The Holy Temple

This book is a good overview of what temples are and why they are important. Elder Packer really knows his stuff and I appreciated that he cited a lot of outside sources. Having not been to the temple before, much of the information still seemed frustratingly vague, but it did change my perspective a bit about temple work.

All my life I have dreamed of going to the temple; this goal has been primarily for my benefit. However, after reading this book, I finally realized that we have temples so that we can not only save ourselves, but most importantly those who have passed on before us. I have never really had much of a desire to do genealogy work, but this book sparked a new desire in my heart.

This book doesn't have all the answers for show more those who are preparing to go to the temple, but it does help individuals direct their questions and ponderings to the right place. Even though most of what I read is stuff that I have already learned, I would recommend that anyone who hasn't been to the temple yet read this book. It provides a solid foundation on which to prepare your . . . preparation. show less

I would recommend this book to anyone who is planning on going through the temple in the future or anyone who wants to know why we do temple work. The book itself is well written with plenty of anecdotes, stories, and scripture. I did find it a bit on the dull side after about 200 pages, mostly because it became very repetitive, but it is still a very good book about why we have temples. I was really interested in the parts about genealogy and found a lot of really beautiful insights there, but it was also less focused on. This book was a gift from my mission president and his wife for our wedding and I am really glad that we have finished it.

The women in my ward (congregation) are reading this book as we look forward to the dedication of a temple here in Indianapolis. It had been a long time since I read it, and I found it very much worth reading again.
One thing that I noticed more this time was the illustrations for each chapter heading. They were done by President (then Elder) Packer himself.

Definitive classic on temple doctrine and on Mormon temples in particular.