Thursday, November 03, 2011

Upon the Temple Lot: The Church of Christ’s Quest to Build the House of the Lord

R. Jean Addams. Upon the Temple Lot: The Church of Christ's Quest to Build the House of the Lord. (Independence, MO: John Whitmer Books, 2010, v + 167 pp., photographs, maps, notes, index, $14.95., paperback.)

Reviewed by H. Michael Marquardt, published in Mormon Historical Studies 12, no. 1 (Spring 2011):179-81, and available on here.

This important book on the effort to build the temple in Independence, Missouri, by the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) is a welcome work on the history relating to the progress and circumstances toward this project. The author, R. Jean Addams has devoted many years in gathering hard to find sources in understanding the history behind this attempt.

The "spot for the temple" in Zion was designated by Joseph Smith in 1831 (see D&C 57). The author provides a brief history of emergence of what became the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), which is nicely presented (7–17). Some members had been associated with the original Church as early as 1831–1833. After a few families gathered to Independence in 1867, they commenced purchasing city lots where they anticipated the temple was to be located.
George D. Cole, who had been baptized in April 1870, said he received a dream or vision regarding the location where the temple would to be built. ...

Continue reading review here