are those of other denominations. Moreover, as already stated, these temples are not used as places of common assembly, nor as houses of general and congregational service.
Why, then, does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints build and maintain temples? In answer let the following pertinent facts be carefully considered.
NECESSITY OF OBEDIENCE TO THE LAWS AND ORDINANCES OF THE GOSPEL
As part of its declaration of faith, the Church proclaims:
"We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may he saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."[1]
While professing belief in the possibility of a universal salvation, the Church affirms that salvation is assured only on condition of individual compliance with the requirements established by the Redeemer, without whose atoning sacrifice none could be saved. The atonement wrought by the Christ on Calvary was a vicarious offering, in the beneficent results of which all mankind are made partakers. As to redemption from the thrall of mortality incident to the transgression in Eden, the sacrificial death of Christ met in full the exactions incident to the broken law; and none but Adam shall be held accountable for Adam's disobedience, nor for any results thereof. In the just judgment to which every mortal shall come, all conditions of inherited weakness, temptation due to
- ↑ See the author's "The Articles of Faith," Lecture IV; and references therein given.
