}
* Christmas Creche {{link|url=http://www.tawayama.com/creche09/crechewithupsidedownstar.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}
* Example #4 {{link|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy34a.jpg}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* Micronesia flag {{link|url=http://www.internationaleducationmedia.com/Micronesia/micronesia_flag.jpg}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Late 19th to early 20th century American flag with all stars inverted. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=298&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-14T21:18:17Z

MatthewBrown: added date

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of Sts. Peter and Paul - 1261 AD {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Paul's cathedral, Melbourne, Australia {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/d-l-j-h/386347105/in/photostream/}}
* Orthodox Church, Olyphant, Pennsylvania {{link|url=http://www.allsaintsolyphant.org/images/Iconography%20Feb%202009/IMG_1859.JPG}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}
* Christmas Creche {{link|url=http://www.tawayama.com/creche09/crechewithupsidedownstar.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}
* Example #4 {{link|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy34a.jpg}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* Micronesia flag {{link|url=http://www.internationaleducationmedia.com/Micronesia/micronesia_flag.jpg}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Late 19th to early 20th century American flag with all stars inverted. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=298&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-14T19:59:09Z

MatthewBrown: added new modern example

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Paul's cathedral, Melbourne, Australia {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/d-l-j-h/386347105/in/photostream/}}
* Orthodox Church, Olyphant, Pennsylvania {{link|url=http://www.allsaintsolyphant.org/images/Iconography%20Feb%202009/IMG_1859.JPG}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}
* Christmas Creche {{link|url=http://www.tawayama.com/creche09/crechewithupsidedownstar.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}
* Example #4 {{link|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy34a.jpg}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* Micronesia flag {{link|url=http://www.internationaleducationmedia.com/Micronesia/micronesia_flag.jpg}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Late 19th to early 20th century American flag with all stars inverted. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=298&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-14T19:29:11Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Paul's cathedral, Melbourne, Australia {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/d-l-j-h/386347105/in/photostream/}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}
* Christmas Creche {{link|url=http://www.tawayama.com/creche09/crechewithupsidedownstar.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}
* Example #4 {{link|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy34a.jpg}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* Micronesia flag {{link|url=http://www.internationaleducationmedia.com/Micronesia/micronesia_flag.jpg}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Late 19th to early 20th century American flag with all stars inverted. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=298&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-14T19:27:29Z

MatthewBrown: added example

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Paul cathedral, Melbourne, Australia {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/d-l-j-h/386347105/in/photostream/}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}
* Christmas Creche {{link|url=http://www.tawayama.com/creche09/crechewithupsidedownstar.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}
* Example #4 {{link|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy34a.jpg}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* Micronesia flag {{link|url=http://www.internationaleducationmedia.com/Micronesia/micronesia_flag.jpg}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Late 19th to early 20th century American flag with all stars inverted. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=298&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-14T19:21:49Z

MatthewBrown: added example

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}
* Christmas Creche {{link|url=http://www.tawayama.com/creche09/crechewithupsidedownstar.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}
* Example #4 {{link|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy34a.jpg}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* Micronesia flag {{link|url=http://www.internationaleducationmedia.com/Micronesia/micronesia_flag.jpg}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Late 19th to early 20th century American flag with all stars inverted. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=298&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-14T18:59:05Z

MatthewBrown: added example

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}
* Christmas Creche {{link|url=http://www.tawayama.com/creche09/crechewithupsidedownstar.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}
* Example #4 {{link|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy34a.jpg}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Late 19th to early 20th century American flag with all stars inverted. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=298&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-14T18:44:01Z

MatthewBrown: replaced link; modified text

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}
* Example #4 {{link|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy34a.jpg}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Late 19th to early 20th century American flag with all stars inverted. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=298&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-14T17:08:10Z

MatthewBrown: added new example

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}
* Example #4 {{link|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy34a.jpg}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-13T22:01:27Z

MatthewBrown: added new example - video

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}
* Schenkenschanz, Germany - 1634 AD [video] {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi4qGlUCpM}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-12T15:49:26Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-12T15:47:39Z

MatthewBrown: punctuation fixes

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49.
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted].
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107.
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8.
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow].
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”].
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82.
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars].
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism. {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern. {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram.” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252. {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58. {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-12T15:42:01Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette,'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted]
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82,
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars]
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram,” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252 {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58 {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-12T15:40:59Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted]
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope,'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82,
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars]
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram,” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252 {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58 {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-12T15:37:39Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [p. 368 - inverted]
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82,
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars]
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram,” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252 {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58 {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-12T15:35:42Z

MatthewBrown: added new reference

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82,
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Kurt Weitzmann, "Thirteenth Century Crusader Icons on Mount Sinai," ''The Art Bulletin,'' vol. 45, no. 3, September 1963, 179-203 [many inverted stars]
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram,” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252 {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58 {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-01T02:06:20Z

MatthewBrown: added month designation

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope'' vol. 112, no. 10 (October 2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82,
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram,” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252 {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58 {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-01T01:48:29Z

MatthewBrown: deleted parantheses

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope'' vol. 112, no. 10 (2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82,
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram,” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252 {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58 {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-01T01:46:27Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope'' vol. 112, no. 10 (2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82,
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram,” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252 {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58 {{link|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-01T01:45:41Z

MatthewBrown: fixed link

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope'' vol. 112, no. 10 (2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82,
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram,” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252 {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58 {{http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-08-01T01:41:15Z

MatthewBrown: separated two references

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.

{{CriticalSources}}

=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s. (See [http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg here].)

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. {{S||DC|124|42}}). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me."{{ref|hc.1}} The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision.{{ref|quincy.1}}

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple."{{ref|mace.1}}

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/136 JST Revelation 12:1,7]).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" ({{b||Revelation|22|16}}). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning."{{ref|den.1}}

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.”{{ref|trib.1}}

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest."{{ref|gazette.1}} He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

===Varied uses of five-pointed stars===

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

====Christian Churches====

* Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul {{link|url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg}}
* Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window {{link|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/}}
* Market Church, Hanover, Germany {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html}}
* Church pew, Europe, 12th century {{link|url=http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html}}
* Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue {{link|url=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg}}
* St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0}}
* St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg}}
* Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister {{link|url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0}}

====Christian Artwork====

* Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215 {{link|url=http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80}}
* Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg}}

====Jewish Synagogue====

* 1862, Los Angeles, California {{link|url=http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg}}

====Medal of Honor====

* Congressional Medal of Honor {{link|url=http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg}}

====Boy Scouts of America====

* Boy Scouts {{link|url=http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg}}

====Coat of Arms====

* Example #1 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png}}
* Example #2 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg}}
* Example #3 {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png}}

====Flags====

* Dutch municipality flag {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg}}
* Arkansas state flag {{link|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif}}
* "Great Star" flag (USA) {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg}}

====Miscellaneous====

* Camp Stella Maris {{link|url=http://www.campstellamaris.org/}}
* Faultless Starch {{link|url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg}}
* Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo {{link|url=http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png}}
* Republican Party logo {{link|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png}}
* Victoria Police Department badge {{link|url=http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg}}
* United States Navy {{link|url=http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg}}
* Order of the Eastern Star {{link|url=http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png}}
* Christmas Star {{link|url=http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594}}
* Grammy Awards logo {{link|url=http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg}}
* Nutrition Program {{link|url=http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg}}
* Micmac Sign for Heaven {{link|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif}}
* Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark) {{link|url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html}}
* Post Civil War Parade Stand {{link|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg }}
* Steamboat Decoration {{link|url=http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|hc.1}} {{Book:Smith:History of the Church|vol=6|pages=196-97}}
#{{note|quincy.1}} {{Book:Quincy:Figures of the Past|pages=389}}
#{{note|mace.1}} Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).
#{{note|den.1}} ''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228 (20 August 1880): 3.
#{{note|trib.1}} "The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (13 November 1985): A–15.
#{{note|gazette.1}} ''The Mathematical Gazette'' vol. 78, no. 483 (November 1994): 319.

==Further Reading==

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following:
* Jan Schouten, ''The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study'' (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.
* Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, ''The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49
* Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., ''Fivefold Symmetry'' (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]
* William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', no. 53 (February 1934): 20.
* Steen E. Rasmussen, ''Experiencing Architecture'' (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107
* Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., ''Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8
* Robert S. Hawker, ''Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall'' (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]
* John McClintock and James Strong, ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'' (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]
* Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” ''Sky and Telescope'' vol. 112, no. 10 (2006): 102.
* Alva W. Steffler, ''Symbols of the Christian Faith'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82,
* Arthur C. Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.
* Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism {{link|url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm}}
* Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern {{link|url=http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out}}
* No author listed, “The Pentagram,” {{link|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html}}
* Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', 252 {{link|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david}}
* Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” ''Metascience'' vol. 18, no. 3 (November 2009): 455–58 ''http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/}}

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-07-29T18:36:54Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.



=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s.

http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. D&C 124:42). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me." (''History of the Church'', 6:196-97). The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision. (See Josiah Quincy, ''Figures of the Past From the Leaves of Old Journals'' [Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883], 389).

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple." (Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” (JST Revelation 12:1, 7).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" (Rev. 22:16). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning." (''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228, 20 August 1880, 3).

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.” ("The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'', 13 November 1985, A–15).

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest." (''The Mathematical Gazette'', vol. 78, no. 483, November 1994, 319). He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

'''Christian Churches'''

Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg

Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/

Market Church, Hanover, Germany

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html

Church pew, Europe, 12th century

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html

Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg

St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0

St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg

Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0

'''Christian Artwork'''

Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215

http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80

Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg

'''Jewish Synagogue'''

1862, Los Angeles, California

http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg

'''Medal of Honor'''

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg

'''Boy Scouts of America'''

http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg

'''Coat of Arms'''

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png

'''Flags'''

Dutch municipality flag

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg

Arkansas state flag

http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif

"Great Star" flag (USA)

http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg

'''Miscellaneous'''

Camp Stella Maris

http://www.campstellamaris.org/

Faultless Starch

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg

Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo

http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png

Republican Party logo

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png

Victoria Police Department badge

http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg

United States Navy

http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg

Order of the Eastern Star

http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png

Christmas Star

http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594

Grammy Awards logo

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg

Nutrition Program

http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg

Micmac Sign for Heaven

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif

Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark)

http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html

Post Civil War Parade Stand

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg

Steamboat Decoration

http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg

===Further Reading===

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following: Jan Schouten, The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.; Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49; Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., Fivefold Symmetry (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]; William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 53, February 1934, 20; Steen E. Rasmussen, Experiencing Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107; Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8; Robert S. Hawker, Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]; John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]; Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” Sky and Telescope, vol. 112, no. 10, 2006, 102; Alva W. Steffler, Symbols of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82; Arthur C. Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96. Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out ; no author listed, “The Pentagram,” http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html ; Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” The Jewish Encyclopedia, 252 http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” Metascience, vol. 18, no. 3, November 2009, 455–58 http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-07-29T18:36:23Z

MatthewBrown: added new links

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.



=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s.

http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. D&C 124:42). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me." (''History of the Church'', 6:196-97). The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision. (See Josiah Quincy, ''Figures of the Past From the Leaves of Old Journals'' [Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883], 389).

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple." (Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” (JST Revelation 12:1, 7).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" (Rev. 22:16). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning." (''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228, 20 August 1880, 3).

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.” ("The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'', 13 November 1985, A–15).

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest." (''The Mathematical Gazette'', vol. 78, no. 483, November 1994, 319). He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

'''Christian Churches'''

Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg

Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/

Market Church, Hanover, Germany

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html

Church pew, Europe, 12th century

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html

Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg

St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0

St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg

Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0

'''Christian Artwork'''

Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215

http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80

Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg

'''Jewish Synagogue'''

1862, Los Angeles, California

http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg

'''Medal of Honor'''

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg

'''Boy Scouts of America'''

http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg

'''Coat of Arms'''

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png

'''Flags'''

Dutch municipality flag

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg

Arkansas state flag

http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif

"Great Star" flag (USA)

http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg

'''Miscellaneous'''

Camp Stella Maris

http://www.campstellamaris.org/

Faultless Starch

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg

Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo

http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png

Republican Party logo

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png

Victoria Police Department badge

http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg

United States Navy

http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg

Order of the Eastern Star

http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png

Christmas Star

http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594

Grammy Awards logo

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg

Nutrition Program

http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg

Micmac Sign for Heaven

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif

Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark)

http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html

Post Civil War Parade Stand

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/civil-war-parade_Picture2.jpg

Steamboat Decoration

http://www.oldprintshop.com/images/large/53206.jpg

===Further Reading===

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following: Jan Schouten, The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.; Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49; Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., Fivefold Symmetry (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]; William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 53, February 1934, 20; Steen E. Rasmussen, Experiencing Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107; Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8; Robert S. Hawker, Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]; John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]; Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” Sky and Telescope, vol. 112, no. 10, 2006, 102; Alva W. Steffler, Symbols of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82; Arthur C. Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96. Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out ; no author listed, “The Pentagram,” http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html ; Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” The Jewish Encyclopedia, 252 http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” Metascience, vol. 18, no. 3, November 2009, 455–58 http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-07-29T01:46:01Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.



=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s.

http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. D&C 124:42). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me." (''History of the Church'', 6:196-97). The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision. (See Josiah Quincy, ''Figures of the Past From the Leaves of Old Journals'' [Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883], 389).

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple." (Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” (JST Revelation 12:1, 7).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" (Rev. 22:16). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning." (''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228, 20 August 1880, 3).

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.” ("The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'', 13 November 1985, A–15).

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest." (''The Mathematical Gazette'', vol. 78, no. 483, November 1994, 319). He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

'''Christian Churches'''

Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg

Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/

Market Church, Hanover, Germany

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html

Church pew, Europe, 12th century

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html

Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg

St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0

St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg

Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0

'''Christian Artwork'''

Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215

http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80

Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg

'''Jewish Synagogue'''

1862, Los Angeles, California

http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg

'''Medal of Honor'''

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg

'''Boy Scouts of America'''

http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg

'''Coat of Arms'''

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png

'''Flags'''

Dutch municipality flag

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg

Arkansas state flag

http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif

"Great Star" flag (USA)

http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg

'''Miscellaneous'''

Camp Stella Maris

http://www.campstellamaris.org/

Faultless Starch

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg

Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo

http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png

Republican Party logo

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png

Victoria Police Department badge

http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg

United States Navy

http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg

Order of the Eastern Star

http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png

Christmas Star

http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594

Grammy Awards logo

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg

Nutrition Program

http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg

Micmac Sign for Heaven

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif

Armagh Observatory Seal (watermark)

http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html

===Further Reading===

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following: Jan Schouten, The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.; Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49; Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., Fivefold Symmetry (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]; William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 53, February 1934, 20; Steen E. Rasmussen, Experiencing Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107; Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8; Robert S. Hawker, Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]; John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]; Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” Sky and Telescope, vol. 112, no. 10, 2006, 102; Alva W. Steffler, Symbols of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82; Arthur C. Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96. Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out ; no author listed, “The Pentagram,” http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html ; Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” The Jewish Encyclopedia, 252 http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” Metascience, vol. 18, no. 3, November 2009, 455–58 http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-07-29T01:44:35Z

MatthewBrown: added picture

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.



=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s.

http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. D&C 124:42). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me." (''History of the Church'', 6:196-97). The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision. (See Josiah Quincy, ''Figures of the Past From the Leaves of Old Journals'' [Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883], 389).

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple." (Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” (JST Revelation 12:1, 7).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" (Rev. 22:16). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning." (''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228, 20 August 1880, 3).

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.” ("The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'', 13 November 1985, A–15).

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest." (''The Mathematical Gazette'', vol. 78, no. 483, November 1994, 319). He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

'''Christian Churches'''

Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg

Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/

Market Church, Hanover, Germany

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html

Church pew, Europe, 12th century

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html

Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg

St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0

St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg

Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0

'''Christian Artwork'''

Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215

http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80

Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg

'''Jewish Synagogue'''

1862, Los Angeles, California

http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg

'''Medal of Honor'''

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg

'''Boy Scouts of America'''

http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg

'''Coat of Arms'''

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png

'''Flags'''

Dutch municipality flag

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg

Arkansas state flag

http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif

"Great Star" flag (USA)

http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg

'''Miscellaneous'''

Camp Stella Maris

http://www.campstellamaris.org/

Faultless Starch

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg

Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo

http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png

Republican Party logo

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png

Victoria Police Department badge

http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg

United States Navy

http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg

Order of the Eastern Star

http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png

Christmas Star

http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594

Grammy Awards logo

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg

Nutrition Program

http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg

Micmac Sign for Heaven

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif

Armaugh Observatory Seal (watermark)

http://www.arm.ac.uk/press/Lunar_eclipse0503_pr.html

===Further Reading===

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following: Jan Schouten, The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.; Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49; Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., Fivefold Symmetry (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]; William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 53, February 1934, 20; Steen E. Rasmussen, Experiencing Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107; Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8; Robert S. Hawker, Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]; John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]; Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” Sky and Telescope, vol. 112, no. 10, 2006, 102; Alva W. Steffler, Symbols of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82; Arthur C. Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96. Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out ; no author listed, “The Pentagram,” http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html ; Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” The Jewish Encyclopedia, 252 http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” Metascience, vol. 18, no. 3, November 2009, 455–58 http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-07-27T21:20:00Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.



=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s.

http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. D&C 124:42). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me." (''History of the Church'', 6:196-97). The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision. (See Josiah Quincy, ''Figures of the Past From the Leaves of Old Journals'' [Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883], 389).

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple." (Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” (JST Revelation 12:1, 7).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" (Rev. 22:16). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning." (''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228, 20 August 1880, 3).

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.” ("The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'', 13 November 1985, A–15).

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest." (''The Mathematical Gazette'', vol. 78, no. 483, November 1994, 319). He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

'''Christian Churches'''

Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg

Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/

Market Church, Hanover, Germany

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html

Church pew, Europe, 12th century

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html

Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg

St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0

St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg

Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0

'''Christian Artwork'''

Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215

http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80

Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg

'''Jewish Synagogue'''

1862, Los Angeles, California

http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg

'''Medal of Honor'''

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg

'''Boy Scouts of America'''

http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg

'''Coat of Arms'''

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png

'''Flags'''

Dutch municipality flag

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg

Arkansas state flag

http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif

"Great Star" flag (USA)

http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg

'''Miscellaneous'''

Camp Stella Maris

http://www.campstellamaris.org/

Faultless Starch

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg

Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo

http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png

Republican Party logo

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png

Victoria Police Department badge

http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg

United States Navy

http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg

Order of the Eastern Star

http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png

Christmas Star

http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594

Grammy Awards logo

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg

Nutrition Program

http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg

Micmac Sign for Heaven

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif

===Further Reading===

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following: Jan Schouten, The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.; Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49; Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., Fivefold Symmetry (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]; William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 53, February 1934, 20; Steen E. Rasmussen, Experiencing Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107; Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8; Robert S. Hawker, Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]; John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]; Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” Sky and Telescope, vol. 112, no. 10, 2006, 102; Alva W. Steffler, Symbols of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82; Arthur C. Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96. Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out ; no author listed, “The Pentagram,” http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html ; Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” The Jewish Encyclopedia, 252 http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” Metascience, vol. 18, no. 3, November 2009, 455–58 http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-07-26T07:26:55Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.



=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s.

http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. D&C 124:42). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me." (''History of the Church'', 6:196-97). The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision. (See Josiah Quincy, ''Figures of the Past From the Leaves of Old Journals'' [Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883], 389).

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple." (Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” (JST Revelation 12:1, 7).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" (Rev. 22:16). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning." (''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228, 20 August 1880, 3).

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.” ("The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'', 13 November 1985, A–15).

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest." (''The Mathematical Gazette'', vol. 78, no. 483, November 1994, 319). He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

'''Christian Churches'''

Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg

Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/

Market Church, Hanover, Germany

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html

Church pew, Europe, 12th century

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html

Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg

St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0

St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg

Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0

'''Christian Artwork'''

Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215

http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80

Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg

'''Jewish Synagogue'''

1862, Los Angeles, California

http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg

'''Medal of Honor'''

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg

'''Boy Scouts of America'''

http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg

'''Coat of Arms'''

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png

'''Flags'''

Dutch municipality flag

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg

Arkansas state flag

http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif

"Great Star" flag (USA)

http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg

'''Miscellaneous'''

Camp Stella Maris

http://www.campstellamaris.org/

Faultless Starch

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg

Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo

http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png

Republican Party logo

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png

Victoria Police Department badge

http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg

United States Navy

http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg

Order of the Eastern Star

http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png

Christmas Star

http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594

Grammy Awards logo

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg

Nutrition Program

http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg

Micmac Sign for Heaven

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following: Jan Schouten, The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.; Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49; Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., Fivefold Symmetry (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]; William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 53, February 1934, 20; Steen E. Rasmussen, Experiencing Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107; Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8; Robert S. Hawker, Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]; John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]; Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” Sky and Telescope, vol. 112, no. 10, 2006, 102; Alva W. Steffler, Symbols of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82; Arthur C. Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96. Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out ; no author listed, “The Pentagram,” http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html ; Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” The Jewish Encyclopedia, 252 http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” Metascience, vol. 18, no. 3, November 2009, 455–58 http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-07-26T07:25:51Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.



=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s.

http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. D&C 124:42). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me." (''History of the Church'', 6:196-97). The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision. (See Josiah Quincy, ''Figures of the Past From the Leaves of Old Journals'' [Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883], 389).

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple." (Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” (JST Revelation 12:1, 7).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" (Rev. 22:16). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning." (''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228, 20 August 1880, 3).

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.” ("The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'', 13 November 1985, A–15).

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest." (''The Mathematical Gazette'', vol. 78, no. 483, November 1994, 319). He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

'''Christian Churches'''

Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg

Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/

Market Church, Hanover, Germany

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html

Church pew, Europe, 12th century

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html

Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg

St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0

St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg

Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0

'''Christian Artwork'''

Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215

http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80

Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg

'''Jewish Synagogue'''

1862, Los Angeles, California

http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg

'''Medal of Honor'''

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg

'''Boy Scouts of America'''

http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg

'''Coat of Arms'''

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png

'''Flags'''

Dutch municipality flag

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg

Arkansas state flag

http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif

"Great Star" flag (USA)

http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg

'''Miscellaneous'''

Camp Stella Maris

http://www.campstellamaris.org/

Faultless Starch

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg

Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo

http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png

Republican Party logo

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png

Victoria Police Department badge

http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg

United States Navy

http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg

Order of the Eastern Star

http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png

Christmas Star

http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594

Grammy Awards logo

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg

Nutrition Program

http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg

Micmac Sign for Heaven

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following: Jan Schouten, The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.; Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49; Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., Fivefold Symmetry (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]; William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 53, February 1934, 20; Steen E. Rasmussen, Experiencing Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107; Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8; Robert S. Hawker, Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]; John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]; Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” Sky and Telescope, vol. 112, no. 10, 2006, 102; Alva W. Steffler, Symbols of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82; Arthur C. Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96. ; Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out ; no author listed, “The Pentagram,” http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html ; Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” The Jewish Encyclopedia, 252 http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” Metascience, vol. 18, no. 3, November 2009, 455–58 http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-07-26T07:24:44Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.



=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s.

http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. D&C 124:42). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me." (''History of the Church'', 6:196-97). The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision. (See Josiah Quincy, ''Figures of the Past From the Leaves of Old Journals'' [Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883], 389).

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple." (Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” (JST Revelation 12:1, 7).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" (Rev. 22:16). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning." (''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228, 20 August 1880, 3).

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.” ("The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'', 13 November 1985, A–15).

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest." (''The Mathematical Gazette'', vol. 78, no. 483, November 1994, 319). He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

'''Christian Churches'''

Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg

Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/

Market Church, Hanover, Germany

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html

Church pew, Europe, 12th century

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html

Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg

St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0

St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg

Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0

'''Christian Artwork'''

Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215

http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80

Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg

'''Jewish Synagogue'''

1862, Los Angeles, California

http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg

'''Medal of Honor'''

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg

'''Boy Scouts of America'''

http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg

'''Coat of Arms'''

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png

'''Flags'''

Dutch municipality flag

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg

Arkansas state flag

http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif

"Great Star" flag (USA)

http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg

'''Miscellaneous'''

Camp Stella Maris

http://www.campstellamaris.org/

Faultless Starch

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg

Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo

http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png

Republican Party logo

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png

Victoria Police Department badge

http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg

United States Navy

http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg

Order of the Eastern Star

http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png

Christmas Star

http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594

Grammy Awards logo

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg

Nutrition Program

http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg

Micmac Sign for Heaven

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following: Jan Schouten, The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.; Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49; Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., Fivefold Symmetry (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]; William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 53, February 1934, 20; Steen E. Rasmussen, Experiencing Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107; Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8; Robert S. Hawker, Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]; John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]; Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” Sky and Telescope, vol. 112, no. 10, 2006, 102; Alva W. Steffler, Symbols of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82; Arthur C. Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96. Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out ; no author listed, “The Pentagram,” http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html ; Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” The Jewish Encyclopedia, 252 http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” Metascience, vol. 18, no. 3, November 2009, 455–58 http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/ ; Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-07-26T07:22:16Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.



=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s.

http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. D&C 124:42). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me." (''History of the Church'', 6:196-97). The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision. (See Josiah Quincy, ''Figures of the Past From the Leaves of Old Journals'' [Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883], 389).

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple." (Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” (JST Revelation 12:1, 7).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" (Rev. 22:16). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning." (''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228, 20 August 1880, 3).

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.” ("The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'', 13 November 1985, A–15).

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest." (''The Mathematical Gazette'', vol. 78, no. 483, November 1994, 319). He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

'''Christian Churches'''

Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg

Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/

Market Church, Hanover, Germany

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html

Church pew, Europe, 12th century

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html

Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg

St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0

St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg

Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0

'''Christian Artwork'''

Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215

http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80

Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg

'''Jewish Synagogue'''

1862, Los Angeles, California

http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg

'''Medal of Honor'''

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg

'''Boy Scouts of America'''

http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg

'''Coat of Arms'''

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png

'''Flags'''

Dutch municipality flag

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg

Arkansas state flag

http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif

"Great Star" flag (USA)

http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg

'''Miscellaneous'''

Camp Stella Maris

http://www.campstellamaris.org/

Faultless Starch

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg

Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo

http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png

Republican Party logo

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png

Victoria Police Department badge

http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg

United States Navy

http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg

Order of the Eastern Star

http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png

Christmas Star

http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594

Grammy Awards logo

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg

Nutrition Program

http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg

Micmac Sign for Heaven

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following: Jan Schouten, The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.; Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49; Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., Fivefold Symmetry (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]; William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 53, February 1934, 20; Steen E. Rasmussen, Experiencing Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107; Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8; Robert S. Hawker, Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]; John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]; Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” Sky and Telescope, vol. 112, no. 10, 2006, 102; Alva W. Steffler, Symbols of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82; Arthur C. Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96. Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out ; Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” The Jewish Encyclopedia, 252 http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” Metascience, vol. 18, no. 3, November 2009, 455–58 http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/ ; no author listed, “The Pentagram,” http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html ; Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-07-26T07:19:37Z

MatthewBrown:

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.



=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s.

http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. D&C 124:42). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me." (''History of the Church'', 6:196-97). The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision. (See Josiah Quincy, ''Figures of the Past From the Leaves of Old Journals'' [Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883], 389).

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple." (Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” (JST Revelation 12:1, 7).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" (Rev. 22:16). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning." (''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228, 20 August 1880, 3).

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.” ("The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'', 13 November 1985, A–15).

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest." (''The Mathematical Gazette'', vol. 78, no. 483, November 1994, 319). He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

'''Christian Churches'''

Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg

Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/

Market Church, Hanover, Germany

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html

Church pew, Europe, 12th century

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html

Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg

St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0

St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg

Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0

'''Christian Artwork'''

Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215

http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80

Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg

'''Jewish Synagogue'''

1862, Los Angeles, California

http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg

'''Medal of Honor'''

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg

'''Boy Scouts of America'''

http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg

'''Coat of Arms'''

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png

'''Flags'''

Dutch municipality flag

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg

Arkansas state flag

http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif

"Great Star" flag (USA)

http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg

'''Miscellaneous'''

Camp Stella Maris

http://www.campstellamaris.org/

Faultless Starch

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg

Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo

http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png

Republican Party logo

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png

Victoria Police Department badge

http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg

United States Navy

http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg

Order of the Eastern Star

http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png

Christmas Star

http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594

Grammy Awards logo

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg

Nutrition Program

http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg

Micmac Sign for Heaven

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following: Jan Schouten, The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.; Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49; Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., Fivefold Symmetry (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]; William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 53, February 1934, 20; Steen E. Rasmussen, Experiencing Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107; Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8; Robert S. Hawker, Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]; John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]; Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” Sky and Telescope, vol. 112, no. 10, 2006, 102; Alva W. Steffler, Symbols of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82; Arthur C. Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96. Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out ; Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” Metascience,
vol. 18, no. 3, November 2009, 455–58 http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/ ; no author listed, “The Pentagram,” http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html ; Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm ; Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” The Jewish Encyclopedia, 252 http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-07-26T07:18:09Z

MatthewBrown: spacing

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.



=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s.

http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. D&C 124:42). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me." (''History of the Church'', 6:196-97). The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision. (See Josiah Quincy, ''Figures of the Past From the Leaves of Old Journals'' [Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883], 389).

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple." (Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” (JST Revelation 12:1, 7).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" (Rev. 22:16). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning." (''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228, 20 August 1880, 3).

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.” ("The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'', 13 November 1985, A–15).

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest." (''The Mathematical Gazette'', vol. 78, no. 483, November 1994, 319). He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

'''Christian Churches'''

Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg

Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/

Market Church, Hanover, Germany

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html

Church pew, Europe, 12th century

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html

Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg

St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0

St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg

Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0

'''Christian Artwork'''

Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215

http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80

Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg

'''Jewish Synagogue'''

1862, Los Angeles, California

http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg

'''Medal of Honor'''

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg

'''Boy Scouts of America'''

http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg

'''Coat of Arms'''

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png

'''Flags'''

Dutch municipality flag

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg

Arkansas state flag

http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif

"Great Star" flag (USA)

http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg

'''Miscellaneous'''

Camp Stella Maris

http://www.campstellamaris.org/

Faultless Starch

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg

Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo

http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png

Republican Party logo

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png

Victoria Police Department badge

http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg

United States Navy

http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg

Order of the Eastern Star

http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png

Christmas Star

http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594

Grammy Awards logo

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg

Nutrition Program

http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg

Micmac Sign for Heaven

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following: Jan Schouten, The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.; Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49; Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., Fivefold Symmetry (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]; William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 53, February 1934, 20; Steen E. Rasmussen, Experiencing Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107; Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8; Robert S. Hawker, Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]; John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]; Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” Sky and Telescope, vol. 112, no. 10, 2006, 102; Alva W. Steffler, Symbols of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82; Arthur C. Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96. Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out ; Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” Metascience, vol. 18, no. 3, November 2009, 455–58 http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/ ; no author listed, “The Pentagram,” http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html ; Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm ; Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” The Jewish Encyclopedia, 252 http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

2010-07-26T07:16:32Z

MatthewBrown: added references

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{TemplePortal}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Some critics of the LDS Church claim that the inverted five-pointed star on some of its temples are a symbol of evil and thereby demonstrate that Mormonism is not really a Christian religion.



=={{Response label}}==

The inverted five-ponted star was first displayed on the exterior of an LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s.

http://www.templestudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NauvooTemple-WilliamWeeks.jpg

The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that he received the pattern for the Nauvoo Temple by revelation (cf. D&C 124:42). He told the architect of the project, "I have seen in vision the splendid appearance of that building illuminated, and will have it built according to the pattern shown me." (''History of the Church'', 6:196-97). The Prophet also stated that he had seen at least one of the exterior symbols of that temple in this vision. (See Josiah Quincy, ''Figures of the Past From the Leaves of Old Journals'' [Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883], 389).

One of the foremen who helped to build the Nauvoo Temple recorded what the emblems on its exterior represented. He said,

:"The order of architecture was unlike anything in existence; it was purely original, being a representation of the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John the Revelator, in the 12 chapter [and] first verse of [the book of Revelation,] says, 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.' This is portrayed in the beautifully cut stone of this grand temple." (Wandle Mace, Autobiography, 207, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).

Joseph Smith revealed the connection between the heavenly woman of the apostle John's vision and the restored Church. In the Prophet's revision of the King James Bible he modified Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 and 7 to read: “And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars . . . the woman . . . was the Church of God.” (JST Revelation 12:1, 7).

This is the same arrangement of the symbols on the exterior pilasters of the Nauvoo Temple -- moon (bottom), sun (middle), and stars (top).

The stars are associated in the book of Revelation passage with a "crown" which is a symbol of royalty. In another section of the book of Revelation Jesus Christ proclaims His descent through the royal lineage that is within the house of Israel and then pronounces one of His titles: "I am the . . . offspring of David, and the bright . . . morning star" (Rev. 22:16). This is the title that nineteenth century Latter-day Saints assigned to the inverted five-pointed star. One of these emblems was put into place on the east tower of the Logan, Utah temple in 1880. An eyewitness to the event reported the following which was printed in a major newspaper: "Carved upon the keystone is a magnificent star, called the Star of the Morning." (''Deseret Evening News,'' vol. 13, no. 228, 20 August 1880, 3).

In 1985 LDS Church Architect Emil B. Fetzer stated that the inverted stars on early LDS temples were not sinister but were “symbolic of Christ.” He said that when the LDS Church “uses the pentagram or sunstone in an admirable, wholesome and uplifting context, this does not preclude another organization’s using the same symbols in an evil context.” ("The Public Forum," ''Salt Lake Tribune'', 13 November 1985, A–15).

A connection between the "inverted pentagram" and Satan "is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi," who was a "defrocked priest." (''The Mathematical Gazette'', vol. 78, no. 483, November 1994, 319). He did not begin publishing references to this idea until 1854, a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

'''Below are links to examples of the inverted five-pointed star in ancient Christian usage and also numerous modern, non-evil usages.'''

'''Christian Churches'''

Kaarma, Estonia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kaarma_kirik_2005.jpg

Amiens, France, cathedral, north transept window

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirakara/90699580/

Market Church, Hanover, Germany

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro009_large.html

Church pew, Europe, 12th century

http://cfac-old.byu.edu/valbrinkerhoff/daystar/daystar/European%20Cathedrals/content/Euro244_large.html

Chartres, France, niche surrounding Madonna and Child statue

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5509174-md.jpg

St. Mary's church, Adderbury, Oxfordshire

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2290582865_9a088976cc.jpg?v=0

St. Bartholomew church, Ucero, Spain

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanBartolome-Roseton.jpg

Lisbon, Portugal cathedral cloister

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2844347658_12a58299b1.jpg?v=0

'''Christian Artwork'''

Berthold Missal, Germany, ca. AD 1215

http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collections.asp?id=80

Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_18.jpg

'''Jewish Synagogue'''

1862, Los Angeles, California

http://www.wilshireboulevardtemple.org/content/images/1stBnaiBrithTemple__1_2_2147.jpg

'''Medal of Honor'''

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/images/medalLarge.jpg

'''Boy Scouts of America'''

http://bethany-umc.org/files/Images-General/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America.jpg

'''Coat of Arms'''

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Efringen.png

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Schlotheim_historisch.svg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Weiler-Rems.png

'''Flags'''

Dutch municipality flag

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Haaksbergen.svg

Arkansas state flag

http://www.usc.edu/dept/gero/nrcshhm/directory/States_Images/ar-flag.gif

"Great Star" flag (USA)

http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/files/flags.42.1.jpg

'''Miscellaneous'''

Camp Stella Maris

http://www.campstellamaris.org/

Faultless Starch

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/3541553634_962bf499f4.jpg

Tempstar Heating and Cooling logo

http://hartwigheating.com/images/tempstar.png

Republican Party logo

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/gv/d/d9/Republicanlogo.png

Victoria Police Department badge

http://bruceandfran.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/victoria_police.jpg

United States Navy

http://www.engravingsbykirk.com/images/Insignia/insignia_1.jpg

Order of the Eastern Star

http://image-reflections.com/xcart/images/T/EasternStar.png

Christmas Star

http://i03.c.aliimg.com/img/offer/80/52/45/94/80524594

Grammy Awards logo

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Anant/grammy_logo_090204.jpg

Nutrition Program

http://www.co.nash.nc.us/Portals/0/Graphics/HLT/winnerscircle.jpg

Micmac Sign for Heaven

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Father_in_heaven_-_Mikmaq_hierogl.gif

Some people view either upright or inverted five-pointed stars in an adverse way. For sources that address both of these configurations in several modern and ancient cultures see the following: Jan Schouten, The Pentagram as a Medical Symbol: An Iconological Study (Netherlands: H&DG Publishers, 1968), 98 pp.; Piotr Sadowski, “Sir Gawain’s Pentacle: The Imago Hominis and the Virtue of Temperance” in Piotr Sadowski, The Knight on His Quest: Symbolic Patterns of Transition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1996), 109–49; Koji Miyazaki, “A Mystic History of Fivefold Symmetry in Japan” in Istvan Hargittai, ed., Fivefold Symmetry (River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 1992), 361–93 [see esp. p. 368]; William F. Albright, “Light on the Jewish State in Persian Times,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 53, February 1934, 20; Steen E. Rasmussen, Experiencing Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962), 107; Marie-Therese Zenner, ed., Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, and Art (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), 7–8, nt. #8; Robert S. Hawker, Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall (New York: John Lane, 1903), 13–14 [see esp. fig. 2 adjacent to p. 14 – chancel roof boss, Morwenstow]; John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 7:901 [interpreted as “representing the five fingers of the hand of Omnipotence”]; Valerie C. Coffey, “Does Venus Form a Pentacle as it Moves Across the Sky?” Sky and Telescope, vol. 112, no. 10, 2006, 102; Alva W. Steffler, Symbols of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 82; Arthur C. Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1909), 295–96.

Nineteenth century American flag with 35 stars arranged in an inverted ‘Great Star’ pattern http://www.jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?id=1&page=out ; Abbey McGehee, “Reappraising the Design Methods of Medieval Architecture,” Metascience, vol. 18, no. 3, November 2009, 455–58 http://www.springerlink.com/content/97825qvvh48175up/ ; no author listed, “The Pentagram,” http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram.html ; Ancient Egyptian five-pointed star symbolism http://www.egyptianmyths.net/star.htm ; Inverted pentacle located “on the ancient synagogue of Tell Hum” – “Magen David,” The Jewish Encyclopedia, 252 http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david

==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]

Mormonism and Freemasonry/Hugh W. Nibley quotes

2010-07-23T04:57:51Z

MatthewBrown: added quote

=={{Criticism label}}==
Joseph Smith copied Masonic material in order to create the LDS temple rites.

=={{Response label}}==

Below are several quotations from Dr. Hugh W. Nibley regarding this issue:

*"Latter-day Saints believe that their temple ordinances are as old as the human race and represent a primordial revealed religion that has passed through alternate phases of apostasy and restoration which have left the world littered with the scattered fragments of the original structure, some more and some less recognizable, but all badly damaged and out of proper context. . . . There are, in fact, countless tribes, sects, societies, and orders from which [Joseph Smith] ''might'' have picked up this and that, had he known of their existence. The Near East in particular is littered with the archeological and living survivals of practices and teachings which an observant Mormon may find suggestively familiar. The Druzes would have been a goldmine for Smith. He has actually been charged with plundering some of the baggage brought to the West by certain fraternal orders during the Middle Ages -- as if the Prophet must rummage in a magpie's nest to stock a king's treasury! Among the customs and religions of mankind there are countless parallels, many of them very instructive, to what the Mormons do. But there is a world of difference between Ginzberg's ''Legends of the Jews'' and the book of Isaiah, or between the Infancy Gospels and the real Gospels, no matter how many points of contact one may detect between them. The Latter-day Saint endowment was not built up of elements brought together by chance, custom, or long research; it is a single, perfectly consistent, organic whole, conveying its message without the aid of rationalizing, spiritualizing, allegorizing, or moralizing interpretations." John Gee and Michael D. Rhodes, eds., ''The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment,'' 2d ed. (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 2005), xxvii-xxviii.

*"The most consistent thing about histories of Freemasonry by its most eminent historians is the noncommittal position in the important matter of origins." Don E. Norton, ed., ''Temple and Cosmos'' (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1992), 419.

*"[I]t was Joseph Smith who first pointed ['patternism'] out, recalling a common heritage from what he calls the archaic religion, coming down from Adam in such institutions as Freemasonry, and clearly pointing out their defects as time produced its inevitable corruption. What he himself supplied single-handedly is the original article in all its splendor and complexity." Don E. Norton, ed., ''Temple and Cosmos'' (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1992), 48.

*"Question: Where did the Masons get the ceremonies they have today? Did they come from these documents? Answer: Their ceremonies didn't come from these documents. Nobody had the texts until recently. They do give us an interesting check. The Masonic rites have a lot in common with ours. Of course in part they do have the same source, if you trace them way back. But what a different picture you see. The Masons don't give any religious meaning to them. They think of them as symbolic, as abstract. They don't see any particular realities behind them. The rites have nothing to do with salvation, but consist only of broken fragments. . . . They have been picked up from various times and places, and you can trace them back." Don E. Norton, ed., ''Temple and Cosmos'' (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1992), 319.

*"Did Joseph Smith reinvent the temple by putting all the fragments -- Jewish, Orthodox, Masonic, Gnostic, Hindu, Egyptian, and so forth -- together again? No, that is not how it is done. Very few of the fragments were available in his day, and the job of putting them together was begun, as we have seen, only in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Even when they are available, those poor fragments do not come together of themselves to make a whole; to this day the scholars who collect them do not know what to make of them. The temple is not to be derived from them, but the other way around. . . . That anything of such fulness, consistency, ingenuity, and perfection could have been brought forth at a single time and place -- overnight, as it were -- is quite adequate proof of a special dispensation." (''Ensign'', February 2007).

*Nibley quotes the 17 June 1842 letter from Heber C. Kimball (a long term Freemason) to Parley P. Pratt in which Kimball reported that the Prophet had said, "Masonry was taken from the Priesthood, but has become degenerated." Nibley also quotes the Benjamin F. Johnson report that the Prophet had said, "Freemasonry, as at present, is the apostate endowments, as sectarian religion [is] the apostate religion." Stephen D. Ricks, ed., ''Eloquent Witness: Nibley on Himself, Others, and the Temple'' (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 2008), 381.

*"[T]he Freemasons . . . put heavy emphasis on the allure of Egypt and the theatrical trappings of pseudo-temples and rites." Hugh W. Nibley and Michael D. Rhodes, ''One Eternal Round'' (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 2010), 474.

*"[There are] parallels between Mormon rituals and those of the Hopi . . . . [including an] initiation ritual [regarding parts of the body and the pronouncement of blessings] . . . . Parallels appear between the language of the Mormon temple ceremony and the Hopi myths of origin . . . . Responding to someone who asked about similarities between the Mormon temple endowment and the Masonic ceremony, Nibley wrote that the parallels between the Mormon endowment and the rites of the Hopi 'come closest of all as far as I have been able to discover -- and where did they get theirs?'" Boyd J. Peterson, ''Hugh Nibley: A Consecrated Life'' (Salt Lake City: Kofford Books, 2002), 282.

*"an extensive reading of Masonic and Mormon teachings and history should make it clear to any reader that the former is the shadow, the latter the substance. The one is literal, the other allegorical." "What is a Temple?" in Truman G. Madsen, ed., ''The Temple in Antiquity'' (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1984), nt. #71.

=={{Endnotes label}}==



==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
{{MasonryWiki}}

==={{FAIR web site label}}===
{{MasonryFAIR}}

===DVD/MP3===
{{MasonryDVD}}

==={{External links label}}===
{{MasonryLinks}}
==={{Printed material label}}===
{{MasonryPrinted}}

===Related papers===
{{MasonryRelated}}
{{Articles Footer 1}} {{Articles Footer 2}} {{Articles Footer 3}} {{Articles Footer 4}} {{Articles Footer 5}} {{Articles Footer 6}} {{Articles Footer 7}} {{Articles Footer 8}} {{Articles Footer 9}} {{Articles Footer 10}}

[[fr:Freemasonry]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Ordinances revealed

2010-07-20T02:07:41Z

MatthewBrown:

=={{Criticism label}}==
Critics claim that the LDS temple ordinances were either made up by Joseph Smith or borrowed, by him, from an earthly source.

=={{Response label}}==

'''This collection of quotes has been divided into two sections. The first section consists of statements from the LDS Church's official website indicating that the temple ordinances were 'revealed' by the Lord and 'restored' from antiquity. The second section consists of statements from scripture and the General Authorities of the LDS Church.'''

SECTION ONE:

*Apostle Russell M. Nelson, “Prepare for Blessings of the Temple,” ''Ensign'', March 2002.
:“The temple endowment was given by revelation. . . . Temples, ordinances, covenants, endowments, and sealings have been restored, precisely as prophesied. . . . A review of the Old Testament and the books of Moses and Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price may be especially enlightening after one is more familiar with the temple endowment. These books of ancient scripture underscore the antiquity of temple work and the enduring nature of its ordinances.”

*Temple Preparation Seminar Manual, 2003 / Lesson 3.
:“the Lord has always commanded His people to build temples. He has revealed the work to be done in temples. . . . Temple work in its fulness has been restored in our day through the Prophet Joseph Smith.”

*Apostle Neal A. Maxwell, ''Ensign'', September 1993.
:“Isn’t it marvelous to ponder how much the Prophet Joseph Smith learned throughout the extended process of restoring the holy apostleship, the holy priesthood, the holy endowment, the holy sealing power.”

*Temple Preparation Seminar Manual, 2003 / Lesson 6.
:President Harold B. Lee: “The temple ceremonies are designed by a wise Heavenly Father who has revealed them to us in these last days.”

*Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple, 2002 / “Taught from On High,” adapted from The Holy Temple by Apostle Boyd K. Packer.
:Apostle John A. Widtsoe, “The endowment and the temple work as revealed by the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith.”

*Apostle Marion G. Romney, ''Ensign'', March 1971.
:Prophet Joseph Smith: “What was the object of gathering the Jews, or the people of God in any age of the world? . . . . [T]o build unto the Lord a house whereby He could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His house.”

*Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple, 2002 / “Come to the Temple,” adapted from The Holy Temple by Apostle Boyd K. Packer.
:“In the temples members of the Church who make themselves eligible can participate in the most exalted of the redeeming ordinances that have been revealed to mankind. There, in a sacred ceremony, an individual may be washed and anointed and instructed and endowed and sealed.”

*Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, ch. 44, 2007.
:“During the Prophet’s ministry, all things were restored that were necessary to lay the foundation of the greatest dispensation of all time. The priesthood, with its essential keys, was restored; the Book of Mormon was translated; the Church was organized; and doctrines, ordinances, and covenants were revealed, including the ordinances and covenants of the endowment and the marriage sealing.”

*“Endowed with Covenants and Blessings,” ''Ensign'', February 1995.
:It was through the Prophet Joseph Smith in the nineteenth century that the Lord restored again to earth the holy ordinances of temple covenants and blessings. The following recollection of President George Q. Cannon of the First Presidency describes the intense interest that members of the Church had in the 1840s when the blessings of the temple were again made available to mankind:
:“When the Prophet Joseph [Smith] first communicated that the Lord had revealed to him the keys of the endowment, I can remember the great desire there was on every hand to understand something about them. When the Prophet would speak about his desire to complete the temple in order that he might impart unto his fellow servants that which God had delivered to him, a thrill went through the congregation and a great desire for this filled their hearts” (Gospel Truth, Discourses and Writings of President George Q. Cannon, 2 vols., comp. Jerreld L. Newquist, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974, 1:228).

*Apostle Mark E. Peterson, ''Ensign'', January 1972.
:“As the gospel was restored in these last days, temple building and temple ordinances also were restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith.”

*D&C and Church History Teacher’s Manual, 1999, Lesson 18.
:“Explain that the Kirtland Temple was not like today’s temples, where saving ordinances are performed for the living and the dead. The Lord restored temple ordinances a few years later while the Saints were in Nauvoo.”

SECTION TWO:

“I commanded Moses that he should build a tabernacle, that they should bear it with them in the wilderness, and to build a house in the land of promise, that those ordinances might be revealed which had been hid . . . . let [the Nauvoo Temple] be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people.”
:Jesus Christ (D&C 124:38, 40).

“God sitting upon his throne, revealing through the heavens the grand Key-words of the Priesthood.”
“the grand Key-words of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, and all to whom the Priesthood was revealed.”
:Joseph Smith, explanations 3 and 7 for Facsimile #2 in the Book of Abraham.

“These [temple] ordinances have been revealed to us; we understand them, and unless we attend to them we shall fall under condemnation.”
:Wilford Woodruff, ''Journal of Discourses'', 13:32.

“the Prophet Joseph . . . communicated that the Lord had revealed to him the keys of the endowment.”
:George Q. Cannon, ''Gospel Truth'', 179.

“I think that portion of this revelation which I have read, will give you a general idea of the sacredness of the house of the Lord, which is to be built in the latter times, a place wherein the angels may come and visit, as they did in the ancient Temple; a place wherein you can receive all those ordinances which the Lord has revealed and which He will hereafter reveal from time to time.”
:Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, vol. 16: --; 7 October 1873.

“When the [Kirtland] Temple was built, the Lord did not see proper to reveal all the ordinances of the endowments, such as we now understand. He revealed little by little.”
:Orson Pratt, ''Journal of Discourses'', vol. 19: ---, 20 May 1877.

“We build temples. What for? To administer the ordinances of God. What ordinances? Those that God has revealed, and those that the world know nothing about.”
:President John Taylor, ''Journal of Discourses'', 21: -- 2 January 1881.

“Today we enjoy the great happiness of having . . . these sacred structures completed, dedicated to and accepted of the Lord, wherein the Saints can enter and attend to those ordinances which He, in His infinite goodness and kindness, has revealed.”
:Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, Joseph F. Smith, ''Messages of the First Presidency'', 3:--, 18 March 1893; cited by James E. Talmage in ''The House of the Lord.''

“In Kirtland, the brethren were not endowed with the same ordinances that are now bestowed upon the people, because they had not yet been revealed. It was in the days of Nauvoo that these blessings and ordinances of endowment were made known to the Prophet Joseph.”
:Franklin D. Richards, ''Collected Discourses'', 5:--, 5 October 1896.

“the pattern of endowment garments was revealed from heaven.”
:Joseph F. Smith, ''Messages of the First Presidency'', 5:--, 1918.

“the endowment and the temple work as revealed by the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith.”
:John A. Widtsoe, "Temple Worship," in ''The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine'', 12 [April 1921]: 58; cited in Boyd K. Packer, ''The Holy Temple.''

“The Ancient Order of the Endowment Revealed . . . . The ancient order of the endowment restored.”
“He tried to impress upon the Saints the great responsibility which was upon them in having a house of the Lord where these sacred ordinances which had been revealed to him could be given to the Saints.”
:Joseph Fielding Smith, ''Church History and Modern Revelation'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1949), 4: lesson 133/34 and 138/39; Melchizedek Priesthood quorum manual; copyrighted by LDS Church President George Albert Smith.

“The temple ritual as revealed to Joseph Smith and communicated by him to his brethren is essentially symbolic. Its ordinances are not only ancient but also represent profound truths.”
:John A. Widtsoe, ''Joseph Smith – Seeker After Truth'' (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1951), --.

“temple ordinances for the living and the dead were revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith.”
:Presiding Bishop Joseph L. Wirthlin, ''Conference Report'', October 1956.

“In 1836 Elijah came and restored the sealing power, the power to bind on earth and have it sealed eternally in the heavens (D&C 110:13-16; 132:45-47). At a still later date, temple endowments and other ordinances were revealed -- all of which are a necessary prelude to the performance of an eternal marriage.”
:Bruce R. McConkie, ''Mormon Doctrine'', 2d ed. 1966.

“The temple ceremony was given by a wise Heavenly Father . . . . The endowment was revealed by revelation.”
:''Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson'' (chapter on Temples and Temple Work).

“the Prophet Joseph Smith . . . the endowment ceremony was given to him.”
“It is the Lord's house. He directs the conditions under which it may be used. He has revealed the ordinances that should be performed therein.”
:Boyd K. Packer, ''The Holy Temple.''

=={{Endnotes label}}==

*[[Temple_ordinances_revealed]]
*[[Temples/Obsolete after Christ|Obsolete after Christ]]
*[[Temples/Do temples always face east|Do LDS temples always face east?]]
*[[Temples/Why does the Church build expensive temples|Why does the Church build expensive temples?]]
*[[Temples/Baptism for the dead|Baptism for the dead]]
*[[Jews and early Christians on marriage after death]]
**[[Marriage/As a requirement for exaltation/Jesus said "neither marry nor given in marriage"]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Changes|Changes to the endowment]]
*[[Temples/Garments|Temple garments = "magic underwear"?]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Oath of vengeance|Oath of vengeance]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Penalties|Penalties in the endowment]]
*[[Temples/Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple|Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]
**[[Temples/Endowment/Freemasonry/All Seeing Eye|All Seeing Eye]]
**[[Inverted Stars on LDS Temples]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Freemasonry|Relationship of temples and Freemasonry]]
**[[Freemasonry_Origins]] - from Priesthood ordinances
**[[Freemasonry_(summary)]] - many resources
**[[Hugh_W._Nibley_on_Freemasonry]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Ordinances revealed

2010-07-20T02:00:29Z

MatthewBrown:

=={{Criticism label}}==
Critics claim that the LDS temple ordinances were either made up by Joseph Smith or borrowed, by him, from an earthly source.

=={{Response label}}==

'''This collection of quotes has been divided into two sections. The first section consists of statements from the LDS Church's official website indicating that the temple ordinances were 'revealed' by the Lord and 'restored' from antiquity. The second section consists of statements from scripture and the General Authorities of the LDS Church.'''

SECTION ONE:

*Apostle Russell M. Nelson, “Prepare for Blessings of the Temple,” ''Ensign'', March 2002.
:“The temple endowment was given by revelation. . . . Temples, ordinances, covenants, endowments, and sealings have been restored, precisely as prophesied. . . . A review of the Old Testament and the books of Moses and Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price may be especially enlightening after one is more familiar with the temple endowment. These books of ancient scripture underscore the antiquity of temple work and the enduring nature of its ordinances.”

*Temple Preparation Seminar Manual, 2003 / Lesson 3.
:“the Lord has always commanded His people to build temples. He has revealed the work to be done in temples. . . . Temple work in its fulness has been restored in our day through the Prophet Joseph Smith.”

*Apostle Neal A. Maxwell, ''Ensign'', September 1993.
:“Isn’t it marvelous to ponder how much the Prophet Joseph Smith learned throughout the extended process of restoring the holy apostleship, the holy priesthood, the holy endowment, the holy sealing power.”

*Temple Preparation Seminar Manual, 2003 / Lesson 6.
:President Harold B. Lee: “The temple ceremonies are designed by a wise Heavenly Father who has revealed them to us in these last days.”

*Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple, 2002 / “Taught from On High,” adapted from The Holy Temple by Apostle Boyd K. Packer.
:Apostle John A. Widtsoe, “The endowment and the temple work as revealed by the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith.”

*Apostle Marion G. Romney, ''Ensign'', March 1971.
:Prophet Joseph Smith: “What was the object of gathering the Jews, or the people of God in any age of the world? . . . . [T]o build unto the Lord a house whereby He could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His house.”

*Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple, 2002 / “Come to the Temple,” adapted from The Holy Temple by Apostle Boyd K. Packer.
:“In the temples members of the Church who make themselves eligible can participate in the most exalted of the redeeming ordinances that have been revealed to mankind. There, in a sacred ceremony, an individual may be washed and anointed and instructed and endowed and sealed.”

*Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, ch. 44, 2007.
:“During the Prophet’s ministry, all things were restored that were necessary to lay the foundation of the greatest dispensation of all time. The priesthood, with its essential keys, was restored; the Book of Mormon was translated; the Church was organized; and doctrines, ordinances, and covenants were revealed, including the ordinances and covenants of the endowment and the marriage sealing.”

*“Endowed with Covenants and Blessings,” ''Ensign'', February 1995.
:It was through the Prophet Joseph Smith in the nineteenth century that the Lord restored again to earth the holy ordinances of temple covenants and blessings. The following recollection of President George Q. Cannon of the First Presidency describes the intense interest that members of the Church had in the 1840s when the blessings of the temple were again made available to mankind:
:“When the Prophet Joseph [Smith] first communicated that the Lord had revealed to him the keys of the endowment, I can remember the great desire there was on every hand to understand something about them. When the Prophet would speak about his desire to complete the temple in order that he might impart unto his fellow servants that which God had delivered to him, a thrill went through the congregation and a great desire for this filled their hearts” (Gospel Truth, Discourses and Writings of President George Q. Cannon, 2 vols., comp. Jerreld L. Newquist, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974, 1:228).

*Apostle Mark E. Peterson, ''Ensign'', January 1972.
:“As the gospel was restored in these last days, temple building and temple ordinances also were restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith.”

*D&C and Church History Teacher’s Manual, 1999, Lesson 18.
:“Explain that the Kirtland Temple was not like today’s temples, where saving ordinances are performed for the living and the dead. The Lord restored temple ordinances a few years later while the Saints were in Nauvoo.”

SECTION TWO:

“I commanded Moses that he should build a tabernacle, that they should bear it with them in the wilderness, and to build a house in the land of promise, that those ordinances might be revealed which had been hid . . . . let [the Nauvoo Temple] be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people.”
:Jesus Christ (D&C 124:38, 40).

“God sitting upon his throne, revealing through the heavens the grand Key-words of the Priesthood.”
“the grand Key-words of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, and all to whom the Priesthood was revealed.”
:Joseph Smith, explanations 3 and 7 for Facsimile #2 in the Book of Abraham.

“These [temple] ordinances have been revealed to us; we understand them, and unless we attend to them we shall fall under condemnation.”
:Wilford Woodruff, ''Journal of Discourses'', 13:32.

“the Prophet Joseph . . . communicated that the Lord had revealed to him the keys of the endowment.”
:George Q. Cannon, ''Gospel Truth'', 179.

“I think that portion of this revelation which I have read, will give you a general idea of the sacredness of the house of the Lord, which is to be built in the latter times, a place wherein the angels may come and visit, as they did in the ancient Temple; a place wherein you can receive all those ordinances which the Lord has revealed, and which He will, hereafter reveal, from time to time.”
:Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, vol. 16: --; 7 October 1873.

“When the [Kirtland] Temple was built, the Lord did not see proper to reveal all the ordinances of the Endowments, such as we now understand. He revealed little by little”
:Orson Pratt, ''Journal of Discourses'', vol. 19: ---, 20 May 1877.

“We build temples. What for? To administer the ordinances of God. What ordinances? Those that God has revealed, and those that the world know nothing about.”
:President John Taylor, ''Journal of Discourses'', 21: -- 2 January 1881.

“Today we enjoy the great happiness of having . . . these sacred structures completed, dedicated to and accepted of the Lord, wherein the Saints can enter and attend to those ordinances which He, in His infinite goodness and kindness, has revealed.”
:Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, Joseph F. Smith, ''Messages of the First Presidency'', 3:--, 18 March 1893; cited by James E. Talmage in ''The House of the Lord.''

“In Kirtland, the brethren were not endowed with the same ordinances that are now bestowed upon the people, because they had not yet been revealed. It was in the days of Nauvoo that these blessings and ordinances of endowment were made known to the Prophet Joseph.”
:Franklin D. Richards, ''Collected Discourses'', 5:--, 5 October 1896.

“the pattern of endowment garments was revealed from heaven.”
:Joseph F. Smith, ''Messages of the First Presidency'', 5:--, 1918.

“The endowment and the temple work as revealed by the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith.”
:John A. Widtsoe, "Temple Worship," in ''The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine'', 12 [April 1921]: 58; cited in Boyd K. Packer, ''The Holy Temple.''

“The Ancient Order of the Endowment Revealed . . . . The ancient order of the endowment restored.”
“He tried to impress upon the saints the great responsibility which was upon them in having a house of the Lord where these sacred ordinances which had been revealed to him could be given to the Saints.”
:Joseph Fielding Smith, ''Church History and Modern Revelation'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1949), 4: lesson 133/34 and 138/39; Melchizedek Priesthood quorum manual; copyrighted by Church President George Albert Smith.

“The temple ritual as revealed to Joseph Smith and communicated by him to his brethren is essentially symbolic. Its ordinances are not only ancient but also represent profound truths.”
:John A. Widtsoe, ''Joseph Smith – Seeker After Truth'' (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1951), --.

“temple ordinances for the living and the dead were revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith.”
:Presiding Bishop Joseph L. Wirthlin, ''Conference Report'', October 1956.

“In 1836 Elijah came and restored the sealing power, the power to bind on earth and have it sealed eternally in the heavens (D&C 110:13-16; 132:45-47). At a still later date, temple endowments and other ordinances were revealed -- all of which are a necessary prelude to the performance of an eternal marriage.”
:Bruce R. McConkie, ''Mormon Doctrine'', 2d ed. 1966.

“The temple ceremony was given by a wise Heavenly Father . . . . The endowment was revealed by revelation”
:''Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson'' (chapter on Temples and Temple Work).

“the Prophet Joseph Smith . . . the endowment ceremony was given to him.”
“It is the Lord's house. He directs the conditions under which it may be used. He has revealed the ordinances that should be performed therein.”
:Boyd K. Packer, ''The Holy Temple.''

=={{Endnotes label}}==

''None''

*[[Temple_ordinances_revealed]]
*[[Temples/Obsolete after Christ|Obsolete after Christ]]
*[[Temples/Do temples always face east|Do LDS temples always face east?]]
*[[Temples/Why does the Church build expensive temples|Why does the Church build expensive temples?]]
*[[Temples/Baptism for the dead|Baptism for the dead]]
*[[Jews and early Christians on marriage after death]]
**[[Marriage/As a requirement for exaltation/Jesus said "neither marry nor given in marriage"]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Changes|Changes to the endowment]]
*[[Temples/Garments|Temple garments = "magic underwear"?]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Oath of vengeance|Oath of vengeance]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Penalties|Penalties in the endowment]]
*[[Temples/Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple|Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]
**[[Temples/Endowment/Freemasonry/All Seeing Eye|All Seeing Eye]]
**[[Inverted Stars on LDS Temples]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Freemasonry|Relationship of temples and Freemasonry]]
**[[Freemasonry_Origins]] - from Priesthood ordinances
**[[Freemasonry_(summary)]] - many resources
**[[Hugh_W._Nibley_on_Freemasonry]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Ordinances revealed

2010-07-20T01:58:10Z

MatthewBrown:

=={{Criticism label}}==
Critics claim that the LDS temple ordinances were either made up by Joseph Smith or borrowed, by him, from an earthly source.

=={{Response label}}==

'''This collection of quotes has been divided into two sections. The first section consists of statements from the LDS Church's official website indicating that the temple ordinances were 'revealed' by the Lord and 'restored' from antiquity. The second section consists of statements from scripture and the General Authorities of the LDS Church.'''

SECTION ONE:

*Apostle Russell M. Nelson, “Prepare for Blessings of the Temple,” ''Ensign'', March 2002.
:“The temple endowment was given by revelation. . . . Temples, ordinances, covenants, endowments, and sealings have been restored, precisely as prophesied. . . . A review of the Old Testament and the books of Moses and Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price may be especially enlightening after one is more familiar with the temple endowment. These books of ancient scripture underscore the antiquity of temple work and the enduring nature of its ordinances.”

*Temple Preparation Seminar Manual, 2003 / Lesson 3.
:“the Lord has always commanded His people to build temples. He has revealed the work to be done in temples. . . . Temple work in its fulness has been restored in our day through the Prophet Joseph Smith.”

*Apostle Neal A. Maxwell, ''Ensign'', September 1993.
:“Isn’t it marvelous to ponder how much the Prophet Joseph Smith learned throughout the extended process of restoring the holy apostleship, the holy priesthood, the holy endowment, the holy sealing power.”

*Temple Preparation Seminar Manual, 2003 / Lesson 6.
:President Harold B. Lee: “The temple ceremonies are designed by a wise Heavenly Father who has revealed them to us in these last days.”

*Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple, 2002 / “Taught from On High,” adapted from The Holy Temple by Apostle Boyd K. Packer.
:Apostle John A. Widtsoe, “The endowment and the temple work as revealed by the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith.”

*Apostle Marion G. Romney, ''Ensign'', March 1971.
:Prophet Joseph Smith: “What was the object of gathering the Jews, or the people of God in any age of the world? . . . . [T]o build unto the Lord a house whereby He could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His house.”

*Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple, 2002 / “Come to the Temple,” adapted from The Holy Temple by Apostle Boyd K. Packer.
:“In the temples members of the Church who make themselves eligible can participate in the most exalted of the redeeming ordinances that have been revealed to mankind. There, in a sacred ceremony, an individual may be washed and anointed and instructed and endowed and sealed.”

*Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, ch. 44, 2007.
:“During the Prophet’s ministry, all things were restored that were necessary to lay the foundation of the greatest dispensation of all time. The priesthood, with its essential keys, was restored; the Book of Mormon was translated; the Church was organized; and doctrines, ordinances, and covenants were revealed, including the ordinances and covenants of the endowment and the marriage sealing.”

*“Endowed with Covenants and Blessings,” ''Ensign'', February 1995.
:It was through the Prophet Joseph Smith in the nineteenth century that the Lord restored again to earth the holy ordinances of temple covenants and blessings. The following recollection of President George Q. Cannon of the First Presidency describes the intense interest that members of the Church had in the 1840s when the blessings of the temple were again made available to mankind:
:“When the Prophet Joseph [Smith] first communicated that the Lord had revealed to him the keys of the endowment, I can remember the great desire there was on every hand to understand something about them. When the Prophet would speak about his desire to complete the temple in order that he might impart unto his fellow servants that which God had delivered to him, a thrill went through the congregation and a great desire for this filled their hearts” (Gospel Truth, Discourses and Writings of President George Q. Cannon, 2 vols., comp. Jerreld L. Newquist, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974, 1:228).

*Apostle Mark E. Peterson, ''Ensign'', January 1972.
:“As the gospel was restored in these last days, temple building and temple ordinances also were restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith.”

*D&C and Church History Teacher’s Manual, 1999, Lesson 18.
:“Explain that the Kirtland Temple was not like today’s temples, where saving ordinances are performed for the living and the dead. The Lord restored temple ordinances a few years later while the Saints were in Nauvoo.”

SECTION TWO:

“I commanded Moses that he should build a tabernacle, that they should bear it with them in the wilderness, and to build a house in the land of promise, that those ordinances might be revealed which had been hid . . . . let [the Nauvoo Temple] be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people.”
:Jesus Christ (D&C 124:38, 40)

“God sitting upon his throne, revealing through the heavens the grand Key-words of the Priesthood.”
“the grand Key-words of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, and all to whom the Priesthood was revealed.”
:Joseph Smith, explanations 3 and 7 for Facsimile #2 in the Book of Abraham

“These [temple] ordinances have been revealed to us; we understand them, and unless we attend to them we shall fall under condemnation.”
:Wilford Woodruff, ''Journal of Discourses'', 13:32

“the Prophet Joseph . . . communicated that the Lord had revealed to him the keys of the endowment.”
:George Q. Cannon, ''Gospel Truth'', 179

“I think that portion of this revelation which I have read, will give you a general idea of the sacredness of the house of the Lord, which is to be built in the latter times, a place wherein the angels may come and visit, as they did in the ancient Temple; a place wherein you can receive all those ordinances which the Lord has revealed, and which He will, hereafter reveal, from time to time.”
:Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, vol. 16: --; 7 October 1873

“When the [Kirtland] Temple was built, the Lord did not see proper to reveal all the ordinances of the Endowments, such as we now understand. He revealed little by little”
:Orson Pratt, ''Journal of Discourses'', vol. 19: ---, 20 May 1877

“We build temples. What for? To administer the ordinances of God. What ordinances? Those that God has revealed, and those that the world know nothing about.”
:President John Taylor, ''Journal of Discourses'', 21: -- 2 January 1881

“Today we enjoy the great happiness of having . . . these sacred structures completed, dedicated to and accepted of the Lord, wherein the Saints can enter and attend to those ordinances which He, in His infinite goodness and kindness, has revealed.”
:Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, Joseph F. Smith, ''Messages of the First Presidency'', 3:--, 18 March 1893; cited by James E. Talmage in ''The House of the Lord''

“In Kirtland, the brethren were not endowed with the same ordinances that are now bestowed upon the people, because they had not yet been revealed. It was in the days of Nauvoo that these blessings and ordinances of endowment were made known to the Prophet Joseph.”
:Franklin D. Richards, ''Collected Discourses'', 5:--, 5 October 1896

“the pattern of endowment garments was revealed from heaven.”
:Joseph F. Smith, ''Messages of the First Presidency'', 5:--, 1918

“The endowment and the temple work as revealed by the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith.”
:John A. Widtsoe, "Temple Worship," in ''The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine'', 12 [April 1921]: 58; cited in Boyd K. Packer, ''The Holy Temple''

“The Ancient Order of the Endowment Revealed . . . . The ancient order of the endowment restored.”
“He tried to impress upon the saints the great responsibility which was upon them in having a house of the Lord where these sacred ordinances which had been revealed to him could be given to the Saints”
:Joseph Fielding Smith, ''Church History and Modern Revelation'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1949), 4: lesson 133/34 and 138/39; Melchizedek Priesthood quorum manual; copyrighted by Church President George Albert Smith.

“The temple ritual as revealed to Joseph Smith and communicated by him to his brethren is essentially symbolic. Its ordinances are not only ancient but also represent profound truths.”
:John A. Widtsoe, ''Joseph Smith – Seeker After Truth'' (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1951),

“temple ordinances for the living and the dead were revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith.”
:Presiding Bishop Joseph L. Wirthlin, ''Conference Report'', October 1956

“In 1836 Elijah came and restored the sealing power, the power to bind on earth and have it sealed eternally in the heavens (D&C 110:13-16; 132:45-47). At a still later date, temple endowments and other ordinances were revealed -- all of which are a necessary prelude to the performance of an eternal marriage.”
:Bruce R. McConkie, ''Mormon Doctrine'', 2d ed. 1966

“The temple ceremony was given by a wise Heavenly Father . . . . The endowment was revealed by revelation”
:''Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson'' (chapter on Temples and Temple Work)

“the Prophet Joseph Smith . . . the endowment ceremony was given to him.”
“It is the Lord's house. He directs the conditions under which it may be used. He has revealed the ordinances that should be performed therein.”
:Boyd K. Packer, ''The Holy Temple''

=={{Endnotes label}}==

''None''

*[[Temple_ordinances_revealed]]
*[[Temples/Obsolete after Christ|Obsolete after Christ]]
*[[Temples/Do temples always face east|Do LDS temples always face east?]]
*[[Temples/Why does the Church build expensive temples|Why does the Church build expensive temples?]]
*[[Temples/Baptism for the dead|Baptism for the dead]]
*[[Jews and early Christians on marriage after death]]
**[[Marriage/As a requirement for exaltation/Jesus said "neither marry nor given in marriage"]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Changes|Changes to the endowment]]
*[[Temples/Garments|Temple garments = "magic underwear"?]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Oath of vengeance|Oath of vengeance]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Penalties|Penalties in the endowment]]
*[[Temples/Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple|Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]
**[[Temples/Endowment/Freemasonry/All Seeing Eye|All Seeing Eye]]
**[[Inverted Stars on LDS Temples]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Freemasonry|Relationship of temples and Freemasonry]]
**[[Freemasonry_Origins]] - from Priesthood ordinances
**[[Freemasonry_(summary)]] - many resources
**[[Hugh_W._Nibley_on_Freemasonry]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Ordinances revealed

2010-07-20T01:52:57Z

MatthewBrown: added quotations

{{draft}}

=={{Criticism label}}==
Critics claim that the LDS temple ordinances were either made up by Joseph Smith or borrowed, by him, from an earthly source.

=={{Response label}}==

'''This collection of quotes has been divided into two sections. The first section consists of statements from the LDS Church's official website indicating that the temple ordinances were 'revealed' by the Lord and 'restored' from antiquity. The second section consists of statements from scripture and the General Authorities of the LDS Church.'''

SECTION ONE:

*Apostle Russell M. Nelson, “Prepare for Blessings of the Temple,” ''Ensign'', March 2002.
:“The temple endowment was given by revelation. . . . Temples, ordinances, covenants, endowments, and sealings have been restored, precisely as prophesied. . . . A review of the Old Testament and the books of Moses and Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price may be especially enlightening after one is more familiar with the temple endowment. These books of ancient scripture underscore the antiquity of temple work and the enduring nature of its ordinances.”

*Temple Preparation Seminar Manual, 2003 / Lesson 3.
:“the Lord has always commanded His people to build temples. He has revealed the work to be done in temples. . . . Temple work in its fulness has been restored in our day through the Prophet Joseph Smith.”

*Apostle Neal A. Maxwell, ''Ensign'', September 1993.
:“Isn’t it marvelous to ponder how much the Prophet Joseph Smith learned throughout the extended process of restoring the holy apostleship, the holy priesthood, the holy endowment, the holy sealing power.”

*Temple Preparation Seminar Manual, 2003 / Lesson 6.
:President Harold B. Lee: “The temple ceremonies are designed by a wise Heavenly Father who has revealed them to us in these last days.”

*Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple, 2002 / “Taught from On High,” adapted from The Holy Temple by Apostle Boyd K. Packer.
:Apostle John A. Widtsoe, “The endowment and the temple work as revealed by the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith.”

*Apostle Marion G. Romney, ''Ensign'', March 1971.
:Prophet Joseph Smith: “What was the object of gathering the Jews, or the people of God in any age of the world? . . . . [T]o build unto the Lord a house whereby He could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His house.”

*Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple, 2002 / “Come to the Temple,” adapted from The Holy Temple by Apostle Boyd K. Packer.
:“In the temples members of the Church who make themselves eligible can participate in the most exalted of the redeeming ordinances that have been revealed to mankind. There, in a sacred ceremony, an individual may be washed and anointed and instructed and endowed and sealed.”

*Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, ch. 44, 2007.
:“During the Prophet’s ministry, all things were restored that were necessary to lay the foundation of the greatest dispensation of all time. The priesthood, with its essential keys, was restored; the Book of Mormon was translated; the Church was organized; and doctrines, ordinances, and covenants were revealed, including the ordinances and covenants of the endowment and the marriage sealing.”

*“Endowed with Covenants and Blessings,” ''Ensign'', February 1995.
:It was through the Prophet Joseph Smith in the nineteenth century that the Lord restored again to earth the holy ordinances of temple covenants and blessings. The following recollection of President George Q. Cannon of the First Presidency describes the intense interest that members of the Church had in the 1840s when the blessings of the temple were again made available to mankind:
:“When the Prophet Joseph [Smith] first communicated that the Lord had revealed to him the keys of the endowment, I can remember the great desire there was on every hand to understand something about them. When the Prophet would speak about his desire to complete the temple in order that he might impart unto his fellow servants that which God had delivered to him, a thrill went through the congregation and a great desire for this filled their hearts” (Gospel Truth, Discourses and Writings of President George Q. Cannon, 2 vols., comp. Jerreld L. Newquist, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974, 1:228).

*Apostle Mark E. Peterson, ''Ensign'', January 1972.
:“As the gospel was restored in these last days, temple building and temple ordinances also were restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith.”

*D&C and Church History Teacher’s Manual, 1999, Lesson 18.
:“Explain that the Kirtland Temple was not like today’s temples, where saving ordinances are performed for the living and the dead. The Lord restored temple ordinances a few years later while the Saints were in Nauvoo.”

SECTION TWO:

“I commanded Moses that he should build a tabernacle, that they should bear it with them in the wilderness, and to build a house in the land of promise, that those ordinances might be revealed which had been hid . . . . let [the Nauvoo Temple] be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people.”
:Jesus Christ (D&C 124:38, 40)

“God sitting upon his throne, revealing through the heavens the grand Key-words of the Priesthood”
“the grand Key-words of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, and all to whom the Priesthood was revealed.”
:Joseph Smith, explanations 3 and 7 for Facsimile #2 in the Book of Abraham

“These [temple] ordinances have been revealed to us; we understand them, and unless we attend to them we shall fall under condemnation.”
:Wilford Woodruff, ''Journal of Discourses'', 13:32

“the Prophet Joseph . . . communicated that the Lord had revealed to him the keys of the endowment.”
:George Q. Cannon, ''Gospel Truth'', 179

“I think that portion of this revelation which I have read, will give you a general idea of the sacredness of the house of the Lord, which is to be built in the latter times, a place wherein the angels may come and visit, as they did in the ancient Temple; a place wherein you can receive all those ordinances which the Lord has revealed, and which He will, hereafter reveal, from time to time”
:Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, vol. 16: --; 7 October 1873

“When the [Kirtland] Temple was built, the Lord did not see proper to reveal all the ordinances of the Endowments, such as we now understand. He revealed little by little”
:Orson Pratt, ''Journal of Discourses'', vol. 19: ---, 20 May 1877

“We build temples. What for? To administer the ordinances of God. What ordinances? Those that God has revealed, and those that the world know nothing about.”
:President John Taylor, ''Journal of Discourses'', 21: -- 2 January 1881

“Today we enjoy the great happiness of having . . . these sacred structures completed, dedicated to and accepted of the Lord, wherein the Saints can enter and attend to those ordinances which He, in His infinite goodness and kindness, has revealed.”
:Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, Joseph F. Smith, ''Messages of the First Presidency'', 3:--, 18 March 1893; cited by James E. Talmage in ''The House of the Lord''

“In Kirtland, the brethren were not endowed with the same ordinances that are now bestowed upon the people, because they had not yet been revealed. It was in the days of Nauvoo that these blessings and ordinances of endowment were made known to the Prophet Joseph.”
:Franklin D. Richards, ''Collected Discourses'', 5:--, 5 October 1896

“the pattern of endowment garments was revealed from heaven”
:Joseph F. Smith, ''Messages of the First Presidency'', 5:--, 1918

“The endowment and the temple work as revealed by the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith”
John A. Widtsoe, "Temple Worship," in ''The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine'', 12 [April 1921]: 58; cited in Boyd K. Packer, ''The Holy Temple''

“The Ancient Order of the Endowment Revealed . . . . The ancient order of the endowment restored”
“He tried to impress upon the saints the great responsibility which was upon them in having a house of the Lord where these sacred ordinances which had been revealed to him could be given to the Saints”
:Joseph Fielding Smith, ''Church History and Modern Revelation'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1949), 4: lesson 133/34 and 138/39; Melchizedek Priesthood quorum manual; copyrighted by Church President George Albert Smith.

“The temple ritual as revealed to Joseph Smith and communicated by him to his brethren is essentially symbolic. Its ordinances are not only ancient but also represent profound truths.”
:John A. Widtsoe, ''Joseph Smith – Seeker After Truth'' (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1951),

“temple ordinances for the living and the dead were revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith”
:Presiding Bishop Joseph L. Wirthlin, ''Conference Report'', October 1956

“In 1836 Elijah came and restored the sealing power, the power to bind on earth and have it sealed eternally in the heavens. (D. & C. 110:13-16; 132:45-47.) At a still later date, temple endowments and other ordinances were revealed - all of which are a necessary prelude to the performance of an eternal marriage'”
:Bruce R. McConkie, ''Mormon Doctrine'', 2d ed. 1966

“The temple ceremony was given by a wise Heavenly Father . . . . The endowment was revealed by revelation”
:''Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson'' (Temples and Temple Work chapter)

“the Prophet Joseph Smith . . . the endowment ceremony was given to him”
“It is the Lord's house. He directs the conditions under which it may be used. He has revealed the ordinances that should be performed therein”
:Boyd K. Packer, ''The Holy Temple''

=={{Endnotes label}}==

''None''

*[[Temple_ordinances_revealed]]
*[[Temples/Obsolete after Christ|Obsolete after Christ]]
*[[Temples/Do temples always face east|Do LDS temples always face east?]]
*[[Temples/Why does the Church build expensive temples|Why does the Church build expensive temples?]]
*[[Temples/Baptism for the dead|Baptism for the dead]]
*[[Jews and early Christians on marriage after death]]
**[[Marriage/As a requirement for exaltation/Jesus said "neither marry nor given in marriage"]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Changes|Changes to the endowment]]
*[[Temples/Garments|Temple garments = "magic underwear"?]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Oath of vengeance|Oath of vengeance]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Penalties|Penalties in the endowment]]
*[[Temples/Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple|Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]
**[[Temples/Endowment/Freemasonry/All Seeing Eye|All Seeing Eye]]
**[[Inverted Stars on LDS Temples]]
*[[Temples/Endowment/Freemasonry|Relationship of temples and Freemasonry]]
**[[Freemasonry_Origins]] - from Priesthood ordinances
**[[Freemasonry_(summary)]] - many resources
**[[Hugh_W._Nibley_on_Freemasonry]]

Evidences that support the Book of Abraham

2010-06-13T17:42:13Z

MatthewBrown: added detail to footnote from Ensign article

{{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}}
{{draft}}

===Evidence for the antiquity of Joseph's Book of Abraham===
There is evidence from antiquity—both in the Abrahamic tradition and in the Jewish recontextualization of Egyptian vignettes and dramas—which lend support to the claim that Joseph translated (albeit by unconventional means) the Book of Abraham from an authentic ancient source.

While Book of Abraham "translations" and "restorations" of the damaged vignettes do not seem to square with the translations of non-LDS Egyptologists, there are several instances when Joseph did get some of the details correct. This is no small thing considering that neither Joseph, nor any one to whom he had access, could translate Egyptian.

====The Sons of Horus====
Facsimile 2 (shown between Chapters 3 and 4 of the Book of Abraham in the LDS Pearl of Great Price), is known as a hypocephalus ("under the head") and was a small disk-shaped object that was placed under the head of the deceased. The Egyptians "believed it would magically cause the head and body to be enveloped in flames or radiance, thus making the deceased divine."{{ref|rhodes1}} In this drawing (or vignette), stand four mummy-like figures known—to Egyptologists—as the Sons of Horus. Their images were also on the canopic jars (the jars that stored the internal organs of the deceased) that we see under the lion couch in Joseph Smith's Facsimile 1. Joseph revealed that these four figures represented "this earth in its four quarters." According to modern Egyptologists, Joseph Smith is correct. The Sons of Horus "were the gods of the four quarters of the earth and later came to be regarded as presiding over the four cardinal points."{{ref|rhodes2}}

====Abrahamic traditions====
Years ago, Dr. Nibley pointed out that the critics neglect the ancient Near Eastern Abrahamic traditions that support the story found in the Book of Abraham.{{ref|nibley1}} Ancient Abrahamic lore and Jewish traditions preserved in ancient texts, show some surprising parallels to what we find in the text of the Book of Abraham. Some of these parallels imply that Joseph (who likely could not have had access to many of these traditions) actually restored authentic ancient Abrahamic traditions. Some of these parallels include early Jewish traditions about Abraham's life—details not found in the Bible.{{ref|abrtrad1}} Two such ancient documents that show some surprising parallels to our Book of Abraham are the ''Apocalypse of Abraham''{{ref|astpapcov1}} and the Testament of Abraham{{ref|testabr1}} (the Apocalypse of Abraham dates to about the same time as the Book of Abraham papyri).

Other interesting parallels include ancient names and astronomy. Ancient Egyptian names, for example, that would have been unknown to Joseph Smith, are accurately represented in the Book of Abraham both phonetically as well as in meaning.{{ref|phone1}} With regard to astronomy, we find that in Joseph Smith's day "heliocentricity" (as proposed by Copernicus and Newton) was the accepted astronomical view. Nineteenth-century people (including the most brilliant minds of the day) believed that everything revolved around the Sun—therefore the term "heliocentric" (Greek ''helios''=sun + centered). (In the twentieth-first century we generally accept an Einsteinian view of the cosmos.) The Book of Abraham, however, clearly delineates a ''geocentric'' view of the universe—or a belief that the Earth (Greek ''geo'') stood at the center of the universe, and all things moved around our planet.

According to ancient geocentric cosmologies and what we read in the Book of Abraham, the heavens (which is defined as the expanse above the earth—no celestial object is mentioned to exist below the earth) was composed of multiple layers or tiers—each tier higher than the previous. Therefore the Sun is in a higher tier than the moon, and the stars are in higher tiers still (compare [http://scriptures.lds.org/abr/3/5,9,17#5 Abraham 3:5, 9, 17]).{{ref|astpapcov2}} According to geocentric astronomy, celestial objects have longer time spans (or lengths of "reckoning") based upon their relative distance from the earth. "Thus, the length of reckoning of a planet is based on its revolution [time to orbit around the center, in this case the earth](and not rotation [time to spin on its axis, as the earth does every 24 hours])."{{ref|astpapcov3}} The higher the celestial object, the greater its length of reckoning (compare [http://scriptures.lds.org/abr/3/5#5 Abraham 3:5]). Likewise, in [http://scriptures.lds.org/abr/3/8-9#8 Abraham 3:8–9], we read that "there shall be another planet whose reckoning of time shall be longer still; And thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one planet above another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob."

Ancient geocentric astronomers believed that the stars were "the outer-most celestial sphere, furthest from the earth and nearest to God."{{ref|astpapcov4}} We find in the Book of Abraham that the star Kolob was the star nearest "the throne of God" ([http://scriptures.lds.org/abr/3/9#9 Abraham 3:9]). In the ancient, yet recently discovered, Apocalypse of Abraham (which dates from about the same time period as the JSP), we find that God's throne is said to reside in the eighth firmament (the firmaments, being another term for the varying tiers in the heavens above the Earth).{{ref|astpapcov5}}

The Book of Abraham also reveals that those celestial objects that are highest above the earth, "govern" the objects below them (see [http://scriptures.lds.org/abr/3/3,9#3 Abraham 3:3, 9] and [http://scriptures.lds.org/abr/fac_2 Facsimile 2, fig. 5]). This sounds similar to the beliefs of those who accepted an ancient geocentric cosmology:

:Throughout the ancient world the governing role of celestial bodies was conceived in similar terms. God sits on his throne in the highest heaven giving commands, which are passed down by angels through the various regions of heaven, with each region governing or commanding the regions beneath it.''{{ref|astpapcov6}}

We find this governing order described in the Apocalypse of Abraham and other ancient sources. All of this makes sense only from an ancient geocentric perspective (such as that believed in Abraham's day) and makes no sense from a heliocentric perspective (which is what Joseph would have known in his day).

A different interesting parallel comes from [http://scriptures.lds.org/abr/fac_1 Facsimile 1] (Abraham on the lion couch). According to Egyptologists, this is a typical Egyptian embalming scene and has nothing to do with Abraham or sacrifice. In fact, the critics assure us, Abraham is not a topic of discussion in Egyptian papyri, and there is no connection with Abraham and the embalming lion couch.

Recent discoveries, however, suggests that the Biblical Abraham does appear in some Egyptian papyri that date to the same period as the JSP. In one instance (thus far discovered) Abraham's name appears to have a connection to an Egyptian lion couch scene.{{ref|gee8}}

===Plain of Olishem===
The Book of Abraham mentions "the plain of Olishem" (Abraham 1:10). No such place name occurs in the Bible, but it does occur, appropriately timed and located, in an inscription of the Akkadian ruler Naram Sin, dating to about 2250 BC.{{ref|fn1}}

=={{Conclusion label}}==
The stories and worldviews we find in the translated text of our Book of Abraham coincide nicely with what we find from ancient Abrahamic lore. The critics must account for Joseph Smith's extensive knowledge of these areas, which he then integrated into a theologically rich whole.

=={{Endnotes label}}==
#{{note|rhodes1}}Michael D. Rhodes, "The Joseph Smith Hypocephalus...Twenty Years Later." {{pdflink|url=http://home.comcast.net/~michael.rhodes/JosephSmithHypocephalus.pdf}}
#{{note|rhodes2}}''Ibid.'' See also Daniel C. Peterson, "News from Antiquity," ''Ensign,'' January 1994, 16- where a picture (detail of facsimile #1) and text (see paragraph 5, first sentence) both identify the four canopic jars / sons of Horus as "idols."
#{{note|nibley1}}{{IE1|author=Hugh W. Nibley|article=The Unknown Abraham|date=January 1969|start=26}}
#{{note|abrtrad1}}See {{TraditionsAbraham0}}
#{{note|astpapcov1}}For some of the parallels see {{Nibley14|start=8|end=40}}; {{APC|author=John Gee, William J. Hamblin, and Daniel C. Peterson|article='And I Saw the Stars': The Book of Abraham and Ancient Geocentric Astronomy|start=1|end=16}} {{link1|url=http://farms.byu.edu/publications/bookschapter.php?bookid=40&chapid=161}}
#{{note|testabr1}}See Jeff Lindsay, "Could there have been a real Egyptian scroll that actually, literally discussed Abraham?" (accessed 23 September 2005){{link|url=http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_Abraham.shtml}}; {{FR-4-1-16}}; {{sunstone|author=Hugh Nibley|article=The Facsimiles of the Book of Abraham|num=4|date=December 1979|start=49|end=51}} {{link|url=http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/display.php?table=transcripts&id=69}}; Kerry Shirts, "The Book of the Dead and the Book of Abraham" {{link|url=http://www2.ida.net/graphics/shirtail/egyptian.htm}}; {{Nibley14_1|start=1}}
#{{note|phone1}}See John A. Tvedtnes, "Authentic Ancient Names and Words in the Book of Abraham and Related Kirtland Egyptian Papers," presentation at the 2005 FAIR Conference; Kerry Shirts, "On the Names of the Four Canopic Jars in Facsimile 1." {{link|url=http://www2.ida.net/graphics/shirtail/onthe.htm}}
#{{note|astpapcov2}}Gee, Hamblin, and Peterson, "'And I Saw the Stars'", 5.
#{{note|astpapcov3}}''Ibid''., 8.
#{{note|astpapcov4}}''Ibid''., 9.
#{{note|astpapcov5}}''Ibid''.
#{{note|astpapcov6}}''Ibid''., 10.
#{{note|gee8}}{{GuideJSP|start=12|end=13}}
#{{note|fn1}} {{FR-18-1-18}}; citing See John M. Lundquist, "Was Abraham at Ebla? A Cultural Background of the Book of Abraham (Abraham 1 and 2)," in ''Studies in Scripture, Volume 2: The Pearl of Great Price'', ed. Robert L. Millet and Kent P. Jackson (Salt Lake City: Randall Book, 1985), 233–35; Paul Y. Hoskisson, "Where Was Ur of the Chaldees?" in ''The Pearl of Great Price: Revelations from God'', ed. H. Donl Peterson and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1989), 136 n. 44; {{FR-4-1-15}} (see 115 n. 64).

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[[fr:Book of Abraham/Evidence for antiquity]]

Latter-day Saint Temples/Inverted Stars on LDS Temples

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