page_title: Teachings of Joseph Smith
section_title: Temples
hierarchical_section_title: Teachings of Joseph Smith / Nauvoo teachings (1839–44) / Temples
caption_attribution_description: Kirtland Temple English: The Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio Deutsch: Der Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio
context_page_description: The teachings of Joseph Smith include a broad spectrum of religious doctrines as well as political and scientific ideas and theories, many of which he said were revealed to him by God. Joseph Smith is the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement and is recognized by many separate Latter Day Saint churches as the founder. Beginning in 1828, Smith began dictating the text of what later became the Book of Mormon, and also began dictating written revelations he said were inspired by God.
  Smith's teachings evolved over his lifetime until his death in 1844. They may generally be divided into roughly four periods, an early period associated with the production of the Book of Mormon and founding of the Church of Christ, a period associated with his effort to clarify and re-translate the teachings of the Bible, a period in Kirtland, Ohio, and Missouri that produced the Word of Wisdom, the Book of Abraham, and the early development of the plural marriage doctrine, and a late period in Nauvoo, Illinois, in which Smith further defined his views of the nature of God and the millennial theocracy.
context_section_description: In 1832, Smith claimed to receive a revelation to build a building that could serve as a "house of God"—namely, a temple. He taught that within temples, ordinances would be performed necessary for the exaltation of mankind. Further, performing these ordinances by proxy for every person that has ever lived ensures that salvation will be obtainable to everyone. For those who are living, it is highly important to receive these ordinances, which make possible entry to the celestial kingdom. Ordinances are performed for both the living and the dead.
  The ordinances performed in temples today are as follows:
  Baptism and confirmation for the dead
  Washing and anointing
  Endowment
  Sealing
caption: The Kirtland Temple in Ohio
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