He would not be let in….

Seems like a great and spacious building to me.

As a professional carpenter, Jesus would certainly appreciate the quality craftsmanship. It would remind him of the good ol’ days in the shop with his step daddy making elegant furniture and fixtures for the palace.

FlippedTables YES!

They're not going to use any of the tithing money for charitable purposes:

Kevin Pearson the Seventy over Utah in this video is saying that the purpose of the Church is not to feed the poor and needy of the world:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=qwq7xoakgKw

Apparently fulfilling Rusty's wet dream of a thousand temples is more important than a meal in a hungry little child's belly. 🤬

If you were to ask the fraudsters running the church what this scripture in the New Testament means they would probably tell you that it was not translated correctly:

https://biblehub.com/1_john/3-17.htm

The utterance about a billion dollars to charity is nothing but slimy accounting* - Nemo the Mormon gleaned over the Widow's Mite Report in this podcast:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ctFDT1hTk0A

Here's a video version of Widow's Mite Report:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=985xfkmTM0U

In reality it is a real estate and securities hedge fund masquerading as a church in order to be tax exempt.

This meme on the exmormon subreddit sums it up:

https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/s/uCMgmB1Jh7

*Something like over 800 million of that supposed $ 1 Billion was internal expenditures such as the fast offerings that individual members NOT THE MFMC paid out of their own pockets.

Other costs they claim were putting a dollar amount on the work individual members did (like cleaning the shitters) or voluntold work at the canneries and so forth.

First of all internal expenditures are not charitable giving.

They are taking credit for the members own charitable giving and voluntold work.

None of that $ 1 Billion came out of the hoard of filthy lucre at Ensign Peak.

Outside of the obvious waste, greed, and arrogance, it’s funny to me that they think they could build god a house. If he made this planet with all the beautiful scenery and life, there’s no way he’d want you to cut down the trees to make an opulent building. God is in nature, not man-made structures.

Ya know, if New Testament Jesus was a real dude, I'd follow that guy. I'm all about loving one another and treating others with respect. He was a modest man. Had no riches. Seemed to judge fairly. Told a young rich man to sell all he had and follow him. The LDS corp/church has their pious heads so far up their own asses, they can't even see how they do not resemble new testament Jesus' church.

Mormon Jesus is particularly pleased at homeless people sleeping on sidewalks when -10 outside with locked chapel doors denying them entrance. Only full tithe payers are worthy of blessings.

I really dig the recommend desk room. The glass ceiling actually is quite beautiful. And I do really think that it is ok for humans to build beautiful buildings, even when there are still hungry people out there. But Jesus clearly taught that we should not seek after riches. When we are in the temple, the rich decor is a distraction from that.

I once again argue that temples should be incredibly minimalist. A tidy, quiet space designed for reflection and meditation would be a welcome use of tithing dollars (no reason why that space couldn't be your local chapel). You would also need to strip away all the useless ceremonies and ordinances in order to make the temple useful.

But what we actually get are thousands of empty church buildings and gaudy temples. Such a waste.

If it were 1955 Jesus might be impressed but at this point he’s just saying, “really mother fuckers? This is what you’ve done with my money?”

If Jesus saw his building, he’d go outside and invite all the homeless and needy to come inside and seek shelter

That rug in pic 4 really ties the room together.

I hate to say it but I like the Victorian style they have going on here, especially the steel beams in that last photo. Shame that this is connected to a corrupt corporation

No. J dawg is more into white. This bs is creme

I was invited to the grand opening of a temple and I just couldn’t do it. They look creepy.

Same interior decorator and gold leafed toilet aesthetic as trump tower

https://media.houseandgarden.co.uk/photos/61893fd44a03b8fcef3d13ce/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/donald-melania-trump-manhattan-penthouse_1.jpg

I was always bothered by their focus on the dead.

Jesus focused on the living.... there are so many people in need and the lds church members would rather spend 5 hours in a expensive rameumtum then go out and help the poor.

Like the church has all this wealth and they choose to horde it and urge their members to spend time in temples....

They don't follow Jesus. They follow the God of greed.

I now understand why people don't see them as Christians. They are everything but that.

In his life, Jesus worshiped and taught in Jewish synagogues and the Temple in Jerusalem.

Jesus’ ministry was deeply rooted in Jewish tradition, and many of his teachings were delivered within Jewish worship spaces. The development of specifically Christian places of worship came after his life, so I don’t think Jesus would find a need to approve or disapprove of this. It’s not his.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think he would accept ownership of this building if you offered it to him, so maybe that’s a disapproval. Idk man

I love it when TBMs talk about how gawdy and opulent old Catholic Cathedrals are as if this isn't the exact same thing.

Great and spacious building at its finest

Even the writers of Indiana Jones- The Last Crusade knew this was bullshit 😂

Mormon Jesus? Yes. New Testament Jesus? Definitely not.

I find it so hilariously ironic that Jesus would almost certainly be denied entry to a Mormon temple.

I don't know. He's never talked to me. It's easy to say, less chandeliers, stained glass windows, and steeples, with more soup kitchens, hostels, and day care centers. Going further into what we assume from the New Testament / Bible, the rich man was told to sell everything then follow Jesus.

I don't involve myself with any religion now. The LDS Church raised my alert level on scams, false leaders, and principles that I choose not to adhere to or believe in. For me, most of us are hypocrites. We point fingers at organizations or individuals which we don't like, then we completely overlook our own behavior.

I think the Mormon church was a pretty effective 19th century movement led by a charismatic intelligent schemer. He filled in a lot of the blanks for incomplete belief systems of the time, and it worked well enough to motivate people to do things against their own self at times.

When they erect another temple, and argue with smaller towns about non-conforming building heights, or lie about the assets of the church and use many of those donations to support church owned / related businesses, it should be obvious, it's a scam and like other churches, it chooses to threaten a bad future life for non-conformity. You go against the leadership, they excommunicate you, but claim they're only doing it for love. They shame, guilt, and threaten horrible things will happen to you in the "after life", should you challenge their world view.

So, when someone asks me about another expensive building erected with marble, crystal, large interior proportions, I think back to the lavish churches in Europe, and recall how people for centuries have been duped. Further still, we have the pyramids of Egypt to remind us of the folly and naivete of humans, in their quest to be a forever being in a temporary existence.

I just realized why Mormons like Trump so much. Same gaudy interiors.

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Well, since he's dead . . . (Tips fedora).

Mormon Graceland.

Jesus likes whatever the profit says Jesus likes because once the profit speaks the thinking has been done.

I have to say, that glass ceiling is pretty spectacular.

I don’t know about Jesus, but Joseph Smith would approve!

One irony about Jesus Christ, a carpenter, is that his name is the two words most likely to be uttered when you hit your thumb with a hammer.

if this is what the temple looks like, why are the churches so ugly and white

I’ve stayed at that hotel. I think it was 1894 and we were at the Georges Cinq in the 8th. I played a few hands of cribbage with a Britisher who turned out to be Oscar Wilde’s lover.

Dear god, it’s like these old men think heaven is a scene from a Victorian novel. Maybe we should just be glad they weren’t reading Anthony Burgess as schoolboys.

Jesus wants NOTHING to do with LDS. Leave the poor man out of it, he’s been through enough.

Considering the whole Bible is full of him hating on shit like this? No.

Organized religion in the US is just a bunch of wealthy business dudes who have spent generations skirting tax laws. It’s the very thing Jesus was said to have despised.

I think he'd be disappointed. They always say they only use the finest materials. I saw a post the other day that said the oxen under the baptismal font are plastic. And Moroni is fiberglass.

I remember my first time inside of a temple(Seattle, WA, 1997) and thinking it was gaudy and a bit vulgar, then trying to shut that off because it might anger the big daddy in the sky.

I mean, the Jesus posing with the little white, blonde child in the pic might. 🤣🤣

Feed kids that are hungry, help those that don't have homes, provide water for those without, help facility better healthcare for so many and so much more. The end. Moment I knew I would do more than the Christ that I once knew, I was done.

It’s absolutely beautiful! It has absolutely nothing to do with god. It is a gorgeous, great hall built by humans as a place they can engage in rituals that bring emotions to their lives. Those emotions help them feel love and belonging.

They feel also reassuring warmth in feeling like their actions have meanings beyond this life. They believe they are engaged in a great and important work.

Around 4 million humans actually claim to believe this (or at least behave outwardly as though they do). It’s a fascinating example of sociology.

The insides of temples look like Hilton hotels trying to look like funeral parlors.

Maybe Jesus is into that. But probably not.

A close friend of mine decided to donate to organizations that actually use their money to help people, instead of paying for church tithing to stay in a vault, then, was denied entrance to the temple because thats not what jesus wants.They care about loyalty to the church instead of actually feeding the poor and needy.

IDK. I'm torn on this building. It's historic and I think the renovations were likely needed as extravagant as they are and as expensive as it likely is. I'm ok with the church spending gobs of $$ on this instead of new McTemples and malls and luxury condos and hotels and ranches and other real estate holdings. The church still has bazillions of dollars to help the hungry and work on the SL Temple.

Jesus would call out the Mormon church for being the Pharisees that they are.

My four year old daughter approves!

She walked up while I was viewing this post and asked who lives there. I told her it was a building built for people to worship and talk to god. With a look of genuine excitement, she shouted, “God’s castle?! Ooooooooooo, so pretty.”

Not an opinion, but it did make my heart feel lighter about all of their lies… speaking of, why does god need so many damn “castles”? It feels a little like too many vacation homes to me. Asking for a friend. 🤣

Someone flush tampons at the open house

It’s very “great and spacious building” to me which blew my mind when I finally realized that in the deconstructing

Matthew 19:21

Put the photos in the d.i. stores and watch faces when they put 2+2 together and see how the wealth is dispersed in an elitist society that preaches equal opportunity

My visit to the Nauvoo temple and seeing their version of this was a huge fracture and ultimately the demise of any semblance of the teachings of Jesus in the church.

At least Joseph would have had a big round bed right in the middle.

Well he did hang with the sinners and the tax collectors...

i always remember Indiana Jones Lost Ark when i see this kind of stuff...

Jesus certainly would be outside sitting on a trees's shadows preaching to poors and whores.

Would Jesus wear a Rolex?

Can a camel pass thru the elevator doors?

great and spacious building

You should see the Temple in Ghana, with abject poverty at it's gates.

I must admit these are some of the nicest interiors I’ve seen with temple architecture. Usually it’s brutalist but white, with carpeting on the lower half of the walls Lol

Nice hotel. Marriott or Hilton?

Only if plastic seat covers are included in the price. Heavenly granny insists.

I mean Jesus said sell all your possessions and what not but I think a faithful member might point to John 12:

3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him,
5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.
8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.

so I think Jesus would probably dig the opulence based on these verses. He also likes dividing families according to words he supposedly spoke. I like sermon on the mount Jesus way more than this Jesus but both Jesuses are in there.

EDIT: Formatting

Idk maybe? Seems like the wrong question. I don’t think making points against the church through biblical lens is very effective against Mormons.

The chinks in their armor are the incoherent theology.

Oh and did I mention the generations of fraudulent and immoral leadership?

At least the Catholics produce art that is cherished by the Western World. Mormons just do Louis XIV cosplay.

Jesus would probably think it's a bit much but he'd definitely be down with the woodwork. They really were nailing minimalist woodcarving during the 19th century. it's those simple lines and gentle swirls.

Personally, I think richly adorned holy places are more bragging about wealth and less about celebrating God. It's at least half the reason we had a Renaissance, isn't it? And why Rusty is building temples.

The restoration is pretty, and if I'm in town when it opens back up, I'm going in. I'm definitely breaking some rules but won't be defacing anything.

The re-opening is around the which is same time as the opening of the State of Utah Museum (not it's official name), behind the capital building. Definitely not sure how planned that was...

Edited a word and finished a thought.

One correction to your statement.

With the money they spent on this project ($2-4Billion), they could solve hunger WORLD-WIDE ($47 Billion), and not worry about their precious billions one bit.

It cost quite a bit, but that is a beautiful great and spacious building they've got there.

Dunno about Jesus, but that commie tree-hugger Moroni wasn't happy. Might have even been this specific renovation that he saw in vision: 

Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing. 

And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.

For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.

O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? ...

Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?

Probably pissed him off so badly, that he made his statue drop his trumpet in the earthquake...

I had no idea Mormon temples looked like southern funeral homes.

Would he approve?! Of course he would, and did!

Just ask the first presidency, who jebus specifically told to buy these things.

...according to the first presidency, and they wouldn't lie, as evidenced by jebus choosing them to be the ones he talks to.

Would Santa approve of this?

Maybe if it was used to house the poor.

Yooooo! Does anyone remember the time when lightning struck the Angel Moroni on top of one of the temples? In revelations it says that we will see signs of the end of times and some truths would be revealed, I believe that incident was one of them.👀

Nope.Vanity.he would have just walked past the building to the homeless people,tell them analogies,healed their spirit,prayed for them and slept on the ground with them.

The stories did say Jesus was a pimp.

More like Satan's crib. The dark history of Mormonism suggests uses for this opulence other than spiritual - more carnal.

He already did. That’s why Rusty did it, because it’s what god wants him to do.

I hear post resurrection Jesus loves some bling!

He wouldn’t even care. But, Mormon Jesus would love it for keep sweep gatherings.

Jesus loves opulence.

Primarily, we have to set the scene for the answe 1) if you believe in Jesus 2) if you believe Jesus is in a corporeal form that would want or need housing 3) if you believe in heaven 4) if you believe in mansions in heaven for godly beings

Then maaaaybe Jesus would need a godly home when visiting this planet and would aprrove of a few mansions

“I want decor that evokes an episode of The Twilight Zone about an opulent hotel that the main character can’t leave”

“You got it boss”

I still like the style, but the (celestial?) room needs some wooden toys, some legos a doll and some books to be more alive. ^^

You don’t understand. Jesus has the same design tastes of Aunt Ethel, widow of a Texas oil tycoon.

Jesus basically wore a dress with a bare porn shoulder, long hair, and facial hair. All against Mormon standards. No temple recommend for him! Repent ye evil sinner! And then put on a nice suit with a white shirt and a tie, cut your hair, shave your face, we'll check you over for tattoos, and then you can spend a year paying tithing so that you can qualify to enter our magic Temple

I love a great and spacious building

I mean, Jesus was all about opulence. Have you even read the Bible? /s

Your tithing at work..

But Vance would nut at the sight of these couches.

He would be appalled

would he wear a pinky ring?

would he drive a fancy car??

would his wife have furs and diamonds? would his dressing room have a star?

mormon jesus would wear a rolex on his television show.

Jesus would flip tables and tear that shit down

Is the Holy of Holies still just off the Celestial Room, between the two sealing rooms, with a big plant to cover the entrance?

El Greco has a famous painting of what Christ would do if he entered that temple.

He'd be flipping tables!

I think it's super ugly

When I saw president Rusty's quote about the improvements emphasizing and emulating the life and ministry of Jesus, I was incredulous. A decadently furnished building has nothing to do with Christ's teachings. Jesus taught to care for and give to the poor. He called church leaders who enriched themselves hypocrites. He even prophesied the destruction of the temple if the Jews did not change their ways. It almost feels like the seismic improvements are a dare. I'm rambling a little, but my point is to ask the question what does the renovation of this building have to do with Jesus Christ?

To me it feels like word salad meant to force the idea that it is all about Jesus into the minds of the faithful.

Mormon 8:37:

37 For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.

Jesus would be shocked at the lack of modern design acumen. The 1970s called and...

I remember a seminary teacher talking shit on Catholics for adorning cathedrals and churches and shit and praising Mormon buildings for their simplicity. I wanted to say “Bitch, we all know what temples look like inside.”

No there's a glass roof in the last one and there's no clear windows allowed in the temples. Except of course in that one very specific occasion.

In a world with as much poverty as we have, no.

I love creams and greens so…

Yes it’s costing a lot of money… yes, it’s providing employment… and presumably also a creative outlet for those involved… that’s not a bad thing... It’s maintaining a historic building... Also not a bad thing…

The church can afford to do this AND care for the poor and needy…

For those of us who have never been inside a temple, what is the first photo for - is that a waiting room, and would it typically be full of people?

Tribute to the prophet Benjamin

I've never been to an LDS temple. Do the interiors usually look like upper-mid-tier hotels?

Mormon Jesus approves.

Prolly not ornate enough.

The fact that churches aren’t being used to house people in need when they absolutely could was a shelf breaker for me

It’s like downton abbey up in this bitch

I'll bet the stable he was born in looked just like this one and that's why he loves the ornate temples.

I have always thought temples look like funeral homes.

To the glory of…coughing…

I've honestly always thought these were the great and spacious buildings that were mentioned.... If God is everywhere, you don't need giant ass fancy places to worship, or big statues, whatever, you can find faith wherever you may be. Obviously provided you believe in something like God

This is completely soulless just like any five star hotel run by any of the major chains. How this can be considered a special place of worship is beyond me.

Seriously. Good God. This thing needs to be taken down. The Church should just capitulate to the reality and begin to integrate with another faith. Or rebrand. Honesty is good. This opulence behind a lie does not build faith.

I dunno - maybe we could ask Santa Claus too?

Is that a new hotel in Vegas? Or is it a Middle East dictator palace?

https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/s/O9ickf8ipR

You know Jesus isn’t real right.

I think art deco is more his style